As I mentioned in my last post, I’m still in the post-vacation bliss of a long weekend spent in South Carolina. Among my favorite sights on any drive through the Lowcountry are the roadside stands of sweetgrass basket weavers. These skilled craftspeople are carrying on an important part of the Gullah tradition—a weaving style their ancestors have handed down from generation to generation as part of their proud African heritage. It’s hard to find a craft more inspiring, more energizing, than one that has traveled across the Atlantic and persevered for hundreds of years. And with the sweetgrass itself becoming more and more scarce as the Lowcountry is developed, so may this tradition become even more rare as time goes by. It’s a craft worth learning about, worth celebrating and, if you’re lucky, worth owning a handmade piece of.
For more information about the history of sweetgrass basket weaving, click here. To visit just one of many online markets of baskets made near Charleston, South Carolina, (including the one shown above) click here.
With summer vacations filling our calendars in the coming months, we'd love to know: What are some favorite arts and crafts you've encountered in your travels, whether they're regional traditions, like the sweetgrass baskets, or just plain crafty destinations, like this one? Leave a comment and let us know!
Over the long weekend, I was lucky enough (despite the unlucky gas prices) to take a road trip with my husband to our favorite barrier island off the coast of South Carolina, where we logged some quality time with some old friends: the beach and a shady grove of palm trees. Of course, the journey itself is half the fun. So as we were driving through the Lowcountry early Friday—taking in the views of the marsh and the antebellum homes—it was with great interest that I observed a humble roadside trailer with a curious assortment of things in the yard and a hand-painted sign that said simply: “The Artist Is In.”
I wondered: What does that mean? Does it mean to say that you could simply pull in the driveway and knock on the door and chat with the artist, perhaps watch him or her in action? Is that sign there all the time because an artist lives there and wants the world to know, or maybe got the sign as a gift from a well-meaning family member and didn’t have the heart not to put it on display? Or is it really there to indicate some sort of business hours? The home certainly didn’t look like a professional studio of any kind, and the sign looked more like something that had been painted in a hurry. But perhaps it did house an unlikely establishment of sorts, the title of which was simply “The Artist Is In.”
Again on Memorial Day we drove past, and again the sign beckoned: “The Artist Is In.” Even on a holiday, I thought to myself with a smile.
So now I’m wondering: What does your home, studio or creative space look like when The Artist Is In? If someone were to peek inside, what would she see? What are your rituals while you work? We'd love for you to post a comment below and share a peek inside your creative world with us—we promise only to watch quietly while you work.
If you’re ready to join the buy-handmade crowd, but not sure where to start, try The Sampler. These collections—a sampling, if you will—of indie artists’ goods include jewelry, stationery, plushies, soaps and more.
The site includes many packages from which to choose—classic, sampler select, city sampler—which make it easy to try one. I started with city sampler featuring artists from Columbus.
My favorite is Adam Brouillette’s homage
to the Village People with his Little Red Men O-H-I-O postcard shown
above.
Here’s The Sampler’s official description: Each month, independent crafters, artists, shops, zines and record labels who run web-based businesses send samples and promotional materials to a contribution pool. All the samples are photographed, posted to the site and then are portioned out, put in little packages and sent off to Sampler Subscribers, other Sampler Contributors and members of the Media all over the world!
Check out the galleries to see what indie artists are up to theses days. Or, maybe you can become a contributing artist and get a little notice for your work.
This is a quick and easy blog post. What boosts your creativity? Is it a walk in the park, a book, magazine or tv show? Is it a specific album on your iPod or perhaps a gallery in an online site? We would love to hear how you burst out of any creative blocks and get those juices flowing again.
All posters to this blog will be entered for a chance to win a copy of their favorite craft book from the MyCraftivityShop. We'll draw a winner next week!
Good luck and can't wait to hear your suggestions.
Last night we bought the Wii Fit and let me tell you - it's pretty darn cool! So, I was sitting here this morning thinking about the Wii and how just incredibly amazing it is and I thought - what if they had "Wii Craft"? It could encompass all sorts of crafts - I mean, it would be depressing to knit something and not have the physical product, but what if you could somehow design patterns and see how they would look. Pick stitches, put things together and then have a usable pattern that you could really knit?
Or, in the case of digital scrapbooking, that would be easy. There is a memory card on the system and the "game" could come with templates for beginners. You can run you photos through the Wii as well, so it makes sense to me. Use the controler to "drag and drop".
Quilting patterns could be built the same way. They give you a selection of shapes or you design your own, and then you can put a quilt pattern together. I could also see the game coming with a ton of ideas that are more interactive so that you could do crafts with kids and all sorts of other things.
