Monday, April 27, 2009

Presenting...


The flyer is finally done!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Fringe benefits

I'd say a good hour of everyday is spent pouring through etsy and discovering new shops. I've been looking for beaded fringe earrings for a while. I almost bought a pair from target, but hesitated. If I'm trying to get people to buy handmade items from me, I had better buy handmade items from others! There's such a feeling of excitement when you purchase something directly from the person who made it. I did just that today. Heather from Fantasy Beader makes adorable beaded jewelry and when I came across her Yellow Red and Turquoise beaded chandelier earrings, I bought them immediately. The colors are just funky enough for me! I can't wait to receive them in the mail next week.




Don't forget that this saturday is the De Portola Boutique in Mission Viejo. I've been slaving away all week to bring new pieces to my collection. Hope to see you there! For more info, click here.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Come on Summer!

I know it is only the beginning of Spring, but I have been feeling the brink of summer all over for the past couple of weeks. The spirit in Costa Mesa is different, there are more cars piled up at the end of the 55 freeway and everyone seems to be pulling their bikes out of storage. The OC Fair promotion has begun! I have decided to enter some photography this year! It's fun to be involved in the competition and you also get free tickets! There's prizes too, last year I won a red ribbon and $50.

I visited The Hive boutique last week and took some pictures of my scarves in action!


This is the front window of The Hive. To say I was excited to see something I made in the front window of a store on a mannequin would be some what of an understatement!





These are my latest creations: ribbon brooches. (With The Fair in mind.) If you can't enter anything into the fair, or if you don't win anything, wear one of these! They're way cooler. I'll start listing them on etsy soon.





These ones are my favorite. I used the plaid fabric from my "Thorns have Roses" collage scarf.


Friday, April 10, 2009

Take me to the Fair

While I may not be participating in Renegade or Unique LA, (just haven't had the time or stamina to try and pull myself together to apply for these) I am filling my Spring and Summer weekends with little fairs in Orange County! Not to mention, the entire month of June will be filled with Indie Crafting events and shows every saturday. I will post the flyers for those once they are done (considering I will be the one designing them! :)

Rather than re-type all the info, I posted the flyers for each. I've been working away in my studio on some brand new projects that I will talk about soon!

De Portola Boutique is NEXT SATURDAY! I will be sharing a 10x15' booth with Deborah of Roxstar Jewelry. Sharing is always more fun.



Nina Brito of Tacos and Eggrolls just let me in on this show. Cutest flyer EVER! I may be a graphic designer by trade, but I couldn't have designed anything better than this. I will be at the Laguna Store.



Patchwork is perhaps the most widely publicizes show I'll be doing in May. I'm paring up with my friend Rosemary (Rosemary's collection) for this one. She sells beautiful reconstructed vintage jewelry and terrariums and other goodies from her garden.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Round 2


Alright, I've been so thankful to have some feedback! Here is my second go at it.
My idea was to do something like LA's felt club, where the opening page to their website has a cool, more ornate intro image:

This can be find when going directly to FeltClub.com
Then, once inside the site, this is the logo


I want to use something like the Simple Handmade Brigade for pretty much all of our branding, but I want to use the same logo with some craft supplies behind it, similar to the one that I posted last week.
Feedback?

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

As I promised.....

Loschy Studios!!!

Or, what I did with the Tough Shed I'm renting on the property that I live on. It took me a couple of days to move everything and partially organize all of my accumulated supplies (still SO much more to do). With the help of mostly my existing furniture and a few Target and Thrift Store finds, my art space is well on its way.

Red shelves are from IKEA which I had and the plastic sterilite shelves I got for cheap from Target. NOTE: Goodwill has hit an all time low for me. I tried to search for various shelving there and couldn't find anything for less than $20, and it was all junky. Goodwill, what has happened to you? I used to love you, and the suede jacket I bough from you for $7 in 2001. It's not me, it's you.

This Gem of a rug was found at "rags to riches" thrift shop in Costa Mesa, right where Newport Blvd meets the end of the thrift shop (best shop I have ever been to...seriously. THE BEST THRIFT STORE IN OC, the store pretty much changes everyday. The best mix of seriously collectable vintage and surplus goods from dept. retail stores).
Best part besides the 4 names, none of which are my own, is Jr. in the middle.



Living by the 99cent only store is a joy. The plastic basket/purses, and stacked frames are all from there.


This tool drawer organizer from Home Depot has changed my life. I've been using it since the fall and I have been able to keep it organized every since. I don't know what got into me with this.


LOVE this Ikea drafting table with a light board. The sawhorse legs enable the tabletop to tilt, but Then where would I but all the crap on top of it?


A table just for sewing and cutting fabric!!! (and for storing stuff I haven't organized yet).


Miscellaneous unfinished art pieces, BUTTONS



One of the many "inspiration" boards I plan to hang. I made this one by stapling fabric to a piece of foamboard. SUPER cheap and I just use straight pins to attach things. It's so much cheaper than corkboard and you can even use cardboard, which is FREE.


What I'm hoping this space will encourage me to do is achieve a new level of quality and creativity in my work, as well as keep work and sleep separate. Sleeping in a lofted bed above my worktable has caused me many insomnia-tic nights with projects looming underneath me. While my brain is always a whirlpool of ideas, I realized it was time to break down and separate the 2 spaces (especially now that I have a job and somewhat of a routine).

New projects to come.

Art or Die. Life is Art


Crafters Unite!


This will be a short entry to which I will follow up on later tonight.
I have been bouncing off the walls lately, literally:
> Jazzercizing
> Back into TKB (Turbo Kick-boxing)
> Full-time graphic design, the ol' 9-5. Benefits kick-in in July! woot, no more paying for my own crappy health insurance.
> Drawing, sketching, scribbling on a film production/copy-writing portfolio project for another chapman grad.

and my favorites:
> Moving into my new studio! I will post photos tonight, after A. taco tuesday with my pal Gen and B. I finally finish organizing!!! and hanging some art.
> Probably the most exciting, working with the fabulous artistic ladies from the up and coming "Handmade Brigade" of Orange County! I started designing the logo, it is not finished yet but, I included it above. Any feedback?

I'll type more tonight, I promise.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Oh Heel no!

It's no news that my weakness has always been shoes. At some point in my life, I will be comfortable and confident enough to wear heels on a weekly basis. Being 5'7", I'm not an exceptionally tall person, but when I wear heels, they put me in that "I'm taller than everyone around me" zone (excluding a few close friends). Shoe accessories/clips are something I'd like to eventually include in my repertoire of handmade items, but I think that before I do that, I had better start embracing the high heel. Here are a few that I am crazy about right now:

These shoes by Yves Saint Laurent were all over the March issue of Elle, and I want them. I think they only cost a couple $1000, nothing too extravagant (haha, yikes).


These sling back wedges from Anthropologie are somewhat more in my price-range, but not until the fall when they're in the clearance room. Still, I would try and live in these if they were mine.




Now these are definitely in Melissa Loschy style, just enough biker edge,


And here are some Shoe clips, my next experimentation.



This is a shoe from some royal lady

I don't have a time on when these will come to fruition, but in the coming months for sure