My Weekend was All About Purses
One of the reasons I wanted a sewing machine was to make purses. I love purses — they have such personality and they still fit even if your weight fluctuates. This was my first attempt at a sewn purse. It has mistakes, but I learned a few construction techniques and overall I’m very happy with it. The fabric even makes me happy, seeing the states all mixed up makes me think my friends across the country aren’t so far away as they sometimes seem.
My second purse was made for my sister in law Alison who’s learning to play guitar. I saw this fabric and knew I’d be making her a purse.
The interior is a coordinating print. I love the happy colors!
I hope she’ll like it! I’ve started on my next purse already. This is kind of addictive. :)
Upcycled Vintage Luggage
We’ve scheduled a family vacation for June and I’m already working on details. (I love having something to plan!) My daughters are still using little-girl-going-to-Grandma’s style luggage that they outgrew years ago. It’s time for them to have some real luggage to take on this trip and into adulthood.
I’ll buy them some nice roller suitcases, but for carry-ons I wanted to upcycle some vintage luggage. I asked what they might want painted on their luggage and earned a couple eye rolls. “Mom’s crafting at us again!” But then I said the magic words, “Would you like a horde logo?” OH. YES. THEY. WOULD. In their spare time, my sweet little girls are hardcore World of Warcraft gamers.
If you want to personalize some luggage, you can create a stencil for yourself using Contact paper. Draw or trace on the paper side, keeping in mind that you’ll need to reverse your design. Cut out carefully and apply to your luggage. Smooth down all around the edges, but if your suitcase is textured you may want to paint carefully from the stencil toward the middle of your design. This helps keep paint from being pushed underneath the stencil into the little surface grooves.
I use fabric paint because it’s meant to be flexible when dry. I was told the horde logo should be red, but my red paint looked really pink. I’m not into World of Warcraft myself, but I’m guessing pink horde logos just won’t do. I started with a little metallic black around the edges, then mixed the black and red together to fill in. Carefully peel off the stencil while the paint is still wet. (Waiting until it dries may cause some of the paint to dry on the stencil and peel up right along with it.) After it’s dry, you may want to apply a few coats of varnish to protect the paint against scuffs.
Hooray for second chances!
I hope they’ll approve! (You can see my own Twitter luggage here.)
Gift Wrapping for a Not-So-Little One
Tomorrow my Little One will be twelve years old. She’s getting older and I thought her gift wrap should reflect that. No cartoons or baby animals this year!
All her gift wrap is leftover scraps from here and there. The flowers were punched from copy paper and the pink “ribbon” is just folded strips of tissue paper to tie everything together. She hasn’t seen her presents yet, I hope she’ll be pleased.
I’m happy that even though she’s growing up, my girl is still just as qwirky as ever. That pink present in the back? That’s the jar of dirt she asked for.
I’m crazy about that kid. :)
Hi, I’m Sarah
Some social networking sites only allow you to add one link to your profile. For my Twitter account, I’ve always linked to ThePutnamScoop.com, a blog mainly based on my home area. My Blip.fm account linked to my slightly more creative CoopPics.com. Neither one alone tells you very much about me, but if you saw both, and maybe skimmed through my Flickr pictures or saw what I had to say with friends, you’d have a much better idea of who I am.
It’s not a huge deal, but I work online and many of the people I consider friends are people I initially met online. I’m guessing the same is true for many of you. Flavors.me lets you create a kind of landing page/online business card to summarize your online turf into one neat, compact link. (Mine is Flavors.me/SarahWV if you want to have a better look.) Sites like this aren’t new, but I love the ease of use and versatility of this one. Setting up a page is fun, a creative expression. (I’ll probably keep editing mine for a while, I haven’t even added in work stuff yet.)
If you’d like your own page, this video will show you how easy it is to add and edit content. Then go to Flavors.me to grab your account. If they ask you for an invite code, feel free to use the one they gave me: heat. (Hey, they said I could share with anyone I liked. You’re reading my blog, I’m pretty sure I like you.)
Once you have yours set up, please share your link in the comments. I’d love to see it!
Many thanks to Lani Rosales for introducing me to Flavors.me and to Tony Lazzari for sharing the photo he took of me in Times Square earlier this month!
First Sewing Project
As much as I love crafts, I’ve just never gotten into using a sewing machine. I just treated myself to this one, and I’m still a little bit afraid of it. Yes, I know it’s pink. It’s still a little scary.
