Landfill Lovelies

I almost gave up on submitting my card wallet to GreenCraft Magazine by the next deadline, March 15. By the powers of Priority Mail, it should arrive at its destination with one day to spare. The hold up? Extremely vague submission guidelines on the part of the magazine. I kept thinking I got a handle on what they wanted until I sat down to write it up and, therefore, re-read the guidelines. Nope, still a mystery. So I emailed my questions and got a response Tuesday. Turns out no write up at all is required as long as the submission piece is clearly labelled with the requested contact information. Why the submission guidelines don't state that is beyond me.

Regardless of guidelines that do not offer guidance, and regardless of being accepted or not for publication in the months to come, this little submission is a huge deal. One of my goals for Odd Bird Studio has been to get off my butt and seek publication opportunities. I liken it to my days as a photographer when I sought exhibition opportunities. I set (and met) a yearly goal for the minimum number of exhibition submissions I would make. It helped keep my efforts on track. So, hallelujah, it's about time I apply a similar strategy to Odd Bird Studio. Chalk this one magazine submission to breaking the ice and a figurative pat on the back.

I picked up my first donation of fabric from the upholstery shop Renovation Station yesterday. Big, sloppy, gracious thanks to Jeanne Sipahigil & Bel Bolser. Jeanne is another Art Shop artist, a basket maker. She put 2 and 2 together and asked if I might be able to use upholstery fabric off-cuts and expired samples from her daughter's shop. Jeanne's daughter, Bel Bolser, owns Renovation Station in Liberty, Indiana. If this is what is meant by networking, I'm OK with that. Otherwise, even the mention of networking makes me shudder.

Look at this awesome fabric that would otherwise have wound up in the landfill. Luckily it doesn't fit my color scheme so I am not tempted to keep it in my own house. But it is simply wonderful. The red and grey flowers are printed on the cream colored background (which just might be a cotton/linen blend) while the black leaves and flowers are textural, with a velveteen feel. Is this what is meant by flocked? I'll have to look that up. My textile vocabulary stands to be improved. And there are several large pieces of this fabric. Judging from the shapes of the pieces (and my faulty memory), this fabric was removed from a chair that was brought to the shop to be reupholstered. Because I have pillow covers on the mind, I envision this fabric as sets of pillows.

And then there's the sample books. Now these two lovelies are in my preferred colorway; orange, yellow, green. Each sample has a usable area of about 5 inches square. Goodness, the possibilities are virtually endless. But, for now, I am just going to flip through these books and gaze lovingly and thankfully at the pretty fabrics. Thank you Bel. Thank you Renovation Station. Thank you Jeanne.