Craft Fair, Craft Fair, SLEEP

I've had 2 two-day fairs over the past two weeks, so I hope that is a reasonable excuse for not posting very consistently.

Firstly was Craftmas with RNEST during the first weekend of December. About 20 of us set up in a space in the Hungerford Building here in Rochester and just did our thing. The overall turn out was pretty decent and it was mostly just fun. It was cool to hang out with RNEST folks, get a chance to talk, and simply do what we do in a low key environment. Here are a few photos from the event and you can few more on my Facebook page.




This past weekend was the Indie Garage Sale in Utica. To you Central/Western NY crafters out there : do this show. It's awesome. The organizers were great, the turn out was outstanding, and the vendors were fun. Definitely one of my best shows and a great first show to travel for (even if it was only 2 1/2 hours away). And the hotel we stayed it wasn't even sketchy! Although I'm sure the 'Happy Journal Motel' next door rented by the hour.
It was a long weekend, especially since I started coming down with a cold Friday night, but well worth it. I also could not have done it without Ben; he was wonderful. Drove there so I could sleep in the car, helped load and unload, watched the table so I could pee, and even made a few sales! I'm a very lucky girl :)
I was too tired to take pictures of the whole event, but here are some of my booth.



I won't be selling anywhere else this year, but that is perfectly fine. There's a lot going on at Small World and I'm already heading home to NJ in less than 2 weeks for X-Mas. I'm looking forward to having a whole week to just chill out and rest; and I cannot not wait to see my friends in Delaware for New Years!!

....Although I still don't think there will be as much sleeping as I'd like in the next few weeks...oh well...

Wishlist Wednesday : RememberADay

With winter closing in, I'm just itching for some cozy things to wear. These leg warmers by RememberADay would satisfy that itch perfectly. They just look so soft and big and puffy and warm...mmmmm! Not to mention that I am very attracted to the carefully selected autumn color palette of red, brown, and golden yellow. They represent the perfect balance of bright color and quiet neutrals.

And a good pair of leg warmers makes for a good excuse to wear skirts and shorts through the winter as well!

Autumn Inspired Hand Knit Leg Warmers-Wool Blend
by RememberADay

A Treasury for a Tuesday : The Cheese Stands Alone

I was lucky enough to avoid the experience of having mice in my home until the summer of 2010. I lived in a house that was practically the woods and a lovely little finally of rodents found solace in our central air conditioning system. And our counters. And our pantry. And, for one of the babies, a party of drunken college students (I don't think he found an solace though, mostly terror).

I had a few mouse related encounters over the past few days. There's nothing like having one of these little critters sneaking around your space : they're cute and all, but I could do without them eating my food and shitting on my counters.

Hence, The Cheese Stands Alone:

Featuring:

vintagediana72
everythinglittlemiss
CuriousPortraits
CritterVille
NeatoKeen
fishlegs
Hu2Design
trappedintheattic
SwanSongAntiques
BluestarInk
BlossomStamps
rockettaco

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This weekend, from Nov. 24th-27th I’m hosting a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale all in one! Use coupon 

code BLACKCYBERMONDAY to save 20% on your Soft Shell Crafts order.

*Please also note this holiday season that custom orders are available upon request.

Treasury: A Berry Beary Christmas

Very nice holiday treasury by MarthaLand featuring my Polar Bear Journal

Holidays on the Horizon...

To be perfectly honest, I'm not super inspired to do a treasury this week. My apologies.

And my apologies for being a somewhat neglectful blogger. I know you've heard it before, but I've been a busy lady and have let crafting slip a bit since Mayday. Give me a break, I needed one. Besides, I've been very focused on food lately. And to be honest, there's only enough space in my brain to think about one at a time.

But with Thanksgiving weekend (Black Friday), Craftsmas, and the Indie Garage Sale on the horizon, I really need to get my ass in gear.

I have a TON of books to make. Tonight, I've already chopped down some cardboard and am working on gluing them up with packing paper. I'm really making a dent in my cash of materials-to-be-repurposed, which is awesome. New map books on the horizon and maybe some more animals as well. As for new ideas? We'll have to wait and see.

What else in on the horizon? A Black Friday sale! Normally I am not a fan of all the Black Friday nonsense. Shouldn't it be Sleep In and Digest Everything You Ate Yesterday Friday? And then eat some leftovers? For the next 3 days?
But that's the beauty of the internet! You can have your leftover toferky AND take advantage of sweet deals on holiday gifts. Excuse me, handmade holiday gifts. Do yourself and your local economy a favor by supporting a local artist near you. Etsy makes it easy to do this with their Shop Local search feature. Tell your loved ones you care by keeping you carbon footprint to a minimum.


And not long after that is the Indie Garage Sale in Utica, NY! This will be the first craft fair I'll be doing any traveling for and I can't wait. Granted, Utica is only 2 1/2 hours after from Rochester but considering it's a 2 days show I'll be staying over night. Sounds like the organizers have been doing a ridiculous amount of advertising, which is wonderful news. I'm keeping my figures crossed for a good weekend.


Eeep!

