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.
I love this Greenhouse waste paper basket spotted on siagraphica designed by Jantze Brogard Asshoff. The designers exhibited at design fair Salone Satellite in Milan.
I also love this whimsical key hole cabinet called "Peek" !
Did you know that you can share your favorite Free People products on your facebook, del.icio.us and stumbleupon pages? Check out the “Share” button on the lower right hand corner of any item page. Just click this button to add to your page.
FP President, Meg recently bought a puppy from a lovely young girl in Canada named Sherry. Sherry's other passion happens to be Gypsy Vanner horses, and their story is pretty neat, so we thought we'd share. Sherry explained to Meg that Gypsy Vanner horses were used by the gypsy people to pull their caravans. They are one of the rarest horses in North America. There are only 2 breeders in all of Ontario but they are more popular in the states. Check out this youtube video Sherry made for some more info...
Have you heard of uber? It's like a blogging platform or social networking similar to MySpace where you can post photos, write blog entries and stream music. The difference is, it's really customizable and much easier to design your pages without using code or sticking with really basic templates. You can just drag and drop your options in. The result is some really great looking sites. And a new place to find some great design blogs, like Crafty Ideas by Benny and Kelly for instance
Coolhunting just did a great entry featuring amazing bike baskets. I had featured this one a while back, so here are some of my new favorites introduced by Coolhunting. The top two are by Basil. They have a huge assortment of both baskets and bags. You can get the one below at Velo Orange. This is the Hershberger Baker's Basket, made by the Amish Hershberger family in rural Minnesota.
One of our designers spotted this photo on flickr and then we found the blogfullofjelly! Here is some more Free People recycling in effect. You have to check out her blog. She makes lots and lots of beautiful things...
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.
A friend at FP turned me on to some new blogs this week, and I discovered small stump. Check out this crazy cute bunny vase she made from an old doll head. She says she has a few of the heads and has more ideas, so be sure to check her blog and etsy store for other fun crafts.
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.
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.
"Pizza Girl is Physical Phil's colorful and energetic girlfriend. She attends Dufresne College and works as a pizza delivery girl. Fate and a whole lot of pizza brought her and Physical Phil together."
That's Pizza Girl's bio on abc.com for the drama October Road. The zap2it TV Fashion blog did a feature all about Pizza Girl's look and how it was inspired by Free People. Check it out...
Since we just featured a catalog in India, and it is a place of continual inspiration for Free People, I'd like to point out this blog. Flower Girl's Rural India is a travel blog featuring one girl's journey to-date with interesting facts/customs/traditions from Rural India. I think she has been traveling through India for about a year and this is her last month. It's a great blog to explore and learn more about the art, people and customs of India. Enjoy!
Ever wished you could write yourself a letter in the future? You could remind yourself of a great moment you want to make sure you don't forget. Or maybe of a lesson learned, a mistake you don't want to repeat again. Or maybe it would just be amusing to see where you thought you would be in the future compared to where you actually are. On futureme.org you can write yourself a letter and post date it for any time in the future. You'll be emailed that letter on the date you choose. Pretty amazing concept. Their philosophy is, emails are more accurate than memory. Check it out.
Free People has set up a MySpace! Be our friend, check out our photos, and connect with other fp girls (or guys, or bands, or photographers, or artists, you know).
check out the Free People MySpace here
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.
I spotted these Valentine BigFoot pins on Tokyo Bunnie and had to share. You can buy them on etsy from PearsonMaron. Here's some of the description from their shop...
Now Bigfoot can be sighted whenever you please.
Inspired by The Patterson/Gimlin Bigfoot sighting film from 1967.
Your monsters will come packaged ready for gift giving.
I love them.
Camille from Kissing Knees Craft wants to invite all you creative fp girls to participate in a project she's putting together. Share you love stories. Ya gotta love something! check out her blog for the info...
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.
Over on the small object, there are some really great holiday craft ideas. Two of my favorites are made using recycled fabric scraps. If you do any sewing and are a pack rat, I know you have tons of little scraps you're saving "just in case". So here are two awesome ideas to use em up! Check out the stacking fabric trees and chain link garland...
I took the recommendation on love forever and checked out all over print. This blog covers color, design and inspiration of the textile design company. There are some really beautiful inspiring images. I wish some of the entries had more words so you knew what the works in progress and inspirations were related to, but I guess that's part of the fun. Check it out!
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!
