Inspiration: The Fairytale World of Mister Finch

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Mixed Media, Soft Sculpture, Textiles

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artist, birds, birds and beasts, british, british folklore, fairytale creatures, fake fur, flowers, fox, hares, insects, making, Mister Finch, mr finch, mr finch textile artist, mushrooms, nature, nests, owl, pinterest, rabbit, soft sculpture, storytelling, studio, textile artist, textile bees, textile moths, united kingdom, velvet curtains, woods

Textile Moths

One of the really wonderful things about Pinterest is that I come across images pinned by other people that speak deeply to my heart and soul. I found this incredible soft sculpture moth on a mixed-media board and learned that it was created by a fantastically creative artist who lives in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, who goes by the name of Mister Finch.

Mister Finch

Mister Finch is described like this: “Scraps of thread, fabric and paper are stitched and pulled into fairytale creatures looking for new owners and worlds to inhabit. They hide in the woods, behind masks, some have died along the way and are buried under spoon lockets. Finch works alone and makes everything himself by hand in a studio full of books, glass jars and naughty cats.”

Textile Bees Made From Fake Fur

Mister Finch explains the source of his creativity: “My main inspirations come from nature and often I return to certain ideas again and again. Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour.
British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make. Shape shifting witches, moon gazing hares and a smartly dressed devil ready to invite you to stray from the path. Humanising animals with shoes and clothes is something Ive always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.”

Fabric Mushrooms

Mister Finch describes his creative process: “Making things has always been incredibly important to me and is often an amazing release to get it out of my system. Its a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make. Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm. A story sewn in, woven in. Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts, looking for new owners and adventures to have. Storytelling creatures for people who are also a little lost, found and forgotten…”

Large Textile Swan

I relate to Mister Finch because I share some of these same feelings with him. I often feel a little lost, found and forgotten and viewing Mister Finch’s creations evokes in me a desire to be in the English countryside, traipsing along a lonely country lane, discovering hidden nests, finding a clutch of small eggs and perhaps seeing a spot of parkland that has been forgotten.

Textile Owl

To learn more about Mister Finch, you can find him on Facebook, Pinterest and his Etsy Shop.

Soft Sculpture Fox Heads

Have a lovely weekend being creative, getting lost and found and perhaps escaping, with the mundane details of your life to be forgotten if only for a little while.

Moth and Coach

xo,

Christine Barker

Design Team Call: A Gilded Life

08 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Collage, DIY & Crafting, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Papercrafting, Sewing

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artist, collage, crafter, Debbie Murray, Design Team Call, Gilded Girls Stash Society, glamorous, jewelry, mixed-media, papercrafting, romantic, Shea Fragosa, stitching, vintage

A while back I was a member of the Gilded Girls Stash Society from Shea Fragosa and Debbie Murray, but I had to stop because I kept stashing and hoarding and I’m still really struggling with using the vintage pretties that I got in those couple of months. I just like to have it and look at it! Anyone else feel that way about their stash?

If you’re anything like me, you love vintage trim, antique flowers, silver sequined ribbons and this is your perfect opportunity! They’ve announced a Design Team Call and the benefits are pretty nice.

They are looking for projects featuring stitching, jewelry, papercrafting, collage, and mixed-media. They want you to pull out all the stops and show them what you’ve got! And when they say pull out all the stops, that means embellish and decorate, and when you think it’s enough, don’t stop. Keep going!

I can’t possibly put this design team call into better words so I’ll just give you what Shea Fragoso and Debbie Murray are saying:

“Are you a romantic at heart, with a passion for all things worn and wonderful, glittery and glamorous?

Are you a versatile artist/crafter that would enjoy working with the products that A Gilded Life offers, and a desire to work on a small design team with the potential for widespread exposure?

Then we are looking for you!”

Deadline for submissions is June 5.

Check the What Happens Next blog for all of the details!

Good luck, Friends!

xo,

Christine Barker

Call for Art: UPPERCASE

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Uncategorized

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anonymous, art, art magazine, artist, assemblage, assemble, Call for art, collage call, craft, crafting magazine, creative and curious, creative projects, fine art, gems, glue collage, handsome ransom, minerals, ransom-style note, rocks, UPPERCASE, uppercase magazine

I recently came across an incredible magazine called UPPERCASE. I’m waiting on my first issue and can’t wait to be inspired by this publication that is “for the creative and curious”.

I found out about several calls for art for some of their special book series’. UPPERCASE is currently looking for some assemblage artists working in three dimensions for inclusion in their summer issue. Portfolio’s can be submitted here.

