LizzyHouse

in and out... Quilt Market all parts.

so I just got home from Market, and I am SOO tired. Unfortunately I am having to alot my energy as I am in the last leg of finishing my BFA so, sorry peeps this is going to be brief.

Market always feels like a reunion. I like that about it. You get to see your blog friends, and fabric peeps in real life. It's a fun thing, and something I have really come to look forward to. Also, in light of being really tired, I didn't take too many pictures... here are the ones that I did take though.

always good to see Laura and Heather! Laura's fabric is being released in the Spring! So exciting!

I was super excited to meet Jay McCarroll who is designing for FreeSpirit, and so happy to see my dear peep Melissa of Yummy Goods. I'm working on moving to a place where we can be friends all year long. Who knows!?

I just love Elizabeth and Pam SO MUCH! 

darling Mark Lipinski.

dream Kim Kight, of True Up. I was really happy to finally meet her!

It was so nice meeting and chatting with Patty Young!

I loved meeting Jessica Jones of How About Orange. She is someone that I could also see trying to make a friend on a more regular basis. Unfortunately there are no pictures of us though, as all were taken way too late, and were... unfortunate.

I met so many great people. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with Patricia of A Little Hut, Jenean of PoshPattern, and Michelle of Cicada Daydreams to name a few. Also, too fun Myrinda, of Fabric Hound. So many fun people. Forgive me for leaving anyone out. I don't know what exactly I am running on at this point

This keeps on not being short...

One of my very favorite people that I met was easily Caroline Devoy (and Robin). Fabric 2.0 was super fun, and she had an incredible award winning booth. It's great to find like minded people in a giant convention center full of "like minded" people.

OH! Lizzy Dish is doing well. It should start popping up in stores near ye. OH and I recorded a podcast with Annie Smith of SimpleArts, and Quilters Stash the first podcast for quilters. I'll link to that when it goes up, if you are interested in hearing me talk about stuff... I sure missed Kirsten! Too much fun, everything. Ok i'm done. For real.

Ok one more thing. It was super fun to be there with my sister Ashlee, and my Mom. Lots of success for Cherry House Quilts!

OK! i'm going to try and graduate now. Wish me luck.

LizzyDish, some insight...

A couple of weeks ago I did an interview with Maria Peagler, about the color and the process of LizzyDish! When I was answering the questions it really got me thinking about what the line means to me, and why I made the choices that I did. I essentially bore my testimony about this fabric collection. For reals. I am surprisingly emotional about LizzyDish. You can read the interview here.

It reminds me of, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," Linus is talking about how the Great Pumpkin couldn't possibly pass up his pumpkin patch because it was "the most sincere pumpkin patch". That's how I feel about LizzyDish. I feel like it is very sincere. And I hope you won't pass it by.

Also, a little bird told me, a peep if you will, that LizzyDish will be at a certain House's house in Texas in 4 days! Talk about a mad dash for market!

stay tuned I've got some new things to share in the next couple of days!

Three Little Maids

I painted these little wooden pegs. There names are Yum-Yum, Peep-bo, and Pitti-sing... but Pitti for short (pronounced Petey).

Three little maids from school!
Three little maids who, all unwary,
Come from a ladies' seminary,
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school,
Three little maids from school!

they remind me of the watercolor I did at the beginning of the year...

here is a source for the pegs!

check out this video from one of my favorite movies Topsy Turvy. I just love the Mikado!

LizzyDish and how it came to be.

I wanted to reveal a little... share a little about LizzyDish.

I have received several, several emails asking about fabric design, and how I got started and where to go and what to do... so because I am not so hot at responding to every email, I wanted to share it with everyone. I want to be a helpful peep.

click here to read about how I got the deal.

Designing:

I always draw everything first. I always have about 3 sketch books with me. One of them is usually for lists, one is devoted to a specific project, and the other is for random stuff.

My style is either extremely sketchy or extremely graphic. I love flat! You can see all my influences in my work... Edward Gorey, Mary Blair, Saul Bass, Charles Schultz, David Weidman, Quinton Blake, Marimekko, and anything Mario Brothers or Legend of Zelda.

