Value-Ables May 2nd 2008

A big thanks to everyone that showed up last night! I had an amazing time designing, putting together the show, and celebrating with everyone. One show down, Pratt show next!

For those of you who were not able to attend the event here are some photos and you can catch me at the Pratt Show May 6th - 7th at the Hammerstein Ballroom.



Stuffed was inspired by my growing bag collection underneath my sink. I strive to find simple eloquent solutions for everyday issues.







Busy week ahead filled with Pratt Show prep, the actual show, a tabletop critique, an interview (!!), family coming, and to top it off graduation! After it is Brooklyn Designs, a few days of rest, ICFF, Surtex and the Stationary show, and I plan on hitting all of them! (big thanks to former classmate and Pratt Alum Liz over at Design Glut for hooking me up with a pass) Monday I am taking a well deserved break with the family to the Bahamas on a four day cruise. Come back prep for Renegade and make products like crazy! Whew!

I am a total sucker for packaging and have been known to buy certain things just because of that. A good example of this is the amount of Matilde milk that I consumed while I was in Denmark this summer. How could you say no to this face?



Anyways, I am loving the graphics on Pop Ink's soap. They also have a line of witty dinnerware with names such as Naked Lunch and Cannibal Kingdom.

A few of the finished pillows

My work will be featured in "VALUE-ables", an off-campus Product Design show by graduating seniors of Pratt Institute's Industrial Design Studio 402A-03. The show will take place May 2nd from 6 - 11 pm. Follow the link below for further information and a directional map link.

http://www.value-ables.com/

Every time the site is "re-freshed" it loads a different photo related to a specific value considered for each student's product. Refresh until you see the bright red lettering, which is a clue to what I will be showing. If you have been reading my blog you may have picked up some others hints, but will have to come to the show to see how they all fit together!

I love when the most random things happen

So I got an email from someone at Wikipedia asking if they could use one of my photos of when I saw Bob Dorough play in a coffee shop in Pennsylvania a few summers ago. FYI, he is the guy who wrote and sings the School House Rock songs. Of course I said yes and it is up with me credited underneith. You can check it out here

XS-M-L

I saw this ring , 'Knopfring' (button ring) from XS-M-L over at Bloesem and just had to reblog it. Xs-M-L is made up of Diana van Golden, Charlotte Vonkeman and Marije Cnossen all Dutch designers and I am in LOVE it and all of their products!

Odds and ends

The countdown to graduation/Pratt show/studio show has begun and things have gotten a little bit crazy so over the weekend I did a bit of spring cleaning to calm my nerves. Cleaning and organizing has an oddly soothing effect on me and clears my mind. While I was at it I snapped some photos of my current projects and some of my flea market finds from Alabama that I haven't shown yet.




I found these at the Collinsville, Alabama flea market all 4 for $1! I've been using them ever since it has gotten a little warmer since they seem like such summery glasses to me.



All of my plates have been breaking and chipping on me, I don't like them very much anyways so I was excited to replace some of them with these, I got 2 for 50 cents!



I have been churning out pillow prototypes. The three on the left are the best of the bunch so far, the two on the right are the usual throw pillows.

Renegade Craft Fair

Excellent news! My friend Michelle and I applied for a booth together at the Renegade Craft Fair in June and we were chosen to be a vendor! I will be selling my handmade housewares and Michelle will be selling her handmade soaps. The fair will be June 14th and 15th at McCarren Park. Mark your calendars!

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery

I still haven't made it over to The Museum of Art and Design to see Pricked: Extreme Embroidery but it is closing April 27th so I need to go soon, anyone want to come with me? The above piece is by Orly Cogan who uses vintage fabric for her work

Brooklyn Flea

I will be heading over to the Brooklyn Flea tomorrow morning before I head out into the city. I've been looking forward to this for the obvious reasons butalso because it means that summer is right around the corner!

Bundt Pans!

I have had this photo saved on my hard drive in my inspiration folder and had no idea where it had come from. The other day while browsing through flickr I found who this lovely kitchen belongs to, Abbey over at Aesthetic Outburst Check out the rest of her photos and home here

Pacha in BARC Blog

Pacha makes special guest appearance in BARC's Blog

Wool Felt Applique Pillow

Mock up of pillow, first in the series

Experiments with Acid Dye + Wool

Today I dyed a piece of felted wool that I had bought for my pillow prototype. I have worked with fiber reactive dyes before but never with acid dyes. It was fairly easy, just boiling water and some vinegar. All I have to do now is get my hands on a steamer, any leads anyone? I made thickne which is sitting in the fridge, thickening as I type and tomorrow I am going to try my hand at printing with acid dye.

