pitter painter

Queen Anne Trunk Show this Saturday!

2009-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Hey! Just letting you know about my upcoming show this weekend!
I am working hard on finishing new collages and getting my holiday cards all done.
Will post pics soon.

"This show is a family-friendly juried event showcasing the work of top area artisans.
Don't miss this fabulous opportunity to pick up unique, hand-crafted gifts for the holidays!"

My friends Jesse and Nicky Estrella Soaps and Kristen of Sydney Handmade will be among the awesome vendors.

Stop by if you have the time!

November I Heart Rummage!

2009-10-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hey peeps! Been a long time....If you can shake off your Halloween hangover, come on over to Chop Suey on Sunday, November 1st for our monthly craft show.

There will be 40+ local artists and indie designers showing our best stuff for you to admire and hopefully find a treasure to take home.

It is located at Capitol Hill's Chop Suey! 1325 E. Madison, Seattle.
From 12pm - 4pm. Hear DJ Huggy, our live house DJ, spin his tracks!

Nancy Art Opening!

2008-08-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!

I will be showing a new series of collages at Nancy for the month of August.

The opening is Friday, August 8th from 6 to 9pm.

"Nancy is all about helping people keep friends and make new ones. Our tiny store features really awesome handmade cards, gifts, and fine art at affordable prices. If you’re searching for something unique, inspiring to look at, or a friendly surprise Nancy will be of interest to you. Thinking of a curious place to take a friend....stop by."

Nancy
1930 Second Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
206-441-7131 Open: Tues - Sat 11 - 6
http://www.nancynancynancy.com/

Hope to see you there!

All the best,
Dawn

Laughing Buddha

2008-07-31T00:47:00.000-07:00

this is the craziest coolest thrift store bracelet ever. i found it for a buck a few weeks back at a senior thrift store i frequent.
it was only a dollar.

just thought i would share pics. hope the laughing buddha makes you smile.

am busy getting ready for my upcoming show at Nancy next week....tick tock. am super excited!

whales and sharks in the window

2008-07-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

I do the window displays at my bookshop. For the summer I picked an ocean theme with one half filled with a variety of sea animals and one side all about whales. One of our product shipments came with aqua blue paper used in as cushion in the boxes, so I saved it up. I thought it would be perfect for a marine window. It has been a big hit for the past week, kids especially love it, I think they like how shimmery the blue is reflecting off the glass.

A novel I especially recommend is "The Highest Tide" by Jim Lynch. It is written by a local author and is set in Olympia. The main character is a 13 year old budding biologist who finds strange and wonderful creatures in the Puget Sound. I love the writing and it made me look differently at the water I have lived by all my life.

little landscapes

2008-07-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

These are the newest in my mixed media book collage series. They are tiny at 3.5" by 4." I am really enjoying experimenting with my vintage book pieces. I try and use all fragments of the books that are used for my coasters. I love to meditate and concentrate on shapes and lines. I did these in just a couple of hours. Am getting a variety of works to choose from for my upcoming show at Nancy.

the fir tree of history

2008-07-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

In Arlington, Washington they have a cut from a 700 year old Fir tree propped up so you can see the rings. Dave and I decided to stop and take tourist pics over the holiday weekend. I love love the stars they used to decorate.

"Growing Big and Strong"

2008-07-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

Found this vintage health textbook at the library sale awhile back. Finally flipped through it and found these gorgeous illustrations among all the do this, don't do that rhetoric. All about a balanced diet, good posture, germ fighting and staying away from alcohol. I wish our schoolbooks had looked so good. I have a growing collection of vintage schoolbooks that are saved from being thrown away or made into coasters by me. I am trying to feature more my book collection along with my art. Am working on more collages for my show at Nancy which opens soon. Too soon in fact. Should be a blast though. I totally hestitated titling this post, but that IS the name of the book. Oh, well. :)

fourth fireworks and pretty fields

2008-07-06T21:01:00.001-07:00

Spent the fourth up at my parents. We went out to the street to watch our neighbor's expensive fireworks show across the field. It was a lovely night. Perfect temperature, enough light from the newly installed streetlights, but not too much so you could still see the stars. Happy times indeed.

