International Craft Conspiracy

May CC Sock Puppets!!!

2008-05-14T16:16:00.005-05:00

Unfortunately the performance of an ancient Greek tragedy was thwarted by The Man. But fun, as always, was still had by all!

Labia Is Already Plural

2007-11-04T23:33:00.000-06:00

November Craft Conspiracy went off without a hitch. And... drum roll please.... everyone* went home with a completed craft! We're really stepping things up around here folks. We made these little zipper flower pins, ate lasagna, and drank mulled wine. Yum! While Gretchen was explaining to us how to do the "outer petals" and "inner petals" of our pins, our minds went to the obvious. And soon the phrase "Labia is already plural!" was being snapped at Anna when she used the word "labias". Good times.

* sans one.

Crafter Wins Best Costume!

2007-10-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

Since I was on a roll from the felted wool octopus, I whipped together this Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas costume. I took a few dresses and sweaters and scraps and cut them up, machine sewed them together, then hand stitched yarn stitching all over. I even stitched up the tights and gloves. Throw on some makeup and a wig and we're good to go. And I won best costume! Yay!

Crafter Actually Finishes Craft!

2007-10-29T13:49:00.000-05:00

So last month's craft conspiracy was great. The theme was wool felted stuffed animals. A few of the ladies went to Mexico this summer and bought a bunch of animals and thought we could make our own. The meeting was very typical... ladies drinking wine and eating cheese and hardly crafting. But, we did have a few surprises. For one, a male showed up! Though he was warmly welcomed, we quickly scared him off. Another surprise is that this crafter actually finshed a craft*! It's been a long time.

* crafting not actually finished at the meeting, but a few days later while watching football on the couch.

Baby quilt made from Denyse Schmidt prints

2006-12-26T22:09:00.000-06:00

I have a couple of weeks off before school starts up again, so I hope to spend some creative time in the Sky Lounge. First on my list was a little quilt for my niece, who was born Dec. 21.

No Coast Craft-o-rama Returns!

2006-11-17T11:41:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know, there was a fantastic craft show last winter hosted by No Coast Craft.
It's back! And I recommend you all go. Pick up a few handmade holiday gifts while you're there!
It's at the Midtown Global Market on Lake & Chicago in South Minneapolis on Dec 2 from 9am - 7pm.
http://nocoastcraft.com/

Recycled Fashion Show

2006-11-05T20:03:00.000-06:00

November Conspiracy

2006-11-03T09:50:00.000-06:00

As usual, snazzy things made, wine consumed, food eaten. Many thanks to the kind ladies who helped me with the legal pad dress! Good sports, you. I never would have finished it otherwise.

My to-do lists are now woven into a bodice. jL's dress is fantastic, but as usual, we totally dropped the ball on pictures. Will post pictures when the dresses are done on Saturday.

Summ even stopped in for a few minutes of knitting and racy conversation but then ditched us to go on a hot date.

Random Giveaway

2006-09-23T20:38:00.000-05:00

Anyone want this purse? I made it a couple of weeks ago, but it's a little too shabby chic for my liking. First to comment can have it...

no sew skirt

2006-09-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

So, I'm taking the day off today and I'm watching a little daytime TV while I surf the internet in my favorite sweatpants. It's total veg indulgence! Right now, I'm watching Martha Stewart. She is making this no sew ultrasuede skirt and it's pretty cute. It looks so easy! It would be a good craft night activity if everyone brought their own fabric. What do you think?

Knit motorcycle covers

2006-08-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

Seriously, if I ever get a motorcycle, I'm going to make this.

crafting outdoors!

2006-07-07T12:27:00.000-05:00

this month's fun with felt went great on a perfect july evening. there were great little pins made... with sparklers to top things off!

and we had impromptu t-shirt altering!

after

i think the cocktail dress and apron make the outfit complete!

Cute Dress Made with Only One Seam! Really!

2006-07-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

Wanna make an adorable and easy dress in an hour or less?

2006-07-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've temporarilly forgotten what you call this puckered fabric. It's puckered at the top and not at the bottom, so it's perfect for sewing a little sun dress. You buy the fabric by the inch at JoAnn's. Including the tie straps and pockets, it took under an hour from start to finish.

St. Paul Craftstravaganza

2006-07-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, July 8th, at the State Fair Grounds, is the St. Paul Craftstravaganza. I'll probably bike over and see what they have for sale.

What to make, what to make...

2006-06-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

I'm planning to sew a dress this weekend, but I can't decide which one to do. Help me decide...

I picked up this fabric at an estate sale...it is 100% cotton, white, with flowers in shades of pink.

Or I could do this cute party dress in an olive-colored taffetta. I'd probably make the full skirt with 3/4-sleeves (the blue dress in the middle). The color is hard to make out I'm sure on a computer screen. It's a shimmery brownish olive.

Help me decide!

Fun with Felt!

2006-06-24T18:20:00.000-05:00

The July Craft Conspiracy meeting will be at my house, hopefully in my backyard on the deck if the weather is right! I wanted to do a craft that isn't too messy and without the need of too much table space.... so, we're going to be making these cute little felt pins! Here are a few ideas I found... but the options are endless!

2006-06-22T13:12:00.000-05:00

I just finished taking a self portait class, and this is my almost finished painting. It's 3 feet by 4 feet and I've never worked on anything this big before. I'm pretty happy with it, except for a few things that I'll fix tomorrow. It's about arts vs. crafts. And speaking of crafts, Summra is the winner of last week's FREEBIE FRIDAY. Summra, if you send me your address, I'll pop it in the mail.

