Craftzine.com blog: April 2008 Archive

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Archives: April 2008

April 30, 2008

HOW TO - Make a Decoupage Stool

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Derek and Lauren on design*sponge feature a fun project by Lorena of Petit Collage who shows us how to make this decoupage stool.

Cupcake Knuckles

Finally, a message we can all get behind! This cupcake knuckle cross-stitch is available at the CityDown Etsy shop.

Aunty Cookie's House Tour

If you've ever wanted to peek inside the home of your favorite bloggers, now's your chance. Apartment Therapy recently ran a house tour feature with crafty blog favorite, Aunty Cookie!

Soft Circuit Embroidery Demo at Maker Faire

I'll be running a demo at 11am on Saturday at Maker Faire on how to sew/embroider a simple circuit using conductive thread, an LED, and a watch battery. This is a beginner's level demo, so don't worry if you've never embroidered or never touched electronics. I look forward to seeing you there!

Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset May 3rd and 4th at the San Mateo Fairgrounds, CA (Upcoming.org). It's for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things.

If you're in the Bay Area, or plan to attend Maker Faire add "makerfaire" to your Twitter, we'll be giving away tickets and will have updates before and during Maker Faire!

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 30, 2008 04:00 PM
Arts, Events, Fashion Tech, Maker Faire, Needlearts, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Historical Knit Doll

Self-described history nerd CigarettesAndValentines knitted up this stuffed version of the Marquis de Lafayette, using the basic body pattern provided in the book Knitted Icons.

Cooking Mama Apron

Craftster user crafterbastion made this http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=242410.msg2674211;topicseen#msg2674211">Cooking Mama apron and documented the process very nicely. I love the way she used the window-trace method to make the shapes for cutting the felt. Via ALBOTAS.

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 30, 2008 02:00 PM
Home and Garden, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Emmett's Robot

Flickr member bitterbethany was inspired to make Emmett's robot by the work of Jess Hutchinson and Hillary Lang. Found via Geek Crafts as part of a roundup of 13 crafty robots.

Duct Tape Flooring

Craftster ducttapeaddict covered her bathroom floor in squares of different colors of duct tape. It took her only 2 hours to put down, it will probably take a bit more to ever take off. via Abbey Goes Design Scouting.

Frame Decals

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Danielle of Thompson Family-Life created these cool looking frame decals to hang in her baby's room and shares her tutorial on how you can do this too. [ via Decor8 ]

HOW TO: Repair the Heels of Athletic Shoes

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Gearing up for our upcoming Shoe issue with CRAFT: 07, we love the idea of mending, especially when it comes you your favorite shoes. Instructables user Neffk gives us handy tips on how to repair the heels of athletic shoes.

Foliage Frame Brush

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Amy at Craft Chi has a digital design tutorial on how to create a foliage frame brush in Photoshop.

Oilcloth Picnic Placemats

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Kelly at Make: Grow: Gather shows you how to make cute oilcloth picnic placemats complete with easy ribbon ties.

Stackable Cats Pattern

Anna from Mochi Mochi Land posted her pattern for stackable cats on her store. With stackable cats, you can maximize your cat-having while saving space. Learn how to make a striped cat, a calico cat, and a siamese cat.

Porsche Bedspread to Dress

Melissa Fehr made a 1950 style dress out of a vintage Porsche duvet cover that she found on ebay. She used Simplicity pattern 3780. She looks speedy.

April 29, 2008

Bazaar Bizarre Raffle at Maker Faire

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Enter the Bazaar Bizarre Raffle while at Maker Faire! This year we are holding a drawing to to raise some funds for the Bazaar Bizarre to use in future shows! A $1 donation could win you over $700.00 in Art and Hand Crafted Products! This awesome indie stash consists of signed limited edition prints, one of a kind handmade jewelry, bath and body supplies, letterpress cards, plush, handmade journals, clothing, craft supplies and more!
Generous Donations from Indie Artists Such As...

Ach Ach Liebling
Bored inc design
Bossa Nova Baby
Bug Under Glass
Combustion Glassworks
Ezme Designs
Fieldday Wearables
Jaime Zollars
Joie Studio
KLEAN Bath & Body
Mr.Funky
My Imaginary Boyfriend
My Windup Bird
Nouveau Motley
Pepto Industries
Planet Tokki
Recover your thoughts
Sweet Meats
Woody Miller Art
Mary Jane's Attic

HOW TO - Emboss Fabric

The Sew Mama Sew blog is in the middle of a tutorial contest, and the entries have been amazing (and many!). This entry by Vintage Threads happened to catch my eye. Her step-by-step tutorial shows you how to emboss fabric with a fun design.

Thrift Store Chair Makeover

Craftster user Pieknits turned a $4.99 thrifted chair in to this fresh and pretty seat she plans to use at her spinning wheel. Well done!

Phoenix Indie Craftorama Wrapup

Thanks to everyone who came and visited me at the Phoenix Indie Craftorama this past Saturday! It was a beautiful sunny day for a craft fair, and everyone had a great time sharing in the craft group spirit. Many in attendance are on their way to Maker Faire this weekend, including Stacey Gordon, who will run a puppet-making workshop, and the Crafty Chica aka Kathy Cano-Murillo, who will give a talk about making the most of what you have. Above photos by Ryan Spicer.

Related:

Maker Faire schedule

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 29, 2008 04:00 PM
Events | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

HOW TO - Sew a Soft Camera Case

Pink Penguin shows you how to create this simple and stylish soft case to protect your camera--I like how it looks almost like a stylish clutch purse. [via]

Eyelet Covered Rocks

Are you preparing for a picnic? A fancy picnic? You may want to bring along some dressed up stones to hold down your blanket on a windy day. (Thanks, Jen!)

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 29, 2008 02:00 PM
Home and Garden | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

HOW TO - Make a Tin Can Pincushion

Who knew that something so sweet could come from a leftover cat food can? Learn to make this attractive and easy pincushion via the tutorial at Design Sponge.

HOW TO - Dye Your Own Fabric Trim

A Little Imagination & a Pile of Junk shows you how to customize your sewing projects using hand-dyed fabric and lace trims. I love the super-saturated colors used in her tutorial, though I'm sure you can create some wonderful pastels using her method as well. What a great way to take your sewing to the next level. [via]

Stitch N' Pitch - Baseball Craft Projects & Patterns

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Hi Crafters! It's baseball season again and you know what that means...Stitch N' Pitch time! We've just launched a new Stitch N' Pitch section on Craftzine with baseball projects and patterns from some of our winners in last year's contest. Also, check out the Stitch N' Pitch web site for the roster of upcoming games near you. New to this season will be the addition of some minor league baseball games! Stitch N' Pitch will also have a table at our Maker Faire this weekend.

The AntiCraft Does Bacon Crafts

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The new issue of The AntiCraft has hit the web with their Beltane issue featuring lots of bacon crafts, like this Bacon of Hate bookmark made by Alice of Futuregirl.

HOW TO - Cut Slippery Fabric

Learn how to cut out slippery fabric courtesy of Burda Style. Now only if sewing slippery fabric were so easy.

HOW TO - Make a Little Felt Turtle

Yours 'til Niagara Falls posted instructions how to make this little felt turtle. The shell is made by felting some wool fleece by rolling it in your hands after dipping it in soapy water.

Posted by Michelle Kempner | Apr 29, 2008 08:00 AM
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Handmade Shoe Roundup

Inspired by our Volume 7 cover "I Heart Shoes", Lee Meredith posted a roundup of handmade shoes tutorials and patterns over at Threadbanger. Thanks Lee, we do love shoes! i heart shoes cover

Mass Market Craft Fair on Sunday

This Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM, the DIY flea market Mass Market will be taking place at the MassArt's Pozen Center in Boston. Entry costs $1.

Mass Market is a DIY flea market where record distros, local bands, button makers, book makers, artists, clothing designers, djs, vegan and vegetarian bakers, and many others will come together for a day of swapping, sharing, selling and buying art. Presented by Lindsay Metivier, co-produced by Brian Butler & Urban Monsters and Apple Scruffs.

