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November 29, 2004
simple sequin garland
I was unpacking the Xmas supplies and noticed that I never posted the sequin garlands I made last year. I found a big bucket o' sequins and spangles (that's the actual name, TM) at the craft store and this was basically an excuse to play with them. Take monofilament, knot the end, and thread on a sequin (I used the big round spangles). Make another knot in the thread at whatever spacing you want the sequins to be. Mine started out at about an inch apart and then quickly drifted further as my fingers started hurting from knotting the monofilament. Last year I taped them up as streamers in my windows, but I think I'll try them on the tree this time around. They are actually much more sparkly and colorful than my poor photography skills show. You can tell that el Chupacabra likes them.
Posted under Holiday at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2004
speedy baby quilt
I made this quilt for my new niece, who is about T minus 4 months old. We had a surprise baby shower over Thanksgiving. It was a surprise to me too when the invite came in the mail, because I thought I still had 4 months to procrastinate. I'd been planning on making a quilt anyway, but with only a few weeks, I didn't have time for anything grandiose. I'm quite happy with what I came up with, though. It's made of 4 inch patches using the leftover fabrics from the tulip quilt. I like laying out quilts. It's like a great big logic puzzle. I couldn't find a perfect solution to this one, so there are a few blocks of the same color closer to each other than I'd prefer and parts of it are a bit too ordered. It's all machine done except the binding, which I had to handsew on the back. That'll be the last binding I ever hand sew, I can tell you that. I'm getting better at the quilting every time I make one. Most of my block intersections actually line up this time. Next quilt to tackle: one for myself, made from blocks found at my great grandmother's house.
Posted under Sewing/Fabric Crafts at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2004
Labels and Lotta
I'm a sucker for pretty labels. I usually can't bear to part with my favorite ones, which is where my scanner and mini-Xyron sticker machine come in handy (example of use: my scintillation vial spice rack). My collection started with some letterpress labels (since discontinued) from Martha. They actually weren't Martha-made, and I've since seen them in several stationary stores. Then I found a whole box of pretty labels at a book store. I also have a Lotta Jansdotter set, which I am in love with. Both are made by Chronicle Books, which I think has the best design taste among any of the big book/stationary purveyors. (Look for their Jill Bliss Native Flowers Journal coming in March.) And if you haven't seen Jansdotter's work before, I encourage you to visit her website. She's awesome. Check out the aprons and textiles in her shop. And finally, since there's no such thing as too many cool labels, I got yet another box from Iomoi since they're on sale this week. Iomoi's stuff is generally pretty cute, so I have high hopes.
Posted under Crafty Links at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2004
iPod cosy and cable tote
Good Husband got me an iPod for my birthday. I've already banged it up a bit carrying it unprotected in my purse. I made it this little sleeve while I come up with something more elaborate. It's a layer of fabric on top and a layer of eyeglass-cleaning chamois inside, with one layer each of thin interfacing and quilt batting sandwiched between. I made it pretty snug so it doesn't need a fastener. Now, everytime I slide the iPod in it automatically gets polished. I am clever.
The drawstring bag is a tote for the connector cable and the earbuds. It's also big enough to carry the iPod and the earbuds if I so desire. One layer fabric, one layer quilt batting.
Posted under Sewing/Fabric Crafts at 12:01 AM | Comments (2)
November 21, 2004
killer crochet hooks
Went to K-mart today and found these crochet hooks, which I immediately had to have. I looove them. I only tested them on some yarn at the store, and not a full project yet, but they fit nicely in my hand and they're really light. Some of the smaller ones seem like I could snap them in half if I tried, though. Red Heart Crystalites brand, sizes G-N and P. Now what to make with them...
Posted under Crochet at 12:17 AM | Comments (1)
November 20, 2004
Get Crafty Blogs
Have you seen the blogs section on Get Crafty? I think I may start double-posting the craftlog there. All the new blog entries go onto one main page, so you can read them all, like an RSS feed. There are a bunch of good ones, too.
Aha! The idea just struck that this is the solution to my comments problem. I am too lazy to delete all the comment spam or install some spam filter solution. Instead I will just let Get Crafty deal with it. So, from now on, if you would like to comment on any of my entries (or view any comments that may exist), just click the crossposted link and it'll take you to the corresponding entry in my Get Crafty blog.
