Rainy Days

SPRING 2013

FAIR TRADE

india

DIY Jewelry FURNITURE

meets FOOTWEAR

YARN BOMBING a new twist on graffiti art

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Add more color to your life.

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Why restict your creative flow?

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ecca Carmack

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the

forecast 8 Arts and Crafts

For the Sake of the Snake Baking Salt All Eggs in One Nest Handmade Expressions Jewelry From Around the World

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20 Decor

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It is Not so Black & White Clean the Mess Without the Stress It’s Just a Creative Mess

27 Fiber Arts

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Knitting 101 Battle of Yarn Cut from a Different Cloth

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34 Entertainment rm Ca

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A New Look for Books Mood Movies

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dear reader, Everyone gets bored. We have. You have. Your dog has. Your Uncle Joe has. You get

the point. We have all been bored. Our hope is to inspire you to put your cooped-up energy into something amazing so that you use your time in the best possible way.

Maybe the next time you are thinking, “what should I do today?� you might decide to make a necklace or learn to knit a scarf. You also might want to watch a captivating movie or redecorate your bedroom. Our job is just to keep you from staring at a blank wall. Instead, look through this magazine and get inspired. Next time you have a

rainy day, literally or figuratively, take the opportunity to try out one of our suggestions. Let us wash away your boredom.

Best of luck, The Rainy Days Team:

Anneka Rains

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meet the crafters. movie book craft quote color

movie

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bridget.

My favorite movie is Les Miserables. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. That is a command.

My favorite book is The Witches, by Roald Dahl. I’m pretty sure that the target age group is about eight year olds. I am also pretty sure that I don’t care.

I mean they have blue spit. Come on.

My favorite craft is anything having to do with Les Miz, with Food Network, or with Totoro.

“My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.” - Mitch Hedberg My favorite color, much to the disgust of my design team of scrooges, is pink. Pink is a fun color, and I like to have fun. Duh. I am also fond of being contrary.

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anwen.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I mean, my street is named after LOTR, so I kind of have to.

book

My favorite book is the Harry Potter series. If you haven’t read the books I would suggest you do that, because they are much better than the movies.

craft

My favorite crafty activity is drawing, sketching, or doing any thing Harry Potter related.

quote

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” - C. S. Lewis

color

My favorite color is green, followed by red and black. Green is an earthy relaxing color that reminds me of spring and nature.

rebecca.

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movie

I am a huge Marvel Avengers fan; Captain America is my favorite because of the tragic love story he finds himself in. My brother and I spent an entire day watching all of the individual superhero movies leading up to the midnight release of The Avengers.

book

My favorite book is The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers. The story goes through a bear’s life and his travels around Zamonia, where he runs into characters that are present in some of Walter Moer’s other books like Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures.

craft

My favorite craft making fake glasses out of foil.

quote

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

- Mark Twain

color

My favorite color is white.

tam.

movie

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I really, really love Rise of the Guardians. They have all of my favorite holiday stories come alive, and Jack Frost is adorable. Marvel Studio films are also awesome - I mean, who doesn’t love superheros?

book

Perks of Being a Wallflower is a dose of teenage angst that everyone can relate to.

(Plus, Ezra Miller. That is all.)

craft

I like to sketch, write, or play the flute and/or piano ridiculously loud.

quote

“I am very much in love with no one in particular.” - Ezra Miller

color

I love dark, cozy colors that make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I’m not fond of things that scream, “look at me!”.

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** Rebecca Carmack

Bridget Carolan

Rebecca Carmack

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Rebecca Carmack

for the

SAKE SNAKE of the

History

kistka

pins

A quick guide to making Pysanky.

Throughout the Ukraine, different cultures make pysanky each year to celebrate their beliefs. In the Carpathian Mountains, Hutsuls believe that as long as the Pysanky tradition is continued, the world will not end and a serpent that causes evil will remain chained to a mountain.

They believe that each year the snake sends his minions to go around the world and check the number of decorated eggs. The snake’s chains will loosen and he will cause havoc if the women do not make enough. When the women decorate a substantial number of eggs, the chains tighten.

Simple Symbols: Defense or Protection

Use aniline dyes for more vibrant colors. The order in which you dye your egg effects the outcome. Dye your egg from the lightest to darkest dye so as not to dye the egg dark too quickly.

Normally that means you dye in this color order: white (no dye), yellow, light green, light blue, orange, scarlet, black. Because other colors can wash

cu

ps

lighter or matches beeswax

eggs

Pine Needles: Health and Eternal Youth

Deer:

Wealth and Prosperity

out the orange, dye the egg orange twice to maintain a bright color.

When setting up your materials, make the dye as instructed on the package.

Never add vinegar unless the dye says too. Vinegar can ruin some dyes, like pink and orange, and prevent them from staining the shell.

Resources

sofika.com/history-pysanky learnpysanky.com/steps.html ukrainiangiftshop.com/pages/art5.htm

pencil

Dying Tips & Tricks

Women of the household made the eggs while everyone else sleeps.

Before beginning, the women would try to remain in a perfectly spiritual state of mind, so as not to capture any evil spirits in the egg. Before Christian times, the symbols in the designs warded off evil spirits.

Christianity links the egg decorating tradition to Easter. Some believe that color on the eggs comes from the Holy Virgin Mary’s tears while she pleaded with the guards at Christ’s Crucifixion.

No matter what the Legend, Pysanky have remained part of the Easter tradition.

candle

Curls:

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content and photos by: Rebecca Carmack

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Use a rubberband to draw straight lines

Purity and Innocence

The Sky and New Growth Good Health and Health Strength and Youth and Endurance Happiness Happiness in Life, Hope, Passion, and the Sun

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Prepare the dyes.

Make a dilluted vinegar solution to dab onto the egg with a tissue.

After the egg looks clean, dab dry again. Never rub the egg!

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Fill the kistka with wax by scooping some wax off with the larger opening. Then heat up the kistka filled with wax over the lit candle.

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Slowly, cover all parts of the egg with wax that you want to remain white. Don’t forget to do both sides of the egg!

