New Name, New Stuff.

So I’m only three months late with my name change. That’s okay, though. I’ve been having a total blast making new business cards, new banners, new packaging. Thanks to the incredible carving skills of Erica from SubtleActs, I now have an amazing parrot stamp that has become my new logo!

And I’ve been making new stuff too.

4 Seasons  Garland

Anne of Green Gables doll. I’m really loving my new Jacquard fabric paints.

New colored version of the Little Mermaid

American bison pillow toy

Caribou pillow toy

Brown bear family pillow toys

Strawberry counting/sorting toy

New expanded seashell set

There is much more to come! Including some new animals that I can’t wait to show you all.

Cheers xo.

Song of the Day: “I’ve Just Seen a Face”

Today’s collection is inspired by The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face.”

To play song, click here:

Click to view on Etsy.

 

 

A late afternoon walk on the cusp of spring

 

Song of the Day: “Luck Be A Lady”

A treasury inspired by Frank Loesser’s “Luck Be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls.

To listen to the song, click here:

Click to view on Etsy.

Actually, I made this a few days ago, but I liked it so much I wanted to share:)

Happy Thursday!

Penny Dolls are back…

…and I am so excited to show these two little ladies to you all. Everything about these reminds me of home; from rifling through my mom’s scrap basket for the perfect pieces of fabric to sitting down with a cup of coffee and a movie to stitch. When I was a child, my mom bought me an actual penny doll at Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. She came with a kit for making clothes, and a little book with patterns, directions, and a bit of history. We had such fun making the clothes, and it’s one of my earliest memories of sewing.

When I first opened my shop, I listed a set of these penny dolls and I’ve been itching to make more ever since they were sold. Photographing them alone feels like a treat to myself–I spent the day today looking through our whatnot shelf and china cabinet for little props, and finding spots in the house that would suggest a little life for each doll. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

It’s tempting to create “characters” for these dolls, and someday, I may do a few dolls with accompanying stories, but for now, I prefer to leave them open-ended. They have untold stories; and stories that will be told by the folks they end up with. They are a little indulgence–I’ve streamlined the process of most of the made to order things in my shop and these dolls make me slow down and really think about how two fabrics will look together, or how to construct a teeny-tiny hat with size zero knitting needles.

So, without further ado, here are the products of a Sunday’s indulgence!

See you all Wednesday or Thursday for a preview of my new shop design! xo

Shipping Increases.

Hey, Friends. Just a quick business note on this brisk (read: frigid) Saturday evening. Tomorrow, the new USPS prices take effect–this will mean a small shipping hike for US customers, and a fairly large one for international customers. The good news is, tracking will now be available for First Class packages shipped to Canada! Hopefully, this will expand to include other countries soon.

For more information, and specific pricing for your location, click here

Thank you all so much for your continued support!

Xo

Resolutions and Rennovations:

Hey, friends! Within the next week or so, the Handmade Classroom will be undergoing some changes. The first and most significant change will be the name. I have been throwing around the notion of changing the name of my Etsy shop for some time now, and now, with the zest of resolution in the air, I think it is time to make the change.

The Handmade Classroom began with a very specific vision in mind–to bring interactive, environmentally conscious toys and Montessori works to classrooms all over the world. Over the past year or so, that vision has been realized and then some, due in large part to the support of every single one of you. You have no idea how grateful I am to have had such a successful first year as a small business owner! Having said that, I have realized that disassociating myself from the things I make by selling them under a very business-like name does not lend itself to the personal, intimate nature of the work itself. I think many times, people begin a business looking for a catchy name that looks good on a business card–that’s definitely how I started mine! But I’ve begun to realize that the things that have come about as a result of starting this business have become far more a part of me than I could have anticipated. Therefore, I am changing the name of my shop to (drumroll……) my own name!!!! (Aly Parrott, for those of you who are just joining me.)

I think this is a good decision for a lot of reasons, but here are my top three:

1) My name is pretty awesome. I used to hate it, for obvious reasons, but I have come up with many, MANY parrot-related sketches for a logo, website, blog header, sticker labels, tags, and just about everything I had SO much trouble designing for The Handmade Classroom and it’s almost too perfect to resist.

This could go on and on.

2) A small business under a person’s name implies intimacy and personal attention–this person is creating something especially for you, which is a special experience in this world of mass-produced everything.

