UPPERCASE

Hello Reader, The Feed Sacks reprint is done, shipped and delivered (at least to me, here in Calgary!) All Feed Sacks books preordered before June 25 have been mailed directly from the printer. More recent orders will be shipped from my fulfillment partner shortly. It's nice to have this beautiful book back in stock! Its themes—frugality, upcycling, and repurposing—are as important as ever. And the pattern designs? With 850 fabric swatches, there is an abundance of inspiration for surface...

Hello Reader, Three things: 1) It's Monday, but I'm going to take tomorrow off, so I am in your inbox early. Use the code 'takeabreak' for 20% off orders over $100 in my shop today and tomorrow (one use per customer, concludes at the end of the day, July 1. This offer cannot be retroactively applied or used on wholesale orders.) 2) I've extended the open calls for another week and provided some inspiration below. Remember, though, that I want to see your interpretation of the themes! 3) The...

Hello Reader, Our world keeps on spinning—through conflict, division, destruction— and from one Tuesday newsletter to the next, I hardly know what to say. What I can do is acknowledge reality: climate change, war, genocide, threats to human rights, democracy and science, and an ongoing unmitigated pandemic. It's too much, I agree. But we can't look away. We have to see. You can't see what's going on without doing something about it. At least that's my hope. When others see you standing up for...

Dear Reader, Do you need a very small bit of good news today? I was sorting through my feed sacks swatches this morning to get them ready for insertion into the book reprint parcels... I have more than I thought! This means everyone who has preordered the Feed Sacks reprint will get a swatch of vintage feed sack fabric with their books! The swatches are 5" or 4" square, so I suppose those are the dimensions of this bit of news. And if you haven't preordered a reprint copy yet, purchase it by...

Dear Reader, It's Feed Sacks Friday! And I have good news: the reprint is re-printed! Today, it begins the final stage of production: getting dressed. Applying the dust jackets and belly bands is a completely manual process, so that will take a bit of time. Yesterday, I sent an address verification email to everyone who has preordered. If you've been intrigued by this book, purchase it before Tuesday, June 24, and you'll get it from the printer directly. Purchases made after that date will be...

Hello Reader, The UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration is a book series I dreamed up nearly a decade ago. With Volume F: Feed Sacks being reprinted right now, and Volume G: Glue on my computer in the design stage, I've been reminiscing about how this series came about and how it has evolved. I found my original description of the project from April 2016: When I'm working on UPPERCASE magazine, there are always topics that I come across that I wish I could dedicate more time and pages to....

Hello Reader, Ooops, I didn't send a Pattern Journal in May. I was busy designing! The next UPPERCASE issue is at the printer (it was on press yesterday on the night shift.)The tray above is by Tracy Schifeling: "I'm a print and pattern artist based in Denver, CO. My designs all begin as hand-painted florals and paper cutout collages. I love mixing paint colours and arranging shapes by hand." Her collection of birch trays is available in her shop. While the next issue is in production, the...

Hello Reader, The artwork above is by Betty the Yarnslayer, featured in the forthcoming issue of UPPERCASE magazine. Zoom in and take a look at this incredible attention to detail! Creative Boost Subscription Draw I have given away 35 free Creative Boost subscriptions. Generous readers have sponsored six of these free subscriptions. The next draw will be before the release of the fall issue (#67). Mailing list for the next issue (#66, July-Aug-Sept) My thanks and gratitude to everyone who...

Hello Reader, Peace, kindness, empathy and generosity to you and all humans. It's hard to concentrate. I'm doing what I can to create goodness. Part of that means not ignoring my responsibilities to my readership, so please pardon this unscheduled message. ***Today's message is a general message sent to everyone on my email list—separately, for the past week, I have been sending renewal reminders to those folks whose subscriptions have concluded or are up for renewal.*** Creative Boost...