MamaNature Creations : Sara Brown

Shortly after our return to Portland, I reconnected with an old dear friend, Sara Brown. Sara and I share so many common interests and aesthetics. I have always wanted to have a partner in crime when it comes to making art and bags. That desire was shortly fulfilled when Angie, my crazy talented Peruvian dreamer, popped into my life in Missouri, but we both ended up relocating. Now I am determined to bring Sara and I's fires together.
Sara is an amazing graphic artist who incorporates motherhood, nature and spiritual awareness in to her work. It may sound a bit too new-agey, but the way she pursues her art through intense color, expressive lines, and a complex weaving of forms is amazing. I was only able to find photos of a few pieces, but more will come.
The plan, so far, is for Sara to create applique designs for my fair ophelia bags and to collaborate on some more time consuming hanging wall art. The hanging art would incorporate both Sara and I's artistic styles with a combination of fabric and handmade paper/pulp with hand and machine stitching. I'm really excited about starting on our work together.
Sara is a mother of three and has spent the last 11 years of her life focusing on her children. It is so difficult to find a means of subsistence when you are not willing to sacrifice your time with family and being steadfast in your beliefs. I hope by working together we both will be able to foster each others expressive capabilities and create a situation where we will be able to continue to keep our children near and out of day-care.
I have been lucky to have a husband who constantly reminds me that we are on the right path and despite our lack of financial security we have our passion and we will never stop celebrating with friends and family through art, music, poetry and always amazing food. Sara has been a part of our family for some time and now that we are living in the same area I am excited about the possibilities...
here are a few examples:

much love!

tablecloth skirt

here's a better picture of fair and her tablecloth skirt I made. The shirt coloring is also the result of one of our home dyeing experiments with a mixture of onion skins and tumeric. I used tap water for rinsing the shirt and some mineral deposits can be seen on the front side. I found a book on natural dyeing and it said to only used distilled water... next time!!!

bolsas por los ninos

After a month with no sewing machine, i finally paid off my debt for the tank of a machine, the Singer Slant-o-Matic 401A. One of my dream machines! And the four kids bags that were inches away from being finished are done and posted in my shop.

We had a little photo shoot with the kids and i'm off now to continue on the bed ruffle and table cloth skirt adventure. Fair is wearing a green tablecloth skirt in the pictures.

Fair and I are also doing natural dyeing with onion skins, tumeric, etc for the mass of white fabrics I recently found. The outcome so far has been stuning and gives the skirts a great vintage quality.

i'll show off my new machine in the next posting and show our adventure at the anti-police brutality protest we went to yesterday. Portland has a horrible track record, just a few weeks ago an unarmed man, Aaron Campbell, was shot in the back.

my husband's radio show segment on the protest, on BURN

table cloth reconstruction

One of my favorite places to go in Portland is SCRAP. My trip there a few weeks ago was well worth the bus ride from our home outside of Portland.

I found this amazing green table cloth with even more awesome green lace finishing.

So I decided to turn it into a wrap skirt and here it is finished ... i love it!!

For the first time EVER I have organized shelves of fabric. Here's the evidence and we will se how long it lasts.

This is my latest project, incorporating this vintage burlap piece that I found on Esty. I have a really bright and intense purple fabric that compliments the bird colorings. (not that the colors in this picture are anywhere near accurate!!)

more to come...

more house pics

the freakin' huge kitchen

the "presentable" section of the living room
note the amazing Vox organ Pecos B gave us!!!

we have been given the green light to stay here at least for a year, so if we don't get to tired of busing into the city then we will be able to host any of our friends and family who would like to come a visit!
we miss you!!!!!
xoxoxo

where we are...

I just finished this amazing new messenger, finally utilizing a silk piece of fabric embroidered with peacocks, on the flap. I have one more section to make another bag!! I'm still working out fabric combinations for the other vintage and rare fabrics I've been hoarding. It's nice being out of burlap for the last couple of weeks...
I finally have pictures of our new home, in Portland. We actually live about a 30 min. bus ride from the city, but the wooded area is going to be great once the winter is over. the buses out here are limited, but still better than the old st. charles SCAT bus system!! Michael and I take the kids to the library every few days. Fair and Whitman are really into the human body right now. They want to know how everything works and the books with the fascinating pictures of our inner workings keep them wide-eyed.
The following are pictures that I took this morning. We are still waiting on our box of decor to come from grandma, so our walls are a little bare!! disregard the slight mess...

fair at the kitchen table

looking up from the entry way at my sewing studio

more pictures to come...

