PostSecret Exhibit

[Flickr/imahreeahh]

So while I am sick, I thought I might as well catch up on some blogging. Two weekends ago, I went to the PostSecret International Art Exhibit at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA.

My cousin is a big fan of the site (so am I but it’s not on my RSS feed or nothing). After an hour of reading through all the postcards and envelopes, I must say that I felt rather depressed. Most of the ones on display are the really, really, REALLY sad ones…..

Still, I recommend everyone to go see this exhibit if it comes to your town. It’s very thought-provoking and touching.

I was surprised though that they didn’t have the coffee table books for sale, but I guess it’s because it was the last day of the exhibit. I sure do wish that I had known about it earlier so that I could have seen Frank Warren speak. Oh wells…

Knitting A Sweater (Part 1)

www.nataliedee.com

Ever since I got a cool book on knitting for beginners from my former roommate three Christmases ago, I have been trying to teach myself to knit. I commandeered my mom’s stash of needles, yarns and other miscellaneous knitting tools and started project after project, many of which remain incomplete. Why? Knitting is a hard craft to learn when you’ve been trained to crochet for most of your life. I won’t go into all the nitty-gritty details, but basically, I had such a hard time trying to maneuver two needles and made many mistakes along the way that I would give up, try again, give up and try again.

This week, I decided to try again. I am disassembling a crochet sweater that I tried to make for DL (see below for the back story on that fiasco), and am making a knit, sleeveless sweater for myself. This has become my commuter project. So far, so good. The right side of my brain is overjoyed that it’s being put to use, while the left side is enjoying the break. We’ll see how long this lasts…

Back-story on DL’s Sweater:
So last year, I decided to make a sweater for my boyfriend. It sounds sweet, but it was more of a sweat and tears project, if you ask me. After spending a few days on deciding whether to knit or crochet it (no doubt, knitting works much better for clothing; however, I just work faster with a crochet needle), I took the easy way out and choose crochet. This was the first of many critical mistakes in making this doomed project. Long story short, the almost-finished sweater weighs about 20lbs and the sleeves extend four inches form DL’s fingertips. After he tried it on the first time, I quickly came to terms with the fact that it looked horrible and that he would never wear it. So for about a year, it sat in my unfinished project pile. This is what I learned and what I hope to avoid this time around:

1. Even if you find a pattern, don’t crochet sweaters. The finished product usually looks weird.
2. Always check your gauge!
3. Don’t knit during a heat wave. Your project will feel like blanket and you will be miserable.
4. Measure as you go, not when the project is almost done!

Thoughts on Twestival SF

So I attended the Twestival in San Francisco this evening with @flackette and @tommyktse. In case you didn’t get the memo, this even was a worldwide fundraiser for charity:water. There were about 175 participating cities, in which the Twitter communities in each community would host a party. Proceeds from the entry fees are to be donated to a nonprofit dedicated to providing clean water to developing countries. Here’s a short blurb about the Twestivals on CNET’s Webware blog.

While I thought the event was a very worthwhile cause, I couldn’t help but leave Twestival SF with some thoughts on the pros and cons of the event.

Let’s start with the pros. I am glad that the Twestival organizers chose a real charity with a cause worth raising awareness for rather than something fluffy. The free t-shirt and reusable bag were great quality swag. The cupcakes by teeny cake were delicious and pretty! Props to the sponsors who made that happen.

….and in terms of the cons, I felt that the organizers were not as prepared as they should have been. I got to Paradise Lounge around 6:30pm. The event was suppose to start at 6:00pm, but I stood out in the cold for a while since “they weren’t ready yet.” Lame. In terms of the setup, I thought that there should have been more focus on the charity (e.g. provide materials, run slide shows, etc.). It just seemed like a regular networking event than anything else, though nothing wrong with that. Also, maybe it was just me, but I thought that there wasn’t a whole lot of mingling at this event. Most of the Tweeters kept to themselves and the groups that they came with. Though, it wasn’t a total loss, since I did meet some cool people this evening.

A Weekend with Coraline

Magic Garden, originally uploaded by Musings and Wanderings.

I saw Coraline on Saturday with my little brother and was amazed! Not only was the story pretty unique, the movie was so intricate and beautiful to look at. It was even more exciting to see my old elementary/middle/high school friend’s name in the credits.

The following day, I went to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco to look at the special Art of Coraline exhibit. Here’s a couple of interesting factoids about the movie:

• The gray sweater that Coraline wears (the one covered in glow in the dark stars) was hand knitted using tiny needles, that looked like they were the size of sewing needles.
• The cherry blossoms in the magic garden were made of popcorn.

