Color Stories

The show is closing down today, but here are a few of the crafters I was able to catch up with at the show, plus two more inspirational displays.

Mark Montano  was signing copies of his new book, The Big-Ass Book of Crafts 2, published by Gallery Books. What an awesome book!  It’s packed full of the most amazing creative projects including: jewelry, scarves, belts, outdoor projects, funky furniture, tote bags, kids’ projects, cards, sculptures and more!

Beckie Farrant and I connected at the show.  You’ll remember her from the crafter’s blog campaign we did with her back in December.  If you’re not familiar with her blog stop by Infarrantly Creative to see her amazing “Trash to Treasure” projects.  Most recently she created the Crutches Floor Lamp. 

Cindi Bisson is a mixed-media artist and the Associate Producer for When Creativity Knocks, an online craft TV show.  Cindi most recently created a “Love with all your Heart” Valentine’s Day card using Rit.  

More Creative Inspiration

Yarn as Art was the theme in the Lion Brand Company booth.  This was one of my favorite graphic displays that got my creative juices flowing.  This wall art piece was made by the designers at Lion Brand Yarn.  It features bright saturated colors of yarn, but one of their goals was to show how the same color looks differently depending on the color that’s next to it.

Trees -- All forms and shapes of trees appeared in various booths.  Most companies used them to display their products.  Perhaps it symbolized the general interest and trend in crafting green.  Here’s a beautiful beaded tree draped with beads, butterflies and other trimmings on display in the DCWV booth. 

As their anniversary gift to crafters, Plaid is adding 30 new products to the Mod Podge family. Many are based on consumer requests and current trends. 

Plus, the dynamic craft team of Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza developed a new collection of Mod Podgeable shapes, papers, and templates for creating unique designs.

Coming in May, new finishes include Wash-Out for Kids, Antique Matte, Super Gloss,Crackle Medium, Glow-in-the-Dark, Glitter and more!

Wow, Coats & Clark, "The Thread That Joins Us Together", is celebrating their 200 year anniversary! Now that's a big accomplishment. You can participate in the Coats & Clark anniversary celebration by entering their Share Your Sewing Story Giveaway. Who knows you might win a great prize.

To kick off the celebration, New York artist Devorah Sperber created The Mona Lisa 8, a sculpture made up of 1482 large spools of Dual Duty thread. At first glance, it appears to be a random arrangement of color. When viewed thru a clear acrylic sphere, it "pixels" into an image of the Mona Lisa and rotates it 180 degrees like the human eye. This shift in perception emphasizes the subjective reality versus an absolute truth. Devorah has been working for over 10 years in this method and used over 300,000 spools of thread in her sculptures. Check out more of her work at her site.

It's been awhile since we checked in with the lovely Marisa Lynch of NewDressADay fame, so we were tickled pink to see one of her latest fab refashions using Rit Dye.