Christmas in New York!

I have some exciting news to announce today: this Christmas, I will be creating the ornaments for the Lincoln Square Christmas tree in New York! It will be a collaboration with Folk Arts Rajasthan, an organization run by my dear friend, and together we will be decorating the entire enormous tree.

This is such a huge project and I'm so excited to be working on it. If you are in New York, the tree lighting is in Dante Park in Lincoln Square on November 28th, so come by and say hello!

I have around 350 ornaments to paint, print and varnish in the next three weeks, so even though it isn't even Halloween yet, I am in full Christmas production mode.

The ornaments are wooden, and each one is block printed with a design (some that you've seen before, some that will be new), and varnished to stand up to the elements all winter. I am making two sizes: one the size of a dinner plate that will be on the actual Lincoln Square tree, and a smaller 4" version that will be sold through in my shop as well as through the American Folk Art Museum shop. 10% of all the profits from this project will go to Folk Arts Rajasthan to support their programs in Jaisalmer, India. You can read more about the work they do on their website.

This is what the floor of my apartment will look like for the next few weeks, it turns out that painting 350 ornaments takes up a lot of space. A huge thank you to my amazing intern Kelly for doing this coat of paint!

I am so excited to be able to share this news with you today! I have already been working on this project all summer, and it is finally getting close enough to share. So save the date and come to the Christmas tree lighting on November 28th!

Tree photo via here

New Press

My prints have been getting a lot of great press in the last few weeks, so I wanted to share a few links from around the web. You can also take a look at my Press Page to see more!

My blue and white card was featured in Stationery Trends Magazine this month!

An interview with Here in this House on creative pursuits outside the business, as well as upcoming plans.

An interview with Rena Tom on preparing for the National Stationery Show, which you can read right here.

I also updated the "Upcoming Shows" section of the website, including my confirmed spot at the 2012 National Stationery Show!

Have a great weekend, I'll be finishing up a few orders and custom projects (which I will share in the next few weeks) and then spending some time outside to enjoy the fall weather!

Mural

Last year, I painted a mural on my friend Rachel's wall. This week she is leaving DC to do her own textile research (we'll be meeting her in Asia in the spring) and is saying goodbye to the mural too, so I thought I would post some pictures here.

She was incredibly trusting and let me paint it free hand, and after doing a little sketch on paper I came up with it as I went. I used the same "safari green" she had on the other walls, and a dark red as a highlight. Her bed used to cover the bottom few inches of the mural, so where it now looks cut off, it used to look like a headboard.

I heard a rumor that the new owner likes it though, so it won't be painted over just yet.

Weekend Update with Katharine Watson

Get it? SNL joke.

This is going to be one busy weekend: Saturday is the last Ballston Arts & Crafts Market of the year, and the weather right now says it will be sunny and 75 degrees, which is basically the most perfect weather there is. I'm glad because I don't think I could sit out in the rain again this weekend, after spending the majority of this week wrapped up on the couch recovering from Crafty Bastards.

I'll be there all day Saturday, so stop by from 10 am to 4 pm to take a look.

Then on Sunday I will be doing another trunk show at Nana in Mt. Pleasant! The last one was really fun, it is much more relaxed than doing a craft show because it is just me, a table of stuff and an all-day demonstration. Last time I was doing a printing demo, but this time I will be carving blocks so stop by Nana on Sunday if you want to learn how it's done!

They also just released a new line of clothing, so there is plenty to see at Nana on Sunday. See you there!

New Ceramics

Ceramics class is sadly over, but I'm really happy with what came out of it. I came a long way from the too-embarrassing-to-post pots I made the first week. I still can't really throw anything that isn't slightly uneven, but a good glaze will hide anything.

This is the only piece that came out without a single lump or uneven side, because I had a little help from the instructor. Looks pretty good!

The pots with holes are hanging planters: I'm going to tie some string through the holes and add a spider plant that has been looking for a home.

