I wanted to share this profile of artist Helen Musselwhite found on if it's hip, it's here. The UK artist makes these amazing paper sculptures of all kinds of creatures and fantastical environments. Here are a few of my favorites. See more at Helen's web site.
Floating around the office of late has been an extraordinary old book filled with
even older postcards and snippets, some dating as far back as the 1870's.
The lucky owner of this beautiful book is our Senior Knits Designer, Gianna.
The book had been passed from friend to friend for many years, with each of its
possessors adding to its pages while keeping with the general theme, until it
reached Gianna's uncle. After a time, he gifted the book, now full, to her, seeing
her inclination to art, drawing and the like. At this point, Gianna has had the book
for ten years, and has no plans to give it up! (Who can blame her?) I wanted to
share this wonderful book with you, since we have all enjoyed it so much,
and even gotten some scrapbooking inspiration from its pages!
Mackenzie from our photo team makes these adorable creatures
by applying glitter to everyday objects one might find at the dollar store.
Here's what she has to say about them:
"I’m obsessed with glitter. It makes me happy! It always has.
I love peeps too...their facial expressions crack me up, they’re all so different."
Kime Buzzelli posted some pics on her Moldy Doily blog from a block party/art opening they just had at her shop, Show Pony. If you don't know Kime's artwork, check out her blog and this entry we featured a while back. Anywho, I loved this pic with the giant bird cage drawing!
She also bought some balloons for the party. They look so pretty and festive, I'm definitely going to remember to get some for my next soirée.
friend of fp Julia Pott has some pretty
sweet illustrations. She's also selling great handmade cards in her etsy shop! Get them while you can..
The Coral Reef project has displayed in Pittsburgh and Chicago and is currently on display in New York. I had seen a small bit of it in the windows at NYU, and checked out the website for the Institute for Figuring and wasn't all that impressed with what I saw in person or the images on the site. But then, I saw the pictures posted on Love Forever and now I am excited!
The project is an effort to draw attention to the disappearing wonders of the marine world caused by global warming and the disgusting amounts of trash in the ocean. The crochet technique they used is called Hyperbolic Crochet, based on an algorithmic technique discovered by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina.
Check out the Institute for Figuring; there is a lot to read about the intentions and process for this exhibition.
Some of the newest fitting room art from out Carlsbad, CA store! Which one is your favorite? I love the last one...
Heather at the home office recommends checking out this Philly photographer this week before his show ends! Manuel Dominguez Jr.'s photography is currently on display at Benna's Cafe in South Philly. Heather also recommends trying the most delicious coffee and tea beverages she has ever tasted, especially the Open Fire made with soy milk.
Heather bought a print of the photo above! Her favorite part is that they are watching Rock of Love on the TV!
A comment on uwishunu (a Philly happenings blog) claims Manuel is the modern Norman Rockwell, so get there this week to check it out (show ends May 8).
I am definitely a big fan of Samantha Lamb's photography, I know many of my fellow crafty bloggers are too. Sam is exhibiting her work in NY with an opening this weekend!
Samantha tells me that prints and coffee table books will be available, there are about 21 framed pieces, and she will be playing great music. Plus, this is a perfect opportunity to check out the In Good Company Workplaces, a space for women entrepreneurs.
If that isn't enough to entice you, here are some of the photos...
One of our myspace friends did this adorable illustration! Check out her page for more equally great drawings. Thanks criticdarling!
Courtney and Lizzy made some beautiful marbled papers for our "trend walls." As the designers are developing a trend, they designate a wall in the hallway where they post all kinds of inspirational images, artwork, magazine tears, trims, etc. You'll have to wait a few months to see what comes of the trend with the marbled colors... The painting sure looks like fun though!
Here are some of the supplies and tips:
Paper was from Pearl Paint
Big white tub was from Ikea
The marbling kit was from Pearl too.
Innovative Marbling Suminagashi Dye Ink Set:
6 colors, in 12 ml. tubes and it comes with instructions!!
The girls put a little baby oil (does not come in the set) in the water too, just to make it more interesting. Wherever the oil is, the paper will remain white.
Check out the comments from an expert marbler for some more tips...
Spotted this on Bloesem! A collaboration of artists yoshikazu yamagata and mafuyu, they made knitted "home wear" for this piece called My Town in My Home. They first displayed at Arnhem Mode Biennale 2007 in the Netherlands. Check out the artists sites for lots of great pictures and some more info.
I want to share these bags with you! Designed by some local Philly friends of Free People, the bags are all natural and hand printed at their studio. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle and spread the good news... Check out the Print Liberation website.
Check out the flyer we designed to promote our Austin store at SXSW (or South by Southwest) music/film/interactive conference/festival.
sfgirlbybay got a case of Gocco Mania! I've heard the word "gocco" but honestly didn't really know what the printing process entailed. She posted some great pics of the process. Check out her blog for the account of her illness.
On the back of our last catalog, we challenged you to recycle the paper in a creative way.
We received the most amazing note via email. One customer took our challenge and used the pages of our catalog to create this awesome jewelry. We are so impressed and surprised at how she re-purposed the book. Great job Ashley!!! You can buy these pieces and more at Ashley's etsy store or befriend her on myspace!
Did anyone else see that challenge on the catalog? Anybody else do something creative?? Leave your email in a comment!
I spotted these window films by Emma Jeffs on Oh Joy! They are beautiful! I love it on the French doors. They actually remind me of the window that caught my eye at barometer. Theirs is made out of some sort of lace, or a velvet burnout, but from afar it could look like these films.
Wandering through Chinatown this weekend, I was on the hunt for some craft supplies. As I made my way down Walker Street, my eye was captured by this amazing window on the second floor of an industrial building. The sign read Barometer. I rang the bell and went on up to discover the sweetest little shop full of "attic" objects and handmade jewelry. I met Miss Anna Studebaker, who curates the collection of objects. The jewelry is made by her partner, Jenna Wainwright. The shop is a bit like an attic, a bit museum, and a bit girly studio apartment. Check out their website and pay them a visit next time you're in NYC.
Check out these origami flowers made by artist/crafter/blogger ArguingTheMobius. Check out her blog for some info on works-in-progress and her etsy shop to buy her handcrafted bouquets!
We first posted photos of the sequined canvases when our NYC store opened. Now they are part of all of the FP stores' spring display. A reader commented asking how to make these, and one of our talented display girls had some great advice I wanted to share with everyone.
For our proto, our designer actually hand sewed each sequin on by hand, and then left a space for the screen printed flower applique. She does not recommend doing that yourself! Luren suggests going to a fabric store and buying a small amount of sequined fabric, maybe the stretchy variety. This could be a little expensive, so another great alternative would be to find some sequined wonder of a dress at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. That way you would be recycling material and not spending much $$. The fabric can them be fixed onto a frame of canvas stretchers and decorated as you like.
Hope that helps! If you end up making the project, you should send me the photos and I'll post them on the blog! Just leave your email address in a comment and I will get in touch. Happy crafting!
Check out the flickr group featuring the crafts blog readers made for the Free People Valentine's Craft Swap! (If you sign in to flickr, you will be able to see the full photo pool. If not, you will only see a limited number of photos.)
Learning to Love You More is a project by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. I had heard of the project before, but never really knew what it was about until this weekend. Miranda and Harrell have created this list of assignments intended to guide people toward their own experiences. In the book version of the collections, they talked about how, as artists, your life is all about creating. These artists realized that it was precisely in the moments of letting those thoughts of creation go, that they truly had these meaningful experiences.
The other thing I like about this project, is that so many of the assignments relate to childhood. We wouldn't need these kinds of assignments as children, because we thought of this kind of stuff all the time and were just free to do it. As adults I think we forget that we have that freedom. So here are a few of my favorite assignments. Check out the website and the book, and do some of the assignments on your own.
