Suddenly, It's Real!

Beautiful New Yo Yo's in our Etsy Shoppe!

brand spankin new!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

Beautiful new Maple, Birch and Walnut Yo Yo's have been added to our shoppe! 

Thank you for buying handmade!

, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

Dear friends and family,

We would like to say thank you to everyone who has given us encouragement during the last few months. Suddenly, It's Real! is our dream and it wouldn't be happening without your support!

We have added a handful of new things to our shoppe in the past week including our new collection, "The Nancymom Collection"! Ben's extremely talented mom, affectionately known as Nancymom, has been busy constructing beautiful aprons from 100% recycled fabrics, like deliciously soft vintage bed sheets, and we are proud to offer them through Suddenly, It's Real!

And...you asked for it, and you got it! For all those folks that live in tiny shoebox apartments and crave the stylish organizational phenomenon we commonly refer to as "the key stache"...we proudly introduce...the half pint!

We realize everyone is cutting back this year, and we are all keeping a tighter grip on our pocket books! We hope that you will consider taking "The Handmade Pledge" this season. We are confident that the items we offer are unique and will be cherished for years to come.

Next week we will be heading to the DC area for Ben's first Solo Show at Art Whino Gallery, opening on the 22nd. Also, on November 18th, the Hand.Craft.It. Exhibit opens at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center in Madison, Georgia! AND, equally exciting we are being featured in the November issue of Spaces Magazine out of London! (We are (eh-hem) patiently waiting for the November issue to arrive in Wisconsin!)

Thanks again for supporting Suddenly, It's Real! For more amazing Hand Made gift ideas, please visit our Friends list on our Woolgathering page! 

All good things,

ben & natalie

Introducing The Nancymom Collection!

The Nancymom Collection, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

We are super duper crazy excited to introduce The Nancymom Collection! Ben's mom, Nancy is the amazing seamstress behind these impeccable new aprons that are now available in our shoppe! They are all made from recycled fabrics and each one is one-of-a-kind. Yay Nancymom!!!!

We have a shoppe UPDATE!

"new" items in the shoppe!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

Visit our shoppe to see what's new! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Ben's First Solo Show opens November 22nd!

Bam Bam Dilla, originally uploaded by natalie wright.http://www.artwhino.com/

Ben is excited to be sharing his latest series of 1970's reggae inspired portraits on his collection of vintage luggage at Art Whino Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia opening November 22nd! Having grown up surrounded by a family of musicians, his artwork has always been inspired by music in one way or another. Ben started collecting reggae music over ten years ago and is inspired not only by the music of Jamaica, but also by the using and reusing of everyday objects out of necessity. This is most evident in Ben's larger paintings that are assembled from a variety of discarded objects. He uses almost all found materials to create his artwork, whether it is scrap wood found on the curb, or vintage objects found in thrift stores. The use of luggage is also symbolic in that Jamaican Reggae came from such a small island and traveled so far, having an enormous impact on the rest of the world!

Ben is also very honored to have Jeremy Sole of Musaics in Los Angeles traveling to the east coast to open the show. Chicago-born Jeremy Sole has been a deejay and record collector for over 15 years. As a teenager, his education was throwing underground loft parties at the birth of Hip Hop and House music. He matured as a turntablist in Jazz, Dub and experimental hybrid bands. The rich Chicago history of Blues, Jazz, and Funk were all a part of his upbringing, and as a true music lover Jermey has always found a way to blend them all together. "If I'm playing a Dub tune, it has a similar rhythm to Cumbia so it forms a bridge from Jamaica to Columbia. Then maybe mix into a salsa track, followed by a salsa remix with a dancehall pattern that translates into certain Afrobeat rhythms. It's about finding similarities and using songs to connect cultures and build momentum." For more information about Jeremy please visit www.myspace.com/musaics.

Hand.Craft.It. Exhibition opens November 18th

Hand.Craft.It. Exhibition coming soon!
Originally uploaded by natalie wright

We are excited to be a part of the Hand.Craft.It. Exhibition at the Madison Morgan Cultural Center in Madison, Georgia opening on November 18th and runs through January 20th! We are proud to be exhibiting with some really talented folks like Stephen and Shauna of Something's Hiding In Here, Berkley Illustration, Julia Rothman and The Small Object, just to name a few!  To find out all of the wonderful details please visit www.handcraftitfestival.com 

ReadyMade Magazine!

check out issue #37 of ReadyMade!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

The latest issue of ReadMade Magazine features Ben's "Critter Carrier"! Flip to page 44 to learn how to make one for yourself (er...yr furry friend...) Don't forget to flip through to the back to read his really sweet bio!

New items added to our shoppe!

new fancy beveled yoyos!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

We've recently updated our shoppe and we thought you should know!

Cheers!

b&n

Rain-uh-gade Craft Fair Chicago!

We made it back from The Renegade Craft Fair this weekend in Chicago and we even STAYED DRY! You can see our amusing photos here! THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of you who came to the fair despite the record breaking rainfall. We met some really fantastic people, like our neighbors Skeledog and the amazingly talented seamstress Panther By Hand! Some folks even recognized us from our photo in Time Out Chicago (above), which of course made our day! From our booth we were able to check out the latest in rain gear fashion! Sarah Moore from Craft Critque and friends stopped by and i had to take a snap shot of their boots, i just love the lace ups! Well! We can say we were a part of history! Chicago had more rain this weekend than in 137 years! We are now back in Wisconsin and busy adding new things to our Etsy Shoppe, filling wholesale orders and getting ready for the holiday season! Thanks again and again to all of you who came to the fair and stopped in our booth to say hello :)

THIS WEEKEND! RAIN OR SHINE!

THIS WEEKEND! RAIN OR SHINE!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.