Giant Dwarf

November 12 // 2009

Giant Dwarf was featured on The Today Show with Bobbie Thomas! The Style Buzz feature was cleverly titled Don’t Just Recycle, Upcycle Your Wardrobe. You can take a peek at the video clip if you'd like or look up above at the still I took with my camera.
There were lots of wonderful upcycled gifts featured and I feel honored + humbled for the opportunity to be amongst such talented makers. Thanks to Adam Brown, over at Etsy, for inviting me to send samples, Bobbie Thomas + Natalie Morales, for putting their sweet little hands on my work, and Ann Curry, for the shout out right before the segment aired. I feel really lucky + I'd like to thank all of you that tuned in to cheer me on!

November 03 // 2009

Join me Saturday, November 7th, from 11 - 6, for the second annual Make + Take Trunk Show at Art Star! I'll be setting up shop, in the annex of the boutique, with lots of Giant Dwarf goods, but there's a twist. I'm bringing my sewing machine and I'll be creating my signature designs from the colors you choose. Oh, and there will be mimosas and plenty of snacks, so bring your best pals and come on down. I'd love to meet you and make something special just for you!

Art Star is located at 623 North 2nd Street, just one block north of Spring Garden.

October 16 // 2009

Without further ado, I present Fancy Felt to my Etsy shop!

Fancy Felt is boutique + heirloom quality wool + rayon blended felt. There are 60 delicious colors to choose from and it's cut to order as you wish. Each piece is 9 X 12 inches and is available by the dozen. You may add multiples of one color if you'd like more than one 9 X 12 piece.

Please keep in mind that all computer screens are not created equal and some differences in color may occur from my screen to yours. Also, Fancy Felt is not available for international shipping at this time.

Fancy Felt Facts

Fancy Felt is one of the most wonderful fabrics to craft with. The colors are vibrant and the quality is unbelievable. It is soft, yet durable, and can be used to make just about anything from dolls to hair pieces to penny rugs. It can also be screenprinted + used in a die cutting press.

Fancy Felt measures a little over 1mm or about 1/16 of an inch thick. The thickness also varies from color to color as the pieces are either 20% Wool/80% Rayon or 35% Wool/65% Rayon.

Fancy Felt is not at all like craft felt, which is usually acrylic or polyester, therefore it will not pill, shed, or stretch out of shape. You can also wash + dry Fancy Felt if you want a bubbly boiled wool look, and if you change your mind, you can just iron it out.

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To get your crafty hands on some Fancy Felt, stop by my Etsy shop and stock up!

October 14 // 2009

Thanks to everyone who came out to Crafty Bastards in Washington DC! This was my third year participating and I feel extremely fortunate, as this craft fair is pretty tough to get into. It was loads of fun, as always, and I think it was the busiest I have ever seen it. My goodness, DC loves to buy handmade!

This was a fake cover of DC's City Paper drawn by Ben Claassen. Can you spot the little caricature of me wearing a Rosette Fascinator? So funny!

Nate + I got up at the crack of dawn, drove past Delaware + Maryland, where the sunrise led us to DC. We were greeted by an amazing band of volunteers that helped us unload + get situated in our temporary place of business.

The Giant Dwarf pop-up shop!

A closer look!

I brought tons of Fleurette cloche hats + lots of Rosette Fascinators, but by the end of the day, they were all spoken for. We were busy little bunnies, to say the least, and didn't really have a chance to say hellos or do much shopping.

After we were all packed up, we got a quick bite to eat at our favorite falafel shop in town, with some friends + crafty comrades, Stephen + Shauna and David + Maggie. It was delicious and gave us just enough energy to drive past Maryland + Delaware, and into the sunset that led us back to Philadelphia.

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High fives to all of the organizers + volunteers that made the event a huge success. It was a rad show and I appreciate all of your hard work and dedication. Thank you!

July 16th // 2009

Thank you all so much for taking the time to enter my Etsyversary giveaway! I was blown away by all of your kind + thoughtful comments and I truly wish I could've chosen all of you! It really means a lot to me that you like what I make, which is enough encouragement to keep me going another 4 years! Also, this was my very first giveaway, which I so enjoyed, but I had no idea how difficult it would be to pick!

Well, without any further delay, I'd like to announce the winners of the Giant Dwarf Etsyversary Giveaway!

Becka from Bliss In A Teacup
Anabela from Fieldguided
Kim from Golden Dove Design
Katinka from Katinka Pinka

Congratulations, ladies! You have won a little prize pack of delicious goodies made by me especially for you. Please send me an email, which can be found in my profile, to collect your prizes! Please include your mailing address + favorite colors so I can be sure to make something you'll absolutely enjoy!

Once again, thanks to all of you that entered. Don't worry, there will be more giveaways in the very near future. Stay tuned!

July 5th // 2009

Today is a huge milestone for my tiny company, Giant Dwarf! Four years ago today, I joined the most amazing website to sell the things I make by hand. Yes, that would be Etsy and I haven't looked back since I signed up.

I met Rob Kalin, Etsy's founder, at the very first Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. He was handing out fliers to all of the vendors + telling everyone about this new website he was starting called Etsy. If I remember correctly, I think he said it was like eBay, but for handmade stuff. I may be totally making that up, but that's how I started explaining it to folks when I began to spread the good word about the website, so I think that's how I remember it. Anyway, I signed up after thinking about it for a few days, and in less than a couple weeks, I had sold my first item. It was a W.W.T.W.D? t-shirt. I love that there is an archive of everything I've ever sold over the years. It's like my year book of crafts + my feedback is like the autographs I've collected from each sale!

To celebrate my Etsyversary, if you will, I'd like to propose a little giveaway to you, dear reader! I'd like to put together a series of little gifts to give out to four lucky readers, to commemorate four years of virtual craft slinging. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me which Giant Dwarf design is your favorite or what you'd like to see me create in the future. I'll pick my favorites on Friday, July 10th and announce the winners on Monday, July 13th.

Thanks + good luck!

June 2nd // 2009

The Art Star Craft Bazaar was amazing! Thank you all for coming out and supporting my tiny company! Here are a few photos from the show!

My new vertical display for hanging Fascinators on!