Print & Pattern just did a long post on matryoshka prints! So cute. Check them out!!
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
So I promised to introduce you to the amazing designer responsible for the new look of freepeople.com and the Free People blog, aka the Caravan of Curiosities...
His name is Ed. Ed gets Free People, and we had an awesome time working with him. I asked Ed if he wanted to say anything about working with the FP crew, and this is what he said...
"The Free People folks are so great to work with because they embrace the quirky and playful things that others dismiss. The Caravan of Curiosities idea sounds odd to say it out loud, (“Ok, so there is this blue hare that runs through Europe and Tibet and Alaska and Africa, and there’s a moose, and a cow and a monkey and some birds…”) but FP was just like, “Yeah, that sounds fun!” And it was."
Thank you Ed! Above are some of the working drawings Ed did while creating the new blog design. If you want to check out what else he's been up to, check out his site, edmullen.com
The title of this post is, so far, my favorite comment about the new site! What do you think? Make sure you all click on the curtain tassel in the upper right corner to see new places the magical blue bunny can take you. A feature on our fantastic web designer is coming soon!
I published a post back in June about a blog list, a great collection of blogs on the subjects of creativity and design. Guess who just got added to the list! Woo hoo Free People! Check out the list or download a PDF and get to exploring!
We've been working on improving freepeople.com. Check out the new design! We've rearranged some things, and hopefully made it a lot more user friendly and easier to navigate. Click around and tell us what you think!
And the new blog design is coming soon!
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!
If you have visited etsy lately, you have seen their new blog/newspaper/ezine called The Storque. It's really cool, covering topics about etsy crafters and all that surrounds the crafting lifestyle. I like that blogs are morphing into these more magazine-like entities are creating such a tight knit community (no pun intended).
When is the last time you blew bubbles? I spotted this on pan-dan and had to check it out. Designed by Jason Amendolara, this dish scrubber is also a bubble wand! It is silly but the thought of it just makes me smile. Check out the other designs nominated for the Cooper Hewitt People's Design Award. Nominate and vote on your favorites! Here are some of mine...
Good Magazine
Play for Pump, entertaining children and creating clean drinking water
cowboy boots.
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...
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.
Thought I'd pass along this recommendation to all of our crafty readers. I spotted this book on Lena Corwin's blog and it definitely sounds like a must read for all of you small business crafty girls. Check out the website and Lena's review!
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...
Loveforever posted this photo from our catalog on both her blog and her inspiration board. But, she also questioned, is this lace or lace wallpaper? I had no idea, so I asked the catalog team. They said it was wallpaper, and that it looked so real, it even tricked your eyes when you were standing right in front of it. It was in the bathroom of this amazing house they shot at in London...
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.
So I'm sure you've already come across notcouture, fashionable offspring of favorite design site, notcot. Well this week notcouture is celebrating their official launch! Be sure to check out both of the sites, and take notice of special discounts for notcot readers from some of your favorite retailers (hint hint hint). And start submitting some of your favorite items on notcouture!
PingMag just did this entry featuring Japanese wind bells. Every July in Kanagawa, people visit the Kawasaki Taishi Wind Bell Market. Can you imagine how magical and peaceful it would be to walk through an entire market filled with these bells? These photos are my favorites, but check out PingMag for more pics and info...
Take a listen...
Attack of the giant tomato pincushion! No, it's a bean bag chair, and you can make it. Spotted on love forever and find the tutorial on how to make your own at etsy labs. I wanna take a field trip there!
This is a cake. Yes, a cake. I found this while browsing on desingersblock. How amazing?
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
Check out this post over on love forever. She has picked up the latest issue of Selvedge and posted these beautiful photos from a spread on the women's clothing of Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Definitely makes me want to see the rest of the images. (photographs by Fedor Van der Valk)
A little about Selvedge from their website...
"Open a copy of Selvedge and you sense there is a philosophy that Selvedge readers subscribe to. A belief system based on a cerebral and sensual addiction to textiles in all forms. Readers share a belief in the importance of their material surroundings and a passion for the beautiful and beautifully made.
Our aim is simple: to provide a textile publication which fits seamlessly into their creative lifestyle. Directed towards an international, discerning audience, Selvedge covers fine textiles in every context: fine art, interiors, fashion, travel and shopping."
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!
Check out this huge list of blogs on the subject of creativity. They're broken down by categories like industrial design, fashion, technology, etc. There are a million blogs on here I've never seen, so I'm very excited to do some exploring. Have fun! Leave a comment and let us know if you find one that's amazing!
