All About: clumsy bird (aka Claire)

I met Claire in a tiny belgian town during the summer of 2000. We were both there to see a couple of great bands play, and when the show turned into a dance party, I lost track of time and missed my last train home. This genuinely nice australian girl offered to let me stay in her hotel room, and we've been friends ever since.

In the years since that first meeting, Claire keeps surprising me with one talent after another. Her amazing eye and skilled hands seem to be constantly busy, making everything from photographs and furniture, to plush toys and hand stitched goods...all of which are just beautiful.

Here's a little questionnaire she was nice enough to fill out for me, along with images of some of her work. She'll be opening an Etsy shop soon, so be on the lookout!

1.) How did you get into making so many lovely things?

I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember. At first it was elaborate forts incorporating hidden passageways and as many rooms as there were blankets. I won my first set of derwent colour pencils (and M.J’s thriller) when I was 7, for a local colouring-in competition that my mum secretly entered me in. When I was 10 when I got my first sewing machine; my mother was a wonderful knitter, but not so good with a needle and thread. It came with 3 free lessons and a grumpy teacher.


2.) What’s inspiring you these days?

These days, I find most of my inspiration from flickr. It’s not only the beautiful pictures I see, but watching people develop their talents and try new things. It is a wonderful community that offers endless encouragement, support and advice. There are also some seriously cool people with fabulous taste in fashion, music, films and art, who cook and read, and they are all happy to share their new favourites and suggestions… it’s a great way to discover something new, and meet some really lovely people.

Hannah huffman - haeshu She is a burst of yellow sunshine.
Annie - moxiee Her stream is pretty much all polaroid, and it is amazing.
Ashley - one blue wren I just discovered ashley about a month ago. She lives in brisbane, and she makes me miss my home town in a way I never thought possible.

(fyi: claire has lots of favorites, and she chose these for right now...but it was very hard to choose only 3!)

3.) Tell us about something you’ve made or done lately.

right now I’m working on making toys using sweater scraps from a local designer adhesif clothing, here in Vancouver. there is a lot of work involved in getting it to the squares I use to make turtles, and hopefully, this weekend, an elephant. They are for plush you, a soft toy show in seattle in September. It’s the first time I’ve made any toys for this kind of thing, and while it’s a little scary, it’s also very exciting.

4.) Is there anything else we would be interested to know about you?

the 5R's (reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, reject) and sustainability are incredibly important to me. On the first day of my furniture design course we were taken down to the logging forests in southern victoria to see for ourselves where the process starts and it was such a shocking & heartbreaking sight that I decided right then to use only recycled / scrap materials in my creations. I buy all my fabric second hand and am constantly thinking of more efficient ways to make as little waste as possible, and ideas to then use the scraps I create myself.

Thanks so much Claire!

And in case any of you aren't already familiar with it, this lovely lady has a flickr site under the name clumsy bird. She takes incredible photos and updates it daily. I recommend taking a look for some visual inspiration.

***UPDATE*** 10.31.08. Claire has opened her etsy shop under the name "my favourite dress", where you can purchase her hand sewn wallets and plush toys.

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this is the first in a series of weekly "all about" some of the wonderfully creative people i know (or would like to get to know). please check back next thursday for the next installment.

Our (not so) Private Life : missing kirk, my new roommate, etc...

so...i miss kirk.

even though i am very independent, and very busy, and was the kind of kid who loved girl scout camp and sleepovers and never got homesick -- i still miss him.

but lil' miss kellie here has done a lot to take the edge off of the loneliness. she's been my ideal summer roommate. she's fun. she'll watch sandra dee movies with me, is great at entertaining herself, does the dishes, gets along with everyone...and like i said before, has been a great help.

this is her in our little shared backyard.

i think we'll go see mama mia this weekend.
abba, the greek isles, meryl streep, and josef frank fabrics....i can't wait.

p.s. steph and i (and our handmade goods) were featured on apartment therapy's ohdeedoh.

Inspiration: Country Living Farmhouses

i found this book by marie proeller hueston at the library. one reviewer on amazon said the rooms looked unfinished...maybe because they're not outfitted with your usual assortment of goo-gaws, doo-dads, trinkets, etc.... it's a fresh new take on "country" style that seems to take notes from shaker simplicity and modern spareness, while remaining cozy and homey. they exercise restraint....something i want desperately to do, but am forever failing at.

i love the grid of polaroids stuck simply to the wall in the last photo. does anyone else have the urge to spend all of their money on a hoard of polaroid film before they discontinue it?

more photos from this book here.

that's what saturdays are for

the farmers market. (well, except for the limes) we ran into the beazers!

scrubbing the bathroom

shall we dance with ginger rogers and fred astaire at the ohio theater. instead of commercials, we had an organ solo before the show began. i never knew this is where the songs: they can't take take it away from me and let's call the whole thing off came from. those gershwin brothers were pretty talented! (not to mention fred and ginger.) the whole thing was so fun. thanks, steph, for telling me about it!

pretty ladies in the neighborhood

kirk's little sister, kellie, is staying with me for a month while he's gone. it's been so much fun hanging out, and she's also been such a big help. she's the one packaging up all the orders that ship out...and she's also packaging tags in their cellophane bags for me (while watching movies, so it's hopefully not too much of a drag for her). we're calling it her "summer internship".

les parapluies de cherbourg

i absolutely adore this movie.

the story, the music, the actors, the cinematography, the colors. it's so inspiring visually and artistically. and the story is such a wonderful, bittersweet, realistic portrayal of love.
i'm going to use it as inspiration for a project i'm working on.

