Make It

My Other Half

Learn a little more about my boyfriend Matt at The Other Half on Heart Handmade today. Thanks to Marichelle for featuring us!

Hello from the bathroom

It's been a while since you've seen me on the blog, so here I am. Still doing the short hair thing. About to do some printing. Taking self-portraits is much harder than it looks. Also I'm now noticing I should clean my bathroom mirror.

Ann Arbor here we come!

Matt has officially accepted his slot as a University of Michigan graduate student, so we'll be moving out there later this summer and setting up new lives as Midwesterners. I've lived in the South, East Coast and West Coast but the Midwest is totally uncharted territory for me. I'd love to get suggestions from locals in the comments section about neighborhoods (we'll probably be in Kerrytown but I'd love to hear other suggestions), restaurants and foodie stuff, craft/art stores, craft fairs and small designer-friendly boutiques.

I'm looking forward to the change and will probably be holding some sales to offload inventory before packing up for the move. This will also give me a great chance to blog about how one goes about moving a small business (i.e. getting new licenses, new sales tax rules, establishing new support systems, etc.). Cost of living is lower in Michigan so I'm looking forward to being able to afford a 2 bedroom apt and hopefully setting up a dedicated home work space.

Resolutions

I love New Years Resolutions. I make them every year, and even though I usually don't keep them, I like the "anything is possible" feeling that they bring.

I looked back to my resolutions post from last year and was pleased to find that I actually did really well! Funny enough, the post was when I first expressed my interest in pursuing printmaking. If you've read the blog for a while, you know my interests started with batik, then moved to block printing and has finally come to a rest with screen printing. My interest in working with pattern and color has always been consistent, and I've now found screen printing to be the right medium to put my creative ideas on paper and fabric, but the journey here has not been quick, direct, or easy (or cheap!).

My resolutions from last year, and how I did:

* Take time to cover the legal side of things: registering my business name, getting a tax id if necessary, etc.

I waited close to the end of the year to do this but in the month of October I registered rifferaff as an official business. 2008 brings my first year of paying taxes on my business.

* Take my time to test and perfect my products. Give people a reason to continue to buy handmade products by giving them my best work. Handmade does not equal poorly made.

This is a work in progress and as I become more comfortable with screenprinting and my production process  I learn the strengths and weaknesses of the technique and of my skillset. I do my best and put products out there with the hope of every customer becoming a repeat customer.

* Sell to local brick and mortar stores.

I haven't pursued this very much so I don't feel disappointment at not acheiving this goal. I got a few wholesale inquiries and sent out one wholesale order. I'm planning to put alot of effort into wholesale relationships in '08 and have my work in stores locally and abroad.

Goals for 2008

Get mentions in local and national printed press.

I'm beyond thrilled with the reception I got from craft and design blogs when I sent out my first email earlier this year. I hope to continue to work with bloggers to get the word out about my work, and also reach a new audience who may not be as 'net savvy by getting some mentions in good old fashioned newspapers and magazines. I love marketing and brainstorming new ways to get the word out, so this is one of my favorite tasks.

Formalize my visual identity.

I'm such a sucker for packaging and I know how much it can influence my decision to purchase a product. I want to be thoughtful about the design of my packaging and website in a way that communicates my brand and entices customers to take a closer look.

Bring in a regular revenue stream from rifferaff.

I don't know if 2008 will be the year for me to start working for myself full-time, but I want to get closer to that goal by bringing in a regular monthly income of some size from my work as a designer. Whether it's $200 or $2,000, it's a step in the right direction. I have so many ideas for prints on paper, fabric and custom work. A major factor is being able to shoot my own screens, so that's another important goal.

Do a better job of promoting myself in person.

I am by nature a very quiet and shy person. I am terrible at promoting my work in person or even talking about my business.  One major step to take is to get some business cards! Then get comfortable handing them out and talking about what I do.

Participate in a craft show!

What are your business resolutions for the new year? Let's check back in 2009.