Sweet Home Alabama

I am back from my road trip to Alabama and Tennessee. This was just what I needed! I drove down with Aimee her two cats (Pepper and Carmine) and Dog (Bixie) to Albertsville, Al where Aimee grew up and owns a house. We spent out time shopping, eats grits, biscuits, BBQ pulled pork, and sweet tea, and hanging out by the lake. Here are a few photos from the trip, all of them can be seen here

Vacation!

I am taking a little trip down to Alabama and Tennessee with Aimee. We will be staying at her house in Alabama. Hoping to get lots of relaxation time in! Over the weekend I'll be visiting my sister in Knoxville. I have never really been to the south besides Florida so I am excited for a change of scenery and pace for a few days. Be back in Brooklyn late sunday night!

Almost Ready to Print

I have almost everything to begin silk screening. I tried silk screening with the jaquard textile paint today and wasn't quite satisfied with the results. I was going to try to mix a batch of the procion dye but realized that I was missing one thing, not to mention that I should probably go out and buy a scale. Even though I have a studio space in the ID building it is nowhere near adequate for silkscreening fabric AT ALL and it set up for well industrial design related projects of course. I have access to the silkscreening facilities but they too are not nearly large enough to do repeats. Right now I am really missing those wonderful fabric printing tables in Copenhagen. If I had my own studio I would be building my own printing table asap!

Jillian Ditner

I have a soft spot for libraries since my mother was a children's librarian and these prints by Jillian Ditner are just lovely. If I had some money lying around I would buy all three in a heart beat!

Let the job search begin!

I started sending out my resume for full time jobs about a week ago, which is exciting but nervewracking all at the same time. I had an interview on Thursday for an entry level textile position at a company in midtown. It was honestly the fastest interview I have ever had in my life, I sat down and felt like I was putting my jacket on 5 minutes later. I am not expecting a call back from them, but I went straight from the interview to an get some amazing Korean food in Koreatown a treat for myself which made up for it.
I had another interview this morning at another home furnishing company in midtown in the same building but one floor down. It was for a temporary internship/assistant position to the tableware designer. This one went much smoother thankfully! I should be hearing back at the end of the week if I got it or not. Even if I don't get it or any of the jobs that I have been applying for it is putting my mind at ease that I have my resume floating around and I feel like I am one step ahead, which is all that counts for the time being right? May can't come soon enough, or can it?

Screen printing!

I have been itching to do some printing ever since I got back from Denmark in August and I think that the time has finally arrived!! I am working on various patterns that I am going to be using for pillows that I am working on in my studio. I have been doing the research to prepare and it is very daunting! Space is an issue here in Brooklyn, as is the fact that I don't have access to the wonderful kitchen that I had in denmark full of huge sinks, oversized boilers, a steamer and an ironing machine! I have ideas for printing large quantities of fabric and turning them into lovely pillows but I am not so sure if my ideas are a bit too lofty at the moment since Pratt doesn't quite have the facilities to print 10 feet of fabric. I think that I am going to start small, but I am still excited to get printing none the less!

Wis Design

I am completely in love with these tables! <3 <3 <3

Wis Design via Core77

Baltic Bazaar Trip

I finally made it over to Baltic Bazaar on Atlantic on Saturday while my friend Holly was visiting. I picked up some wonderful jacquard fabric which will be turned into pillows. I have a bunch of it so I am hoping to sell some on etsy! I am also looking into selling at the Brooklyn Flea, so be on the lookout!

I swear I am not an oompa loompa, the lighting was crazy in my kitchen!

Dress- Thrifted yesterday for $7 at the salvation army on atlantic, it is originally from forever 21
grey shirt- thrifted a long time ago in NH
sweater- thrifted at salvation army near my apartment 2 years ago
leggings- thrifted @ my local salvation army for 99 cents! weee
boots- old navy $6

Seacoast NH Heartwalk 2008 Walking in memory of Cheryl Lewis

My sister Kristen will be walking in the 2008 Seacoast NH Heartwalk on May 18th in memory of our mother, Cheryl Lewis, who died in December of 2006 from a rare heart disease called ARVD. Unfortunately I will not be able to walk, but will be there in spirit. This year our team is called "Thump Thump" and our goal is to get as many people to walk with the team or donate. Our team goal is to raise $1,000. The goal for the whole Seacoast heart walk is to raise $88,000.

