Tapestry Weaving, Uncategorized
The Sam-estry
I’ve wanted a tapestry of my dog, Sam, for a few years now. I think I decided that the first time I saw Kathe Todd-Hooker’s tapestry of her dog Chene (this one).
A couple years later, my Sam-estry dream has been realized, through the kindness and amazing generosity of one of our customers, Deb.
I love Deb’s work and even got to see in person a loon she wove that was at the ATA’s Small Format Tapestry Exhibit in Providence earlier this year (I had a lot of fun going through that exhibit and picking out the Mirrix customers I knew). Deb has done a few dog tapestries that I’ve seen pictures of (and loved) and recently made this one of a Bernese Mountain Dog. Adorable, right? You just want to hug that puppy.
You can see more of Deb’s work on her featured customer page here: click the tab “Debbie Santolla“.
After seeing the Bernese puppy I said something to Deb along the lines of, “I LOVE this! Someday I need a tapestry of my dog!” Not long after, Deb offered to make me a tapestry of Sam.
Yeah, that falls into the top sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. A SAM-ESTRY!
When Deb shares her tapestries, she always tries to show the process, which I think is really great to see. This meant I got weekly Sam-estry updates, which were always the highlight of my week!
Here are a few pictures of the piece:
And the finished piece…
When it arrived, Sam was thrilled to open it and is now sitting under where it is temporarily hanging whining because he knows it’s “his”.
Sam excited to open the package!
Seeing it for the first time!
Sam in front of the tapestry!
Inspiration
Quality Workmanship: Better for your wallet, better for the environment. Happy Earth Day
It seems like many products these days aren’t built to last. We buy things knowing they’ll only work for a few years and then we replace them and start the cycle over. We’re all aware that this isn’t a great system, for our wallets or for the environment, but a lot of the time there isn’t much we can do. This morning as I struggled with a broken (AGAIN) espresso machine, I thought about this and reflected upon the seemingly-outdated concept of quality workmanship.
As I sat down at my computer with my half-made cup of coffee (the steamer is broken, I really craved a soy latte) and began checking my emails I realized how proud I am to be part of a company that makes products the old fashioned way. Each loom is hand-crafted by our wonderful employees at our manufacturing facility in Wisconsin and meant to last not one year, not ten years, but a lifetime. You may need to replace a spring or a clip, but a Mirrix Loom should be able to be passed down from generation to generation. That means no broken looms in the trash can and no need to buy another (unless, of course, you want more than one).
And that’s how it should be, for our earth and for our wallets.
Happy Earth Day! (I leave you with a picture of the Mirrix pup, Sam, when he was a little guy working hard for the environment at grist.org)
