cakehouse's Profile

Bio

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about me
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i am: kristen couse, brooklyn mama (no, literally, a mama. ask me the last time i got up after 8am...)

i was: poli sci major, apprentice chef, waitress, editor, textile design student.

i like: thrift stores, farmer's markets, tea with milk and honey, cats, karmann ghias, rilo kiley, the mountain goats, the rolling stones, uniball pens, good grammar.

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how did cakehouse come about?
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when i finished art school, i knew i wanted to make home goods, and i knew i wanted to hand-print them with my drawings. but the idea never became more than an idea until i realized that i needed to work with used/vintage fabric. i've always been more comfortable in a secondhand store than a department store or boutique, so it's not surprising that i couldn't wrap my brain around the idea of buying new fabric to make my products. with secondhand fabrics, you get the great aesthetic of the 60s and 70s (and rarely, if i'm lucky, the 50s), and, more importantly, it's more environmentally sound. yes, i could have gone with organic, sweat-shop-free, soy-ink-dyed fabrics. but why even bother with that when there's so much fabric out there just waiting to be scooped up and reused? it's recycling, but so much more fun than separating the paper and the plastic.

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what's my process?
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i scour thrift shops, yard sales, stoop sales, and garage sales (i aspire to estate sales) for appealing fabrics, which may be in the shape of bedsheets, tableclothes, housecoats, etc. i take them home, wash them with natural detergent, and dry them out on the clothesline to get out the eau de goodwill. then i cut them up, sew them back together, and screenprint images on to them using water-based inks. the finished product is machine washable and totally unique.

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what's with the name?
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susie: so, i've been trying to email you all week, since you gave me your new email address, but it keeps bouncing back.

me: are you sure you had it right? it's k couse at whatever dot net.

susie: oh.....i thought you said "cake house at whatever dot net."


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team
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i am a proud member of a fantastic etsy team:

the {newnew} is where new york-area etsy sellers represent. you can find us at thenewnew.blogspot.com and thenewnewny.com.


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etc
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to play by the rules: i have another etsy account, kcouse, which i started when i was but only a buyer, not yet a seller.

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www.cakehousedesign.com

Female, Born on May 6

Favorite Materials

fabric, ink