Costa Rica Bag

Just wanted the share one of the few bags I have made since our move to Portland. I love the Coasta Rican "bird of paradise" design. This was given to me by one of the Chauvin roasters before I left St. Louis. I finally put up some new bags on my Etsy and have some really nice ones that I'm working on. I'm running out of burlap and the supply here in Portland is a lot harder to get a hold of. So I'm cracking into my collection of vintage fabrics and I'm extremely happy with what's coming into fruition... check back soon for updates.

HOLIDAY ORDERS!!!!!

I am now taking orders for the Holidays. Please email me as soon as you can so I can get to work.

fairopheliadesigns@gmail.com or wordsinbminor@gmail.com

No Rain!!!!

Our temporary backyard is huge, fenced, and filled with wonderous hidden toys (from the past family...) and fuschia. our friend Mara showed Fair how she used to turn the flowers into little ballerinas...

fair and whitman had some interesting ways of playing with the "ballerinas"

with their catapult that they found under a bush!!!!

Portland!!!

I've been missing in action, for the past month due to our upheaval from the mid-west and our planting back in portland. Michael , the kids and I are really happy to be in portland. We are house sitting a beautiful place right outside of Portland, in a very woody riverside area. I'm still working on tracking down a good sewing machine... I had to hand mine over to a friend, since we traveled by train. Our laptop died and we are not hooked up to the internet at home, so soon I will have pictures and more time to elaborate on our travels and current adventures. until then... xoxoxoxo

rebecca's bag

I love this bag!!! I was saving the fabric for a special bag and Rebecca was the lucky one. Some of the fabric is part silk, so it is super soft and the eastern design is gorgeous. I love making these one of a kind bags, from the heaps of designer scraps I have, but it would be nice to be able to make other ones as well!
I have a lot of half made bags, from my marathon pre-Strangefolk weeks. I'll be posting bags every few days on etsy... so keep checking in!

BAGS!!!!! ... and more!

ETSY SHOP UPDATE!!!!!

Unschool Family

We are now going on the third week of "unschooling." This has been an amazing adventure and I feel absolutely confident that we have made the best possible choice for our children. We opted to "unschool" rather than "homeschool" because of our belief that children are naturally curious and eager to learn. We go on their lead in what to help teach (more like facilitate and model) and they have geared us into the path of science, especially bugs, and learning about their immediate environment, plant identification and nature walks. Fair is still excited about doing math workbooks and has started reading whole books out loud to us. Her first read was Green Eggs and Ham. Her eyes were so wide and full of glory when she realized she was reading. Now every night when I read to her, she asks me to point out different words she hears and follows along with me...until she conks out.

Whitman is a lot happier now that he is with his sister again. I know that he is learning a lot by just watching Fair. Whitman is 16 mo. younger than Fair, who is 5, and he is not quite understanding some of the more complex scenarios, but he surprises us constantly.

If you would like to read both Michael and I's digest/blog on the family's unschooling experience, go to:

http://www.teachersareeverywhere.blogspot.com/

Anyone that would like to share a skill with us and the kids or go on a nature hike/museum visit, just give us a ring or email.

wordsinbminor@gmail.com

much love

angela

I'm in lock-down for the next two weeks, working on Strangefolk bags... anyone want to help cut some fabric/burlap?

We are going to Strange Folk!!!

July Part 2 -- GOGOL BORDELLO!!!!!!

Last week Michael and I went to see one of our favorite bands, Gogol Bordello. Our band played at a bulgarian bar in Manhattan this spring and we made some contacts with a few of the GB people. So we decided we wanted to make up a bunch of yummy food ( okay Michael made a bunch of food...) and feed the band before the show. I few emails and a phone call from Pedro ( the percussionist) later and we have the okay. we were just hoping to get on the guest list, but after a few of them tasted the food, we were slipped five all access back stage passes and spent quite a bit a time with each of the members, with the exception of eugene who hid out most of the time, but thanked us profusely at the end of the night and closed with an excited "fuck yeah!!!" in reference to michael's cooking. It was a great night and one of the best performances i've ever seen!! it made me happy, but depressed that our band wasn't together anymore. holy!holy!holy! could of been opening for them or touring with a number of other bands that had posed interest... well, we will see what happens! In the mean time Michael and I will continue to write more and more songs and eventually the other musicians will come out of the woodwork... maybe some kick-ass backup singers and dancers too!!!