2008-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Fremont was exciting and exhausting and I will so do it again. Lots of funny people, great costumes, face painting, quirky hippies, cute kiddos, and lots and lots of dogs. Thanks to Cassandra for the opportunity to participate and if you go to Bumbershoot, you should check out the I Heart Rummage booth.

Fremont Solstice Fair this weekend!

2008-06-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Come see me and my other super crafty friends at I Heart Rummage's Special show at this year's Fremont Solstice Fair. We will be located in the underground garage by the Redhook Brewery. Saturday, June 21st - 10 am to 8pm & Sunday, June 22nd - 11 am to 7 pm. Happy Summer!

new bracelets

2008-06-10T07:10:00.001-07:00

On vacation now, having a week off from the bookshop. I have gotten some cleaning and organizing done, but waiting on the weather to lighten up a bit. I am wanting to go spend some time at the beach. Meanwhile here are some pics of my newest bracelets. The red one is up now in my etsy shop and will list a couple more today. I am trying to ramp up production in anticipation of the I Heart Rummage show at Seattle's Fremont Fair! More on that later. Do the sunshine dance for me.

2008-05-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is my family's dog, Buddy. He is the best. My brother's friend brought him to our family after finding him running around a street chasing cars when he was a puppy. We couldn't resist the little pudge. He is an unruly, rabbit chasing, dramatic, silly loving dog. He is the kingpin dog in the neighborhood. My parents live in the country, so he runs free. Bud is kinda old and creaky now, his hip problems really bother him when he's been really active. He has had skin cancer for the last few years, but is putting up a good fight. Just wanted to post these pics of him to share, I had taken these on Mother's Day. He is my mom's best friend.

Stitches & Nails Collage Series

2008-05-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

A Big thank you to Carol at Santoro's Books for including me in the annual Greenwood Art Walk. It was alot of fun and I wanted to
give a shout out to her and Marla for throwing such a great party. Santoro's Books unfortunately will have to move their shop to a new location due to landlord issues. They did find a location just north of the 74th st Alehouse. They will be moving the store May 30th & 31st and would appreciate any volunteers to help wheel the books on down the street. Long live independent bookstores! Think Globally, Buy Locally!

trains are all whooshy

2008-05-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

i visited the beach this weekend and a couple of trains went by....we had already crossed and were above this one. i had braced myself for it to race by, but forgot that they would blast their horn as they went through the crossing. i squealed and jumped up and down and dave laughed at me. it scared the shit out me. i gathered my bearings and took some fun pics of it as it whooshed by.

purple kitty

2008-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

a beautiful day off here in seattle...hung out with the kitty, emmy lou, in our backyard. she was simply obsessed with these purple flowers. was glad to take a little breather after my busy last weekend with the artwalk. finally swept and cleaned out our little courtyard, we have 3 massive birch trees, which i absolutely love, but they create a giant mess every fall & winter with their longish wormy looking pine cone droppings. emmy is sniffing one in the last photograph, now picture a bazillion of them to sweep up and get the yard ready for barbecues, reading, relaxing and many an art making day. ha! well, now that's done. hmmm...sunshine.

Robin Nest

2008-05-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

I visited my parents over the weekend and my mom showed me the robin nest in her front yard. The nest is perched in her holly tree right by her front deck. Dave was tall enough to reach up and get a couple good shots of them snuggled up sleeping. I was surprised by the blue on their wings. Such a perfect constructed nest. I received an update today from my mom, the babes seem to have followed their mom and flown from the nest. Happy travels!

Clouds & Books

2008-05-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

I get to decorate the windows at my bookshop. For this one, I made clouds out of our xmas snow and made books fly through the sky. We had a special weekend sale featuring books from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Spring Catalog. It is fun to climb in the windows and see the reactions from passerbys. Little kids especially like it, they smile and point and wave at me.