FREEBIE FRIDAY

2006-06-16T09:48:00.000-05:00

I'm proud to introduce FREEBIE FRIDAY at the Craft Conspiracy. This is the first give-away, so I figure it should be something good. Denyse Schmidt has a great book on quilting, and I somehow own two copies. If you want it, you should be the first person to comment on the blog, and and it's yours. Anyone can post goods on FREEBIE FRIDAY, more than one person would be great. And nothing is too small. For example, next week I might put a baggie of pastel ric-rac up for grabs. Face it, we all love free stuff.

Sun Dress

2006-06-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

This is a little sun dress I made using an old favorite dress for a pattern. The skirt section is cut on the bias, which gives it a nice swing, I think.

For the bodice, I just used a tape measure to mimic the cut of the original dress.

It was pretty easy. But the sad news is that my new sewing machine pooped out on me and I had to finish it up on Old Faithful (the 25-year-old sewing machine from my mom that I have used forever). I'm so annoyed about the Shark Intelli-Sew. I'm going to bring it back to Target this weekend.

Anyhoo...I guess that is craft #5. I will have some catching up to do, come August.

2 really easy projects... Thanks to Martha

2006-06-13T12:55:00.000-05:00

I have so many scarves that I've picked up thrifting and I don't really use them that much. I still want to be able to tie one in my hair or use it as a belt, so easy projects without permanence are key. For this one all you'll need is one scarf and 2 bangles.

This next project does involve sewing, but seriously, not much of it. All you need to do is sew together two rectangles, make a little draw-string casing (EASY), add a belt and you're good to go. Why didn't I think of this first?

New Crafty Mag

2006-06-13T09:36:00.000-05:00

Today the new Crafty/embellishment magazine Adorn is coming out. I'm going to bike up to the nearest big box book store and check it out. There's an interview with the creators here.

Nauties.

2006-06-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.knitty.com/issuespring06/PATTnautie.html

I want to learn how to make this! So cool.

Opinions Needed for Chair Reupholstering Project

2006-06-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

I picked up a chair I found on the side of the road a couple of days ago--one of those 1950s-style kitchen chairs with metal legs. I am going to reupholster the seat and the back, but I can't decide which fabric to use. Opinions? (I'm personally favoring #3.)

#1

#2

#3

100 Crafts #4: Funky Pleated Skirt

2006-06-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

I got the fabric from Cia's Palette--for those of you who are in Mpls/St. Paul, this is a local company, but the shop is online only. Free shipping if you spend more than $50, and she has a lot of great designer fabrics.

2 & 3: Skirt and Updated T-shirt

2006-05-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

I love the skirt, and I like the t-shirt, but I don't think I'll wear them both together. Too matchy-matchy.

1/100: Ugly Monster

2006-05-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

This monster was inspired by the way I felt when studying for my BA exam.

Don't Be Crewel

2006-05-20T10:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the stupid pun. It's early. Anyhoo, check out some excellent retro crewel work here.

100 Crafts--2 down, 98 to go.

2006-05-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

Hi peeps--I'm just checking in to let you know I've got two projects done. Sorry no pictures yet, I'll get them up soon. I've been pretty busy with the new job, so I may have to play catch-up on the weekends. It is a challenge, after all.

2006-05-15T20:51:00.000-05:00

As soon as I get a bit organized, I'm signing up for a two month stint of this. Anyone else want to give it a try with me? I think it will tie in quite nicely with Anna's 100 Day challenge. I rarely buy new clothes anyway, so that part will be easy. I love the idea of altering and embellishing what I've already got, so that part will be easy, too. It's just that I'm such a freaking lazy slob about taking pictures of stuff and actually documenting what I do. That's the part that will be difficult! Next Saturday we're going to a wedding and I'm planning on wearing an altered version of what I wore to a wedding a few years ago (yours Anna), so I'll make that my first posted project.

Hanky Panky

2006-05-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

You can always find great vintage handkerchiefs and scarves at estate sales and thrift stores if you're looking. I love to pick them up, and I used some of them to sew this quick little patchwork pillow.

I couldn't bring myself to cut this one up, so I framed it instead.

By the way, our good friend Martha posted an idea for decorating with handkerchiefs a while back.

Applique For the Lazy

2006-05-11T23:37:00.000-05:00

I like the look of applique, but I'm usually too impatient to do that much stitching by hand. A few months ago I tackled the problem by attempting a machine-sewing solution. Here's what I came up with--

(I whipped this up kinda quick, so pardon the poor craftsmanship...)

Fold the fabric wrong sides together.
Then, stitch both layers together in whatever shape you want.
Cut away the inside of the shape, leaving about 1/2 inch seam allowance on the inside. If you have curves, you'll have to make some little cuts in the fabric so that it won't bunch up when you flip it inside out.

Once you turn it inside out, just slap it down on your background fabric and sew along the perimeter. You've got a nice finished edge. Ta da!

Update: A couple of things I forgot to mention.

After you turn your shape inside out, you should IRON it before sewing it onto the background fabric. (*Ahem*: You should always be ironing everything all the time anyway.)

Also, you can stick some batting or polyester stuffing underneath the shape if you want to make it puffy. That's what I did to the top of the cupcake. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture. Ooooo...3-D!

Clay Night!

2006-05-06T08:05:00.000-05:00

Clay, with friends, wine and lots of good food. Life is wonderful. Inner critics were left at home and we laughed, made crude comments, and just made stuff.

Here's a close-up of Summra's big bowl with birds and leaves. Adorable.

