Art, Like Bread: shopping

Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts

Monday, October 8, 2012

Inspiration from @Anthropologie @AventuraMall

I was over in the mall checking out cell phone plans and wandered into Anthropologie.
It's not just a store. It's a museum. ;)

This backdrop is made of 70,00 paperclips. The sales associate told me that they contract two artists to do all of the original art displays in the store. I thought this one was pretty innovative. It reminded me of a cascading water wall.

@CraftyChica Design Team: #Crochet Fabulous Milagro Market Tote Tutorial

Welcome to Crafting by the Pool

with Cami from Artlikebread.com

It's so exciting! I applied for and was chosen to participate on the Crafty Chica Design Team! The purpose of this post is to show you how I used one of her cool, new, Dia de los Muertos-themed products in an original DIY project. Before we begin, take a look at this fun video where I show you all the materials I used!

And don't worry. In case you're viewing this on a mobile device or don't feel like watching the video, I'll do a play by play right here with still pictures.

HERE WE GO!

Interview with J. Musi, Artist and Designer at MusiBatty

Hey! Thank you for joining me today! I am overjoyed to present this interview with Jennifer Musi, the artist and designer for MusiBatty. If you saw my blogoversary post, hopefully you are already excited about her jewelry and the upcoming giveaway of the Mexican Bird pendant. There will be more on that later, but I wanted to give you a little background on the artist herself. Therefore, without further ado, I present Jennifer Musi of MusiBatty.

Model wearing four MusiBatty pieces. Used with permission.

Nationwide #Yarn Crawl Loopy Yarns, #Chicago, IL

I'm happy to kick off this yarn party with a booming yarn palace- Loopy Yarns of Chicago, IL!

Loopy Yarns is a store that makes an effort to welcome customers and make them feel at home. Located in Chicago's famous downtown "Loop", the store is beautiful, quaint, and inviting.

Loopy Yarns is located in a beautiful red brick building at historic Dearborn Station.

We're here!

After hearing about Loopy Yarns from my online activities (and knowing they host celebrity classes!), I was really excited about visiting this famous yarn store that has everything!

You know I immediately zeroed in on the crocheted samples. Check out this wire dress form!

Pretty! (And check out the little duck to the right. Hi, Duckie!)

I thought this was a neat technique- a felted bowl with synthetic fiber worked in. Great effect.

Mom found a project in the corner.

Every luxury fiber I've heard of was there. In all the pretty colors. Look at all those luscious colors!

Downstairs at Loopy Yarns

In addition to all of the beautiful yarn available upstairs, there is a spacious and comfortable space downstairs boasting a large sale section (yes!), a classroom, a spinning corner, and comfy chairs in which to sit, relax, crochet, knit, and spin. This is pretty close to paradise.

I wonder when Mom will take up spinning. It's so her. She's a textile addict.

I found this Linda Permann sample on a comfy chair downstairs.
I love it when I can identify designs!

So what was the damage?

All told, I did pretty well at Loopy Yarns. I often get overwhelmed in US yarn stores because there is so much to buy but I never have projects in mind, so... I just picked up these few little things.

Yes, those are Addis. And yes, they do rule!

I got a Barbara Walker stitching DVD for free! (Because I bought so much!)


And it all came in this fabulous tote bag, which was free (because I bought so much). They keep in touch, too! I joined the mailing list and I got a sweet birthday greeting and coupon that I can use when I go back. This post was part of the Nationwide Yarn Crawl with Cami on Art, Like Bread. I'm just doing it for fun!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Nationwide Yarn Crawl - #Yarn Store Review Series

Yes, folks, you read that correctly. I've scoured the United States to find you the most luscious, gorgeous, colorful, beautiful yarn, and bring it to you right here on Art, Like Bread.

Yaaaay!

(I know, right?)

Welllll, on this blog we believe in honesty, we believe in accuracy, and we believe in telling the whole truth. Soooo, I guess I should tell you that I really went to all these places for various other reasons, but while I was there, I made a specific point of going to the yarn stores, checking everything out, and taking lots of good pics for the purpose of blogging.

I just realized that I really have gone coast to coast, so you can look forward to the Nationwide Yarn Crawl series. You'll see reviews of local yarn stores, a big box store, a desert trading post, and a trade show booth from locations as diverse as Massachusetts, Chicagoland, Arizona, and Washington State.

Right-click and "save picture as" to download button.
Please link back to artlikebread.com & I'll add your review to the crawl!

If you want to add a review of your favorite yarn haunt, or somewhere exotic you've visited, please, by all means, grab a button, link back, and let me know! I'll link back on the blog. Here's a template for your blogging convenience. :) You don't have to go into all of this detail, but the template's here if you want it.

Nationwide Yarn Crawl Template

Where It Is: Web Address, Address, What's it like over there?

Type of Store: local yarn store (LYS), big box, or other

Standout Yarn: Your favorite brands, colors, etc. that can be found there

Classes/Events: What have they got going on? Did you take a class or attend an event? How was it?

Sit & Crochet? Do they have space in which to craft right in the store? Please describe.

Service: Are they helpful? Do they know about yarn & tools?

Tools: What kinds of hooks & needles have they got? What other cool gadgets have they got there?

Goodies: Do they have project bags, sticky notes, buttons, or other crafty notions?

Unique Features: What makes this store cool enough to blog about?

And, please, include pictures!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Expo Manualidades Y Merceria, Mexico City

Hey, y'all! I visited the Expo Manualidades Y Merceria in Mexico City. It is a semiannual event where all of the crafting giants come out to play. There is shopping, classes, and tons of inspiration. This time it was really special, because I went with 4 other yarn buddies!

The yarn buddies and I spend quite a while admiring this sample from Rebecca Pick.

Before I felt like I was always trying to get people to join a stitchy meetup but it never worked out. Somehow, by a miracle of timing, we've formed a core group of true yarnaholics who want to meet on a regular basis. :) Hooray!

The Expo was not a normal stitch meeting, yet it was a very special event for all of us.

I'm seeing more and more crochet + knit hybrids!

So, what did we see at the Expo? For starters, quite a bit of YARN! Of course we are yarn-minded, so we made a beeline directly to Rebecca Pick's booth. There was LOTS of inspiration there. I adore Rebecca Pick's booth because she always has a new idea. She always has sample upon inspiring sample to adore, and she herself is always there! She's such a nice woman and I love chatting with her. She was sweet enough to allow me to take pictures of her samples and share them with all of you. If you're interested, check out this video. There's lots of inspiration there.

My other favorite booth is Filati Estambres. They just have a huge booth, which is like a temporary store set up right in the Expo. It’s really well-designed. They have every color and type of yarn that Filati makes right there. It’s really the best Filati experience because when you go to their stores, they don’t always have all the colorways. They sell myriad tools and instructional DVDs. They also employ teachers who can teach you a new technique for free with purchase of yarn and tools.