Are you a store or retailer and interested in selling Sweatshop at your shop? I've got great news - I am finally set up to take wholesale orders! YAY!
Please email me at littleasiansweatshop@gmail.com if you would like a linesheet with my products, and information about my wholesale policy (it's simple and painless, I swear!).
Thank you thank you!
LittleAsianSweatshop
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
My schizophrenic Muse
While I love talking about the Sweatshop, my products, and my process, I become completely flustered when people ask “how did you come up with that idea?”
Creativity is such a weird and meandering path. The leap that took me from watching “Barbarella” (for the 398th time) to making a Japanese Flag circle bag is hard to explain. It would involve a long story about how much I love Barbarella, the Xmen Morlock storyline that was completely based on Barbarella (seriously – watch the movie, then read issues 169 - 170 and you tell me!), which then lead me to think about the whole Wolverine/Mariko story line (which was so silly), and…voila! My brain gave birth to the Japanese Flag bag.
And the story behind how I came up with the monsters hat is just as convoluted (and involves a blizzard!).
So by the time I’m done explaining how I came up with my idea, the questioner has a confused yet blank stare in their eyes, as they try to follow my “logic”.
But I guess, creativity doesn’t really follow logic. If it did, it wouldn’t be so elusive and magical and rare.
The thing that drives me the craziest is that my inspiration comes from all over the place. Various materials, styles, and methods. I’m so envious of those who have a set medium and style and can stay with it consistently. It’s aggravating to come up with a retro Rat-Pack Vegas inspired hair piece while working on a soft romantic feathered birdcage fascinator for a client. It’s not enough that my muse is fickle…but she also has to be schizophrenic to boot.
Which is why the Sweatshop is filled with boxes upon boxes of various materials. Since I never know what will inspire me next – the workroom is filled with all sorts of odds and ends, waiting to be made into something different. It’s like the Land of Misfit Toys, only they are all wanted…just not right now. Of course, I complain, but I’m really thrilled that I am fortunate enough to give voice to my creativity – and to have fans of my work! It’s always wonderful – and humbling – to hear the exclamations of amazement and delight.
I wonder if I bribed my Muse with Chipotle burritos, would she be more cooperative?
How about you? How to you rein in your muse?
How about you? How to you rein in your muse?
Friday, October 7, 2011
Not dead yet...
I know it's been a month since I updated and even my twitter feed (follow me #shamelessplug) has been eerily quiet, but I swear that I'm still alive...just insanely busy.
I know, I know..."I've been busy" is the worst excuse in the world, but this has really been beyond madness!
In just the past month, I've started a new day job (YAY day job!) so that's been taking up a lot of my brain time.
Then I had the awesome opportunity to go see "Sleep No More", which is this amazing immersive play based on Macbeth. It's basically Hitchcock and MacBeth had a love child...it would be this experience. If you haven't been, and you were thinking about visiting NYC in the next month or so...definitely make the time to go see it. It's worth the $100. It's like being trapped in a dream or a video game. Only without having to worry about dying or monsters killing you. Insanely surreal and utterly amazing!
Then my inlaws came up to visit for a few days. While I adore them and love hosting them, right when they visited, was right when my Etsy store decided to go crazy with orders! So I had to juggle being a gracious hostess, with the madness of family get-togethers, with fullfilling orders as fast as my little Sweatshop fingers could go (PSA - glue guns are capable of inflicting 2nd degree burns...be careful kids!).
This weekend, my BFF is coming down, and bringing me some minions so that we can whip out 40+ hair flowers as party favors for her wedding...and also making a very special wedding bouquet!
Basically every weekend has been madness. So my normally pristine house and Sweatshop looks like a tornado blew through it...and I haven't had time to clean (I've barely had time to do laundry)!
And despite how busy I am, I'm just so grateful that I get to be so joyously busy. Yes, I'm tired, yes I just want a weekend to curl up and sleep and veg out...but I'm glad that this kind of busy is the fun kind of busy - the kind of busy that is really tons of fun and better then the alternative. I just wish it wasn't happening all at once!
So...long story short...not dead yet! I'm here and pushing out products with as little sleep as I can get away with! I promise, lots of fun bloggy updates coming soon. In the meantime...GO SEE "SLEEP NO MORE". It was seriously worth the angst of having to work double time to make up for the loss of a weekend of fun!
I know, I know..."I've been busy" is the worst excuse in the world, but this has really been beyond madness!
In just the past month, I've started a new day job (YAY day job!) so that's been taking up a lot of my brain time.
Then I had the awesome opportunity to go see "Sleep No More", which is this amazing immersive play based on Macbeth. It's basically Hitchcock and MacBeth had a love child...it would be this experience. If you haven't been, and you were thinking about visiting NYC in the next month or so...definitely make the time to go see it. It's worth the $100. It's like being trapped in a dream or a video game. Only without having to worry about dying or monsters killing you. Insanely surreal and utterly amazing!
 |
| The Plague Doctor (skull duck) mask that you wear during Sleep No More! |
Then my inlaws came up to visit for a few days. While I adore them and love hosting them, right when they visited, was right when my Etsy store decided to go crazy with orders! So I had to juggle being a gracious hostess, with the madness of family get-togethers, with fullfilling orders as fast as my little Sweatshop fingers could go (PSA - glue guns are capable of inflicting 2nd degree burns...be careful kids!).
This weekend, my BFF is coming down, and bringing me some minions so that we can whip out 40+ hair flowers as party favors for her wedding...and also making a very special wedding bouquet!
Basically every weekend has been madness. So my normally pristine house and Sweatshop looks like a tornado blew through it...and I haven't had time to clean (I've barely had time to do laundry)!
And despite how busy I am, I'm just so grateful that I get to be so joyously busy. Yes, I'm tired, yes I just want a weekend to curl up and sleep and veg out...but I'm glad that this kind of busy is the fun kind of busy - the kind of busy that is really tons of fun and better then the alternative. I just wish it wasn't happening all at once!
So...long story short...not dead yet! I'm here and pushing out products with as little sleep as I can get away with! I promise, lots of fun bloggy updates coming soon. In the meantime...GO SEE "SLEEP NO MORE". It was seriously worth the angst of having to work double time to make up for the loss of a weekend of fun!