cathy of california

blog readers get 25% off in my shop!

 

it's been a really great season and i'd like to thank all of you that read my blog! i'm offering 25% off in my shop. please enter code BLOG25 when checking out. limited to stock on hand - many colors are sold out!

http://cathycallahan.bigcartel.com/

echo park craft fair

see you there!

eastside handmade saturday april 13

i'll be a vendor at this show - i'm making a few new things - hope to see you there!

amy sedaris fabric line!

look what i just got in the mail! here's a selection of my favorite patterns from the "i like you" fabric line by amy sedaris for windham fabrics. it was really hard to pick the best ones for the photograph because the entire collection is so spuer cute! i'm hoping that there is a quilter out there curretly at work on some sort of marvelous creation using fabrics from this collection. how fun would that be!

for more info please visit the windham fabrics website

i'm speaking and doing a workshop at craftcation next month

i'm so excited to be a part of craftcation again this year! i'll be teaching a macrame workshop, will be moderating a panel on packaging and will be part of a discussion on blogging.

for more info, schedule and how to register please visit the craftcation website.

i'm in this show that opens on saturday

i'm making some one-of-a-kind pieces for this show. hope you can stop by. please go here for a sneak peek.

and my next creativebug video is now up - and a little background on the project

 

in april 2010 i made some props for one of my favorite clients. i've been doing the windows for market in brentwood for almost 10 years now and i just love working with the owner jenn. she loves all of my ideas and has been really encouraging and supportive. we had some big styrofoam balls left over from another installation that i want to repurpose. my first thought was to cover them in tissue paper fringe. i love the work of confetti system and was feeling influenced by their amazing pinata like creations. but after a few tests something was just not feeling right - the fringe effect was just not working like i had imagained. it just so happened that jenn was collecting used books from her customers to donate to a charity. i got the idea of using pages from old books and started experimenting with ways to embellish the balls. i messed around with a few things and covering them in a fish scale like manner seemed to click. i had alot of fun making the props and they ended up getting the most overwhelming and positive response i have ever recieved for a prop. they were even featured in the new york times. i documented to process and posted photos of the installation on my flickr page - please go here here here here and here.

part of the overwhelming repsonse were the requests for a tutorial. for lots of reasons that never happened. but when the folks at creativebug wanted to me to do a video on the project i jumped at the chance. everything creativebug does is just absolutely beautiful so finally the best way for me to show you how to make the project had come my way.

the video attached here is a sneak peek of the project. please visit the creativebug website for the complete video as well as tons of other projects by some really amazingly talented people. hope you enjoy!

 

my new jewelry collection

if you follow me on instagram (my username is cathy_of_california) you probably know what i've been up to. for the past few months i have been posting photos of the development my new jewelry and accessories collection. it's all still a work in progress as i develop and design new pieces - i'm currently working on some belts - but i'm having a lot of fun and the response has been amazing.

the necklaces currently in my shop are influenced by the work of anni albers. they are made using wood and linen that i dye in small batches. they are also available in the los angeles area at yolk, poketo and reform school.

 

my first creativebug workshop is now live

  

fold dye, 1970s

designed by lisa wilcox for larsen design studio. fold-dyed in the west african manner. produced in kenya in fifty yard lengths. 50 women simultaneously hand pleated the fabric proior to dying.

(from the dyer's art: ikat, batik and plangi by jack lenor larsen, 1976)