Hey there,

In case you're wondering, I'm still around, still making houses, and also some other things (like throw pillows with skulls on them, and cityscapes, too!).

In case you're not all shopped out from the holidays, I just wanted to let you know that my etsy store has been up and running, and I've been working on some new things. Check it out at:
http://ephemeraldesign.etsy.com

Hope you are really well and all the best wishes for the new year!!

- Amy

Hey everyone,

The Tiny Fabric Houses have been on vacation for a few months, but they are coming back in June! Until then, I wanted to let you know about another project I've been working on:
I had a public art project up in NYC from January to April, and when it came down, I decided to repurpose the material used to create it to make tote bags.

You can read more about the project as a whole here:
http://www.amy-wilson.com/store

and if you want to see my shop, it's here:
http://amywilson.bigcartel.com

I hope you are doing really well and enjoying your spring!

- Amy

The new machine arrived on Thursday and I've spent all Halloween cranking out the remaining houses. Yay! If you haven't gotten your houses yet, they will be in the mail to you on Monday. Sorry for the delay!

Heya,

I'm just in the final stretch, trying to get out houses to the last five people I owe them to and...

My sewing machine died. My grandmother taught me when I was really young how to totally take one apart and fix it and, based on all that, I can say that this one is a goner. It was a cheapy - I got it for Christmas last year and it was only about $100. And I managed to crank out a LOT of stuff over the last 10 months.

I'm ordering a new one tonight but, if you're one of the people still waiting, it's just going to be a little while longer. I am SO sorry... I was completely on track to have everything out tonight, and then this happened. :(

The first two rounds of houses went out last week... and more will go out this week. My goal is by the end of the month to have fulfilled all the orders. Hang in there! :)

Thank you so much everyone!!

I will start getting your premiums out to everyone this weekend. It might take a couple of weeks to work through the list, but they're on their way.

Please send me your address if you haven't already. Thank you again! I will be posting some updates here in the future... there's some really cool things in the works!

Hey everybody,

As I've mentioned, I never in a million years thought this project would do as well as it has - 240% funded?!? That's crazy!! I'm so excited, happy, and so very thankful to have all of you behind me and rooting for the little houses.

But since the fundraising has gone better than I ever hoped, I now feel really responsible to do something amazing with the money. And again, as I mentioned before, I would like to do something with encouraging my students and other broke artists I know to come up with something similar to the houses, which they can sell and generate a little extra money for them.

So here is my idea: The Degenerative Craft Fair. A big party, probably in Brooklyn, on a Friday or Saturday night for a few hours in early December. Lots of people, and lots of artists selling their stuff for $50 or less. Basically, a fun way for artists to make a little extra money, and for people to support their cool projects, get awesome holiday presents, and have a lot of fun (fun! festive! music and alcohol! stuff like that). Added bonus: because I would be involving my students, they would get to see all the things that go on on behind putting together a big event like this, as well as getting to sell their stuff at the fair.

I think we can do this really well and really cheaply, in such a way that each of the artists can keep 100% of the money they make that night and don't have to kick back anything to me or pay to be a part of it (I'd be selling my houses and other stuff, but otherwise not making any money off of this). We could get a liquor sponsor and probably a food sponsor as well, so there's no money spent on that. The only thing that we need money for are the space (although obviously I will try and do it on the cheap) and making posters, postcards, etc.

So here is the deal: I absolutely, positively don't need to raise any more money for my houses; $601 is far and away more that I will ever need to get that project rolling. Seriously, no one should pledge any more money to that! However, it would be really amazing to get some money together to help support this fair idea, and in order to do that, I propose the following:

If we break $1000, I will give everyone who has pledged so far (and chosen to receive an incentive) a hand-made, unique, one-of-a-kind needle felted tree (pictured below). They go PERFECTLY with the houses you'll already be getting if you pledged $20 or more. Now your little neighborhood can have trees! Each one will be a little different - some will have birds on them (like the one below) others will have a few leaves or a nest, and it's just up to chance which one you get. Trees have always been a really important part of my work and I'm really psyched to be learning needle-felting so I can start making them like this.

---> The Fine Print: Note that these will NOT be ready by Sept 30th, but I will get them to you by Christmas at the latest. If we don't break $1,000, then everyone gets the incentives they were originally promised and there is no change there. But if we do... trees! for everyone!!!!

Let your friends know! If they've thought about pledging, now's a great time to do it because now you get even more!

