Monday, October 1, 2012
{SUMMER MARKET!} clothed and open
Sunday, September 9, 2012
{BACK-TO-SCHOOL} Vintage Sale
Madam Chino and Fox Fawns present...
A Back-to-School VINTAGE SALE
this coming weekend at the East Side Green Market
see you there!
xx,
madamchino
A Back-to-School VINTAGE SALE
this coming weekend at the East Side Green Market
see you there!
xx,
madamchino
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
{HOVERCRAFT 2012!} Submissions Deadline September 1st!
ALOHA Friends!
Sign up for HOVERCRAFT (again) this year! HOVERCRAFT is a low fee, emerging artist friendly, one-day holiday shopping event in it's 3rd year, hosted at Sweet Water Organics in Bay View on Saturday December 1st 2012. For full details and to follow our blog visit:
www.hovercraftmke.blogspot.com
MORE INFO about applying:
Potential vendors need to email HoverCraftMKE@gmail.com by September 1st with the following information:
The subject line of your email should read: 2012 Application
Your name, your business name, your website (if applicable), your email address and your phone number.
3-5 images of your work, a link to your website, or a detailed description of what you intend to make.
If you want to share a booth you will need to apply together and you will need to supply Hover Craft with all this information for both vendors.
Vendor Information:
There is no application fee!
Booths will be approximately 8 x 8 and will be $50
To be able to vend at Hover Craft potential vendors need to be available from load in to load out on Saturday, December 1st.
There will be no late load-ins or early load outs.
All applications must be submitted to Hover Craft by September 1st.
You will hear from us on September 7th.
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOOOOON!
xo,
HOVERCRAFTY LADIES
Monday, July 30, 2012
{DIVA/DIVO} How to Dress for an Interview
The intimidating feeling of being judged on presentation causes living solely to avoid it, never seeking jobs that require an interview, distaining all judgments, fearing formality and normality, and describing joining a white collar workforce as "selling out." The surprise comes from learning that dressing for business isn't about who looks the nicest; it's about making other people feel comfortable about you, and themselves in your presence. The goal is to be confident in clothing that "works" for you, and with some cunning thriftery does not have you solely working for the wardrobe.
Starting off in a comfortable outfit. Jenky old jeans, low cut tank, bed head, not interview ready at all!
FBLA, Future Business Leaders of America. A flash-non-fiction story: A high school friend and I joined the FBLA statewide competition without even reading the requirements for our project. We showed up in any old outfit, touting a business plan for a non-profit charity and gave away apples to the judges. To our surprise, on arrival, everyone had projects wrapped in tin-foil for the "millenium" theme to which we were unaware, and were dressed in "boring business" attire. When we got our score cards back, Nadine and I were disqualified from our segment, not for our mal-aligned project, but for "inappropriate dress" based on her "open-toed shoes."
Walking a mile in certain shoes is not desirable. Do not compromise comfort for a willingness to please.
Oxfords are a safe shoe-bet for business. They come in many colors and designs, including cut-outs and high-tops or ankle boots, men's and women's. They aren't too clunky, and they look great with skirts and dresses as an alternative to heels.
That day, the truth about business dress became clear. It appeared to this young compartmentalizing eye as boring because the goal is to create a shared platform. In this way business clothing "codifies similarities," removing intimidation and separation from potential clients, bosses and colleagues. Seeing similarities and/or not distracting with our differences allows us to stay focused and efficient in the workplace. In a world where everyone has their differences, at least we can come together through business dress.
What is the focus?
The end to the means of an interview is (hopefully) the work that we do as a result of having a job. The quality of the work produced is a product of what is in our minds. The seat of knowledge should be emphasized using color and accessories in a way that will draw eyes to the face, not away. Men wear ties to lead the gaze to the face. Jewelry shouldn't be excessively large, and color should be brought to the face with make up that accents clothing. Eliminate top scraggles by having hair in an up-do.
Here are a few tips on how to french-braid hair:
This is french braiding in a crown. One can learn easily how to do this on any braiding website, but the main key is shown in the middle photo.
1. Braiding is about muscle memory. Remember which fingers are pulling new hair. To keep it simple, only add hair with the same fingers and hands. Practice being rhythmic.
