sneak peak!

We are really looking forward to the Urban Stitch shopping social tomorrow and have been sewing all week in preparation.  So here a sneak peek at some awesome new spring tank styles we will be premiering at the show...hope to see you there!

just listed...

We finally got around to taking pictures of our new temporary tattoos designs and posting them in our store.  Check out these amazing beauties and grab a set for your stylish self!!

stencil party!

benny and I are super excited to announce that our next stencil party is in the city, sunday November 8th at Indie Mart!  We will be setting up a little stenciling station at our booth, where anyone will be able to come and decorate whatever goodies they want with a wide selection of benny's designs.  We will supply you with all the stencils & spray paint and you just bring your creativity and clothes. This is the perfect opportunity to renewed some old threads or make a sweet gift for your love.  Start gathering blank surfaces today!

When:  sunday nov 8th  12pm - 6pm
Where:  thee parkside 1600 17th street, san francisco

hope to see you there!

just listed...

we love corduroy in fall...

check out some of our new temporary tattoo multi packs after the jump!

spray paint & leather

we love the smell of spray paint & leather!!  New stenciled leather just listed....Enjoy!

bringing in more green!

In our attemps to make bennkelly as sustainable as possible, we have greened up our business cards!!  Our business cards are where we see some of our greatest paper usage, so we asked ourselves why not do recycled?  Well, when we looked into it we could not find affordable cardstock made from 100% recycled materials.  So we took a hint from our own tutorials and have revamped our business cards using handmade 100% recycled cardstock!

But whats even better is that every card we make is not only handmade but hand stenciled with one of our original designs making each card a one of a kind art piece!  So if you get your hands on one don't let it go!!

a day of spray paint, live beats and awesome people!

Yesterday we hosted our second annual earth day extravaganza at Pretty Penny here in Oakland and it was the best yet!!  We are soo thankful to everyone that came out to support us and create some fantastic new pieces.  We could not of asked for a better turnout! Check out some pictures of the event taken by the lovely Christopher Bennett!

more after the jump..

TOMORROW!! TOMORROW!! TOMORROW!!!

can you tell we are excited?

Only 3 left to gather up those swappables..

we just hit up goodwill yesterday to pick up some extra goodies for the clothing swap!  we can't wait to swap and stencil with you all!

Save The Date...Earth Love & Crafts!

Its time to show our Earth Love once again!  We will be celebrating Earth Day with another fantastic craft party at Pretty Penny! This year's party is even better with an awesome clothing swap, then stenciling and crafting (sweetening it up a bit) all while listening to live music and digging on the free juice.

So mark your calendars with a huge red X and starting gathering your old clothes to trade and/or redecorate! We will have tons of stencils by benny, an ungodly amount of spray paint, random used buttons, and recycled random goodies to glue. We would love to see you craft up some earth love!!

When:  Sunday April 26th  2pm - 6pm

Where:  Pretty Penny 5488 college, Oakland

...no need to bring clothes to participate, you can just show up, as we will provide some clothing for the swap. We are asking for a $2 dollar donation if you don't bring swappables but still want to craft some Earth Love.

Introducing...Reusable Lunch Sacks!!

Benny and I have been brainstorming new accessories and we finally have a winner!  Introducing reusable canvas lunch sacks!!  These babies are made of 100% cotton heavy weight canvas that has been produced in the US.  Each sack has been hand-dyed and stenciled, making each one completely one of a kind.  Best of all, if something spills you can just throw the sack in the washer/dryer and its like new!  So if you have been trying to save an extra buck by bringing your lunch to work, now you can do it in style!

Shop our etsy store now.....or if you are more of the instant gradification shopper, check out our lunch sacks at Pretty Penny in Oakland, Ca!!

more pictures after the jump...

Reusable garment stencils!

So the freezer paper has been fun and all, but what happens when you don't want to re-cut your stencil every few sprays/iron on appliqués?  Or what happens when you want to use a previously cut stencil?  Well we came across this amazingly helpful hint for sticking your stencil to your fabric while trying to figure out a way to silkscreen a huge stencil without a big enough screen frame.  The best part is how easiest it is!

So there is not really a process to this just a few things to gather--acetate paper/mylar (or really any type of thin flexible fabric/plastic whatever your comfortable cutting into), a blank garment, spray paint and the secret ingredient, quilt basting spray!!  Quilt basting spray can be found at any fabric store and is relatively inexpensive.  There is no name brand to look for.  I usually just go for the cheapest in the store.  The spray is temporary, either washing away in water or, as the bottles says, "the adhesive properties will diminish or be completely removed after several weeks".

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="the spray we currently use..."][/caption]

Just use the mylar to create the stencil, adhere  and let the paint spray!!

Helpful hints: First and foremost a little bit goes a long way with this stuff.  If you use too much and you don't wash it off the fabric before putting it through a sewing machine it might muck up the needle.  Finally, if you let the stencil sit for a moment to let the adhesive get tacky it will stick all the better.
Enjoy!
here is the life size stencil that inspired this trick...