10. Make a flier of your day.
15. Hang a windchime on a tree in a parking lot.
27. Take a picture of the sun.
33. Braid someone's hair.
39. Take a picture of your parents kissing.
Discovered these beautiful printed cardboard "carpets" over on Bloesem. Designer Wendy Plomp titled them "message in a box". Here is a description from Louise Schouwenberg of Domus magazine.
Cardboard is probably the cheapest industrial packaging material available on the market. Any image that is printed onto this typically throwaway material can turn into a streetwise design object; something that can have a glorious second life if left to the street where it can be spontaneously employed in new applications.
For instance, it could be reborn as a disposable carpet that could instantly provide you with a clean space wherever you are, almost like a home.
To prolong the lifespan and usefulness of boxes, informative messages or ornate arabesque patterns reminiscent of precious carpets could be printed on the inside surfaces. An example could be the food parcels dropped in disaster areas; this unexploited space could be used to provide valuable information which, especially in those conditions, might be enormously helpful.
I spotted Melanie Tomlinson's work on designers block. She does these incredible printed tin tableaux. Check out her explanation of her work, and read more on craft2eu...
Running through my work like threads, are themes from folklore. These allow me to step into another world, to explore the world of the unfamiliar and transform its stories and symbols. The themes and messages in folktales transcend time and culture and are still relevant to our own experiences.
Some of the tableaux are automated with the movement hidden inside the piece and some are static. I like the element of surprise that happens when you discover a small handle, that when turned brings the piece to life. Many of the tableaux sit on top of a box which has a printed interior. The boxes are not obvious at first, but when discovered, can become secret hiding places for personal artefacts.
I just had to post Tara Murray's doily chair. Free People is always attracted to the modernization of old crafts, and Tara's work explores that concept. Here's a bit about the chair from her website...
The Doily Chair was an exploration in designing a new furniture piece utilizing an outdated object. The new composite linen doily has found its home supported on a wide walnut chair frame. The recontextualized doily provokes images of grannies and formal parlours of the past yet maintains its contemporary proportions and usage. The Doily Chair is a project from the thesis work on attachment and thus employs the six developed Design Tools to Encourage Emotional Attachment.
Yesterday, a special exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "blog.mode: addressing fashion" Here's a bit about the exhibit...
As a living art form, fashion is open to multiple readings. A vibrant reflection of contemporary culture, fashion especially in its most avant-garde expressions affects us through its intense visual impact. blog.mode: addressing fashion is the first in a series of shows designed to promote critical and creative dialogues about fashion. The exhibition presents some forty costumes and accessories dating from the eighteenth century to the present all recent Metropolitan Museum acquisitions and invites visitors to share their reactions online or from a "blogbar" of computer terminals in the exhibition galleries.
On a recent trip to Australia, one of our design director came across this amazing shadowbox in the gallery A-Space on Cleveland. This shadowbox is full of antique chalk figurines and vintage ceramic animals. It’s called “Garden of Eden (Paradise Begins)” and was assembled by Australian artist Clinton Cross. Our design director was most excited and inspired by Clinton’s aesthetic. Also, she loved the way he took antique collectables and assembled them into a piece of modern art.
Our assistant accessories designer, Callie, was so inspired by the shadow box that she created her very own. She was surprised by how many figurines she could fit into such a small space! Check out her version...
Emma of emmas designblogg just introduced her readers to the artwork of Scott Rench. This is what he says about the idea of interactive ceramics...
"I started this series of work after thinking about people and the art they live with. I wanted to create something that engaged the viewer in its creation and evolution."
and a little about his process...
"My ceramic work, consists of computer generated images that are printed with a ceramic glaze onto a large canvas of clay. Creating and collecting images, I scan them into the computer and manipulate them to fit the concept. The new image is output onto transparent film that acts as a stencil for transferring the image to a silk-screen. Glaze is then used (instead of ink) to print the image on to a slab of clay. Once completely dry the slabs are fired in a kiln, producing an image that will stand the test of time indoor or outdoor."
