Tinsel & Twine

First of all, let me give a great big, THANK YOU, to our guest blogger, the Vinyl Vixen. She protected the nest for me the past couple of months while I focused my attention on my family and all their general busy-ness. Vinyl Vixen, you rock!

While I'm giving ViV all the kudos she deserves, let me tell you about her latest venture:

In our little far-north town, we have a handful of holiday craft shows every year. However, we've never had anything like this! ViV is organizing a craft show, with make and take classes! There will be a variety of crafters/artisans selling their wares, and a variety of crafters/artisans teaching others to do what they do so well. How exciting is that?! I so look forward to this evening of crafting with friends and look forward to meeting new friends.

Hoodie for the Baby

I love this post on http://www.purlbee.com/ about how to create a simple and cozy hooded towel for an infant.

The textures they feature in the photos look snuggly, do they not?

Plus, I love how the directions acknowledge that sewing on the terry cloth ends in a wonky seam.

Love it when crafters are honest and not quite so Martha, know what I mean?

Guest Blogger - The Vinyl Vixen

Thanks to my dear friend, Mama Bird, for inviting me to guest blog with her this week. Since it is nearly Thursday, there is no time like the present!

To kick things off, I thought we'd start with a little shameless plug: In some circles I am known as The Vinyl Vixen (a name that is unsettling to my mother and curious to my husband) for one of my creative outlets, custom vinyl design for home decor. If you are unfamiliar with the vinyl decal idea, click here to find my homepage and look around a bit.

If you'd like to see some other projects I have been working on recently, click here to go to my Etsy website. This is really a fun place to hang out...

So, since we are talking about Etsy, how about an introduction to one of my favorite websites ev.er.

It's a great little global marketplace for all things handmade. And not just crocheted Barbie clothes from the 80's. No, we are talking about some of the loveliest, most creative items for feathering your nest. All created and sold by people just like you. Seriously, set a timer once you start looking at all the great stuff on Etsy, or you might find you have spent hours on the site without even knowing it.

Some cool stuff to know about Etsy:

~Everything is handmade. So, you can feel great knowing you are supporting artisans and cottage industry.

~Prices are amazingly affordable and (in my experience shopping there) quality and attention to detail is premium. Items come wrapped in lovely packages, and it's almost like getting a gift in the mail when it arrives.

~Speaking of gifts, what a super way to gift your friends and family! Especially those who live far away. I've ordered gifts from Etsy sellers, and had them shipped directly to my family out of state. Saves on shipping and on time.

~It's an awesome resource for idea sharing with other people.

~If you have something you'd like to share, it's super easy (and free!) to set up a shop. I'd be happy to help, if you run into a snag.

Here are a couple of my current favorite ideas found on Etsy:

Teapot Moss Terrarium

Twelve Women with Birds Print

Gocco Printed Moleskein Cahier Journal

Bee Charmer Necklace

I could go on and on. Maybe I will, some other time.

Anyway, I hope you'll take a minute (or hour) to check out the fun on Etsy. I'd love to hear about your adventures finding wonderful things made by other creative people.

Perfect for finding handmade goods for home or nest.

Creative Photo Transfers

Here's a technique I did years ago, but forgot about it, only to rediscover it recently: Packing Tape Photo Transfers. Scrapscene has some simple directions for this process (and other creative processes, too). Go check them out.

This technique is simple, and gives a great artsy effect to your scrapped page, card, tags, etc. It's a basic technique used in collage/altered art, and works well for glass applications too.

Some things to remember when doing packing tape photo transfers:

1) use only photos from magazines, commercially printed books, or copied on a copy machine using toner. Ink-jet printer inks aren't permanent and won't survive the water bath step.

2) Use the clearest packing tape you can find. There are some tapes out there that have a bit of a yellowish tint to them. Those work well for a vintage look (they produce an old plastic look). I've also noticed some packaging tapes that have lines of string in them. I've never used that tape for this process, so I can't tell you whether it's translucent enough for the photo to show through. If you have some lying around however, give it a whirl and let me know how it turned out.

3) I used a bone-folder to burnish the photo onto the tape. I wanted to make sure the ink was going to stick to the tape.

4) Allow the photo/tape combination to soak in the water bath long enough. The paper backing will be much easier to remove when it's sufficiently water-logged.

Now, go out and create something fantastic with your packing tape!

Photo: Scrapscene

A Sparkling Accessory

I've had a request from a friend of mine to find the pattern for a dish-towel purse. Wow! There are plenty out there to choose from. I did happen to find some really thorough but simple directions to make one of these cute purses over at Savvy Scoop by Craftsdirect. This one's for you Sallie K.

