Craftzine.com blog: February 2007 Archive

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Archives: February 2007

February 28, 2007

Maker Faire @ San Mateo Fairgrounds - Tickets On Sale Now!

Tickets for the Saturday May 19th & Sunday May 20th, 2007 Maker Faire @ the San Mateo Fairgrounds are now available - save up to $5.00 if you order now.

Maker Faire - A two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. We call them Makers. Note: Maker Faire tickets will be sent via FedEx, beginning in April, no PO Boxes please.

Get them @ the Maker store - Link.

Dog Fur Felting

Mamaqilla has a special crafting friend, her pet pooch Ursa who not only helps supply fur for felting but pitches in on the process too. Link.

From the pages of CRAFT: 02:
Bigwheel
"Big Wheel Keep on Turning" by Shannon Okey p. 150-153.
Knitgrrl Shannon teaches us how to spin different fibers including dog hair! Digital Subscribers can click here to read the article. - Link.

Maker Faire proposal deadline extended to Sunday March 18, 2007

Phil @ MAKE says:

Dale has some good news - the Maker Faire proposal deadline has been extended!

We are getting many, many terrific proposals for Maker Faire. Nearly half of them have come in at the last two days. To relieve this crunch, we've decided to extend the deadline about two weeks to Midnight (PST) Sunday March 18.

We will begin reviewing all of those proposals submitted by the deadline and follow up on them very soon. In other words, if you got your proposal in by the deadline, you'll hear from us before the date of the new extended deadline. You'll be ahead of the rest of them.

Last year, we did accept a bunch of proposals up until the week before the Faire because it's hard to say no to cool projects. However, accepting late proposals means that the programs and maps for attendees weren't as helpful as they could be. So, to demonstrate that we learned something from having done this once, we really want to give ourselves (and you) the time to do it right. Thanks for your help.

Finally, here's some ideas for topics that we're looking for:

Halloween projects (props, costumes, interactive displays, music)
Recycled things
Ham Radio
Weather stations
Cars (hot rods, custom vans, especially with a tech flavor)
Airplanes and Aeronautics (models, etc)
History of Science & Engineering
Biology/Biotech
Chemistry
Cool RC Toys & Mods
Video Games (retro, arcade and more)
Trains
Looms (historical or unusual)
Sewing demonstrations
Kites
Boats
Old Farm or Garden Equipment (Tractors, etc.)
Temporary Structures (Tents, Domes, etc.)
Unusual Tools or Machines
How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.)

We are really excited to see the wide variety of projects already proposed.

Thanks,
Dale

HOW TO - Make a Bedwarmer

Christy points us to this great tutorial on making bedwarmers to keep your toesies warm at night! Link.

Threadbanger - New Online DIY Fashion Video Blog

Check out this great new video blog called Thread Heads. It's a weekly online show for people who make their own fashion (yes that's us!). Hosted by Rob and Corrine, this week's episode takes to the streets of LA in search of hipsters, as well as a how-to on t-shirt stencils from the infamous "Spray Can" Michaelangelo. They've also got a blog. New episodes are up each friday night at midnight! Link.

Fred Flare Next Big Thing 2007 Call for Entries

Fredflare Nextbigthing2007
Hey Crafters! Fred Flare's annual Next Big Thing contest is starting up again looking for your cool creations!

Here's what Fred Flare says:

This year we're selecting 27 of our favorite items to be featured in an exclusive online boutique that will also include designer bios. If your work is chosen, we'll place a wholesale order with you for the item you've proposed and will purchase the stock outright. Your designs will be seen by thousands around the globe and awesome opportunities WILL result. Almost all of last year's winners reported an increase in web traffic on their sites, mentions in local and/or national media as well as unexpected wholesale opportunities. This year we've added a fun new twist and will also be awarding a $1000 prize to the designer voted the "fred fan fave" by our awesome customers. Right on! The NEXT BIG THING contest is best suited for artists, crafters or designers who are serious about taking their business to the next level.