5 Dark and Eternity

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1 2

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After the wax has cooled, dye the egg in the lightest color for as long as instructed on the dye package.

Once you take the egg out of the dye, allow to dry on a paper towel. Then cover all parts of the egg you want to remain the current color with wax.

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Repeat step five until you dye your egg in all of the colors in your design.

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After the egg dries, hold it to the side of the lit candle so that the wax starts to melt. If your egg is directly in the flame, you will get burn marks. Wipe wax off with a paper towel. Continue until you have a clean shell.

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Poke a hole in the top and bottom of the egg with the pin and make the bottom hole larger by wiggling the pin around. Next, gently blow into the top hole to push the insides of the egg out so you can throw them away.

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Baking Salt

by: Tam Do

While people of any age or gender can enjoy sculpting, clay may not always be an ideal material to work with; some types of clay are messy, prone to cracks, and toxic. Salt dough, made of three simple ingredients, is an easy alternative for kid-friendly fun. You can use simple household items to create long-lasting memories.

Pureella

COLORING TIPS & IDEAS: • Add food coloring to the water before mixing it in with the rest of the ingredients.

Tam Do

Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water into a bowl. Stir until it resembles a dough-like texture.

The Craft Arty Kid

Form the dough into a ball and knead until smooth.

• Use ink and stamps to imprint patterns on the sculptures pre-bake.

• Paint the sculptures after baking them; compared to acrylic paint, watercolor is not as vibrant and tends to flake.

• Spread glue on the sculptures and sprinkle glitter over them.

simplybeingmum

Make what you want with the dough; rolling it out with a pin helps even the thickness. Place the sculptures onto parchment paper.

simplybeingmum

Place them all inside the oven. Bake at 250 degrees, flipping halfway. This process can take up to 3 hours; the thicker the dough, the longer it takes.

Take the sculptures out of the oven and let them cool down for about an hour. To ensure that the sculpture does not erode, you can apply a coat of glaze or varnish. simplybeingmum

Resources:

w imaginationtree.com w totalartsoul.com w kent.edu w

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TRICKS OF THE TRADE: •You can place the dough in a container and store it inside the refrigerator for up to a week before using.

• Allow the outer surface of the sculptures to dry before baking them in the oven; this prevents the sculpture from disfiguring while baking.

• If you want to smooth the surface of the sculptures, you can run over them with a sheet of sandpaper or a nail file after baking.

All Eggs In One Nest content and photos by: Tam Do

As spring fades away, birds are becoming a popular character to use in all types of art.

With a little bit of wire and a few colorful beads, you can create a pendant that catches the essence of spring perfectly.

Supplies: • 5 feet 24 gauge beading wire • beads of your choice • jump or split rings • pliers (optional) Nests: Birds in Art

Janet Tarbox

String the beads onto one end of the wire; you can use as many as you like.

Wrap the wire around the beads, leaving a six-inch tail at the end.

In 2012, Australian author and art historian Janine Burke wrote “Nests: Birds in Art”, a book about nests and the avian artists behind them. It talks about how the homes that birds construct can be considered as a form of art, seeing as the modern perspective towards art is generally more accepting, On a nonprofit news site called The Conversation, Burke talked briefly about her book’s subject.

Secure the nest by looping the tail in between each of the beads. If you have leftover wire, then tuck it underneath the pendant.

Resources:

Attach a jump ring onto the loops that you just made; if you attach it onto the nest itself, the wires will pull apart.

w sarahortega.com w lisas-craft-blog.com w larkcrafts.com w

“[Birds have] had millions of years to perfect their talents, much longer than homo sapiens,” she wrote. “Perhaps in the future, the ingenious and beautiful constructions made by some birds will take their place in galleries as art.”

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trade fair.

TRADE SQUARE. by: Bridget Carolan

A

lison Hanson, production and sustainability manager at a fair trade business called Handmade Expressions, said that working at a coffee shop first introduced her to fair trade, while trying to pay the bills in college. People would see the fair trade blend of coffee at her shop, and ask what it meant. “I don’t know, its like five cents more, but supposedly it’s good?” she would reply.

the Handmade Expressions webpage.

“I didn’t know too much about [fair trade]. I was just a little bit familiar with the term,” Alison said. Originally from California, and just graduated from UCLA, she began to search for jobs in Austin, Texas and came across

Alison defines fair trade as “a trading relationship that is based on mutual respect, and seeks to level the playing field in the global trading system.” Fair trade business owners partner with artisans in developing nations in

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Alison Hanson studied anthropology, economics, and global studies in college, so she got “interested in the job from more the artisan, social development aspect,” she said.

She was hired to work for customer service at Handmade Expressions, and got a very deep introduction to fair trade.

the hopes of reducing poverty by paying workers fair wages, and has become increasingly popular as a business model and in the consumer market.

The Handmade Expressions’ owner, Manish Gupta, Indian himself, set up a business model in which artisans all over India sell their goods through his company.

Handmade Expressions belongs to the Fair Trade Federation, a North American organization of fair trade businesses. When you agree join the Fair Trade Federation, you agree to adhere to its nine principles, which cover building relationships, paying fairly and promptly,

ensuring children’s rights, as well as practicing in an ecofriendly manner.

Handmade Expressions, in addition to its team in Austin, has a team on the ground in India. Alison said that, surprisingly, many fair trade companies work exclusively from afar. She said that she believes this geographical closeness to the artisans increases the effectiveness of the company’s relationships with them, and that they respond better to the company because of the close connection of the company to India.

“

I think the culture tries to reuse as much as they can.

”

Alison said that fair trade focuses on empowerment and long term partnerships. “So instead of saying here is a little bit of aid so that you can help yourself if you are living in poverty, it is more like how can we provide you with tools, provide you with market access, as well as other trainings... We

Photo courtesy of Handmade Expressions

Alison Hanson works as production and sustainabilty manager at Handmade Expressions.

don’t only purchase products from the artisans, we train them, help them build capacity, give them design skills, give them marketing know-how.”

group, especially in India.

The history of India is very patriarchal, very structured in terms of caste, as well as gender relations,” Alison said.

Alison’s interests focus on gender inequality, and she said that fair trade, especially the artisan side, emphasizes women’s empowerment.

