Make Your Cards 3-D! Yay!

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks pretty easy and if you pick the right type of card stock, these could be super awesome 3-D cards!

Click Here to View the Website Tutorial

Twirly Baby Dress - I thought of this one for my sister...since she has a 7-month old cutie...click to go to the website that posted it

Getting Yr Craft Done While Vacationing....

I enjoyed this article on crafting while on vacation...


Personally, I think it's relaxing to work on projects while traveling/vacationing. I have included a few of this writer's tips on crafting while on vacation.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post for more of her article..By: Maria Nerius, FaveCrafts.com Resident Craft Expert 


 "....As creative people, we don’t ever really turn off from "work mode" - the world is just too full of creativity and we can’t miss a bit of it. Plus, there is so much to learn during our travels. I’ve put together a few of my own tips that you might like to use on your next vacation:


1.  Always bring a way to keep notes, thoughts, ideas, dreams, goals and sketches. You might bring an art journal or a small electronic device that has an app to record notes, sketch ideas and take photos....


2. Take a craft! I make a small traveling craft kit for every vacation I go on. I don’t always complete the craft, but I craft in public areas like by the pool, in the lobby, in the food courts, and anywhere people gather and relax. By crafting, I open myself up to conversations. People will come up and ask what I’m doing! I’ve made some great business connections while sitting by the pool and needle punching! This should also include wearing anything you make!"


Here's her link if you want to read more!!!  http://www.favecrafts.com/Craft-Business/Vacations-Can-Be-a-Time-For-Work-and-Play/ml/1

A real camera made from sewing spools, eyeglass lens, rubber bands, toilet paper tubes and cardboard/glue

This was just so interesting I had to share.  I know it's not a tutorial like I usually post, but it's definately creative and very fascinating.  I sometimes wonder how we would re-create technology if it were all destroyed one day and we had to start from scratch?  This guy figured out how to re-create a real camera that works....with found objects:

Click on this photo to view photos Tichy took with his homemade camera...

MIROSLAV TICHY HAS BECOME FAMOUS in spite of his need for privacy. Born in 1926 in what is now the Czech Republic, Tichy studied painting at the Academy of Art in Prague until the Communist takeover in April 1945. Arrested for being “odd,” therefor subversive, Tichy spent many years in jails and prisons, until he was released in the 1970s.

Upon his release, he wandered his small town in rags, pursuing his occupation as an artist photographing the female form in the streets. He made his cameras from tin cans, childrens spectacle lens and other junk he found on the street. He would return home each day to make prints on equally primitive equipment, making only one print from the negative he selected. He stole intimate glimpses of his subjects through windows and the fences of swimming pools as well as in the streets, sometimes finding himself in trouble with the police.

Visit this guy's blog - he writes aobut Tichy and shows you some of Tichy's photographs:
http://accidentalmysteries.blogspot.com/2009/01/voyeuristic-art-of-miroslav-tichy.htm

May Flowers! Out of recycled water bottles...who knew???

I will never look at the bottom of a plastic water bottle the same. Now I will see a potential flower everytime!

Click on this easy tutorial (BELOW THIS PHOTO) to view in a browser and zoom in to read. Or print it!

This crafter made a necklace from them...I'm making barrettes! ;-)

CLICK BELOW

Paper Garlands - ahhhh, easy AND pretty!

I found this easy tut in a Better Homes Do It Yourself mag for Summer 2011.

They'd be cool for a party or home decor:

Farmgirl Stitches

This is from the book, "MaryJane's Stitching Room".

I liked the simplicity of the stitches for embroidery work. Note she uses the phrase, "gussy up". True farmgirl venacular. ;-) Anyway, the book has some cute stitching projects and tips in it like this one:

DIY - ruffled t-shirt in 9 steps!

1. Take a large T-shirt and lay it down flat.
2. Fold the T-shirt in half lengthwise and mark the front, center with a pin on the collar.
3. Pinch a fold in the center of the shirt, about 1 inch deep creating a pleat. Pin the pleat vertically (from the collar to the hemline) so that it stays in place.
4. Repeat until you have 4 pleats in the front, center of the t-shirt.
5. Starting from the bottom hem of the T-shirt, sew a horizontal line from right to left, sewing over the pleats so that they are facing the left.
6. Four inches above that line, sew another horizontal line, this time from left to right, sewing the pleats down so that they are facing the right.
7. Repeat the horizontal lines until reaching the collar of the shirt.
8. Okay…almost done! Now, using a zigzag stitch sew two large “S” shapes, starting from the collar, down to the hemline, feeding the t-shirt fabric into the stitches to create tiny gathered pleats into the stitches.
9. Now, if you like the look of this top as a tank, cut off the sleeves around the sleeve hemline to get this edgy look.

- Tutorial from www.supernaturale.com

70's flowers

After my daughter turned in her 1970's fashion poster, she inspired me to get dig through my fabric scraps and make a few 70's-style fabric flowers.

I cut three flowers shapes out and sewed them together for each flower. Simple.

They kind of look like polyester butterflies.

Maybe I'll make them into pins? Put them on our jackets (yes, we are still wearing jackets in Ohio) and pretend it's Springtime. ;-)

Sweet, Simple Spring Skirt for Girly Girls!

Please visit Debbie's blog to view the complete tutorial. I've included her instructions below:
http://squigglytwigs.blogspot.com/2010/08/tuesdays-tute-sweet-and-simple-skirt.html


Materials:

Measuring Tape
Fabric-Do measurements and calculations before buying fabric.
Elastic-Enough 3/4" non-roll elastic to around the waist of the wearer.
Thread and sewing supplies
Large paper (optional)-if you want to create a paper pattern to make future skirts quicker.
Directions:

Measure Wearer:
1.Waist:________
2.Hip: __________
3.Length of skirt (outseam):_______ How much of this do you want to be the ruffle?:_______

Work the formula:
1. Skirt: hip + 4 X 1.5 (A-line like) or X 2 (more fullness)=___A_________ (or you can measure the bottom of a favorite dress or skirt and use that measurement for A)
2. Completed length – ruffle + 2" for casing and seam = ___B________
3. Ruffle: A x 1.5= __C_________
4. Ruffle length + 1” for seam and hem = ____D_________
You will want to write down these numbers for future use, or make a paper pattern.

Cut Skirt Pieces:
You need to cut a rectangle(s) of fabric that is A (wide) by B (long).
Cut Ruffle Pieces:
And cut a rectangle(s) of fabric that is C (wide) by D (long).
Pay attention that any directional print is right side up.

Time to press (iron):
Press the top edge, of skirt, down 1/4" then 1 1/4" more to form lines for casing.
Press bottom edge, of ruffle, up 1/4" and then 1/4" more to form lines for hem.
See our tutorial on hemming to make this go much quicker.

Time to sew:

Create Large Rectangles:
If you have more than one skirt rectangle, sew one set of short sides together (wrong sides together) to create one larger rectangle. Do the same for the ruffle.
Hem Ruffle:
Sew the hem of the ruffle.
Gather:
Set your machine to gather: large top tension number, large stitch number.
Sew a gathering (basting) stitch along the top edge of the ruffle.
Attach Ruffle and Skirt (in the flat):
Lay skirt right side up on a flat surface. Tape bottom edge down securely.
Lay ruffle wrong side up on top of the skirt, matching raw edges. Tape it down securely.
Pull up top gather thread until ruffle width matches skirt width. Pin if you want.
Sew ruffle to skirt with right sides together. Zigzag edges.
Sew Side Seam:
Open pressed edges up flat and line up side edges of skirt, with right sides together. Sew side seam to make a circle.
Make Casing for Elastic:
Fold pressed edge (top for casing) back in place.
Sew around the bottom edge of the top pressed area (wrong side) to form a casing for the elastic. Leave 1-2" opening near the back to insert the elastic.
Elastic:
Cut a piece of elastic: Waist – 2” = ______ elastic length
Thread elastic through casing. I put a safety pin in one end of the elastic and pin the other end to the skirt. Then pull the elastic through the casing. Fit the skirt to the wearer to check the elastic fit. Overlap the ends of the elastic and sew through 2-3 times. Tuck the elastic end into the casing and close the opening.

