Craft: Transforming Traditional Crafts

Many of you may remember when Craft was this cool new craft magazine that popped up on your local magazine rack at the bookstore. It was so different from all the other magazines. It spoke to a younger generation of crafters who were trending DIY and indie craft styles but it was a refreshing look at the art of craft for those of us not exactly in our twenties anymore. Then you may have wondered where it went.

After about 5 years as a hard copy medium it evolved into an awesome online magazine with a blog, projects, a community section and how-to videos. So, craftzine.com is my crafty link for today. Have fun exploring.

More Brushes with Crafting Celebrities

Yesterday I told you I got to meet one of the most prolific people in the craft world at CHA. Well here I am with Nancy Zieman. She was at the Clover booth and demonstrated her new product that Clover is producing. The cool part was it was just me and her. I felt like a guest student on her show. The product is a template for making handbags. As soon as I get through all my stuff from CHA I will find the video demonstration to post to show you all how it works.

Also, I stopped by the 10-minute challenge with TLC's While You Were Out Mark Montano. He is promoting his book Big-Ass Book of Crafts. I've only skimmed the book but it seems like there are some updated Good Houskeeping crafts from the 60's. I'm just glad crafts have become so popular but I'm sure us crazy crafty people would find a way to do it ourselves.

Don't forget to stop by Craft Critique for the latest updates on CHA. I have an article up on the new jewelry pendants I found around the show floor.

I Met the Crafty Chica

Okay, I've always liked a little bit of glitter (more so as a kid) but never thought I would find myself enjoying it so much as an adult. Meeting and crafting with the Crafty Chica changed my mind. During my visit at the Duncan booth today at CHA I got to sit down with her and make a pair of fun earrings. I really liked the glitter. It was very fine and she was able to make her own colors for her glitter line. I'm glad she was able to. The design of the margaritas was part of a selection I got to cut out. Her husband designed the artwork. I will have to wear these to my next Jimmy Buffet concert.

Her favor for the show which is shown with the earrings is a Mexican fortune cookie. Click on the photo to get a more detailed look.

Also, don't forget about checking Craft Critique for more detailed updates and also I will have another craft celebrity I met today here on my blog tomorrow. Hint: She has a sewing PBS show.

CHA Summer Show 2008

CHA stands for the Craft and Hobby Association and they organize 2 big trade shows a year so vendors can display the newest and best products for shop owners to order from. Today was the first day of the summer show here in Chicago.

Although, I couldn't make it the first day I will be there bright and early tomorrow with comfortable shoes on as a member of the press. I will be ambling down the aisles grabbing sneak peaks for Craft Critique. Over the next few days the lucky group of us will be your eyes to what will be coming to your craft stores for the fall. Please make sure to click your way over to Craft Critique to see what we are up to. Also, while you're waiting for updates of the show be sure to also check out the previews that are up from different vendors in the 3 part CHA Sneak Peak Carnival.

Wish me luck. I'm sure my feet will need it!

I Finally Made Some Birthday Cards

Nothing like a couple of birthdays and a new Scrapbooking Club to get me to sit down and use my stuff. I made these cards this past Friday when I finally made it to the Our Redeemer's Scrapbook Club. I started attending this church last fall and met the founder of the group while dropping my daughter off to Sunday School. Laura is her teacher and also the organizer for the Crop for a Cause event I attended last month.

Although I have what looks like a lot of stuff (hardcore scrappers can see I'm just a novice when it comes to what I have) and it looks like I have it organized, I yet to have projects organized especially when it comes to scrapbook pages. So instead of looking like I had no idea of what I was going to do I decided to make cards for my mother-in-law and father-in-law's birthdays. We met them today for lunch to celebrate. Their birthdays are only a couple of days apart and my husband's is on the same day as his mom's. I hope you enjoy the cards.

The first card is for my mother-in-law. I really enjoyed making this card. The message is with stickers and I helped to attach it to the background with spiral paper clips made by The Paper Studio. I also used my Sizzix Big Kick to cut out the flower details and paper buttons. I am quite pleased with this card and my 3-D flower that you can see in the close-up.