“That has been a huge passion of mine, how are we providing women with opportunities to gain their social, political and economic voice,” Alison said.

She hoped to move away from her position with customer service and move to work more with the Indian side of the company. She asked the owner,

“Sort of the intention of fair trade is providing access to marginalized peoples... Women are generally bundled in that

Becky Carmack

A rack of Handmade Expressions bags hang at World Trade Shop in Puerto Rico.

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and he decided to take her along with one other designer on his annual trip to India to experience the artisan aspect of the company. This was the first time anyone from Handmade Expressions came with Gupta and his wife to India.

“I flew into Delhi and that was immediately very shocking,” Alison said. “Taxis and these little autocars, cows walking in the street, and people on bicycles, and trucks and motorbikes, and everything is on the same road. And you are like, how do people survive here?” While there, they met with several artisan groups and visited some local markets.

“From Delhi which was very much an overwhelming experience, but very interesting, I traveled out to Kutch,” Alison said. Kutch feels quite different from Delhi; dry, hot, and rural.

They visited several groups in surrounding villages.

People in the villages live in a very traditional style. “I liked the village life, it was definitely slower,” Alison said.

From there, Jaipur. One partner who does all of the sourcing in India lives in this town. “Jaipur is kind of like, I don’t know, the Beverly Hills of India,” said Alison. Here, they visited the paper factory, as well as had a day of shopping and sightseeing.

With each group, they met with the leader and discussed the challenges they faced.

Additionally, the artisan groups gave her a walkthrough of the processes of making the crafts.

The groups faced a variety of challenges, from a new

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Becky Carmack

Fair Trade merchandise from Handmade Expressions sits in World Trade Shop in Puerto Rico.

government program, similar to unemployment, that has recently incentivized a large group of people not to work, to harvest season, when the numbers of artisans that show up to work drops dramatically every year.

In the process, Alison had short conversations with the artisans, trying to get an idea of who they each were as people. One specific story really stood out with her, the story of a woman in the desert region, in a place that does all of their boutique work.

When the woman announced that she wanted to move up from her position stitching in the room and take on the position of master cutter, the response was quite negative. “Everyone was like ‘good luck because only men do that’ and she was like ‘no I am serious, I want to get training and do whatever I can do to make this happen.’”

The group ended up supporting her financially to try to get this position. When she came back, they hired her. “So that was

the business.

“

Everyone was like ‘good luck because only men do that’

”

Alison deals with making sure that the materials for the products do not harm the environment, among the many other environmental responsibilities of the company.

They use cotton (not a very environmentally friendly material) for many of their textile products, because artisans can easily access it in India.

However, they are hoping to move away from this as a major material. Jute, a vegetable fiber, replaces cotton in some of their products. Jute takes little resources to grow and rapidly renews itself.

Cotton’s impact is lessened by the paper industry, actually. All of the paper used at Handmade Expressions is made from scraps and trimmings of cotton fabric from the textile industry. They grind up the fabric and soak it “into a mulch kind of thing,” and then press it into paper.

Photo courtesy of Handmade Expressions

The artisan here works for the Women Artsians’ Marketing Agency in Kutch, India and prepares to embroider a piece of silk.

“We were in this one unit, it was in the stitching unit, but at the front there was kind of like one woman directing the room.” She was the master cutter, the person who cuts all of the fabric to size.

Women rarely have this position; usually employers fill the position exclusively with men.

definitely a very inspiring story for me,” Alison said.

With all of the new found knowledge from her trip, Alison headed home to take up her new position with Handmade Expressions. Today, she works on shipments, product feedback, and the environmental aspect of

Additionally they use Indian Rosewood for all of their wood products. In India, it grows only on governmentally managed plantations, so they can ensure that farmers harvest it only when the plant can renew itself. Indian Rosewood takes little water, and grows relatively fast, so it is very environmentally friendly.

Handmade Expressions only uses cruelty free leather, which means leather of animals that have died of natural causes.

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“This is something that is specific to India as well, the cow is very sacred in India, and so a lot of the leather that you are going to find is naturally going to be cruelty free, because they don’t kill cows for their leather, that would be sacrilege to them.” However, they do make sure that the leather they get is cruelty free. They process the leather in specific plants, most of it by hand. They avoid chemically tanned leather because the chromium it releases into the environment is very environmentally degrading.

Becky Carmack

Handmade Expressions’ bangles sit on display in World Trade Shop in Puerto Rico.

Finally, Handmade Expressions has recently introduced a new line of products made from upcycled saris. Jewelry and some of their bags, as well as some pillows are made from old saris.

“I think the culture [of India] tries to reuse as much as they can,” Alison said.

by shipping almost all of their products by sea, which releases significantly fewer emissions.

For all of these materials, however, constraints exist. They work with artisans in pretty rural parts of India, so access definitely poses a problem. They do try to make as many of the items as possible recyclable and compostable. They also try to reduce their carbon footprint

“So [environmental sustainability] is a very strong value of the company. And I think it stems from it being the founder’s personal mission,” Alison said.

They also don’t purchase any packing materials. They reuse the boxes shipped here from India, and for wrapping they use old magazines and newspapers.

The company has also done several large scale projects in

India. They recently did a large project on water filtration. The group that does most of their block printing lives in a desert region, with very limited water availability. The group imports almost all of their water from other states, and after the group washes the fabric, they drain it back into the land with all of the chemicals from the dyes they used.

Handmade Expressions realized that this had a large environmental impact, so they partnered with another group and developed a plant that filtered the water. Now

Photo courtesy of Handmade Expressions

Here a woman from the organization Mahila Bunkar Sahakari Samiti weaves fabric to sell to Handmade Expressions as well as other buyers.

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the artisans can wash with the same water 15 times before they drain it into the land (now with all of the harsh affluents and chemicals removed.)

The second large scale project they recently got involved with is a project called the Solar Light Project. Handmade Expressions worked with an artisan group, one of the first they ever partnered with. The people live in a very rural part of India, very traditional, hut-style living. The women have to travel several hours every day to get water, as well as do the housework and take care of the children. This leaves them with little time to do craftwork and make money.