Archana is obviously a natural.

I need some design advice for my necktie suit!

2006-05-05T23:32:00.000-05:00

I was feeling nostalgic and started poking through our archives (read: I am supposed to be studying, but am procrastinating). I found the necktie skirt I made last year, which reminded me that I haven't finished the jacket yet. OK, the truth is I worked on the jacket for about one hour, got sick of it, and quit. Maybe I'll finish it for one of my 100 crafts projects.

About that jacket...I need some advice. If I make a regular blazer totally out of ties, the whole thing is just going to look silly and clownish. (Ahem. Let's not kid ourselves.) How could I make a matching jacket that actually looks cute, and not totally ridiculous? I was thinking that maybe I should just make a fitted brown or charcoal jacket with necktie piping or other accents? Or just make a little shrug out of ties? Any other suggestions?

100 CRAFTS IN 100 DAYS CHALLENGE

2006-05-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

I've decided to celebrate my liberation from school for the summer by undertaking a binge-like craft challenge....

100 Crafts in 100 Days!

Would anyone like to join me? Details are as follows:

Begin Date: May 15.
End Date: August 23.

Other: There are no requirements as to the complexity of the craft. It just needs to be challenging for you. Also, you don't necessarily have to do a craft every day, but you do have to have the 100 done by the end of the 100 days. And, of course, you should post pictures on the site.

Flickr Craft Group

2006-04-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Flickr has set up a new craft group. Go here to view or join.

hook me up

2006-04-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

Anna mentioned the need for a crochet craft conspiracy meeting. There was a fun story in the Star Tribune about crochet yesterday. Click here to read it (you may have to register, sorry). Maybe you have seen this fun book. Looks inspirational!

May meeting!

2006-04-26T20:44:00.000-05:00

Hi there folks. The next conspiracy meeting is almost upon us! I'm sending out the evites tonight, but the list of people to send it to has grown so much that I'm having a hard time figuring out who is REALLY on the list and what your addresses are. If you don't receive something from me, and you want to be on the list, please comment on this post and I'll buzz one out to you right away. By the way, the next TWO meetings will be at my place. I'll supply the clay (stoneware buff), you form it into something cool (I'll even have a potter's wheel available if you want to give that a shot), and I'll fire it up in the kiln. For the June meeting, come on back and you can glaze your project to your likings, I'll fire it again, and at the August meeting it's yours. For keeps. A little inspiration...
These are Anne Haworth's mushrooms. I love how simple they are.
And here's one of Patricia Lazar's pieces. I love her glaze work.
I can't find the name of the artist who made this birdfeeder, but the site that sells the work has a lot of cute garden ideas.

Dress Forms Way on Sale Today at Joann.com

2006-04-26T14:27:00.000-05:00

These are great dress forms, they expand to fit, and some are 50% off! A dress form is a spendy purchase, so if you've been thinking about it, get it now! Click HERE.

By the way, I notice that the Singer forms are the most on sale. I don't know anything about those. I personally own a Dritz.

Incidentally, if you sign up for Joann.com's mailing list, they'll send you 50% off coupons every now and then. Big gainer, ladies. Big gainer.

See you next Thursday!

trash to treasure

2006-04-26T12:40:00.001-05:00

In honor of the recent celebration of Earth Day, I thought I would post something about making arts and crafts out of recycled materials. Twin Cities Free Market is a great resource for finding (or getting rid of) stuff. It is a website where people post lots of free stuff. You can even search for free arts and crafts supplies. I recently emailed someone about some free mirror tiles but they were already gone. I check periodically and today someone has a sewing machine they are getting rid of. Check it out!

may

2006-04-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

Hey what's going on for the May craft meeting? I think we should make purses! Another idea that I think would be fun sometime is mosaics (of course). Mosaic-ing is so much fun! It would be too hard to host a mosaic party at home because a) it is kind of expensive to provide materials for the group, b) it is really messy, and c) we wouldn't be able to finish the projects in one night because of grouting. The solution is to have a party at Mosaic on a Stick. The party would end up costing about $30 per person. They have plenty of space and materials as well as helpful knowledge. They send each party goer home with a small bag of grout to finish on their own. If at least 5 people are interested, then I could look into arranging a party over the summer.

my mobile

2006-04-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

I finished my mobile this weekend. I call it "Bird Flew." I used some glitter hairspray that Julie gave me to make the birds sparkly.

Adorable Skirt Found on Flickr

2006-04-14T21:01:00.000-05:00

Skirt
Originally uploaded by Elena777.

I was browsing on flickr and found this adorable skirt. I love the applique. And I really love the stuffed butterfly on the left hip.

Crochet Conspiracy

2006-04-04T20:55:00.000-05:00

OK OK, you all know what a nut I am about making things out of recycled materials. So obviously I'm crazy about these shoes that are made out of recycled plastic bags. Imagine how cute they would be if made out of red & white target bags.

We need to have a crochet conspiracy sometime in the near future. Does anyone know how to crochet? If not, maybe we'll get a guest speaker. Even if we don't make shoes, we can make cutie-pie little animals or something:

Okay, so The Night of the Knitted Dead was not crochet, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Also check out Monster Crochet for inspiration on all the lovely things we can do when we learn how to crochet.