2. Once braided so far in one direction, how can the hands move onto the other side of the head to finish the braid with out letting go? This technique is dubbed "jumping rope" where the elbows get thrown over your head and the braid slightly twists.
3. Continue the braid on the other side of the head, adding hair until there isn't any more, and braid the ends, wrapping it around and securing it with a barrette over the gap from where it was started.
Already appearing more stable-minded
As a school teacher children focus less on their work when they want to know if the cowboy boots and braids point to a personal history as a farmer. Figuring out how to keep children concentrated on their work and not on today's outfit fortifies your goals.
Get with the Program:
There are numerous ways to screw up the dressing aspect of the interview. Over-thinking things is a common mistake, and though one may be stretching oneself to create a first impression that looks good and conforms, it is easy to blur the lines with "a night out" or "wall flower."
Wrong #1: Be too boring
This is a completely acceptable classic business shirt and trousers, however it is baggy and rather unmemorable. This is not a BAD choice, however it lacks focal point and accessories, and these clothes do not fit the figure in a flattering way.
Fix #1: Add Some Class
A simple coat brings this up a notch and completes the outfit. A nice necklace, chain belt, subtle earrings, and a bracelet or watch spice up "boring basics."
Wrong #2: Be Too Revealing or Too Distracting
Sadly, despite current trends in lace and sheer, it is not appropriate to distract and excite the interviewer. Additionally, wearing wild patterns on the exterior can keep the eyes off of the main focal point: your face. Symbolically these overly busy motifs, despite being in classic cuts, could reflect poorly on your personality by revealing your willingness to indulge yourself and others in diversions.
Fix #2: Keep Calm
Not all patterns are bad. Here, a wildly patterned shirt with an appropriate neckline is paired up with a navy cropped coat and a neutral mauve silk skirt. The symbolic reading of a busy pattern under a calm neutral block color is that the busy mind keeps a cool facade. The neckline of the coat leads the eye back up to the face.
Wrong #3: Texture Clash
While this outfit is made of fine fabrics in appropriate cuts and fittings, there is over emphasis of the tops through texture clashing. Granted this is not the worst offense, each exquisite piece is decentralized in comparison to the defining space; another exquisite piece.
Starting off in a comfortable outfit. Jenky old jeans, low cut tank, bed head, not interview ready at all!
FBLA, Future Business Leaders of America. A flash-non-fiction story: A high school friend and I joined the FBLA statewide competition without even reading the requirements for our project. We showed up in any old outfit, touting a business plan for a non-profit charity and gave away apples to the judges. To our surprise, on arrival, everyone had projects wrapped in tin-foil for the "millenium" theme to which we were unaware, and were dressed in "boring business" attire. When we got our score cards back, Nadine and I were disqualified from our segment, not for our mal-aligned project, but for "inappropriate dress" based on her "open-toed shoes."
Walking a mile in certain shoes is not desirable. Do not compromise comfort for a willingness to please.
Oxfords are a safe shoe-bet for business. They come in many colors and designs, including cut-outs and high-tops or ankle boots, men's and women's. They aren't too clunky, and they look great with skirts and dresses as an alternative to heels.
That day, the truth about business dress became clear. It appeared to this young compartmentalizing eye as boring because the goal is to create a shared platform. In this way business clothing "codifies similarities," removing intimidation and separation from potential clients, bosses and colleagues. Seeing similarities and/or not distracting with our differences allows us to stay focused and efficient in the workplace. In a world where everyone has their differences, at least we can come together through business dress.
What is the focus?
The end to the means of an interview is (hopefully) the work that we do as a result of having a job. The quality of the work produced is a product of what is in our minds. The seat of knowledge should be emphasized using color and accessories in a way that will draw eyes to the face, not away. Men wear ties to lead the gaze to the face. Jewelry shouldn't be excessively large, and color should be brought to the face with make up that accents clothing. Eliminate top scraggles by having hair in an up-do.
Here are a few tips on how to french-braid hair:
This is french braiding in a crown. One can learn easily how to do this on any braiding website, but the main key is shown in the middle photo.
1. Braiding is about muscle memory. Remember which fingers are pulling new hair. To keep it simple, only add hair with the same fingers and hands. Practice being rhythmic.