3) The work I’m producing has more wiggle-room to evolve. I think my shop has a unifying theme of precious, handmade objects that are meant to be played with and touched. There is also a teaching aspect to everything I make–you may only be buying a garland from me because it will look pretty hanging over your mantel, but in every garland, there is a lesson to be learned; the different phases of the moon, or what a storm looks like. Everything I ever make for the rest of my life will have these two things in common. Because that’s been everything I’ve made since I was four years old. The things that are conducive to selling on Etsy will go up in the shop, the things that aren’t will go somewhere else and serve a purpose in their own way, and in their own time. But this way, they can all be sent with the same business card, and seen under the same name–my own! Because (and yes, it sounds really trite, but I’m saying it anyway!) everything I make is a part of me.

[Insert picture of me working *here.* I don’t actually have one!]

So, even though I know the transition from one name to another is a tough one, I think it will be a smart decision for myself and for my marketing. I have already begun work on a new logo, banner, blog layout and business card, all of which I will be sharing with you very soon.

Which brings me to my resolutions:

1) BLOG MORE. I feel like Rachel on that episode of Friends where they all make New Year’s resolutions because I never blog after I promise to. I think the name change will be good for keeping that one. I will feel less obligated to just post stuff directly related to my Etsy shop, and more free to post about all of the stuff I love. I miss writing–I’ve been in what Tony Stark refers to as “hardware mode” for the past few months and this post alone has demonstrated how great (for me, anyway) it is getting all of this stuff out of my head. I can also, you know, talk about how much I love superhero movies and Law & Order without readers being like “what the heck does this have to do with making classroom tools?” I’m hoping my blog will take on an identity of its own. I have lots of ideas for series of posts that you will all hopefully enjoy. Don’t worry, it won’t all be about superheros and crime shows.

2) List at least one new thing in my shop every week. I’m getting to the point where I’m tired of looking at the same stuff in my shop. I’m determined that this year will see a more fleshed out shop and if I keep all of these ideas in my head for any longer I might explode. Jen from SewnNatural lists at least three new things a week, does made to order work AND has children (and she home schools!). Sasha from What. No Mints? and Sara from IFeltFuzzy list new stuff in their shops while getting PhD’s. I think, in my indulgent post-Bachelor, pre-PhD, pre-Child, twenty-something life I can handle listing one new thing per week. To start off, here are two new things in my shop!

4 Seasons Garland

Seashell nature table set

3) Take more photos. I have a beautiful Nikon d3100 DSLR that spends way too much time in its bag.

I have about fifteen more food and exercise-related ones I won’t bore you with at the moment.

I will be sharing the process of transition as it evolves. Expect a name change in the next week!

Thanks for sticking with me:) You all rock.

Creatures and Collaboration.

So about a month ago, I was sitting in my studio and thinking about how much I missed sharing a space with other artists. There’s a lot to be said for having your own space, of course, but nothing can compare to the inspiration and energy that comes from being able to give your hands a rest, stretch your legs and poke your head into your neighbor’s studio and seeing what they’re up to. Collaborations come easily in this setting, and it’s a standing cure for creative blocks.

Swaps are a popular trend on Etsy, and among lots of artists who might not ordinarily get to collaborate because they live in different states, or different countries. So, I reached out to a fellow fiber artist, my friend Sasha of What. No Mints? on Etsy. We’re both animal lovers, and as I’ve been working on fleshing out my collection of animal pieces, Sasha has been adding lots of adorable felt animals to her shop…a creature swap was only natural!

So, we exchanged lists of some favorite animals (it took little while for me to edit my list down to a manageable length!). Mine included llamas, red efts, and sea otters…when you check out the animal section in her shop, you’ll see that she would beautifully capture the essence of any creature in her her clean, meticulous style.

We set a tentative date for completion of our creatures and we were off! (last week, Sasha blogged about the creature I made her…check it out!).

We decided to surprise each other, so when my dad called me and told me there was a package waiting for me, I couldn’t wait to get home and see what was waiting for me.

To my immense surprise and delight, I opened the envelope to find these two….

 

An unlikely pair (strawberry poison dart frogs and Arctic don’t exactly live in the same neighborhood) but they have become good friends since their arrival!

These little critters more than lived up to my expectations. They are beautifully crafted with perfect attention to detail. I really love the fact that they aren’t exactly toys but not exactly decorations…they’re proudly themselves in all of their quirky glory!

