3 0 I N T H E I R T H I R T I E S

This shoot was by far the most involved dbusiness shoot I’ve ever done. For our “30 in their Thirties” shoot this year, I did a vintage yearbook theme - and actually got (most) of the 30 people to dress up in character and play along… everyone had so much fun. On top of that, I got to hang out with an adorable bulldog named Duncan (he was the 30’s school mascot), and my best friend Amy was nominated as one of the 30 people to be featured in the story (for her work on Detroit Soup). We shot over three (extremely hot) days in July at Christo Rey High School in southwest Detroit - it had that perfect vintage high school look.

My original idea was to shoot the cover as a horizontal, so we could do a gatefold cover (which folds out) - and fit all 30 people on there. Unfortunately that fell through at the last minute, so we had to go with half of the 30’s… plus a bulldog:



Photographs by Joe Vaughn

Styling by Stephanie Potts (I’m still impressed that she managed to talk one lady into wearing a very short vintage cheerleading jumper for the entire shoot. Not only that, but she also convinced a business man to try on the shortest basketball shorts I’ve ever seen… which he didn’t end up wearing for the shoot, but at least she tried!)

Hand painted banner and type designed by Neil Tasker

The full layout can be found here.

The day before the shoot I went to the location to prep, and to do some chalkboard lettering. My lovely friend Erin has some major hand-drawn-type skills, and helped me with the lettering:



Duncan is hanging out between shots:



I screenprinted and sewed this pennant, for the opener:

R E C E N T W O R K

Here are a couple layouts from the most recent issue of Bride. For our fashion story, I did a tailoring themed shoot, which was shot in a sewing factory in Sterling Heights. It was a bit stressful being that we had to shoot during one of their 3 sewing shifts, and work around all the craziness. At the last minute we ended up taping some of my vintage sewing patterns up on the wall for the cover shot backdrop. We had 5 minutes to get the last shot (the one of the model in front of the rack of thread)… talk about working under pressure. It actually ended up being my favorite shot of the day!









Photographs by Roy Ritchie / Styling by Stephanie Potts

This flower story was inspired by vintage botany posters and we did a spread of flowers for each season. I dyed watercolor paper with tea to give it a vintage effect, and Martin shot each flower separately so I could piece them together like a botany poster:





The bags of tea I used for dying the paper:



And here’s the pile of discarded flowers - what a shame to see such pretty flowers thrown together in a heap:



Photographs by Martin Vecchio / Styling by Cindy Hicks for Scarlet Poppy Floral Design

G I A N T C R O S S - S T I T C H K I T S

I’ve been working with Kollabora for the last 8 months to design D.I.Y. giant cross-stitch kits. I just finished putting together the kits, and they’ll be available to purchase on the kollabora site in early September. Check back in a couple of weeks to see the 5 patterns I designed. You can request an invite to the site here - make sure to check out all of their DIY kits and craft supplies!

C R A F T Y C O O K I E S

Megan and I collaborated on some crafty cookies awhile back, the recipe can be found over on design sponge:





photos by Martin Vecchio

P R E T T Y P E O N I E S

My favorite part about a Bride shoot is the leftover flowers. (Also, the leftover cupcakes).

N O T S O R E C E N T W O R K

These are a couple pieces I created awhile back, as a pitch for a story about custom monogrammed pieces for a wedding reception. Take a Megabite collaborated with me on the cross-stitch cookies (girl has got baking skills), and I hand stitched the table runner and cross-stitched fabric in embroidery hoops. The “light-bright” initials were made out of pegboard and christmas lights. Photographs by Martin Vecchio:

C R O S S - S T I T C H E D S K A T E B O A R D

My skateboard for the Good Wood art show is all done. I drilled holes in the board, and then used yarn to cross-stitch the type (which I designed on the computer). Thanks to my friend Ted who taught me to use the drill press at Omni Corp. All of the skateboards for the show can be bid on here, beginning on May 19th. The proceeds will be donated to Power House Productions Ride It Sculpture Park in Detroit:

N E W P R O J E C T

Here’s the beginning of a new cross-stitch project I’m working on for “Good Wood” a skateboard exhibition that will be in Hamtramck soon. I’ll post more photos once it’s done!

H I G H F I V E !

I’m pretty good at high fiving - turns out my dog is, too:





Photographs by Martin Vecchio

A N C H O R T A K E T W O

This is a cross-stitch I made for a friend to give to her mom as a birthday present. It was custom made for her lake house which is currently being decorated… I love the neon yellow yarn:

H U S T L E D B Y L O V E L Y P A C K A G I N G

I’ll spend $8 on chocolate, but only if the packaging is well designed. Love this Mast Brothers Chocolate.

F L Y L I K E P A P E R, G E T H I G H L I K E P L A N E S

This one was made for a friend’s baby shower gift. It’s now available in my shop, and custom colors can be made: