equatorial

Daniel Jones, hand on the equator. 100th post!

this project on fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

Makino Yellow Kanji 56cm

Color/Yellow with rainbow flake
Headset/Hatta Swan Super Deluxe
BB/Hatta R9400
Seat tube/56cm c-t
Top tube/55.5cm c-c
Rear/110mm
Seatpost diameter/27.2cm
Standover/81cm
Model Year/2006
Condition/This NJS Keirin track frame still looks good but has some small chipped paint spots and a minor dent on the left side of the top tube.
Price/790USD

Featured on {KID} independent

Today I found a nice surprise in my Etsy convo inbox! Click the picture to read the lovely feature. I love how she displayed my creatures in the ric rac circles, and if you leave a comment on her blog a really cute cartoon face will pop up right next to your message. Mine had ginger hair, loved it. Try it!

earth and wing

This film project has a page on facebook now...if you dig what you see here, please check out:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hangs-Upon-Nothing-a-16mm-surf-film/246361802068338

thanks!

Remembering Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai | Here & Now

I had the great honor of seeing this courageous woman, Wangari Maathia, in person about five years ago. I can't recall the details of what she said that day but I definitely remember being impressed by her gracefulness, her humbleness, and the sense that she somehow seemed bigger than the room that housed her. The official cause of her death was cancer but I have to wonder if the beatings and death threats somehow contributed to her illness. Dr. Wangari was a fierce envoy of Mother Earth, she defied the brutal fists of patriarchy, and she was a consistent critic of corruption (on this last point I think she was too dismissive of neo-colonialism and how the west undermines African self-reliance). We wish Wangari Maathai a peaceful Homegoing to the Ancestral Realm. Axé!

You can listen to her discussing her memoir Unbowed on the show Here & Now. 

Image source: daylife

Also dig:

• Is Africa poor?
• Genetically modified Ghana
• Yaw Nyarko on “Portfolios of the Poor”

Makino Blue/White Fade Kanji

Color/Blue/White Fade
Headset/Shimano HP-7410
BB/Hatta R9400
Seat tube/55.5cm c-t
Top tube/56cm c-c
Rear/120mm
Seatpost diameter/27.2cm
Standover/80.5cm
Model Year/2002
Condition/This NJS Keirin track frame has some small chipped paint spots with surface rust but is otherwise in good used condition overall.
Price/790USD

Rap Black Columbus

Color/Black
Headset/Hatta Swan Super Deluxe
BB/Hatta R9400
Seat tube/54.5cm c-t
Top tube/55cm c-c
Rear/120mm
Seatpost diameter/27.2cm
Standover/79.5cm
Model Year/2003
Condition/This NJS frame has some small chipped paint spots but is otherwise in good used condition overall.
Price/890usd

Vogue Black With SIlver Flake

Color/Black with silver flake
Headset/Hatta Swan Super Deluxe
BB/Hatta R9400
Seat tube/55.5cm c-t
Top tube/56.5cm c-c
Rear/120mm
Seatpost diameter/27.0cm
Standover/82.5cm
Model Year/2001
Condition/This NJS Keirin track frame has a few chipped paint spots but is otherwise in great condition overall.
Price/1280usd

The machine bears

All the new bears are looking proud and happy in the shop now, they're waiting for new friends to adopt them. And here they all are one more time in yet another collage! I really enjoy making these collages, I'm probably going to keep doing it... no one can stop me now!

Newly designed bears

Before making something new I always start with sketching ideas and coming up with a design that pleases me. The huge bear the other was made from this design but without a pattern, I just kind of shaped the bear while feeding the felt through the machine and shaped the bear. I decided that it was way too large and that I really needed to make pattern to get the desired shape. So I made a cardboard pattern, cut out a lot of felt shapes and soon there were nine new bears!

Someday soon, I'm going to make a cardboard pattern for the monkey I drew next to the bear and give that a try too!

Spooky Halloween creatures

So the ghosts are all stuffed, sewn, photographed and put into the shop and I just wanted to share this jazzy collage with you!

Boo

I have been glued to my sewing machine for a while now, I just can't get enough of it. Here's a peek of what I've been working on for Halloween:

Ghosts, screaming because they're trying to spook you, or yawning because they've been up all night haunting people!

Whatever they're doing I love them because they're so colorful, quirky and sewing them on the machine was so much quicker than could ever be done by hand. This means I can sell them a lot cheaper too! Yes, yes, I'm liking the machine, and I'm doing a little happy dance!

Machine practice

So I've been practicing on my sewing machine, a lot! And I'm pleased to report that it works swimmingly! I found some tutorials online, to try out, and I've already made several drawstring bags, of which this one is my favorite. Oh, and it's even lined on the inside!

But what I really want to make on my machine are little felt creatures. So I found another tutorial for a tiny Japanese owl, which I tried and really liked. But it still had me sewing by hand too much and it was made of regular fabric instead of felt. So then I tried something of my own improvised design: a huge felt bear, which is kind of a mash-up between my old hand sewn bear and reindeer.

I like the things I've been able to sew with my machine so far, and I'm pleased with the control the machine gives me over the stitching. These were just practice runs and now it's time to draw some new patterns, because the old ones aren't really suitable for machine sewing, and start creating new creatures... en masse!