The second card was more of a challenge. I didn't have much masculine paper in my small stash but I did have that cute little robot tag that my fellow crafter Martha made for us one night at our Chicago Craft Collective meeting. He was my "guy" inspiration. He actually is holding a heart above his head but I put a speech bubble sticker over it to shout out my birthday wishes. I used stickers also for "Grandpa". I really have a thing for stickers but I never seem to have enough of some. I need to practice stamping more.

A New Beaded Bracelet for Me

Last night at our monthly Chicagoland Craft Collective Meetup, I made this spectacular memory wire bracelet. Analee was our wonderful teacher of the craft this month. I brought a bunch of beads I picked up on sale at Joann's a long, long time ago that I intended to be a purse handle but now I have this awesome bracelet.

Next month I get to be the teacher. I am going to show everyone how to make these cool wire-edge ribbon flowers. You can view a tutorial for the folded ribbon rose I wrote over at Craft Critique. I am going to teach this rose plus the leaf and then if we have time I will do the rosette and rolled ribbon rose. They are quite easy to do once you get the feel of it and they work up very quickly.

5 Reasons You Should Learn a Craft

1. Exercise your creative side, especially if you have a regular job that doesn't allow for creativity. If you already have a career that is creative then try something that is different from your daily job. For example, if you're a graphic designer, take a pottery class or learn how to sew.

2. Relaxation. Many knitters, crocheters and other needle artists I know say they do it for de-stressing. In the November 2005 issue of Natural Health they ran an article "Knit one, relax two" where knitting was cited as a meditation method. Click here to read the article.

3. Meet new people. Make new friends. I've moved around a few times and I always make friends by joining the local embroidery or quilt guild. After moving to the Chicago area I used Meetup.com to find the Chicagoland Craft Collective and the Palatine Crochet Group. Most groups don't require you to be experienced in the craft represented just interested and there are always people willing to teach each other.

4. Make gifts for friends and family. Want to give someone a special gift that's not mass produced by someone overseas? Or, maybe you want to give something a little more personalized? Find a book, take a class or enlist a crafty friend to help you learn how to sew, paint or decoupage.

5. Just to have fun! Of course, this is probably included in most if not all the 1st 4 reasons but it is probably the most important. But, if you find you start a craft then decide it's not for you, don't give up on all crafts. Just because you're all thumbs and can't for the life of you cast stitches onto a knitting needle it doesn't mean you can't try to make that mosaic stepping stone for the garden.

I hope you give something new a try. Everyone has the ability to be creative in some way. Whether you scrapbook your favorite photos or quilt a full sized bed cover just remember to enjoy yourself, especially when you first begin. Your skills will improve with each step of the way and you will make new friends and impress old ones.

This post was inspired by Problogger's Group Writing Project. If you have a blog of your own and are looking at ways to grow or are thinking about blogging as a business Problogger is a great place to start.

International Quilt Festival/Chicago 2007

I've had another busy week. Work is crazy. We had a sales meeting with everyone coming into Chicago and we spent two evenings out at dinner and just getting to know everyone. My daughter had a doctor's appointment with an allergist today and I went to the special preview of the International Quilt Festival tonight for class registrants.

The show is great! It is the first time I've been to this one. I've never been to the original one in Houston but I have been to the Paducah Quilt Show which is amazing and is on my list to get back to. I am showing you a detail from a quilt by Kathy York titled Little Cities. It is machine and fused appliqued, machine pieced and machine quilted. The detail is the center of the quilt. I love how it has the circular quilting pattern rippling out from the center and the colors are so vibrant. You can see the quilts online beginning tomorrow on the quilt show's website, Quilts, Inc.