Photo: Savvy Scoop by CraftDirect

The Illuminated Page

The hottest hobby right now (scrapbooking, duh) often relies on a decorative font to enhance the history being recorded. Looking back sixteen-hundred years, we see the same thing accomplished with illuminated manuscripts. Books of great literary, historical, and liturgical worth were decorated in order to support the message written. Check out the Lindesfarne Gospels. They're just so beautiful. Scrapbooking is not so different from these vellum treasures. We don't however, have to send our pages out to some monestary for them to be illuminated, we're able to do that ourselves with a p.c. and some fabulous fonts.

I have a confession to make: I am addicted to fonts. Good thing this addiction comes cheap. There are so many great font sites out there. On some sites you're required to pay a nominal fee for downloading the font. On other sites, well, their fonts are, free (it's a lovely word, isn't it?). I'm partial to dafont.com and scrapvillage.com for my font-ing needs. I find these sites easy to navigate, and downloads are a breeze. Here are a few of the fonts I use most often (most of the featured fonts are from dafont.com).

I'm just noticing that most of the fonts I'm currently using are grunge-y, and worn-out looking. Of course, in a house full of boys, things start looking grunge-y and worn-out real fast. Probably why my font trend follows suit.

Next time you're illuminating your page, remember the men that sat in monestaries sixteen-hundred years ago unknowingly setting the trends for modern day scrapbooking, and be grateful for your comfortable chair, adequate light, and the accompaniment of your iPod while creating.

Lowes Treasure Trove

Have you checked out Lowes treasure trove of DIY home projects on their "How To" site? Have a specific project in mind? Just conduct a "search" and find out what materials you'll need, how many/much materials you'll need, and the directions.

I've been wanting to make a magnetic bulletin board to hang on the wall above my desk. Guess what? Lowes has the directions! You can check them here. However, this hardworking wall organizer might better suit my needs. What to do, what to do.

Want some decorating advice? Look here. Need some help Xeriscaping (or just wanting to know what Xeriscaping actually is)? Look here. Better yet, check out Lowes.com for yourself. I'm sure you'll find something to satiate your need to create.

Photo: Lowes

Pint-Size Picasso

I found this on Design Mom's Blog. Go ahead and check out her site. I'll wait for you...

Design Mom always finds really great web treasures to share. This has to be my favorite by far. The directions for this brilliant project can be found just a hop, skip, and a link away, over at CookieMag.

I'm running right out to pick up some canvases ("canvasi?") now. Will you join me?

Photo: CookieMag

Birdie Blue - Tee'd Off

I've been looking around for some cute tee's for my little guys to wear for our local 4th of July festivities. There are a lot of cute shirts out there, however, everyone else's kids will be wearing those shirts. I'd like to see my kids in something a bit different. So, I came up with this crazy idea to create my own t-shirts. I've only had time to come up with three designs, but I plan on working on this project until I get it just right. I'm a little obsessive, no?

To create the iron on's, I simply opened my photo program, and began playing with all the creative tools. When I came up with a design I liked, I printed the design on iron-on photo transfer paper (if you have words in your design, be sure to switch your printer setting to "mirror image"), then followed the application directions included with the transfer paper.

How cool would it be let your wunderkinden draw on the iron-on paper, then transfer the original drawings to a t-shirt?! Also, there are some pretty cool vintage etchings out there (royalty free) that would make for some great tee's. Just add a cute little quip (if you want), and you've got yourself one original nifty & thrifty shirt.

My mind is reeling with all the creative possibilities!

Go ahead, make your own festive 4th tee (or any other tee for that matter) and let me know how it turned out. I might just post your design here for all the weblog world to see!

A Gallery of Gnomes (a craft for mom and kiddos alike)

I recently hosted a Gnome Party for my little ones and the kiddos in the neighborhood. It was an afternoon of Gnome festivities. We searched for hidden gnomes, ate gnome vittles, played gnome soccer, and created these adorable little gnome fellows (a big hit with even the littlest kids!).

Here's what you need: a round bead for the gnome head, a gnome body (I used this one for guy gnomes, this one for gal gnomes), a base, craft paint colors of your choice, craft glue, a felt tip marker, and a small circle of paper (a chance to put those odd sized scrapbook paper scraps to work!). This particular gnome gal doesn't have any hair, but the other gnomes created that day did. This is what we used for gnome beards, and gnome hair. It worked splendidly.

I had the little ones paint their wood gnome pieces first. We let them dry completely, then glued them together. We then cut a little snippet of yarn for the gnome beard and hair, and glued the "do" to the gnome head. Using a fine-tipped permanent marker in black, little gnome faces were drawn. Lastly, we made a small cone from the paper circle to create the jaunty little gnome hat. We glued the hat to the gnome head (gnomes can't lose their hats now, can they?), then admired our gathering of gnomes. These gnomes are minute! Seriously, they are no taller than 2 inches - including the hat!