2008-05-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

hey everyone. working on many different projects this week. getting ready for I Heart Rummage this Sunday at Chop Suey. getting last minute Mother's Day cards ready for the show.

Been having trouble lately trying to balance my time at the bookshop, keeping up with my inventory for shows & shops and getting ready for my show at Santoro's. I love being a bookseller, but sometimes it really is hard not having enough time to get all my creative projects done. I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that are in the same situation. Most of the crafters/artists I have met at shows also have a day job, but there are some who have made the crossover into full time. I find this so inspiring, because especially now there are many examples of successful artists making their way without having to sell out or live in a 200 sq feet apartment in New York starving to get into the next big gallery. Reading blogs, looking at flickr, exploring on etsy and being able to create alongside people from all over the world has been so helpful. Thank you to kaylovesvintage, Kate Greiner, Karen Kosoglad, Lisa Congdon, Steph DosReis, Ashley Goldberg, emilyisgood, Lookwhaticando and so so many others.

Meanwhile, dave and I took a walk over to the lake today. It was lovely out.

stitches & nails

2008-04-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

I had a perfectly lovely day working on collages and sitting in the sunshine. What more can a girl ask for?

All are mixed media collages with paint, books, thread, nails, thumbtacks and old fence/barn wood.

Green

2008-04-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share a few pics of my fern in the backyard, slowly but surely they are peeking out in the world.

Also, here's a sneak peek of my new collage series for the upcoming Greenwood Art Walk, which opens May 9th. Woo hoo. Time's a ticking.

Cheers.

Freshy's

2008-04-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I participated in a budding craft show called Homemade Brigade at a coffee shop in West Seattle called Freshy's. The off and on spring snow definitely made it a slow day, but it turned out to be really fun. The coffee shop is comfy and fun, with yummy grilled sandwiches and to die for soups. There were about 5 or 6 vendors, but hopefully in the summer it will be a bustling event. They also host an art show and a superb dj spinning tunes and have local bands play later that night.

I sent my first order off to Redux in Portland! They will be carrying my Bookish Coasters, Fabric Bracelets, Cards and Magnets.
So, if you are in the area, stop in say hello to Tamara! I hope to visit sometime this summer, haven't been to Portland in awhile.

BlogTalk Radio

2008-04-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Fantastic bloggy news today. Gabreial from Vintage Indie was interviewed yesterday on BlogTalk Radio by Auction Wally. They chatted about all things vintage and indie and books and such. And since she was nice enough to feature me and my Bookish Coasters on her website, they ended up mentioning me and directing listeners to my Etsy shop. So cool! Interesting interview too! Check it out here.

My shows went well this week. First Thursday Art Walk was on April 3rd and the weather held out for us. There was live music and the quirky dance performance grew to at least 10 people this time.

A customer stopped by to tell me about these fab little paper bags she had learned how to make from a street vendor in Amsterdam. You fold three or four times and then sew/glue/tape the bottom shut. She thought of me and my magnets and cards and then Sunday at my I Heart Rummage show, she brought me a huge bag full of them!

You recycle magazine pages and old calendars into quirky little paper bags. I immediately started using them and my customers were raving about them. Thank you Jane! I will definitely make and use them from now on.

Crossroads

2008-03-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Kate T. Williamson has written a new book about spending a year at her parent's house while she was writing "A Year in Japan." It is called "At a Crossroads." Amazing stuff.....beautiful watercolors...sincere observations...her love of hall & oates....going to a cher concert...squirrels....revisiting her childhood in very interesing ways.

Here are a couple of choice pages...

And also I wanted to rave about Natalie Goldberg's new book "Old Friend from Far Away." It is about how to write memoirs, this is a true sequel to "Writing down the Bones."

If you haven't read her yet, please check her out. She has taught writing courses for decades and really allows you to write for yourself first and always. Her book "Living Color" is for us artists, it's about her journey as a painter.
"Long Quiet Highway" is about her life....writing...her marriage...her learning mediation...New Mexico...New York...Minnesota...her teacher and about the little things...her mother's lipstick....her grandfather's cheese sandwiches...her teacher making the class close their eyes and listen to the rain. So much beauty, it is the only book I have read again and again. I was lucky enough to catch her reading last month here in Seattle. If she is coming to your city---Go! Go! Go!

