Tiny Worlds (Part 1) in Queen Anne

Happy Friday! Remember when we talked about inspiration? The sun in Seattle is (as silly as this sounds) a very inspiring source for creativity. On a walk yesterday, I couldn't help but notice tiny worlds developing in the smallest of places: a moss meadow, a valley of tiny foliage, a field of greens. I photographed a few of my old porcelain + plastic friends in some little environments around the neighborhood. I hope these Tiny Worlds--the start of a new series--will inspire you!

What worlds are in your backyard?

Images by Andie Powers.

Artist Spotlight: White Elephant by Sipho Mabona

Lately, I've been having a hard time becoming inspired to create. I don't know what it is--Deadlines? Winter? Lack of sleep? However, conceptual origami artist, Sipho Mabona of Mabona Origami has turned a light bulb on in my brain. What an inspiring and fresh, new artist.

Image via Migros Magazin

Images via Sipho Mabona by Phillipp Schmidli.

Sipho's crowdfunding project (watch first video below) was successfully funded four months ago and, in what I can only imagine is record time, has produced his beautiful, life-size origami elephant--now on display in Art KKLB, Beromunster, Switzerland. I'm so excited to see what Sipho creates next. His ideas for future life-size animal origami pieces are awe-inspiring. Love that bear! Watch the videos below to grab some inspiration for yourself.

Fun Event: Wise Craft Book Launch at Drygoods Design!

One of our very good friends, Blair Stocker, is releasing her first book this weekend at Drygoods Design! This Saturday, the 8th of March, at 6pm--meet Emily and I in the Drygoods Studio where we'll be grabbing a copy of the book, getting it signed by Blair, having treats and drinks, plus learning fun projects from the book! We hope to see you there!

Drygoods Design
5308 Ballard Avenue NW,
Studio One Seattle, WA 98107
(through the Anchored Ship coffee shop and up the little flight of stairs to the left).

Crafty Project: Linoleum Block-Printed Geometric Onesie

The babies are coming--so many babies! Last week, we were given a few onesies that we were to decorate for a friend's brand new baby! He was coming soon (about two days after the shower!) so we needed a quick decor option and not a lot of fuss: linoleum blocks it is! We did a full tutorial on linoleum block printing last year, so definitely refer to those instructions if you are starting from scratch.

You will need:
• a linoleum block
• several onesies (in case you mess up)
• an ink brayer
• fabric ink (I used my old gocco fabric ink)
• a surface to pull ink--I used an acrylic sheet
• a pencil
• linoleum cutter
• not pictured--an iron and several sheets of paper to iron over

First, draw your design onto your linoleum block. It doesn't matter if you mess up (see my weird floating triangle in there?) the cutting is what really matters.

When you have your design exactly how you want it, use a "small V" cutting attachment to go around your design lines. Once you've cut your lines, use a larger "U" to dig out the areas that you do not want to stamp. I even used the knife portion of the cutting tool to remove full areas that I did not need, which is up to you!

After you are finished carving your stamp, pull some of the ink with the brayer until it is evenly spread onto the roller. Lightly roll over your stamp (or if you are using an ink pad, pat the stamp against the pad) in order to see any mistakes you might need to remove on the stamp.

After you're finished making sure your stamp is cut perfectly, stamp a few times on a sheet of paper or a loose piece of fabric to test. If the impression is to your liking, prepare your onesie by placing a thick piece of card stock or an acrylic sheet (as shown here) inside the onesie to protect the back from getting ink on it.

(I also taped the sleeves and sides to the table in order to avoid any wrinkling.)

When you're ready to stamp, pull a thin layer of ink over your stamp and press it to your surface. Create your design and allow the fabric to dry. Once the impressions are dry, remove your acrylic sheet (if you used paper, you may leave it in there), and cover the design with a sheet of paper. Iron on high heat for about one minute to set the design.

Now you're all finished! Wrap that gift up (a onesie with a funsie for big sis) with some baker's twine and you're all set! Thanks to Madi and Sarah for the onesies and lovely shower to Jaqui (and baby Enzo).

Those Girls: Where, Oh Where, Are Andie & Emily??

We know. We've been absent from this blog BIG TIME lately. We're not even sure that you are still out there reading this! But if you are, we oh-so-thank-you. Last year was a roller coaster for Assemble. There were high times, low times, and all of the in-between. We wanted to reach out to our faithful friends and customers and let you know what exactly has been keeping us silent for the past couple of months.

Brainstorming session at Top Pot Doughnuts, Queen Anne

First, some "bad" news. We don't see this as bad news, and hope that you don't either, but if it has to be classified either way--then this is it! If you've been sticking around here lately, you might notice that we have been selling off all of our non-Assemble inventory at 50% (or more!) off. Emily and I have to decided to focus our attention exclusively on the Assemble-made products. Our stamps and kits are now our main focus in the shop, and we won't be taking on any other outside designers. The designers and product lines that we have carried in our shop for the past four years make up some of the most special people we have ever come into contact with, and are so glad that we had the pleasure of working with them. But it's time--to focus directly on what's best for us.

Which leads us to the good news! (Drum roll...........) We are writing a book! We have acquired literary representation and are now putting the finishing touches on our first book summary and outline. This has, of course, put a lot of pressure on us to focus all of our writing talent toward the project at hand, so our blog has been set on the back-burner for that past few months. Sometimes we come back here and sigh a little sigh, knowing that all of our blogging energy has been turned toward the pages of our upcoming book. We'll have more announcements for that project in the future, so stay tuned.

It's one of my (Andie) personal goals to start visiting this blog a little more regularly, despite using our allotted "word count" in our book preparations. We miss you all, we miss our projects and recipes, interviews and Those Girls interactions. Don't worry--we haven't left, it's just a slow-blogging momentum at the moment.

Stay tuned.
Love, Andie & Emily

News + Everything Must Go Sale! 50% or more off!

We've got some news and amazing deals, and we're so excited to share them with you! After operating our shop online for the past year, we've made a few changes regarding our future: mostly putting the importance of our little business first and foremost.

We've decided to bid farewell to all of our favorite designers and focus exclusively on in the shop. This is great for you--we've lowered all of our designer and wholesaled items 50% or MORE on the website now (no code needed, the prices are reduced already!). Hurry up and grab all these great deals while they are still there!

And lastly, we are going to focus the next year on an amazing project that has been a long time coming--we are writing a book! Most days, you'll be able to find us in our favorite Ballard coffee shop, Bauhaus, writing away at our laptops. We're so excited about this new adventure and can't wait to share more.

Check out 50% or more off here.

Andie & Emily

Thank You Cards to Get You Writing!

Have you sent out your holiday thank you cards yet? No?!? --neither have we. Which is why we've rounded up a few of our very favorites for you! Grab a few of these and get to writing, to all of those amazing friends and family who thought to bring you gifts. Write them a sweet note on one of these gems:

1. A favorite modern letterpress: Cactus Black Thank You card from Iron Curtain Press.
2. Red Cap Cards sweet Squirrel Thanks illustrated greeting card by Meg Hunt.
3. Little G! Cute Tank-You Little G Thank You card from local artist, Cub Report Card.
4. Simple and sleek: Mr. Boddington's Studio Banner Thank You card.
5. Little hedgehog says Thanks for the Mushy-room! Love this one, by Egg Press.

And a sweet thank you to all of you, plus an oldie but a goodie: writing a handwritten letter. Happy New Year!