But I draw all the time. Church, class, especially airports. Some of my very best stuff comes from airports, and my most interesting stuff happens at about 3-4 AM.

For LizzyDish, the whole thing started with this sketch.

I took it the computer lab, scanned it in, and traced it with the pen tool so I could figure out some colors, because I wanted to carve some blocks and print it.

this is what I ended up with, I wrote about it here. I was really excited about it.

from there I carved three blocks.

the picture was from a terrible article written about me in the school paper. They knew it was bad too. Misquotes, misinterpretations... everything that could be wrong in an article was, but it was a cute picture, with the blocks of LizzyDish in hand.

I made an edition of twenty of the print:

 
I wanted it to appear like something out of a 1950's or early 60's cook book. Something you got from your mom or were excited about finding in thrift store or at a garage sale. I kept that in mind while I was designing the line. Especially were the colors were concerned.

Color is such a huge thing to me. So I kept the colors true to things that were happening during those decades. One color way reflects the color trends of Fiesta Ware that was being produced, another the idea of retro kitchen appliances, and the third: the craze of Beach Party movies and the love the US had for the new state of Hawaii.

I always make a color chart. The colors tend to change along the way, but it is where I start... after the initial drawings.

I also create a logo. The g-designer in me can't help but brand everything I do.

It is some months later and my part is done (for now), now it is in the hands of my Andover peeps, and the peeps at the mill. It will be up to you peeps to make stuff with it, and how great will that be? I already have some projects planned that will be a lot of fun.

so this is my break down

• get an idea
• start sketching
• draw it in the computer
• plan out color
• work out all possible accompanying patterns
• make a logo!
• edit edit edit edit edit
• submit

this is what works for me. Leave a comment if you have any other questions or what your process is. I can't wait to get my hands on this fabric. The line is actually extremely versatile and can be used for so much more than the kitchen, but think of the APRONS!

i hope that you are as excited as I am.

here is an FAQ that I will update as I receive questions!

it's still a wonderful town.

shopping recap:

Let's just go ahead and say that the food was out of control. The first night one of my favorite peeps, Cliff, took me to Salute! I wish I had taken a picture of my dinner, but it had been a really long day. The food was incredible. My closest peeps know that I could eat pesto everyday for the rest of my life, and be content, this was just a validation of that contentment. Beautiful! Please go there if you get the opportunity. The service isn't of the same caliber as the food, but it's well worth your patience.

Also, ate at a place called Arno's, and it was seriously like the restaurant off of Moonstruck. The restaurant that they always go to: really Italian, family owned, bring around the dessert cart... that's where we had dinner. Maybe not exactly the same, but pretty much. The food was great there too.

I'm sure I ate more than twice whilst away, but I just can't remember. It was good though, whatever it was, it was good.

I mentioned yesterday that I was on ribbon street, or 38th, whatever. It was awesome. I was especially enamored with the store Tinsel Trading, and its sister store The Store Across the Street.

That is where I probably got into the most trouble. Vintage Ribbon, glass glitter, silk flowers... just everything I could ever need to remain happy. PLUS. They are having a moving sale so I got some really great deals on a few things. And just a little FYI, they are going to be at Quilt Festival this year in Houston, so for all of you peeps who can't get to the store, and can get to Festival, it is something to certainly look forward to. If that isn't an option either, they keep a great website and you can order lots from them.

The other great place that we went was Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore across the street from Bryant Park. The store was out of control, and I was a little overwhelmed, as there is a Japanese stationary store in the basement. I found some really neat books one of which was how to make wool felted desserts... It's hilarious!

here are my finds... I had to choose colors that I was going to stick to so I was looking with a purpose and wouldn't become overwhelmed, and not be able to buy anything.  

 

these glitter ribbons came from a store called M&J Trimming. I kind of felt that it was like the super store of ribbon... it was much more commercial. Not my favorite but I did find these glitter ribbons for my little Ashlee. They will just match her "collection" so well. Plus the giant spider brooch I picked up from one of those funny jewelry stores where you leave with eight pair of earrings and spider pin for under $20.

I had every intention of maybe catching a show, or going to the museum, but by the time we got done and I got home (to the hotel) I could hardly keep my eyes open. Turns out designing fabric isn't a cupcake. Maybe not pushing myself to go do stuff makes me boring... well fair enough. I'm a traveling homebody.

