The work of artist Brooke Hine (Philadelphia) stopped me in my tracks. Something so refreshing about it- I was particularly drawn to her Growth & Deterioration series.

As a ceramic artist, my work is influenced by qualities observed in nature: the negative space created by naked branches in winter, the path traced by insects in a hollow log, or fossils found in the ground.

Connection Between

Growth/Deterioration

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Kate, along with her husband, bring together farm, food and design at The Steel Fork. They also design and create sculptural metalworks using recycled farm machinery – Gatski Metal. Kate is also the mother of two busy little children.

Work by Angela Davidson (Philly).

I first spotted Tannei’s work on the front page of Etsy. I loved the bag and once I clicked on it and found out she was from PA, I knew I had to showcase her! Tannei is a native of Canada, but moved to a suburb of Philadelphia with her family about 3 years ago. I hope you will love her work as much as I do! Enjoy a day in her life:

6:30 am:  My husband Brian wakes me up so we can get our son, Andrew, off to middle school. I get ready while Brian is getting the coffee going and making breakfast for Andrew. I get into the kitchen just in time to pack Andrew’s lunch and rush him out the door so he doesn’t miss the school bus.

7:20 am:  I get the newspaper from the driveway and spend the next hour or so perusing through it. I look forward to doing puzzles like Jumble, Cryptoquote and Sudoku while enjoying my coffee.

8:30 am:  Time to get on the computer. I check and respond to email. I go to my favorite sites and blogs. This is how I keep up to date on things such as new fabric lines, crafting supplies, upcoming crafting books and gadgets that will make my crafting life easier. It is usually during this time that I find inspiration and ideas for my projects.

10:00 am:  The skies are clear today. We are going to take advantage of that and take pictures of some new bags outside. Brian is the photographer and he is setting up the tripod and camera while I get the bags propped and ready. When pictures are done, I upload them, crop them, and make sure the colors are as accurate as possible. Then I list the bags on my Etsy shop.

Noon:  Brian and I sit down for a quick lunch and then it’s downstairs to my workroom. I start by making a to-do list. I check to see if I need to replenish any supplies. Before I work on a couple of custom orders for bags, I look through my fabrics and decide on making a couple more bags in similar colors so I can sew them all at once using the same color thread. This will save me a bit of time. There is a TV next to my cutting table and it’s usually on when I am in my workroom. I think I have seen (or heard) every episode of the Law & Order and CSI franchises at least 3 times!

6:00 pm:  I start on making dinner (Italian sausage in tomato sauce with pasta tonight), and hover over Andrew while he is doing his homework and studying for a test. After dinner, Brian and Andrew are off to a Boy Scout meeting. I go back down to my workroom and start planning on a quilt design that I want to work on in the next few days.

9:00 pm:  We are in the family room watching some TV. Our current favorite show that we love to watch together is Glee. I also have my laptop on and am perusing at different fabric sites to shop for new fabrics.

10:00 pm:  Andrew goes to bed. I stay up and work on my knitting and catch up on some TV shows that I have on DVR. I am a night owl. This is the only time I get to knit so depending on waht I am working on, it might be 1am before I get to bed. Brian tries to stay up with me, but usually heads up before I do.

Michelle is a graduate of Albright College with a B.A. in Visual & Apparel Merchandising. After years in the fashion/ retail industry, she is now a WAHM. Michelle is a self-taught jewelry designer and owner of Michabella Creations.

Adam Rung furniture. photo credit Patrick R. Ward

Want to see more? Adam Rung Woodworking (Philly).

January is our design time. We spend a few weeks brainstorming, sketching, discussing and believe it or not- getting incredibly frustrated. Good design is hard [an understatement, I know]. Needless to say, I am in awe of Mio (Philadelphia). Have a look at these incredible designs- gorgeous, green and made with locally sourced materials. Awesome.

MIO is a design company dedicated to creating the most sustainable and innovative design experiences in the market.

The Bendant Lamp is a flat-packed chandelier composed of a series of leaf-like shades surrounding a central fixture. Bend the shades up or down and create unique light and shadow arrangements.

Made from recycled, double-wall cardboard, Nomad is a modular architectural system that can be assembled into free-standing, sculptural screens, temporary partitions, rooms or even displays without hardware, tools or damage to existing structures.

I love it. Inspired yet again by the creative talent in the keystone state.

Kate, along with her husband, bring together farm, food and design at The Steel Fork. They also design and create sculptural metalworks using recycled farm machinery – Gatski Metal. Kate is also the mother of two busy little children.

This post is exclusively for you to share what you’ll be doing this weekend around the commonwealth.  Whether you’re planning time in the studio, a craft show stop or long weekend out of town.  Share with us.  And share your work on HiP’s group pool on Flickr.

I, for one, am heading to the Farm Show in Harrisburg.  I hope to walk my one-year-old around to see the sheep, alpacas and rabbits (here’s the for kids page).  Then I’ll make a necessary stop over at the food court for milkshakes.  And then maybe those fresh cut fries.

What else is there to do in Harrisburg while I’m there?

Use the comments section below to share your plans, shows or thoughts.

