Petty Vices

More Obama Love

Obamakin, from 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding.
 

Modern wax luminaries: a tutorial

These wax luminaries are chic, simple, and easy to make yourself. Oh, and cheap too. Glorious combination of attributes, no?

Peak Candle Supplies tells you how. Oddly, it involves water balloons. Found via Elizabeth Anne Designs.
 

Handpainted roller derby dolls - girls rock!

Loving these roller derby dolls made by Sharp Elbows on Etsy. If I had a little girl she would so have these in her arsenal; unfortunately my friends girls are either too young or too old right now! Grow, girls, grow!

New episodes of DIY Network crafty shows!

I'm so excited to have discovered that finally, my DVR tells me there are new episodes of Stylelicious, Uncommon Threads and Knitty Gritty. Whoo-hoo! I'm watching a recording of a new Stylelicious right now, and its all focused on various screenprinting techniques for T-shirts and other clothing; I'm not sure but I think they might even be sewing up a skirt later in the episode & then printing it up. I never know quite what to expect from the crew of crafty Austin, Texas gals.

The Uncommon Threads shows are new to the air, but were recorded last year or something...hopefully the host Allison Whitlock will be recording some "new" new ones soon...

The Knitty Gritty goodness is called Knitty Gritty Knitsters; I don't know if they've permanently changed the name or not. The format, based on the description looks like it might be a little different, but it also looks like a "special episode" so maybe its just a one-off. If I'm a seriously lucky girl, maybe there will now be TWO shows!

I'm so happy at least some of my favorite DIY Network crafty shows are back with new episodes!

Another even happier thing? The wedding planning is really gaining some momentum now, and I'm thrilled to have tracked down an old friend from college who is now a Jesuit priest and who has agreed to marry M & I! It means a lot to me to have someone I know perform the ceremony. He's such a great guy, too. We might have the reception venue figured out tomorrow, too...wish us luck -- we see over lunch! It's going to be a busy day. TGI almost F!

I'm loving Sexy Librarians stitch patterns

Sublime Stitching has a new Sexy Librarians embroidery stitch pattern pack. Love it! Might have to use it as inspiration for some gifts for friends (I just happen to know quite a few sexy librarians)...

Art versus craft

American Craft Magazine has an interesting piece exploring the morphing definitions of art and bemoaning the lack of the handmade in so much of it today.

Key quote: "The more I am convinced that aesthetic experience is essentially an experience of handmade-ness, the more I am convinced that the activities that we conventionally divide into the arts and the crafts are in some sense inseparable."

Key question (paraphrased): Is there such a thing as a work of art that is not, first and foremost, a work made by hand?

I go round and round on this myself, and get into philosophical debates with my fiance regularly. I often can't decide which side of the fence I'm on. I seem to straddle the middle somewhere. Thoughts?

The coining of a new term

"Blog finished." Isn't that perfect? Ric-Rac has a great post on a bunch of <darling> projects she's got complete enough to photograph, but that aren't really done yet...thus, they're "blog finished." Brilliant. I particularly admire her "blog finished" dolly selvage quilt (pictured, left).

Now if I could even get some projects to this point, well, that would be good. One must have goals. I shall make my new one to "blog finish" a few things. Perhaps I can manage that.

Pretty balls for a bowl

Lil Birdie Stitches put up a great tutorial on how to make these darling little patchwork balls out of odds & ends. I can see them selling for $15 or more a piece in a boutique and they probably wouldn't even be as cute! I found mention of them via the Craft blog, which is always a fun read. Lately I've been having a major urge to create...something...but I don't seem to know what & I'm having trouble getting motivated.

(Hmmm, maybe its my new diamond ring (!) that's keeping me from focusing?)

Free vintage images and ephemera

I've come across a great resource called art-e-zine which compiles vintage photographs and ephemera and makes them available for use in artwork and crafts projects.

They've got some really wonderful stuff and encourage submissions to grow the resource. They just ask that you don't sell images as ephemera packs, as their whole point is to supply a free community resource (they encourage donations to cover bandwidth charges, but they're not required).