Find out more on fredflare.com and enter the Next Big Thing Contest. - Link.

Quick Links - Feb 28

Cat Bishop is having a buy one pair of earrings get one free sale at her Etsy store. Today Feb 28 only, now through midnight. - Link.

Amy Butler is now selling finish products like handbags, pillows, and notebooks in her online shop - Link.

Mayhar Drygoods sells beautiful vintage and artisan crafted goods. - Link.

The Logic Alphabet -- at the Museum of Jurassic Technology

The Institute for Figuring has another great exhibition looking at the fusion of math and craft, this time at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. From the press release:

In 1953, while working a hotel switchboard, Shea Zellweger began a journey that would culminate in a radical new notation for formal logic, the set of relations that underlies modern computing. From a garage in Ohio, Zellweger developed a visual language he dubbed the "Logic Alphabet," in which a group of specially designed letter-shapes are maneuvered like puzzles to reveal the geometric patterns hidden beneath the symbolic web of logic.

Opening Reception: Saturday March 3, at 7pm
@ the Museum of Jurassic Technology
9341 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Lecture: Saturday March 3, at 5pm
Join exhibit curator Christine Wertheim and IFF director Margaret Wertheim
for a discussion about logic and a conversation with Dr. Shea Zellweger
@ Foshay Masonic Lodge
9635 Venice Blvd (2 Blocks West of the MJT)

Spins and Needles Second Anniversary Night

Crowd Shot

Spins1

Congratulations to Spins and Needles' 2nd Anniversary! Spins and Needles is a non-profit montly crafting + DJ night in Ottowa, Canada. I first posted about them last year on the MAKE blog here. CRAFT and MAKE helped them celebrate in full style with their raffle that night. The winner of the free subscription to CRAFT is Lisa Hagar and the winner of the free subscription to MAKE is Jennifer Smart, both from Ottowa.

Melanie of Spins and Needles helps us recap the event. Melanie says:

It was a mad house as Spins & Needles Craft + DJ Night celebrated its 2-year anniversary this month with an all-out DIY + DJ + Disco Bingo party. Five different craft projects with materials and instructions were provided, alongside DJs playing funky beats throughout the night. Plus tons of bingo prizes donated by the international craft community, including Craft and Make. Everyone had an amazing night!

Read more about Spins and Needles and their upcoming events. - Link.

HOW TO - Mod Your Shirt into a Fitted T-Shirt

Lenore of Evil Mad Scientist writes, "Free t-shirts are almost never girl shaped. Here is one technique for making your freebie wearable. Darts in the front and back contour the shirt to fit your curves." Link.

UV Nintendo Wall Art

Jay says, "I was thinking it would be cool to have some UV art on my wall, so I painted this awesome 32" square, glow in the dark, UV reactive 1up mushroom on my wall. I started by finding a suitable image to paint. I settled on a sprite of a 1up mushroom I found on Google image search or something. I blew it up with MSPAINT and I printed out. I Stuck it on my wall, and started drawing a 16x16 grid. It took time. and patience. and pencil." Link.

DIY Book Press

Lauren McNees points us to this great article on DIY book press with tutorials on book binding explained in detail, for both hardcover and paperback. Link.

February 27, 2007

Stitch N' Ride Knitting Train

Knittingtrain
I"ve uploaded more photos of the Stitch N' Ride Knitting Train to the CRAFT flickr pool. Thank you to Linsey Ettlin one of the coordinators for the great photos! Link.

Stitches West Recap

Karrie of Girl on the Rocks has a great recap of her experience at Stitches West last weekend in Santa Clara, CA. She even took a trip down there on the CRAFT and Chronicle Books sponsored Stitch N' Ride knitting train! Check out the cool stash of goodies she got too. Link.

Love Letters Book Tutorial

Di Hickman has a tutorial on how to make a love letters book made from standard #10 envelopes to hold those special letters from a loved one. Link.

