thank you!

thank you so much for all your comments on my last post. Each of you has taken time to write down her/his opinion and experiences. I´m very grateful, as it gave me the chance to think about this topic from different angles.

My first impuls was to limit my uploads of my pictures on flickr and blog etc.
But I love these tools. Besides finding new customers, they also allow us to get in contact with so many wonderful, creative souls like you, being inspired and sharing also our experiences. Thank you for reading this blog, being interested in what a blue sheep and a blond girl come up with and for commenting, motivating and giving us a glimpse of your "worlds".

Tomorrow, 2 shows are opening:

this is an newspaper article of the Toy show in Troy/ NY We are very excited about it and hope that our vikings will find new homes(ARTICLE FROM TROY NEWSPAPER)

Second: Talk more soon!
Yours, F! & S.

open letter

the Internet is a great arena for artists, crafters, designers and all kinds of creative people showing and sharing their wonderful creations with the world and finding their customers from around the globe. It´s also a wonderful source for finding inspiration. I really love to watch the works and work spaces of others and feeling being part of a hughe creative movement, embracing the world and trying to be an antipol to the mass produced and mass marketed. One can see an explosively rise of an indie craft scene. Many creatives found not only the chance to do what they really love, but also a way of making a tiny business out of it. I think this is an amazing development.

I started using textiles about three years ago, after I found the wonderful designs of artists like Rosa Pomar on the web. Being a painter at this stage of my artist way, I felt so inspired and I wanted to make tactile 3 dimensional art. My first creations came out a bit odd as I had nearly no experience in sewing (only had sewn a so called babydoll (nightshirt) at the age of about 9 in school which I never finished as I hated to work with the sewing machine and also hated that ten of the 15 girls had bought the same fabric like me, with a Sarah Kay dolls print for their first sewing project. So this was the tentative end of my sewing career, which should last for the next 27 years)

An old lady was living next to my door who was a seamstress, so I asked her what was wrong with my creations and she showed me that I had to clip curved seems, to make them smooth when turned right side out and stuffed. I made many drawings of possible creatures, that I wanted to transform into sewing projects.

It was all about drawing, designing and learning by doing. It took a while until I had found my own, personal style. Dolls with a simple shape, sleepy eyes and thick thumbs.
I can honestly say that I love my creatures every single one and there is nearly none of them after being finished that was not sitting with me in front of the TV, or even sitting in front of my bed so that I could look at it a while before falling into sleep (ask my husband). We are having a real deep relationship, my dolls and I :-)
In the last 2 weeks I got 2 emails from people telling me that they have seen my designs being used by others and SOLD. One email told me about a person selling on a German marketplace for handmade goods (that I also use to show my works) and one in a shop in Barcelona. (Please note: I´m not talking of these people who have bought the Softies book, where I have published the pattern of my guardian angel for PRIVATE use.)

Like I´ve said in the beginning of this post, the internet is a fantastic source for inspiration and I don´t want to miss it. But I think it makes a difference being inspired or to imitate.

I´m not the only one being copied, I know as I´ve read from other designers as well that they were imitated and other people and companies made profit out of their works. Do these people really identify with the piece of work, does it give satisfaction themselves? I don´t think so. There are unlimited ways for example to sew an angel and I really appreciate looking at variations of angels. It is the variety and the uniqueness that comes along with the handmade movement and that makes the world richer. I really don´t like to look at copies of my designs.

from angels and signs

I´m telling you a secret. Did you know that it exists??? You wonder what?
I´m speaking of an angel manufactory!
It is located in a tiny studio, best hidden on the country side. As long as this studio exists, it´s for sure that angels never will be expelled from this planet. Isn´t that comfortable to know? I thought it would be nice to have a handpainted wooden sign that I could hang above my fair booth next week, but now I´m in doubt. Shouldn´t I better make a trip to the copyshop? Otherwise I liked the idea to have a handmade sign....What do you think? oh I so adore Kiki Smith

shadows

last weekend on my studio wall...

handmade gifts and x-mas

"There is a life to the objects made by hand, that a man made object could not possibly reproduce" Keri Smith

"toy making came as a reaction to mass production - in a world where everything is mass made, mass marketed and consumed, the attraction of the unique and hand made is compelling, especially for the artists but also for shops and consumers" Penny Craswell

with this in mind, happy x-mas shopping!

for the holiday season we have updated our site of handmade, original art toys. Please take a look by clicking on the picture. You will find a few new items, such as our trees and little wolfs, which we are making by order and furthermore 2 little vikings from the new series. We are also giving a discount from today until December 24th, please check out the new prices. Thank you!
yours Friederike!

about mathematics, cookies and a children´s book...

a lesson in mathematics:

small rectangle + large rectangle + triangle =

Soon it´s baking "Weihnachtsplaetzchen" / cookies time again. These cute cookies are little masterpieces of edable art.

If I had children the edible art box would be on my shopping list. The cookie cutters in the package are based on art by American Folk artists.... a good inspiration for this years Weihnachtsplaetzchen (cookies) baking. Why not trying a more creative, crazy, unconventional way of decorating style? We´ll see...

Talking of children... besides cookies, children need books! Here comes a hot book tipp for my German readers, therefore I´m continuing writing in German:

hier kommt ein heisser Buchtipp von Eurem blauen Lieblingsschaf, fuer alle meine lieben Leser, die selbst kleine Leseratten zuhause haben, oder ebensolche kennen, denen Sie ab und an gerne eine Freude machen:

das 2. Kinderbuch "Emmy und die Grabraeuber", ein spannender Abentteuerroman ab 9 Jahre, meiner liebsten Freundin Cornelia Rose wird in Kuerze erscheinen. Das Buch kann zum Vorverkaufspreis von 12,60 EUR bestellt werden. Naehere Informationen, sowie eine Leseprobe gibt es HIER

sun&wind&rain&sun&wind&rain&sun&wind&

Today I needed a break from sewing and instead was looking for some inspiration. So we decided to visit the picture book museum Burg Wissem in Troisdorf , who offers a broad collection of picturebook illustrations, old and modern picture books and artist books. The nice thing is that one can spend there hours and hours, grabbing one book after the other. I found a lot of picture books I had as a child. It was really nice and now I know where to go when I´m facing my next creating blockade :)

So now you know where to go if you need some inspiration too or just take a look at a blog about modern bohemian modern style written by a sweet San Francisco girl, where you will also find a short interview with me.

sometimes

but not today ...

* * *

first snow today...

just another pic

with eyes wide open

my life in the last days would have made a good example of Murphys law. But who wants to hear my complains?
Playing with fabrics led me to a new version of vikings that I´d like to share with you... It´s been interesting to see, how changing litttle details can have a significant effect and give a new meaning to a doll.
I´m sending some of these new vikings to this show don´t miss this:
art with polymer clay by Meredith Dittmar
and felted objects by Blyth