(Thanks, Whip Up for the knitted and crocheted creatures.)
(Thanks, Boing Boing, for the shoes.)

funny stencils

2006-03-31T10:54:00.000-06:00

Babies drool a lot. A lot of times, my nephew, Art, just wears a bib all day to stay dry. While babysitting a couple weeks ago I noticed that the large silkscreen on his t-shirt kept him dry in the face of baby spit-up and drool. So, I bought him a plain onesie and stenciled a bib on it. My sister had some fun ideas for other stencils, like a big fat 70's tie. We might also make one with a stencil of really big 70's collar. Imagine the possibilities!

Then I remembered Underalls. I am going to buy some underwear at Target and stencil the Underalls symbol/shape on the butt. I'm funny.

2006-03-29T21:08:00.000-06:00

When we were living in Japan, I was absolutely starved for English reading materials. Amazon.com became one of my somewhat dangerous friends. It gave me so much pleasure and yet emptied my pockets at the same time. Anyway, I ordered this book but never got around to making anything inside until this last spring break. The book is pretty good. It spells how to make different handbags and how to alter them to what you really want. There are also basic patterns included, but the book is so clear, they're not really necessary. My clutch is lined and made out of recycled 69 cent cloth napkins and pom-poms from the thrift store. The only thing new included is the velcro enclosure.

Here's another thrift store find. I bought a cheapy a-line black skirt, shortened it, and added some patch work. Oh so easy, and I just zig-zagged the patches on instead of giving them a finished edge.

photo of dead plant, or newly sewn skirt???

2006-03-27T02:56:00.000-06:00

so, you all may remember back to the posting about how i got a sewing machine and snaked some of my ma's old sewing books so i could teach myself how to sew.... anyhoos, my first creation is complete! the denim fabric is a little stiff, so hopefully after a few washes it'll settle down a bit. i was a total hack-job about the zipper, but i seem to have faked my way through that one for now...
ta dah!

crafty idea for april

2006-03-22T12:12:00.000-06:00

Here is just one of the ideas I am thinking about for the April Craft Conspiracy meeting. My talented aunt Deb makes these fabulous mobiles out of pop cans. She made this one for me, it's supposed to be Fish Lake (where the family cabin is located). All of those delicate pieces are made out of aluminium cans cut up, ironed flat and painted. Isn't that cool? So, start saving your pop cans if you want to make one on April 6th. My other aunt is going to be available to show us how to make a Japanese stab binding book. Another option is button mosaics - mosaics with all of those cool buttons you seamstresses have stockpiled. I might have materials for all three and let you choose when you get here. Any strong preferences?

Somehow, Somewhere, Someone Is Throwing Out Bee Board, Whatever The Heck It Is, And When I Find It, I'm Gonna Take It, Oh YES.

2006-03-18T00:24:00.000-06:00

In the last year I've taken a rather amateur stab at making furniture out of recycled materials. So far this has consisted mainly of just refinishing old furniture I've found in alleys, but I'm going to start doing some stuff from scratch. Next on my list is a coffee table using bowling pins I picked up at Ax Man last summer.

After that...what do you think of this table? It's made of bee board. Where the heck do you get bee board?

Link, via Treehugger.

art puns and more

2006-03-15T09:10:00.000-06:00

Here is my latest creation. I made this mosaic for my nephew Art. My sister loves puns so I call this masterpiece, Framed Art. Depsite Julie's advice that the current trend in mosaic-ing is to go groutless, I do plan to grout this piece.

I also finally made these house numbers that I've been talking about forever. I'm going to do the grouting all at once because of the mess. I might even wait until I make some more stuff and just have a grout party! You're all invited!

where emily creates

2006-03-14T17:07:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of my craft space. I doubt that it is inspirational. This is the bar area. Note that the shelves are mostly lined with plates and other ceramic odds and ends for mosaic-ing. However, I did save some space for booze and drinking related accessories. Those odd shaped white things are ceramic mushrooms I bought at IKEA last summer with the intention of mosaicing them with all of my mom's old ashtrays from before she quit smoking.

This is where I actually work on my projects. It is conveniently located right under a heat duct so it is rather toasty for a basement workspace. I like to mosaic at the drafting table so I don't have to hunch over so much.

craft nook inspiration

2006-03-14T14:11:00.000-06:00

My friend, Maureen, gave me this great book for my birthday, Where Women Create. It has profiles of artists and their workspaces. It's nice to see everything from super oragnized to chaos in the book. All of the artists do totally different types of work. It is inspiring to see what workspaces inspire others. However, none of the artists featured in the book had any kind of "lounge" area for crafty friends to sit and sip wine in a fashion similar to Anna's Sky Lounge. Now I want to check out the this other book by the same author, Organizing Your Craft Space. The perfect addition to my craft library!

Crazy Food Scarves

2006-03-14T11:08:00.000-06:00

Too bad they are all sold out! Check out these bomb pop and french fry scarves (and don't miss the crocheted tatertots all the way at the bottom), as well as the peas and carrots and green salad scarves. I think my favorite has to be the buttered toast! Link via PopCultureJunkMail.

Adorable Amy Butler Fabric & Fat Quarters on Sale

2006-03-12T20:44:00.000-06:00

One more than one occassion, I have been accused of being a first-rate fabric hoarder. Am I ashamed? No. For those of you who would suggest that I "have a serious fabric-buying problem" or that I "can't possibly EVER use all that fabric," you must try understand the true nature of my perceived neurosis. I am not engaged in an aimless mission to fill every spare inch of the Sky Lounge with wacky textiles. On the contrary, my collection is the result of years of diligently combing through fabric stashes at quilt stores, thrift stores, estate sales, and, of course, Harris Fabric Warehouse, seeking the perfect treasures for projects yet to be imagined. And I can realize those projects only with a decent fabric stash to exploit...right? And I do so love the fabric. I love to touch it, drape it, and dream of what I will someday make with it. I also love to fold it into tidy little piles and fill every cupboard, shelf, drawer, and box in the Sky Lounge. But let me reiterate: This is not because I'm a pack rat. It's because I find great thrill in the hunt. OK? OK.

