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Totella

Totella_1-04[tote-el-uh]

noun
1. a light, small, portable tote bag made out of abandon umbrellas found on the streets of Brooklyn.

When the wind and rain start to pick up; those are the days to hunt abandon umbrellas. The umbrella fabric has so much potential for repurposing/upcycling and is eco-friendly. The material is sturdy, waterproof and even fashionable. Umbrella’s come in all sizes from golf to child offering flexibility to the scale and style of bag you can create.

Not only are you repurposing fabric but minimizing your use of plastic bags once your Totella (tote bag out of an umbrella) is complete.

Below please find a few easy steps to create your own, if you’re strapped for time here’s a link to buy them online: Etsy

What you’ll need to begin:
– Abandon umbrella
– Sewing scissors or cutting wheel
– Pins
– Ruler or tape measure
– Cutting mat
– Sewing machine
– Thread
– Iron

tools

Step 1:
Carefully snip the umbrella fabric free from the skeleton of the umbrella. Unscrew the button at the top of the umbrella and wash the fabric.
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Step 2:
Turn the umbrella fabric inside out. Fold it in half and pin the two sides together along the edges.

Step 3:
With a yardstick or tape measure, measure out the width you want for your bag plus one inch for the seams. (In the photo below, I measured 17 inches across, so the finished bag is 16 inches wide). Next iron your seams, pin and sew.
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Step 4:
To make the handles, cut pieces of the excess umbrella fabric by measuring about 2½ wide and 15 inches long. If you don’t have enough material, make your strip smaller. Fold each piece in half lengthwise and pin (the material should be inside out). Sew a seam on one piece and then turn right side out. Repeat with the second piece.
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Step 5:
Determine where you want to attach the handles to the bag. Tuck the edges of the fabric under and pin the ends on the inside of the bag. I like to use the extra fabric to cover the handle seams offering additional support.
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Step 6:
Roll it up and now do some shopping!


Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side)


Stop-motion, felt and Spike Jonze all have a special place in my soul. So when I stumbled upon Jonze’s new tragicomic stop-motion animation, I watched it over and over again. The story takes place on an enchanting shelf in Parisian bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. A breath-taking location—perfect for a tragic, lustful animation with a happy ending. The project sprung to life after Jonze requested a Catcher in the Rye embroidered piece to put on his wall from epic designer Olympia Le-Tan. Le-Tan asked for a film in return. 3,000 hand-cut pieces and six months later, voila!

Watch. Enjoy. 


Alphabet! Keychain Collection by Mike Davis

One of our favorite local designers – Mike Davis of Burlesque Design – created not only a cute, but functional design! Originally created as a poster design and gift for his niece, these little letters are now a series of vinyl zipper pull keychains for Kidrobot.

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Photos from the June Release Party at ROBOTlove


StreetArtLocator.com

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The value of art found on concrete walls, chain linked fences, trains, light posts, and mailboxes is constantly debated across the globe. The debate has only heightened with the rise of artists like Banksy who are curating shows in places like the Bristol’s City Museum and Art Gallery.

Andy Clark has also done a lot to continue the street-art debate. In fact, he’s created a vessel for it to live globally and permanently. Clark mixed Google Maps and online networking to create STREETARTLOCATOR.COM.  Here, creators and observers of street art can spread their messages to the world. Anyone can post images on the site. Clark categorizes pieces as graffiti, gallery, painting, stickers, stencils, sculptures, and installation to help users navigate the site.

For those of us who believe in street art, he’s provided a window into countless cultures. “The most arresting pieces are the cries for help, where it’s someone’s only way of communicating – in Southeast Asia, for example, where graffiti is subject to capital punishment,” said Clark in the Summer 2009 issue of Antenna.

The medium is the message.  – Marshall McLuhan


Everything’s All Right

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Not only is “Tout Va Bien” a mantra of mine it’s a brilliant movie. I’m selling these tote bags for $25. – all proceeds go to  student loans. Please contact me if you are interested.

The one color screen print has modern approach to a 70’s fashion aesthetic on an organic cotton tote. They are perfect for going to the market, library, and beach.


Desprately Seeking

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This is a collection of typography found in my everyday life.
Type is all around us: signs, signage, hand-lettered signs, and anything that communicates to you. Some of it is decaying to where it barely communicates, others unintentionally, and most of them beautiful to me. I tried to capture images of signs and type that are even meant for our subconscious. Found type are like instructions to the way we exist, communicate and navigate in out daily life.


Commercial Interruption

People like to know what they’re buying and employers like to know who they are hiring.

It should be no surprise that online advertising for personal promotion is as important as the off-line world. Off-line world already contains a mass of advertising standards: resume, cover letter, design sample, billboards; 30 sheet posters; bus and taxi displays; the list goes on.

While thinking about how I was going to make myself stand out from numerous advertising channels at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Portfolio Day; television came to mind. Consumers love to get their information from a 30 second time slot; so should employers.

I created a 30 second commercial to convey four of my core values to employers efficiently and creatively. Firstly, I edited a two hour film on 1950’s technology boom to it’s core inventions, this representing an era of innovation and productivity, similar to the boom within my own skills.

Next, distinguishing my skills core values.
KNOWLEDGE OF WORK: establishing my understanding of the design language on many different medium types: video, audio, and print.

SKILLS IN INSTRUCTING: tutoring for the Bachelor of Science: Visualization Program and speaking to Senior Graphic Design students about professional practice.

SKILLS IN LEARNING: displaying technique in multiple platforms.

SKILLS IN IMPROVING METHODS: taking an analytical mind for: research, prototyping, clarity, and emotion to design.

So for the same reason that you listen to advertising supported radio, watch TV with ‘limited commercial interruptions’ – it enables us to obtain something of value for ‘free’.
Please enjoy these values for free.


Cut Throat

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I made this with two things in mind – the economic times and Sagmeister’s text on the body. We are all trying to make it happen within this period of restraint. In these times I reflect back to the freedom of my childhood and rejoice on the simple pleasures.