Their husbands did not make

enough money to cover the bills, so they needed another income, but short daylight hours posed a problem.

Handmade Expressions found a way to provide 100 homes with solar lanterns so that the women could work at night. This additionally allowed the children to study and read at night.

The woman that they worked with on the Solar Light Project in India came to the United States last May, and Alison traveled with her up the coast of California, meeting and giving talks about their work.

Alison asked to the woman from India about how the Solar Light Project affected the women

there. “She said the women have been so excited, they have been able to be way more productive, she’s like ‘give us more orders, we are ready for them!’”

The Solar Light Project specifically focused on women’s empowerment, something that encompasses what Alison hopes to do in the future. Alison said that “my particular interest is doing research, specifically focused on gender. There are overlaps with fair trade, I don’t know how much I will personally be involved with fair trade directly, beyond this position, but it is certainly an interest of mine.” S

Visit our buffet for beads and feed your creativity.

Legendary Beads 2110 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704 (512) 912-1095 Monday-Friday: 11 am – 6 pm Sunday: 12 pm – 6 pm 17

the

material world wintroduction

of jewelry

by: Bridget Carolan

People all across the world continue to decorate their bodies with jewelry and body piercings.

The materials they use and the way they adorn themselves varies culture to culture, from the elaborate glass beaded earrings of the Maasai tribe in Africa, to the ornate gold headdresses of the Bali people in Indonesia. From Ancient Greece to the Australian aborigines, take a journey with the indigenous cultures of the world.

AFRICA

The Maasai tribe in Kenya and Tanzania wear large, wide, beaded, brightly colored necklaces, as well as beaded bracelets, beaded headbands, and large, thick earrings. Often the tribe will pierce themselves in the earlobe and in the upper ear. Before European contact, the Maasai created jewelry made from natural sources such as shells, seeds, grasses, and sticks. After the 1800s, the tribe came in contact with European GLASS

BEADS,

and began to create the jewelry they now wear today. The jewelry highlights the wealth and beauty of the wearer. Shauna, who writes for the Beads of Esiteti blog, works to sell fair trade Maasai jewelry explains that beauty serves as an important part of the culture for both the Maasai men and women. The Maasai, she explains, wear beads in every day life as well as ceremonies and often give them to visitors as “sign of gratitude and respect.�

Glass Beads William Warby

N. AMERICA

The Cherokee Indian tribe in present day United States have changed their jewelry staple over time. Though now famous for their magnificent beadwork, before European contact, they used natural materials such as shells, nuts, WOODEN BEADS, and copper to make their jewelry.

Their beadwork (both glass and seed beads) often hang on pendants backed with

LEATHER, traditionally with deerskin, as this has an abundance in the area.

sresources beadsofesiteti.com metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hjew/hd_hjew.htm nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/tasmanian-aboriginal-shell-necklaces

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Wooden Beads Leather

Amy Puzia

EUROPE

In ancient Greece, during the Hellenistic period, the locals wore many types of jewelry, most of it

including pearls, GEMS, and other beautiful stones. They would wear earrings, necklaces, pins, arm and thigh bands, bracelets, rings, diadems, and hair ornaments. Often, when one would wear a bracelet, they would wear a matched set, one on each wrist. Families frequently used jewelry in these times as a family heirloom. The Grecians would also place jewelry in the tomb of the dead, as well as sacrifice it to the gods. Some pieces, though worn during life, were created for the purpose of adorning the dead.

Gems

Walters Art Museum

AUSTRALIA

For the Tasmanian Australian Aborigines, necklace making, especially for women, is a hugely important aspect of their culture. The trade, often women’s work, is passed down from mother, grandmother, or aunt to their daughter. While the jewelry is made to to wear or give as gifts, they also trade it for essential goods. The Aborigines have practiced the tradition since before European contact, and still continue to make necklaces today. Women will often get together to make necklaces, and it becomes a time to bond and to share stories. These necklaces, made often from SHELLS, are assembled through a long process of stringing them together and takes a lot of knowledge and concentration.

Shells Dustin P. Smith

ASIA

People across the world respect Indonesia for their fine metal working skills. Bali, Indonesia is no exception.

They have long mined GOLD and SILVER. This has had a big impact the type of jewelry they make, because of the materials available to them. Bali people trade often, and so they have had other cultural influence them for ages. This has also changed their jewelry. Bali’s religion, primarily Hindu, and their crafts play a big role in their culture. Originally, most of their jewelry used gold, but in modern day, the trend leans towards silver, and Bali silver jewelry is known world wide. Large metal head dresses and thick, ornate gold necklaces mark traditional Bali dress.

S. AMERICA

Gold Silver Tropenmuseum of the Royal Tropical Institute

The Shuar Indians, a branch of the Jivaroan tribe and most infamous for their shrunken heads, originally inhabited Ecuador. However, after the Spanish explorers arrived and began to push them south, they slowly came to inhabit Peru. They produce jewelry from natural ingredients, such as SEEDS, NUTS, teeth, and BONES. These items act as beads, and the Shuar string them onto necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and dance belts. From the dance belts hang shells of nuts and seashells which swing together when they do traditional dances and rituals.

00rini Hartman

Seeds Nuts Bones

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it is not so

BLACK

WHITE by: Bridget Carolan

Try one of these color scheme ideas for your room, painting your favorite chair, or designing a birthday card for your best friend.

Editor’s Suggestion: This color scheme will add brightness and sophistication to any project. The perfect color scheme for any spunky girl.

Editor’s Suggestion: This color scheme is calming to look at, from the mint green to the lilac purple.

The colors are feminine, but muted.

Editor’s Suggestion: The perfect combination for any spirited, girly girl. The colors are bright, and will work well for any fun loving girl.

Adobe Kuler Suggestion: This color scheme is great for anyone who loves colors that pop! Bright, fun, and exciting but maintaining an elegant style.

Adobe Kuler Suggestion: With the sandy yellow and the sky blue, this color scheme will help your relax just like you are lying on the beach.

Adobe Kuler Suggestion: This color scheme is great for summer all year round! The colors are fun and fearless, with a nice mix of cool and warm colors.