Scott's work is part of the Fragiles exhibition in Miami Design 2007. Here is one more favorite "interactive" piece from the show... ( I couldn't figure out the artist from the website, so if anybody can give them credit, please leave a comment.)
Spotted on, true nature, this will do wonders...
It's totally here. Our progressive times allow you to sport a patch on your body to maintain your hormone levels, curb your appetite(s), and cover your boo-boos. Now, thanks to Dunmire Labs, there's no good reason you can't have a slow, steady stream of creativity delivered into your system through the Mirecle33 Creativity Patch.
Try the Mirecle33 Creativity Patch today and see how much it 'miraculously' improves your creative output!
Check out the site to download your own Creativity Patch. The perfect holiday gift!
Let fiber keep you warm during the Etsy Fiber Art Street Team sale, trunk show, online events … and all year round!
Who: The fabulous independent spinners, knitters, crocheters, weavers, felters, and fiber artists of Etsy.com, your place to buy handmade!
What: A giant event, online and in person, celebrating all things handmade and fiber!
When: Sale in online shops from Nov. 1 - Nov. 16. Trunk show date is Nov. 16, online and at Etsy Labs 6 - 8 p.m. EST.
Where: Etsy Labs, 325 Gold Street, 6th Floor, Brooklyn NY 11201 , and also online at www.etsy.com and www.etsyfast.com
Why: Warm up your November with our great fiber artists! Great sales on items for the holidays, supplies, and more! Interact with our members, learning more about these products and techniques! Buy handmade.
How: RSVP at labs [!at] etsy.com, check www.etsyfast.com for more info, and be sure to visit us during our sale and show Nov. 16!
For more pictures, visit here
Our Dark Fairy Swap flickr group is filling up with photos of the amazing crafts you all made! Check out the photos, read about the swappers in the discussion page (come on swappers, introduce yourself!) and leave the crafters some comments. And FYI, if you have a flickr account, or want to set one up, you can view ALL of the photos in the group. If you don't have an account, you can only see a limited #. Not sure why...
I'll be featuring some individual photos from the swap in the sidebar to the right. So check back to see yours featured!
The art for our November catalog is mostly inspired by the same fabrics and trims that were inspiration for the clothing. The creative team used the fabrics as a starting point and painted them in watercolors and ink. Once they started painting, they developed a looser approach to the representation, and resulted in the beautiful backgrounds you see throughout the catalog.
So I discovered this on Coolhunting posted by Lost At E Minor.
Start Mobile offers amazing new artwork you can buy to download to you cell phone. There are seriously hundreds of works. Here's a bit from their site...
START SOMA, the San Francisco gallery for emerging artists, today announced the launch of START MOBILE, becoming the first retail art gallery in the world to sell NEW ART for cell phones. Curated by START SOMA founder John Doffing, THOUSANDS of original works of NEW ART from HUNDREDS of the world’s most prominent emerging + underground artists can now be downloaded onto mobile phones across the United States. START MOBILE showcases the world’s premier emerging + underground artists, quite literally from A to Z. “START MOBILE features artists whose work is in museums + artists whose work appears exclusively on the streets - and pretty much everything in between,” according to Doffing. “We have created an unprecedented mix of creative talent from around the world, and their art is now available to anyone with a cell phone for less than the price of a cup of coffee.”
Check out Philly artist Katie Henry's opening this Friday of her whimsical stitched drawings. More info on her myspace!
One of my favorite blogs, Poppytalk, has just launched a new project! Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly online street market to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world. Click on a designer and see a selection of products plus links to their blogs, websites and etsy stores. Check it out!
Hi Swappers! Just wanted to let you know that sign up time is over for the Dark Fairy craft swap. It is a bit of a process to match up partners and email you, so I will send you a message sometime later this week. Thank you all for participating!!!
There's just a few more days to sign up for our Dark Fairy theme craft swap! The more swappers, the more fun. So can you help spread the word? Post about it on your blogs and email all your crafty friends!
