a peek behind Lark Studio...

Swap art & craft supplies this Sunday

The 3rd annual Crafters Anonymous Craft Swap is this Sunday from 2:00 - 5:00 pm at Art Works. The Craft Swap is an opportunity for artists and crafters of all types to get together in a fun, social environment and trade craft supplies. This event is also a benefit to support Art 180 - a Richmond based non-profit organization that creates and provides art-related programs to young people living in challenging circumstances, encouraging personal and community change through self-expression.

Entry into the swap is $6 at the door. If you bring a bag of supplies to swap, the entry fee is $1. Upon entry you will get 1 grocery bag to fill to your hearts content. You are welcome to purchase additional bags for $5 each. If you have your own reusable bags please feel free to bring those to use (fees will still apply). There will be tables set up to hang out and craft so feel free to bring a small project to work on.

So gather up all those unused supplies and come hang out with us this weekend!

Crafters Anonymous Craft Swap
http://www.rvacraftswap.com
Sunday, February 28th
2:00 pm - 5:00
Art Works
320 Hull Street

Something new (finally)

I have to admit I've been a bit of a creative slump since the holidays. I'm going to chalk it up to sheer burn-out after a banner holiday season for Lark Studio. But the siren song of the studio called this week and I decided to start the attack on the growing stack of unusable vinyl hiding in the corner. Since Record Album Notebooks have become a staple for the shop I wanted to see if I could use the vinyl for a new style or two.

Introducing our new Vinyl Cover notebooks! These notebooks have a 3-ring closure to make them easily refillable so you can reuse the covers over and over again. Style 1 has the vinyl as the cover, has one section of plain recycled paper and a back pocket.

   

Style 2 uses the record album cover as the front cover and section divider, has a front pocket, both a lined paper and plain paper section, and uses the vinyl as the back cover.

     

     

Both styles measure 6 inches x 8.5 inches. The size was dictated by the pockets. A new, unopened pack of 12 pockets was a recent dumpster diving score! As I come across more reclaimed paper I'll offer refills for this style on the website.

Any other ideas of what I can do with all this vinyl?

Call for Artist: Fool for Art 2010

Unleash your green & creative spirit and head out to John Tyler Community College for the 5th annual Fool for Art Festival on April 17, 2010.

Space is available for artists and craftspeople to rent during the festival, which will run form 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public. All vendor applications will be juried by the College's staff. All applications postmarked by December 31, 2009 qualify for a discounted registration fee of $50. For more information and an application, go to www.jtcc.edu/foolforart

Pillows!

Day 1 of the craft challenge went well. Not a ton of production, but lots of preparation. I did finish the 2nd tea towel pillow and got the tops done on my Monopoly pillows. 

The game board fabric pieces came from the last fabric swap I attended at Fleur Fabrics. I did get the fabric for the pillow backs washed and dried so those will be finished today. Yesterday also included a leisurely and productive trip to the craft store. More on that tomorrow! 

What things did you get accomplished yesterday?

Yard Sale!

Costen Floors is hosting a community yard sale this weekend to benefit the American Heart Association. Come out and see me and about 20 other vendors on Saturday from 8am - 1pm. I'll have household items, craft supplies, fabric, men's clothing and more for a steal! Details and directions are below:
 

Yard Sale!

 Saturday August 29th
8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Costen Floors (Parking lot)
9840 Mayland Drive (between Gaskins & Pemberton)
Click here for map to get you there!

Envelopes + Eye glasses = Jewelry

For the past few years the craft world has been buzzing with a variety of ways to show off the wonderful graphic design work of security envelopes. Security envelopes? You know, the things your bills come in and sometimes junk mail when it wants to look official. If you ever take a look at them you will see that clearly the paper industry has hired graphic designers to create them. The prints are phenomenal!

For a few months earlier this year I was collecting envelopes and waiting for an idea to strike that wasn't a duplication of what was already out there. Back in April the talented Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club did a great post on her blog about re-using old eyeglasses and creating pendants. Taking inspiration from that I decided to mesh the two and came up with these:

I have to say I'm loving the look of eye glass glass even when left plain and I think the distinct shapes of the glass play well with the graphic design of the papers. I also love when a project exposes me to great new products. Tulip® Soft Fabric Paint is rocking my world right now. Who knew it would work so well covering paper! (okay - I know paper is technically a fiber and its fiber paint, but cut me some slack) I had the pink, yellow and blue paint as samples from a demonstration from my work at JoAnn Fabrics a while back and never used them until now. I will definitely be looking for other projects to try the paint.

I have a huge stack of these security envelopes so look for more jewelry and other uses of them soon!

