Monday, December 14, 2009

Mark Your Calendars



Tomorrow, December 15th is Reiter8's last day for holiday shipping. All orders placed after 12/15 will be shipped on or shortly after 1/5/10.

These lovely calendars are made by the wild unknown who were near me at the Divine Studios Craft Sale yesterday. The limited edition watercolor feather calendar (above) is striking and the lyrics calendar (below) is a wonderful collection of illustrations and sweet lyrics starting the year off with Bob Dylan and 'I could hold you for a million years'. Both are worth a closer look.



Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

It'll Be Divine


Just in:
I'll be at the Holiday Craft Sale at Divine Studios this Sunday, December 13 from 11-6. Organized by Marcie McGoldrick, a talented ceramist and Editorial Director for Holiday and Crafts at Martha Stewart Living, this event promises a unique mix of quality handmade gifts perfect for everyone on your list.

Divine studios is located on the 6th floor at 21 East 4th Street at Lafayette in Manhattan. View map.



Thanks to Jane at Foxy & Winston for the tip. She'll be there too with her sweet holiday card sets, organic children's clothing and more!

Come by, shop and say hello!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Go Gifted




And we're off!
There's a great group of vendors here at the Brooklyn Flea's Gifted Market at 20 East 4th at Lafayette Street in Manhattan. Market hours: today 12-8, Sat 12-8 and Sunday 12-7. Check out the Brooklyn Flea's website for a full list of vendors, additional dates and hours.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Ready, Set ...



Early load in at the Gifted Market today was a breeze (thank you Brooklyn Flea!). It was great to see old friends, catch up, leisurely unpack and set up. Trust me, this is going to be a great market to come to.

Check out the piece that Channel 7 Eyewitness News broadcast this evening about the market:






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Enjoy your Thanksgiving where ever it takes you.

Monday, November 16, 2009

WIP - Sail Messenger Bags




Just completed another batch of recycled sail messenger bags. Couldn't resist taking a few outside today to photograph. It's a beautiful day in Brooklyn -just look at that sparkly water!

I love the sail seam stitching that's an original feature of the sail these bags were cut from. It's got a double row of olive zig zag stitching and a two thin red stripes down the center. These bags a lined with chocolate colored organic cotton canvas. I'm loving this combination and really tried to emphasize it on these bags.

This batch (and more!) will come with me to Brooklyn Flea's Gifted Market where I'll be selling from Nov 27-29 and Dec 2-6. Gifted will be located indoors (yeah!) at the old Tower Records Annex building at 20 E 4th Street and promises to be a fantastic' market. Can't make it there? Additional upcycled sail messenger bags are listed in my Etsy shop.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Feeling Lucky?

Well, are you? I am! Thanks to Kay from lilidrawspictures who choose to feature this 'Lucky Number 7" Reiter8 bag in her post on Cutable today.



She also features this great card from letterpress.



Check out the rest of Kay's picks at Cuteable.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Eco Friendly Holiday




Get ready, get set ... go?

I do like having Thanksgiving BEFORE Christmas, but there's a whiff of Christmas holiday in the air so I thought I'd get these upcycled sail stockings out there for you early birds. (OK the real early birds were shopping in August along side my mom.)

I had so much fun photographing them in Julia Mack's lovely home. Julia is an interior designer - be sure to check out her very friendly and tip filled kitchen redesign video. Her dog Trixi (aka The Trixinator) was a lovely assistant and once the lens was pointed her way, she knew exactly what to do.




Recycled sail stockings in two sizes with red stars or stripes currently available on Etsy.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Reclaimed Sail Messenger Bags





It was a little tricky working with that afternoon sun yesterday, but fun nonetheless.

Finally, a batch of messenger bags are finished, photographed and being updated in the Etsy shop. This batch is lined with navy organic cotton canvas that has been pre-washed and has a lovely broken in feeling to it. Check it out!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Trash or Treasure?


What do you do when your vinyl banner wasn't printed quite right?

If you're Michelle from Cloud 9 Fabrics, you email me. I'm not one for letting something fun like that go to waste; soon it was sitting in my studio staring me down with potential.