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clean theMESS without the stress by: Bridget Carolan

Try out these products to redecorate, reorganize and recreate your bedroom!

$15.99 Akro-Mils Plastic Storage Set of 16 Drawers Product 10.5 by 8.5 by 6.5 inches. Available at amazon.com

$14.49 Office Depot Bulletin Board Roll Product 24 by 48 inches. Also available at amazon.com for $14.74.

$12.99 Peel and Stick Reusable Wall DecalDry Erase Product 27.56 by 19.69 inches.

Available at target.com.

Tons of organizational potential! This set of drawers can be used to organize your craft supplies (from beads to thread to buttons) or your office supplies (from paperclips to thumbtacks to staples).

Great for organizing your cards, photographs, homework and more! Take a pair of scissors and a dab of paint to make it your own.

Cut out a heart, thought bubble, your initials, or anything you dream up.

This product will add vintage charm to your bedroom, while serving it’s function! Write yourself reminders about your next baby sitting job, or the project you can’t forget at home tomorrow.

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It’s Just a CREATIVE MESS content and photos by: Anwen Pope

W

ith colorful drawings and posters covering the walls and oddments of past musical productions atop cabinets around the room, Deborah Keenan’s classroom gives off a cheerful, energetic feel. However, one object in particular catches the eye: a chair at the front of the room, covered in socks of all different sizes, styles, and colors.

Keenan, 57, is currently employed as a music teacher for K-5th grade

at Timy Baranoff Elementary School where her craziness has affected students for a total of 11 years now.

Previously, she worked for four years as a choral director at Bailey Middle School, which was where crazy socks became her passion.

Keenan has always had a knack for the arts, and after several years of performing in different choir and drama groups, Keenan opened her own business as a professional seamstress for 20 years.

As a seamstress Keenan worked on anything from alterations and boat seat cushions to Quinceañera work and bridal gowns where she ended up, “sewing on by hand 50 to 100,000 beads on a single dress.”

After Keenan’s ventures as a seamstress, she became a teacher.

Keenan became a teacher after her vocal instructor told her that she should go back to college and finish her degree. Taking her teachers advise, Keenan returned to school.

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Even though she was a teacher, her sewing skill’s still came in handy. In 2003, Keenan’s fifth year of teaching at Baranoff, she created her sock chair. Originally though of as filler furniture for her new classroom, her chair quickly became much more once she sewed that first sock onto it.

Keenan describes her chair as, “gaudy, asher blue, crushed velvet, worn out in certain areas.”

Several people don’t completely understand why Keenan sewed socks on her chair to begin with, however the answer is simple. Keenan sewed socks onto her chair as a patch for

worn out areas on it. When people started to question why she had patched up the chair with socks, she responded simply, “That was kind of one of my shticks, I think, is that I

Keenan has always been considered a bit odd by her friends, family and students, but her sock chair seals the deal. In the 10 years since she created her sock chair, Keenan has enjoyed several laughs as she tells the story of how she actually got it.

Keenan’s chair was found on the side of the road on a bulk trash day in her neighborhood. Keenan knew the minute she saw it, that she needed it for her classroom. A true example of the phrase, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’.

Since then Keenan’s sock chair has been a much loved object in her classroom for all ages. Some kids will even get to sit in the chair as a reward for good behavior. Even though she does not really teach from it anymore since her class sizes have grown, it still remains in her classroom as a monument to her craziness. Keenan’s chair will never be a simple art project, but instead a part of her.

“

That was kind of one of my shticks, I think, is that I wore crazy socks or crazy tights.

“

24

Keenan’s sock chair sits proudly in her classroom. Although it’s not finished Keeenan hopes for that in the future.

Even when teaching a music class for children over the summer, she had to bring her sock chair. “It just didn’t feel right to be able to teach music without it around,” Keenan said.

The sock chair now has just as much, “character for me and what I’m about as well as the kids. It’s really weird that I couldn’t teach without it.”

Keenan said.

“

“

It’s just odd. I’m odd, but it works.

Keenan’s sock chair also gives her a way to connect and engage with kids

from the first day she meets them.

“They see a part of me and I want them to know me as a person and it’s it just instills in them that I’m crazy and I have always been crazy and if that helps them be comfortable here and be ready to listen and be ready to really risk finding that signing voice and finding out what they can learn about when I’m teaching them I’ll kind of do whatever it takes,” Keenan says.

Since the 2003 Keenan has put about 100 socks on her chair. Although the chair is not completely covered, Keenan’s future goal is to have the entire chair covered in socks eventually. It takes about one hour to sew a single sock onto her chair. Hot gluing the socks onto the chair would

be easier and quicker, but Keenan has a problem with that. The way hot glue leaves marks and wears away over time, doesn’t appeal to Keenan as much as sewing, which leaves almost no marks and will not fall apart as easily.

“It’s just odd. I’m odd, but it works.” S

“

it just instills in them that I’m crazy and I have always been crazy... ...

“

wore crazy socks or crazy tights.”

A small section of Keenan’s room. This features her Keith Herring paintings along “The Highway of Music”.

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by: Tam Do

When doing a sewing project, finding the right fabric is key. Here is a complete guide to the textures and details of eight different kinds of fabrics.

2

4

1

Resources:

5 8

Collected and processed from silk worm cocoons, silk fabric has either a smooth or grainy texture.

Dry clean only. Geprek

Blended with man-made fibers, wool is often used coats and etc. Hand-wash or dry clean. My Free Textures

26

w fabrictree.com w nyfashioncenter.com w wisegeek.com w

3

7 Linen, coming from flax, is a very light fabric. Dry clean only. DameOdessaStock

A soft fiber, cotton is used in many fabrics. Machine wash. Chris Redmond

6 Acrylic can often replace wool. It, however, can be machine washed. Franz Jeitz

Nylon, often blended with spandex, is very stretchy.

Machine wash. VintageFashion

Rayon is a flowy fabric that resembles linen.