I will say this. No one is ever above a gameboy. Nobody. Ben let me borrow his Nintendo DS for the trip and it saved my life, as some airlines don't believe in being very on time. Whoever I was sitting next to would always just kind of lean back and watch over my shoulder, for a long time. I think they got the biggest kick out of WarioWare. We were waiting on the jet way at JFK for two hours, because of maintenance  and the person sitting next to me would not stop watching. He was trying to be sneaky about it. I wasn't fooled. Never am.

it' a very interesting thing. One day you are walking down a street filled with thousands of people with a million different things to do, and literally the next day, you are walking down a street by yourself, and you can't see anyone. You are the only one. Alone in both cases.

That's what being back in Rexburg is. I don't resent it. Actually I am grateful for it, but it is interesting to have your feet in both worlds. The places and feelings are polar opposites, and the two don't seem to meet; I don't think they can. What ties you to either, OR the question I keep asking, what ties me to Idaho?

Dramatic, I know. I hope you are weeping, because that was deep.

Portland part two: market.

This is going to be a while as this is my whole Market wrap up.

Market was so much fun! Just a quick update about Lizzy Dish, we are working out a few more things vis. I am going to NYC in a few weeks (for real this time) to change some colors and then it's off to the printers. SO what this means is, nobody really got to see the line at market... so you all got to see the same preview down below. Enjoy it... it's all you will see till I think about September. Sorry little peeps. Keep your chin up though, it will be worth it.

So what this meant for me at market was no major obligations, which was nice! I just got to run around and meet peeps. Which is what I love. I also got to shop, which is what I love also. For some reason I didn't get too many pictures while at market, so just follow the links and you will know who I am talking about.

Fabric/ Designer Peeps:

I did however get a picture with one of my very favorite people. I love Amy Schimler. She is like my illustration/surface design mother. I was so happy to finally meet her in person. She really has been an incredible mentor to me. It was pretty funny though. I was coming down the escalator in the convention center and someone just starts shouting my name. It was Amy! I didn't realize I was so recognizable.

I also met new dream girl Melissa Averinos of YummyGoods, who is designing for Free Spirit. She is so fun! Power to the girls with short hair! We had a good discussion about loop holes and Japanese fabric. She and I were in the same, no artwork, no fabric till Fall boat.

Lovely lovely Oliver + S, Liesl + Company. Talk about dream team, really. They have a great team. They do so much nice work. Really good graphic design. All together a very happy 20 minutes spent with them! I got one of Liesl's Day Pack Tote patterns and I am really excited to put it together. Hopefully we will be working under the same umbrella some time soon. Wink!

My family! Takes over Andover Fabrics! Eric and Julie Comstock, own CosmoCricket and have two lines out right this very minute with Andover, Jitterbug and Half way Cafe.

Sandi Henderson and Anna Marie Horner, both had sweet action booths!

Talk about Aprons:

No really... This could easily have been International Apron Spring Market 2008. I don't mind one bit though. Because everyone will need to prepare their apron making skills for Lizzy Dish.

My new peeps at Vanilla House always do such a nice job. Remember the, out of control, awesome apron that Joan made for me for Christmas? Well it was Vanilla House the whole time. Any House is a friend of mine.

The Apron Lady makes really great aprons. I finally found the apron pattern for me + printmaking. Turns out I go to school with Mary who is the daughter of Jan who IS THE Apron Lady. There was definitely a BYU-Idaho reunion in Portland... we were all missing school.

I met Robin Mynatt at Sample Spree. She is ParisBebe. I got a really cute apron pattern from her. It's the ruffliest one I have seen yet, and that is what I was after. Not only that... I got some fabric from her too, for the apron... yeah turns out she designed it. Cool lady!

I will also say there were many hugs given in the name of Printmaking. Whoever you are, where ever you are... printmakers have the innate ability to find each other.