Here's the link to SIGN UP.
And here is the ORIGINAL POST about the swap. Sign up ends Wednesday, but I can extend it to Friday so we get even more swappers.
Thanks everyone!
Fellow FP girl reccomended this event and I thought it highly appropriate now that we have a store in Austin!
Check out Stitch 2007 on November 10th, and get tickets because they sell out! Indie craft fair and fashion show goin on, so go and support the community. The money raised benefits the Stitch Grant awarded for Indie and Craft Upstarts. Woohoo.
I wanted to share this video posted on the Stitch blog. It is a clip from Handmade Nation aka the Indie Craft Documentary...
Our next craft swap theme is inspired by this month's catalog, Dark Fairy. Think about woodland creatures, fairy tales, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and gothic stories (or whatever else you can think up...). Feel free to comment with inspiration ideas!
Sign up will be from now until next Wednesday September 26th. We will have a month to make the crafts and can ship to partners the last weeks of October. Let's get our gifts swapped so that everyone receives theirs before Halloween!
Sign up here. PLEASE double check your info and make sure your email address is correct. If your partner emails you, please respond so they know you are still swapping. If something happens and your gift will be late, give your partner a heads up. If you decide not to swap after signing up, PLEASE email me so I can match up your partner with a different swapper.
Check out our last two swaps here and here.
Happy swapping!
Here's a little intro to our new September catalog dropping on Monday!
The two trend concepts for the collection were Dark Fairy and Sport. I'll tell you a little more about each trend next week. We were really inspired by this photography book called "A Fairy's Child" by Ann Dahlgren and Douglas Foulke. We loved the book so much, we contacted Douglas and asked if he would be interested in shooting our catalog! He agreed and he and his wife shot our catalog at their home in Connecticut. (The photos above are from his portfolio on his website...)
As far as art direction, the creative team was really into old books, bindings, bookplates... One of our creative assistants did the fairy painting above on the pages of an old book, and then painted lines over the text too. Below are just some other old books we looked at for ideas.
I posted the video of our first Urban Outfitters Inc. art installation a little while back (check it out here).
The latest artist exhibiting in Building 543 (the Urban Inc. common building hosting our restaurant, book shop, gym, etc) is also a Free People girl. Luren works on our display team and is an amazing artist in her free time.
This installation was originally titled "One Wall is an Edge." It addresses the idea of creating a nomadic but holistic environment for yourself to move in. The yurt is a nomadic shelter, meant to be put up in a few hours, made hospitable, lived in, and deconstructed to move to a different place. The painted backdrop completes the illusion of creating a new environment for the yurt dweller. This is a fantasy place for being far away while grounded in a common routine. It is an escape to an exoticized space, yet it is made of common materials around us all the time: plastic, PVC, zip ties, canvas and wood. Decontextualized from its usual location on the planes of Central Asia, the yurt and its landscape act as an object of escapism and as a space for contemplation and surprise.
A little about Luren... She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with the department of Textile Design. She has been working within the scale of environment creation through interior design and textile design, as well as installation. Her interests in the decorative arts lie mainly in the intersection of the surreal and the conventional. She is currently living and working in Philadelphia with Free People making artwork for new stores and designing seasonal displays.
Check out the trailer for the latest issue of Fly, the magazine of fashion on film. I love the auditions! I wish I could rent Fly DVDs at my neighborhood video store...
You may have seen this around the blogosphere, but I thought I'd give my recommendation as well. Core 77 did this back to school guide with helpful tips for all of you designers and designer wannabes. From key items to invest in to simple photoshop tricks, with some wit and humor thrown in. There's some good advice that translates for those of us that have graduated to business world too. So check it out, because they used hot pink glue guns in the image.
I came across this beautiful video trailer for the film "1960's Butterfly Girl" by designer/artist Susan Cianciolo. I wish the entire 10 minute film was on youtube, but now at least I know to keep my eye out for a live screening. Looks amazing, right? Have any of you seen this in it's entirety?
