Rachel Koper has an article about Stitch in the Nov 9th edition of the Austin Chronicle, “Love Craft, Stitch Austin, your rockin’ showplace for indie design“
Author: JNA
Coming from a background in design, graphics, metal arts, and leather work, Jenifer Nakatsu Arntson makes quality hand-built vinyl goods such as hand bags, wallets, checkbooks, and accessories. Her materials are animal-friendly and her finished products are stylish and modern. After working in leather for many years, Jen has switched to working entirely in vinyl but approaches design and construction with the same attention to detail, quality and function she learned when apprenticing to master-level leather craftsmen and metalsmiths. She is now an Austin-based artisan but has lived in Kyoto, St. Paul/Minneapolis, and Tokyo. Jen's work is also available in Austin, San Francisco and New York boutiques. Her website is www.nakatsudesign.com. Jen is also an active member of the Austin Craft Mafia, and Babes in Business Bonanza. When she is not at the studio, she is on her way there.
Blue Genie 7th Annual Art Bazaar Dec 5th-24th
Blue Genie’s annual Holiday Art Bazaar is coming up, December 5th thru the 24th (20 days, wow!) They have moved this year’s event to a bigger location, the Monarch Events Center in Lincoln Village (6406 North IH–35, Suite 3100). This is the 7th year, and there is always an eclectic mix of artisans (over 80 this year), yours truly included.
Check it out!
xoxo jna
Stitch is Saturday, November 10th!
This Saturday Nov 10th I will be sharing a booth at Stitch with my pal Jessica (her business is changing name from BunBun Babythreads to Rose & Duke, stay updated via her blog).
Here’s a list of other people who will be participating: Who’s Going to be at Stitch 2007!
I have restocked Pink, Sparks, and Moxie; and have been putting more stuff together every free moment I have! It’s been crazy over here.
See you there, Stitch is a fun event with great vendors, and an awesome fashion show. Note that this year it will be at the Austin Convention Center, the Austin Music Hall is still under major remodel/reconstruction.
xoxo
jna
Swap-O-Rama-Rama at Maker Faire
Passing on some info for an event I will be doing this weekend with the Austin Craft Mafia:
Austin’s First SWAP-O-RAMA-RAMA is Here!
http://www.swaporamarama.org
@ Maker Faire
http://www.makerfaire.com
Saturday October 20th 11am to 5pm & Sunday October 20th 11 to 4pm
And A Recycled Fashion Show Saturday Eve from 5pm to 6pm
At the Travis County Expo Center, Austin TX
A ticket to Maker Faire plus any size bag of your unwanted clothes required to enter,
leave with all the clothes you can carry plus learn to modify and make new from old.
Save $ with Advance Tix: http://tinyurl.com/yolpga
“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” Gandhi
Join in the communal process of reuse and celebrate our collective creativity! You are invited to Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a giant clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores reuse and creativity through the recycling of used clothing. And while your there explore the massive creativity of Maker Faire celebrating art, engineering, science and the spirit of DIY.
It’s easy to make the move from consumer to creator – and it’s fun. At this Swap-O-Rama-Rama you’ll find a host of talent brought together to teach you how to transform your new/used duds into works of your own.
Check out the extraordinary crew of artists and designers & the workshops being offered, which include local groups: Craft O Rama, Craft Mafia, Sublime Stitching, Goodwill, First Samples and Studio 3 as well as artists Zimka, Mary Keene, Andee Knutson and Gretchen Elsner. You’ll find T shirt mods, conductive textiles workshops, silk screening, wool re-spinning and a whole lot more!
Together the creative reuse community of Austin bring you: DIY Stations where you can learn many wonderful ways to create out of textile reuse, Sewing Stations where local designers will teach you fresh clothing mod tricks, on site Silk Screeners with a host of original designs to refresh old duds and extraordinary local designers who’ll show off their work in the Swap-O-Rama-Rama reuse fashion show MC’d by Jennifer Nordstrum.
Of course the core of the swap is the gigantic piles of free clothing (several thousand pounds!) sorted into categories: pants, shirts, skirts, sweaters etc. These piles are the collective total of each guest’s contribution of any size bag of unwanted clothes so clean out those closets and let go of what’s no longer inspiring. Take home as much clothing as you can carry. Remainders go to Austin’s Goodwill.
Wondering what to bring?
Sewing machines are generously supplied by Janome
Austin’s Goodwill will be on site teaching DIY mods and offering their generous support.
See you there…
Maker Faire coming to Austin Oct 20-21st
I will be at the Maker Faire Swap-o-Rama-Rama DIY & Sewing Stations: Unique Mods Taught by Local Artists at the Travis Co Expo Center. There will be other members of the Austin Craft Mafia, as well as Craft-O-Rama folks, looking forward to meeting some other people who love making things.
Here’s the skinny:
SWAP-O-RAMA-RAMA
Saturday October 20th 11am to 5pm & Sunday October 20th 11 to 4pm;
And A Recycled Fashion Show Saturday Eve from 5pm to 6pm
At the Travis County Expo Center in AUSTIN TEXAS
Bring any size bag of unwanted clothing, leave with all that you can carry and of course – modify!(All remaining clothing will be donated to Goodwill, a supporter of Austin’s Swap-O-Rama-Rama)
Wool-Ease socks photos…
I have uploaded pics of the socks I knit (and added them to ravelry), still need to shoot pics of the toddler cargo shorts… the yarn is dsicontinued (vintage?) old stash, but I have quite a bit, maybe it was bought to become a cardigan or something big?
New to ravelry…
I have been reading about ravelry on various knitting blogs, and it was mentioned in podcasts, and I finally got an invite and started playing with it a bit. We just moved to a new house a few weeks ago, so my stash is in boxes, some in storage at my mom’s, some in hubby’s studio, but I have kept a few projects with me, my set of interchangeable circulars, and some yarns I’d like to play with. Over the past few months of packing, movig, putting things into storage, and trying to hustle up as much freelance work as I could, I finished a couple pairs of socks, some scarves, and pair of cargo pocket toddler shorts (sewing the pockets on now). Making some headway towards my holiday gifting, also have a hat mostly done for my hubby (decreasing for crown). The socks, shorts and hat are all black or charcoal, and I expect I might have problems photographing them.
Anyway, hope I will be better about documenting my projects, I added linkage to this blog rss feed, my del.icio.us bookmarks, and my flickr account. Seems pretty handy so far….
[added 2/22/2010: Love, love, love ravelry! I have lots of bookmarked patterns in my queue and it’s been a great resource!]
New Tote Bags, plus more items!
Trunk Show at Moxie, Thursday May 10th
I am going to be doing a trunk show at Moxie and the Compound Thursday, May 10th.
Here’s the skinny:
Come by, have some food and a drink, and check out some recent work!
I have a new batch of totes and some other great stuff.
Thursday May 10th
5pm – 8pm
909 W Mary, Suite B, Austin TX 78704 (map)
See you there!
xo
jna
Austin Chronicle article: Water This Cottage Industry
There is an article by Rachel Koper in the current issue of the Austin Chronicle about an upcoming show I am participating in a show the weekend before Mother’s Day! The second Handmade Austin Women show will be at Ginko Studios on May 5th & 6th from 10-6.
 
2007 ARTISTS INCLUDE:
Jenifer Nakatsu Arntson / JNA Designs
Sunyong Chung / Ginko Studios
Jaime Jo Fisher
Chia Guillory
Stephanie Lindsey / Baby Jane
Bonnie Lynch
Melanie Schopper / M. Schopper Ceramics
More info and a map available at HandmadeAustinWomen.com.
See you there! I have lots of new work and special show prices.