If you would like to go to our team page it can be found at:

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/seacoastnh/thumpthump

My personal page, where you can donate is located at:

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/seacoastnh/KimberlyLewis

*Copy and Paste above addresses for some reason when I link them they direct you to a general page*


Currently in my studio I am in the process of designing a necklace to promote the awareness of heart disease in memory of my mother and all of those who have lost a loved one. I am also working on a set of plush cushions in the shape of organs. My first one being the heart. I will be posting my progress as soon as I get something a bit more tangible. I am hoping to sell them and donate a portion of the money made to the American Heart Association.

Happy Valentine's Day <3 Kimberly!

I had a hard time deciding which one to post so you will have to take a look at all of these wonderful cheeky, suggestive vintage valentines over at 7 Deadly Sinners

Polly Apfelbaum Lecture Tomorrow

I will be attending the Polly Apfelbaum lecture tomorrow at Pratt! It is free and open to the public! Here is some more information from the Pratt website.



Visual artist Polly Apfelbaum will speak at Pratt Institute about her artwork and career, as part of the 2007-2008 Visiting Artists Lecture Series, from 12:45 to 1:45 PM, Tuesday, February 12, in the Engineering Building, Room 371, on Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Apfelbaum creates floor and wall art using bright color and expressive line and shape. She works with a variety of media including dye, velvet, paint, glitter, marker, woodblock print, and silkscreen, and fashions the material into vibrant floral and nature-inspired imagery.

Apfelbaum has had solo international exhibitions at such galleries as Frith Street, London; Galeria Camargo Vilaça, São Paolo, Brazil; Museum of Contemporary Art, Klasma, Helsinki; and at various contemporary art galleries throughout the United States. Her work has been featured in numerous international group exhibitions and belongs in the public collections of The Brooklyn Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.

Apfelbaum received her bachelors of fine arts degree from Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and has since received grants and awards from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and Artists Space.

The Not Too-Too Beret

I really want to try knitting hats again, my last couple were a complete disaster but I'm thinking that maybe I could handle this one? I found the pattern via Craftzine

Sneak Peak into my Apartment

I am working on my portfolio today and snapped a few photos of the textile I designed hanging on a curtain rod in my room. Pacha coudn't resist jumping in the frame!



Here is a peak into a corner of my room. Notice the sewing table that I fixed up, but try to ignore the bags of cat food, I obviously don't live in a magazine!



I got the various bottles below from when I helped Aimee clean out a brownstone, I loove them! The angel ornament I got in Finland, and the purse is thrifted.

Peruvian Inspired Tableware

I am finishing up some studio work that has been hanging over my head for a while. I am in the process of designing tableware inspired by the cuisine and culture of Peru. I visited Lima, Peru last March during my spring break with a group of students from Pratt and volunteered in Villa El Salvador through a program called Cross Cultural Solutions.

The napkin ring below is inspired by a tapestry that I saw in the Museum of Natural history. It consisted of a repeat of intricate birds, I took the pattern and simplified it to come up with the shape below. The colors are inspired by the colorful tapestries that Peru is known for.



Both the coaster and napkin ring are made out of recycled leather. I did not design the placemat, although I did pick up a set of four when I was visiting Lima and I think that they compliment them very nicely! I am currently working on the designs for a glass for the Pisco Sour, a plate, and a fork. I will be silk screening a design onto the napkin this weekend also. So stay tuned!

Koi Suwannagate again!

I know I just did a post on Koi Suwannagate summer collection a few days ago, but I just stumbled upon photos from her fall collection that was debuted at NY Fashion week and I am on a KS kick

Published!

Last Monday I when I went to Miss Saturn's Birthday at Galapago's I had my camera in hand and snapped away all night long. I had posted my set on Flickr and Aimee took a couple and put them in a press packet for her and Jenny's show. She gave me a call yesterday to inform me that one of my photos (photo above) is going to be published in a NY newspaper! I've never had a photo published before, or well anything really so this is quite exciting for me! Click here to see the rest of the set.

Carolina Herrera Ready to Wear @ Fashion Week

I should be sleeping, but instead I have been perusing through the pages of Style.com to see what hit the runways today. I'm really loving Carolina Herrara's Ready to Wear collection. Nice pops of color, feathers, vests over dresses, and this collection is even making me lust over ochre velvet jeans, what?! Did I say that? Here are a few of my personal favorite picks from the collection.