But wait, there’s more! This is what their email says:

“If you missed the collage call, there’s a brand new project open to all:

The Handsome Ransom Project

A note comprised of pieced-together found letters sent anonymously through the post usually signals some nefarious deeds, but in The Handsome Ransom Project we’re asking our readers to put their scissor skills and compositional prowess to good use. An observation, a motivational message, a creative and curious statement… send us your ransom-style note in the mail and we will publish the best in the summer issue and online. Submissions must be received through the mail (no digital submissions on this one!) by April 30. Include your name and email on the back of your note or send it anonymously if you prefer.

Issue 19

Looking ahead to our fall issue, we’re on the hunt for creative projects using or inspired by rocks, gems and minerals. Submit your links!”

What do you have to lose? Get on it!

xoxo,

Christine Barker

Field Trip: CHA Winter 2013, Part One

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

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a place to bark, arlene baker, art, artist, be aware foundation, cha, cha winter 2013, charity wings, claudine hellmuth, craft, craft and hobby association, craft designer, crafter, elaine hull, Elena Lai Echeverry, embroidery, fiber, french general, glitter, graphic 45, jenn mason, jo packham, kaari meng, laura mccollough, mixed-media, quilting, ranger, scrapbook, scrapbooking, sewing, suze weinberg, suzi blu

I was really hoping to go to the Craft and Hobby Association 2013 Winter Conference and Trade show (CHA) this year. As a major art and crafting fiend, it’s marvelous to see all of the new products that the craft and hobby manufacturers are creating before they’re available in stores. I wanted to be a part of it so much that I put an offer on my Facebook page that I would be a slave at CHA in exchange for a badge. I was willing to build a booth, promote products, do a demonstration, lead a make and take, whatever it took to get me to Anaheim so that I could be a part of the Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Trade Show.

The last time I went to CHA I did product demonstrations and before that I had experience doing everything from building the booth, meeting manufacturers for advertising in a publication, promoting product and tearing down and packing up the booth. I was really hoping that someone would hit me up and tell me that I was going and I was infinitely disappointed when I didn’t get any bites. Imagine my delight when I saw that Elena Lai Echeverry of Charity Wings posted on her Facebook page Monday morning that she needed a couple of volunteers to help out in the Charity Wings booth and was there anyone available to help? I jumped on it immediately and enthusiastically, like a girl with new glitter kind of excited, and sent her a message. I was so truly happy when she called and asked me to come up and help. You’ve never seen a girl get dressed so fast!

It was so exciting to walk through the hall and see all of the vendors new products on display. I love to see the new scrapbooking papers, stamps, embellishments, as well as new products from the sewing, quilting and embroidery companies. There is really something for every type of artist, crafter, and hobbyist, from scrapbookers to mixed-media artists, and from model builders to fiber artists.

After I got familiarized with the details on Charity Wings I got to share their mission with the CHA attendees. Charity Wings is a non profit organization that hosts and sponsors scrapbooking crops, online raffles, mixed media events and fairy fly by appearances. From their Facebook Page, “Charity Wings is a 100% volunteer run organization whose mission is to raise money and awareness for noble causes through unique scrapbooking and crafting events and to coordinate and promote “creative” opportunities for crafters to give. We raise money for the worthy causes we support.” These causes include “A Place to Bark” no kill shelter, Hurricane Sandy Victims, the Be Aware Foundation and many others.

I had so much fun being in the booth! I got to see people I’ve met through the years, meet the owners of scrapbooking stores, chat with art and craft designers, and giggle with my friends who work in the art and crafting industry. People who came by the booth included Jo Packham, Jenn Mason, Suze Weinberg, Arlene Baker, Laura McCollough, and Kaari Meng. Artist Suzi Blu worked in the booth on Saturday and Sunday painting “Live” and stopped by on Monday to drop off her finished work of mixed-media art.

During my lunch break I ran from booth to booth quickly snapping pics of some of my favorite new products. Among my best loved companies is Graphic 45. I always love their unique and amazing designs! I also stopped by to see Claudine Hellmuth doing a demonstration in the Ranger booth. Another of my favorite lines of products is from Tim Holtz for Ranger, I can’t get enough of the Steampunk/Cabinet of Curiosities theme! One of the highlights was meeting designer Elaine Hull for the first time. We’ve been friends on Facebook for a little bit and it’s always fun to meet people in person after you’ve had a conversation online!

Here are some of the snapshots I took. I’ll be posting more photos that I took on my second day of CHA so come back to check those out. I’m also going to be posting pics and talking about my experience at an event I went to over the weekend. The Art of Craft is held at one of the most special places on earth, French General, in Los Angeles. Kaari Meng is an incredible event organizer and I met some really talented and genuinely nice women. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

In the meantime, enjoy these pics that I took at CHA.