South End Open Studios

Yesterday I staffed the Mod Green Pod office for South End Open Studios. (It's going on again today so any Boston-area people should go check it out) It was fun to be on the other side of things this year. Last year I was an attendee and this year I was representing the company. Open Studios is such a fun event. Not only do you get to meet customers- and they get to see your product up close- but you also get to know the neighbors in the studio and spy into their personal studio space. No small feat in a building where very few people keep  a  regular 9 - 5 workday. I have to say my favorite part of the day was checking out other artists and creative companies in our building. Companies such as...

Morgan and Milo - They have an amazing office space, very sleek and modern. It looks like they combined two studios to make one large office and separate stock room! They design adorable kids shoes that I wish came in grown up sizes.

Gallardoworks - Emily Gallardo has the studio directly next to ours. She has a line of stationery that she sells mostly wholesale. She's been a great source of information to me as I think about doing a line of screen printed papers. She's done the Stationery Show for several years, she has sold to the big chains and the local boutiques.

Black Pearl Press - Elisabeth was amazingly friendly and helpful as well.  I felt guilty for hogging her time yesterday with so many other customers in her studio but she was perfectly happy to chat for 20 mins or so and answer my questions about her company, the art of letterpress, and the stationery business at large. She also really boosted my confidence when she said she'd be interested in a collaboration once I got my screenprinting operation underway! How's that for motivation.

I highly recommend visiting open studios events to get a dose of inspiration and get a chance to speak one on one with creative professionals who are doing the kind of work you want to do. One thing that was consistent in nearly all of the studios was that artists were very well organized. It's a lesson I really need to take to heart as my home work space is so ineffeciently organized that I usually need to take 20 mins to tidy up before I can get anything done. I need to rethink my organizational system and this may mean purging my craft closet of some of my jewelry- and batik-making supplies that I haven't used in a while. Any takers?

Try Try Again

Went a little nutty with the Macro on my camera today taking pics of these unknown flowers I got at the farmer's market over a week ago. They're in a Perch vessel that I picked up for half price a few weeks ago because it has a tiny hairline fracture in it. I'm not a nature person, but I do enjoy simple floral arrangements.

Pretty.

You know what's not so pretty: the results of my silk screen.
I didn't log the time I spent prepping the screen but I'm sure it was somewhere in the range of 6 - 8 hours. So that's why it was so heartbreaking when I spread on the screen filler. I made a big mistake and went over the design too many times, so that the screen filler started to dissolve the drawing fluid I'd already painted on. As a result the screen is ruined and the prints are so laughable I'm not going to post them here.

I need to reasses this drawing fluid method. I'm not sure if it's totally practical, especially when it's quite easy to mess it up. If you mess up burning a screen using the photo emulsion method, at least you can reclaim the screen and try it again using the same digital artwork easily. Plus there's always the option to have someone else (a professional print shop) burn the screen for me, ensuring minimal mistakes. I may have to give Illustrator another shot and try to figure out how to make my patterns on the computer (while still retaining the handrawn look).

Here's the result of this morning's experimentation, using Illustrator to trace over my handrawn pattern. Still a little rough around the edges, but I see how it could work.

We've been here before

Once again, I am leaving a job to try to give it a go at starting a crafty business.
In a few weeks, I'm leaving Mod Green Pod. I left my old job nearly a year ago to take a position at Mod Green Pod and now, 11 months later, I'm making plans to move on once again.
There are a few key differences this time around:

- I will remain at my other part-time job at an architecture firm that provides a regular paycheck and benefits.
- I've got a year's worth of experience working for a small textile design company and I have a better idea of what goes into starting and maintaining a design business.
- I have a  well- formed concept and the technical skill level to pull it off.

Stay tuned!

Works in Progress

A nearly completed bag made from some fabric I blockprinted a while ago. This is one of my favorite pattern/color combos. I hope to make a silkscreen of this pattern soon.

I'm rejecting the photo emulsion route and instead making my silkscreens using the drawing fluid method. This is pretty time consuming but for me, I feel more comfortable working with a pencil and paintbrush than  with a computer and darkroom chemicals.

