Carpe diem! Words are powerful things. They can inspire us, or touch our hearts. For most of my adult life, I have collected quotations and posted them where I will see them daily, in an effort to absorb their messages. Typically, I jot them on wipe-off boards, or print them via my computer’s inkjet printer and then tape them […]
Sharp looking pins These bejeweled sewing pins are pretty, but also practical — they sparle, making them easier to find in the folds of fabric, or if dropped on the floor. They make a great gift for anyone who enjoys sewing. To me, they look like fancy, antique hatpins. You can create a set by […]
Gamer fancies! Yes, I am posting yet more items that I made for a craft swap! This swap’s theme was the game Dragon Age. We sent our package in early April. Like the Hunger Games swap, I participated in tandem with my son Will, who came up with the ideas for the swap items we sent, […]
May the odds be ever in your favor! Have you read or seen the Hunger Games? My son, Will, was actually the person who got me started on the book series, and then the whole family saw the movie when it came out. As I so often do, I participated in a craft swap on the […]
Colorful translucent pendant You know those metal-rimmed string tags? Recently, I picked up a whole box of them, second-hand. Those tags always remind me of Martha Stewart. She seems to like them a lot… I picture her writing on them very neatly (in ink of course), with all of the tiny words correctly spelled, beautifully […]
Pencils take a stand! In my last post, I told you about the Big Bang Theory swap I participated in recently. In most swaps I’ve done, you exchange more than one item, using a points system so that the swaps will be fairly equitable. For the “big” BBT item, I sent this hand-sewn pencil holder, featuring the […]
Bazinga! On the Internet a few weeks ago, I ran across Gavin Worth’s wonderful wire sculptures. They are beautiful art pieces, like contour drawings pulled off the page into the three-dimensional world. I knew I was eventually going to have to try the technique myself. As a fan of the television show Big Bang Theory, I recently joined […]
So today, I put away my sewing stuff and craft glue, and decorated a cake. A friend’s daughter is turning 16, and the theme of her “Sweet 16” party is flamingos. So I made a pink flamingo cake. I had intended to take lots of detailed pictures as I went along, to show you the […]
Love on deck I ran across this idea on the Craftster web site last year, and instantly fell in love with it. (The artist of that “52 Reasons I Love You” card-deck book said the idea had been around a long time, but I’d never seen it before.) What a great way to make someone […]
Spiraling swirls of hearts and flowers My husband, Bill, and I have been married many years, and he is not only my True Love, he is also my dearest friend. The other day, I was reminiscing about our romantic courtship and the early years of our marriage. We didn’t have much money back then, but we […]
Upcycled upholstery I admit it. I have a terrible addiction to upholstery samples and drapery remnants. There is just something SOOOO appealing about their colors, designs, and textures — irresistible! So I have a lot of them in my “craft stash.” Very often, you can get several samples that are a “set” — all part of a […]
Pocky pocket! Are you familiar with Pocky? It is a Japanese snack, in the form of a stick that has been dipped in a flavored coating. Pocky sticks are great — low-fat, tasty, and not too sweet. They also add an elegant and unusual flourish to ice cream desserts or fancy cupcakes. And the boxes are so cute! […]
Yet another fabric journal… I have been ill, so haven’t been crafting as much lately. So the only way I can keep posting is to pull out some old projects. For this post, I dug out another one of the Teesha-Moore-inspired fabric journals I’ve been making for the past few months. I finished this one sometime this past […]
Numerical tiny treasures Here is a New Year’s craft (or really “anytime” craft, since this calendar has no real start or end) that you will be able to enjoy – -and update, if you like– for many years to come. It is also a great way to display some of your favorite trinkets. I […]
Scrapbook of attended events So, my eldest neice, Anna, is in college in New York, and she is studying theater. As you can imagine, she goes to lots of public performances: plays and shows and concerts and the like. And she is also heavily involved in staging events like those. This year, I’ve been enthused about making fabric journals. Now, […]
Coiled zipper bracelet This wrist band reminds me of a coiled octopus tentacle. I made it from a vintage zipper from a craft stash I inherited from my mom. My mom was a church craft bazaar organizer, a girl scout leader, and a home sewer. The woman had accumulated quite a craft stash! When I went through […]
Mixed media memory book This past summer, my husband and son and I took a vacation to Los Angeles. The weather was blissful, the sights were breathtaking, and we did, in fact, see an actual TV star in person. When we got home, we missed it so much that I decided to make a memory book, […]
Anti-virus protection! Last year around Christmas-time, I discovered a great craft project over at the Chica and Jo craft web site. (Love their web site!!!) It involved embellishing a tissue box cover with computer keyboard keys. My husband is a “computer professional”, so I could not wait to make my own version as a gift! […]