now at the Howe + NFM schedule

I don't just make things with hunky guys or other cute characters on them. When I was an art major in college 20 years ago I started to see the creative potential of piecing bits of cloth together. I always felt the cozy homey feeling that quilts evoke makes them a wonderfully accessible medium for expression, but my art professors thought I should stick to painting and photography. I sort of dabbled in making quilts after college for a few years until parenting overwhelmed my physical creative projects. This past winter (it is over, right?) I started a line of small ones so my collection of vintage fabrics and discarded clothing can play and form relationships together as one cuddly object. I have really enjoyed coming back to making quilts. Organic cotton batting gives them that slightly puffy texture. When washed it should shrink 5% which will result in that old-fashioned slightly scrunched look - which I like.

Some of these baby/wall/lap/back-of-the-couch quilts can be seen at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH until May 29th. The colors in the batch turned out rather preppy (Vampire Weekend was in heavy rotation while I was selecting fabrics - could that be why? I remember well that pink & green trend in the early-eighties.)

Also occupying the large case near the teen room are billfolds, a loteria belt, one of my favorite aprons, and a pillow I made for my daughter for her birthday. About ten HotHolders have a shelf of their own but I think the real focus is the quilts. In the picture to the left you can see some bindings (my favorite part) and peek inside to see the backing fabric too.







It took me a while to compose the case - an hour and a half maybe? Someone teasingly suggested that makes me a perfectionist. I did want it to be nice and just so, but I was relaxed about putting it together, and didn't take it down a bunch of times to start over or anything like that. What is a perfectionist anyway? I thought it was about procrastinating so much you don't actually get to a point of creating something that might not be perfect.

This is the "all done" picture. That old suitcase Richard got me makes it look like I'm waiting for a train. It was perfect for holding all the quilts and tools.

and just so you know...
Here's my Norwich Farmers Market schedule for this summer:
I'll be there on these Saturdays: July 26 and September 6, 20 and 27.
and also on Craft Fair Sundays: July 6, August 3, and October 12

I'll tell you some other plans while I'm at it:
I'll be vending at the Mad River Craft Fair in Waitsfield, Vermont on August 30 and 31 and
I'll be participating again this year in the Vermont North by Hand Open Studio Tour which will be on the weekend of October 4 and 5.
Please stop by and say hello!

thrift score

This is my score from a bi-annual thrift sale I went to yesterday. This picture does not do justice to the wonderful colors and high quality of the fabrics. They will be great for quilts, Hotholders, and other projects. I scored a few interesting vintage pieces - some skirts and even "new" fabric remnants. I've started looking with an eye towards what I can use in baby quilts for boys. I think I'm going to have to stretch out of my tendency towards floral prints and "pretty" colors, though florals seem to be okay for boys if they are hibiscus or have a beach/Hawaiian vibe. I really don't want to fall into the primary colors thing, so I'm exploring other colorways.

It's rather competitive shopping this sale. Last fall there were at least 25 people standing out in the cold and the rain for 20 minutes waiting for the doors to open at 9am. Most people are looking for clothing for themselves and it is quite the toney neighborhood so the donations are along the Brooks Brothers line and the deals are great. I head for the men's button down shirts first and then the linens. I got a sweet linen dish towel with 6 owls on it - just the right size for HH and billfolds.

After the business shopping I look around for clothes for me and the family. I usually find something good. This time I got an stellar boys high tech ski jacket I'm going to wear snowboarding and a couple of preppy t-shirts I can wear now that my new glasses give my look a bit of an edge (it's been hard to wear pale colors with short white hair and not took like a grandma); a few one dollar t-shirts my boy can get holes in this summer, and some maternity wear for my best bud.

They're back!

They're back! These retro beach boys started my line of HotHolders in 2006 and inspired their slogan, "Because you're not the only thing in the kitchen that's hot(tm)." The company that makes the fabric hasn't had this available since then and I wasn't able to find it from any retailers. I finally found a source while at the New England Fabric Show last week. One of the reps also has a retail store, Portsmouth Fabric Company and I bought the half bolt she had left.

http://www.portsmouthfabric.com

The beach boys are featured here on my new checkbook covers (coming soon to my online store and the large display case at the Howe Library in Hanover), but I have beach boy HotHolders(tm) in the works also. Just so you know, checkbook covers come in styles not exclusively with men on them. I also have loteria cards, storybook firemen, western scenes, graphic florals, birds and more. Wouldn't your mom like one of these on May 11th?

Free Press + baby chicks

Look what appeared in yesterday's weekend section of the Burlington Free Press: Chad shouldering that thick post through a strawberry patch surrounded by other artists' work from repurposed materials. An Earth Day showcase.