I am also sharing with you one of the vendors in the Make It University area sponsored by Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine. Ten Seconds Studio has unique tools to emboss metal and add them to your scrapbooking, cardmaking or as shown in the picture, wonderful little art quilts. You can find the supplies at alteredstyle.com. I picked up some of their rub-ons because they stick to fabric (used for art pieces not to be laundered). I will let you know when I get a chance to try them out.

At the quilt show I am taking a class on Saturday. It is called Threads of Imagination by Cara Gulati. I think I'm going to be a little tired and a little broke at the end of the weekend but hopefully I will be really inspired. I've already learned so much just from the vendors I've met tonight and I've probably only touched a small fraction of what is there. Wish me luck and if you can, stop by the show online.

My Introduction to Needle Felting

Attendance at the Ohio State University Perry County Extension's annual Sewing Smorgasbord was outstanding especially for such a small county extension office. I grew up in Perry County and spent 8 years in 4-H which was based out of this office. So, it was a lot of fun to take part it in the event and attend the 45 min - 1 hour classes. There was no pre-registration for the classes so it was first come first serve for classes that had limits otherwise it was standing room only for most of the sections. Since most of them were lecture or demo only it was not too bad.

As you may have read in my earlier post about the Smorgasbord, I was most hoping to take the felting make-it-and-take-it demo. I'm happy to say I got into the class. For a $10 kit fee we received a Needle Felting Starter Kit by Fiber Trends, wool roving and a Styrofoam egg shape to make a pincushion. Usually, you would felt an entire egg from the roving but because of time constraints our instructor had us cover the Styrofoam.

Basically, for needle felting you stab wool roving over and over with special triangular shaped needles to get the fibers to stick together. I found a great tutorial for basically how we were making the egg pincushion at Mielke's Fiber Arts (they show making a cute ladybug).

Our super instructor was K.L. Christman owner of the Olde Yarn Loft in Somerset, Ohio. Her shop is in a cabin and besides natural yarns and fibers she carries spinning wheels, weaving looms and a very unique handcrafted triangle loom that makes incredible woven shawls. She is located 15 minutes south of I-70 and only about 40 minutes total from Columbus. The shop hours are Tues-Sat 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. She is also involved with the Appalachia Fiber Guild and their 1st Appalachia Heritage Fest to be held September 29, 2007. If you live nearby or will be traveling near there check it out.

So Easy Decoupage Candle Holders

I have been inspired by my 6 year old daughter. This past weekend in a church class, she made a little decoupage candle holder with a small glass globe, tissue paper and glue. It was so pretty. I have not done decoupage since middle school art class but I wanted to do it too. So today we worked together to do one.

I happened to have a medium glass candle globe and tissue. I bought some Modge Podge by Plaid this weekend. We cut up pieces of tissue paper. We used a brush to apply the glue then pressed the paper in place overlapping them as we went. After the globe was covered we apply an extra coat of glue and let it dry. I added some specialty yarn to my globe and the smaller one she made. I added some beads using 28 gauge wire to secure them to the hanging lengths of the yarn on the larger globe.

Now I have two special candle holders that look as if I purchased them at a boutique and my daughter is ready to make more for gifts. Quick, cheap and gorgeous! Can you get any better than that?

How to Re-fashion a Kid's Sweatshirt

For some reason my dear daughter does not like to wear a plain T-shirt or sweatshirt. They are just too plain and boy-like. So, she has to have something a little more fashionable. The problem is that fashionable shirts can cost more than I want to spend. I found an alternative. I purchase gently used shirts at thrift stores and jazz them up like the one in the photo.

For this particular shirt I used an iron-on applique that I purchased on clearance earlier this year. After ironing it on I used a narrow zigzag stitch in a matching thread. I wanted to make sure this would last through washings. Then I used a Gemagic Rhinestone Setter (similar to the Bedazzler) to set some colored rhinestones around the applique.

This is such an easy project to do. If you don't have the rhinestone setter you could purchase some metallic fabric paints and simply add dots around the applique but make sure you do not use fabric softener before applying the paint.

