An Early Influence

by Lynne of cozycottagecreations

One of my most favorite art forms is animation. I love animated short films, especially those that are hand drawn. I’m always in awe of how an artist, in just a few frames, can capture the essence of a gesture or movement.

My love of animation started while I was a student at Simmons College. I began there as a biology major with a major aversion to waking up for 8am lab classes. My roommate was taking a class I had never heard of before – Mass Communications 101. Her homework was like nothing I had ever seen; it was all about being creative, and it made me so envious I signed up to take the class the next semester. It was a life-changing choice. During that semester the professor showed us several animated shorts, all Academy Award winners, projected from film from the back of the room. I was entranced. Later I switched my major, and eventually transferred to Emerson College.

I started out at Emerson wanting to become an animator of children’s books, and eventually I became a film/video/documentary editor instead (someday I’ll write a blog article about that).

Up in my attic I have a box labeled "Lynne's Old Film Stuff". I looked through it and found a few flipbooks I had made in my animation class at Emerson. I remember shooting these frame by frame and watching them in class projected from Super 8 film.

As nostalgic as this all makes me, today I say “Hooray for the Internet!”. I was able to find my favorite and most influential of the animated films I saw that day back at Simmons College. It’s a film called “Crac”, by Frederick Back, and it won the Academy Award for Animated Short back in 1981. It still speaks to me on so many levels. It’s sweet, simple, incredibly drawn and deeply moving. I was so happy to show it to my girls!


You can find it here on google video:

Frederick Back also has a fabulous website with workshop-like activities for classrooms or families in conjunction with the themes from his films.

It’s warms my heart to know this stuff is still out there for our next generations! I can’t wait to do these activities with my kids.

A little weekend sewing...

by Nicole of 83 west

After hearing fantastic things about Heather Ross' new sewing book, Weekend Sewing, I just could not resist. I've always stayed away from garment sewing and thought this may give me an opportunity to change that. I've stocked up on elastic thread, which is used quite a bit in the book, and am ready to tackle some projects for summer (if it ever gets here). First up is the smocked sundress for little girls -- I've got the fabric picked and the pieces cut.

The projects in the book range from accessories to apparel and also use various weights of fabric. One of the other great things is that all of the patterns are included at full size (they do need to be traced) and are very versatile. Heather Ross has a set of pattern modifications on her blog that are definitely worth viewing. After the smocked sundress, next up is the summer blouse with a few minor changes.

I often fall "victim" to purchasing the new craft books when they hit the shelves, but this one was certainly worth the investment. Not only are the projects versatile but the photographs are also beautiful to look at.

This is definitely at the top of my summer reading list.

My Artistic Home: Verdigris Artisans

By Katy of muchacha K handmade

Back in March I moved into my studio, Verdigris Artisans. I share Verdigris with three other creative gals, Nila Venne who is a metalsmith, Jacqui Lawton who is a lampworker, and Vicki Green aka Art By Verde, a painter.

We each have our own workspace within the studio, but I love having them there when I'm working. Having people with such different talents in one studio is very inspiring. We are all amazed at, and appreciative of each others skills. Getting to watch Jacqui or Nila fire up a torch, or enjoy Vicki's paintings while I'm taking a break from my work energizes me.

We have Open Studio nights every third Thursday of the month from 6-9...at 88 N. Main St. Ste. 205 in Concord, NH. This pics are from our first one. It was a beautiful night, and it was great to have even MORE people to share our work with!

We also took care to create a space that is beautiful to work in. I feel so lucky to have such a peaceful creative space to share with such talented people.

One More Reason to Fear Losing Your iPhone

By Alicia of Chroma Lab

Many of us in Boston Handmade use traditional techniques like sewing, knitting, painting, metalsmithing, and woodworking to make modern pieces of art and craft. But as a group, we're certainly not averse to new technologies--we blog, tweet, and sell on Etsy, after all.

Tony and I are increasingly dependent on our (...okay, okay, HIS) iPhone to both run our business and help us with our creative process. We use it to talk and write to our customers, find out what's going on in the design world, and to process credit cards at markets (so cool!). Importantly, we also entertain our dog and cats with bird noises with the iBird app. It's good for employee morale.

