blog – Page 51 – ann wood handmade

making things

October 2, 2014

by annwood

For weeks and weeks I’ve been occupied with lots of the things necessary to keep a making things business afloat and there hasn’t been much time for making things. I’ve worked on web stuff, book keeping stuff, teaching stuff, designed some things and did some press stuff (some fun things coming in the spring) among other things. All good and important things but I miss my time, my hours and hours in my place making things. This week I finally got back to it and made this dastardly fellow out of one of my favorite ever Sri Threads treasures – a thick striped gray wool flannel- just enough for one bad tempered owl. Also made from Sri Textiles – a curious spider, her legs are hammered iron wire – I use a little anvil. Skittering away with her bustle in the air. And new mushroom specimens – more of the signed and numbered edition. All these things and more will be in the shop in about a week- you can sign up for the mailing list if you’d like a notification. And I made a dress! My first ever – it’s a jumper / apron / pinafore / sort of affair. The older I get the more I dress like Holly Hobby and I’m OK with that – it’s contemporary Holly Hobby. It’s got pockets and french seams and I’m very proud of it -it was challenging and satisfying and I want to sew lots more clothes. I got the pattern here – there aren’t a lot of instructions but I was able to figure it out and I found a tutorial on french seams here.

home

September 16, 2014

by annwood

I’m in a year of experimenting and shifting and being a beginner. One of my main life skills is being a good beginner – moving forward without a lot of attachment to outcome – being willing to act in uncertainty. From the perspective of feeling confident and comfortable The Squam Retreat is a terrible idea for me. The days are intense and challenge me in so many ways: I’m used to, and enjoy, being by myself. The idea of sharing a cabin with strangers for 4 days seems impossible. Teaching – speaking to a group – managing precious time for other people, all seem like giant mountains to climb. It was all so worth it – and then some. I had wonderful cabin mates and that was a big part of the experience – left to my own devices I would have missed that. Elizabeth Duvivier plans every detail of this experience thoughtfully, insightfully and expertly. I loved teaching- again. It got my wheels turning in new ways. I loved getting glimpses of other peoples imaginations and processes. I think there is a moment in learning a new skill or technique when doors open in your imagination – possibilities emerge and you experience an elusive kind of flow and focus. It’s inspiring and motivating to watch that unfold.

I came home exhausted and charged up at the same time. Four days out of my routine was valuable in so many ways. I did things I was afraid of, learned more about my own rhythms, got a million new ideas and made friends. Real Friends. The experience left me with a New Year’s day kind of feeling – a map of things I need to pay more attention to, ways in which I should be challenging myself more often, ways I need to grow and ideas that I have been consistently resistant to that I don’t just need to consider but should be marching towards. I did as much learning as I did teaching – from students and the class experience and from spending time with women who run creative businesses and run them beautifully.

It was my second time at Squam and the second time I was so engaged in the moment and the experience I forgot to record it. I’m so grateful to Andi Schrader for taking the wonderful photos below. She also made this little house – I love it and it is a perfect token of the experience.

Some glimpses of the botanical class through Andi’s lense:

(more photos after the break)

headed for squam

September 10, 2014

by annwood

I’m headed to the Squam Art Retreat tomorrow to teach my botanical sewing class – I can’t wait to get started. I’m bringing a ridiculous amount of stuff with me – it’s like I’m moving. I’ll also be at the art fair with some of my botanical experiments and I’ll have the prototypes for the ship pattern with me too if you’d like to see or have a question, or just come say hi – the fair is always fabulous.

And some new Fortuny pieces – I just sent this group off to Venice.

Francesco and Alessandro

Piero

And Lorenzo.

the other side and sri threads

September 4, 2014

by annwood

It has happened – my blog has moved – I am on the other side. I think having everything in one place is a much better and so much simpler solution and I made lots of other improvements that were overdue like secure on-site credit card payments in the shop, an overall better shop experience and backend-wise everything is a lot more user friendly for me.

For the first post at my new blog address one of my favorite subjects: beautiful textiles from Sri Threads. A box arrive a little bit ago (they are always unannounced and unexpected) filled with inspiring treasures gathered by Stephen Szczepanek . I love unpacking the boxes – I make coffee, and put on music, (Johnny Cash for this box) I go very, very slowly and linger over each intriguing thing – thinking of what I might make.