This week I am bringing you the talented Stephanie Miller Corfee. Stephanie is a work-at-home mom, freelance graphic designer and part-time artist. Her all-in-one home, office and studio is in Malvern, Pennsylvania. She shares the space with her electrician husband and electrician’s apprentice, 3- year old son. Enjoy a day in her life!
5am – iphone and clock-radio alarm go off simultaneously in a horribly dissonant way. i fumble to turn em both off and roll over to wake my husband whose alarm has also gone off. um, he hasn’t moved an inch. this is WHY i set 2 on my side. the man is UN-phased by an alarm of any kind. he has to get up and out for work by 5:30!

5:15 – go back to sleep having reset my alarm for 7am

6:30 or so…….one eye pops open to the sound of the little guy’s voice calling “mommy?” my little guy climbs into bed for a quick snuggle and a few minutes of Disney Channel to start the day (and give me a few more minutes of pillow time before facing the day)

7am – up and at ‘em! make a very complete breakfast for my buddy since it’s his favorite meal of the day and one where he LIKES all the healthy options. put on coffee and go to check emails while it brews.

spend the rest of the morning bopping from office, to playroom, to kitchen. i usually respond to emails, do advertising or printing submissions for clients and get my EXTREMELY type-A, overly detailed to-do list in order for the day. i love seeing all of my responsibilities on the page and i love checking things off. this morning, i am making sure i have everything i need packed and labeled for an art show opening event in the evening. i rarely hang shows of my work, but this one is special and will benefit my favorite local childcare charity.

12 noon – take a breather from the office and make lunch with my son. we always do this together. he stands on his special kitchen stool. he loves to help. i eat with him. but only AFTER he picks my chair and i oblige. i listen as he explains why he thinks we have so many ladybugs all over our windows lately. his theories have merit. he cracks me up. we finish lunch and tidy up.

12:45 – back to the office. set up the play dough on my lightbox table so my little guy and i can BOTH work as he says. i send off a few last print proofs to a client for in-store marketing and shoot off a few approvals for some drink cup designs and printed coupons, before signing off for the day to focus on last-minute packing and other details for the night’s event. i make labels for print bins, package some art, and make a pile in the foyer of things that need to be loaded into the jeep.

2:00pm – i feel situated and sit down at the computer to tweet, facebook and reply to a few etsy convos. my poor etsy shop has suffered some neglect the past couple months since i was busy pulling together inventory for my first 2 consignment shops – YAY!, plus getting ready for my show. i make myself a promise to give much love to etsy next week and the week after that! receive amazingly kind and uplifting email from a new client who has commissioned some of my illustrations to be used on her organic baby clothing line. she has received the latest completed design and is very excited about it. nothing is nicer than reading emails like those.

2:30 – my husband arrives home from work to help me and ease my growing nerves. (love that his workday is usually 6am-2pm!) he loads up my piles, and plays with our son while i bustle around the next few hours.

spend rest of afternoon running  some errands, showering, and getting ready to leave for art event.

4:15pm – cannot resist sitting down at the computer one last half hour to check in with clients and answer emails. i’m happy when i surprise a client who expects i have already left for the show, with an answer to a deadline question. i love being completely “there” for my clients. it makes me smile.

5:00pm – leave for Pajama jam Kiddie Music event planned to coincide with my art benefit. spend entire night chatting up friends and attendees and listening to loud kiddies in their jammies singing silly songs. Stay afterward for some great live music for adults. (it was late but my kidlet wanted to see the drums!!!)

10:30pm – head for home

11:30pm – pull in the drive and get everyone to bed. couldn’t wait to hit the pillow. can’t remember what i dreamt about…but can pretty much guarantee it had absolutely nothing to do with art or design. everyone needs a little break sometimes. right?

Michelle is a graduate of Albright College with a B.A. in Visual & Apparel Merchandising. After years in the fashion/ retail industry, she is now a WAHM. Michelle is a self-taught jewelry designer and owner of Michabella Creations.

Nicole, from Couch Design (Philadelphia), creates gorgeous graphic pillows and fabric art pieces. Her pillows are all a simple square shape – putting all the focus on her fabric finds and the hand embroidery or appliques she uses to make them special.

Nicole was recently featured on CBS3 news, during the stations Green Scene feature.

One of these pillows would take a simple IKEA chair and make it magazine-worthy!

Let me tell you why I love girlscantell:

• Sara creates awesome housewares with an artist’s aesthetic and an architect’s love of detail.
• She is super active in her community (Philly) and works to promote the arts all over the city!
• She’s a former Etsy employee, full-time creator, and uber-knowledgable about all things handmade business. And her blog reflects this.

By a supreme twist of fate (actually…I don’t believe in fate.), I decided to click on Sara’s blog before I sat down to write my nightly post. She has a new product line and is hosting a giveaway to celebrate!

A few weeks ago, Sara put out a call on her blog for crafters who were interested in collaborating with her in some way. Caitlin from Rebound Designs (not from PA, but we’ll forgive her) answered the call and provided Sara with an armload of vintage book pages leftover from her crafting.

The result…



Love this!

Anyhow, you can read the rest of the info on Sara’s post and enter to win 2 prints of your choice! Good luck!
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway from AMTextiles right here!

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I love that mosaic is both art & puzzle. You take your vision, chop it into many small pieces, and put it back together again. Margaret Almon, of Nutmeg Designs, is a Pennsylvania mosaic artist who uses, “topographic layers of Italian glass tile, gold smalti, stained glass and anything sparkly I can get my hands on” to create her unique pieces.

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