It’s most often used in apparel clothing. Dry clean only. Sherrie Thai

A favorite fabric to use, polyester keeps in body heat. You can usually machine wash it. Kelly Boom

Knitting 101 content and photos by: Anwen Pope

Knitting, dating back to the 11th century BC, is still popular today in many cultures. It has expanded a lot through the years for recreational purposes, fashion, and in some cases, graffiti.

While there are many styles of knitting, we will show you the most common one, just plain old knit. To begin, you will need a pair of knitting needles (size doesn’t matter) and yarn (preferably a whole skein). We hope you will enjoy your knitting and continue to learn more. step one: in

Slide the needle that is in your right hand in the front and out the back of your first cast on. This starts your stitch. Make sure that you hold the excess string back. Knitters commonly wrap the excess string around their finger.

Starting and Ending

Take the excess yarn and wrap it around the needle that is sticking out the back of your first cast on.

Make a slipknot and leave at three inch tail (above picture). Wrap the tail around your thumb that is not holding the needle. Slid the needle through the loop around your thumb.

Pull your thumb out and tighten.

Continue this process. Until you decide to start on your second row.

step two: over

starting or casting on

step three: through Pull the right-handed needle back through the cast-on but, make sure that you pull the string you wrapped around the needle through as well.

step four: off

To finish your stitch you need to take your stitch off. To do this you slid the right-hand needle off the left-hand needle. This transfers that stitch onto the right-hand needle. From her you just repeat step one-four until you end your work.

Resources: marthastewart.com, dummies.com, wikipedia.org

ending or casting off

First knit two stitches. Slid the lefthand needle into your first stitch.

Then lift the first stitch over the second stitch and of the needle (above picture). Continue until you get to your last stitch. Cut the yarn so that there is a 6 inch tail off your work. Finally use a needle to weave your remaining tail of yarn down the back of several stitches.

27

by: Tam Do 28

An-d

T

Tam Do

he interior of ‘The Knitting Nest’ is bright and lively, creating a comfortable atmosphere for incoming shoppers. Shelves stocked with skeins of yarn outline the walls and dominate the center of the room; this place is where store owner Stacy Klaus spends the majority of her time.

In between her work hours, she walks her dogs, gets her hair cut, and yarn bombs.

Mrs. Klaus used to live in Houston, Texas, selling insurance with her husband. Following the tragedy of September 11th, the insurance industry buzzed alive with interest.

These days, people can find anything online; even knitting blogs. Mrs. Klaus herself is involved in several of these blogs like Knittingfrau and The Panopticon.

“The insurance industry was very interested in what was going to happen with September 11th,” she said. “Especially with the buildings — like, who was going to pay for them because it was terrorism, and terrorism is not covered by most insurance policies.”

“The online knitting community is probably responsible for the resurgence of knitting, I think, because of the blogs and the Internet. Franklin Habit has a very famous knitting blog where he does that... Mason-Dixon Knitting is another very famous knitting blog — that’s one of the first ones I learned to knit from, actually.”

To keep herself from worrying, Mrs. Klaus decided to start up knitting after she read a magazine issue of Martha Stewart Living.

“There was a story in there,” she said, “that said, ‘Don’t sit around and do nothing, because there’s nothing you can do about it. Find something to do to keep yourself busy...’ and so I started to try it.”

“

The online knitting community is probably responsible for the resurgence of knitting...

”

Tam Do

In 2007, Mrs. Klaus and her husband moved down to Austin and opened the Knitting Nest.

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“She travels all over the world yarn bombing,” Mrs. Klaus said.

“And she’s done some really cool things for charity, too. She did a big thing for Ray-Ban Sunglasses where she covered a bunch of sunglasses with crochet. They auctioned them off to people, and famous people bought these crochet-covered sunglasses for lots and lots of money; they raised the money for a children’s charity.”

Heather Sutherland, a trained crochet instructor, joined yarn bombing because of Knitta Please.

Knitta Please

Sayeg travels around the world for her art. In the picture above, she is in New Mexico.

From knitting magazines and blogs, Mrs. Klaus took one step even further. She immersed herself into the craft, getting involved with a movement that quickly spread into a global trend.

Yarn bombing, sometimes known as knit graffiti, is a type of street art that involves knitting and crocheting rather than spray paint and markers. Yarn bombers cover public architecture with knitting and crochet patterns.

The project can be made of one single length, or many little pieces put together. The small components, usually granny squares or circles, get seamed together after assembly..

“Most yarn bombing started out as being very anonymous,” Mrs. Klaus said. “And nobody ever wanted anybody to know who was doing it. Sometimes they do it for, you know, a reason to grab

30

your attention — some stores do that to make you look at them.

Most people do it to make others smile, really.”

Anonymous or not, the guerrilla movement attracted the attention of society. Photos on social media websites like Facebook and Pinterest popped up everywhere, capturing hundreds of different yarn bombing projects.

According to NY Times, New York’s ‘Charging Bull’ statue was covered by pink and purple crochet in 2010. In 2011, artist Jessie Hemmons yarn bombed the Rocky Statue near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The movement started in Houston, Texas, when self-taught knitter Magda Sayeg made a cozy for her boutique’s doorknob. She founded the yarn bombing group “Knitta Please” in 2005, starting the knit graffiti revolution.

“I became involved through Magda Sayeg of Knitta Please because we had collaborated before, and she thought I would be a helpful addition to the team,” she said. “A Knitted Wonderland was the biggest project I’ve ever been involved in. Almost two hundred local knitters and crocheters worked for a month to create enough yarn fabric to cover 99 trees in the Blanton courtyard. The trees were all around 30 inches wide, but ranged in height from five to 11 feet. Many people partnered up to tackle a single tree, each working on their half and sewing them together on installation day. Everyone’s combined efforts helped transform the trees outside of the Blanton into a colorful, yarn filled wonderland.”

“

Some stores do that to make you look at them. Most people do it to make others smile, really.

”

Yarn bombing is also a step towards fiber art recognition.

While people often stereotype needlework as a ‘grandmotherly craft’, knit graffiti offers another perspective for the public to look through. People of any age and gender can contribute to needlework projects that don’t just involve making sweaters and gloves, adding both a modern and urban twist to the craft. Fans even created an International Yarn Bombing Day on Facebook in 2011.

