make time to make.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

CRAFTED Handmade Market

I'll be a vendor at a first year show called CRAFTED this weekend. The show looks very cool! I signed on very last minute because the timing just worked out well and it just looks like a fun show. My in-laws who live in the Chicago 'burbs have offered to watch my kids for the day so that my husband can go with me to this one. Yay!

Here's the lowdown:
WHAT: CRAFTED! Handmade Market of Exquisite and Curious Things
WHERE: Durty Nellies in Palatine, IL
WHEN: Sunday, November 4, 9am - 4pm
CLICK HERE for more details and a vendor list!

If you're in the Chicago area please stop by!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

mod birds and flowers


mod birds and flowers - ornaments
Originally uploaded by space oddities

These are the new ornaments I've been dreaming up this week. I finally made a few prototypes!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

new cards!


fly away notecard
Originally uploaded by space oddities

Finally, new card sets! I seriously messed with the design on this for hours before I finally decided on this simple classic looking card. I'll be offering these in sets and although they could be used for any occasion and are blank, I think these have a holiday feel to them. For the first time I am also going to offer to add a custom message in these cards. So if someone is looking for holiday card sets and just needs a "happy holidays" or any other greeting added inside or out, they've got it.

More cards coming soon. I'm also working on some fun Christmas ornaments tonight. It's a total experiment so I have no idea if it'll pan out.

Okay, off to craft!

xo
andrea

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

brilliant birds


BRILLIANT BIRDS Magnet Set
Originally uploaded by space oddities

I almost forgot about these new magnets. I love how they turned out - the birds are stamped with jet black ink against pulpy, vibrant handmade paper. It makes for such awesome contrast. I am planning to make several more sets of these in different color combos and also plan to stamp these beautiful bird images onto delicate tissue paper to use to decoupage picture frames.


elvisframe
Originally uploaded by space oddities

This Elvis frame was made with repurposed calendar pages. It's not new, but it's a favorite. I have been dreaming up ideas for frames this week and hopefully I'll get some new ones cranked out this weekend.

I have a couple of holiday shows coming up and have a lot of work to do before I will feel prepared! My husband and I are planning to make some holiday card sets with the gocco, I want to make at least a dozen picture frames, plus lots of other goodies. About now is when I had better get really organized, do my supply shopping, and then craft full force!

Hopefully I'll have a few new things to share after the weekend!

Monday, October 22, 2007

I'm getting my 3 year old a REAL camera for Christmas. Taking pictures is all he wants to do! I think this is fantastic but I have to be RIGHT next to him when he is using my expensive digital and it just makes me super nervous. Oh, plus I miss all of the good shots I want to capture because he has the camera! I let him use the holga the other day so I'm excited to see how those turn out. Here are some shots of him playing with grandma's camera this weekend. Cute.


Thursday, October 18, 2007

lotsa lovely ladies


lotsa ladies
Originally uploaded by space oddities

I've been snipping images from fun 1950s books this week. I hit the jackpot with one book about "101 ways teenagers make money." Look at all the lovely ladies I found! I can't wait to make these into cards!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

pretty paper.


magnet set
Originally uploaded by space oddities

I am a sucker for pretty papers! I collect paper like crazy and often have scraps leftover after projects that I cannot will myself to throw away. Over the past several months I have started to use these scraps to make fun little magnets. Now I can preserve the prettiness on my refrigerator and spruce up my workspace a little. YAY!

The magnets pictured here represent some of my favorite papers as of late. I have a few varieties of these repurposed paper magnets in my etsy shop right now and plan to add more in the coming weeks. These sets are perfect stocking stuffers!

Enjoy your day.

-Andrea

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I haven't been very motivated to make new things lately. I have a lot of ideas but have just been exhausted between my full time job, kids, keeping up my home...just usual life stuff. I did make a small batch of pins including this astronaut set this week. I also posted a few random new items in my etsy shop and will post more throughout the week.