Help me say it and win

I need a new slogan/motto for my business and I would like your input. Lark Studio is going green(er) this year. I'm using the supplies I have and when I need to purchase something I'll be using only second-hand materials aside from some basic findings. How can I let folks know in a short, snappy statement? I haven't been able to come up with much, just these:

• Making junk look good
• We make junk look good
• Trashion for you and your home 

So, please, please, please give me some suggestions/feedback in the comments of this blog post. If I choose your suggestion you can shop Lark Studio with a $10 gift certificate!

Hit me with your best shot!

Trash to treasure: Jewelry displays

Like most professional crafters, my display set-up for Lark Studio is ever changing. For a while I have struggled with a way to display jewelry. Most commercial jewelry displays are pretty generic and I didn't want to copy the creative displays I have seen. Back in March I stumbled across two spice cabinets in very good condition. The cabinets were from the early 1970's and were only $7 for the both. They each had 2 inch shelves which I thought would be perfect to hold folded earring/jewelry cards and a wood door which screamed for screw hooks for necklaces.  During the spring I also stumbled upon a great deal on some Anna Maria Horner fabric at Quilting Adventures. Two of her Drawing Room prints were right in line with the brand colors for Lark Studio and I decided to give that look a go for my 2009 display.  With that decided the original dark brown wood tones of the cabinets didn't really fit in and just like in other aspects of my life I decided to lighten them up.

A few cans of primer and white spray paint later we have this:

(you can see more photos in my Flickr stream)

The front has a simple padded inlay of scrap foam core board covered with 1/2 inch batting and then one of the fabric prints. The back is the same fabric print glued to a piece of white poster board and stapled into the cabinet frame with my new heavy duty staple gun. And bonus - the fabric on the back are scraps sewn together with the seams covered by shelves and bars on the back! I used 1/2 inch white cup hooks screwed into the wood frame of the front door making sure they cleared the shelves inside so the door could close properly. The rest of the cabinet is just the original cabinet painted white. I even reused all of the original hardware. I didn't completely cover the spice cabinet info on the front cover. I kind of like the fact that there is still some of its former life showing through. If I find that its distracting from the jewelry I'll go in and cover it with some plain white paper.

I'm diggin' the whole creative reuse in my display pieces and have another trash to treasure piece I'm working on to display my clocks. Are any of your display pieces (for business or home) trash to treasure?

Christmas in July

Several years ago I started making holiday ornaments  out of the gazillion orphaned SCRABBLE tiles that I have. My husband is a huge thrifting fanatic and whenever he sees a broken or partial SCRABBLE game for sale he grabs it for me. Each year I try to mix it up a bit and make a different style ornament. The 2007 version was and has remained a big seller for Lark Studio. I've gotten 2 orders already this month and making them definitely got me thinking about the holiday season.

With that in mind, I am having a sale! Order 2 or more Recycled SCRABBLE Tile Ornaments and receive 10% off your order. As always, shipping is free for orders over $10. Click here to see all the ornaments I have in stock and to order!

Lark Studio only upcycles tiles that were from broken homes or orphaned so quantities and styles of ornaments may be limited. Custom orders are available on words with 5 or fewer letters - just contact me via email.

Happy Holidays!

Thrifting Thursday: Hoops, hoops and more hoops

The Bins is getting to be a dangerous place. What's The Bins you ask? My name for the Goodwill Warehouse Outlet on Midlothian Turnpike here in Richmond. It's the last stop for all the items that didn't sell in any of the area Goodwill stores. It all comes to the center and is placed in bins. You purchase items by the pound at a steal: $.59 per pound for housewares and $1.99 per pound for clothing with price breaks after 20 pounds. It never ceases to amaze me what people donate to Goodwill and what society is willing to let go into our trash stream.

I went to The Bins this week with Craig to just hang out and spend some time. I walked out with this:

  

111 embroidery hoops. For $3.57. With tax. Yep...let that sink in for a minute.

I have a problem, I know. But literally - these were headed for the trash and I couldn't let that happen. They are all in perfectly good, if not new condition. Once I found about five hoops, I started looking for them all over the warehouse. I then realized I needed a cart and I'm sure I looked a site walking to get one with about 10 embroidery hoops on each arm! Finding them quickly became a communal affair - other shoppers were finding them for me and adding them in my cart! So, for all you crafters - if you embroider, want to learn, or use hoops for wall art and want some reclaimed hoops for a good price - hit me up in the comments. I'm off to scope out Jenny Hart's cool embroidery site - Sublime Stitching. Embroidery world here I come!

Goodwill of Central Virginia Richmond Warehouse Outlet
Address: 6301 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23225
NEW Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Phone: (804) 521-4921