Madrid, Frederick and Lawrenceville

Planning on traveling anytime soon? Well, if you find yourself in Madrid Spain, Frederick Maryland, or in the Lawrenceville area in Pittsburgh, make sure to visit one of the three new stores carrying my work!



If you find yourself in need of Xmittens while in Madrid, visit Little Miss Maimum. Little Miss Maimum opened in September and is the kind of shop I would want to peruse while traveling. So much color and a thoughtful variety of items. This is the first international wholesale order for me, so this is shop is extra special.



The Muse in Frederick, Maryland is a fantastic boutique that also offers classes, artist demos and now offers Xmittens, too! Plus, the boutique was voted as a Top Retailer of American Craft in 2005, 2006, 2008. Whitney Bingham, the owner, is a sweetheart with great taste, so make sure to stop by!



And the latest to join the list is one of my favorite local boutiques, Pavement. I have always loved Pavement- I buy as many shoes as I can afford there, including my fave winter boots EVER. Pavement will carry a variety of both Xmittens Fashions and amtextiles hand-dyed accessories some of which you may see on live models at the Local Motion Fashion Show later this week.

Other news:
~Sprayblog, the fantastic art blog, asked to interview me about my artwork. They published the interview this week. Go to www.sprayblog.net to read it and see some photos (old and new) of my work. Sprayblog is pretty cool overall, so make sure to read up on other artist and artistic happenings!

Recycling Fabric- Ribbon

Recycling fabric is something I do every day in my studio. Some people may call it upcycling. Whatever the official name is, I make sure to not throw away anything that can be used again. As a new and regular blog subject I will be posting about recycling fabric ideas every week or so.

Today, Recycled Ribbon! I use a serger sewing machine most days. The cool thing about the serger is that it can be really interesting three dimensional ridges that I use to design on fabric frequently. The downside to this is that as it cuts the fabric to make the thread details, it leaves behind a thin piece of material. Since I use it a lot, this means I have a lot of very thin strips of fabric that are not use-able for many things.

Then, I got smart. I started to tie these thin strips together. This make beautiful ribbon! I use the recycled silk ribbon as gift wrap for my amtextiles line of art-to-wear and for gifts for friends and family.


Any kind of fabric will work. Or, tie scraps of ribbon together to make multi-colored ribbon. Just make sure to knot the fabric strips together at least twice so it is strong enough. Hang it around the house for easy decoration, wrap it around a vase, your wrist or neck...you decide! If you don't have leftover fabric, check out my etsy supply shop for some already made recycled ribbon.

I am an AltCraft 2008 Exhibitor!

Two and a half years ago, I decided to take my burgeoning Artist business seriously. One of my goals to hit somewhere near the five year mark was to be a vendor at the
American Craft Council Baltimore Show.
I did it! I made it in this year!

I was notified yesterday that my amtextiles line of clothing, accessories and wearable art was accepted as one of only a handful of accepted artists/crafters! The AltCraft section explores innovative use of materials and features emerging fine craft and indie crafters (I think we are really both of those at once!)

I will keep posting about my experience getting prepared as things happen! Whoo hoo!