I'm turning a corner. For years I've been unable to convince myself to buy fabric online. As mentioned above, one of the best parts of buying fabric is touching it. It brings me joy to stroll down the claustrophobia-inducing aisles of Harris Fabric Warehouse, feeling up everything that strikes my fancy and filling my cart with tapestries, prints, tafetta, and the occassional hot pink corduroy. But alas, it is becoming increasingly difficult these days to make the trek to Brooklyn Park, or for that matter, to any other fabric shop. Ergo, I have turned to The Internets.

The Internets have not let me down. Indeed, The Internets may be a boon to my fabric hoarding enterprise. Take these beautiful Amy Butler prints ON SALE at Fatquartershop.com. That shop is full of beautiful finds, and if you're quilting, they do all the work of color-matching for you. (Check out the Free Spirit collection, Swoon!)

I'm not buying anything at the fat quarter shop just yet (indeed, the student's salary does not allow such luxuries), but I find that perusing the shop does satisfy the need for a fabric fix.

Dress Form Anyone?

2006-03-12T08:32:00.000-06:00

I've been scouring the thrifty stores trying to find a dress form, but I think there are a few thousand other people searching for the exact same item. I'd been oh so tempted to march myself and my 40% coupon right on over to Joann's, until I ran across duct tape dress form tutorials. What a wonderful temporary solution until a previously used dress form just happens to fall into my greedy little hands.

April Showers

2006-03-07T08:24:00.000-06:00

With spring just around the corner I'm already starting to think about my garden. Last year I had so much fun with it, but seriously, it was high maintenance. One day without a drink and there was some serious wiltage. This year I'm looking into making more of a rain garden. My knowledge about this is super limited, but I know the basic theory is using native plants in strategic areas so that your entire area needs less water. I'm signed up to take a two-part class in March. The best part of the class is they're offering $75 gift certificates to participants, for buying the plants they tell you all about. They've also got people there to help you do the planning for your specific yard. I'm so excited, but would be even more excited if someone would come with me to the classes. Any takers? ...It's FREE...

Cutey-Cute Skirts

2006-03-05T22:24:00.000-06:00

Oh, MAN, am I adoring these skirts over at at Whip Up:

Thanks for pointing me in that direction, Jules!

Fave sites? I've been finding more inspiration in the designy than the crafty lately. I've been loving design*sponge and Inhabitat (owing to my inexplicable current fascination with/fixation on pre-fab).

2006-03-05T20:37:00.000-06:00

Today I spent some quality time with my laptop and really enjoyed/spent way too much time on the whipup site as well as the readymade blog. Any other new favorites out there?

My first quilt!

2006-03-02T21:28:00.000-06:00

Thanks to help and inspiration from Anna, I've been working on my first quilt for the last couple of months. I started the actual process of quilting over President's day and I'm close to being finished. I still need to figure out how to bind the edges. It's definitely a work in progress and a learning experience! Any advice or suggestions for what to change on the next one is welcome!

Here's the full size version (sorry for the nasty flash, but I haven't been home in daylight hours in forever)

And here is a close up of the fabric and stitches. Note the fancy stitches (and my poor execution -- I really need some lessons on sewing straight and keeping an even tension, but I figure the best thing for now is repetition).

Crafty, or just weird?

2006-02-28T22:57:00.000-06:00

New this Easter, decorate your own Peep easter eggs! [via Not Martha]

Craft Books!

2006-02-28T11:02:00.000-06:00

so, after anna's sewing craft craft revolution, i was inspired to get a sewing machine myself. so i did! real bottom of the line type, but still sweet. then i went and bought a nice skirt pattern and some fabric. i started kinda looking it over and i realized i didn't know jack about sewing. sure, i can thread the damn machine, sew a straight line... but when it came to certain "sewing terms" etc... i'm lost. SO i went home to my parent's house this weekend and i snaked my mom's old craft books that taught her how to sew back in the 70's. so, i figured... pass on the tradition! and to my delight they have some pretty kickass designs!

Knitta!

2006-02-27T22:17:00.000-06:00

I just stumbled across Knitta--it's a bunch of knitters who are using their unfinished projects to liven up public spaces. Knit grafitti, if you will.

Recent Projects

2006-02-27T20:50:00.000-06:00

Purse made out of a hardcover book. Easy to make: (1) Cut pages out of book with utility knife or rip pages out very carefully; (2) Reinforce binding w/duct tape; (3) Using book as pattern, cut out fabric and sew together lining--sew handles into lining if applicable; (4) Glue lining into book (I just used tacky glue). The whole thing should take less than 2 hours.

This is an easy skirt to make without a pattern, and you could finish it in about an hour. (1) Take about a yard of fabric and fold it over once; (2) Pick out a zip-up skirt that fits you well and place it on top of folded-over fabric (3) Cut each side using the finished skirt as pattern; (4) Sew up sides of skirt, inserting zipper in one side (I also made slits on each side); (5) Try it on. Mark where you need darts for it to fit well; (6) Sew darts; (7) Measure strip of fabric around waist, fold over once, and sew to top of skirt for waistband, folding ends over as you finish; and (8) Sew in hook & eye on finished part of waistband.

