The Watch Hat

Talk about a Carhartt favorite, The Acrylic Watch Hat is one of the best.

Grab one for yourself here.

 

DIY Polymer Clay Earrings

I am so excited to share this DIY with y’all. Polymer clay is so much fun and I can’t wait to pass it on. It’s fairly easy and it really allows you to let your creativity lose. You’ll need an assortment of polymer clay, earring posts, small metal loops, and clay tools. It is possible to improvise and create your own clay tools. I’ve found that toothpicks, chop sticks, and knives can come in handy.

Take a close look at the steps below (from left to right). They are a lose guideline for you to create your own earrings. Don’t be afraid to alter any of the stages. Remember to bake your clay at 275 °F for 15 minutes before you put on the hardware.

Once you’ve made a pair or two, start to experiment with color and size. Don’t be afraid to mix it up. It’s a blast! Here are some of the other designs that I’ve come up with.

You can even take your polymer jewelry making skills to a whole new level and give necklaces and beads a go. Take a look at what I came up with using the same techniques above.

 

 

Trista Dymond of The Heidelburg Project

Woah is right. If you’re unfamiliar with The Heidelburg Project in Detroit, the pictures above are can be a jolt to the system. That seems fitting considering the shock Tyree Guyton felt when returned to his childhood home after serving in the army. He was stunned by the deterioration of the neighborhood. The area had been declining since the riots in 1967, and fell into further decay in his absence.

And then it all started with a dot, a single polka dot Tyree painted on his mother’s house. That spot grew and eventually the entire house was covered in bright colors. Then one by one, houses on the street were taken over by artists who wanted to take a stand against the decline of the city.

I tagged along with Trista Dymond, an artist who works with Tyree and the rest of the Heidelburg crew. As we toured the salvaged wonderland, I was in awe of the time and love that went into this larger than life movement to uplift Detroit.

There really is no place quite Heidelberg Street. The homes and instillations are thought evoking and controversial. It sparks conversations and ignites people with intense emotions about its presence. That’s exactly what good art does. It makes a splash and it demands attention.

If you’d like to celebrate Earth Day this week and help bring more color to the motor city, click here.

Trista is wearing: Carhartt Women’s Weathered Wildwood Jacket & 1889 Slim Double Front Dungaree.

Carhartt Force

We can all rejoice. Spring is finally here! Goodbye gray skies, hello colors of the rainbow! After such a long, chilly winter, it’s a great time to celebrate with gardening or a new craft you’ve been putting off. Get outside. Start a few projects. Sweat a little. Carhartt Force Performance Quarter-Zip is the ideal work shirt for times like these. It fights odor, wicks sweat, and has stain breaker technology. For those spring showers, Carhartt Rain Defender is the way to go. The Rockford Windbreaker is lightweight and water repellant. It’s lined, hooded, and a sharp piece to add to your work wardrobe. The Force Equator Hat is not only a Force item, but also water repellant with Rain Defender technology. You’ll stay dry as it repels water, wicks sweat, and prevents stains. Now go ahead and get your color on, folks!

Your Rain Jacket Dream Come True

On my trip to Montana, it rained quite a bit. I practically lived in the new Carhartt Women’s Cascade Jacket. It’s much easier to enjoy the sweeping views and wide open skies when you know your rainwear will keep you dry. This Storm Defender® waterproof breathable jacket comes with articulated elbows so you can easily move around, a left-chest map pocket that’s certain to keep its contents drip-free, interior cuffs with thumbholes for those extra inches of protection, and an adjustable hem with drawcord and barrel lock adjusters. It’s basically your rain jacket dream come true.

Free Fall DIY-ing

There is so much to appreciate about fall: crisp air and crunchy footsteps, soft earthy tones and speckled foliage. It marks the start of bonfire season and cuddle-up in-warm-blankets season. I’m a big proponent of surrounding oneself with the great outdoors. That being said, it feels natural to pluck up a few flowers from the yard and put them in a vase, but what about leaves? They can be just as lovely, with free flowing branches and freshly turned hues. Why not give it a try? It’s a free way to decorate for the season and it challenges you to see the beauty in what most consider mundane.

what I wore: Carhartt Women’s Belton Shirt & Carhartt Women’s Series 1889 Sim-Fit Double Front Denim Dungaree 

 

 

 

Caitlin Kerr of The Foxglove Studios

After leaving the music industry to find a creative challenge, Caitlin Kerr founded The Foxglove Studios. She started small, maintaining part time jobs and freelancing while building her skills and learning the craft. Each gradual step made it a more manageable task to jump into a whole new career. With time her clientele grew and running the studio became a fulltime job. Starting over can seem daunting and even downright impossible, but Caitlin put aside those fears created her own dream job.
Another important part of starting a new career path is to remember your roots. The years you spent at your old job weren’t pointless. You put in time an effort that helped make you the person you are today. Music plays a large role in Caitlin’s job. She listens to songs, bands, and composers reminiscent of the mood she’s aiming to capture in her creations.