Where can you find Chad and his cohorts? At the following fine establishment in Vermont:
Frog Hollow in Burlington
Frog Hollow in Middlebury
Art on Main in Bristol
Blinking Light Gallery in Plainfield
Northeast Kingdon Artisan's Guild in St. Johnsbury
Also I'll have stalls at the Mad River Craft Fair in Waitsfield August 30 and 31,
the Norwich Farmers Market July 26 and September 6, 20 and 27,
and Sunday Craft Fairs at the Norwich Farmers Market on July 6, August 3 and October 12.

To learn more about the galleries and vending events check the links to the right.

Here's a little homestead update. Or maybe I should say 100 little updates. Our chicks arrived! Edie and I went to the Bradford post office to pick them up Wednesday evening. We're raising Kosher Kings this year. They are supposed to be hardier than the cross breed we've raised in the past (which grow up to be basically huge chicken breasts on legs, without enough brains for self-preservation). They sure are cute with their little yellow rumps and spots on the tops of their heads. I'm sure they'll be very tasty this winter ; >

Seven Days + green bunny in the onions

Woo Hoo! Here I am in this week's Seven Days, "Vermont's Independent Voice." Except this week their tag line is "What a Mother." Must be for Earth Day. Anyway, 7D: think the Village Voice, only out of Burlington.

It's a really great article, fun to read, lots of (_!??!!_) quotes. He didn't quite understand me about the apron market, but oh well. Here it is, with a broader photo:
http://www.7dvt.com/2008/kitchen-kitsch

My friend Charen said, "You're gonna be so famous you won't have time to wipe your nose!" I don't know about that, but it is exciting and certainly good exposure.

If you read Patrick Mullikin's article about me in Strictly Business, it is very interesting to see how very differently the same subject is handled by him for this paper, which, he kept telling me, "is a completely different animal."

I was out of town early this week on a fabric buying trip (more on that in a separate post) when 7D was frantically emailing me for product photos. It didn't happen*. But if you are here on my blog you have access to lots of nice pix so you can get an idea of my work, which is even better in person, by the way.

*does this mean I have to invest in a laptop now, lug it with me everywhere, know where all the hot spots are, and be at work 24/7? I've heard that's what owning your own business is about. I am definitely starting to feel it this week - so much happening.

And on the homestead front: I thought I'd share this picture of Richard's onion seedlings which are taking up a lot of space on our kitchen counter right now. There's a little green paper Easter bunny Edie made that hiding in there.

Stay tuned for more press...

wish you were here

Here are some sketches for my spring postcard mailing, in which I'll be announcing my summer vending events, current retail outlets and my online store
http://www.mountainashdesign.etsy.com/

The design will be based on what you see at the left, only with the faded out paisley below as a background instead of plain white.


I'm not good enough at photoshop to put that together for this post, but don't worry: I'll have it right when it comes time to send it to the printer. If you think you'd like to receive this amusing little piece of snail mail but I might not have your address, send it to me at sarahogreen-at-gmail-dot-com

Thanks to all of you visiting my blog who read about my wares in Seven Days (April 16 - 22), the Burlington Free Press (April 17), and Strictly Business (all April long)! If you don't get these papers, you can see them online:
Seven Days: http://www.7dvt.com
Burlington Free Press: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
Strictly Business: http://timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=strictlybusiness/

Are simple pictures best?

According to The Crafts Report, if you ask the "well respected" "high quality" craft fair juries, they don't want to see anything in your product photos other than a single object against a graduated grey background.

But if you are newspaper photographer Stefan Hard, your wife is a weaver so you understand textiles, and your current subject is another textile artist, it seems you want to get as much of her work and materials into the shot as possible.

The results are shown at left.

Stefan came by to take photos for my recent press in Seven Days and Strictly Business.

I didn't know what the papers would want in terms of settings, subject (other than yours truly), etc., other than the reporter, Patrick Timothy Mullikin, suggesting a shot of me "cutting up a shirt." I happen to have my current inventory of aprons on racks in the living room after a recent photo shoot so I tidied that area and arranged the aprons just so.

But what about an action shot in my workroom? It was a great opportunity for me to feng shui my creative space. I am so glad I did! I moved my sewing machine to the other side of the table and it opened up an ironing station I didn't realize I had room for. I reorganized several bins of material and shoved stuff I know I'm not going to be using into the attic. Two-thirds of the room still needs a once-over, but the most active areas work so much better now.

