bits and bobbins

my long time internet friend kristin cofer (an amazing bay area based photographer and graphic designer) did an interview with me on her blog, design that kills. read it here, and check out the rest of her amazing blog whilst your at it!

thanks, kristin!

-i adore the idea of creating “fake” luxury bags, the idea of art and fashion melding in a devilishly conceptual way. artists and designers who have played with the idea of fake luxury include my friend and artist stephanie syjuco (of anti-factory fame) and her counterfeit crochet handbag project, zinoo park’s FAKE 3-in-1 bag (available at poketo), and the lovely silkscreened totes by showpony that meld trompe l’oeil images of vintage bags with simple totes in the cleverest of ways.

-if you’re planning on being in/live in/near NYC and consider embroidery to be a valid medium to make art, check out the recently opened pricked: extreme embroidery, a show that’s on right now at the museum of art and design, conveniently located just across from the MOMA. MAD is the same museum that did the recent and popular exhibition some of you might be aware of, radical lace and subversive knitting that commenced earlier this year. the husband and i stopped by pricked whilst in NYC a few weeks back, and even his code-monkey-left-brained-self quite enjoyed it. if you do make it there, be sure to check out the work of andrea dezsö and nava lubelski…some of my favorites from the show.

-i agree with gala, being negative about/rating other people’s style is tired. such nasty behavior should be banished. instead, be positive and accepting! spread love, not hate by chiming in on gala’s thread about beloved aesthetics, i.e. what we FAVOR amongst the looks of other people. the whole thread gives me warm fuzzies…because i for one believe that kind behavior and positive interactions with the world can only beget kindness and positivity. give goodness, and you will get goodness back when it comes to matters of fashion and style, and obviously, far beyond.

-apparently the second-hand shopping in sweden is REALLY good? so says the international herald tribune, who posits that one of stockholm’s best kept secrets is it’s superb second-hand shopping. where’s my plane?! i’m so there (if only in my jet-set-stye, internationally-flavored thrifting fantasies)!!

i’m forever making creative to-do lists!

my creative to-do lists usually are comprised of the following sorts of items: specific creative projects i want to tackle, art of craft classes i’m yearning to take…things of that nature. sometimes they are centered upon a specific creative project, listing the items or tasks i need in order to bring that project to life. it’s sort an adjunct to other brainstorming and organizational practices, like making a mood board (something i’ve gone on and on about here many times before).

simply getting these ideas and intentions out on paper, or typing them out into a computer program specifically like omni-outliner (an awesome outlining program my husband turned me on to long ago, which i use constantly) is immensely helpful because it allows me to braindump, organize the tasks and ideas i have and want to accomplish, and keeps me (somewhat!) accountable to actually getting those tasks accomplished and those ideas fulfilled.

my current creative to-do list currently looks something like this:

-get personal business cards printed (finally!…i need them for like, everything?)
-finish setting up my Etsy store (where i’ll soon be selling some handmade wearable pieces and more (by me!), plus some choice vintage finds, so stay tuned!)
-quilt and bind the quilt i made over the summer (got stuck on the quilting bit, need to research best way of quilting, from some resource that has good, thorough instructions!)
-buy laminate board to serve as portable palette for silkscreening (maybe stop by scrap here in SF?)
-take ceramics class (perhaps at the clay studio, which is one block from my house?)
-take patternmaking classes (to get back into the swing of things and keep up with skills)
-take drawing class!
-just plain draw, as often as possible (got out of the habit due to uh, life, work, writing, etc.!)
-improve my photography skills, master my DSLR/SLR.
-knit or crochet a bright, sunshine yellow beret (searching around on ravelry for something suitable as i type this…but this one is rather nice, i must say!)
-design a high-waisted, full skirt, softly gathered into the waist, perhaps make it out of some sort of black, crisp, stiff silk
-design a simple drop sleeve blouse that i plan to fashion out of metallic gold lace (which i plan to wear under the metallic gold tank and gold leather skirt i thrifted many moons ago)
-make more cocktail hats

what about you?
what is currently on your creative to-do list?

does keeping lists help you? do you find that writing things down keeps you on task and accountable? or do you write it down, and forget it and never get around to the things you want to do?
chime in, if you please!