2. Once braided so far in one direction, how can the hands move onto the other side of the head to finish the braid with out letting go? This technique is dubbed "jumping rope" where the elbows get thrown over your head and the braid slightly twists.
3. Continue the braid on the other side of the head, adding hair until there isn't any more, and braid the ends, wrapping it around and securing it with a barrette over the gap from where it was started.
Already appearing more stable-minded
As a school teacher children focus less on their work when they want to know if the cowboy boots and braids point to a personal history as a farmer. Figuring out how to keep children concentrated on their work and not on today's outfit fortifies your goals.
Get with the Program:
There are numerous ways to screw up the dressing aspect of the interview. Over-thinking things is a common mistake, and though one may be stretching oneself to create a first impression that looks good and conforms, it is easy to blur the lines with "a night out" or "wall flower."
Wrong #1: Be too boring
This is a completely acceptable classic business shirt and trousers, however it is baggy and rather unmemorable. This is not a BAD choice, however it lacks focal point and accessories, and these clothes do not fit the figure in a flattering way.
Fix #1: Add Some Class
A simple coat brings this up a notch and completes the outfit. A nice necklace, chain belt, subtle earrings, and a bracelet or watch spice up "boring basics."
Wrong #2: Be Too Revealing or Too Distracting
Sadly, despite current trends in lace and sheer, it is not appropriate to distract and excite the interviewer. Additionally, wearing wild patterns on the exterior can keep the eyes off of the main focal point: your face. Symbolically these overly busy motifs, despite being in classic cuts, could reflect poorly on your personality by revealing your willingness to indulge yourself and others in diversions.
Fix #2: Keep Calm
Not all patterns are bad. Here, a wildly patterned shirt with an appropriate neckline is paired up with a navy cropped coat and a neutral mauve silk skirt. The symbolic reading of a busy pattern under a calm neutral block color is that the busy mind keeps a cool facade. The neckline of the coat leads the eye back up to the face.
Wrong #3: Texture Clash
While this outfit is made of fine fabrics in appropriate cuts and fittings, there is over emphasis of the tops through texture clashing. Granted this is not the worst offense, each exquisite piece is decentralized in comparison to the defining space; another exquisite piece.
Fitted, comfortable, length-appropriate skirt, richly textured light-weight neutral silvery swing coat, and a deep violet dramatically bibbed tank provide a lot to look at, perhaps too much for a premier interview.
Fix #3: Local Focal
Focal points are made visible with contrast. Define your best piece by setting it off next to a less competitive texture or pattern. Switching either the jacket or the shirt makes this outfit a win because it isn't too flashy and emphasizes the key peice.
Know Your Goals, Dress for the Role:
Clothing is an expressive medium with transformative aspects that can be advantageously employed, effecting not only how other people see us, but how we feel about ourselves. Without sweatpants on, getting out of bed and sitting at a desk is less difficult, with the proper business clothes the mind becomes unoccupied with appearance and allows us to focus on the job at hand. In addition, how one looks and how one feels are reciprocally determined, or are equally affected by one another; if we look confident, we will feel confident and if we feel confident, we will look confident. Finding ways to control other peoples impressions as well as our own impressions of ourselves is the key to understanding "The Art of Getting Dressed."
Fix #3: Local Focal
Focal points are made visible with contrast. Define your best piece by setting it off next to a less competitive texture or pattern. Switching either the jacket or the shirt makes this outfit a win because it isn't too flashy and emphasizes the key peice.
Know Your Goals, Dress for the Role:
Clothing is an expressive medium with transformative aspects that can be advantageously employed, effecting not only how other people see us, but how we feel about ourselves. Without sweatpants on, getting out of bed and sitting at a desk is less difficult, with the proper business clothes the mind becomes unoccupied with appearance and allows us to focus on the job at hand. In addition, how one looks and how one feels are reciprocally determined, or are equally affected by one another; if we look confident, we will feel confident and if we feel confident, we will look confident. Finding ways to control other peoples impressions as well as our own impressions of ourselves is the key to understanding "The Art of Getting Dressed."
Monday, July 23, 2012
{REJEWELRY} Madam Chino Fixes Broken Jewelry
Since REJEWELRY Craft Night at Madam Chino's LOOK NOOK in July of 2011, Madam Chino has been collecting broken jewelry and recreating it into new items. Here are a few flickr picks from my most recent collections, original and available at the East Side Green Market here in Milwaukee, WI every Saturday...
