meredith cutler :: artist :: designer ::

Often, the best creative materials can be found off-the-beaten-path, rather than at your local art supply store or out of that glossy wholesale catalog. As a supply junkie, some of my most triumphant finds have been courtesy of tag sales, personal or business move giveaways, and downright dumpster diving!

Over the years, I have utilized my collection of unique materials to create many pieces of original artwork and, more recently, collectible designs and accessories.

Today, however, I hit the supply jackpot. My lovely studiomate, who enjoys a very interesting career as a trend forecaster, let me have at a gigantic pile of sample books that have outlived their rather short life at the top of the trend pile. Because she forecasts color and material trends four years ahead, the sample selection (albiet yesterday's news for her) is super space-age in my book!

I'm already drawing up a list of project ideas so that I can breathe new life into these squares of fabric, leather and beyond!

Readers: if you have creative ideas for reuse of sample fabric and material swatches, post them to comments below. I will be putting together a "Wicked Cool" crostini*VS grab-bag prize from these designer footwear sample materials that will go to a winner, chosen at random from your project idea comments. The winner will be chosen next Friday, May 30th! Good luck!

I have always had a love for paper that goes beyond the expected excitement of a blank, white sheet ready for the artist’s first mark. As a small child, I spent hours poring over the decorator’s hefty wallpaper sample books, left over from our 1977 home renovations: the mirrored backgrounds…the bold florals or geometric patterns rendered in one exciting colorway after another. In my early days, these enormous, psychedelic volumes rivaled even Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle for my affections.

Many years later, I helped fund my way through art school by working in the cataloging department of my college library. My love for found papers, combined with my passion for words inspired me to stash away hundreds of colorful book jackets, typically discarded during the cataloging process. Fast-forward another decade or so, and here I am in my studio, surrounded by several Tupperware storage bins full of vintage paper ephemera that desperately needs purging!

Unlike my vintage giftwrap and wallpaper collections, these heavyweight, coated book jackets don’t offer enough regular patterning or figuration to make them appropriate for the mixed-media art collages that I often create. They are text heavy, and extremely varied in coloration. With some creative experimentation, and using some tools I had available, I created this unique DIY project for my sturdy and colorful paper source. Click here for my full, illustrated tutorial:

If you happen to be in the Boston area today, take a drive up to the harbor near the new Convention Center, and stop by the Boston Design Center. There, until 4pm today, the Boston Sample Drop/Shop event is open to the public. This event is a fantastic way for design firms to recycle their unwanted sample library materials; from fabrics to papers to 3-ring binders. Visitors are welcome to take any of the pre-sorted materials for use in their own creative projects.

"Keep perfectly usable building and finish materials out of the dumpster and give them a good home!"

The event takes place at the Boston Design Center on Drydock Ave. Post "shop", they will be having a barbeque to celebrate their creative and eco-friendly community-mindedness. Cheers!

Also of note in the creative supply realm, I am offering great discounts and special bonus offers in my crostini*VS Vintage & Supply shop. In honor of my upcoming honeymoon, all items will be on sale for the entire month running May 10th-June 10th. Many items are unique and will run out, so get a head start on your creative summer projects with my unique vintage & supply materials before I close shop and head to Italy!

This just in...the long awaited opening of OAK Boston Handmade Boutique in Boston's tony Back Bay neighborhood. Keara has worked her fingers to the bone assembling a retail collection of the best handmade goods from artisans everywhere. A wide selection of designer clothing, artisan toys, unique jewelry, hand-printed paper goods and more await you at 31 Gloucester Street, just a few high-heeled steps off of the legendary upscale shopping mecca of Newbury Street.

A special selection of Crostini Designs handmade jewelry will be available when the store opens its doors to the public for the first time today!

I'm pleased to offer these exclusive designs only at OAK Boston! Be sure to stop in if you are in the neighborhood.

The sun is shining today, which must be nice for everyone who needs some airing out. For my part, this weekend I have been airing out my studio; digging through 10-gallon plastic bins of vintage stash and assembling all kinds of nifty supply packs for my Etsy vintage & supply outlet, crostini*VS.

Because once I get started on something I tend to explode with motivation, and grow a million extra arms like Avalokitesvara, I also banged out four new collectible, mixed-media collage pieces for Crostini designs and a materials study for a new alternative embroidery series that I've been working on.

Not bad for a Saturday. I hope that this steady flow of focused creative production continues, because April showers bring loads of deadlines for yours truly, and I like to make hay while the sun shines.

Tomorrow: stay tuned for a special Monday morning design pick and an announcement about Crostini at retail!