1920's Style Knit Baby Hat Pattern

Here's a cute knit baby hat in 1920's style with a ruffled edged brim and flowers adorning one side, created by Larissa of Stitch Marker. Link.

Ripple Along

OK, anyone else find themselves enticed by the recent sightings in the craft blog world of beautifully crocheted ripple blankets? For me, it started with Alicia's blanket, who in turn was inspired by Jane's Yarnstorm ripple. Now crochet gal Kim Werker of Crochet Me has started a Ripple Along. I can't stop staring at all the fun yarn and the cool ripple patterns. Read the backstory and keep up with the process, or join in on the fun! Link.

HOW TO - Make a Bunny Rug

Noahw has a cool bunny rug project up on Instructables. He took an LCD projector to trace a giant bunny outline onto this shag carpet! Link.

French Girl - Knit Tours of France

Frenchgirlknits
French Girl Knits has open spots for their knitting tours of France this fall.

From Chez French Girl, "Spend a week at a beautifully restored winemaker's house, La Vigneronne, in the village of Faugeres, only an hour from the sunny beaches of the Mediterranean. For three mornings, you'll learn new knitting techniques from world-renowned designer and instructor Annie Modesitt. Classes will be held either in the cozy salon or outside on the sunny veranda. Each afternoon, we'll take short excursions, including visits to charming hilltop villages, a cruise down the tree-shaded Canal du Midi, an afternoon wandering the cobbled streets of Montpellier, the 'Paris of the South', and you'll still have plenty of time to lie on the beach and knit to your heart's delight. There will also be ample time to sit pool-side at La Vigneronne and just relax. Tour cost of $2500 includes transport to and from Montpellier Airport, all transport to local sites, accommodation for six nights at La Vigneronne, all breakfasts & lunches, three dinners, and a special bag of knitting surprises."

If you need more information, email French Girl Knits to receive a tentative itinerary and all the details of the tours. Link.

February 26, 2007

Knitted Food

Check out the amazing flickr photo set of pezdiva who makes some crazy beautiful knitted food such as the fruits above and the yummy fat free breakfast. Thanks Sam! Link.

Related: CRAFT: Felted Fruit - Link.

Felted Sweater Pig iPod Cozy

Susan of West Coast Crafty helped celebrate the Chinese New Year, "Year of the Pig" by making this cute pig iPod cozy from recycle felted sweaters. So cute! Link.

Crochet TV and Atari

WOW! Is all I can say when I saw Christine Domanic's (jackrabbitetsy on flickr) crochet TV and Atari complete with Pitfall! game on the screen. Check out her etsy shop as she makes custom amigurumi. [ via ] Link.

DIY Drink Umbrellas

Handmade is an Australian craft magazine and their web site features some cool downloable projects such as this one where you can printout and make your own drink umbrellas. Also check out their blog too! Link.

HOW TO - Make a Mardi Gras Bead Dog

Mike Schleifstein says, "Those who were in New Orleans for Mardi Gras last week probably have a lot of left over beads that they don't know what to do with. Growing up we used to make bead dogs and do all sorts of things with them. This makes a great afternoon project for kids and more." Link.

Star Wars Bossk Bean Art Portrait Tutorial

From Bonnie at Star Wars Kids Crafts comes this fun project on how to make a Bossk Bean Art Portrait. From the site, "All bounty hunters deserve their portrait to be created with dried beans and glitter, and Bossk is no exception. Pay special tribute to everyone's favorite Trandoshan with this fun craft project. Feel free to experiment with different beans and materials to make a one-of-a-kind work of art." Link.

HOW TO - Upholster a Tree Stump

Phil @ MAKE says:

Madelon shows you how to upholster a tree stump -

The STUMP project began in 1999 on the sidewalks of New York City -- the sidewalk plots where there are tree stumps are generally neglected spaces left to collect debris. The tree stumps reminded me of the childhood story, The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein, in which a tree has given of herself to the point of being diminished to a stump, but selflessly perks herself up to give to the last, by providing a seat for the beloved boy who is now an aged man...