I'm thinking I will make a bunch of gnomes in holiday regalia, snap a photo, then use the photo to make gift tags. Maybe I'll make such a post closer to the holidays. Gives you something to look forward to, no?

Hopefully soon, I'll get around to posting a photo (or two), and the directions to the little gnome gift I made for the gnome guests. Even more suspense!

It's Never Too Early...

to start crafting for Christmas. My friend T.E. asked that I post the directions to some little elf shoes I made this past Christmas. I made 6 pairs, and fashioned them into a jaunty little garland to hang on the mantle. I found the directions to these clever little elfin shoes over at Allsorts. You can also get inspired by checking out the elf shoe bucket over at Flickr.

Photo: Tracy Dean

Amy Butler Design

Amy Butler has to be one of my absolute favorite designers. Her style is fresh and contemporary, simple, but playful, and definitely cool. I love that Amy has a bunch of free patterns over at her site. Free patterns are always a plus.

Wouldn't these silhouettes be the loveliest art pieces hanging on your wall? You could change them out easily and inexpensively, and in a snap. You could also make the big leap and come up with your own silhouetted design (come on, I know you can do it!).

Photo: Amy Butler Design

Freezer Paper Fab

This little cu-tee is fab! It was created using freezer paper (you know that white filmy paper you use to wrap all you fish and meat in before you freeze it?) as a stencil. Angry Chicken has some basic instructions on her site to create this project, but once again, you could do a world-wide-web-search for other directions and inspirations. I've got a couple of zany ideas up my t-shirt sleeve for this project. I'll have to let you know how they turn out.

Photo from: Angry Chicken

From Office Supply To Creative Lil' Guy

Over at Paper Source, you'll find all sorts of goodies with which to create something wonderful . You'll also find instructions for some pretty creative projects. Take this ingenious envelope album for instance. I'm thinking this would be a lovely Father's Day gift. You could use one envelope per child and fill respective envelopes with a letter to dad from that child. This would also be a great way to gift your favorite recipes (perhaps for a bridal shower) to someone. Just think of the artistic license you could take artsy-ing up this little guy. An album from just spare envelopes, glue, and a cut of ribbon? Brilliant!

Domus Creativus

Aren't these little house tags brilliant? I found them over at
A Very Mary Design. Looks like they would be easy peasy to make, and very few supplies needed for their creation. Dig out your scrapbook paper scraps, a glue stick, a hole punch, and a length or two of linen twine, and get crackin' on the construction. Oh, don't forget your Zig pen for all that cute little detail work. I'm thinking I'll have to make a dozen or so of these so I'll have some on hand for last minute gifts.

Here Fishy Fishy

{I've had this picture in my "crafty file" for such a long time, I can't remember what site I got it from. If you recognize it as being yours, let me know, and I'll give you proper credit.} Moving on -

I love these little soaps! They're made from clear-set glycerin soap poured over vinyl goldfish, in boilable bags, then put aside until set. Wouldn't these little cuties be great baby shower or birthday party favors? I'm imagining bags of sharks or octopi for my little guy's birthday party.

Wearitshat over at Etsy has directions to make this project. You can also find the vinyl fish you'll need over there too. You could also do a web search for "goldfish soap in bag," (or something similar) to get other directions and variations for this project.

Have fun!

Birdie Blue is Born

So I've been wanting to somehow organize my creative life. Organize creativity? Seems contadictory, I know. I'm a huge fan of blogs that showcase women's creative talents. So here's mine. Not that I'm creatively talented by any means. Simply, I just like to create. I am not partial to one set medium. In fact, I consider myself a "Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-nothing," when it comes to crafting.

I'm probably a bit touched with A.D.D. when it comes to creating. I love dabbling in all mediums, usually in the same project. Would that make me a mixed media artist? I don't think I would go as far as defining myself an artist. Yet, to me, to define someone as a "crafter" seems so general and impersonal. Nowadays, crafting is often synonamous with art. Crafters/artists put so much of themselves into their creations, that to catagorize us with the blanket term crafter, I feel, reduces what we create as just another decorative item - when each project is so very personal. Of course, like art, crafting is subjective. We may not particularly like someone else's crafting style, however, the artist within us should be able to at least, appreciate the process of another's creation.

My disclaimer is this, I don't profess to be highly skilled or even remotely talented when it comes to the creative process. I just know I like to create.
The purpose of this blog isn't to showcase my work for all the world to see. It's merely an electronic journal to remind me of projects I've done, or am working on. There might be times when I post about something someone else has done, or things other people do that I would like to try. I'm sure those posts will be plentiful - quite possibly the majority.