Building a Collection: Papernstitch



I don’t know what you talked about during Thanksgiving dinner.  But once we had exhausted family news and neighborhood gossip, the conversation turned to Etsy.  Yes, much to the chagrin and confusion of the fellas present, we discussed Etsy.  More to the point: we discussed how to find decent stuff on Etsy.

Etsy has grown into the largest marketplace for crafty things.  A behemoth, really.  Not unlike Ebay or Mall of America in scope and variety.  And since Etsy embraces thousands of vendors, literally, all describing their own creations, it can be extremely difficult to navigate.  For example, yesterday, a search for “Christmas pug” unearthed 802 items.  “Butterfly mobile” brought up 1,194 examples.  And “photographs of Paris” discovered an overwhelming 3,933 options for sale.

Happiness is Homemade by Alyssa Nassner

Plus, the idea of homemade or handmade is really diverse.  And expectations of quality are highly personal.  The beauty or cleverness of an object may be easy to spot at your farmer’s market, but it’s a little trickier to judge via your computer monitor or smart phone.  So what to do?  If you already have a favorite artist on Etsy, you could constantly check out what he or she loves.  Just follow the hearts.

But most of us involved in the Thanksgiving discussion trust blogs – blogs of friends, designers, reviewers, and even Etsy’s own blog – to sift through the huge selection and find what we actually want and like.

Papernstitch is a blog I trust.

Papernstitch is both an online exhibition space for artists and makers of handmade goods, many culled from the best of Etsy, and a blog about design and DIY craft.  Founder Brittni Mehlhoff takes curating the site seriously.  Exhibitions change at least monthly.  Jeff, her partner in life and work, keeps the dual endeavors running smoothly, both technically and visually.  Papernstitch regularly receives accolades from media, such as, Country Living, The Huffington Post and other well-known blogs like Apartment Therapy.

Papernstitch has featured my sister’s prints and photographs by Irene Suchocki.  Plus it’s introduced me to the following artists:

Sally Harless;

Stacie Bloomfield;
Lisa Zador;
Alyssa Nassner;
Derek Sullivan;
and Melissa Lund.

Sally Harless, also known as Sadly Harmless, is based in Bloomington, Indiana, and attends major craft fairs throughout the Midwest.  On Papernstitch and Etsy, she offers prints of her original drawings and watercolors, plus these clever shadow boxes.

Snow Drifter by Sally Harless

I like the somewhat Eeyore-feel to her images.  Life is an adventure… a little tragic and humorous and perpetually in motion, whether we recognize it or not!

Sally Harless' A Crawling Garden

and In My Own Way

Stacie Bloomfield, aka Gingiber, grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in Arkansas with her young family.  She has always been obsessed with animals, and her illustrations manage to capture the individual and the archetype in a minimal but charming style.  Pattern plays a big part.  Gemma Giraffe looks like Kente cloth.

Gemma Giraffe by Stacie Bloomfield

The stripes on Leo Lion mimic handprinted Adrinka cotton.

Leo Lion, also by Stacie Bloomfield

In addition to prints, Stacie sells greeting cards, wall decals and pillows based on her original illustrations.

and her Black Sheep pillow

Lisa Zador is one of the most established artists featured on Papernstitch.  An animal lover and avid collector of retro kitsch, Lisa has been designing textiles and packaging for over twenty years now.  But she may be best known for her Curious Portraits: exquisite paintings and surprisingly poignant portrayals of antique toys;

Steiff Kitten by Lisa Zador

vintage knick knacks;

Salt and Pepper Still Life by Lisa Zador

and rather dapper fauna.

and her Goose Gentleman

Once again, Lisa offers affordable reproductions of her paintings through Etsy and Papernstitch and sells her original pieces, including custom pet portraits, through more traditional venues.

There is no doubt that Etsy empowers crafters around the world and provides artists with a genuinely huge audience – much larger than any single gallery, craft show or wholesale market could supply.  And despite its clunkiness, it broadens our “local” shopping experience by introducing us to new work and helping us connect to craftspeople we hope to support.

Alyssa Nassner is an illustrator who successfully uses Etsy as a storefront and marketing tool.  Alyssa spends her regular workday in design and also freelances as Small Talk Studio.  You may recognize her drawings from Real Simple and Gemma Correll’s blog: What I Wore Today.

Alyssa’s prints, often developed from these extra projects, exude a can-do attitude and pretty nostalgia.

Fortune Favors the Brave by Alyssa Nassner

Let Yourself Be Free by Alyssa Nassner

Even her Mushroom Identification Chart is bright and cheerful compared to the old-fashioned lithographs that inspired it.

Etsy shines as the realm of women, especially young women, in tune to nature, fantasy, wit and the joy of crafting lovely, slightly ephemeral things.  And fellas like Derek Sullivan are significantly outnumbered.  Based in Seattle, Derek is another professional designer who utilizes Etsy as a creative outlet.  I absolutely love his alphabet flashcard prints, which seem influenced by pulp fiction covers and product advertisements from the 40s and 50s.

F is for Film Noir,

U is for Upside Down

and N is for Narwhal... all by Derek Sullivan

Cuteness-overload is an ailment that strikes me from time to time when searching through Etsy.  I become immune to the pleasures of felt and pale pink and almost miss something great like Melissa Lund’s photographs.

Taffy Six by Melissa Lund

Melissa’s whimsical little scenes are beautiful and beautifully crafted.  Sugary treats for the eyes.  But more than that, they draw us in.  The encourage us to look closer.  To pay attention.  And I think that’s what we should expect from art, whether it costs $25 or $25,000.