While many people appreciate the beauty behind the fiber street art, others do not. Like many things, yarn bombing has a flip side to it — it is technically considered vandalism, and some people see it in a negative light as a waste of both yarn and time.

“To waste your time and resources making some selfserving piece of neon craft vomit which will become bedraggled and hopefully be cut off within a few days is just stupid,” London craft blogger Alex Byrne wrote.

Agata Olek, the artist who covered the bull statue near New York’s Wall Street, also does not believe in yarn bombing.

“Lots of people have aunts or grandmas who paint,” she told TIME magazine in 2011. “Do you want to see that work in the galleries? No. The street is an extension of the gallery. Not everyone’s work deserves to be in public.”

Yarn bombers defend themselves against the complaints, saying that it doesn’t hurt anyone.

“Opinions are like heinies,” Mrs. Klaus said. “Some people have good ones, and some people don’t. I mean, it’s fun, it’s community-building, and it doesn’t need to do anything. A lot of people look down on it and think, ‘Oh, what a waste of time, you could be doing something for other things...’ but we do plenty of things for charity here at the store, too, so it’s not like we’re taking away from anything we could be doing for other things.”

Mrs. Klaus now lives in Austin.

She runs the store next door to her husband’s insurance office.

Her two dogs, Hank and Gracie, doze next to the reception desk where she sits at. While they sleep, she rings up customers with a welcoming smile and helpful advice Her hard work has paid off well; customers come into the store to shop and simply have fun.

The yarn bombing movement still presses forward — while she hasn’t actively involved herself in any yarn bombing activities for a while, Mrs. Klaus already has several ideas planned.

“I really want to cover the handrail of the Congress street bridge next,” she said. “That seems like it would be a really fun thing to do. The most important thing we have to figure out is how we’re going to seam it on.” S

Knitta Please

Sayeg’s hard efforts in the picture above paid off; the yarn-covered bus was on public display in one of her very first projects.

31

art. uninhibited.

33

a new look

for books

By: Rebecca Carmack Rebecca Carmack

N

ot everyone likes to walk around with a bag full of books. While some people welcome the feel of a printed book in their hand, and don’t mind hauling the extra weight, there are times where books can get in the way.

the printed page and enter another format all together. Now, almost any electronic device can access a book.

While this improves the number of books available, libraries and bookstores find themselves pressured by these technological advances.

Today, the formatting of books has changed drastically. Since the beginning of the 21st Century, physical books have become less and less common. But books still remain a prominent part of our culture. Stories have begun to leave

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Reading Habits Survey, conducted for two months in 2011, released results about reading preferences. All of the participants 16 years of age or older, had to read at least one electronic and physical

34

book in the year before the survey.

The results reflected the specific qualities of the different forms of reading. Mairéad McDaniel, General Manager for Barnes and Nobles at the Arboretum Location in Austin, Texas, commented on the different aspects of electronic and printed books.

“I am optimistic that books will never totally go away, too many people prefer the touch, smell, weight of a book,” Mairéad McDaniel said.

People will always prefer certain

genres in print, while others remain primarily in electronic forms. When reading with kids, most people prefer to have a physical book because of the colorful pictures.

Jennifer Patterson, retired Austin Library Branch Manager, says that the pictures in a book help hold a child’s attention even before they can understand the story, and that printed books offer more of a visual hook than an electronic copy.

Mairéad McDaniel agrees with this and adds another group of ideal print readers. McDaniel says that Barnes and Noble still sells lots of books that appeal to younger audiences, but also to people who need write in the book they buy. This includes most study and preparation guides for students of all ages, computer guides, atlases, world art maps, a wide range of children books, graphic novels, and teen fiction. As far as McDaniel can tell, most younger readers just prefer to have an actual book. Her daughter, a student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas, personally hates electronic readers, preferring the sensual benefits of a printed book.

“I like the “look” of a beautiful book - the paper, the type style, the illustrations and cover art, etc. I also like to loan books to friends - you can’t do that with digital books,” Jennifer Patterson said.

“

I like the “look” of a beautiful book the paper, the type style, the illustrations and cover art...

”

On the other hand, people on the move more often than not find the slim electronic reading devices more ideal. Electronic devices, such as the Nook, can hook up to the internet to get access to a larger range of books faster. Some of the genres to have already transitioned out of bookstores include travel, automotive guides, and large print books. The GPS has replaced most travel guides within the past 8 years to a point where Lonely Planet Travel Guides sold to a digital company. With the raising popularity of Electronic books, 3rd

quarter sales at Mairéad’s branch for print books went down 7.3 percent within in the same time period, with e-book sales up 6.8 percent. Barnes and Noble has found, what they hope, a way around the issue of print book sales dropping.

“People use book stores as showrooms ... they look around, see that they want this and this and this, and then go home and look it up on Amazon,” Mairéad McDaniel said.

Barnes and Noble has begun to stock their shelves with more than just books. When people come in to browse they now leave buying items not commonly associated with bookstores. Barnes and Noble now sells more products including stationery, cards, calendars, journals, and games. At Mairéad’s location, a Starbucks Coffee and upstairs seating offer students a place to study, as well as a place for small events like book signings.

But even with the optimistic changes in bookstore products, the switch to electronic books takes its toll.

McDaniel says that the prognosis is not good, with 5 years as one recent

Books: Print or Electronic?

Percentage of people who have read both printed and electronic books in the last 12 months that say one format of book is better in a certain situation.

Printed Books

E-books

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Reading with a small child

Sharing books with other people

Reading in bed

Having a wide selection Reading books while Being able to get a book quickly of books to chose from traveling or communting

35

estimate to how long Barnes and Noble will stay open. But she also commented that this has been said for quite some time, and it’s always five more years. Jennifer Patterson says that delivering print and electronic books as fast as Amazon presents the biggest challenge to any bookseller.

“Amazon has completely changed book selling, because you can order almost any book, whether it’s in print or not, pay almost whatever you want to pay for it, and get it delivered within 2 days. Bookstores are struggling to survive that change. It’s not just e-books which are a threat,” Jennifer Patterson said.

