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Friday, July 28, 2006

oh, summer...

ive been thinking a lot about summer this week. and about how i feel like im really missing out. ive wanted so very much to be productive with sewing that ive spent most of my time indoors trying to hurry along and finish my bag collection. but its summer... and maybe when it thunders i will resume my sewing. i most likely keep the windows open, lay in my bed and listen to the rain. a good storm is one of few things that actually relaxes me.

i had a whole summertime project planned. i was going to take a class with jack booth, my favorite professor in the world and perhaps my mentor (even tho i dont think he knows it) but the class was canceled and $1800... so either way, that wasnt going to happen. so i could do this project on my own. making magic realism stories into photographs. in my mind i see mateo dressed up in a suit talking to someone. i dunno if borges ever wrote about a dog in a suit... lets hope he did. but then there is the film. i have en entire bag of 220 film sitting in the garage that wasn't used in mexico. but i didn't put it in the refrigerator and the mold from "the floods of '06" probably ruined it anyway. i dont want to look. ill probably throw the bag at the wall with disappointment. using digital is always an option. but when i print, bigger is better and i adore my mamyia 645 afd. it was my graduation present. the pictures always amaze me. i have to use it. the canon 10d is okay. but really, is it there yet? who knows...

then their is polaroiding. i suppose the thing i am most often remembered by photographically. its such a simple simple joy and i suppose my ADD is obsessed with the idea of instant gratification. but again... the lack of money think is kinda of a n issue when trying to buy film.

ive really cooped myself up this summer. badly. im not enjoying it. the thing i enjoy most about summer is midnight bike rides. all alone, quiet empty streets and my ipod. the summer of '04 on my bianchi in the south end were some of the most peaceful nights of my life. i miss it. last summer too.. even tho new york never really gets quiet, i found little streets which seemed dark and calm and i pretended like i was the only one in the whole city. but there is no city in my life this summer. only torn up suburban streets. my bike is sitting in my parents garage. its pretty there. i road my bike there as a kid... it would be the best place to ride at this point. smooth roads... pretty quiet streets. but...

i have Myofascial Pain Syndrome
or fibromyalgia, depending on which doctor you ask... either way, there is pain and riding a bike is about the worst thing for it. i cant even drive my car without feeling like shit. so what does that leave?

ahhhh swimming! amazing for the back, gentle and summertime. but the only pool i have access to is at the parents country club. i hate even the sound of that word. ew. its filled with brats and Lily Pulitzer clad moms. its a sickening sight.

so... summer is slipping away and i am bored. and house season 2 isn't out on dvd yet to amuse me and bit torrent SUCKS.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

this isn't a political blog, but...

whats going on is upsetting me too muc not to talk about it.
watching fox news cover the conflict is so funny and shocking that i do not even know how to explain it here.

the quote i heard from the commentator was "Israel's plan is to wipe Hezbollah off the map" hmm... interesting that that can be said about Hezbollah but not about other places (ie Israel). Most networks won't call Hezbollah terrorist, the simply say they are a militant group which is the appropriate and non bias word to use. check the bbc guidelines for non bias reporting and language.

i dont even know what else to say from here. im saddened by it all. but fox... you make me sick.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Up and running!




After the recommendation of a friend, I decided to set up a shopify.com shop. It sounded so easy! Well... it wasn't THAT easy (since of course I wanted it to look a certain way!!) but after some work, Vanessa and I have our bags for sale on shoot-and-stitch.myshopify.com. While the extention leaves something to be desired, it will sooon just be www.shoot-and-stitch.com instead.

I have sooooo much more to add as I am sewing my entire collection right now. Vanessa also has not put her bags up on the site yet so it is still a work in progress. BUT you can shop and purchase and pay all on this site. So its a real, working, online store!