My Very First Cards in Papercrafts

It seems I am having a lot of firsts lately and it has been loads of fun. Here are my first handcrafted cards I have made using strictly paper and cardstock. Many years ago I made cards by simply stamping and coloring an image on premade cards or postcards. This time I simply cut out pieces of paper and glued them to cards I made from cardstock using my new Cutterpede paper trimmer.

The first card is hard to see it as pieced together in the picture. In fact it is hard to see it is pieced together in person. Since I am just starting these paper projects and I have limited tools and trims I wanted to do something simple but I think would still be sophisticated. I simply took two coordinating papers - one striped and one with messages. After cutting a piece of card stock and using my score blade so I could fold it I cut the striped paper and glued it to the front of the blank card. I cut out the words I wanted from the other paper, arranged them and glued them down. This was my husband's Valentine's card and he loves it. He thought it was one of those fancy Hallmark cards at first.

The second card started out the same but I chose to only go with one print and a coordinating blue cardstock. After cutting the front piece of paper for the card and gluing it in place I cut it with the scallop blade so the cardstock would show behind it and then cut the back to match. I still wanted simplicity but I also wanted some pizazz. After seeing projects done with the Crop-a-Dile I decided adding an eyelet would be an excellent idea but I didn't have that snazzy tool but I did have a Dritz(R) Eyelet Plier Kit in my fabric tools. So I added an eyelet on the front and back and bought some ribbon. The ribbon is attached by making a knot in the middle of the length of ribbon to secure it when threaded through both eyelets. After threading it through the card simply tie it in a bow. I'm definitely going to make more of these for birthday and thank you cards.

A Cool New Bookmark

This past Wednesday night I went to my monthly meeting of The Chicagoland Craft Collective. Every month we try out a project someone volunteers to teach. This month Sarah Moore led us through a very quick but very cute craft. It is basically some paper glued to a heavy cardstock and adorned with a few simple trims including our initial and then attached to one of those huge paperclips. She brought her cute little Cuttlebug along to cut out the flower shape and letters. These bookmarks would make great gifts for teachers, classmates or any book lover and they are so easy you could keep a few for yourself.

Making a Pincushion in a Mug

If you are like many people you probably have an orphaned mug or cup in your cupboard. Maybe you can't throw it away. I know I can't. I'm one of those people who can't throw anything away especially if it isn't broke. Occasionally I may have a garage sale but not many people buy orphaned cups unless it has some special sentimental or aesthetic value to them. It may then end up going to a charity thrift shop. Then one day as I was walking through the aisles of Michael's , as I tend to do to entertain myself, I found these paints by Pebeo. I got an idea.

I had seen a pincushion made from a miniature flower pot and I thought I would try to do one with my miscellaneous cups. So I bought a couple of the Pebeo Porcelaine 150 colors and a booklet. Following the directions for painting on a glazed teapot I first painted a base of a fuchsia color. After drying I then did a rag technique with gold. Then when this dried it was heated in the oven. I cut a square of fabric about 1" larger than the diameter of the mug. I placed fiberfill inside the mug, tucked in the sides of the fabric and glued the fabric in place. I used a jewel glue to glue on trim, tassels and buttons. And that's it. It was really easy and it looks great. I also made a couple for gifts. I'm hoping to do some more and hope to share them here with you.

Crop-a-Dile and Craft Critique

I have some exciting news. I have joined a group of craft reporters that will be reviewing different craft products on a new blog called Craft Critique. I am very excited to be a part of this new venture and can't wait to fully participate in all the upcoming critiques.

The first critique is done. It is a scrapbooking tool called the Crop-a-Dile. This thing means business. Wait till you see what it can do for hole punching and setting eyelets. I haven't used it yet but from the reviews from those who have, it makes me want to go out and get one. I have non-scrapbooking ideas for it. Scrapbooking is not one of my crafts...yet. From what I've heard it is very addictive and I do have plans to do some. I do have a sweet little girl and lots of pictures sitting either in a box or a computer file. Hope you stop by and check Craft Critique out.