The Lampshade Lady Blog

Crafty Girl 1975-2013

I am visiting my folks in Falmouth, Maine where I grew up. My mom has just gotten a new knee and am around to keep the pieces together. All around the house are many of my old lampshades. It's fun to see the progress of my work. Yes, our work does get better the longer we stay with it. But some of my early work was also really beautiful. I'll post a few of them as well as a few of my early fiber art.

Okay, here's one of the first! Sort of sweet in a folky way. I did cut and pierced shades for about 10 years until my good friend Judy Pascal urged me to try making fabric shades with her vintage fabrics. Thank goodness for Judy! Most lampshade makers that continue making the cut shades end up with carpel tunnel, not to mention lower back pain. Ironically I studied textiles in college... sometimes it just takes longer to end where we are suppose to be.
Here's a sweet embroidery I did before my lampshades. Mom dated it on the back; I think it was 1975. Embroideries are still my favorite to work with in my lampshades.
This must be around 1976. I had a great weaving teacher, Rosalie Smith at North Yarmouth Academy. I hope Rosalie knows how much us crafty ones loved having her share her art with us. Not many high school kids had this level of teaching.

A little more tapestry weaving...
Detail of an early cut lampshade. I loved making up my own patterns from fabric designs or vintage prints.
Here is the full shot. My shade on a Flower Brook Pottery Lamp Base.
More cut and pierced. This one was very popular in it's day. Oh, how easy it was to screw up. Any little fleck of coffee or pen mark or slip of the #11 exacto blade and it was done for!!! This one has seen better days!
detail of shade. These are all hand cut. Many cut and pierced shades these days are die cut, ie cut but machine. You can tell the difference if the cuts look flat they are die cut.  If they are hand cut they are cut on an angle. Big difference!!! I ventured into it once, but just didn't want to sacrifice the look.
a variation on the paneled shade. These were pretty time consuming as I recall, but I liked the overall pattern.

This is the grand finale of my lampshade history tour! This is the crown jewel! I love loved this pattern. A HUGE challenge. I found the pattern in a victorian pattern book. It was the size of a postage stamp; I blew it up and reworked it to fit the shade. Tons of work. Only did a few of these!!! Of course Mom got one!


Today. Favorite fabric/embroidery/coronation work Lampshade. This is a shade I did last summer for Mom. Love this fabric!

detail of the beautiful vintage textile work.

I guess we never know paths our life will go or where it will continue. At least I don't and kind of like it that way. It's like antiquing or flea marketing--- you never know what treasure might be around the corner or WHO might walk into your shop! Speaking of shops, I am missing my dear shop while I'm here in Maine, but a little sabbatical will only spur the creativity for foliage. My hands are really happy to take a break from work.

Can We Take Our Businesses to the "Next Level" & Stay Small?

I often ask myself, Can we take our business to "the next level" and stay a small business at the same time? I was in Saratoga Springs today joining 30 creative women at Schuyler Pond Antiques and Shop. The editor of Where Women Create, Jo Packman shared her story and generously gave the group of woman many positive suggestions to promote and grow or start their business. I'd say there was a wide variety of women in various stages of their businesses. Also included in the event was Jen O' Connor of Earth Angels  and some of the artists she represents. Here they are after our breakfast talk.  

I have only recently seen Jo's magazine, Where Women Create. It reminds me of Mary Englbreight's magazine that is no longer around. She highlights many creative, talented women showing off their work as well as their work spaces and homes. I look forward to receiving more issues of the magazine. Jo was impressively down to earth and frank about the industry and her trials of her busy career. This is a busy lady! Love it. She is a DOER!!! yipee. My gut instinct is she is what she is! Certainly something  rare and wonderful that I have yet to see in the publishing world, granted I have only been in it since 2008, in it's hairy/scariest of times.

Jo is all about helping women promote and grow with their businesses. It is a strong time for women bloggers and creative businesses. Don't you feel it growing each year? Think of how many great blogs there are on the web.  She mentioned as corporate jobs have diminished it has been an opening for small companies to come into the forefront! yay. Jo and Nancy Soriano, past editor of Country Living, are hosting The Creative Connection this fall, Sept.15-17, 2011 in St. Paul, MN. Lots of speakers, workshops, etc are planned for 3 days. I'd highly recommend this if you are trying to start a business or need inspiration. Sounds like great pitch sessions, blogging, publishing, etc. Not sure if I'll make it unless they need one more workshop teacher; that would be fun. 

Back to my first querry. Can we continue to take our businesses to the next level and continue to stay small? I say, YES. Today after the brunch, I wandered into Saratoga to a few of my favorite shops and then on to the Big Box stores for "stuff" like a new fan, new grill, sheets, light bulbs... all that stuff I can't find here in Pawlet. I needed some pillows for my kitchen chairs, I looked everywhere. Yuck. all so ugly, nothing great, nothing creative, nothing very well made either. Which got me thinking about my quest to keep my shop small. I think it is the best time to specialize in Lampshade Making or all the other creative possibilties. The world is mass produced. Yuck, fine for my fan, sheets and grill, but not for all the special things that make our house our own.

Sure, I'll never get super rich keeping my business small, but that is not my end goal. I am however, very,very busy. Even during the downturn/worst of the ressesion I stayed super busy. More than ever we have need for handmade treasures to satisfy our need to slow down this fast paced world of crappy made stuff arriving in container ships made who knows where. (I just read we are suppose to keep cynicism out of our blogs.... opps.) Equally, we get such satisfaction going to meet our neighbors at our farmers market and buy beautiful veggies grown right around the corner. Local, Local, Local! 