I’m not sure what the piece above is – a cuff I think – I love the shape and the metal closure tabs.

The flannel pieces above are wonderful – the textures and the colors are so striking. There are also some wonderfully textured cream and ivory pieces of heavy cotton – perfect for the pale owl and white rat I’ve been wanting to make. All this color is perfect for toadstools too.

I’m making some little toadstools to take to Squam next week. We’ll be making toadstools in my botanical class and I’ll have some for sale at the Art Fair on Saturday ( at very special fair prices). I’m also bringing paper mache ships – if you’ve been thinking about trying the pattern and you’re in the neighborhhod come by and say hi and check them out.

Update: the little mushroom pattern is now available in the shop.

mushroom hunting

August 20, 2014

by annwood

I’ve been taking some time to wander around and pay extra attention to moss and mushrooms and other botanicals in preparation for my class at Squam this year (just a couple weeks away!). On my last excursion I spotted all sorts of mushrooms – most of which I’ve never seen before.

yellow mushroom

This yellow one with a spotted cap was the biggest- the size of my hand and intensely yellow.

These little yellow and black ( and kind of creepy) guys are tiny – less than an inch high.

mini_terrerium

I also made a little terrarium with a tiny fishbowl I found at a yard sale.

I’m looking forward to the class and the time in the forest and it also winds up a period of extreme busyness for me – I’m working on the botanical class, 2 new patterns, a special project for holiday 2015 and another for holiday 2014 among other things – all wrapping up in the next couple weeks. The last night of the Squam retreat (9/13) there’s an Art Fair – if New Hampshire is not too far for you I hope you’ll come say hi.

paper mache ships pattern

August 15, 2014

by annwood

Learn how to make graceful shapes from cereal boxes and other top secret techniques. Make beautiful ships and get all sorts of ideas. You can find the PDF pattern here or if you prefer on Etsy.

* Update 2020- there is a booklet version too for one large ship – find it here.

This is a huge pattern- 57 pages of photos and instructions, 3 templates – a Large Ship, a Small Ship, a Little Boat, a resource list and more.

I hope you make ships!

If you make ships I’d love to see, you can use #annwoodpattern on instagram or send me a photo : info at ann wood handmade dot com

Owls make great captains – find the little owl pattern right here.

There are also a couple little (very little) companion videos including :

How To Put The Wind in Your Sails

ship building in the adirondacks

August 12, 2014

by annwood

Over the weekend I took the entire ship building /pattern making operation way upstate into the Adirondack park. Major progress was made and there where some setbacks too. If I had known how long this would take or how hard it would be I’m not sure I would have started, but I’m glad I did.

adirondack work shop

ship work

I’ve still got a handful of photos to take, a bunch to edit and lots of pages to layout but I hope the hardest part is done. I’ve been testing as I go along so I’m confident the instruction is solid and there’s a lot of it. Hopefully the patterns make it out into the world by the end of the week. This has been such an epic effort and learning experience and I’ll be very, very, happy when it is officially done and released and I’ll also be very excited to start the next pattern.

paper_mache_ship_8_10

paper mache ship

PS – If you’d like an email when the pattern is released you can sign up here.

new creatures

July 31, 2014

by annwood

A little collection of new creatures – I’ve posted them on Etsy just now (7/31). I spent the morning re -shooting them, I was disappointed with yesterday’s photos ( on the up side I learned some things about aperture) so now I’ve got to roll right into Flamingo making – lots and lots of flamingos…

textile art bird

Dark Bird

textile art owl

Pecksniff (he’s got some fancy junk in his owley trunk)

textile art songbird

Plum Songbird

textile art owl

Mr. Bittles

(beautiful fabrics courtesy of Sri Threads)

inspiration

July 30, 2014

by annwood

I started this dark bird months ago and he ended up becoming more complex than I originally intended.

dark bird

His underside is stitched and stitched. I like to have this kind of project, this kind of compulsive, repetitive stitching to pick up sometimes. I like to have busy hands when something is percolating in my mind or when I’m searching for an idea or part of and idea.