Your skirt is finished...Please Repeat and Share!
Happy Sewing!
Debbie

The cutest lace skirt EVAR!

This tutorial looks complicated, so I don't recommend trying it unless you are Mrs. or Mr. Seamstress Extraordinare. But, I had to share the photo. It's such a cute skirt. Seriously.

The link to the tutorial is here: http://elleapparel.blogspot.com/2010/11/lace-for-days-skirt.html

Creating Felted Flowers

I keep hearing "I felted this" and "I'm going to felt that" from different people. I keep seeing interesting purses and felted things at craft fairs. What is up with this "felting" movement?

I found an informative little felted flower tutorial I thought I'd share with all of you crafters out there...who may be wondering what the whole "felting fad" is about...and how can you get started? This tutorial may be the perfect way to start. You can buy the products at www.clover-usa.com:

More projects and items can be found at Clover Needlecraft's website: www.clover-usa.com

Stuffed Kitty Tutorial. Super duper cute!!!

I don't normally sew stuffed animals. I'm more of a fashion-type gal. ;-) But, I saw this super easy tutorial on Etsy and I thought I'd share for all of you kitty-lovers!

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND READ IT:

Here's the pattern, as well:

Beautiful Felt Work!

I found this wonderful work by Lova Handmade. Her work is just so scrumptious!

;-)

Here's her blog: http://lovarevolutionary.blogspot.com/

We love barn wood, steel, rocks, stone, rust and trees - Sam's Welding

I found these guys on Etsy and I just loved their upbeat attitude and their fascination with using local items in their art. Recycling, using old techniques and keeping it minimal:
__________________________________

Melanie and Sam are the owners of Sam's Welding. They own a home business on 5 acres, with 2 children (now in college), horses, chickens cats and dogs.

They have always lived in the country and enjoyed using the natural raw materials around them in in the Pacific Northwest.

Melanie makes most of the finish work on items...sanding, clear coating, cleaning off the steel, filing etc. Sam started to work with wood turning in the last few years and also been learning more about the ancient technique of forging.

Sam has created many ornamental iron gates for people and garden sculptures for local people. Some pictures on their FB page can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=173401839342326&set=pu.171773256171851&theater

They have 3 forges, one propane and two coal forges with manual blowers.

Melanie love rocks and stones so she's had fun this year splitting slate pieces by heating them and then taking the thin sheets and drilling out the slate jewelry pieces.

Between Sam and Melanie and the collections they have on their five acres and in their barns, they are always coming up with another idea to try. We love barn wood, steel, rocks, stone, rust and trees.

Fabric Flower Session - Craft Therapy

I'm in Tucson visiting my sister - who just had twins - and already has a 3 year old and 2 year old!!! Last night, after everyone was FINALLY asleep, she sat down and we had a little craft therapy together.

I'm so proud of her! Look at what a good job she did! Two button flowers, a rolled flower and a wool flower.

We were experimenting with a "scrunched" wool flower and it turned out pretty good.

Do any of you have any good re-purposed wool flower tutorials you can share with us???

Combining a Rolled Flower and a Scalloped Flower

I used my previous tutorials on Rolled Fabric Flowers and Button Fabric Flowers and COMBINED them to make little guy. To keep the fabric from unraveling/frizzing, I used some sparkly fabric paint on the edges.

I'm traveling right now,so I didn't have access to super cute fabric, so I cut off off a piece of extra fabric off an old jacket.

That's pretty sad when you go cutting off pieces of your clothing to craft.

Sad, sad, sad...but in a good way. ;-)

Etsy Features a Pair of My Hand Painted Jeans in a Denim Treasury - Yay!

