Posted July 15th, 2010 by christine
A good friend of mine has started her own design and photography studio (Graphik Nature Studios). Robyn has been gracious enough to help me with my photography for Concepcioun. She has been doing an absolutely amazing job, and so I wanted to post some of the fantastic photography she’s been taking for me. Enjoy!
Graphik Nature Studios, Reusable Felt Notepad lifestyle photography
Graphik Nature Studios, Reusable Felt Notepad lifestyle photography
Reusable felt notepads, clutch provided by Lilipad Creations
Reusable felt notepad
Reusable felt notepads, refill with the choice of 6 different types of inserts!
Hardcover custom wedding guest book
Accordion custom wedding guest book
Tags: graphic design, Graphik Nature Studios, Lilipad Creations, photography, Robyn Stockdale, Syracuse Community
Posted July 1st, 2010 by christine
Inspite of not making profit, I LOVE to trade with other artisans at indie craft shows. It totally defeats the purpose of owning a small business, but who cares. The great thing is that I have a full-time job, so I have the luxury of not making a profit if that’s the way it ends up. At the end of the day we all are in support of each other. Whether I am wearing it or giving it away to a friend as a special gift, I am all about supporting the handmade community.
Matching ring and bracelet made from repurposed Oneida silver spoons.
I made a trade at the Mayday Underground show this past May with Whimsical Wonders. It is a great matching set of silver spoon ring and bracelet. I wear it a few times a week. Best of all, the silver spoons that were repurposed to create this set is from the former Oneida Silver. This is near and dear to my heart because this was a history rich company locally, and I have memories of my mother buying me a spoon ring when I was a young girl.
Spoon bracelet detail
Tags: Mayday Underground, Oneida Silver, spoon bracelet, spoon ring, Whimsical Wonders
Posted May 28th, 2010 by christine
As you may or may not know, I am a full-time graphic designer by day, and manage Concepcioun after hours. I just so happen to have today off from my day job, so I am able to post more than usual.
Interestingly enough, several weeks ago I was lucky enough to have both bookbinding world and graphic design meet. I have been the designer to this year’s The Edge of Art Exhibit: New York State Artist Series at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. It is a series of four exhibits, and the particular exhibit that I’m talking about is the current one: Fit to Be Bound.
I designed the gallery guide for the exhibits, and I am specifically proud of this exhibit because it is related to bookbinding.
You can download the gallery guide here.
If you are in town, you should check out the exhibit.
The Edge of Art: New York State Artist Series
Fit to Be Bound
April 17 – July 11, 2010
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison Street
Syracuse, New York 13202
Tel (315) 474 6064
Tags: art exhibit, Bookbinding, Everson Museum of Art, New York State Artist Series, The Edge of Art
Posted May 27th, 2010 by christine
Okay, so the Mayday Underground show was about a month ago. Things have been extremely busy for me… with Concepcioun and otherwise, so it has been difficult for me to carve out time to post.
So here I am, a month later, posting about the show:
Banner sign hanging outside the venue
Where else to post signage. On top of a Land Rover, of course.
It was a first time both Amanda and Casey set up a show. They did a great job. The show was covered in all the indie blogs: Deviant, Bust, Etsy forums, Makezine, Craftster… just to name a few. It was in Rochester, located near the Genesee Brewery on St. Paul Street. A rustic location, but a usual location for an indie show.
Genesee Bear & Ale brewery is located right across the street from where the show took place.
Overall, not a profitable turnout for Concepcioun. However, per usual at these events I made some great connections with great artisans, and made some awesome trades as well.
Concepcioun's table display at the show.
A bird's eye view from the entrance of Mayday Underground.
Refurbished vintage Boomarang lamp by Tom Mazur. It's mine now.
Here is a list of some of my personal favorites from the show:
Beauty In The Eye Textiles and Jewelry – absolutely awesome hand woven fabrics
Latherati Soap Foundry – great soaps and perfumes, my favorites scent collections include Sinister, Beguile, and Queen Bee
Mars: Inter-stellar love craft – My neighbor at the show. She makes fantastic silver jewerly.
pen & inklings – extremely detailed and entertaining pen & ink drawings
Whimsical Wonders – very cool jewerly made from repurposed spoons. I finally got the spoon ring and matching bracelet that I’ve been wanting for a while! I LOVE them.
Tags: indie craft show, Mayday Underground, Rochester
Posted May 22nd, 2010 by christine
A peer designer friend, Marj, has been a fantastic supporter of Concepcioun over the past few months.