I made a birthday card collage for a former dancer friend of mine using a ballerina photo I found; I should have taken a picture of it to share but I didn't think about it until after I gave it away. The site, though, has some links to galleries of artwork made with the images they have, which are fun to look through.

I particularly like this one, though I don't know what it says! 

There's a ton of inspiring projects & ephemera to sift through...I've been wasting a ton of time just looking at everything. =*)

I think these old matchbook covers are compelling, & I love this pin-up art too...

Totally excited to play with this new discovery!! 

Pretty ring

Such a creative, pretty piece of jewelry from Star of the East -- note that the "flower" is made from layered shells with a pearl for its stamen.

Chicken & Egg progress

...or lack thereof.

I think my lack of sleep of late, incurred while taking care of poor M who had his tonsils and adenoids out a week ago today, is perhaps catching up with me. I don't begrudge a moment of it, but dispensing medicine every four hours around the clock is tough work! I think I'm getting a glimpse of what having a newborn must be like. At least I've been able to work from home most of this week which helps. I had meetings I had to go in for on Monday and I was something of a nervous wreck worrying about him.

I've been trying to relax in the evenings by knitting up the Craft magazine project for my nephew for Easter, but I just keep having to start over. It's too bad because its sooo darn cute:

However, cute or no, I'm only getting an inch or two done when I realize I've royally screwed something up and have to rip it all out...I must have started fresh a dozen times by now...thus, I'm officially moving on to something else for the moment. Not sure what yet, but something requiring less focus! I might even try making a sewing pattern for the chicken/egg toy...seems like I might be able to handle that. Well, maybe...=*)

Easter chicken and egg surprise

Easter is next weekend (whaaaa?) and now that my nephew is ~18 months and this will be a holiday he might actually remember (he's a genius), I've been inspired to make him something fun. The latest Craft mag which I finally got my hands on has a project that looks perfect -- its a knitting pattern for a little chick that reverses into a little cracked egg. V. cute and the pattern at least reads like something I think I might be able to handle. So, I better get cracking (excuse the pun) after work today if there's any hope it'll hatch <oh that's terrible...forgive me...> by Sunday. I'll post some pics and display my progress or lack thereof later.

"Uncommon Threads" Returns to the DIY Network Q208!!

I am completely addicted to craft shows on the DIY Network and HGTV. They inspire me. They entertain. They speak to my thirty-something mentality.

Thus, over the last few months as both stations upped their house related shows and removed most of their craft programming, I became concerned. First, I thought it was due to the writer's strike and was convinced that they'd be getting new episodes of Knitty Gritty, Creative Juice, Uncommon Threads, Style-icious, Crafters Coast to Coast and other such eye candy for modern-day artisans back soon. However, then they took off the reruns and began showing just a few random repeats in the middle of the night. Literally. I happen to have a DVR so while I could (and did) record these previously watched ditties, I was now beginning to panic in earnest and wondering what wrong turn the programmers took at their respective stations. Had they lost their collective minds? Perhaps they hadn't noticed the enormous popularity of indie style, handmade crafts?  Was it possible they hadn't been informed there was a housing crisis and people weren't buying, selling, or flipping in the same manner? What version of reality were they living in, anyway? It certainly wasn't meshing with mine.

So I started reading the blogs frantically. What I was hearing was not good. People were saying that according to Nielsen ratings more men watched the DIY channel during the day (while us working gals were Tivo'ing everything) so the cable channels were putting on more "man" shows. Okay, fine. But where are my new craft shows, even if they're on late? Then the rumor started becoming that the shows in question were cancelled. Needless to say, at about this point I'm completely freaking out. I'm soooo tired of watching reruns of past Knitty Gritty's for like the fourth time, but I'm an addict...I can't help myself...I need new shows and now it looks like they may not be coming.