Floral Arrangement Tips from Caitlin of The Foxglove Studios:
1. Use chicken wire, floral tape, or both to create a base. Avoid the Styrofoam filled with toxic chemicals.
2. Use it all. The greens of a flower can also be utilized. Don’t strip off the leaves, they create texture and fill out the arrangement.
3. When arranging, start with the base of greens and foliage. Then add focal flowers and whimsical flowers (the whispy, airy, smaller, and more wild types of flowers like scabiosa and ranunculus).
4. Allow the focal flowers to stand taller. It creates a more interesting arrangement.
5. Make sure to cut the stems of your arrangements and change the water everyday.

 

DIY: Mossy Bookend

If there’s a word that epitomizes Portland, it’s green. There are so many different shades everywhere: in the tree line, on mossy rocks, bushes, grass, and natural growth.  That’s only heightened by the human eye’s ability to differentiate shades of green more than any other color. I got back from my week long trip to Portland, and I found myself missing the intensity of the hues I saw in Oregon. I challenged myself to bring back the moss from last week’s very Portland-esque DIY and incorporate into my own home. I loved the sharp contrast of the marshmallow colored Carhartt Women’s Minot Shirt and the ever vibrant greens, so I carried the theme even further and let them play off one another once again.

I’ll walk to you though the steps to make your own mossy bookend. You’ll need a cross section of a tree, self-adhesive moss paper, clumps of moss, baby’s breath, mini diorama trees, hot glue gun, scissors, and a pencil. Take the tree section and trace the top of it on the back of the moss paper. Cut the circle out and stick it to the top of the wood. Then glue the trees and little clumps of moss in the center. Cut off little bits of baby’s breath and add it in where you think a pop of buds is needed. You’re ready to use it! Enjoy the feeling of mother nature while you’re hanging in your home.

Packing for Portland: The Carhartt Women’s Guide

Packing for Portland means preparing for weather. I spent most of last week there, enjoying spring and the rain that comes with it. Take a look at the essential Carhartt items I took with me. When you have reliable rainwear, you can focus on the beautiful scenery around you. I’ll tell you what, I put the Mountrail Jacket to the test. The Storm Defender® waterproof breathable membrane is designed to keep you dry and not too stuffy.

Faina of Popps Packing in Detroit

If you know of vacant meatpacking plant in your neighborhood, you might consider converting it into a home and workspace. At least it worked out really well for the Detroit-based artists Faina Lerman and Graem Whyte. In 2007, the painter and performance artist, and her husband (a sculptor and architectural dabbler) seized the opportunity to buy the former Popps plant (later known as a cookie factory) built in the 1930s and rebirthed it into a bustling art center in the city’s Hamtramck neighborhood. Hamtramck is a culturally diverse city within a city. It was originally settled by German farmers, followed by a flood of Polish immigrants in the early part of the 20th century. Over the past thirty years a large number of immigrants (Yemenis, Bengali, Macedonian, Turkish, and Russian) to name just a few have taken up residence in Hamtramck along with a growing tide of young creative entrepreneurs. Since 2009, Graem and Faina have hosted seasonal indoor/outdoor installations, exhibitions and performances in the building where they also live in with their two young children. Popps Packing is not only a home and studio, it’s also an experimental arts venue aimed at promoting dialog and cultural exchange between the local, national and international communities through exhibitions, performances, workshops and artist residencies. In 2011, the duo purchased a house (Poppa Joe’s Guest House) and a house/storefront (Popps Emporium) across the street, further activating neglected spaces on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck, while providing additional housing and exhibition space for visiting artists. In 2012, they started a residency program that includes studio practice, research, architectural interventions and alternative systems projects. Popps Packing has been a self funded enterprise since it’s inception, relying on the resourceful handiness of Faina and Graem, lots of time/labor/material donations from their friends, odd jobs from clients, and small scale fundraising to keep things moving.

See what Faina’s wearing here: Carhartt Women’s Coleharbor Hoodie, Clarksburg Zip-Front Sweatshirt, Original-Fit Jasper Jeans, Sandstone Kenai Parka, C-Grip Knuckler Gloves, and Carhartt Women’s Rapid City Utility Work Apron