Jealous is a bit of an understatement. I’m totally in awe of Kate Bingaman-Burt. She is a hugely talented designer, illustrator, crafter (if that’s even a word), Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University, and what I can totally relate to, a detailed list maker. Since I can’t possibly cover all of that in one or two paragraphs, I’ve chosen to write about this:

Obsessive Consumption, a project she began in 2002 in which she meticulously documents all of her purchases. She started out by photographing everything she bought, cataloged with the receipt. Then she moved on to drawing not only all of her purchases, but all of her credit card statements too. Obsessive? Yep. Awesome? You betcha! Now Kate has her own zine called What Did You Buy Today? that you can pick up for only $4/issue on Etsy. Get a pencil… you might want to do a quick sketch of your purchase.

Weird, hilarious and kinda cute… the triple threat that gets me every time.

These strange little creatures are called ‘mooks’. I found one of them on Pikaland, and then followed the trail back to an etsy shop called My Grey Sky, run by an artist who uses the name I love grey skies. Well you know what Ms. Grey Skies, I love your mooks! Especially the ones wearing knitted hats. I’ve had a thing for knitted head gear lately… must be the cool September weather. Brr.

It’s like a giant tea cozy, pot holder, afghan explosion! So fun. So colourful. So cozy.

I had a very hard time choosing which one of Sarah Applebaum’s crocheted pieces to show. This one seemed the coziest, so it won. It is titled, ‘Padded Room‘. I would love to hang out in there on a rainy afternoon, wouldn’t you?

I wrote about Wendy Walgate a few months ago, and then this past weekend I turned a corner at the Toronto Outdoor Art Show and came face to face with her amazing work. I was so thrilled to actually see it in person, but the best part of it all was getting to meet her. Not only is her work lovely, but so is she. Sadly, that’s not always the case with super talented people!

WHY HAVE I NEVER LEARNED TO EMBROIDER?!

Tim Moore is a British-born artist now living in Australia. These two pieces are from his solo show, Sew Natural, at the Helen Gory Gallery. What do I love about these? It’s a fine blend of the nude, gun-toting grandmother, the bunny hats/flip flops/saggy boobs of the ladies in the second piece, and of course, the skillful sewing that could put any Nana to shame.

A cheap plastic bag from a dollar store? Nope, it’s bridal organza & embroidery that’s been made to look exactly like a cheap plastic bag from a dollar store. Re-explaining this seemed silly so I’ve taken this quote directly from Lauren DiCioccio herself: “[This] is a response to the current movement to eliminate plastic bags from consumer use due to their negative environmental impact… [They are] delicate ghosts of the original bags, mass-produced plastic replaced with soft, tediously worked fabric.”  There you go. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

This is definitely NOT your grandmother’s embroidery… unless of course your grandmother has a thing for yetis and moon boots. If she does then Megan Whitmarsh is the artist for her! If you’re looking for something slightly different than this, don’t worry, Megan’s portfolio also includes a yeti carrying a pink boom-box through the forest, King Kong on a walk with Princess Leia, and King Kong rocking out with KISS. Awesome.

Magdalena Bors is a Belgian-born artist now living in Australia. Her work is photographic, but obviously the girl can handle a ball of yarn. She creates beautifully surreal landscapes within very ordinary environments, out of very ordinary materials (yarn, blankets, kitchen sponges, thumbtacks etc). I love finding work that looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. So inspiring.

{I wonder how long this was on her living room floor? I hope she doesn’t have cats.}

Hand. Soap.

Hilarious. Beautiful. Kinda creepy. I wish I thought of it.

I want need this. I would never actually use them though. I wouldn’t want to ruin them. They’re like those little rose soaps my grandmother used to put out for guests… but in more of a severed hand kind of way. If you want need them too, you can find them on etsy.com by an artist who goes by the name of “Foliage“.

Here we are again, at the line between art and craft. This subject always hurts my head. What makes something art vs craft? Intent? Venue? Scale? Price? Marketing? Ouch, there’s that headache again. I met this artist, a.k.a etsy name “Poodlebreath“, at a craft show. When I saw her work I was so inspired & so jealous. As far as I’m concerned this beautiful ceramic wall hanging should be hanging on an art gallery wall for lots of money, instead of sitting on a craft table for NOT lots of money.