Hello Etsy

Dear Etsy,
You know I love you right?  It's hard not to....

This photograph from the Hello Etsy event in Brooklyn this past weekend is a perfect example.



The speaker, Matt Crawford, talked about the importance of working with your hands. You see the direct effect of your work and that leads to a better understanding of the world.  In his talk he made, not one, but two references to Dwight. Gotta love it! Matt wrote the NY Times Best Seller book Shop Class as Soulcraft, which I'm putting on my reading list.

And here's Virginia and I having a blast together at the event making finger puppets at the NewNew booth.



You can watch the talks, which happened all over the world on livestream, which I did live whilst they happened in Berlin. It was so cool. I was in my pjs in Brooklyn watching a talk happening in Berlin! Whoa the future... I thought this talk (Smart resourcing materials for small businesses) was really informative as a maker thinking about better branding on the cheap. Also, Natalie Chanin is amazing!

Did you attend a Hello Etsy event? What did you take away from the talks?

renegade

where to start?! so my first craft fair is done and did! and for all my worry and stress it went well and it was really nice to see that ReadyMade blog picked me among three others for their renegade highlights!

renegade was an overwhelming experience, so many booths and lots of people. i'm so gratefully to everyone who stopped by and many thanks to those who spent their hard earned dollars with me! the positive response is really encouraging.

the biggest highlight for me was finally getting to meet some of my etsy friends in the flesh, like Alyssa of Brooklyn Rehab, Marichelle of Heart Handmade, and Nicole of Astulabee, and some etsy crushes Alice of forest bound- her booth was amazing! and Margaux of The Black Spot Books. 

i got really sick the week before renegade (and still am now a bit too) so i was really worried that i would 

have enough to sell and i was stressed about making a nice display. can you believe it all this fit in here....

i thought, "that's it?" 

but it think the display worked out nicely. everyone liked the hanging stars...

and peeking in on the curiosity cabinets.....

we picked up goodies from folded pigs (a cockroach and anatomical heart plate), a anatomical heart

lavender sachet  from black spot books to go over my bed and! our friend ananda got jeremy bookends from kindling....

more pictures from renegade are on my flickr

out late on a school night

, originally uploaded by miniature.rhino.

yes!

last night was one of the first times in a long while i went out. j met me in williamsburg to see Ghastly City Sleep at Glasslands. I got lost on my way there and took the first photograph. I had one of those moments I frequently have living here where I say to myself, "I live in NY."

We explored a bit- ran into street rats, ate burritos, found the ice cream truck mafia, and got thoroughly soak in a crazy downpour a few minutes after the second picture was taken.

Before-a mess/After-a-mess

originally uploaded by miniature.rhino.

I took these snaps back in Janurary 2008. It was the day after I moved into my apartment.

July makes it six months that I’ve been living in Brooklyn. Since then I’ve finished graduate school, found my new cat and got my first real world kind of jobie job. And not much more since. I've been consumed with finding a job, finishing my written thesis and, for the past tree months or so, I’ve been working seven days a week.

I’ve decided to quit my weekend job to concentrate on what I enjoy doing- making: photographs, books, and things. So I’m starting this blog to keep track of my progress in the making in hopes that eventually I can start my own small business.