Lastly, here's a suit I updated through embellisment and slight alteration of the jacket. I picked up the suit for $7.99 at Arc's Value Village, then cut circles in it and inserted fabric underneath. I stitched the fabric in using an embroidered running-stich in contrasting thread (pinks and greens). Unfortunately, the stitching doesn't show up here, but there's embroidery stitching around each circle and the pockets and lapel. The jacket was too wide, so I moved the buttons over, then added extra mismatched buttons so it wouldn't look lopsided.

craft diet

2006-02-17T23:29:00.000-06:00

I was watching Oprah today and she wants America to go on a Debt Diet. Her show is going to follow three families as they tackle their debt on the debt diet. One family was told to trim the fat in their spending. That means that Marnie, the mom, will have to stop spending so much on her obsession with crafts. I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I worry about my craft related hoarding. You know what I'm talking about - all those supplies for projects you haven't started yet. The shelves behind the bar in my basement are not filled with liquor, they are filled with plates and tiles and I have a craft locker with one shelf devoted to different kinds of glue. However, I've never worried about how much I spend on crafts supplies. Mosaic-ing is relatively expensive, but buying plates at garage sales is hardly going to break the bank. This mom on Oprah spends something like $4,000 a year on crafts (scrapbooking and beads). Obviously, she is not shopping at VV's (Value Village) or estate sales. So, I guess it is OK to hoard craft supplies as long as you don't spend too much.

Lovely and Inspirational Knitting Creations

2006-01-28T22:44:00.000-06:00

Sarah, can you teach us how to make something like this on Thursday?

Two New Projects

2006-01-22T20:18:00.000-06:00

The black Samsonite laptop bag I've been toting around for the last year-and-a-half was begging for retirement. I decided to add a little spunk to my law school routine by making a colorful new bag decorated with vintage sewing patterns:

The bag is made of mostly-recycled materials. The shell is made with an upholstery fabric I had left over from an ottoman I made last year, I found some rings at a second-hand store (for the strap), and the patterns were picked up at the Textile Center's annual garage sale. There is cotton batting inside the bag, and the patterns are protected by iron-on vinyl. There's a front pocket under the flap (decorated with a foxy lady in white), and a document pocket in the back (not shown). I used Sarah's sewing machine to make the funky black stitching you can see along the edge of the patterns (left).

Project #2 is an alphabet quilt I made for LA's baby, Esther. It was made using the slash-piecing method I showed you at the last meeting. I picked up the alphabet fabric at Crafty Planet, bordered the alphabet strips in black/white polka-dot fabric, then sewed the whole thing together in horizontal strips. The back of the quilt is a vintage circus print, and the binding is just 1/2 inch in black/white polka dot.

sea glass

2006-01-12T14:55:00.000-06:00

Here is my latest mosaic project. I have been planning to make this since July and finally got around to it thanks to Anna's Craft Binge last weekend. Last summer, Mike and I went to Bayfield, WI for our anniversary. Mike collected these skipping stones and sea glass on the shore of Lake Superior where we stayed. Then we found the frame at a garage sale - it said "serenity" all over it in gold paint so I painted it black. The photo is of the two of us kayaking through a sea cave on Lake Superior. Julie said that the latest trend in mosaic art is to leave pieces un-grouted so I skipped the mess of grouting and voila! I love the sea glass. It's hard to find because a lot of people collect it. It's a pain in the ass to grout because it's porous so it's better left un-grouted anyway.

2006-01-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

Hey guys! It was a great meeting last night! Kudos to all who managed to maneuver through the chaos to create several lovely quilt blocks! We have almost all of the blocks done, and I'll work on finishing the quilt up this weekend. I'll bring the quilt to our next meeting to show you all our finished product and explain what goes into finishing a quilt.

Next meeting: Knitting w/Sarah.

I'll post a photo when I have it done!

yay turtle doves!

2005-12-18T22:59:00.000-06:00

here's the turtle dove i made at the mess's wonderful december party... and another one that i made afterwards!!

January--Crafting for a Cause!

2005-12-01T23:39:00.000-06:00

Hi all. Tonight's conspiracy was excellent! Hopefully The Mess will be posting photos.

I wanted to give you all a heads-up on the January conspiracy and start doing some brainstorming. Julie knows of a family at her school that is in need of some craft conspiracy love. It is a family of five children. The oldest is 18, and is 7 months pregnant. The father is out of the picture, the mother passed away this past summer, and the 18-year-old's baby-daddy is out of the picture now, too. The 18-year-old is basically taking care of all the younger kids, and they're living in a tiny little apartment.

Tonight we decided to dedicate the next meeting to helping the family out in some way. I'll be hosting the next meeting, and hope to have my new craft space set up so we can get down to business. I'll throw out a few ideas below, and I hope you'll all have input! I also hope we can get some high attendance at the next meeting, so plan to come & tell all your friends!

Idea 1: A crafty care package. We'll have different stations, sewing quilts & stuffed animals, knitting hats & mittens, making felted blankets, stenciling t-shirts & bags, etc. Basically, we'll get everyone to chip in their skills, time, and materials and give them a basketful of warm fuzzy stuff.

Idea 2: Raise some money by making excellent crafty things and having an online auction or some other type of sale. The idea here is if we all work together to make some funky crafty objects, we can put them in the hands of people who would really dig them, get some hopefully generous donations for the items, and give the family a nice fat check.