Posted under Crafty Links at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2004
children's books
I'm usually not so in to memes, but I'll make an exception for the children's book pictures one this week. Princeton just recently had a fantastic exhibit of children's book, including a Salvador Dali Alice in Wonderland, among many other discoveries. Oh, I have so many favorites it's hard to choose: Tasha Tudor, Quentin Blake, John R. Niell and W.W. Denslow (the Oz book illustrators), Johnny Guelle (Raggedy Ann and Andy), Arthur Rackham, Jan Brett, Richard Scarry, Beatrix Potter, lots of others. Great websites with lots of illustrations:
Women Children's Book Illustrators
I scanned in one of of my favorite Oz illustrations (yay for expired copyrights!):
Posted under Crafty Links at 08:01 PM | Comments (3)
November 18, 2004
crafts gone wrong
My library has a few old craft books that--what's the Ghost World quote?--are so bad they've gone past good and are back to bad again. This crochet book I was looking at the other day had a pattern for a pair of life size dolls, among other horrors. I should check the book out and scan the picture. Besides the library, some other places to find crafty awfulness:
Hodgepodge has turned in to one of my favorites. She actually finds neat stuff to do with all the old pictures.
The Craftster Blog has a Crafts Gone Bad Category. Hopefully she'll add some more stuff to it.
Crafts, Extremely Evil. Look at the Bizarre Crafts one. My sister actually found that book in her thrift store, but she gave it to my other sister. The one she gave me was a set of 3 volumes from the Stitch by Stitch collection circa 1985. Oh boy are there some good ones. It's actually a useful book for basic instructions, and there's even the occasional project that could be adapted. The crocheted vests and rayon blouses are just too easy to make fun of, so I scanned in the instructions for one of my favorites, the Rainbow Pompom Bathmat [page1][page2]. Enjoy.
Posted under Crafty Links at 08:36 PM | Comments (3)
November 17, 2004
Paper stars
My Paper Crane posted a sweet little garland of stars she got. I've been wanting to try making some of them myself, so I found these directions and gave it a go using some quilling paper. I was with them through the 2-D parts, but I haven't deciphered the last jump into the third dimension. Maybe I'll try an additional set of directions next time. The flat ones are pretty cute, though, and easy. I think I can churn out a whole garland of them in front of the TV.
Posted under Paper Crafts at 12:47 AM | Comments (1)
November 16, 2004
Bird Ornament
Jennifer Murphy I am not.
Posted under Toys (cat and kid) at 01:11 AM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2004
soap
Simple melt-n-pour soap from a discontinued Martha kit that I got on tag-sale. It's a face soap with calendula flowers and grapefruit oil, colored with a bit of "madder" (of course Martha can't just call it red-orange). I made another batch for a shower soap with mint and rose petals and rosemary mint oil, but I went overboard with the green coloring and it looks really terrible. Oh well. It smells nice.
Posted under Martha at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2004
Hip Knits
Better Homes and Gardens Hip Knits just barely failed the check-it-out-of-the-library test. There just weren't any projects that called to me. I liked a few of them: a granny square bag (crocheted despite the book title) and a few simple sweaters. The one I liked the most was a striped exercise mat and matching bag, but I don't really need a pattern for a garter stitch rectangle.
Posted under Crafty Book/TV Review at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2004
failed Polaroid transfer experiment
I saw someone do a Polaroid transfer on Crafters Coast to Coast the other day. That show is seriously bad for me to watch. I found myself shopping for glass-fusing kilns the other night. Anyway, back to Polaroid transfers, it looked so easy on the show. All she did was peel the sheet off too soon, then let the emulsion or whatever soften over steam for a few minutes before slapping it down on some paper. Yeah, yeah, you need a specific type of camera and film. Well, my i-zone camera says Polaroid on it, and, oh yeah, here's a packet of expired sticker film. Great.
So, it's no surprise that I couldn't get this to work. Maybe there is a way to do it, but it seems to be unknown to Google. I tried a few things. Most variations shared the first few steps: take the picture, let it develop (or not, tried that too), cut the edges off, and let sit in warm water until the layers soften up.
i-zone film seems to be made up of at least 3 layers. They will be stuck to each other in different ways depending on whether the picture is developed or not. There is a backing layer, an emulsion or something layer, and a thin plastic/acetate layer. Right when you take the picture, the emulsion layer seems to be stuck to the back. If you cut the edges off, you can easily pull the acetate away. The emulsion won't come off unless you douse it in hot water. More to the point, no picture develops. If you let the picture develop before cutting the edges off, the emulsion seems to stick to the acetate. It requires soaking to get the layers apart. The emulsion layer is fragile. You can rub it off really easily. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to stick to anything. I would smoosh it on the paper, and then try to peel the acetate off, only to get an icky gray mess. I wrecked four or five pictures and gave up.
If you happen to know of a way to get i-zone film to transfer, please email me.