First I sketch out the pattern, scan it into the computer and make a few pattern repeats in GIMP.

Then I print it out and place it under the screen to trace my design directly onto the mesh using a pencil.

The screen I'm using is actually so big that I've got two different designs on here.

After everything is traced onto the screen, I flip it over so that the screen frame is directly on the table and the mesh is hovering slightly above the tabletop. Now it's time to paint on the drawing fluid using a paint brush.

If I thought my right hand was cramping after the tracing, that was nothing compared to the cramping that came from painting the tiny pattern. I'm fully done with the pattern above but I've still got to paint the zigzag pattern on today. Once that's done, I wait for it to dry, spread on the screen filler over the whole screen, wait for that to dry, then rinse everything out. If all goes as it should, the blue stuff will wash out, exposing my pattern and the screen filler will remain in the screen. Pics to come!

Also here's another project from a while ago I never shared. I made my first attempt at clothing design, using some of the fabric I silkscreened with the circles pattern. The final result was a cute shirt but way too small and unwearable for me. I was really inspired by Caitlin Mociun, who designs, silkscreens and sews all the garments in her line. Next time I silkscreen fabric I'm definitely trying again.

Current Obsessions - 8/19/07

New TV obsession: The Hills! Did you know you can watch all the episodes online. It's so addictive (warning: totally mindless).

New book obsession: Craft, Inc by blogger and crafty biz-lady Meg Mateo Ilasco. I picked this up last Thursday and finished it on Saturday. It's a super quick, informative read and my favorite part are the interviews with designers I admire like Jill Bliss, Lotta and Jonathan Adler, among others. I think the author did a great job of giving an overview of all aspects of starting and running a small creative business.

New local store obsession: I accidentally stumbled into Greenward this weekend and was pleased to find a ton of handmade/eco-friendly goodies by some of my favorite crafty designers. Boston surprisingly doesn't have much in the way of small independent gift shops with handmade items, so I'm happy to have this new addition. I picked up a decorative ceramic piece by Perch for 50% off because it had a small hairline fracture (barely visible).

New online forum obsession: Gig posters is an amazing resource for silkscreen info. Almost all of my questions about the silkscreen process (exposure time, types of paper, inks, cleanup, etc) can be answered by doing a search in the forum. A great free resource for the silkscreening newbie.

I think I've solved my issue that I mentioned last week regarding making my sketches digital in order to burn silkscreens from them. Instead of trying to understand how to use Illustrator to make my handrawn patterns "camera ready," I'm thinking of skipping the middle step and just painting my patterns directly onto the screen. This is how I created the circles screen that I've been using over and over. It's much less precise than the photo emulsion method and there's alot more room for error, but what better way to get the hand drawn look than to actually draw the screens myself?

Day Trippin'

Here are some pics from a day trip we took to Portsmouth, NH yesterday. We drove up in this torrential downpour.

And when we got there, were greeted with this:

I spent alot of time in this garden snapping pics of flowers with great shapes or colors.

These blue spiky ones are my fave. I love the shade of blue. See the blurry orange butterfly in the middle of the pic that I tried to get mid-flight? And the giant bumble bees on the flowers?

Who knew there were so  many spiky ball-shaped flowers? This one seems very Dr. Seuss to me.

Our time there wasn't all flowers and gardens though.

I love bridges like this and the overcast, gray weather you get by the sea.

After lunch and some walking around, we sat in a coffee shop and I did some doodling in my five and a half notebook which I l-o-v-e and highly recommend as a present for yourself or a friend. The colors are alot more vibrant than they appear in this pic.

And then of course we had to stop at the fabric store, which my landlady had advised me not to miss. She was right, the tiny shop was packed to the gills with a great selection. I only picked up a few things, but I wanted much more. Lately I've kind of been feeling the urge to make a quilt. I'd love to make something combining store bought patterns with fabrics I've silkscreened. I've never made a quilt before, hmm...