Taking a cue from the sky.

The days have been gray and rainy around here lately. I thought we'd take a look at the the color of the sky in some more fun places...


desire to inspire, amy butler, polestar, ink & spindle

Where has your inspiration been coming from lately? We'd love to know!

6x6




As you may already know, Rochester Contemporary Art Center is in the final days of it's 2nd and final 6x6 exhibit. The show is comprised of thousands of pieces all 6 inches square. You'll find photography, collage, drawings, paintings and mixed media. The submissions come from around the world as well as locally and all are shown anonymously. They include well-known local artists, students and even celebrities. You can view the list of participating artists here.

For $20, you can choose any artwork you like. You can view the entire gallery, and purchase one for yourself, here. July 12th is the last day of the exhibition, so I would act fast if I were you.

Rochester Contemporary Art Center
137 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604
Wednesday-Sunday 1-5pm
585-461-2222

Friday Favorites

It's Friday (thank goodness!) and that means we're sharing one of our favorite things on Etsy.

I simply couldn't choose just one of Namolio's sweet little linen and crochet pincushions to feature. They are all so beautiful. Her shop is full of linen treasures: crocheted flowers, pins, buttons and so many more pincushions. All in a gorgeous palette, to boot.

Hmmm... I wonder. Perhaps I would devote more time to my craft if I had something this lovely to work with?

quilts







from top down: Yellow House, Ouno Design, Simply Suzula,
Moon Spirit Studios, All The Numbers, Eager Hands


we've got quilts on the brain. It must have something to do with summer...
I thought I would share a few with you this morning. Some are vintage finds and some are brand new, but all of them amazing! The top 2 are finds from searching Flickr. The rest are all available on Etsy. I am feeling quite inspired to make my very own treasured heirloom this summer. Maybe if I start now I will have a chance of being finished by winter? I'm sure this book will help as she makes it sound so easy...

The end of an era.

Today we thought we would pay tribute to Kodak's beloved Kodachrome film which as of today, is no longer available. All these beautiful images were found on flickr by searching the word "Kodachrome."

(You can see the full images by clicking on the photos.)




row 1: tahphelan, gullevek,
row 2: tommyoshima, nancyo23,
row 3: oldglass, davelightseer
row 4: jeffdamron, stephenedgar,

Getting organized

Even though it can no longer be filed under "spring cleaning" as it is full-on summer right now, I couldn't resist sharing some work space inspiration today. The advent of yard sale season has had me on the hunt for vintage furniture and virtually anything that can be used as studio storage. I like some of these ideas, found at Living Etc. Whether it's an entire wall of bookshelves, or a small clothesline of inspiration, the idea is to get creative with your space. It is yours after all.



Happy organizing,
joAnn

Friday Favorites...

...where we share with you one of our favorite items on Etsy.
It's been rainy here in Rochester, as it has in much of the region, for many days now. I wanted to cap off the week with something bright and fun. Enter the Scooter Bag from Retrofied.

Is this fun or what? I just love the different colors and patterns hugging each other. Perfect for a gray day that could use some brightening. I'll bet you could toss all your day's essentials in there, hop on your scooter and head out for an adventure! Who's with me?

Happy weekend all,
joAnn

Keeping up...

....with one of our favorite Second Storie vendors. Jim Delucia opened up his Etsy shop right around the time of our last event in November. Since then he has filled it with prints of his incredible paintings. One of the things we love about his work is the seemingly effortless blend of rural and urban settings. go check it out...

Croft



I have this one framed in my living room:
Number 4



joAnn

Art and craft in unexpected places} Lisa Hannigan

I Don't Know from ATO Records on Vimeo.

I love when I come across art and craft in unexpected places. One day while I was looking around singer Lisa Hannigan's website I was pleasantly surprised...click play!

Hannigan has another beautiful video for her song Lille, featuring two very cool pop-up books created by Jamie Hannigan and Maeve Clancy. Both songs are from her album Sea Sew.

Her website is pretty crafty too! Hannigan stitched the cover art for SeaSew along with Francis Hannigan. This hand sewn design is also featured on her website, her mother even knit the front page! The cover design has been translated into a tote you can purchase from her site as well as
hand stitched badges. There are even digital pop-up books to flip through! Definitely worth a little visit.

Hope your day is inspired!
Shanna

Call for entries


It's that time again!