Tonight I spent some time cutting some super awesome images from a wacky 1950s book about 101 ways teenagers make money. Ha! I plan to do some supply shopping and thrifting later this week so that I can get moving with some new projects. Sometimes just doing a little supply shopping is all it takes to inspire me.

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

xo
andrea

Friday, October 12, 2007

Hellas Kitty

My husband's clever design.
:)


















Hel·las [hel-uhs]
–noun
ancient Greek name of Greece.

A call out for etsy trading!

There is a chill in the air. The holiday season is soon approaching…which means the holiday shopping frenzy will be upon us soon. Okay, I know it's a little early but hey, 10 weeks to Christmas, right? Before you know it it'll be 2 weeks and you'll be scrabmling to find the perfect gift. And no doubt so will I!

I am planning to make or buy handmade gifts for the holidays this year and I am hoping lots of you are planning to do the same. If anyone has items they are interested in trading in their etsy shop please let me know! You can take a look at my shop HERE to see if there's something you might be looking for. I admit that my shop is a little bare right now, but I'll be adding more in the coming weeks and am also happy to do custom orders.



Check me out. I'll check you out. It'll be grand. Just convo me or post here or whatevs.

xoxo
andrea

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Old friends, good times

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having coffee with an old friend who I hadn't seen in more than 10 years. It was so nice to catch up with him and reflect on how much things have changed yet how much things have stayed the same over that time. I was initially embarassed to let him into my messy trainwreck of a home (this was an impromptu visit!) but of course I'm glad I did. Real friends don’t care if your house is upside down. Isn't it fantastic? Thanks for going out of your way to see me, Josh. I hope your trek back to home is a good one!

Life is good. Here's to old friends and good coffee!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

geeks rule.


Geek-kon is over! Thanks to everyone involved for making it a great event. This was my first time vending at a con and although the location was a little challenging, the fantastic staff and volunteers along with the super nice con attendees made the weekend most awesome. Oh! And I got to meet some supernice people in the vendor room including the ladies from Paw Star, the awesome couple that is Cheap Books by Phil, and my friendly booth neighbor from Screaming Bee.

I felt a little out of my element at first but by the end of the first day I was starting to think that doing more events like these might be right up my alley. The con-goers really seemed to dig my comic book pins and magnets and looooved my husband's designs...especially HELLAS KITTY, which I'll post a picture of soon.













I was invited to do a couple of upcoming cons and I am definitely going to check them out. I think this would be a great venue for my husband and I to collaborate our work. We have to talk more but I think we've decided to make Space Oddities our one big colloborative business instead of having separate things and separate shops. I just think this makes more sense and would be easier.

Oh! One more thing. Geek-kon made CNN on Saturday night! This was all the buzz on late Saturday and most of Sunday at the con. SO exciting for all involved. Apparently the attendance was way more gigantic than was expected and everyone was impressed with this for a first year convention. I guess we can count on a 2nd year!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I like unicorns.

Do you? I really like the way these note cards turned out. I used metallic silver ink on black and pink cardstock. I am almost considering packaging the sets along with a silver gel pen but that might be a little too cheesy. Or maybe just cheesy enough.

Hmmm. Okay that's all I've got for today. Enjoy the leaves crunching under your feet.

xo
andrea

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

jetsons, jedi, etc.

I have just a bit of some original 1980s empire strikes back gift wrap left and decided to use it to make some cards last night. I love how they turned out and plan to make more with whatever scraps I have left. I'm trying to figure out where I can score some more paper like this…I really want the real deal and nothing NEW. I will be on a hunt for this, especially since my husband wanted to use the first batch we had to decoupage something for our son!

























I also made some fun cards with some Jetsons candy ad pictures saved from a damaged book. They are bright and cheery and perfect for any occasion. I especially love Rosie and her lightbulb birthday cake. Wouldn't it make a perfect birthday card?














I'll be bringing this stuff along with a lot more geekery along with me to geek-kon in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. This will not only be my first time vending at a con, it will be my first time attending one. I can't wait to check it out!