I contend that yes,  we  can grow to the next level and keep our businesses small.

I'm pretty good at marketing, scribbling here on my blog, I enjoy meeting people and especially love my customers that come back lampshade after lampshade, but I have had to push myself beyond my comfort zone many a time. I still have lots to learn about my computer and making my blog look better (I can't figure out to make 4 pictures in a box... note to self to goggle this),  I force myself to learn a few new things each week and yes, the knowledge really does accumilate. I used to be shy and still can be in new situations, but never in my own shop! In the beginning of my business, I forced myself to do craft shows to help me get over being so shy. Now my friends look at me lunar when I tell them I was shy... we grow to the next level. Working on my Lampshade Lady book was way, way out of my comfort zone, but a fantastic challenge. Who knows what the next big challenge will be, but right now it's getting a special order out in time to arrive for a photo shoot in Brooklyn, NY, cleaning up the piles of fabric in my shop for Memorial Day Weekend and finishing up painting the other side of my shop porch (I did the other side this am at 7:30 before going to the brunch).... 

xoxo,

judy

Come on up for Memorial Day VT. Open Studio Tour (I'm not on the tour this year, but I'll be open right through the weekend. Sat. Sun and Monday.) 

Handmade Holidays, The Making of a Rose Hip Wreath and Garland

This was today's project. I'm lucky I can still type with all the rose pricks to my fingers! Before I had my lampshade business I was always up to some crafty project. Now, they seem to be few and far between. Being creative ALL day on my work days (how lucky) does often mean I do other things on my day off, besides antiquing and flea marketing. It's been a bunch of years since I have made these wreaths. I used to sell them, but now I'd only ever make one for my mom. I think I'd have to sell them for at least $300.... many hours but so beautiful.

Best laid plans. Last Wednesday was my day off and I was to make my rosehip wreath, but the power went out. No glue gun, no computer, no refrigerator noise, no hot tub noise. It was delightful. Earlier in the morning Ziggy and I headed out to the fields with clippers and big bag in hand in search of the wild rose hips. I had an early massage to work the kinks out of my overworked shoulders and home to make the wreath. NO such luck. Wind was howling, trees down, things flying around the yard. Off the power went. Nice I think. Okay, a little reading and a nap! perfect chill day.

I was between books. What to read after the Swedish Thrillers, my book group was taking December off. So I picked up Phillip Ackerman-Leist's new book, Up Tunket Road, the education of a modern homesteader, pub. by Chelsea Green, 2010. How appropriate to read right after the power clicked off. Phillip is a beautiful writer and an super nice guy, but gosh, I could never live up there w/o all the things we take for granted. It was a a blast for one day, but....... Tunket Road is a beautiful piece of Pawlet, VT. where I live. I haven't finished his book, but learned so many cool tidbits of knowlege of the land. I read as long as my eyes could take the candles.

To make the wreath: I gathered as many rose hips as I could find, grabbed a couple of strands of wild grape vines and grabbed my glue gun from the shop. This ISN'T an easy project but it is lots of fun especially if you like tedious, long projects like me. Crazy, huh? You could always buy a base, either grape vine or a wire base. I've done that before. I wound the vines around into a small wreath. Then I started weaving the rose hips into the vines. I did have a glue gun on hand for stubborn vines that needed a little extra hold.

Keep working around the wreath building up the berries. I'd say the more the better. I stripped back the thorns with my hands. Yikes you'll get jabbed a few times..... sorry to say. A little acupuncture. Keep turning and finding spots to add more. I'd say it probably took 4 hours.... A cup of tea and a little food channel..... I never watch daytime tv, but was sort of fun today. Wouldn't be doing that at Up Tunket....

 
now the hard part will be to ship it....
And what to do with the extra berries. I enjoy making garlands at Christmas. I usually make either boxwood or princess pine garlands to decorate the mantel or around the table. So I figured it might work with the rest of the berries. I had some green floral wire, my clippers and started in by wrapping a few together and adding more berries and ouch, I scream as my husband is snoozing watching golf... more acupuncture, must be good for the circulation.


A new holiday tradition is born.
A start to my holiday decorating. And the only cost was one glue stick! The rest came for my yard!

Slow Craft

Slow Craft. A couple months ago I wrote Slow Craft on a post-it The next day in the NY Times Design section was an article on Slow Design..... how spooky it was, just the next day. It was a great article on Alabama Chanin and her new book, Alabama Stitch Book. www.alabamachanin.com. We are designers and craftspeople because we'd only be happy using our hands to create beautiful things. My fellow craftsperson friend and I always say, we'd do what we do even if we never had to work a day in our lives. We would still do it; it's who we are and what makes us happy.

The Alabama Stitch Book is a beautiful book. I have been more observant than ever about book design these days. Book shapes, yes they do need to fit on book shelves.... and is it beautiful? I am such a sucker for a beautiful book. I love to buy books; they are one thing that I do not mind buying. I love looking through my old books; they are such a great resource. I remember my grandmother saying she started re-reading her books at 80 and how wonderfully different they are at different times in our lives.

so back to Slow Craft, yes, how nice it is to have some things in our busy lives these days that is made by hand in the traditional way. There isn't much that we have that is totally hand-crafted, or even made in the usa..... or even made well. Our chain stores mostly have products that are poorly made by the least expensive vendor.... I love good cotton socks. I had bought them at a well known Country Store in Southern Vermont. I would go to them every year to get these same socks and then about 8 years ago they started get crummier and crummier!!!! I did stop going to that store. They were so concerned about the bottom line and less concerned if their customers were happy with their products. to be continued...