Here's a first glimpse at some of the treasure:




Be sure to check out Michelle's collections of organic fabrics. Her current collection is entitled 'My Happy Garden'.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the 'By the Sea' collection which will start shipping in March 2010.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Rockin' and Rollin'



Spotted this cradle made by Beaver Boatworks on Etsy.
Trained at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Townsend, WA, Amy of Beaver Boatworks is now in Austin, TX raising her son and is applying her boat building skills to children's furniture. Lucky for the kids!

And when you child out grows it and is ready to roll, you can purchase the wagon converter:


Sweet!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Because She Can


Never underestimate a captain when there's the promise of warmer weather (tomorrow's Brooklyn forecast: Sunny and 69!) and fair winds. One more Brooklyn Public Sail has just been planned for the Sloop Clearwater on Wed, October 21st (yep, that's tomorrow!)

The sunset sail (last one out of Brooklyn this year) is planned to leave the Fairway ferry dock at 5:30.

Kids and adults can cast a net and catch fish in New York Harbor - yes, real live fish!

Are you weighing going to the gym vs. going on the sail? No worries! Enjoy both a light workout AND a sail: help set the 3000 sq. ft. Mainsail - Heave, Ho!

If you choose, bring a picnic and a bottle of wine.

Partake in everything or nothing at all. No matter what, you'll enjoy a peaceful evening on the water amid your busy week.

Because this sail is a little shorter than their normal sails, the prices have been adjusted: $40 for Adults, $30 if you're a CW member and $10 for kids under twelve!

Reserve your place by calling 1-800-67-SLOOP x107 or just stop by the boat at the Fairway ferry dock and speak to a crew member. To find out more about membership, programs and future events go to www.clearwater.org

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Welcome Back!


Be a part of the official Welcome Back to Brooklyn for the Sloop Clearwater this Sat October 17th. There are a series of events planned that will appeal to all ages:

3-6 pm: The Sloop sets sail from Manhattan at 3pm and arrives in Brooklyn at 6pm. Pricing: $60/adults; $40/members; $20/kids. Reserve your spot and find more info at Clearwater.org.

5pm to 6pm: Start your evening off with a family-friendly rendez-vous aboard the Historic Waterfront Museum, a beautifully restored showboat barge and floating classroom. Catch great views of the historic tall ship Clearwater as she returns to the Brooklyn waterfront. Donations accepted; snacks, music and fun provided.

6pm-7:30pm: Welcome the Sloop to the dock (located behind Fairway), then hop aboard for a tour of the deck and meet n’ mingle with the Captain and crew!

8pm – 10pm: Head around the corner with the crew to Sunny’s Bar, a Red Hook mainstay for sailors for over one hundred years. A suggested donation of $5 or $10 gets you more great music, refreshments, and a warm mug of mulled cider.
Sunny’s weekly bluegrass jam follows close behind, so be sure and bring an instrument along!

See you there!

Blogcation


Hello again. Time flies. I've been happily busy - living and working and the ol' blog just fell off the end of the 'to do' list time after time. Hey, it happens. But, I'm back.

What to share first?? Below is a picture from the Newport International Boat Show that I attended in mid September. I kept finding that the scene was too much to take in on the wide angle and was repeated drawn to the places where the boats meet the water. I'll be back tomorrow (do I dare promise?) with more.



Monday, September 14, 2009

NY400 and Harbor Day



Spent a fantastic day on the Sloop Clearwater yesterday. Starting in Brooklyn, we sailed in the NY Harbor then up the Hudson River to the 79th street boat basin in a flotilla of historic and modern dutch and american ships. This sail was part of the NY400 Harbor Day celebration commemorating Henry Hudson's first sail up the Hudson 400 years ago.

The weather was outstanding and the water was sparkling. By the end of the day I'm sure I wasn't the only one fantasizing about living on a boat. Ah, the lure and romance of a sail!

More photos on flickr.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Truck Farm


Truck Farm photo by Ian Cheney.