When Stefan arrived I showed him my workspace and the racks of aprons and my idea for a pose with scissors and about-to-be-transformed shirt in hand. He went for the aprons as a backdrop and wanted to add the baby quilts he saw on my work table on a third rack plus a bin of raw materials (shirts) to block the window and a few unfinished HotHolders in the foreground.

While he was shooting the pictures he kept making comments like, "This had better be in color," "All the prints on the fabric are taking up a lot of memory," and "Wow. There is just so much fabric in this shot it's hard to see the person."

"That's why I wear solids," I told him.

Stefan was easy and comfortable to work with. It was an only slightly glamorous undertaking for me though, as I was also the props person, hair, make-up and stylist and I had to run off after 40 minutes to drive the carpool from school.

When I got home an hour later I was still so excited I called Richard to tell him about the shoot.

"Simple pictures are best," was his only reaction.

This is a little bit of nuclear family culture. We have this wonderful children's book we used to read to the kids a lot. It's by Nancy Willard and illustrated by Tomie dePaola.

In the story a late 19th century photographer tries to shoot a silly couple on their first anniversary. They keep wanting to add personal objects to the shoot to show how rich and varied their lives together are.

"Simple pictures are best," is the repeated warning of the long suffering photographer, consistently ignored by the couple every time. You know how some children's books have a repeated refrain that is the rhythm and heart of the story. This one's fun to read aloud because you get to give a dramatic pause and then say it with a slightly snooty, exasperated voice .


I hadn't yet told the kids about Stefan coming over so that night at the dinner table I described the whole scene.

My theatrical 10 year old daughter paused at me from across the table, gave me a slightly exasperated look and said,

"Simple pictures are best."

some recent developments

Recent developments now give me the opportunity to make a few exciting announcements:

My Etsy shop is up! You can now purchase Mountain Ash Design creations online. It's easy, just go to

http://mountainashdesign.etsy.com/

and click, click, click. Pay with PayPal or even send me a check in the mail. HotHolders, sweet aprons and brand spankin' new belts and billfolds like the ones pictured here all could be yours. Take a peek anyway. You get up to 5 different views of each product. I've also been working on some small quilts and hope to have them finished and in the shop soon.

Mountain Ash Design will be getting some good press in the monthly Times Argus publication, Strictly Business, coming out tomorrow. This was a very fortuitous opportunity. Patrick Mullikin, the reporter, called asking for Richard. Patrick writes the "Made in Vermont" column in Strictly Business and wanted to do a story on Richard's handmade paper business, Langdell Paper. He had already emailed Richard, gotten no reply, and when he called Richard was away doing book conservation at Dartmouth College, which he does 4 days a week. Richard can be pretty hard to pin down for an interview, and after 19 years building the top production hand made paper mill in the US, he's selling the business so he can focus more on book conservation and gardening. [Could this be your new career? Check it out and contact Richard to find out more: http://langdellpaper.com/ ]

I knew Rich wouldn't want to do the interview, at least not this month. Now here's where it pays to have your 30 second pitch down (thank you Alyson at http://artbizcoach.com/!). After apologizing about Richard being so hard to get a hold of I told Patrick about sustainably creating sewn housewares and accessories from mostly recycled materials and it sounded interesting enough for him to schedule an interview with me the very next day. Stefan Hard, photographer for the Times Argus, came over for a photo shoot last week and everything. That event and my family's reaction to my telling about it deserves an entire separate post of it's own. Once I have the pix.
I just discovered it's available on the web right now so you can read the issue online and check for distribution where you live in Vermont. Look for my picture on the sidebar on the cover.
http://timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=strictlybusiness/
Click above the photo of the paper to read it in pdf format, select page 7 on the left, then click on the page to make it big enough to read.

Mountain Ash Design has three new galleries in Vermont. Look for my products in the Frog Hollow galleries in Middlebury and on Church Street in Burlington and at Art On Main on Main Street in Bristol.
http://froghollow.org/
http://artonmain.net/

This post started off with the title "finding my way and The Jury." I was going to write about being in the midst of figuring out where my diverse markets are, what they want and how to reach them, and the variety of jury processes I've experienced (and am currently experiencing). I hope to get to these topics sometime this month so Stay Tuned!
Meanwhile, check out my online shop: http://mountainashdesign.etsy.com/

DIY Grad School

I came to a couple of realizations recently when anticipating the "what do you do for work?" question from a new acquaintance and catching up with relatives. Having lived in a rather alternative/rural/artistic way my entire adult life, the answer has often not been easy, depending on the group or person asking.