Pins by Melissa Lund

Cupcake Love by Melissa Lund

I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say these six artists remind us that life is a noble quest…

Sally Harless' Sail Close to the Wind

colorful…

Stacie Bloomfield's Confetti Cat

meant to be cherished…

Lisa Zador's Steiff Bunny Sleeping

full of possibility…

Alyssa Nassner's Be in Love

wicked fun…

Derek Sullivan's Y is for Yeti

and transient.

Melissa Lund's Berry Baskets

So, this holiday season, I hope you will shop Etsy for some of your gift purchases.  And employ Papernstitch as your handy filter and guide.

Pronto! Pronto!

Over the weekend, we had a chance to visit Lexington, Virginia, and our friends’ new caffè and gelateria: Pronto.  Pronto is Franky and Meridith’s third restaurant and a testament to their love of Italian food, coffee and, of course, gelato.  Their goal is to offer quick, fresh take-away you want to eat every day and an inviting bistro atmosphere for those who want to dine in.

Franky and Meridith are incredibly creative, smart restaurateurs, and I think they would be the first to admit that establishing something new, in every sense of the word, can be a bit of a challenge, even for the most fearless.  But they definitely had a vision, and I was thrilled when they asked for my help with some of the decorative decisions at Pronto.

Starting with a shell of a space can be daunting and liberating. And we knew the right balance might be tricky to achieve.  First, we wanted Pronto’s decor to acknowledge its historic setting without any “quaintness”.  And although the Italian cases and counters are simply gorgeous, Franky and Meridith hoped to avoid a sterile interior dominated by too much white and stainless steel.  Finally, they planned to welcome folks of all ages, morning until night, possibly even late-night during the summer, so we needed sturdy, easy-to-clean materials and lighting to illuminate and provide intimacy.

We started with porcelain tiles that mimic hardwood planks.

We had considered mosaic or laminate flooring. But these long, lean tiles are absolutely perfect.  They add warmth in color and texture.  They seem contemporary… with a little nod to the past.  Their grain pattern helps reduce slipperiness.  The soft, slightly aged color is imbedded in the porcelain clay, not applied to the surface, so any future nicks will hardly be noticed.  Plus, the small grout joints make cleaning a breeze.  And as you may have guessed, these tiles come from Italy.  You can find something similar through Daltile’s Terrace Collection and Marazzi’s American Heritage and Riflessi di Legno lines.

Pronto is a deep space with huge windows along the street and almost no natural light towards the rear.  The ceiling is unusually tall, and we knew we had to bring the light down to humanize the dining areas, provide task lighting over the counter and illuminate the menu sign.  We also wanted a happy, ambient glow.  No black hole in the ceiling!

We originally looked at those schoolhouse-style pendants you see in so many renovations.  But in the end, we opted for fixtures that, I think, are slightly less trendy, starting with amber, seeded glass pendants from Ballard Designs;

Addie Pendant in amber

Hagen sconces and chandeliers, in heirloom brass, from Savoy House;

Shasta ceiling fans from Savoy House and Sadler track lights by Kichler;

and three Mini Barn Lights in matte black from Barn Light Electric.

Savoy House also supplied lights for the bathroom and office.

Using “off-the-shelf” lighting options fit our budget and tight time schedule.

We chose a mix of restaurant-grade furniture, including larger round metal tables for the front windows, small rectangular tables with simple pedestal bases for the rest of the space, classic all-weather wicker bistro chairs and moulded plastic chairs in chocolate brown.  Everything is really comfortable and functional.

The truth is that wooden tables and chairs would have cost less.  But I think they might have looked rather old-hat, even when brand new.  And we are hoping these more modern materials and forms hold up better, both visually and physically, in the long run.

As you may have guessed, our choice of paint colors was influenced by traditional gelato flavors… but nothing too icy or sweet.  Benjamin Moore’s Durango Dust feels like a warm afternoon in the main area.

 

Palest Pistachio, in the bathroom, is really more gray than green and we like how it continues the clean, silvery look of all the metals in the restaurant.

Meridith specifically asked for subtle wall décor… no black-and-white photographs of historic Virginia or vintage posters of the Italian countryside.  And I always love mirrors.  Three mirrors from Cyan Design have lovely frames and reflect light throughout the restaurant.

The over-scaled Tangiers mirror feels like a window in this little corner.

Detail of one of the Canterbury mirrors.

On Saturday, Walter and I enjoyed turkey and brie sandwiches, Italian sodas and butternut squash soup for lunch.

And after a brisk walk around downtown Lexington, we returned for scrumptious gelato.  Walter chose three flavors: chocolate hazelnut, coconut and banana. I splurged on salted peanut and banana.  Yum!

Gelato is decadently rich, especially when compared to American ice cream, and more intensely flavored.  At Pronto, Franky makes his gelato in-house, in very small batches with fresh, seasonal ingredients.  It doesn’t sit around.  Most modern ice creams include a lot of air, especially so-called low-fat or slow-churn varieties.  Gelato seems thicker, creamier and denser, because it is.  Ice cream is usually made with heavy cream and has a much greater butterfat content than gelato.  Fat might be addictive.  But it tends to mask, not enhance, flavors.

So, if you are traveling on Interstate 81 this holiday season, we hope you will stop off in Lexington for a caffeine, sugar and soccer fix at Pronto.  (Franky broadcasts Italian Serie A and Premier League soccer games from around the world.)

Pronto is open 8 am until 8 pm, most days, at 26 South Main Street in the historic R.E. Lee Building.  (540) 464-1472.