Leather and Metal Chain Necklaces
Beaded Bolo Brooches
Reused Leather ID Tag Bracelets
Key Pairs Keeper Earrings
Watchband Rings
Timeless Watchband Lockets
Softy Watchband Rings
Leather and Metal Chain Necklaces
Beaded Bolo Brooches
Reused Leather ID Tag Bracelets
Key Pairs Keeper Earrings
Watchband Rings
Timeless Watchband Lockets
Softy Watchband Rings
Monday, July 16, 2012
{HOW-TO} make your own jacket buttons!
Finding affordable, consistent, used, larger jacket buttons can be challenging. New buttons can cost up to $6.00 a button, making it completely uneconomical to use in larger scale production. I decided making buttons was not a task too challenging for Madam Chino. Here's HOW!
First go to the hardware store and get a closet pole or dowel just the right size for you! The type of wood will be less important because you will want to polyurethane them for color and strength. Cut closet pole dowels down in 1/4" segments using a chop saw. Sawing slowly will ensure that the thinner wood will be cut smoothly. This photo is of the similar process using the chopsaw on branches for wooden ornaments cut at a 45, however buttons are just a straight cut. Marking the table of the saw with a piece of masking tape will help to ensure consistent measures.
Use a pre-existing button to center on the button cuts, and trace the holes
Use a regular drill to cut the holes, or a drill press if you have it! I was able to borrow this one from a friend:
Individually sand down the edges of each button
Attach each button to a wire hanger that has been cut down to a smaller size so that they will fit into the bucket of poly. I was able to create a few of these hangers to attach all 87 buttons and run them in sequence.
The button hangers can be dipped into a well stirred polyurethane paint bucket and hung to dry on a dowel over some wax paper. I would come back to the dripping hanger to dab the excess dripping off of the buttons before they would solidify. I dipped them about 3-4 times each.
Post-dip, the holes need to be re-punched, but not re-drilled. I used the drill press while it was off to punch them out again.
These buttons were used in the Madam Chino Spring Mens collection which can be viewed in the latter half of the post found HERE!
First go to the hardware store and get a closet pole or dowel just the right size for you! The type of wood will be less important because you will want to polyurethane them for color and strength. Cut closet pole dowels down in 1/4" segments using a chop saw. Sawing slowly will ensure that the thinner wood will be cut smoothly. This photo is of the similar process using the chopsaw on branches for wooden ornaments cut at a 45, however buttons are just a straight cut. Marking the table of the saw with a piece of masking tape will help to ensure consistent measures.
Use a pre-existing button to center on the button cuts, and trace the holes
Use a regular drill to cut the holes, or a drill press if you have it! I was able to borrow this one from a friend:
Individually sand down the edges of each button
Attach each button to a wire hanger that has been cut down to a smaller size so that they will fit into the bucket of poly. I was able to create a few of these hangers to attach all 87 buttons and run them in sequence.
The button hangers can be dipped into a well stirred polyurethane paint bucket and hung to dry on a dowel over some wax paper. I would come back to the dripping hanger to dab the excess dripping off of the buttons before they would solidify. I dipped them about 3-4 times each.
Post-dip, the holes need to be re-punched, but not re-drilled. I used the drill press while it was off to punch them out again.
These buttons were used in the Madam Chino Spring Mens collection which can be viewed in the latter half of the post found HERE!
Monday, July 9, 2012
{RENEGADE BROOKLYN} a day late and a buck more
Traveling 3 hours by subway and bus to LaGuardia Airport on a Friday night to discover that a fire in the air traffic control center was forestalling over half of the flights from departing, that I had a 6 hour line concluding my departure wouldn't be till Sunday, alas preventing me from participating in the MKE Summer Solstice Market, I can't say I was all THAT excited. HOWEVER, getting a phone message from my school informing me that I would have my job back next fall, and an email from RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR reminding me that Renegade Brooklyn would be that weekend resolved my sentiments. Besides, who doesn't want 2 extra days of vacation?
Having participated in Renegade Brooklyn two summers prior and driving all the way from Milwaukee WI in a rental car with Madam Chino goodies, I had an extra appreciation as an onlooker. This year it was in East River State Park, along the water in Brooklyn NYC.