Whew... after working all day today, I think I finally figured out something good.

The initial pattern I made for the houses kept them so that they were very boxy and held their shape well - they looked great, but each one would take about an extra 15 minutes or so to make, which is an eternity when you're trying to make a whole bunch of them. The second, revised pattern (so like, Generation 2) makes the houses softer and more malleable - by eliminating two seams, I was able to shave off some of the prep time, but their shape is softer. I like the shape just fine, but storing them is more difficult - since they're not strict rectangles, they need a little more space on either side. (Ok, we're talking really tiny measurements here, but it makes a difference when you live in a small apartment and you are trying to make a LOT of houses!)

After playing around with them for what seemed like a million years, I think I've finally come up with a way to go back to that boxy shape and still streamline the pattern. This may be like finding the Holy Grail of Tiny Fabric Houses. I'm kind of too tired and jaded to accept that this may be The Solution To All of My Problems... but maybe? Could it be? The new pattern is also "more fun" although I'm not totally sure what I mean by that at this point. I'll know better by tonight. If my apartment is filled with a hundred of these things, then it was a success...!!!

Just wondering...

Do any of you know anyone at a gift shop or museum store or some sort of funky place that would be interested in maybe taking some of the houses on consignment? I have a list of places to try in NYC, but outside of that area I'm a little lost. If you have any ideas or contacts, please let me know!

Here's a picture of one of my latest pieces - a tiny watertower. The top lifts off and reveals a small storage space, perfect for storing rings while you're in the shower or doing the dishes (that's constantly a problem of mine, that... "where did my rings go?!!" panic).

I've been posting these on etsy with good results, and it's gotten me thinking - so many recent graduates from SVA (where I teach) are having such a hard time with the economy being bad, that I've been recommending that they open etsy stores just to make a little extra money in addition to whatever day job they have. It really used to be - like when I was getting out of school - that you could just pick up a job freelancing at a gallery for some decent hourly rate, and do your time there and have your time to create during the evenings and weekends; eventually you'd find a way to make more and more of a living off of your art. Now it seems like graduates are working a job or two just to keep a roof over their heads... and the problem with this (other than the obvious - working two jobs sucks!) is that it moves them further and further away from the goal of making stuff and supporting themselves that way.

So I've been brainstorming a lot and thinking that at least if I could help them with their etsy stores at least push through during the holiday season and make a little extra money, that could maybe just give them a little boost - and also show them that it IS possible to make stuff and sell it to an eager audience... not to mention maybe give them just a tiny bit of a financial cushion to help them out.

One of the ways I've been thinking about doing this is taking some of the energy and enthusiasm I've gotten from this Kickstarter project and funneling it into a group blog and maybe some face-to-face networking meetings between me and those former students of mine. We're all in the same boat with art sales being way down... and we all love to make things... so we should help each other out rather than, by default, being in competition with one another. Even if we think of this as a super-short term project (say, just from now til the holidays are over) this could really be a really exciting way to support one another emotionally as well as financially. I've always been unhappy at the way in which art school just cuts its grads off when they're done, and just leaves them to fend for themselves. Somehow, that never seemed unfair to me.

So, this is what I'm thinking right now. But first - behold the watertower!

Since things have gone so smashingly well, I want to have a launch party to celebrate! I don't have a place lined up just yet, but circle Sept 30th on your calenders if you're in the NYC area. I'll come up with something fun...!

Had to share this... the lovely Estelle, using her Tiny Fabric Houses as storage for her candy collection. Thank you to Staci Krupp for the amazing shot!

I made this today and just wanted to share it... it's a lime green apartment building!

It was recommended to me that I not start sending out incentives until the project is over (that's when the money is collected from all of you good-hearted souls). If any of you are especially desperate to get your incentive earlier for some reason, get in touch with me and we'll work something out. In the meantime, I'll be making all your houses and postcards and Christmas tree surprises!

Hooray! I kind of can't believe how quickly that all happened, but the project is fully funded!! Ok this is really awesome and a cool little sidenote... tomorrow is my birthday! So that makes it extra special. Thank you all so much!

Please message me your mailing address so that I can start working on getting you your incentive. I won't lie - since this is all happening 40+ days earlier than I thought it would, I'm not quite organized yet... but I will be. I have to figure out how kickstarter charges everyone and how stuff like that works, but in the meantime I can get to sewing. And if you have some houses coming to you, let me know if you have any preferred colors.

Thanks again!!