Wow!

2008-03-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

How very exciting! I just found out that I was featured on two different blogs in the last two days. Both are fellow esty sellers and they were so gracious as to feature my work on their rockin' websites.

The first came from Fleece Traveler , a very cool website about a fleece-making globetrekking mom. I met her on the etsy forums and she liked my map magnets and decided to feature them on her blog!

Gabreial from Vintage Indie featured my Bookish Coasters yesterday and wrote a very sweet paragraph about them!

Thank you to both of you! Happy Spring!

nara and juno

2008-03-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I found this lovely kid's book at my bookstore.

The phenomenal Japanese artist yoshimoto nara has published a picture book about a lonesome puppy and a determined little girl who become fast friends. His illustrations are so lovely! The lonesome puppy is huge, bigger than the earth, and he has no friends.

My favorite page shows the girl scaling the giant puppy and finally walking up to his nose and meeting him.

I immediately wrote out a staff recommendation and highlighted it on the wall. For fans, it is a must have, and for parents it will be a sweet edition to your child's book collection. Support your local indie bookstore!

After work, Dave and I went to thai food and finally finally finally (!) went to see Juno. It has only taken us 4 months, but it was definitely worth the wait. Ahhhh, so great.

Tracker the baby Jack Rabbit Love=Creature

2008-03-21T00:32:00.001-07:00

Tracker the baby Jack Rabbit Love=Creature, originally uploaded by Look What I Can Do.

So so exciting today I received my Jack Rabbit from Look What I Can Do! She makes the most beautiful creatures. Love Love Love! Here is mine.

renew

2008-03-21T00:09:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last few days organizing and cleaning and redecorating a bit. I hung my bird mixed media collage series in our dining room. The wooden branch is a great yard sale find that I use to display my bird pins at shows.

I made a new bracelet display for my upcoming craft shows too. I took an old wooden cassette tape holder, tore out some of the slats and viola! I really like how the bright colors play off the warm wood.

I also posted a few more map magnets in my etsy shop, there is now new york, london, houston, seattle and amsterdam. I make custom map magnets, so feel free to make requests!

spring walk

2008-03-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

Today Dave, his dad and I went for a nice spring walk through the arboretum. It was so lovely to get out and explore. Finally a bit of sunshine after all the rain. There was a cute little school troop out tromping through the woods.

Then we went to Green Lake and walked around it to stay out in the sun. We saw a bald eagle circling over on the north side of the lake. It is pretty rare to see one in the city. As usual lots of people, dogs, bikes, ducks and some thoughtful crows at the lake. I have been being a superduper organizer lady the last few days and will post some cleaned up studio (my living room) pics soon. I sold another item in my Etsy shop! The second New York magnet to sell so far. I will need to post more cities and countries soon. Glad to take requests too!

Bookish Etsy Treasury

2008-03-14T01:43:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! My Bookish Coasters were picked by a fellow etsy seller for their "Bookish" Treasury. They curated products that were made from books or handmade journals or that had to do with the love of words. I love the sculptures that were made from book pages, they twisted and sculpted the spine into lovely creations. This was my first treasury and wanted to thank smackofjellyfish for including me! Check her stuff out---it rocks! The grizzly bear card is fab.

sweet pea & hattie's hat

2008-03-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I dropped off my donation to the Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool for the Arts Auction. They are a cute little school up on Queen Anne. I participated in their yearly craft show last November. I donated a bracelet, two bird cards, and three magnets. The event is on March 22nd at the Mountaineers Club and should be lots of fun--i peeked at the list and there is some great loot!

The most amazing thing on the list (to me) is a private reading with local author phenom Sherman Alexie. I am a big fan. If you have a chance to see him live, do it, he is freakin hilarious. We have sold tons of his new book for young adults at my bookstore.