So when tonight -- just moments ago, in fact -- I came across the glorious news on Allison Whitlock's site (she host's DIY's Uncommon Threads) that new UT shows are coming in the second quarter of the year...well, words cannot describe my joy. Even just one of my favorites coming back with new content is thrilling. I'm ecstatic, in fact. And I had to share.

Fingers crossed there is more good news coming from the other programs, too...!

I'm off to celebrate.

Crocheted Sock Monkey pattern

So cute, from Q.D. Patooties, here.

Stone Cactus Garden (perfect for the brown thumbs among us)

Ernestina Gallina has a great tutorial over on Creativity Portal for making stone cacti -- the perfect, low-maintenance office decor solution. At least for me. I tend to have issues when it comes to watering things regularly.

Hat Art

Just discovered an amazing fiber artist named Ana Voog who crochets the most fantastical hats...

Pile of Paper

An indie crafter with a great business called One Good Bumblebee sells, literally, piles of paper. Essentially they consist of a pack of ephemera culled from all kinds of thrifting and chopping; she cuts used vintage stamps off of old envelopes, for example. I bought a "pile" for my baby sister for Xmas, and as much as I adore giving gifts, I really wanted to keep that one!!

A quick bottle-neck

V.fun quick little knit bottle neck/gift tag...er...thingie...on KnitSonya. Check it out.

Needs:

Small amount of worsted weight yarn held double - Rowan Kid Classic
US size 10 (6.0 mm) double point needles
Gift tag

Cast on 12 stitches. Join round, being careful not to twist. Knit 9 rounds even. Round 10 *knit 4 sts, increase twice (make 1 increase) repeat two more times to end of round. Knit 3 rounds even, then bind of loosely. Don't cut yarn, with 2 stitches remaining, knit an 8 inch length of i-cord. Bind off, thread end through gift tag, then tack down and weave in ends.

                                                                                                                                                                             

Fun Mama blog

This Mom makes all kinds of great stuff that she blogs: cards, table forts (how I would have adored this little table cozy), etc...

How to get on HGTV's That's Clever

Article in Craft Revolution.com provides application information for the HGTV show, which is really cool. I Tivo the show and have often wondered how they find people for it -- who knew anyone can apply? Now I just have to get my act together and get busy making something worthy...!

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Bunny Hat

After about 14 tries, I've finally completed my first knit hat for my little nephew! I used a knitting pattern my sister pointed me to online from BabyCenter.com and changed the colors to brown and white instead of the white and pink they suggested.

My effort certainly isn't as perfect looking as theirs (also pictured below) -- but hopefully they'll like it anyway. I had intended on getting it done for Christmas, but, well...obviously I didn't quite get finished in time.

My effort (that's not my nephew, BTW, but rather a plastic doll -- his head is a bit bigger so I think it will fit him):

The knitting pattern example:

December Indie Craft Show

Sorry for the lack of posting; I've been super busy lately making stuff for an upcoming holiday indie craft sale put on by Urban Craft Uprising at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. I am proud to say that I've recently become a member of the Seattle Craft Mafia and will thus be in their booth for the December 2-3rd event. Fun! See flyer below for more info, and come on down and pay a visit! There will be all kinds of unique, handmade items made by local artisans that will make superb Christmas presents...plus there will be free giveaways every hour.

I'm making lots of cocktail/party napkins and some pins; I've been taking a knitting class and learning some new techniques and might have some knit/felted items too...I'm trying to stay focused though so that I have enough stuff of a couple types instead of little bits of random. It's tough though because I've been having so much fun trying new things! I'm also working on an ecommerce site that will be at http://www.2NineLives.com soon. Oh, BTW, I'm starting up a little craft business called Nine Lives, if you didn't guess already.  I have a few things up on Etsy now -- stuff you'll recognize if you've been reading my entries for awhile. My Etsy site is here. =^)

I think the Washington trivia book has made it through its final editing and is now off to production, but I'm not sure yet. Fingers crossed.

"Shooting Star" Pins

After watching an episode  of Creative Juice that featured some bird pins made out of leather, I got inspired to try some some stuff with vinyl. Star stuff, to be exact, with beads as embellishment.