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