Posted under Experiments at 12:12 AM | Comments (4)
November 07, 2004
Jennifer Murphy
Here are a couple of Jennifer Murphy dolls, by the way, very optimistically filed under To Imitate.
more here.
Posted under Inspiration at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2004
Mary Engelbreit
I go back and forth on whether I like Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. She does often have references to good stores and stuff to buy, and I generally like the articles about artists, particularly the photos of their workspaces. The text is too gooey throughout for me to actually enjoy reading it, though. I mainly look at the pictures. And most of Mark Engelbreit's actual designs are not so appealing to me. The whole magazine reflects her very busy, cutesy aesthetic. But, I am also a sucker for paper dolls. I love paper dolls. I am anxiously awaiting the day my neice can wield a pair of scissors and I can get her some. My sisters and I used to play with them all the time, although our favorite part was not so much playing but rather cutting them out and sorting all their clothes and accessories. Anyway, so my paper doll attraction makes it very tempting to buy the magazine each month, and I also always try to remember to get her yearly paper doll calendar. [EDIT: I can't find a 2005 paper doll calendar on her website. Too bad.]
I also have a weakness for Christmas issues, so I went ahead and got it this month. As usual, the artist article is wonderful. One of my favorites, Jennifer Murphy, who makes the best stuffed animals I have ever seen. I think I first heard about her from Loobylu, but I don't 100% remember. Anyway, great pictures. Some other good stuff: little furniture made of floral wire, a candleabra-turned-Christmas-tree, a sequined lampshade, and some decent decorating and wrapping ideas that I might consider adapting closer to my taste. Maybe once my Real Simple subscription runs out (I am so over Real Simple), I'll consider subscribing to Home Companion. We'll see.
Posted under Crafty Book/TV Review at 09:12 PM | Comments (1)
November 05, 2004
November Sampler
After cursing myself for not subscribing for October's Sampler, I signed up for a 3-month stint. Got the November one today. Pretty good haul: a felt-and-glitter ring from Glamscience that I am wearing right now, a zipper pull from Midnight Firefly, a CD by The Shermans that I actually like, a fabric collage bookmark from Textile Fetish, a pin from Heart Tattoo, and, the best thing, a bag from Wonderland-Q. The bookmark and zipper pull I could take or leave, but the other stuff, plus the fun surprise, are totally worth the price. Here are all the possible samples for November. I'm super disappointed that I didn't get a pin from Happy Owl Glassworks, though. Instead I will add it to my Christmas list. I was also coveting the little scissor necklaces from Copacetique (can't find 'em on the shop website, so look for them on the Sampler page) and the cool coiled glass necklace from Starving Artist Bazaar.
Posted under Wants at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2004
Kids magazine
Grrr. My worst fears are being realized. Now that Martha's in jail, the whole thing's going downhill. Living, Everyday Food, and Weddings are still holding out, but I fear Kids is a canary in a coalmine. I get home from work today and find it in the mail. Oh boy, I think, something to take my mind off the horrors to come in the next four years. What a disappointment. A huge percentage of the stuff in this issue is completely recycled. WTF? I know Omnimedia is famous for reusing ideas from the magazine on TV, in books, on by-mail cards, the website, through Martha by Mail, etc., but this hits a new low. Plus, they're going from 6 issues a year down to 4 (and, incidentally, dropping any reference to Martha). There are a few good things: quilt stockings, a Christmas village made of manila folders, a bead caterpillar, some other stuff.
Posted under Crafty Book/TV Review at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)
November 03, 2004
wrapping paper desk set
I got a really neat book of wrapping paper from Oh Boy Artifacts a couple of years ago. One of the designs in particular really appeals to me and I usually can't bear to part with a sheet of it for it's supposed purpose. I used some scraps to make a pencil cup, a box for memo paper, and push pins. The whole thing started as a Martha idea gone wrong. In a fit of cutesy-ness I bought her quilling kit (EDIT: which is only $12 now). One of the ideas in the kit was to make tight coils of different sizes and colors and stack them up, then glue them on a tack. I tried this and didn't like the way it looked, so I was stuck with all these little coils of quilling paper. I cut circles out of the wrapping paper, glued them to the quilling paper coils, and then glued that to a tack. (It helps to sand the top of the tack first so the glue has something to attach to.) I'm not so good at cutting out circles, but they still look ok.
The cup part of the pencil cup is an empty Tazo tea tin. I just glued the paper around it. I glued a layer of wrapping paper to a layer of heavier paper, and folded a little box from it to hold a notepad.
Posted under Paper Crafts at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)