This one is one of my favorites; I used woodblocks from India to print into the clay. I made a whole series of them, but the other ones went missing in the kiln, so this is the only one I was able to keep. I've been eating lunch off of it every day.

A little succulent planter.

So that was it! I really loved taking a class and trying something new, and now I have a new set of homemade dishes in my kitchen. I'll definitely be taking another ceramics class in the future, it was so worth it.

The Itinerary

Plans are coming along for 'Asia 2012,' which is only three months away (I can't believe it). I've been busy contacting artists and nonprofits and making plans and reservations, and the trip is finally starting to take shape. Today I wanted to share the tentative itinerary with you.

I wanted to keep the itinerary somewhat open, to allow for plan changes once we get there. I am anticipating a lot of unexpected things to come up, as they always do when you travel, so I wanted to leave enough flexibility to add new places or take things away.

So far, the itinerary is:

Hong Kong: 4 days

Phuket, Thailand: 7 days

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: 3 days

Kampot, Cambodia: 2 days

Kep, Cambodia: 2 days

Battambang, Cambodia: 2 days

Siem Reap, Cambodia: 5 days

Bangkok, Thailand: 1 day

Delhi, India: 4 days

Varanasi, India: 3 days

Khajuraho, India: 2 days

Agra, India: 2 days

Jaipur, India: 13 days

Jaisalmer, India: 4 days

Udaipur, India: 3 days

Ahmedabad, India: 3 days

Bhuj, India: 18 days

Mumbai, India: 5 days

Ajanta, India: 3 days

Kerala, India: 4 days

Hong Kong: 5 days

And that adds up to just over three months. We will be doing several long stays with short trips in between. There is a lot to fit in to three months, and I'm sure the itinerary will change once we get there as I start getting leads to different places. For now, most of my research will be centered in Jaipur and Bhuj, and then I have a few short two to three day projects lined up in some of the other cities.

If you have any suggestions of things to see in any of those places, let me know! I would love to add more in, or hear about things that are off the beaten path. Did you have any great experiences in any of those places?

All photos by me, from previous trips to India, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Cold, but a Success!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Crafty Bastards on Saturday! The weather was awful, rainy and definitely the coldest day of the year so far, but I was so surprised and excited to see the crowds that came out despite the weather. I think Joe and I went through about ten cups of coffee/tea/hot chocolate, just to keep our hands warm, but the booth was so busy I barely had time to focus on shivering.

It was great to meet so many blog readers at the show! Thanks to everyone who came by to say hi, it's so nice to meet people in person and not just through the internet.

My favorite part of the day was the sale bin: I had a few items that have been sitting around for the last few months that were either slightly damaged (prints with big mistakes just go in the trash) or hadn't sold, so I decided to put them on sale. That, and dropping a handful of pieces into a puddle as we were loading in meant that I had a nice little box full of "factory seconds." Instead of pricing them, I put a "Name Your Price" sign on the box and people could offer any amount they felt was reasonable. Nobody touched the box for the first few hours, and people said they were afraid to make an offer, but eventually people got into it and it was really fun to have people buy something for what they thought it was worth. The entire box was sold by the early afternoon, and for pretty similar prices to what I would have labeled anyway!

From reading the vendor list, I know there were a ton of great vendors at the show, but I barely had time to see anyone (I didn't leave the booth except to run for more hot drinks).

Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper rounded up a few of her favorites from the day here, and it looks like there was some amazing stuff (and I'm so happy to be on there too!)

Another article to read: I did an interview with NBC Washington last week (!) about participating in Crafty Bastards, and it's online now right here.

Today I am cuddled up on the couch with more hot drinks, a blanket and a Netflix queue, trying to get rid of the cold I got from standing outside all day Saturday. It's a good excuse to catch up on some reality TV, though.

Also, it's not too late to vote for your favorite vendor from the show (even if you weren't there!), just click the icon below to cast your vote. You have until Saturday, October 8th to vote.

Thanks again to everyone who made the day a huge success and came out despite the weather, I had an amazing time!