I have passed this parked truck many times on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook this summer. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis had the ingenious idea of growing veggies in the flat bead of a 1986 Dodge truck. And what ingenious idea is not complete by filming it these days? Truck Farm is no exception and has documented it's progress with a solar powered cab mounted time lapse camera. The folks at Wicked Delicate have created a series of videos complete with quirky soundtracks that sing the story of Truck Farm.





For $20 you can subscribe to the farm are received an 'unknowable amount' produce, a dvd of the short film and an invitation to the WD Truck Farm Summer Picnic. Not close enough to picnic? Subscribe anyway and you'll get a bottle of smokin' hot sauce made from the Fall habaneros pepper crop.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Glenn Robinson - NYer of the Week!

Congrats to Glenn Robinson, founder of Bags for the People (BFTP) for being named this week's NYer of the Week by NY1.


'Glenn Robinson used to sell vegetables at the stand in the Union Square and hand them over to customers in tens of thousands of plastic bags.

"We were giving out plastic bags left and right and it just seemed like a problem to me and I was part of the problem, I was actually handing them out," says Robinson.

So five months ago, Robinson started making cloth bags to give to people at the stand. The idea took off and he started the organization "Bags For The People," which holds sewing workshops for the public and in schools.'

With sewing machines fueled by solar panels, Glenn is sewing live at farmers markets. Find the full schedule here. Whether permitting he'll be at Union Square Farmers Market today, Saturday, August 22 sewing from 10:00 - 2:00. BFTP will be sewing and giving away bags in conjunction with the soon to be released No Impact Man Documentary.




BFTP is a non profit and therefore depends on the generosity of people who can donate materials, time and funds. More on how you can support here.

Watch the full NY1 NYer of the Week video at NY1 online

Friday, August 21, 2009

Recycled Sail Christmas Stockings

I've had a custom request for a pair of upcycled sail Christmas stockings and didn't want to send them off with out proper documentation. I was trying to wrap my head around feeling festive for Christmas and it was a little tough since the heat index was something like 126 degrees in my non air-conditioned home yesterday - and again today, thank you very much!

So here they are:




I know that last photo needs poinsettias around the base of the fireplace. They are a little scarce in Brooklyn in late August.

I'm pleased with how the stockings came out: sturdy, clean and bright. Ready and waiting for Santa ... only 125 days to go! (But don't get me wrong - I LOVE people who plan ahead.) I will be making more stockings like these (in two sizes) and they will be for sale online by late September. I'll keep you posted. If you can't wait and want to reserve, drop me an email.

And now we return to your regularly scheduled summer...

Friday, August 7, 2009

Newly Listed

New in Reiter8's' Etsy shop:






This is a great group of bags with so many authentic sail features. Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

But, Wait! There's More!

The Sloop Clearwater has added an extra public sail to their schedule in Brooklyn! It's TONIGHT from 6-9. Bring a picnic and a bottle of wine and enjoy! Call 1-800-67-SLOOP x107 x107 or just stop by the boat at the Fairway ferry dock and ask a crew member. Check it out:


Happy Sailing!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Clear Sailing





I had the good fortune to go for a sail on the Sloop Clearwater the morning it docked behind the Fairway at the end of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook Brooklyn. Sunny weather and gentle winds made for great harbor exploring.

I joined a summer day camp as they broke into smaller groups and cycled through different educational stations on the vessel lead by the knowledgeable crew that works great with kids. 'Our' net caught flounder, crab, mussels, and other small fish that they kids identified, discussed and touched. The kids learned about climate change, navigational charts, wind and water, sailing, safety and communal life on a boat. And we hoisted the sails - how could I forget!? - Heave Ho!

There was a moment of silence where everyone just stopped and listened - fantastic! Guitar sing-a-longs kept kids mesmerized as we docked once again in Brooklyn.

The Clearwater is schedule to be here through 8/3 for deck tours and sails Check out all the info on their website here. If you can't catch it this go around check the schedule for other dates and locations. It's a great experience. Not to be missed.

Thanks to the crew and Captain Sam for a fantastic sail!