Thank you to Bloesem for intoducing me to the work of Margo Slinger. You have to check out her website of work. It is so clever and funny and beautiful. All of the buttons on her website are little vintage buttons (an one silly rabbit?). The navigation is a little tricky, and it's easy to get lost in Slingerland, but so much fun...
Spotted this over on craftzine.com and had to share. Images above are by Audrey Penven. She sews on film negatives in a darkroom wearing nightvision goggles. Pretty amazing.
We got a comment asking for more of the watercolors from the catalog. Most of them have been chopped up at this point, but here is one more that is still in tact. Enjoy!
I managed to get a hold of some more pictures of our new showroom to share with you. The visual/display team adorned the walls with tons of artwork, similar to the way they do the fitting rooms in all the Free People stores.
The way they work is they gather inspiration and ideas and make some sketches. The designs are all roughly planned out before they attack a wall. But then the scale is enlarged and each piece is hand drawn or painted, so each one comes out a little bit special. Here are some photos of the finished pieces!
We received a message from blogger vintage thrift & craft. The author and her 14 year old daughter, Paige, saw some of our fitting room artwork on our blog. Paige was inspired to a mural of her own! Her mom let her take over a wall of their hallway, and this is what she came up with. Awesome, right?
Urban Outfitters Inc. has a building called 543 in the Navy Yard that is the center of employee life. This building is shared by the three brands and is also open to the public. 543 houses our restaurant/cafeteria, gym, yoga studio, coffee shop, and magazine shop among other things. Since it is a space the employees visit so often, we thought it would be a great place to set up an art gallery to display the artwork or collections of the employees. Our company is filled with creative people and we want to showcase all of their hidden talents...
So to kick it off, Free People employee Kris Chau set up a show of her art work with her best friend Brielle. You might recognize Chau's style from a few illustrations that have been posted on the blog. Check out the video of Kris and Brielle and the gallery opening, and Kris Chau's website!!
Did you miss the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend? Or maybe you're thinking about checking out the Chicago scene? Poppy Talk did this cool guide to the fair that can catch you up on what you missed... Above image from rock paper scissors
from bang
from woolies
Etsy has teamed up with Instructables for this Sew Useful contest. So you know that Etsy is all about supplying a marketplace for the independent artist and crafter, and Instructables is a community created to share the how-to's for useful projects. I love how Instructables encourages the sharing of finds and ideas. I mean, that's what blogging is all about, right? Anyway, combining these two ideas, you get the ultimate way to support the handmade community. And there's prizes...
And they're working with one laptop per child. So check out the contest!
So our travel themed craft swap is coming to a close. These photos are just a few of the amazing crafts the particpants have exchanged. Check out our flickr group to see the rest, and leave these guys some comments! The creativity of all you swappers is seriously incredible. Hope you all had fun!!!!
My attention has recently been captured by jotterblog, a paper/stationary/craft blog written by one of our avid fp blog fans. As I am new to their site, I went back and checked out the archives, and found a post on these awesome paper dresses.
I'm also loving their love of chickens. Guess what. Chicken Butt. Check out the chicken entries here and here.
It's coming up, so clear your calendars, and make that road trip to NY! The Renegade Craft Fair is sponsored by Bust Magazine and is seriously awesome. This year is their biggest yet, with over 300 artists participating. And I'm sure some of our favorite craft bloggers will be there. Leave a comment with your link if you're going! It looks like this year there will be vendors set up in the pool instead of the park. I guess that lessens the chance of getting hit with a baseball. See you there!
Oh, and if you live near Chicago, the fair is held there too! Check out their site for more info...
Above are some photos from last year. Check out the rest on the RCF flickr site.
The first few images for the travel swap are posted! Check out the details on our flickr page.
Also, on the flickr page, I recommend checking out all of the messages left in our "introductions" stream. Find it under "discuss" or "discussions". Practically all of the swappers participating have listed their blogs, websites, or myspaces. Lots of new blogs and artists out there to be discovered. So get to it!