If you haven’t seen this movie, you should. Just be advised, this is not a movie for young children, especially if they are easily frighten…..

Flickr, I Forgive You.

I hate to admit it, but the word of mouth marketing (WOMM) and the peer pressure to be a Web 2.0 amateur photographer is too great for me to resist.

nataliedee.com

Even after my horrible, horrible experience with Flickr, I have finally conceded to sign back on and upload away…even though the process is still slower than molasses (2-3 minutes per photo, if not longer…..this sucks if you have a lot of photos).

BACK STORY: Last November, I forgot my Flickr account password and it took customer service two days to manually reset it. Apparently the merge with Yahoo/SBC Global prevented me from resetting my password via e-mail because of the confusion over whose jurisdiction it was to help me. After making multiple customer service phone calls and e-mails to all three parties, I got an apology and a link to reset. However, after that annoying ordeal, I angrily blogged about my dissatisfaction on my discontinued Xanga (entry is titled “Fuck You Flickr!”) and vowed to never sign on to Flickr again.

REALITY: Unfortunately, when so many people that you know have a flickr account that they update and engage daily, it is really hard to be the odd ball and use something else. So for a trial period, I am going to take Flickr back, but if you piss me off again, so help me………just don’t expect me to purchase a Pro account anytime soon!

So what crazy PR/Marketing campaign brought on this sudden interest in becoming a picture person? Thanks to my photo-taking and design-savvy friends and family who sent me links via IM to two cool new web-base applications and services (see below), I now want in on all the fun.

• Blurb - Scrapbooking for people who hate scrapbooking. Basically, it’s a publishing service that lets you design and print you photos into nicely bound soft/hard cover books with dust jackets. I am currently working on my first book, but it might take me a while to finish as my artistic gene is a bit under developed (the result of a liberal arts education and two years at The Agency).



• Photoshop Express - Photoshop for people who can’t justify buying the real thing. This is a very cool web-based version of Photoshop that’s free and allows you to edit your pictures with Photoshop tools that have been simplified for people like me. Now I too can adjust lighting and clean up a pimply face.

Now for all you newbies and oldies to marketing who are still scratching their heads at how to run a proper WOMM campaign on-line….the IM technique is how it has been done, but for a more cutting-edge way to do it, I suggest that you look into Twitter and master it. So on that note, please stop with the direct mailing pieces and get with the program.

Craft Mag, Not Your Mother’s Crafting Digest

This weekend at Barnes and Noble, I think that I may have found my new favorite magazine, Craft: Transforming Traditional Crafts (www.craftzine.com).

Introducing CRAFT: The first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts. Celebrating the DIY spirit, CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; people who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities.

If only this “renaissance” in the world of crafts had happened 15 years ago when I was at my peak as a crafter (i.e. I was in elementary school and had all the time in the world to devote myself to glue guns, crochet needles and sewing machines as school work wasn’t that important to me at the time and work was a thing for grown ups to stress about). I suppose I might be thinking too much into it but I can’t help but wonder if I had Project Runway and all the other “hip” design/crafting resources at my finger tips as a child, rather than needing to dig hard and deep for teachers and pattern books that didn’t look fudy-dudy, if I would have gone a different route, career-wise……

Okay, enough of that.

What’s interesting about this relatively new magazine (launched in late 2006) is the sheer range of topics that count as a “craft.” In additional to typical crochet, sewing and gluing projects, there is a recipe for natto (fermented soy beans) and instructions on brewing your own beer. I guess that this might count as cooking, but it sure ain’t the cupcakes and candy on Family Circle.

When I first saw this magazine sitting there on the magazine stand, I thought that it would be another typical hipster crafter magazine, with “edgy” craft designs (personally, just sticking a skull and cross bone in the knitting pattern doesn’t really add much if the basic item still looks kinda fudy-dudy). What I found instead was a more intelligent publication. It has features about different crafters and crafting styles in addition to some really cool and off beat projects. The magazine is short and stocky, that uses a thicker paper with rough texture…..a nice change of pace from more typical crafting magazines (i.e. It feels like it’s of higher quality).

Though I don’t think that I’ll every return to my former glory as a crafter, crochet has definitely made a come back into my life. I am making my first piece of clothing that is not a scarf, a sweater….wish me luck. This may take me many, many days. At the same time, I have also discovered amigurumi. See below:

While I haven’t read through the whole magazine, I think I am sold on purchasing a subscription.