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speaking of love...happy anniversary kirk!

hand made things

i just realized that i haven't posted in a while on what i've actually been making. well, here are some of the things.

above is a limited edition (25) 2 color letterpress and collage print. it's the third in what i guess is a series of prints featuring the sea freak. if i haven't told you already, i think of the sea freak as myself... but he represents anyone who has felt awkward or out of place. this particular piece is called the sea freak calls for help, and is loosely based on michelangelo's god creates adam. it will be for sale exclusively through an online art shop called the shiny squirrel.

here are more of those label/placecards. this time in gray. available here.

and my bride card reprinted in a different color scheme. i like to mix it up. keeps it interesting for me. find it here.

i also designed some fold-over place cards and am in the process of printing them. i think people will mainly use them for wedding receptions and maybe bridal showers. i tried to think of the 3 best colors for these purposes (with the help of some women relatives) and came up with light pink, light green, and black. (not all at once. they'd come in just one color per pack.) what do you think?

news

this weekend i picked my first tomato from my front porch potted garden.
it made delicious pico de gallo.
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also, i woke up this morning to an email from kirk saying one of my favorite blogs had featured us. sure enough, the letterpress frame mattes stephanie designed for sycamore street press are front and center on poppytalk today!

amir h. fallah

one of my favorite things to do growing up was to make a tent fort...which often included the piano, blankets, and a bunch of books. so, these photos by amir h. fallah really make me smile. he created the forts with the help of his friends in their respective houses. all were spontaneous creations, using what was on hand.

jamie and amanda

jamie and amanda are two of the nicest people i know. kirk and jamie are friends from the old oklahoma days. it was a happy coincidence that he and his fiance, amanda, happened to already be living in columbus when we moved here last year. we went to see "the dark knight" together last night (so good, but scary!). and today, amanda colored my hair. i love my new, more natural shade. the girl's got skills!

quick trip

frodo the cat

sisters (photo by paul)

nephews

mom and dad

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i used a voucher to take a quick trip to visit dear friends and family in utah this past weekend. thanks everyone! i had a very lovely time. i didn't get to see everyone i would have liked because it was so short, but hopefully i will next time.

oh, i just love utah. perpetual sunny skies, mountains, delicious food, cheerful neighborhoods, and some of my favorite people.

technicolor stripes

jen stark

jared clark


kristin

brooke inman

jim lambie

mark grotjahn

i love the rainbow brite meets modernist imagery in all of these multicolored stripes. such wonderful work. i'm inspired to try some myself.. only, it's been done enough already by very competent people. so, i must try to do something else. i have plenty of ideas, it's just so hard to find the time these days!

i just saw a guy walking down the street with a wii guitar strapped to his back.

guess what i did?

i made black raspberry freezer jam. this was a big first for me. and a rite of passage. my mom makes jam. so does my granny. do did my great grandmother who just passed away. now i do.

also, we have a new thing in our etsy shop. these little labels/ place cards. pink or orange. i use them in our booth as little price labels, and grace from design*sponge really liked them, and quite a few people expressed interest in buying them, so that's why i'm putting them in the shop. hope it works out. it's always a gamble!
i was trying to think of all the things they could be used for... place cards at a party or reception, gift tags, scrapbooking, frames for tiny photos, pretty labels for storage boxes...let me know if you think of another good use.

Born in the you know what!

so, remember how i was being a little whiny about still being kind of new in ohio and not knowing many people? i take it back. so many people have been so nice and invited me to do things this weekend. thanks everyone, it's been great!

i went with my new friends nikki, david, and audrey to the festivities in granville, ohio. that's where i met carlie (in photo), all decked out in patriotic/school spirited gear. we walked around the quaint little downtown area. a dog show, a tap dancing performance, a fishing game, a couple of merry go round rides, and some fried food later, we drove home happy and tired.

last night, the johnsons and the snaveleys had me over for a bbq, fireworks watching, and some wii playing. jamie and amanda gave me a call to hang out, and i would have loved to go, but i was already out! that's new for me.

also, kari and i walked a few blocks over to the "shadow church" to watch the fireworks with all the other neighborhood people. we saw an old man with white hair and a hearing aid carrying a boombox that was blasting "jump around". pretty funny.

america the beautiful

so, sometimes i have a love-hate relationship with this country of mine. i get jealous that in finland, kidnapping is pretty much unheard of, japan is so efficient, clean, and stylish, the people of tonga are so generous and laid back and have never had to deal with colonization, italians have such a rich food heritage that they guard so closely, etc... and i could list the gripes that i have with my own country, but i'll refrain for today, because...

there are pluses and minuses to any place. and when it comes down to it,
america is my home, and i do love it.

i love the way the flag looks. and i love that i can live where i want, study what i want, worship as i please. i love that it still has so many wide open spaces, and the fact that anyone can "look american". i love that it sheltered those of my ancestors who came looking for the start of a new life... and that this land has been the home of some of my other ancestors for thousands of years before that.

so, happy fourth of july!

p.s. the photo is of the columbus, ohio lds temple, as the summer storm clouds are rolling in.

call this an early anniversary post...

i feel so lucky that my partner in business, tennis, cooking, music, etc...is also my best friend and my husband. for those of you who don't know him, well, he is: smart (speaks 3 languages), adorable, a talented drummer and guitarist, a great cook, a hard worker, a loyal friend, great with kids, very patient with me, and he's a kind, humble man... you get the picture. it's been so great working with him at sycamore street press and at the craft fairs these past months.

we'll have our fourth anniversary later this month. i keep marveling at how blessed i was to decide that he was the one, and vice versa. i mean, we were only 24, and we'd only known each other a couple of months when we decided to get married! but i think we pretty much knew from our first conversation that that was it. i did anyway. i still can't get over it... and our choice just keeps getting better.