These are my realizations:

1) I am an entrepreneur. Having a craft business is so much more than just creating. The creative part is certainly a big reason why I took this on, but to get my work out into the world on a scale to support my family involves a tremendous amount of time doing what would come under the heading of "running the business." And in order to keep costs low I'm doing a lot of things myself, like photographing products, designing marketing materials, building a mailing list, researching markets and supplies, applying to shows, building displays, etc. etc. Instead of hiring a photographer I spent most of the day yesterday doing a photo shoot with some borrowed equipment and friends for models. It really takes a lot to get a good picture: the lighting, the product displayed just so, the model looking great with no stray wisps of hair (because I want to spend as little time in Photoshop as possible!). And for some juries the model has to be void of expression and personality. That was probably the hardest for me: I didn't accomplish it at all. It was apparent how a hair and make-up person, and other helping pairs of eyes and hands, would have been so useful. But I was wearing all the hats, so to speak.

2) Getting a new business up to speed is like being in graduate school. I come from a family of mostly highly educated upper middle class academic/business/lawyer-types and we have a family reunion every year. Grad school is something they can understand. I am working really hard (in a life-consuming kind of way), making a big financial investment in my career, and not making any money. Don't get me wrong - this doesn't mean I am not producing or selling, but at this stage I am reinvesting all the income from sales back into the business. A new business starting up can expect to turn a profit after 3 - 5 years. That sounds about like a grad school timetable.

Let me get back to that life-consuming comment: I love it all. Sure I feel anxiety about deadlines, juries, investing in supplies, anything I do that's new. But it's a good, motivational kind of anxiety. Never dread. I look forward to it all, wake up in the night with plans and ideas I'm anxious to carry out (witness the time of this post), constantly envision my success. I sometimes have feelings of frustration at not being able to make things move forward at a faster rate because of the level of my involvement in my family, homestead and community. But those things are the lifestyle it's been important to me to create, and the business is in part to support my ability to live like this, so putting it all aside too much wouldn't be consistent with my desires for the big picture of my life.

Some of the things I often want to share on this blog are aspects of our "homesteading" activities. I don't know why I don't like that term. We didn't break any sod around here* so it doesn't seem right to use it, though it's a common enough term for what we do. My daughter did a 3rd grade project on subsistence farmers for a history unit on early Vermont. We definitely fit that definition, especially this year as we've raised almost all of our own food for the entire year. But subsistence farming sounds much more lacking in outside resources than we are. Of course we can and do buy food when we need to and want some variety. I think of subsistence farmers of old as being hungry if they run out. Anyway, here's a picture of yesterday's egg yield and the kindling basket. We usually get one goose egg each day. The geese bury their eggs about 6 inches down in the hay and dirt so they are rather in need of a scrub when they come into the kitchen. Kitt is now splitting kindling! Such a useful boy when he wants to be. *heart*

*actually, that is totally not true! This valley and our land has been in agricultural use (skipping the last generation or so) for a couple hundred years, but Richard broke the sod for all of our veggie gardens and is planning a new garden in the unbroken field across the street. Maybe because the sod was broken here 250 years ago, and the fact that we didn't build our house, is why "homesteading" doesn't seem to fit. I think of homesteaders as the first to till and settle the land. Must be the pride of my Midwestern roots. Rolvaag stuck in my mind more than...hmm, I guess I haven't read any novels about the settlement of New England. Mom, Marie, want to suggest some?

Men's Craft Night

This was the scene when I stole out to the barn to snap some pix of Men's Craft Night in Richard's paper studio: Sitting around drinking wine.
Looks familiar.

There was a strong objection from the host about me calling it "Men's Craft Night."
"We are bookbinding," he declares in a most dignified voice.
He doesn't realize the panache "Men's Craft Night" would have in some circles.


Stuart, not wanting to disgrace the group, springs into action for the camera.

A couple hours later I return with Kitt (resident 13-year-old man-child), and it seems they have imbibed the necessary liquid fortification and satiated their needs for sharing and listening and they are repairing their broken books. John's was a cheese book, of course. His mother is a master cheese maker and his wife, Fran, is on her way to being one. I have some of her feta and herbed chevre in the fridge right now calling to me.

Kitt, being a minor, and I, being female, respectfully leave after a short visit. It may sound like I'm poking fun but I am chronicling this gathering here because I'm all for it. I have my own group of women friends who get together every month (more eating and talking than crafting) and it's such a wonderful thing in my life. I want the guys to have that kind of community, too.

Travel Log Part I: I *heart* Philly!