Japanese fabrics:

I heart Seven Islands. They are the distributors of Kokka and Echino fabrics. They will have a new website up June 1st. I could be wrong but I think that they said you would be able to order wholesale from the new website??? If so... yet another dream come true. I loved the girls who were working the booth. They were really sweet, and not annoyed with me for hanging around. I was lucky enough to get some brand new Heather Ross Rabbits and Race Cars for Kokka at sample spree. It is really nice fabric. 85% cotton 15% linen. It's "decor weight". Dream weight is what I say.


And I was sooo worried that my friends from Bunny Designs wouldn't be there... but they were. Good thing too. We are always told to have a year supply... so that is just what I did. I got a year supply of pink hedgehogs, and little red riding hood fabric. Now I will not have want for new hedgehog fabric for one year. Angela the owner actually imports and distributes really fun Japanese fabrics from Cosmo Textiles, and the pink hedgehogs that I speak of were so popular that she has had to put in for a reprint... so they will be here around July. That's ok by me.


Bloggers and the like:

Said hello to the fab Pam Kitty Morning

So sad to have missed Monica the oh so Happy Zombie

and of course a hello to Gina, Quilters Buzz

The Bosses:

Too bad  David our President at Andover pulled me aside on Wednesday night at dinner to discuss my line... I thought I was in trouble. He is the nicest man ever, seriously, and he is a really inspirational guy...I just always think I am in trouble, always have (deep rooted issues I assume)... even though I never do anything wrong.

I got busted for sure. I went to my fairy god mothers of quilting's booth Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, of course. It was so good to see them, and get to tell them the good news about my fabric contract, as it was at their booth in fall market where it all happened. Dale Fleming dragged Clifford from Andover to their booth to look at my designs. And it's all history from there. Turns out Dale has been asking about it ever since, just wondering how it worked out, and me being the shmo that I am, never sent her a thank you. She is getting a handmade book that's for sure. I love seeing them. They really mean so much to me. I was sad that Dale wasn't there.

The man himself Mark Lapinski. I was so happy to finally meet him! As soon as he saw me he ran around his little podium thing and hugged me. I think my bow must really give me away. Maybe you could see me in the Magazine sometime? I just think.... that we could be a very dangerous pair as we are both such smart A's. True story.

Spring Market Crush:

it's always just going to be Kaffe Fassett. It will be in the Fall too.

Quilt show:

There were lots of really beautiful quilts, but my very favorite was by Heidi Stegehuis-Ihle of the Netherlands. Her piece was called Digitale Revolution and it just cracked me up.



It was a great market. Oh yeah one more thing. City News was the talk of the town. It was hanging in the Robert Kaufman booth. It was a dream come true for my Mom.


Now I just can't wait for Fall Market.

completed.

ok really quick, I sat down to watch a minute of the American Idol, Idols Give Back, and Annie Lennox sang, and I just cried my little eyes out. Wow, I really love her a lot. Her music helped my mom, my siblings and myself get through some really hard times when we were little. That and the whole cause always makes me cry...

it has finally gotten a little warmer.. well today it had anyhow, but it will probably snow tonight. At least the snow is melted!

This was the day that I needed to get to, and here I am, nearly done. Sorry I haven't been sending any emails, it feels as if finals have never been this stressful, but maybe I feel like this at the end of every term. Who knows? I can't remember. I'm off to New York on Friday to see my fabric peeps, and to visit some friends, and because of some successful art sales, a bit of shopping will ensue. Have a great rest of the week everyone!

this is my Watercolor Final. It's Link from the Legend of Zelda, and all his stuff. Nerd Alert. Too bad i'm obsessed. Whatever. Enjoy







I used Prisma Colors over the watercolor

talk to you soon!

gone with the wind.