dark_bird_2

On the subject of inspiration: I listened to a great episode of “After The Jump” yesterday – Grace Bonney talks to wall paper designer Katie Deedy about her creative practices, where she finds inspiration and how she develops ideas. I love hearing about other peoples creative process and I could relate to everything Katie said. The work of being inspired is a constant and consuming process for me. I enjoy all of it – even when it’s difficult – the thrill of the chase I guess. I’m so curious what might be next, what surprises and odd intersections might reveal themselves. I do some of my best thinking in the tedious or deeply repetitive work of hand stitching or paper mache and I’m sure that’s part of my attraction to those mediums.

handmade owl

I’m also nearly finished with a big gray owl – I’m photographing all the newly finished creatures today and I’ll add them to my shop ( temporarily on Etsy) tomorrow (7/31).

And progress – this is a sneak peek of the little boat pattern instructions that is part of the paper mache pattern collection (it’s nearly done!).

paper mache boat

my blog is moving

July 23, 2014

by annwood

ann wood -site makeover

Ann Wood Handmade ( my shop website) is getting a make over. And part of that makeover is to consolidate my blog and shop into one place. In a couple weeks the new site will be complete and everything will live at annwoodhandmade.com ( for now I’ll still be posting here). I’m making lots of improvements to the shopping experience and I like the idea of having it all in one place – just seems simpler. While the shop site is down I’ll be using my etsy shop for sales.

on my work table

July 22, 2014

by annwood

Sewing feels like a treat and a needed change of pace, I’ve spent way too much time with my computer lately. I’m working on a few new things.

These are mostly made from Sri Textiles – in a moody palette I find myself returning to again and again this year. There is also a wonderful bit of eccentric mending on the lower right.

The songbird is a little bit of a re- design. The songbird pattern was the only one I hadn’t backed up and I lost it – so frustrating. As soon as I finished the new design I found the old one in a mislabeled box. I’m glad I did it though – they’re different – the old shape is more stylized in a way I like and the new one has a more natural shape and I like that too.

get the songbird sewing pattern

And a button score! I used up what I thought was a lifetime supply of vintage and antique shell buttons – I use them for rigging ships and owl eyes. I’m back in buttons for at least a couple years I think.

working through the doldrums

July 10, 2014

by annwood

update: find the paper mache ship pattern here

Big projects have them. Usually what keeps me motivated is the process – I like making things, all sorts of things and that has extended to my new project: making patterns (especially because it’s new to me and I’m all lit up with learning).

I had hoped to finish the paper mache ship pattern in the Adirondacks over the holiday weekend. Planned on it really – no distractions, great light, plenty of room etc. but I’m back in thick, hot NYC summer and I‘ve still got a long way to go. Often, if something is taking me a very long time it’s because I’m lingering in the process – I don’t want it to end. In this case a lot of the fun designy stuff (like the cover) is done. And the project has gotten bigger:

I had made the executive decision to keep it small and manageable – just one ship – one small, pretty ship and I was nearly done with that.

But then I reversed that executive decision and decided to make it a collection – 3 vessels. The original small ship, a little boat and a large ship (similar to “The Gulnare” one of my favorites) – a big billowy full sailed affair. And the large ship pattern had to be designed pretty much from scratch – I didn’t have a reliable large ship template. That’s a lot of designing, and a lot of step photos and instructions, editing, testing etc. A lot.

This morning I woke up feeling daunted by the hugeness of the task and frustrated about not being where I hoped I would. I re- read a post from James Clear that I keep a quote from pinned to my wall:

“Reduce the scope, but stick to the schedule.”

It’s great advice. Great, simple advice that I still need to be reminded of often. The size of the project has changed and it requires a new strategy to finish. Rather than pushing hard towards a completion date or relying on my enjoyment of the work to motivate me I’ve got it on my schedule everyday – 3 hours – first thing in the morning: photographing, compiling, testing and editing.

I can’t wait for you to try the ship patterns and I know that focusing on the schedule rather than that goal is the most reliable way to get there. If something, some goal has been eluding you I recommend trying the approach.