The flag that Pedro is waving is our circle-a flag that usually hangs off our front porch. Michael brought it with us and he never passed up an opportunity!!

Speaking of music playing...
Michael and I (and Jason and Alex)
play every Friday night at:
Spice 12
100 N. Kingshighway
St. Charles, MO
63301

we do mainly improvisational persian and gypsy music.

7PM bring your kids!!

July part 1

Our puppy Gogol is getting bigger and we are teetering always about whether to find a new home for him due to his puppy behavior... the kids love him, but we are having nipping and chewing issues that are not being resolved. I'm hoping that he will grow out of it, but the thought of a nip turning into a bad bite would be horrible for the kids and we know what would happen to Gogol. So a new home without little ones may give him the chance to be more effectively trained. He loves my accordion case, but he also loved eating my $250 eye glasses and a check a customer wrote me for one of my bags!!!! things will work out, hopefully we can find a new home sooner than later.

Now that the tours are over we still have the bus and we are enjoying our short drives out into the country or just to the bookstore. it's weird having our main source of transportation as a huge school bus, but at least we live within walking/biking distance to everything. we found a home for the great set of poker chairs dave gave us. they had been in the garage and then in the basement for the last year. now our bus has some pretty hip vintage chairs. the barrel table may be the next addition...

I made some basmati rice pillows for Spice 12. they are a little funky, but your first try at anything usually isn't perfect. I really like them and the restaurant is really in need of some interior decorating!!

whitman and his stickers... he takes all of the stickers from our info shop/bookstore and randomly places around the house. at least this kerouac sticker isn't across the computer screen...


i'm going to be posting more pics from the last month, we may be giving up our home internet for a bit and i want to get as many pictures posted as possible.

much love!!!
angela

Summer

photos by angie de toy
i'm so glad to have angie in my home. welcoming her and her husband matthew to my studio and my family has been good. she cooks me amazing peruvian dishes and i think i'm starting to like yellow and red peppers more, but i still proclaim "DOWN WITH CILANTRO!!!"
I had my birthday on the 4th of July, something i'm not really excited about, but i did get my beautiful creation from miss amy. fair is sporting the beautiful blue crocheted beret in a few of the pictures above. i love it! miss amy you are the queen of anything yarn.
it's been crazy around here lately because i am playing accordion for a new band The Bootz Orchestra. We have our big show this thursday and record the following three days. that means babysitter coordinating and car coordinating and i really hate having to rely on other people so much. it's only going to last for the next week and then back to normal....but is it ever really normal??

Twilight #1

so this is one of the first postings of the paintings from my art show earlier this year. i am addicted to using this twilight blue/green and the photo responsible is from the fashion blog of emily martin's black apple.
it's one of my favorite paintings that i've done all year.

Fair Ophelia grows!!

Let me introduce to you Angie!! Yes Fair Ophelia Designs is now a two-women venture, Angela and Angie. I just meet Angie a month ago and she is amazing. Originally from Peru, Angie moved to our quaint town with her husband and as always the "eccentric" people in small towns always find each other. Thankfully it was sooner than later! Her background is in photography and design. She spent many years studying in Argentina. She will be working with me to continue my current designs and to create new ones. I'm excited to see what our partnership will bring...

coffee coasters!!!

I updated my Esty Shop today!!
Here's the latest non-bag item...
burlap coffee coasters.
They are pretty neat and funtional.

The St. Morgan -- a summer bag

The St. Morgan

my new bag design, i opted to name it after my son, because i like it that much. It is the same dimensions as the messenger bags, perfect to slip a laptop into or hold a lot of stuff for travels. this is my personal bag shown below and i use it all the time.

i just finished leah's bridesmaid dresses (photos will be posted soon!) and i found the camera cable to upload pictures, so i will be making bags again and posting them in my shop. until then if you would like to order a bag just email me: fairopheliadesigns@gmail.com

**i really don't know why my text is underlined and i can't figure out how to change it... the mystery continues...***