Part one: ACC booth testing

So after spending a painful four hours at IKEA Liz and I bought a new table and a pretty nice display case for ACC Baltimore. The case locks which is perfect! I have to admit that it was probably the cheapest IKEA trip I have ever made.
I thought that people might interested in the process of doing an American Craft Council show so I am going to try and document everything. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I am trying some new things this year. I am working with some new people to gather material (Filzfelt, Ponoko, P&T surplus). I am trying some new processes. Most importantly all of this is a great excuse to get back into the studio and make stuff. I think I spend way too much time on the computer and not enough time in the studio. On top of all this I am teaching two new classes this semester (Rhino and Blogging packaging and Assembly). This should be interesting.

On to the process:

First we tapped off a 10' x 10' space in our kitchen. Then after figuring out which way our booth would be facing we labeled the front and the back. I found out that it costs about $250 to rent the curtains and pipe. That seemed a bit pricey so I thought that I might try to do some kind of accordion style partition walls with some lightweight hollow-core doors from Lowes. The doors cost about $30 each and they are 36" x 96". I figured with a quick coat of poly and some signage with the vinyl cutter it might look really nice. I am going to get a door today and I will report back here in part two.

Objectified Felt!!!

Just got some fabulous felt in from Filzfelt (Girl in the green dress)






Also the new trailer for Objectified just came out. I am sooooooo stoked. I loved Helvetica.

dogs pooping

Thought I would post some images of some new pieces. I am still trying to master basic enameling. These really fast pins I thought would be a good place to start (white enamel on 18 gauge copper). I had made some stickers of these a while back and never got around to making actual jewelry form the silhouettes. Anyhoo, I hope everyone is sticking to their new year resolutions. I haven't. :)

Drawing tops

There is something about this that I really enjoy. I have been trying to do this in my work for a while now (coffee stains, silhouettes drips etc). Its almost like self generating art or art as a happy accident. To me, the process makes it really easy to identify why a piece is successful. These pieces are made by Thomas Forsyth.

On another note I am really excited about New Years. We are staying in New Paltz and hanging out with with Liz's brother and fiance. So if anyone wants to hang come on up or down or whatever.







Top from Thomas Forsyth on Vimeo.

more laser cutting

Thought I would add some more photos of some more things I have been making for ACC. I hope that everyone has a great new year!!

new stuff and bacon

So I am gearing up for ACC Baltimore. I have decided to do my own booth this year. I am going to document the process here on the blog. I hope it will be prosperous. I am dumping a lot of money onto it. I have given myself a challenge of using "green-ish" materials to try and offset the impact of the gas/material and waste I am going to use/generate by actually doing the show. Here are a few shots of some new production pieces. They are made from recycled copper flashing and left over felt form previous projects. I am also including some photos from our bacon/meat theme this year for Christmas. These great items can be found at Sweat Meats online. I hope everyone had a great holiday!!!

Coffee and design

A while back I was flipping through an issue of dwell magazine. Maybe October, I can't remember. It had a great article on the making of the Alessi 9090 stovetop coffee machine. As a metal worker/designer/coffee drinker I loved it. I thought I would share (click on image to read the article...your welcome). But I also thought I would share some other unique coffee makers. First the Otto espresso. I can't believe this wasn't thought of earlier (it probably was). I love how the handle comes off to open the water reservoir (watch the video). It just seems so nice. I am not sure how I like the bowl that catches the "crema". Also the Handpresso: "Wherever you go and whenever you move, an espresso is always close to hand". Neat little thing. I am not sure that if I am in the middle of the woods how badly I would need a cup of coffee. I guess if I was camping then yeah it would be nice to have a small coffee maker. I kind of just want to try it. The point of this is I LOVE coffee and I would love to at least try either. I am guilty of being a gadget dude. I have yet to find the ultimate coffee machine.

I am also including photos of the SNOW!!!! I can't believe that it is finally snowing!!!

THE END IS NEAR!!!

I just wanted to say congratulations to Ross, Aubry and Nikki our BFAs. Here are some images from their show! Good job guys!

eames shell

work for the holiday!!!

I thought I would add a few links to some places to pick up some of my work for the holidays. Don't forget about my Etsy site.

Test Tiles

This is what I have been doing over break. Freaking test tiles. I got a kiln and a boat load of enamel and have been soooooo excited to actually use it/some. Of course we have to get the formalities over with first. These are just the opaque enamels. Now it is on to the transparent enamels. Some of the enamels are old and not firing properly. They are kind of old. Also we just found out something about the cat. If you put something on the her head she freezes up, hence the cat coaster.

I have been posting a lot lately. I think it is because turkey day is almost here. Also, I just ran out of gas in the studio. Anyhoo, I just saw this and couldn't stop laughing thought I would share. Via [Because Studio]

belt drive bike

Just saw this via MoCo Loco. An Interesting idea from Trek. Everyone is trying to streamline their bikes. Replacing the chain with a belt seems like a logical step. I wonder how long that belt will last. When it does break will you still be able to buy a replacement years down the road?

DROOG! flagship store opens

Just some images from we heart stuff
I have always liked DROOG designs and I am happy they have opened an actual store. Just another place added to a long list of locations I would like to visit.