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.
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!
I really love this digital mag style will save us, and they love "all things super-stylish, organic, ethical, eco-friendly, vintage, recycled and sustainable." In the current issue, they did an article on re-worked vintage and featured the "post-vintage" work of fashion and art collective Andrea Crews (pictured above). Check out the article here...
I spotted these on coolhunting and had to share. Someecards (or Some Ecards) are for "when you care enough to hit send". I posted some of the cards that are just sarcastic enough for a smile, but check out the site. There are some that are just so ridiculous you will laugh out loud. I can't imagine ever sending some of these, but they make their site that more entertaining.
I was browsing through this week's issue of Time Out New York, when I spotted the word "Etsy" under the "recently opened" section. It seems Etsy, our fav DIY web merchant, has opened up their warehouse, or the Etsy Lab, for...
*Workshops on making things
*Advice & help with your Etsy shop
*Meeting other artists
*Getting out of your house
*Creative projects
*Community events
So if you live anywhere near Brooklyn, I would check it out!
One of my favorite artist / bloggers, Anahata, is on this month's cover of Cloth Paper Scissors! I picked up this magazine for the first time a few months ago, and it's really great for artistic inspiration, especially collage ideas and techniques. I'll definitely be buying this month's issue to check out the feature on Anahata...
She sent the above F & P tags to Free People as a little present, along with a bunch of other amazing paper goods she designed. Check out her goods and her blog too!
no good for me posted today about Kime Buzelli, an amazing artist and one of my favorite bloggers (check out The Moldy Doily). She makes it sound like she has way too much fun in her Echo Park hood in LA. And through The Moldy Doily today, I discovered the latest issue of Lula is out, and Kime contributed! I'll be at the mag shop after work. I'll be sure to share discoveries over the next few days...
(This is part of Kime's work featured in Lula)
Somebody commented on kate's desk entry about their common love for matriochka dolls. So I thought I'd share these hand made screen printed dishcloths with a matriochka motif. I spotted them in April's issue of Dwell and you can check them out on roseandradish.com. This site has a lot of really clean modern designs, but they occasionally break it up with something cute and whimsical like these towels. I personally fell in love with the one below featuring cutlery and cars.
Is anyone down with IQONS* yet?? For those of you that haven't heard the buzz, it's a social networking site developed spefically to help connect those in the fashion industry. Whether you're a stylist, photographer, designer, whatever. Check out the about page. I think the idea is really great, connecting serious designers and those just starting out, inspiring further relationships between art and fashion, and hosting competitions to get your name out there. And I guess it's still in it's soft launch phase, so it's hard to tell how effective it is for all you creators out there. But I'm loving the idea. So, should we all get to it and sign up for IQONS???
(Fifi wear Marc Jacobs)
"Hi, I'm Fifi. Fifi Lapin. I was born one of 257 brothers and sisters but sadly there was an outbreak of myxamatosis when I was one year old and I was the only one that survived. My parents are therefore incredibly protective of me and spoil me rotten. I'm an haress to my fathers fortune which he made playing fast and loose with carrot and lettuce shares on the international stock market. There are a lot of rabbits out there so I guess he just struck gold (or orange you might say). Some people think I’m just a socialite but I think there is more to me than just an extremely stylish clotheshorse! "
(Fifi wears Anna Sui)
Check out Fifi's blog. I am in love.
(Fifi wears Chanel)
I think Fifi should wear Free People! Buy an original Fifi at her etsy shop...
Found via love made visible
I know most of you are crafty, some of you even run your own businesses or sell your wares on etsy. In any case, I thought I'd pass along the info about Fred Flare's Next Big Thing contest. They're looking for artists, crafters and designers to submit products to be sold on Fred Flare. Get lots of exposure, new wholesale opportunities, and maybe a $1000 too! check it out...
Apparently, there are people obsessed with making pom poms. And apparently, they are actually referred to as "pon pons". And apparently, there is a blog about it! And if you share this obsession, maybe you should join in on a ponathon...
Found via fly...
A Free People coworker introduced me to this blog Dirty Sugar Cookies (thanks Heather!) and I just think it's hilarious. You may know Ayun Halliday from her monthly columns in Bust or her quarterly zine, East Village Inky. But it turns out she has some culinary skills and a few books under her belt as well. I like that she posts random photos loosely