A blog about

A BLOG ABOUT CRAFTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR NORTH

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Depot Follow-up: Don't forget the windows

 Okay, I'll admit, building a 12' canoe in my living room out of upcycled AK Brewing IPA case boxes may sound a little crazy, but believe me, it was nothing as ackward as transporting the thing in a small pickup the 12 miles from Auke Bay to Juneau.  I mean the thing is made out of cardboard!!

For the Alaskan Brewing Company's retail store I worked on their interior displays (check them out here) AND their window displays.  The windows were super-fun and challenging as I had to both design and build the vision I had.  So a huge thank you to the Brewery for trusting me just enough, and indulging me just a little to make it all happen!
 We started with the 3rd floor windows.  We used these fantastic window static clings which we had printed with the different logos of each beer.  So Alaskan themed and a little pop of life to let folks know that this isn't your everyday tourist shop.  Also, they can be seen from Marine Park around the corner!)
The Brewery is VERY BIG on sustainability as they have to ship in all the ingredients for the beer (besides our delicious Alaskan water), so they look for other ways to reduce and reuse and are innovators in their field.  So, we decided the windows would be sustainable as well!

By upcycling beer boxes and using rolled teeshirts as logs (around the cardboard box fire) we kept it simple, full of Alaskan Brewing colors, and fun.

We continued the logo motifs through the windows as well- like the tree in this window which was robbed from the Winter Ale logo.











An entire bank of windows was devoted to the idea of the ocean with a giant wave emerging from the left side.


A few cool cats wearing their Brewery shwag.
And the classic Alaskan Amber boat printed on wood.  Does this technique look familiar?  I love tying things together!


So the whole window looks a little like this!  OF course, Cap'n was the one who came up with the fun phrase that runs across the top.  The hardest part about this window bank was the wave.  Check out the detail.
Yup, just cardboard, wood, screws, a little hot glue and me.  And a HUGE thanks to Cap'n who spent endless hours cutting boxes apart to make this happen.  We both have aversions to matte knives now.

There are two more windows that, it turns out, were difficult to photograph.  Anyone have ideas on how to photograph windows, because I am at a loss!!  Hope anyone in town that hasn't yet had the time to check it out takes five minutes to do so- and then you can see the canoe and remember, yes, that was in my living room for waaay too long!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Upgrade Your Pot (plant pot that is)

 My thumb is chartreuse. It's not as bad as say, hot pink, but it certainly has a bit to go before graduating to full-fledged green. Something about the Southeast liquid sunshine keeps me from really digging in the dirt and becoming the best gardener I can be. In the meantime, though, I have one mean collection of lovely indoor foliage to keep me company, which has brought quite a motley crew of flora and mismatched pot debauchery into my house. So this summer I foraged into creating a unified pot palette and discovered quite a few things to share about repotting, upgrading and getting a greener thumb.

Monday, July 26, 2010

103% FUNDED!

Just a quick congrats to The Thoughts whose project on Kickstarter is currently 103% funded!! Woohoo - their collaborative multimedia arts CD will be totally worth it!  Check it out in the sidebar to the riggity-right  - - - - >

Friday, July 23, 2010

Organization + Craftiness = Fabulous Photo Strings

 Okay, I'm still not sure about the name, but the project is great (at least in my humble opinion)!!


Ahhh, the digital camera. Bringing the power of fabulous photography to the world over. But, you know the drill: with great power comes great responsibility. At least the mounting digital pile of photos to be sorted on my hard drive seems like a LOT of responsibility. The 10 hikes since the sun came out, the 20 crafted creations I've attempted, and the funny family shots are just taunting me to be sorted, starred, enhanced, labeled and possibly printed? Well, if you need a little push to get through all the bad to get to the good-enough-to-be-printed, then here are two little projects to get you inspired.
Inspiring Photo Strings:
This project is fun and simple and can be adapted in a variety of ways to create a little space for photo-inspiration anywhere you are.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Crafty on Vacay

Recently I flew beyond the bounds of this little crafty town to a much-needed vacation, hopping from Seattle to Kona and back. Normally when I travel I tend to draw crafters in like moths to a flame. On the plane there is bound to be a knitter in the seat over, the cabby will inevitably have a side business on Etsy, and you can always bet the waitress sews in her spare time. Personally, I am thrilled to encounter crafters in all parts and move on my merry way, but this trip was a bit extraordinary. Everywhere I went crafters were crawling out of the woodwork.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My work is finally revealed: The Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot






















Do you have it in you to Live Life Alaskan?  This is a serious question- it's not all hiking mountains and fishing and camping and skiing!  There's long dark nights and rain too.  We do have one fabulosity to get us through- the beer!

If you live in Juneau The Pacific Northwest, then you probably know about the Alaskan Brewing Company.  They are a fantastic brewery based right here in Juneau and one of my fantastic clients, plus they are friends of mine.  They recently opened a new retail store in downtown Juneau called The Depot and they asked me to work on a historical tour area in the museum display vein- but that really spoke to the AK Brew's style.  Check out the finished work (phew!)
























We used this new technique the printers had never tried before- printing directly onto wood!  So freakin cool- seriously.  Then, we printed on directly onto clear plexi for the text and mounted the plexi panels with some depth to give it dimension. 
We also rocked out this little seating area (can I tell you how much I love sectionals?) and the fab coffee table was handmade locally out of one giant slab of red cedar sent over from Hoonah.  Yes, I will be stealing it someday if it is not being used (wink wink).


Thanks to Joel Irwin of IrwinDigital.com for the totally BRILLIANT photography.  Someday soon I'll get some shots of the window displays as well- yes, I built a 7' canoe out of cardboard in my living room and the Cap'n didn't even break up with me!  (miracle!)

PS- if you live in Juneau and haven't checked out the place yet then I suggest you do! Or if you are heading to Juneau on a Cruise- it's located right downtown one street over from Marine Park- look for the white labels in the windows!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Easy DIY Outdoor Seat Cushion



In Juneau the phrase "canceled for rain" is barely in our vocabulary. The don-a-rain-jacket-and-tough-it-out mentality is our credo and we are proud of it. But there are a few times when we could use more than just a jacket to weather the storm. For those times I've recreated a clever childhood craft made out of oilcloth (fabric that is treated on one side to be waterproof, like your mom's cherry-covered picnic tablecloth) to make with the kids on a rainy day for the next one that comes along.

Oilcloth and Newspaper Seat Cushion: