Submission call!!

Leanne Prain, who with Mandy Moore wrote the fantastic Yarn Bombing, is asking for submissions for her next book, Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery! She is accepting submissions until June 15, 2010, and the book will be published by Arsenal Pulp in the fall of 2011.

peregrineblue

Direct from the site:

Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery rebels against the traditional notions of quaint embroidery with motifs of flowers and songbirds. The book will feature unusual stitch work on a variety of surfaces and textures. With off-beat patterns including subway maps, feminist Girl Guide badges, and metal band letterforms; Hoopla will demonstrate that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles that they work with. If you describe your stitch-work as arresting, subversive, quirky, or conceptual, Hoopla should feature your design work.

There is no entry fee, and designers are encouraged to submit multiple designs. Please include your complete contact information (email and mailing addresses) with your submission. Hard-copy submissions will not be returned unless an SASE or International Mailing Coupon is provided. The deadline for submission ideas is June 15th, 2010.

Designers who are chosen to participate will receive the materials necessary to create their project, an honorarium, a free copy of the book, and credit for taking part in the book.

For more information, either click on the text above or click over here.

Being the New Girl

So being the new girl in a new town, I am actually in the process of downloading the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore show. As I keep hearing “You’re going to make it after all…” (the only part of the theme song I can remember) in my head, I figured it is an excellent theme to this current move.

I may not have a couch yet, but as of this morning I have cutlery. Using a martini glass as a bowl and a measuring spoon as a “regular spoon” (both left by the previous tenant) the other night was fun, but it has since gotten old. Today I was buying cleaners and light bulbs and plates, all things previously bought and shared with old housemate. Thinking about what I could live without for awhile (the “wants”) vs what I really must have in order to keep things clean (the “needs.”), was humbling beyond belief.

Along with not having a couch, I also currently don’t have internet access. So I’m writing this at a lovely cafe in Alexandria (Buzz) listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, my favorite singing combo ever. Not having internet issues means not being able to look up job listings, so as I need a job to have a couch, I’m looking online at various open positions.

While sometimes these searches send you down the rabbit hole, this one has unearthed an extra bonus surprise, the work of Panmela Castro while learning more about the Global Women Entrepreneurs in Handcrafts Development Program offered by Vital Voices.

The website has a lovely write-up about the work Panmela is doing, using graffiti as a way to bring about social change! Although I’m highly biased, it always so inspiring to learn about people using graffiti and street art as tools for positive activism. You can also see the results of the Graffiteras Pela Lei Maria de Penha here.

Manifest Destiny, the Ultimate DIY Experiment?

My first thought when I saw this was, WTF? Seriously. Laura Ingalls-style move vs. a U-Haul? My second thought was, isn’t all moving (without paid movers, that is) pretty much DIY? And isn’t moving pretty much universal? Why should America get to claim it as a “tradition?”

But I digress. It takes a lot to stop me in my tracks* (HA!) when it comes to advertising, but I really would have loved to have been in the room when the marketing team was pitching this idea:

DIY = Cool.

Moving = DIY.

U-Haul = cool…

Then apparently the dialogue turned into “Little House on the Prairie” = Cool.

And when it passed the team then decided that: “Little House on the Prairie hit it big on TV, so why not juxtapose that hard-scrabble life where everyone was extra-feisty and tough with today’s “pioneering” spirit of moving? Y’know, when you pack up 8 million boxes and then carry them to a truck you drive yourself and then unload yourself and then have to return the truck? Perfect! Beat that, Penske!”

*Get it? Wagon tracks?! Did I mention that moving means lots of lost sleep?

Packing. (With four-legged help.)

Bobbin’s been an excellent packing partner. So helpful, in fact, she actually packed herself. I think she looks quite pleased with her efforts, no? Move into my new apartment next weekend, while working a few hundred miles north during the week. Excited to have everything in its right (new!) place. Also quite excited to be added to the most awesome list of all time regarding environmental change over here.

So, in the spirit of new adventures, here’s a lovely quote via Marimello’s Tumblr. Thanks, Marie! I think it’s the perfectest (sic) quote for moving in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Here’s to letting go, stepping up to meet the sun, and feeling the earth solid and warm beneath your feet.

x

She let go She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go. She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go. She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right. She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go. She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn’t call the prayer line. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go. No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go. There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. It was what it was, and it is just that. In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…”

Ernest Holmes


[And, I apologize for all the emails I haven’t answered recently that aren’t specifically time sensitive. I still love you the most, just swamped and want to reply when I have proper time to answer. And when I do, then you can write back tell me what you’ve been up to and we can continue like normal and still be friends forever, ok? I am, however, posting sporadically to online things that take less than a minute or 140 characters (and start with T) as I go a little stir crazy when I don’t write at all: Tumblr, Twitter]

New.

BIG NEWS: Things have been quiet around here lately because I’m in the process of moving to DC!* I’m so excited about living in a big city again!

NOT NEARLY AS BIG NEWS: My computer died this afternoon. Will be up to speed soon after I’ve moved everything from dead computer to new computer. As you can tell from the weird text formatting, I have no idea how to use it… yet.

And my first big crafting event in my new city is moderating a panel tomorrow at Craft Week DC! Yeah! The panel, The Meaning of Making, is from 6:30-8, preceded by a craft social from 4-6. Sponsored by PBR and held at Civilian Art Projects, set up by the awesomeness that is Hello Craft.

The panelists:

Tom Ashcraft

Christine Ernest

Dana Ayana Greaves

Carole Greenwood

*Ok, Arlington, VA if you’re being technical.