After that, Dave and I went to have lunch at Hattie's Hat in Ballard before I went to work. Here are some silly pics of us there. I love their murals and various other decorating "touches." Now I am off to cut up some books. (For coasters, of course)

little nose

2008-03-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

emmy resting on her chair.

first thursday artwalk

2008-03-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

rain couldn't stop us, oh no. the artists were out, people were out, even the dogs were out in droves. it was the first first thursday "art in the park" of the year. this is the start of my third year doing this event, it was my first craft show and in someways is still my favorite. it is held in pioneer square's occidental park. the daytime was kinda slow and cold, but the sales picked up when the gallery openings started at 6pm. thank god for the yummy mushroom soup from grand central bakery. city dog held an event that brought out lots of people with their dogs to look at art. such cute pups!

there is always an interesting balance of artists, people who work downtown, well to do art patrons, hipsters, and of course the people who live in the park. this makes for a very entertaining day for us art vendors. i love getting outside in the center of the city. the map magnets i make especially open up the lines for conversation. everyone can find their hometown, their home country, their dream city or vacation and are so so excited when they do! i enjoy learning from their stories about the world. i even met a delegate from my neighborhood that i recognized from our presidential caucus.

my parents stopped by for a quick visit and brought me a warm lunch. my friend and fellow artist, emily from emily is good, stopped by and we chatted about books and etsy and such. she is a great lady.

one of my favorite moments was when a girl and a guy decided to treat us with a modern dance performance in the middle of the park. they danced with and off of each other and whatever was around. there was even live music, guitars and citars. such fun!

2008-03-03T11:55:00.001-08:00

Hey folks. It was a bustling superfun day at the year's first I Heart Rummage craft show here in Seattle. We have moved locations from the grungy Croc to the sassy Chop Suey up on Capitol Hill. Tons of people showed us their support and overall it was a much more positive experience. I was in the side room that had wall to wall windows that let in natural light and was lovely. It was funny to watch people peek in the windows and wander in to see what the fuss was all about. It even attracted a few different people from the press, a woman from the Seattle PI was coming around taking pics of everyone's displays.

My friend Marla stopped by and hung out, and then my friend Tora came by to meet me for dinner. We went with Dave to have much needed margaritas and good food. Ahh. I was and am still pretty sleep deprived from gearing up for the event, but it was all worth it. Thank you to everyone who came out to the event.

sunshiney hike

2008-02-25T23:34:00.000-08:00

My friend Kayla and I went on a long awaited hike. Taking advantage of the sunshine, we took her dog Tova on a walk to the beach. It was exactly what I needed, to get out of the house and away from my sewing machine. :) We stopped by the thrift store on the way back and I found a couple pair of pants and a sweet shirt. Now gotta get back to making some bracelets for the show.

pitter painter cards

2008-02-25T22:46:00.001-08:00

pitter painter cards, originally uploaded by pitter painter.

I've been working on lots of cards for the shop Nancy here in Seattle. They are all waiting for their sewing turns. Some shown are my baby & kid's birthday, circles, stars and double bird cards. Also trying to build up my stock for the upcoming I Heart Rummage on March 2nd. Since the Croc closed, we will have our first show at Chop Suey up on Capitol Hill.
If the weather is good, I will also be showing at Pioneer Square's Art in the Park, which coincides with the First Thursday Art Walk. How exciting, the first shows of the year!

my etsy shop is now open!

2008-02-17T23:27:00.000-08:00

hi there. my etsy shop is now up and running! having fun learning about the whole system and meeting lots of cool people. such a lovely community. have had my first sale in the last week! i sold a new york map magnet to a film production designer in new york. it turned out to be a very interesting story, maybe it will show up in the movie. :)

glad the valentine rush is over. just finished a bookish coaster order for a new shop named OAK that is opening up soon in Boston. so exciting to have my products on the east coast. would love to go and visit her shop someday.

you can find my cards, coasters, magnets, pins and bracelets in my shop. will be updating again soon with new cards and coasters.