SuperNaturale \ How to Upholster a Tree Stump - Thanks Arwen! Link.

DIY Spool Rack

Ruth of Mantua Maker has a perfect organizational project on how to make your own thread spool rack with a wooden board and nails. [ via ] Link.

Crochet Dalek

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Shigella crocheted herself a Dalek from the British TV series Doctor Who. Link.

February 23, 2007

Get CRAFT daily!

We did this on MAKE, and now CRAFT is ready -- A few readers have asked if there was a way to get all the posts from the CRAFT blog sent to them each day via email. We evaluated a few fee/free services, and we're pleased to launch the CRAFT daily newsletter. All you need to do is enter your email address, and you'll get the CRAFT blog delivered each day. We don't store/sell/share your email address, and every newsletter has an unsubscribe link.

So, take it for a spin for a few days. I think this is a great way to keep up on all things in the world of crafting delivered right to your inbox.

As folks sign up, we'll do special promotions and discounts for CRAFT stuff just for CRAFT: daily readers, so it'll be worth the effort!

Magpie's Moving

Hey Boston area Crafters! Magpie, Boston's cool indie handmade craft and gift store is moving to the heart of Davis Square in Somerville, MA. Don't miss their grand opening party March 3rd where there will also be a 20% of sale, a "L'Homage to Fromage" exhibit featuring paintings from the world renowned Dedham-based MOBA (Museum of Bad Art), local celebrity DJs Jon Bernhardt (host of WMBR's Breakfast of Champions) and Stacie Slotnick (curator of The Critique of Pure Reason music series) spinning tunes, plus refreshments from Davis Square's own Diesel Café and La Contessa Bakery. Only steps from the Red Line T stop, the new Magpie space is twice as large as its old space and will allow Magpie to carry more of their signature mix of gifts featuring hip DIY crafts, works by indie artists and designers, and vintage accouterments. Link.

Related:
CRAFT: The World of Magpie and Craftsters by Chrissa Banner - Link.

CRAFT Pattern Podcast: Knit Bicycle Ear Warmers by Amy O'Neill Houck

This week's CRAFT Pattern Podcast features knit and crochet designer, Amy O'Neill Houck's knit bike helmet ear warmers that are fast and easy to make. Amy says, "Year-round bicycle commuters know that rain and wind can chill our ears and lower your body temperature making your ride umpleasant. These easy-to-knit wool ear covers are designed to slide onto bike helmet straps. They're warm and they'll stay put." You can see more of Amy O'Neill Houck's needlework on her blog, The Hook and I.

Download this week's CRAFT pattern PDF - Link.

Subscribe to the CRAFT podcast and get this pattern and other CRAFT content delivered automatically via iTunes - Link

Spring Art Show by Lisa Congdon: anatomie

Lisa Congdon has a new art exhibit coming up in NY called anatomie. The show opens April 18th and will debut at the Rare Device Shop (453 7th Ave Park Slope, Brooklyn). Lisa says: "Soon following this show, i will have two others, one in San Francisco and one in New Hampshire. Announcements for those are coming soon!" Link.

Berroco Free Pattern: Pignoli Felted Bag

I'm drooling over this new free pattern on Berroco's web site for the Pignoli felted bag. It's the perfect bag to make for all your knitting projects and I love the rich chocolate brown color. Link.

Heather Bailey's Studio

Talk about inspiration! Heather Bailey has lots of pics up on her site about her studio where she does her craft work and designs her fabric line. I love her descriptions of her antique treasures and her nugget of tips for organization. Link.

Pin Tin Canny Tutorial

Kristin of Craft Leftovers has a great idea for your sewing area to keep everything in one place with this pin cushion/sewing tools holder made from a tin can. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Feb 23, 2007 10:34 AM
Recycle, Sewing | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Patchwork Sewing Machine Cover

Julie Ree's made a beautiful patchwork quilt sewing machine cover to protect her vintage Singer sewing machine! Link.