Interestingly....I got a pair of jeans featured in a Treasury on Etsy.

I guess that means there IS A FOLLOWING for upcyled, artsy denim. So....does this mean I'm not banging my head against a non-existing demographic wall??? ;-)

Good, ole-fashioned tie-dye - an easier, safer way - not using bleach

Grace keeps asking me to tie-dye a long, flowing skirt for her.

I didn't want to use bleach since I'm super sensitive to the smell...so I found this easy tutorial on Disney's family fun crafts site. Cha-cha-check it!!! It's easy and not as messy as other tie-dye tutorials out there!

Taking My Own Advice - Fabric Flower-Making

Yeah, so I decided to take my own advice and make a few fabric flowers from one of my previous tutorials. Here are some of the results. What do you guys think?

Mainstream gets Crafty? Why, yes!

Once I bought a skirt online in the Speigel store and ever since, I've been getting their email promotions. I haven't taken my name off the list even thought I never look at their emails. For some reason, I looked at it today and I actually liked a necklace they are selling.

What was strange about it was that it kinda COOL in a CRAFTY sort of way. Mainstream is getting crafty(er?).

Well, we all have known that, but hey, any of us crafters could put something like this together without too much effort. Right????!!!! ;-) If anything, it's cute and can be sort-of replicated by our talented little hands!!!

Blue Kitty Rocker!

I put together a few new designs on toddler jeans last week - just wanted to share...Have a crafty week, everyone!!! ;-)

Custom Couple Silhouettes - EASY, quick and minimal supplies needed!!

This is a easy and great gift idea for newlyweds or for an inexpensive (but thoughtful) Anniversary present...

Fabric Flower Necklace - really? A necklace?

I've been posting tutorials on fabric flowers (there's a million types out there!) over the past few months on my blog.

I FINALLY found somebody using their fabric flowers in JEWELRY. Cool, huh? Here's a picture of a necklace that from the Jan/Feb issue of "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" magazine:

Let me know if any of you try this making jewelry out of rolled fabric flowers! I'd LOVE to see how they turn out! I'll post some fabric flower barrettes I've made later this week and I'll try to create a necklace this weekend. WHAT WILL YOU CREATE THIS WEEK? ;-)

Tape transfer - use tape to transer any image onto paper!

This is so cool and I've done it before using a ton of different images. I used to make greeting cards using this technique. The instructions are SUPER EASY (like all the tutorials I post) and really cool since you can layer them over anything on any kind of paper surface!

Just click on this photo and zoom!

Super cute fabric button flower!

Super cute button flower. Check it out, yo. Click HERE to read her cute, easy tutorial:

Create your own upcyled appliques for jeans in a few easy steps!

I found this tutorial and I LOVED it. Re-sewing the inseam looks a tad tricky, so if you need more direction than provided here, please visit this gal's website for details (link below). Happy applique-making!!! ;-)

CLICK ON the image below to view it in a browser and zoom to enlarge:





http://www.thewildcards.com/my_weblog/2011/01/a-wildcards-tutorial-flowers-at-your-feet.html

Sequins+beads+thread+tule= pretty flower embellishment!

I found this tutorial online and I thought that I'd make these sequin/bead embellishments for jeans or barrettes or headbands? This gal made them for a t-shirt. Very pretty, huh? ;-)


(see bottom for direct link to her DETAILED tutorial)


1 t-shirt (preferably tissue or thin with a slim cut)
1/4 yard tule for backing the design
2 yards (a little extra) of strung sequins or 1 small pack
20 gram pack of beads (can use more than one kind)
needle
thread
scissors


Tips & Tricks

1.try to come up through the tule where you want the outside of your sequin to lay, going back down through the center allows you to secure it's placement.
2.this embellishment is made up of 7 patches of sequin/beading. i've provided a pattern for the tule to be cut, but feel free to modify it to your liking. add bigger patches, more patches, less patches, etc. each one that i've shown here is open for change.