Please check it out and support us. We worked hard, alright? ;)

Thursday, July 06, 2006

refocus: its a good thing.

this blog is about totes and photography. nothing else!
so lets keep it that way.

while living in the suburbs it seems that i have had way to much time on my hands and not enough money to work on the projects i care about. the internet can suck you in. and drama is lame. i think i am easily misread too. so i am keeping to what i know. martha stewart like projects, photography, time with my dogs and bike rides. and also, its a good thing project runway is starting soon! vanessa is having a weekly crafts/beer/pr night at her house starting soon. i am thinking about making the trip. it will be good for me!

in the spirit of photography and crafts, heres azim. the little love of my life.

Frames Galore!



It just started pouring here. The perfect cue that its time for bed. I have been frustrated and bored lately and my promise last month of polaroids to come has to be postponed. While at Walmart today (I only went for the doggy pee pad's its the only place in town that carries them!) I came across two 600 backs for $19. It was so tempting but with only around $30 in my account... not practical.

Instead I have been gathering up all of JW's mothers old frames to redo them. Most of which have ugly pictures of roses in them and are from home goods or who knows where else. I bought a can of spray paint and painted them all silver and they look AMAZING! Most of them are going to be used empty. I am painting our foyer "Cherry Cobbler" aka cranberry and since they are all different I thought I would just add them to the wall frame only since many are missing glass. One of them happened to be 16x20!!! so I used it to put a picture of Reilly laying on my bed in boston on a pile of records during a photoshoot that I have been dying to buy a frame for but never had the money. Here are the results. The quality sucks obviously because I'm photographing glass.

I also have new bags coming soon! I need double sided fusiable interfacing to make them and bought the sew-in kind instead so that is going to have to wait just a little bit.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

totally off topic, but...

i cleaned my room today and put up some pictures.
it was fun.
and i made a little accessory wall.

woohoo.


Saturday, July 01, 2006

whoo whoo


i bought this owl fabric a while ago from www.fabrictales.com for kerry since i know how much she adores owls. i first made her a tote bag with my prefabricated tote bags and made a little k on the outside and then lined it with the fabric. while it was cute... i knew i could do much better with this fabric. since i got the swing bag pattern by amy butler, ive been making a few with that pattern to get used to working with patterns and making things from scratch since i really have no idea what i am doing.

the end result of this little japanese owl tote is very cute. i am sending it to my bff in chicago tomorrow along with a few cute other things. i miss her so much. i hope she enjoys the bag!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

oh yes, another one!


so i have been a bit productive and made another tote.
it is ADORABLE if i do say so myself. the lining is a pumpkin color and while all of these style bags are reversable, i think of the colors inside as more of an accent.

the price as of now is $45. it might go up, it might go down.. depending on how much it is going to cost me in fabric in the future.

please send me an email if you are interested.
rachel.person@gmail.com

Friday, June 23, 2006

first new tote!


I just finished my first handmade tote! the pattern was great and the fabric looks really cool. this one took me around 3-4 hours or more but i have never worked with patterns before and i dont know what i am doing. BUT i suspect the next one with take no time at all. they are going to be in both green and pink and in the garden scene (shown) or pokadot with bugs (pictures to come soon) of course as always, totes can be customized with your own choice of fabric for a small charge. i have not figured out pricing for these totes yet since the first one took me so long and the fabric was expensive. please feel free to leave price ideas!

oh yeah, its reversable too! the inside is chocolate brown with white "freckles"

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

not the greatest day

the good news: i got my new fabric in the mail. how exciting! its more amazing than i could have imagined. i cannot wait to create things!

the bad news: my dad ended up in the hospital and had emergency surgury because his appendix burst. he didnt do so hott with the anesthesia and spent the entire afternoon getting sick. hopefully he will be better soon.

maybe i should make some bags to keep my mind off of things :(

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

who needs totes when you have cupcakes?


i have an obesession.the buttercup bakeshop. after trying to add as many links as possible to my new del.icio.us account, i ran across the need for new franchises of my favorite bakery. if only i had the money, i know the perfect spot for one in newburyport!

a girl can dream tho. hey, if anyone wants a cupcake business partner, let me know!