The switch affects more businesses than just bookstores. Libraries have also changed due to the lower demand for printed books. The number of people visiting the library has remained the same, with the real changes occurring in why customers come in the first place. Also, like bookstores, libraries supply more than just books. Libraries offer access to the internet and electronic databases for anyone to use and get valuable resources. This especially appeals to students, who view libraries as locations that provide an area to study or write a paper. People can additionally come in and check out a movie or audio book. Libraries also subscribe to services through which customers can download books and music for free, and offer lots of children’s programs.

so libraries aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“So far, it’s the fact that public libraries are free (i.e. paid for with tax revenue) that is the most important factor in their survival,” Jennifer Patterson said.

But both libraries and bookstores are making changes to a more digitalized base. Public Library systems have started using the Overdrive application. With the application, people can “check out” books electronically to any portable device.

Once Barnes and Noble started selling their Nook, they began marketing electronic books to a wider audience by offering personalized content. Even some school systems have started switching to electronic books. This appeals to teachers, because they can call Barnes and Noble to have however many electronic books they need downloaded straight onto specified devices. This gets rid of having to order large numbers of printed books and then wait for shipping. But the Nook has more captivating features.

Teachers can then sort electronic

John Phelan

Jennifer Patterson has her own opinion on the effects of the transition. She doubts that older books needed for research purposes will transfer into digital formats, Top Right: One example of the many different styles of Little Free Libraries.

Bottom Right: Kids commonly come to read at Luis Rodrigues’ personal library.

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Rebecca Carmack

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

Map of all the Little Free Libraries located within the continental United States.

books on the school’s E-Readers into different libraries, and chose the audience for each library to limit what their students see. This option has become more popular in schools after annotating became easier on the devices. On the Nook, people can enlarge and change fonts, take notes, highlight, enhance maps and more.

The devices also have dictionary, Google, and Wikipedia access built in for more advanced studying. In addition to businesses and school boards, Barnes and Noble looks to expand their product into homes. The Nook now has a ‘read to me’ function on children’s books that appeals to parents who want to promote recreational reading.

counterparts.

“Kids are physical, they like to touch, they like to feel, [and] they like to own,” Luis Rodrigues said.

to catch on in his community and Rodrigues’ library was emptied twice before people started to leave books behind.

“Pick a book and leave a book”

A new way to share books with both friends and strangers has become prominent. The Little Free Library (LFL) community now stretches all over the United States and Europe, with locations as far away as Australia and Africa. People buy or build their own miniature library, and then place it in an area accessible to the public.

Most commonly Little Free Libraries can be found in front yards or outside of community centers. LFLs revolve around the “take a penny, leave a penny” system. Anyone can take a book whenever they would like to without the obligation of returning it, but most people view donating books back to the community as a unique opportunity.

While some people welcome these changes into their home, others remain sceptical on how E-Readers will affect their family’s reading habits. Luis Rodrigues strongly believes that printed books will always have more prominence in family homes than their electronic

Luis Rodrigues saw an advertisement on his television about a school that opened a Little Free Library. That was 2 years ago. Since then, he has set up his own LFL in his front yard for anyone, young or old, who wants to read. The “pick a book and leave a book” ideals of the LFL took a while

While looking for more books to replace the taken ones, Rodrigues was shocked by the prices of printed books and said, “No kid in the neighborhood [was] going to buy a book for 15 dollars.” Kids love books, but can be easily distracted.

E-Readers create other issues that can lead a reader away from the book, such as needing electricity or having a battery life. These issues can be easily avoided with printed books. But adults don’t find some of the applications on an E-Reader that distracting. Some of the extra features help people daily. But books will always remain available in their different formats for different needs.

Travelers and commuters will always have their devices, while print lovers and children will continue to read out of physical books.

“

”

“It’s a process, and I don’t think any other gadget will cover that,” Luis Rodrigues said. S

37

Mood Movies

content by: Anwen Pope photos from: imdb.com

NO. PROD. E SCEN

If you want to watch a movie and you find yourself starring at netflix or Redbox, look no further. This quiz will help you find a movie to watch based on your mood. We have a suggested movie the moods happy, romantic, dramatic, sad, bored, and courageous. The movies we suggest were released in the past two years. So answer honesty and enjoy your mood movie.

TAKE

TIME

DATE R DIRECTOCED BY PRODU

No

START

No

Are you happy?

What’s Your Mood Movie?

Are you really happy?

Yes

Yes

No No

Do you like to laugh?

No

Are you in love?

Sometimes Yes

No Yes

Yes

Do you like Romantic things?

Are you a Drama Queen?

Yes

Happy

Romantic

Dramatic

Since you’re in a good mood we recommend a comedy. One of the best rated comedies of 2012, Pitch Perfect to be exact. The movie’s about a girl named Beca who joins an all-girl singing group at her college.

Since romance is on your mind, we suggest you watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This movie’s about a shy, introvert freshman who finds both a mentor and a friend in two seniors.

Since you’re acting dramatic today, you should watch a drama. We suggest Les Misérables, which occurs in 19th century France. In this movie, Jean Valjean agrees to care for Fantine’s daughter, Cosette.

Resources: imdb.com

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Is it Homework?

Yes

Are you upset?

You sure?

No

Yes

No

Do you have anything to do?

No

Yes

Is it important?

No Yes

No

No

Are you bored?

Yes

Do that first and then...

Yes

Are you brave?

WIMP!

No

Yes

Sad

Bored

Courageous

Since you’re sad, we recommend the dramatically sad movie The Artist, a silent black and white film that won best picture at the Oscar’s in 2011.

The story follows a dancer and a movie star who separate in the light of sound movies.

Since you’re bored, we suggest an action movie, specifically The Avengers. In this movie, Loki and his army attack Earth and it’s up to a group of super humans formed by Nick Fury to save the day.

Since you’re so brave, how about a horror movie? We suggest The Woman in Black. In this movie, a lawyer goes to a small village where a woman’s ghost is terrorizing the town’s people.

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{

THE ALAMO

{

DRAFTHOUSE

Dinner and a movie. A one stop night out.

40