So from this trade, I got two wonderfully endearing pieces of art that will keep a smile on my face every time I look at them (they’re still looking for a home in my studio…I’ll update the post when they find one!). But I also came to the realization that the creative process can be very isolating if you let it become so. Connecting to your community (your local art galleries, your school, your Twitter or Facebook peeps, an Etsy team, anything) is so important, because the results of a collaborative project can be far greater than what one person could create on their own. It can also lead to continuing friendships (you can bet I’ll be making a second creature for Sasha!) that will provide help and support in a business that can be pretty overwhelming. 

Major thanks again to Sasha:)

Hello, Goodbye, July!

Why, hello, little blog…so nice to see you again.

July has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It’s been a fine month…full of hard work and lots of catch-up from the end of the school year. For all of the work, there’s been lots of play, too…including my family’s annual hiking trip to the lovely Berkshire mountains.

Of course, a little piece The Handmade Classroom came with me…I sent this set of worry dolls about midway through the week.

And then it was to the Outer Banks with my other family…

Once again, the Handmade Classroom came with me…a day and half recovering from a killer sunburn (note to self: 20SPF sunscreen applied once in the morning may work well when you’re walking in the woods, not so much on the beach)  provided perfect opportunity to sketch, dream and stitch. These Oregon Trail sisters went out as a gift from a customer in Oregon to her sister in Glens Falls, NY (only 25 minutes from my house!).

How did July treat you? Did you bring a little piece of your studio somewhere new?

1 Week To Go…

So I did it. I took the plunge and put in my resignation in at school.

Happy dances!!!

Yes, Darth Vader lords over all the happenings in The Handmade Classroom.

Well, happy that I will be now embarking on the adventure of supporting myself with my art. Yes, folks, this will be my last week of having only the blurry-eyed, wee hours of the morning for work in THC,  and conforming to a schedule someone else makes for me! WOOOOOO!

Sad, though, that I will be leaving a building full of inspiring people behind, as well as a class of twenty children whose lives I’ve played a little part in as their Pre-K teacher. But I’m already planning awesome art activities for them for when I go visit.

Breaking free, living the dream…the one where you live week to week, not knowing if you’re going to be able to pay rent (which I’m lucky enough not to have to pay at the moment)…literally making a living with my own two hands. I really can’t describe how it feels. I’m a little nervous. I’m a lot excited. I’m ready to work hard and look people dead in the eye when they ask “what do you do?” and say “I’m an artist. I have my own business. I make everything with my own two hands. I believe 100% in what I am offering to the world.”

There will be a multitude of new things happening…including my most recent move toward all eco-friendly packaging and a NEW STUDIO!! Don’t worry, you’ll be kept well in the loop with photos and the usual long-winded commentary!

There will also be lots and lots new creations in all forms rolling off my table.

New pomegranate tree in progress.

New strawberry patch in progress.

A character from one of my favorite folk songs…it’s a surprise!

But The Handmade Classroom will still remain…itself. A place of learning and imagination, where old stories are told in new ways.

On this auspicious occasion, what do I do? Make a mix CD of course. It will accompany me on my car rides to and from work on my last 5 days of having a ‘real’ job.

The theme of this collection, if anything, is passion. And perhaps the notion of breaking free; passion for what you believe in, shown in whatever way seems best and most effective to you, while breaking free of the confines of what people around you may find ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable.’ Some are protest songs against war and social injustice, others are simply snapshots of the world at the time they were written. Either way, they are inspired and inspiring pieces of writing…and I thought I would share them with you.

1. Lay Down – Mott the Hoople
2. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
3. The Rising – Bruce Springsteen
4. Ship in the Sky – Woody Guthrie
5. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
6. Hurricane – Bob Dylan
7. Woman King – Iron & Wine
8. Power to the People – John Lennon
9. I Shall Be Released (Live) – Joan Baez
10. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out – Cat Stevens
11. My Back Pages (Live) – Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn

Check out this video of the performance live at Madison Square Garden in 1992 (a classic for rock fans, and      completely old news…but it still makes me smile!)

12.  Sky Pilot – Eric Burdon & The Animals
13.  The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Simon and Garfunkel
14.  Lost Woman Song – Ani DiFranco
15.  Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
16.  Cliquot – Beirut
16.  A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
17.  Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) – The Byrds

Mmmm…this is a good one! It makes me want to take a drive tomorrow somewhere just to listen to it. But I won’t. Not when there are so many things make for the lovely folks who continue to graciously support The Handmade Classroom. Cheers, as always!