We are now accepting applications for our 2009 event! Our show will take place Saturday and Sunday November 28th and 29th at the Visual Studies Workshop so mark your calendars now, friends. We are getting the ball rolling early this year so it's sure to be our best event yet! The deadline for entries isn't until August 17th. We know how much effort goes into preparing your work for a show so we're giving you the whole summer to get ready. And honestly, we need that much time too! We have some special treats (and perhaps a surprise or two!) in store for you this year so you really won't want to miss out!

Want to be involved but you're not that crafty? Our street team is always looking for new members to spread the word before the event as well as help during the event
. Just drop us a line.

You can find your application
here. Go on now, what are you waiting for?

friday favorites


i just love the idea of sending a note to a friend with mos def's adorable face greeting them as they open the envelope. and thanks to mulifarious by design's sweet etsy shop, this idea can be realized. vincent gallo, christopher walken, and perry ferrell are also in the roster... oh, swoon!
k

Keeping up...

...with one of our favorite Second Storie vendors. Jenna Thompson, founder of Small Bird Jewelry, made the move from Etsy to her very own online shop in January. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, go do it! Her site is clean, simple and sweet. In other words, perfect.

In the shop you'll find her gorgeous new designs. Here are some of the pieces we are currently diggin' on...

Abundance Earrings, $36


Bubble Necklace, $42

you can still grab some sale items in Small Bird's Etsy shop if you hurry...

Western New York Book Arts Center


Looking for a fun day trip? Already going to be in the Buffalo, NY area? In case you haven't already heard, The Western New York Book Arts Center recently opened the doors to it's new retail shop. They showcase and sell all sorts of beautiful bookbinding supplies, specialty papers, letterpress cards and gifts. But the shop itself looks like a pretty enough reason to go! The store is an extension of the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative, a non-profit group dedicated to printing and book related arts. One of the reasons we like it so much? Our friend Abbey helped pull this all together. That's her photo of the gorgeous interior (don't you just love the floor color?). You can see more and read her post about it here.

If you hurry, you can still make it in time to see the Member's Exhibition. It's only up til June 25! Can't make it out in person? Don't worry. They sell a number of items in their etsy shop. If you'd like to keep up with the WNY Book Arts Collaborative you can follow their blog.

Western New York Book Arts Center
5468 Washington Street, at Mohawk
Buffalo, NY 14203
Wednesday - Saturday 12-6 pm

South Wedge Farmer's Market


The South Wedge Farmer's Market opened this past Thursday to an overwhelming number of shoppers and friends. With blue sky and sunshine, it was a perfect day to celebrate all that our community has to offer and a great way to kick off the season.

Our very own Shanna Murray was there taking photos to add to the online portrait gallery. Wanna get yours in there? She'll be back again soon so check here, get your basket, your friends (the four legged variety also welcome!) and be a part of this exciting season!

joAnn

Friday Favorites

Time for us to share with you one of our favorite Etsy sellers.

Wow. These stopped me in my tracks when I first saw them. These beautiful crocheted and felted necklaces are from Pirilam Poriscado.

They look so well made and her attention to detail is wonderful. The idea of wearing something that big, soft and completely handmade sounds just perfect right now as summer is almost here. I love the bright citrus colors as well. The rest of her shop is brimming with color, too! You should go check it out. right. now.

happy weekend all,
j

on a personal note


A quiet post will do for today, I think.

So what have we been up to, you wonder?
Aside from the aforementioned interview, we've all been busy in our own lives. True to it's nature, springtime has brought a wealth of change to all of us here at Second Storie. A new addition to assist an already thriving business. A move and a life change and the potential for another one. Some of us have been working away under the radar, and while we have no official news to speak of, we are no less engrossed in the constant ebb and flow of change. Knowing that each little shift brings the potential for bigger and better things, we are enthralled by what this year could bring.

So, friends, what has been keeping you busy during these early days of spring?

We're back in the saddle


Hmmmm....
It's been a while since our last chat.
Well, we've taken advantage of the early spring for some personal projects, but don't worry. We have some ideas cooking for this year and have much to fill you in on, friends.

What have we been up to? Shanna and Rachael's collaborative letterpress project was the first feature on Collabo, a collabortive interview project by Jena at Modish and Jane of Scoutie Girl about (what else?) collaborations. Whew! That sentence took about 5 minutes to write! Their interviews can be read here and here.

And in case you haven't already heard, our dear friend Nicole of freshlyblended has just started a family with a new baby girl!

We have so many fun treats in store for you this summer and we can't wait to share them with you. And we have some very important news coming up within the week, so don't go far. We promise we won't either.

joAnn