As an artist and crafter it is hard to get the opportunity to relax and take in the visual and tactile textures of other crafters. Here are a few of the favorites I've chosen based on uniqueness and originality!
HARP AND THISTLE STITCHERY mini rug hooking
ERIN is the shop owner who does mini rug hooking and converts the finished pieces into all kinds of darling accessories. What a neat process! She sat out front with a hand-hooked name tag, and showed onlookers how she works.
HARP and THISTLE STITCHERY SHOP
DIRTSA STUDIO chalkboard scroll banners
These ladies had such a fun interactive idea I was immediately drawn to their booth. Unpictured, there was a map of the USA where people could put an X on their hometowns, and by the time I arrived, three Milwaukeeans had already Xed out our town. What a cool way to track info in a thematic way.
DIRTSA STUDIO blog
THIEF AND BANDIT geometry for your mind and body
I was introduced to Thief and Bandit when I was at Brooklyn Renegade two years ago. The owner Amie came to my booth and offered me a braided ribbon-clamped necklace in trade for one of my hand-printed woodgrain tanks. I was so flattered and excited! Thief and Bandit hand makes and screen prints "all-over" patterns all of their own shirts, a time consuming task well worth the results. This year they made little cruiser skateboards too!
THIEF and BANDIT website
ALLISON WILDER sweet fanny pax
This lady makes the coolest contemporary fanny packs I've ever seen. She appears to do much more than that, as most artists do, but you can check out her blog and support her work by getting one of her shop items on etsy!
ALISON WILDER website/artkive
ALISON WILDER shop
RUFFEO HEARTS LIL SNOTTY insane rainbow piecework for your treasure chests
I've been a long-time fan of RHLS because, beyond their awesome marketing tactics, they are amazing designers using deadstock fabrics pieced together in puzzle-like ways with intense consistency. From underwear to swimsuits, mesh tanks and spandex dresses, these people are obviously out of this world.
RHLS shop
talk soon!
xx,
madam chino
Having participated in Renegade Brooklyn two summers prior and driving all the way from Milwaukee WI in a rental car with Madam Chino goodies, I had an extra appreciation as an onlooker. This year it was in East River State Park, along the water in Brooklyn NYC.
As an artist and crafter it is hard to get the opportunity to relax and take in the visual and tactile textures of other crafters. Here are a few of the favorites I've chosen based on uniqueness and originality!
HARP AND THISTLE STITCHERY mini rug hooking
ERIN is the shop owner who does mini rug hooking and converts the finished pieces into all kinds of darling accessories. What a neat process! She sat out front with a hand-hooked name tag, and showed onlookers how she works.
HARP and THISTLE STITCHERY SHOP
DIRTSA STUDIO chalkboard scroll banners
These ladies had such a fun interactive idea I was immediately drawn to their booth. Unpictured, there was a map of the USA where people could put an X on their hometowns, and by the time I arrived, three Milwaukeeans had already Xed out our town. What a cool way to track info in a thematic way.
DIRTSA STUDIO blog
THIEF AND BANDIT geometry for your mind and body
I was introduced to Thief and Bandit when I was at Brooklyn Renegade two years ago. The owner Amie came to my booth and offered me a braided ribbon-clamped necklace in trade for one of my hand-printed woodgrain tanks. I was so flattered and excited! Thief and Bandit hand makes and screen prints "all-over" patterns all of their own shirts, a time consuming task well worth the results. This year they made little cruiser skateboards too!
THIEF and BANDIT website
ALLISON WILDER sweet fanny pax
This lady makes the coolest contemporary fanny packs I've ever seen. She appears to do much more than that, as most artists do, but you can check out her blog and support her work by getting one of her shop items on etsy!
ALISON WILDER website/artkive
ALISON WILDER shop
RUFFEO HEARTS LIL SNOTTY insane rainbow piecework for your treasure chests
I've been a long-time fan of RHLS because, beyond their awesome marketing tactics, they are amazing designers using deadstock fabrics pieced together in puzzle-like ways with intense consistency. From underwear to swimsuits, mesh tanks and spandex dresses, these people are obviously out of this world.
RHLS shop
talk soon!
xx,
madam chino
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