February 22, 2007

Handmade Gift Pouch Tutorial

Sylvie of Chez Plum has a tutorial to make a simple and cute gift pouch to hold your handmade gifts as Syvlie puts it, "Because when you've spent hours and hours working on a special something, you just want the packaging to be equally special, no?" Link.

Related:

CRAFT Interview with Sylvie of Chez Plum - Link.
CRAFT Pattern Podcast - Chez Plum Isabeau Purse - Link.

Beading and Resources in San Francisco

Christina Loff writes the weekly craft column for SFist (the SF/Bay Area version) and this week's post talks about beading and all the local beading resources in San Francisco. A quick jewelry craft project is a great way to show off your sense of style while saving $ at the same time. Link.

Kim Hargreaves - Spring Knit Collection

Kim Hargreaves, the famous knit designer from Rowan has her own line of knitting kits. The UK based designer's new spring collection, The Shades of Pale, is out and the patterns are particularly fresh. Show above is the Hush cardigan and the Mellow sweater. Link.

Medical Experiments Toy Show

Ok now this event looks reaaallly cool, a plush toy show featuring a bevy of cool artists one of them being Heidi of My Paper Crane who's got plush brains on her mind. There's still time to enter, deadline is March 14th. See the my space page for more details. [ via ] Link.

HOW TO - Aging the Look of your Digital Patterns

One of my favorite blogs is Non Dairy Diary. Delphine has another great tutorial on how to make your digitally designed patterns have more texture -- just like paper or to give it that vintage look. I love that her site is in dual English and French so you can practice your Français as you get inspired by her wonderful illustrations and tutorials. Link.

Wool Owls

Moonstitches shows off her cute wool owls made from a pattern from a Japanese craft book, Chirimen Crepe (ISBN#: 4-529-03967-6). They are just adorable alll together in their little box tray. [ via ] Link.

Stitch for Senate Workshop, Saturday Feb 24 NYC

Jen of the NYC Grassroots Media Conference pointed us to a cool workshop happening as part of the event. Jen says, "This Saturday in NYC at New School University is the NYC Grassroots Media Conference. One of the fantastic workshops this year is "STITCH FOR SENATE", a workshop lead by Cat Mazza of MicroRevolt that will lead participants through a how-to create helmet liners for the troops...but make senators send them to a soldier of their choice (and put a human face on the war.) The workshop will take place 11:45-1:15, this Sat at 65 Fifth Avenue at 13th street."

Workshop Description:
The collective microRevolt is launching Stitch for Senate, an initiative of knit hobbyists making helmet liners for every United States senator. While charitable knitting for soldiers during wartime has been a tradition since the American Revolution, the Stitch for Senate project focuses on supporting the troops by bringing them home. The helmet pattern was adapted from a support-the-troops project of knitting helmet liners for soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Repurposing this concept, Stitch for Senate upholds an antiwar sentiment reflected in the midterm elections and holds public officials responsible for representing the electorate when making policies about the war in Iraq. Beginning knitting skills helpful. Link.

Sewing Zippers, Part 2

I've posted up Lisa of U-handblog's previous post on sewing zippers which was so helpful. Now there's part 2 on how to sew a zipper that's an inner pocket for a bag. I love her clear descriptions and photos. Link.

HOW TO - Make Mini-Comics

Steven Stwalley says, "I recently created a How to Make Mini-Comics Mini-Comic with my collaborators in the Minneapolis cell of The International Cartoonist Conspiracy. It is intended to serve as a downloadable textbook for those seeking to learn how to make a mini-comic. " Link.

Weaving with Palm Sized Looms

The Purl Bee has a great introduction to weaving including introducting the site eLloomaNation, a site devoted to palm-sized looms. The site also lets you download free collection of vintage patterns. Purl Soho also has a selection of Weavette looms (pictured above) and weaving books. Link.