The newest tool we've been playing with is the Ben Color Capture application, which can be downloaded free from the iTunes app store:

The app allows us to match colors from photos we take with our phone to Benjamin Moore colors, so we can make a note of which paints we want to pick up for our next project. We're constantly inspired by colors we see around us, and this app is so much easier to use than my old method--carrying around a massive color fan deck and post-it noting the matching colors!

When you get a color match, shaking the phone presents you with four coordinating colors, and you can also use the color wheel to find more colors you're looking for:

This app is great for anyone who works creatively with color, whether you're painting or using one of the many art and craft techniques represented in this group. Apple and Benjamin Moore, in the words of Tina Fey as Liz Lemon on 30Rock, "Can we have our money, now?" :D

How do you use technology to assist in your creative work?

Mosaic Monday- Orange

by Mimi Kirchner
Fresh and vibrant orange at Boston Handmade!

Elizabeth Brennick Designs
Stonehouse Studio
The Hole Thing
Fraske Designs
Mimi Kirchner
BooksByBexx
Bumble Belly Designs
Majenta Designs
Lucie Wicker Photography
Linda B. Dunn
Lush Beads
All The Numbers

How I Heard About Boston Handmade

by Allison of Fraske Designs

Have you ever wondered how Boston Handmade has grown into such a great group of people? Well here is a little background on how it began and how some members have found us:

After joining Etsy in December 2006 and prowling around various sections of the site, like the forums and treasuries, our founder Jessica Burko of Reclaimed to You realized that there were Etsy sellers all over the world and decided that she wanted to meet some based in Boston. Since her background is in art and arts marketing, Jessica thought it would be helpful to gather like-minded local Etsy sellers with the goals of working together to network, market our work, and share knowledge, skills, and experience. Jessica posted several times in the Etsy forums announcing that she would have a get together at her South End studio for anyone who was interested in meeting up. About eight folks came by, we had a work share session, talked about what we might like to get out of an organized artist group, and Boston Handmade was born!

Most of our members stumbled upon Boston Handmade through Etsy’s forums, some through internet searches of the Boston craft scene, but some found us through other avenues. Kerry of Kerry Hawkins Photography learned about Boston Handmade when she met Nancy Rosetta at Nancy’s sister’s frame shop. Kerry has had photos at her sister’s shop Custom Art Framing and Gallery 9 in Norwood for a few years now and would stop in all the time to have mats cut. She got to know Nancy and decided to apply.

Jennifer of Majenta Designs heard about us through fellow Boston Handmade-er Jaye of Thirteenth Story when they met at a Culture & Diversity Fair sponsored by a local adoption agency. Jennifer had only gotten into the jewelry-making business a few months prior, and this fair gave her the opportunity to talk with Jaye about all sorts of questions when it comes to being an artist in the area. Jaye was so friendly and helpful with her experiences, and later told her about a group she was a part of, Boston Handmade.

Lucie of Lucie Wicker Photography heard about Boston Handmade from her parents who heard about it from Jessica. They had gone to a few of the early Boston Handmade shows and told her it was Boston artists who were on Etsy. Lucie, being a Boston artist on Etsy, thought she’d be a perfect fit and decided to apply.

No matter how any of us found Boston Handmade, our reasons for wanting to be a part of the group all basically mirror the reason Jessica started it to begin with. We are so excited Boston Handmade has grown to be the amazing collective it has become and look forward to the years ahead!

Happy 4th of July

To you and yours, from Boston Handmade!

Spun cotton figurines by Vintage by Crystal

Make a Simple July 4th Banner

By Crystal of Vintage by Crystal

A few days ago I was decorating for Independence Day when I realized just how little I had to work with. Short on decorations, short on time, but not short on determination... I went to work making this pretty flag garland in just minutes! And now I'd like to share this really easy recipe with you. :)

All you need is a sheet of paper and a printer, a length of ribbon or string, scissors and glue.
- Print the flags above by clicking on them. A new page with nice big flags will open up (it may take a minute...they're high quality so they won't print fuzzy). You can print them straight from that page.
- Using your scissors, cut out the flags.
- Decide where you'd like to hang your garland and measure and cut ribbon or string to your desired length.
- Fold your flags in half, coat one half with glue, then place ribbon or string in the crease and press two flag halves together.
- Continue until you've got enough flags for your garland. You can measure the distance between flags for consistent placement or let them stagger.
- Hang over windows, around a patriotic tree, over a mirror, or over a doorway (like I did). Enjoy! :)

This project is so simple and makes a nice patriotic impact!