Off to continue book making!!

A Treasury for a Tuesday: Mountains

Mountains

Mayday! Underground and √art/craft

Boy oh boy oh boy! What a weekend! I've already had a lot of time to reflect on it, and I finally think my brain is settling back to normal (as normal as that is, I suppose). Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures to share, but one of Casey's friends was documenting all the vendors and I asked her to get some shots of the exhibition. So I'm just waiting on those and will post them somewhere I have them.

For starters, this Mayday! was, hands down, my most successful show! I got outstanding feedback on all of my work and a lot of people walked away with Soft Shell journals for recording their notes, ideas, and creations.
I have some stocking up to do on the Beer Notebooks (I only have Saranac brand left, of course).
I also need to make some new map books before the Indie Garage Sale in Utica this December. I met someone at Mayday! who had great things to say about IGS and suggested I stock up. It's a 2 day fair and the first one I'll be doing any 'traveling' for.

√Art/Craft exhibition, even with all its fly-by-the-seed-of-our-pants craziness was very well received! And it was one hell of a learning experiencing. We moved in a ton of portable walls, some of which were unreasonably heavy, built an artwork hanging system that was not particularly efficient but worked nonetheless, and 3 pieces in the exhibition sold. I'm still sore from all the lifting and climbing and moving and standing, but it was well worth it.
And I can't stop thanking everyone who helped out because I just don't know what I would have done with them.

And this experience has made me yearn for some sort space with real walls and lighting to do these sorts of things.

Next on the agenda: post the books that didn't sell at Mayday (so if you missed out, you'll have a chance on the Etsy), get ready for the Art Garage Sale on Sunday (where I'll be selling some of my Vietnam photography), and all various other adventures to come. We're approaching the holiday season, so there will only be more to do over the next 2 months.

A Treasury for a Tuesday: Home on the Range

I'm couldn't tell you what inspired this one, but I rounded up enough cattle to form this treasury just time for Tuesday.

Home on the Range

MTG Mana Notebooks

Recently I made some very nerdy Magic the Gathering Notebooks with some of Ben's old cards. I posted one today and it sold in just a few hours, hurray!

Here's the link to another one: Magic the Gathering Mana Notebooks.

A Treasury for a Tuesday: The Etsy Arts and Crafts Movement

A quick treasury today in honor of an Etsy Team I recently joined : The Etsy Arts and Crafts Movement.

And Jackbear created an RNEST treasury called Purple, Orange, and Black yesterday and featured my Mt 8 drawing!

Mt _ Greeting Cards

I have become somewhat obsessed with drawing these mountains. Technically, they are not real places. They are inspired by the ideas involved with being there: solitude, meditation, connectivity to your environment, reflection. Sometimes it feels like I am trying to capture a place or a person that I miss.
Currently, I added a few original drawings to the Etsy shop and am working on some originally drawn greeting cards that I will have a Mayday, and hopefully other fairs this holiday season.

So many book covers

I have a bunch of new animal and map themed book covers ready to go. I just need more paper...

A Treasury for a Tuesday: Bread

I have been interning at an organic bakery and learning the wonders of bread.

Bread by Soft Shell Crafts

Map Journal: Spain and Portugal

Spain and Portugal Journal: hand bound using the coptic stitch; cover made from upcycled cardboard an a vintage map; Strathmore Windpower Sketch paper made from 30% post-consumer materials; $15 on Etsy

Spain and Portugal Journal: hand bound using the coptic stitch; cover made from upcycled cardboard an a vintage map; Strathmore Windpower Sketch paper made from 30% post-consumer materials; $15 on Etsy

New Map Journals!

A new set of map journals just made its way to the shop!

Hop on the plane for your next adventure to: Yugoslavia, France, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea.

GIVEAWAY!

After my prolong absence from the web-o-sphere, I’m jumping right back into crafting! The new Text Tile Notebooks are a collaborative project with my friend Tarsila. She hand-embroidered and digitized the original letters and sent them my way for book making.  After going through a make shift scrabble game on my kitchen table, the hand cut letters made their way into inspiring, dirty, and hilarious words filled with personality.

To kick off the new line of books and to celebrate my return, I’d like to giveaway the first Text Tile Notebook ‘prototype’, which you see above. This was the first one I made and the only book with a double sided cover, which cleverly identifies itself as a “note” “book”. Measuring 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”, this book is perfectly compact for your purse or pocket. There are 36 3” x 3” pages (18 sheets) for jotting down your ideas, both big and small!

So how do you win this little bookie? Please visit my Tumblr for details, as I am running the giveaway primarily through there.

The giveaway will close on Monday Sept. 12th (exactly 2 weeks from today!) and the winner will be determined using a random number generator.

And keep your eyes pealed for more Text Tile books!

<3 allie of Soft Shell Crafts

My grandma requested one of my books for the trip my family and I are taking to France this August. She wanted me to pick one that I had already made, but I decided to make a custom one instead. She and my grandpa are hitting up London before meeting up with the rest of us, so I managed to include both cities on the cover.

And it's safe to post this book because my grandma doesn't like 'the online'.