Idea 3: Blankies for everyone! We can get an assembly line going. I've got it all worked out in my head. We'll have cutters, sewers, embroiderers, appliquers, tie-ers (tyers?), etc. and we'll kick out a bunch of fun quick quilts with some extra crafty love. If we get enough people to do this, I think we can break down all of the tasks to get the quilts made relatively quickly. You'll learn how to do all kinds of things. In addition to quilts, we could make a felted blanket(s) (wash wool sweaters in super hot water to felt, cut into squares & sew together) and/or crocheted blankets (who had this skill? Allison?).

I am mostly a fan of the quilts. I could teach you all the slash & sew method (see the quilt below) and a few other quick-quilt methods. At the same time we can do appliques and other funky unique stuff. I really like the idea of presenting the family with some made-with-love stuff (e.g. ideas 1 or 3); but at the same time, it seems like the family might just need money. We could do some combination of both? I don't know. Please think about it and share your ideas.

Below is a baby quilt I made last winter using the slash & sew method--this is something we could work on assembly-style if you want to do the quilt thing.

We could make these so easy, oh yes.

2005-11-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

But just in case, you can also buy them at Pixiegirl.

OK, I'll stop posting photos from other sites & put some of my own stuff up soon, I promise. I started a project last night & should be finished in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

Funky Little T-shirt

2005-11-23T14:19:00.000-06:00

Hmmmmm.....

I don't remember where I got this, but I pulled it off a web site a while back and stuck it in an "ideas" folder on my computer. Is it cutey-cute or what?

december meeting

2005-11-22T20:42:00.000-06:00

hey ladies,
craft conspiracy december is on its way, thursday the first. we'll be doing some holiday softie ornaments at my place. i sent out the evite tonight; if you didn't get it, let me know and I can add you to the list. see you soon!

November Results

2005-11-18T16:45:00.000-06:00

so here are some picts from the november bottles & half marbles party... if i would have figured out the macro lens on my camera before last week, i would have more to show

Wonder Woman

2005-11-18T14:48:00.000-06:00

Hi! This is my first time posting here. I was invited to join your group this summer by Anna. Thanks for the invite. I made my daughter a Wonder Woman Halloween costume that I wanted to share. I wish I could come to one of your meetings, but live too far away. I shall try to schedule my next visit to your fair city with one of your meetings. I love your blog. Amy

Fun Stuff in December

2005-11-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

Just saw a link to the No Coast Craft-O-Rama being held in Minneapolis on December 3rd. Looks like a fun craft sale. I'm hosting a baby shower that day, but I hope to stop by late afternoon. That's also the same day as MCAD's annual student and alumni art sale, where I scored some cool stuff last year, including a cupcake oil painting for my friend Liz. I'm going to go to the preview night on December 2nd.

And holy cuteness! Check out these clothespin and polymer clay people on flickr by The Small Object.

Socks

2005-11-10T08:58:00.000-06:00

I was recently chastised by the fabulous Anna P. for not posting on here in ages. Courtesy of law school and some giant projects I have due, I haven't got much to post about. I'm working on knitting a baby blanket for a very pregnant friend on size 2 needles. I will probably not finish it until the kid is riding a two wheeler.

I'm also working on a pair of socks for an auction we will be having at school of handcrafted items.

Yarn: Schoeller Big Socks
Needles: Size 6 double points, birch
Pattern: my own
Times I've thrown them across the room in frustration: at least 5

Look What I Did

2005-11-01T09:46:00.000-06:00

Sorry I won't be there on Thursday, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Just saw this posted on MNSpeak - there's a new HGTV Show, Look What I Did, looking for folks in the Twin Cities who have done innovative home projects without the help of professionals. You can apply here.

did anyone claim the december conspiracy?

2005-10-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

i'd love to host it, but if it's taken, that's fine. if you guys like doing holiday crafts in march, that is...

house directions

2005-10-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

by the way.... when you get to my house, walk down the driveway to the right of the house.... my place is in the back with the side porch!

November Crafters Party!!

2005-10-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

Hello all... this month will be "fun with half marbles & bottle caps"!

We'll make magnets, necklaces or anything else you can think of! I got a big bag of vintage colorful soda bottle caps that will be fun to work with. I'll supply caps, half marbles, magnets, some beads, glue, etc... but bring stickers, photos or whatever else to make your creations!

Hello Craftie Tape Lovers!

2005-10-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

After our duct tape meeting, I've been inspired to use more tape in my life. I just ran across this posting and there's even a link to a tutorial. Basically it's all about cutting up your mags and covering them with tape. I love magazines and am thinking that this could even serve as a type of functional and portable shine to my little obsession. It sure beats having them stacked up in my damp basement.

The results are in!

2005-10-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

Hopefully i'm not wrong when I say a good time was had by all at Julie's halloween-stencil themed CC. Delicious treats, good company, not to mention an awesome craft that we can all do at home so easily. I for one plan on stenciling on everything in my house. Here kitty kitty...

seashell lights

2005-10-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

I saw this idea on the Martha Stewart website earlier this summer, and finally got around to doing it. Of course, I can't find the link for you guys on that hard-to-search website anymore, but basically I bought a couple of baskets of seashells, a tube of epoxy, and a short string of christmas lights (35). I scrubbed the shells with a toothbrush and soap, which made for better connections and the colors totally popped without the sandy dirt! Then expoxied a shell to each light-socket, near the shell hinge, in short sections. A few hours later, voila!

October Meeting!