Instructions

1.pre wash your tee to make sure that it doesn't shrink much after the project is finished.

2.unstring 1 yard of your sequins (unstring the rest as needed).

3.print attached pattern and cut tule according to the instructions.

4.layer both a pieces underneath the 3 b pieces.

5.double thread your needle, tying a knot at the end.

6.coming up from the bottom of your tule at the edge of the b pile, pull the needle taught.

7.thread one sequin, come back down through the center of the sequin, then the tule.

8.continue step 6-7 for each sequin, forming a series of circles within each other. finish the sequins off by cutting the thread at the needle & tying the two pieces in multiple knots.

9.now you'll want to add the beads to the center of each sequin. with a double threaded needle, come up through the center of one sequin.

10.thread the bead, coming back down again through the center of sequin. this adds a nice texture & secures the placement of the sequin.

11.continue steps 9-10 for each sequin. finish the beads off by looping the remaining thread through sequin stitching, then cutting the thread at the needle & tying the two pieces in multiple knots.

12.next, you'll want to fill the empty space with filler beads.

13.continue with steps 4-12 until you've added each patch to the entire embellishment. notice that the smaller sequin clusters do not have any tule layers beneath them. here you will simply attach directly to the two a pieces of tule.

14.once you finish the entire embellishment, it's time for the fun part. go ahead & put on the tee. you'll want to line up the full piece to make sure you like the placement. attach the embellishment to the tee with straight pins.

15.hand stitch the embellishment, coming up from underneath & trying to stay underneath each sequin patch (but above the tule). this provides a strong attachment without visible thread.

Here's the detailed tutorial link: http://stilldottie.blogspot.com/2009/10/handmade-days-jeweled-tee-tutorial.html

Bling up yr scraggily headbands!!!

My friend Debbie posted this tutorial on her site. It was a very EASY way to salvage and "bling up" those girly headbands that are starting to look a tad scraggily around our house.

Find some scrap fabric with sparkles or some funky textures on it, grab a glue gun and scissors and wah-lah! ;-) If you don't have scrap fabric with sparkles on it, you can always glue gems on!
____________________________

1. Cut the fabric to the length and width that you need + 1" to fold under the ends.
2. Glue the fabric edge to the inside of the headband just off center.
3. Glue as you fold/wrap the fabric around the headband pulling it tight and smooth as you go.
4. Over lap the beginning edge slightly so that this raw edge is in the center of the inside of the headband.
5. Fold the fabric ends inside and glue.
6. Wrap trim around the head band at an angle from one end to the other securing periodically with glue.
(from http://squigglytwigs.blogspot.com/2011/01/tuesdays-tute-recover-old-headband.html?spref=fb)

Baby Umbrellas Lantern - recycle those baby umbrellas, ellas, ellas, ellahs, eh, eh, eh

This is SO CUTE I can't hardly stand it. AND, all it takes is some nifty collecting skills. Keep those umbrellas from yr fancy parties and drinks! You can make 'em into a lantern! ;-)

Do any of you know where you could get a plastic ball like this? I can't think of anything except a paper Chinese lantern or an Ikea hanging round lantern. Any suggestions?



(From crafttutorials.net)

A great way to recycle those cocktail umbrellas after you have a party or get together.

Materials Needed:

Cocktail Umbrellas in all designs and colors
Hard, hollow plastic ball-any shape and size as long as it can fit a bulb inside (all I can think of is an Ikea lamp or paper Chinese lantern...?)
Light bulb with cord - you can buy those with a paper Chinese lantern at Walmart or Target.

Instructions:

Start by taking the plastic ball and cut a 5cm radius. This will be where you place the light bulb (or light bulb holder) when you are finished.
Next you will take the cocktail umbrellas and one by one poke them into the sides of the ball (or paper lantern). If you have problems poking the toothpicks through the ball you can use something sharp like a safety pin to make the holes. Continue to poke them through the ball until the ball is filled.
This can then be placed over the bulb and used to decorate any room.