The day that my cat Pumpkin died, I was devastated. Who wouldn't be? But I am the kind of person who has to do something about it. I have to start making something when I am facing something heavy. Loosing Pumpkin was heavy. Most of the time I can start baking and I can feel better, clean something, and feel better; I used to cut my hair...I think it's just the idea, or feeling that you have control over something in your life when you feel so helpless. I know it has improved my baking ten fold not necessarily my hair cutting. But this was bigger than a loaf of bread, and bigger than a cake. So that night I started making a quilt. My Mom was willing to let me do whatever it was that I needed to be OK. I think that there are four people in the world who can handle me when I am like this... so we made a plan and cut every piece of my favorite fabric into strips, and I just started sewing. I decided that I would finish it in three days before I went back to Idaho... yeah right... I was just kind of on a sewing rampage. The whole time my Mom was at work I would sew. I would go for 4 hours at a time trying to get as many blocks done as possible. Also... this was and is just my second quilt, and I decided it needed to be on the diagonal. Whatevs. So, I experienced quilting as therapy, as so many of you know it to be. I was unable to finish it in three days (go figure)... and was not able to work on it until I got back home for the Christmas break. Again we were down to the last hours before I left for the new semester, and Gone with the Wind came on, and we worked until it was over. So, now the theme from the movie reminds me of my Mom, Pumpkin, and finishing this quilt. I have been stitching the binding every time I have had a couple of hours and it's finally finished.

Can I just say how much more respect I have for quilters. Especially, my Mom! She can bind a quilt in one night and you would never know that it was rushed! I am amazed at the dedication and the skill that making a quilt really entails. This was my first quilt that I did start to finish, and it truly is an act of love. You know, I am a part of the Business, Cherry House Quilts, and now I am a part of the industry, but I am still just barely scratching the surface of what any of this means. I really am just amazed...

Because it was diagonal I had leftover corners from trimming the blocks, so I sewed them into squares and made pillows. I left some of the corners at home and my my mom made pin cushions and a little zipper bag for me.

just so you know though, I am really happy right now, no worries. Plus, I have a new quilt for my bed!

primary colors

this has been an interesting week, and it's only half over.

Monday was really a dream come true. My new FAVORITE band, for whatever reason, came to town. I always preface with, "for whatever reason," as Rexburg is not near anything, and therefore very out of the way. The band is called Canoe, and they are from Portland Oregon. I first heard of them a couple of months ago, through a friend, and had been listening to the same five songs over and over again, because I loved them so much, and it's all I had. I even put them on mix cds for the print lab. Well, needless to say they put on an amazing show. I love when a band sounds just as good if not better than their recording.

Also, a band that is a part of their label played. Johan the Angel. They were incredible! Please go listen! You can listen to the music, and buy it from their website or through Amazon MP3, once you know just how much you love them too.

Tuesday: a play, sorbet, and super smash brothers

Wednesday: we are getting ready for a print show they are doing in Idaho Falls, and we all (printing peeps) have work in the show, and getting all the images together, framed, matted... it's all little stressful on top of everything else, but it's a great opportunity. So, for various reasons it was a rough day. BUT I just can't even imagine how, but everyday like this I come home to some kind of present! Somehow, someone knows that I needed something. It's a miracle!

I designed a wedding announcement for some dear friends of mine, and I did it because I love them, but they got me a present. On Monday at the show, I told my friend Preston how beautiful I thought these bells that Johan the Angel were playing, and he said that he knew all about them.

I came home tonight to a set of these, and a sweet note from someone. How does someone always know?

Here are some pics of a new watercolor, my favorite Belgian necklace and my bells. All primary (and secondary...) colors

and as if I hadn't already blown your mind....

my first line of fabric will be available at the end of the year through Andover Fabrics.  Pretty cool huh?

a billion feet of snow.

i have spent four years here and never before have we had this much snow! I was supposed to go down to Logan this weekend to visit my Asher, BUT they went so far as to close one of the main highways. Well, the snow that they have "cleared" from the roads is over 8 feet tall in my parking lot. It's a trouble being so short and walking everywhere, you can hardly see where you are going these days.

OK, if my last hint wasn't clear enough; how is this for a hint? I got a contract and I start sending in my designs this week. I got a call from New York on Friday. The funny thing was the fact that I was in class and had to leave class to take the call. I thought that was so amusing. My favorite part about the call was hearing that they will send off my designs for engraving!! I know that's how it's done, BUT ENGRAVING. I'm a print maker! It all works together so nicely.

I have so many projects going right now, it's probably a good thing there are a billion feet of snow so I can actually try to sit still and get some of it done. I don't have any pictures of what I am doing yet... they all are in baby stages or almost done...

I hope everyone is well. How is the weather where you are?

these are pictures I took for a watercolor still life. I just can't bring myself to paint a watering can with flowers and a straw hat.