The instructions for loading up a bobbin and threading the machine were easy enough, so I worked on a little test swatch and decided to just jump into a project. I found a tutorial for making rag edge burp cloths at Homemade by Jill. This is a PERFECT first sewing project. Buying a set of flannel receiving blankets to use as fabric is an easy way to get a range of colors and designs that were made to go together. The pattern doesn’t require pre-washing or ironing of the fabric, so you can get right to the interesting parts. It doesn’t matter if the seam is perfect as the finished edge will be ragged to hide small mistakes, which is quite comforting to a newbie. Really, it would be difficult to find an easier first sewing project.
It didn’t take long to have the stitching done. Maybe I don’t need to be afraid of this thing after all.
Best of all, after sewing up a stack of burp cloths …
I got to sit in front of the TV watching football while fringing the edges. Because really, what goes better with sewing than football? ;)
A Little Zebra Dog
I have an ear infection that feels like it isn’t going away any time soon, regardless of the antibiotics, and I am too full of self pity to craft.
Well, almost too full of self pity to craft. Instead of working on what I should have been doing (finishing a crocheted black and white baby blanket) I let myself work on something a little more entertaining – a scottie dog in a felt zebra print.
Isn’t she cute?
(Please pardon the cluttered craft area.) Someday I’ll finish the blanket, and the blanket and zebra dog will go live with sweet little Ava. Someday.
But for now I’ll go, before I whine any more. You go make stuff. :)
Felt Twitter Bags
I’m back from New York and somehow I didn’t make it to a single craft store. I know, shame on me! I stayed busy and had a great time, so I won’t feel too badly about it.
A few days before my trip I realized I wanted to make a little gift for my roomies and a few other friends. These little Twitter bags are quick, easy to make and didn’t take up much space in my suitcase — all vitally important when you’re pressed for time. I used the same stencil I’d made for the personalized Twitter tote bags to trace the birds and branches on leftover pieces of felt. The bags themselves are just a full sheet of felt cut in half, and the little leaves were just to add a spot of color. I meant for all of the bags to close with Velcro, but halfway through assembly my sticky side Velcro wandered off. (I suspect it hitched a ride on a friend’s jacket. Velcro’s sneaky like that.) The remaining bags ended up with a button closure. Note to self: add snaps to craft stash.
Nearly everyone who got a bag asked me what it was for – and I had no idea. I hope they’ll tell me how they end up using their bags!
Japanese Craft Books
Next week I’ll be in New York and this blog will be quiet. One of the many things I hope to be doing is shopping at a few crafts shops the likes of which just can’t be found around my little hometown in West Virginia.
On a previous trip I bought these Japanese craft books at Kinokuniya Book Store, located across from Bryant Park. Although not a traditional craft store, they do carry a nice selection of books and some good quality Japanese craft supplies. And no, I can’t read Japanese. Thankfully craft books offer lots of pictures. (Although I was surprised to realize after I got home that the cat book is not just about making cute cat themed items. You’re supposed to make felt from your pet’s shed fur to create a very true-to-life likeness. Kind of creeped me out, really.)
I also stumbled across the English version of one of the books and bought it for my sister in law. (Now I can call her for a translation if I get stuck making a Cute Dog!)
Hopefully I’ll have some fun crafty stuff to tell you about when I get back – have a great week!
Moo Card Boxes
One of my Christmas gifts this year was Japanese washi tapes in a delicious range of colors. This tape is addictive! It’s like a masking tape, but is transparent enough that you can use it to highlight words or layer with other colors of tape to create different hues. It tears or cuts easily and will even peel up and remain adhesive enough to stick back down several times, which is very handy for crafting. I’ve seen it used quite a bit in scrapbooking, but I decided to use it to dress up a Moo card box.
Peeling back the tape I’d already applied let me weave the pieces together somewhat.
I love subtle sheen of the tape and the way the colors look together on the finished box.
Next week I’ll be in New York for a conference where I’ll meet lots of new people. Usually I transfer my business cards to a smaller holder, but for times like this I like to bring the whole box along with me. I decorated a few other Moo card box tops (I have lots!) and think I’ll take this one with me:
This one was made with origami paper cut just smaller than each side of the box, applied with a little Mod Podge.
The Moo cards in the box have a different picture from New York on each card. My hope is that when meeting new people, I can let them choose a card with sights they like, which gives us something to talk about. Shy people plan ahead like that. :)
My Last Craft of 2009
This was one of those out-of-the-blue crafts that sneaks up when you least expect it. Early on New Year’s Eve, I suddenly wondered what my favorite version of “crap” would look like if it were embroidered and framed by its own embroidery hoop. Because you know if you frame it, it’s art.
This word comes from a real estate agent friend of mine who uses an MLS service of nearly the same name. The MLS doesn’t quit work as described and creates a decent amount of frustration. I’ll finish this and mail it off to him, and being a guy he’ll probably have no idea what to do with it.
But sometimes you just craft stuff because the idea was there and it couldn’t be helped.