Monday, June 19, 2006

how delicious!

after months and months i gave in and created a del.icio.us account.
its not much right now, but check it out. my del.icio.us account

ive been in a blogging mood lately. i haven't been feeling so great lately and its hot as hell out, so i figured i'd do something constructive with my time. yeah, blogging is constructive! ha! well, until i get my fabric in the mail.

speaking of fabric, toni turned me onto this great website called j caroline creative. they have some great fabric and more importantly, so basic heavy cotton canvas some i can make my own totes instead of buying pre-made ones and then lining them. (i said this yesterday didn't i?)





well, here are a few swatches of the fabric i picked out. i cant wait to start working!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

new bags, new site.

so vanessa and i are starting a new website.
we have been playing with the idea for months but i think this summer is finally the time to make it happen.
we havent cemented a name yet, but it is going to be something like needle and camera. or lens and needle or something. the idea being that we are both photographers and craft makers.

i order a few hundred dollars worth of fabric lastnight(with the help of jw of course) from reprodepoti got some rad fabrics and some of them are pretty heavy weight so i should be able to make totes from the directly instead of lining bought totes with fabric. i am also make a few dog beds. with the recent addition of azim to our household, ive had dog accessories heavily on my mind. once i get the building or regular bags under my belt, i will probably experiment with doggy bags. azim on the other hand, could care less about being in a bag so i dont know why i care either.

in PHOTOGRAPHY related news...im not poor anymore so i think i need to go out and do some polaroiding. it is time for a little analog fun. maybe holgaroids? tho driving into cambridge to calumet just to buy holgaroid film really sounds like a waste of time to me. it will probably be just polaroid 600. but it needs to be film and it needs to be instant. i will post the results soon. maybe it will be some bike riding pictures after i pick up buckleys pinarello from the bike shop on monday. ive never ridden it before and there are no breaks.. so i need to be careful. this pinarello is very similar but blue. buckleys is red. what hott bikes!

polaroids to come... and new bags as well!!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

just a little rain.

last month it rained.
our basement flooded a little.
all of the bags i made this winter were ruined with mold.

so im starting all over again...

ill be ordering a bunch of fabric from reprodepot.com soon.
if you want a bag... let me know.


:(

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Blooowing my mind.

Vanessa recently showed me this: Digital Holga Hack
I can't wait to try it on my 10d. project #1 now that I'm settled!



ps... i didnt take this picture! check the link for samples.

Friday, April 21, 2006

really, im not dead.

im just in the process of moving.
in the next few days im leaving boston for good and going off to suburbia.
i am so thrilled to have a house to live in and to garden and work on my various projects in my cute new office (painted in aged mint and old violin) im not sure if i want city life again in the states. i would have no problem living in an apartment again in some other country (oaxaca is calling me... for real) or of course barcelona. but for now, im taking it slow in the merrimac valley.

i cant wait to break out my garden golshes. before and after home pics to come sooooon!

Saturday, March 18, 2006

i'd like to say...

i took a lot of pictures on my last trip, but i didnt.
on my second day in mexico i got news of a death. the rest of the trip was okay but i just felt that my head couldnt get around taking pictures. im certainly not one of those dark and brooding photographers. news like that only makes me feel terrible. not creative. with that being said.. here is some digital stuff i did whist away. shooting some place like this using digital was interesting. i enjoyed it but the joy i had taking polaroids of little girls and their moms selling braceletts was way more entertaining. i guess i am just more of an analog type girl.

so here are some photos.






















Wednesday, March 15, 2006

viva mexico!


im back...

ill be posting some pictures soon.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

something new...


so now that i have gotten a pretty good hold on my sewing machine i tried something new. a lined little wallet/change purse with a zipper. it came out okay for just learning to use a sewing machine and with no pattern and no idea what i am doing. but it is far from perfect.

it is however, CUTE. so i am keeping for myself.

more to come...

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

giddy up!


available in pink and black.