April 28, 2008

Handmade Ceramics by Whitney Smith

I recently came across Whitney Smith's ceramics work, and I think I'm in love. She creates functional yet beautiful items like vases, sugar bowls, and cake stands inspired by nature: motifs she has used include dogwood, cherry blossoms, and pomegranates. Whitney Smith Pottery

DIY Window Screen

Spotted via the CRAFT Flickr group: Playright_Bo and his roomies created this lovely "Arts and Crafty" window screen together.

In our living room we have the worlds widest window... over 9 feet and there was nothing within out price range (in town) that would span that kind of distance save for maybe an ugly asp closet rod, so I built folding window blinds.

The frame is 1x6 common with the centers cut out with a jig saw and drill bit. The art pieces are made out of theatre gel scraps, drafting vellum, and water color markers Kathleen, my roommates Katie and Adam, and myself all worked on the translucent artworks together.

I love that this was a communal project, and the end result is just great. Sure beats the old dorm room trick of hanging up an old sheet, no?

Autobot Switchplate Cover

Sean Michael Ragan makes these great Autobot switchplate covers from aluminum scraps, melted down and re-cast.

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 28, 2008 04:00 PM
Home and Garden, Metalwork, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

HOW TO - Make Ric-Rac Dahlias

Made with Love by Hannah shows you how to make these easy-to-stitch dahlia brooches from common ric-rac.

Felt Weapons

Phil @ MAKE points us to these felt weapons that look surprisingly realistic!

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 28, 2008 02:00 PM
Amigurumi and Toys, Arts, Felting | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Celestial Bodies in Orbit Embroidery Pattern

The Floss Box is selling a downloadable PDF of this Celestial Bodies in Orbit embroidery pattern, which is nice enough to include poor ol' Pluto. This pattern is the fifth in her "Science in Stitches" series, which features such patterns as The Law of Gravity, DNA: The Code of Life, and Meteorology. [via]

Keyring Blank Quick Crafts

Shellie writes in about RIc-Rac blog's suggestion of using clear keyring blanks for whipping up quick and easy pieces of portable art. As the blog notes, these would make great little gifts that are easy to personalize.

Perpetual Calendar

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Patricia of A Little Hut has a new PDF available in her shop for her Perpetual Calendar. For just $3.99 the downloadable PDF includes templates and instructions for you print out your own calendar to easily remember birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates.

Maker Faire CRAFT Schedule

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Hi Crafters! The Maker Faire Bay Area Schedule has been posted and I've listed here all the scheduled events that relate to CRAFT for easy reference. There are also demos by crafters and authors in our Maker Shed so check out the full schedule of events to make sure you catch your favorite craft workshops!

Saturday, May 3

Main Stage:
11am - Things I Learned from Knitting - Stephanie Pearl-Mc Phee of the Yarn Harlot
1pm - String Theory - Autumn Wiggins of Crafting a Green World
4pm - Extreme Craft - Garth Johnson of Extreme Craft

CRAFT Stage:
11am - Soft Circuit Embroidery - Becky Stern
12pm - Make Your Own Free Range Mini-Monsters - Moxie
1pm - Making Jewelry - Sonya Nimri, author of Beadalicious
2pm - Felt Faux Fruit - Brookelynn Morris
3pm - Fashioning Technology: DIY Style - Syuzi Pakhchyan
4pm - Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone - Krystina Castella
5pm - Photojojo DIY Photo Blocks - Amit Gupta and Kelly Jensen

CRAFT Corner:
12pm - Weaving with Small Looms - Karrie Weaver of Girl on the Rocks
2pm - Knitting with the Yarn Harlot

Sunday, May 4

Main Stage:
11:30am - Crafty Chica: Squeezing a Dollar from a Dime: How to Make the Most of What You Have - Kathy Cano-Murillo
12pm - String Theory - Autumn Wiggins of Crafting a Green World

CRAFT Stage:
12pm - How to Make Your Own Shoes...the Easy Way! - Thomas Maiorana
1pm - Finger Puppets Who Wish To Not Die - Stacey Gordon
2pm - Create Ribbon Straw Flowers on Vintage Flower Looms - Cathy of California
3pm - The DIY Bride: Quick & Easy Wedding Projects for Any Budget - Khris Cochran, author of The DIY Bride
4pm - Guerilla Pattern Drafting - Autumn Wiggins
5pm - Create Your Own Photo Flip Book - Jackie Ortega

CRAFT Corner:
2pm - Star Wars Kids Crafts: Making Star Wars Bubble Magnets - Bonnie Burton

CRAFT Video Podcast on the Maker Faire:

For more information, visit the Maker Faire web site.