I just got back from an amazing trip to Philadelphia. I went to participate in the Visiting Artists Program at the Arts Business Institute. They are affiliated with the Buyers Market of American Craft and the program was held at the conference center where the buyers market was going on (see photo one: glass and jewelry and other fine crafts as far as the eye can see).
I learned so much and there were great networking opportunities, too. It was a very valuable experience. I highly recommend this program to anyone serious about making a living from products they create. http://www.artsbusinessinstitute.org/

Earlier this month I went to NYC to walk the New York International Gift Show - to see what the offering are and where Mountain Ash Design products might fit into the market. Now, I don't get out of my little corner of Vermont much and just being in the big city is rather overstimulating. Then going to the Javits and looking at 8000 dynamic displays of goods? Whoa. I could not take much in and was only able to spend a few hours trying to cover the Handmade section before getting saturated.

Now back to Philly. What a beautiful city! I dig all the old buildings and cobbled streets and trees growing out of the sidewalks. I want to go back when all the trees are in leaf. Without any former knowledge of different parts of the city I was fortunate to book a B&B http://www.bnbphiladelphia.com/ right near South Street and 2nd so I had an easy walk to lots of great restaurants and shops and a pleasant walk to the subway in the morning. And it really is the city of brotherly love. People are so friendly. Every young white woman on South Street seemed to have some fab creative hair color, including the fireygoldorange-headed student who served me at the divey-looking though tastey Middle Eastern spot on 3rd Street. It's just south of South Street and there's a room in the back with cozy booths and hanging plants. [note to self: if intending to write more travel logs must get names of establishments] I found an independent coffee house on 4th within sight of a Starbucks and that became my regular spot for filling up my trusty travel mug. I even had an ice coffee one day when it was 65 degrees and I lost my thrift-score Eileen Fisher charcoal sweater vest that I was schlepping around. I replaced it with a light blue Brooks Brothers one at the Curiosity Shoppe http://www.areucurious.org/ across the street - a dollar. I bought two hats at Hats in the Belfry. http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/ A rather dorky name for a store, but a much better selection of stylin' hats than I find in VT, esp for guys. Bought one for the 13-year-old boy I live with who is finally starting to express some fashion sense. And I got a lovely hemp-linen cloche for me.

I'm making plans to go back to Philly in May to catch the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the art museum http://www.philamuseum.org/ and to see all the body art. There is a tattoo parlor on every block. It must be a constant parade of ink in warm weather to keep all those places in business.

Other than the workshop the high point of my trip was going to yoga at Practise Yoga Studio on 4th Street (see photo two - thought it doesn't convey how wonderfully large the banner is).
http://www.practiceyogastudio.com/ I went to two evening classes during the five days I was there and it was only after them that I got a decent night's sleep. I had so much on my mind from the workshop that my brain would not shut down even when my body was, unless I'd been to yoga. Then, of course, I felt wonderfully mellow and able to be in the moment with a comparatively empty mind. More on yoga below.

Walking down 4th to yoga I went right through "fabric row." The fabric offerings where not very interesting to me, but there were some cool indie designer storefronts and I did buy some notions and supplies at Zoll's. http://www.albertzoll.com/

Here's what I've learned from my solo forays into the big cities: In New York I learned not to overdo it walking all over the place. It was such a treat to walk to one's destination, though, when I have to drive most days here in the country. When I got walking was hard to stop. There was always more to see on the next block. And too often hard to find a non-Starbucks to take a break in. I also learned that Hotel 17 is a great place to stay if you are on a budget and that I need to research specific locations of destinations in the city before heading out.

My trip to Philly taught me to bring the following: pre-paid phone, travel alarm clock, wheels for my bag. Train travel is the way to go - business class. http://www.amtrak.com/ It took me all day to return to VT by train, but is was perfect: I got to process all I'd taken in on my trip, decompress, and catch up on my rest. It was the day of transition I needed to re-enter my regular, very domestic, family-centered rural life.

Also, I want to make it a tradition to find a yoga studio in the places I'll be traveling to in the future. Yoga class was like a mini-vacation within my trip. And it was a wonderful context in which to enter into a local scene for that hour and a half. The two classes I participated in were taught by two very good instructors with very different styles. The first one was quite challenging for me - I was falling over a lot! But I felt great in the end. Then I went to Rachel's class and I was home. She was speaking the same language as Anne, my wonderful friend and yoga teacher at home, and the practise was very similar. And the banter and community in the class was so warm and friendly and very relaxed. It was a great comfort to be a part of it in the middle of a very intense 5 days on my own away from home.

I gained a lot of confidence from my recent trips and am excited to find reasons to schedule more - craft fairs in Chicago and LA perhaps?

yours,
Sarah