2005-10-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody, I hope you got an evite to the next CC meeting. If not, it's because I suck and somehow left you off the list. Leave a comment if you need details. 7:00 PM at my house. See you there!

baby bib

2005-09-24T15:59:00.000-05:00

My sister is having a baby in a couple of months so I made her a week supply of these nifty wash cloth bibs. I learned how from my mother-in-law. The beauty of wash cloth bibs is that after you are finished feeding the baby, you can use the wash cloth bib to wipe the baby's face, high chair and table and then just toss it in the washing machine.

To make wash cloth bibs, all you have to do is cut a whole in the wash cloth big enough to fit comfortably around a baby. I cut the whole about 3 x 3 inches. Then take any kind of ribbon or edging and pin it along the neck hole, be sure to leave enough extra for the ties. Then sew the ribbon on. Optional: use your imagination to personalize the bibs. For instancce, cross stitch would be really cute. I bought a bag of poms poms and sewed them on in different designs. I made a frog, a snow man, and caterpillar.

for the birds

2005-09-22T18:19:00.000-05:00

Hello crafters,

As promised, here is a picture of the finished bird table that I started in June. Pretty soon I will have to bring it back inside for the winter! It took me a long time to decide what to do for the background design and then it took a long time to find the right materials. I ended using a mixture of brown plates and brown tiles and small, green ceramic leaves from Mosaic on a Stick to make the background representational of trees. To frame the bird I used some white plates that had leaves printed on them. I used the same plates for the little shelf under the table. When the sun is bright the whole thing is really shiny and pretty.

Duct Tape Purse

2005-09-12T07:22:00.000-05:00

Kari's duct tape extravaganza was a blast.

Next meeting October 6th

2005-09-03T08:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks Kari for hosting such a great duct tape party! Such creativity at the table! Everything duct tape, ranging from a Red Cross Beer Cozy to the Sweet Spermies on a birth control pouch. Excellent. The next meeting is on Thursday October 6th, at my place. I'll send out an invite, but as a heads-up, you'll need to bring a cotton t-shirt, tank or whatever, because we're going to be stenciling on them. White shirts will show any mistakes, so go for some not too dark color. I'll provide tons of stencils, rollers and paint. This will be our Halloween meeting, so bring that fried brain hot-dish you're so good at.

Also, the theme for the next Linus Project is robots. 13x13 square with a black print background. Anything robot in bright colors. I love this guy. Anyone bringing a finished square to the next meeting gets a special surprise!

hey y'all

2005-08-30T10:31:00.000-05:00

Can you provide details of the next ICC meeting? Are we making duct tape wallets?

Recycled Fashion Show Tuesday Afternoon

2005-08-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

If you're bored Tuesday afternoon (Aug 30th), stop by the National Recycling Conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center. There is a recycled fashion show at 3:30. I've seen some of the dresses that will be featured there, and they look really great. My cousin Liz will be wearing my phone book dress down the catwalk while I sit in class like a good girl. Jo Lynn & Messica were also invited to be in the show, but I guess they're not going? ...Jo Lynn is out of town, but I don't know why The Mess isn't doing it....?

My first crafty t-shirt

2005-08-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

I am just learning to sew, so I tried altering a giant Morrissey concert t-shirt I had. This is the result. If anyone has any helpful hints on how to do cute sleeves, or trim - let me know, I have about 10 million shirts that I want to work on.

Boogers

2005-08-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

So I was looking around on www.etsy.com, and I came across this hilarious hankie. Nothing like stating the obvious use for a hankie. Cute cute.

Crafty Website

2005-08-15T16:15:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I thought I'd share a crafty web find. Etsy.com is a website to buy and sell anything handmade. If you open a store now, the site is free (i.e., no 3.5% commission or $0.20 listing fee) until November 1st. Looks like it has lots of cute things for sale (or for inspiration). [Link via Boing Boing].

2005-08-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a little shrine I made for the gallery show at Mosaic on a Stick this Saturday night. The lid comes off, so I can put things inside.

Henna Rocks!

2005-08-05T22:56:00.000-05:00

The henna party was so fun! I want to do it all the time now!

Oh, did someone volunteer to host the next meeting?

before and after

2005-08-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

I took this picture of my beautiful henna tatto before I went to bed. I posted an "after" picture (taken this morning) at Reuben Sandwich.

garden on wheels

2005-08-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

garden on wheels
Originally uploaded by reuben sandwich.

Mike and I went to Bayfield, WI for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago. While wandering through magical Bayfield, we saw this cute wagon container garden outside a gift shop. I thought of Julie and her collection of wagon wheels. Isn't it cute?

books!

2005-08-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

IM000685
Originally uploaded by reuben sandwich.

I recently threw a surprise party for my mom. My mom is famous for her thrifting. It was like the meeting of the minds when she and Julie were talking about their finds. Originally, I was envisioning a sort of roast where the guests brought items that were given to them by my mom and told a story. I reconsidered the public speaking aspect and instead made this fancy handmade guest book where the guests could write the story about my mom along with a poloroid picture with the props.

I'm the lamest.

2005-08-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

I think I'm the lamest, most non productive member of ICC. Not only have I not finished my quilt block, but I also haven't done one damn piece of craft in a whole month! But wait, I have excuses: I had to find the perfect apartment, then lose it (twice), then find another apartment v. quickly and then move even quicker. So now that all that crap is behind me, I'm going home soon to L.A. for a well deserved vacation from my summer vacation to eat my momma's yummy food, sleep, play with our kittens, read and craft :-) I promise that I will have pictures of my creations to share soon.

In the mean time, I hope you guys have been practicing your embroidery skillz. I dare you to make something as cool as this: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=37222.0. Heehee.

-s.