In one of her efforts to spread the word about Concepcioun, she casually introduced me to a relative of hers that will be a bride in September. Emily happens to have a blog, called sovi design. Once I saw in our introductory email that she has a blog, I immediately checked it out, and loved it. She is a lover of all things design, and posts items that she loves.
One of her posts featured this Decades chest of drawers, designed by Wis Design. Holy crap. I want one.
Chest of drawers made out of discarded drawers, found and rescued from flea markets.
Tags: Decades, sovi designs, Wis Design
Posted April 20th, 2010 by christine
This May 1, 2010 from 10am to 6pm at 416 St. Paul Street will be the first (of many) for the Mayday Underground indie craft show. I am super excited to be a part of it. I am crossing my fingers that it will do well, not only for me, but for Casey and Amanda who are coordinating the show.
I am slowly gathering a list of indie craft shows that I will attend each year as a vendor. For the next couple of years I will be sticking to Upstate New York shows. In a year or two, I will consider the NYC area and the eastern part of the US. Then, I will move onto the entire US.
You know, planning success takes time.
Tags: craft shows, Mayday Underground, Rochester
Posted April 13th, 2010 by christine
It was 85 degrees two weekends ago, and what a day. I had no plans other than going to one of my favorite places: Fair Haven Beach State Park. I sat down in the sand, inspite of the wind, and watched a couple of hours go by. It was fantastic.
The ungroomed beach at Fair Haven
My whitey-white legs.
Tags: beach, Fair Haven, state park
Posted April 2nd, 2010 by christine
Last night, I made a road trip to attend another AIGA event. Debbie Millman, Design Group President of Sterling Brands in NYC, came to Rochester to speak about how and why we – as living creatures – brand.
I had met Debbie several years ago in NYC for one of Hillman Curtis’ video shoots. However, I didn’t have a chance to see her speak until last night.
It was fascinating to see how Debbie connected the dots throughout history to show the socio-evolution of “making and marking.”
After her two-hour presentation, she answered questions from the audience. There were some great questions, but what was most interesting was that her answers, on the fly, were just as well thought out as her actual presentation. I was impressed by her expertise and her insight.
The event was held at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester
Debbie's introduction to her presentation
Why we buy, Why we brand. This photo came out blurry, but I love the 3D effect that happened.
Tags: AIGA, Debbie Millman, Rochester, Sterling Brands
Posted March 30th, 2010 by christine
I am a full-time graphic designer and considered an “indie crafter.” So, it only made sense that I would want to go to the film screening of Typeface in Rochester last week. I left my job early, and my friend Robyn and I headed to RIT for the event. The film screening at RIT happened with the help of Tony Zanni of Dock2 Letterpress and by the RIT AIGA student chapter.
Typeface is an independent film by Kartemquin Films about The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, WI, dying craft of wood blocks (and the town where the museum resides), and the evolution of letterpress printing. If you are a lover of typography, you should definitely go to a screening. It is a bit sad, but well worth seeing.
Bill Klingensmith, current AIGA Upstate NY Prez, and I waiting for the film screening.
Tony Zanni, Dock2 Letterpress partner introducing the Typeface film.
My buddy Robyn is sporting my poster purchase for a pic. The type for this poster was set by RIT students and printed at Dock2.
Afterwards, Rachael from Pistachio Press, with her husband Jake and intern Christine, Shanna, Chris (who works with Rachael, Shanna, and others for the Second Storie } Indie Market) , Robyn, and I went to Barnes & Noble for some snackage. It was good to catch up with some of my good peeps in Rochester.
L to R: Christine (no, not me but Rachael's intern), Rachael, Shanna
L to R: Jake, Chris, Robyn
Tags: AIGA Upstate New York, Dock2 Letterpress, Hamilton Wood Type Museum, independent film, Kartemquin Films, letterpress, printing, typography, wood block type
Posted March 24th, 2010 by christine
Some of my wares from the class: coptic stitched book and a couple japanese stab bindings
I made another roadtrip out to Buffalo, for the second part of my bookbinding workshop at the Western New York Book Arts Center. The trip there was a bit tedious, since the previous week’s travel time seemed so much quicker. I was honestly wondering if I wanted to make the 2.5 hour drive again, but I am glad that I did. The fee for the workshop was an incentive… and to learn and expand my mind, of course.
Since our group had made introduction in the class prior, it was more relaxed this time. It was a great group. We joked, laughed, sang…. well, we didn’t sing… but it was a good time.
Thanks, again to Amy Greenan and the WNYBAC.
Tags: Amy Greenan, Bookbinding, Western New York Book Arts Center, wnybac, workshop