Cassette Tape Wallet Tutorial

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Rachel at Chezlin has a cassette tape wallet tutorial where she shows you how to recycle all those old cassettes in a fashionable way.

HOW TO - Make a Hello Kitty Mask

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Half Mama Studio shows you how to make a Hello Kitty mask made from Sculptamold modeling compound. [ via Crafty Crafty ]

Refashioned Sweater to Cardigan

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One Pearl Button takes a simple V-neck sweater and refashions it into a lovely cardigan complete with crochet flower embellishments in her refashioned sweater tutorial.

Voting is Open for the Softies Awards

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The Top 5 finalists in each category are now up for voting in the Softies Awards on Softies Central. Voting is open now through Tuesday, May 6th at 8pm PST. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 7th. Now go vote! Pictured above is one of the Top 5 contenders in the Picnic Food category by Silvia Leite.

April 27, 2008

Sweet P Hat Pattern

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Susan B. Anderson has her a PDF pattern available for purchase for her adorable Sweet Pea Hat Pattern ($5.50).

Ombre Craft Projects

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Martha Stewart gets on the ombre trend with plenty of tutorials for ombre craft projects including how to dye your own ombre fabric. [ via AT NY ]

Braided Rug Tutorial Series

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Sunshine's Creations has a braided rug tutorial series including tips and tools to use and well as techniques. New posts will be added next week and in the coming weeks as the rug gets finished. You can also join the handmade rugs flickr group to add your finished rugs to the photo pool.

April 26, 2008

ThreadHeads Earth Day Special

With Rob and Corrine at ThreadHeads, take a ride with the guys who started a really amazing project called Wearable Collections. Then, learn how to make a picnic blanket backpack out of all your old tee shirts!

Vitriflore - Wire Plastic Flowers

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Yoonie-at-Home has some beautiful experiments with vitriflore wire plastic flowers. I had no idea this craft was done in the 70's! Yoonie shows you how to make your own wire shape with floral wire. Then you dip it into the liquid colored resin which will dry in less than 10 minutes into this plastic flower!

Mission Indie Mart in San Francisco on Sunday, April 27

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This Sunday, April 27th in San Francisco is the Mission Indie Mart from 1-7pm at 12 Galaxies on Mission by 22nd Street. Come and shop from over 45 of the best in local designers, vintage, offbeat handmade and much, much more. It's the last Indie Mart until mid-summer so check it out!

April 25, 2008

HOW TO - Make "Roller Coasters"

Juliette from Chickpea Sewing Studio has a new pattern up at The Sewing Republic which shows you how to make these ric-rac trimmed "roller coasters". This would be a great project to use up fun scraps of fabric you can't bear to part with.

Photoreactive Sun Canopy

This installation titled Project OR by architect Christoph Klemmt and designers Ran Ankori, Francesco Brenta, Maya Carni, Laura Micalizzi and Elisa Oddone is made of a photoreactive material that lights up green and blue when exposed to sunlight. It also casts shadows on the walls and makes an engaging space in an Italian courtyard on Milan's Via Borgospesso as part of the 2008 Milan Furniture Fair. I'd like to commission him for a sun porch. Via Inhabitiat.

Posted by Becky Stern | Apr 25, 2008 04:00 PM
Arts, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Feeling Stitchy Interview with Doe-C-Doe

Feeling Stitchy has posted a great interview with crafter Gina from Doe-C-Doe. Check it out for some gorgeous eye candy and insights into this clever crafter's inspirations.