Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Wednesday on Wednesday

bucket head

bucket head

Around here, we keep the toys outside the tub, and wear the buckets. How do you have fun in the tub?

Monday, August 30, 2010

My Crafty Weekend - Gone campin'

Hey there crafties! So, our cottage vacation was cut short due to the discovery of mold! It started with me sneezing constantly and ended with us discovering mold in the crawlspace of the newly-renovated-super-posh-wish-we-lived-there cottage! So, we have been puttering around here trying to figure out what to do. We decided on a short two night, three day camping trip at Bon Echo Provincial Park. So instead of sharing with you what I did this weekend (in the interest of full disclosure this was not much at all) I'm going to share a couple links from last week! Okay, on to the goodness!

First up are these adorable Corn Niblet Cupcakes made by Patti of A Crafty Escape. The original design came from the book Hello Cupcake which I also have but have not tried. Thanks to patti and her fabulous cupcakes though, I am super excited to get down and make some cupcakes!

I don't know what I love more, this Vinyl Hallway Tree, made by Kattie of Holm Made or her clever blog name. She has some great tips on making your own vinyl murals though, you should check it out.

Denim, denim everywhere! This gorgeous piece of practical fibre art was made by Michelle Made Me. I thought about making my own but hers is just so nice I don't know if mine could live up to those expectations! You should totally do it and to help, she has a tutorial here.

Recently, I was over at Life in the Pitts. Great blog, although I only recently discovered it. And for those of you that don't know, last week's edition of Creative Therapy was deemed the last. *Tear* I know, it is/was a great link party! But!~ To help carry on the tradition of that wonderful party, I promised to make an adendum to My Crafty Weekend. It goes like this: Once you have added your link, please visit the link before you and leave a comment of encouragement! You can visit as many or as few blog as you like, but I do ask that you visit at least the one, after all, we can al use good karma right?
Okay, and now for the linky linky fun! Below are some buttons that would be super swell of you to share but it is not required to play along. I added a felt cookie tute from the archive to get things started. Have fun and happy crafting!

     
          

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Storybook Sunday : A Tale of Two Denim Books

This Storybook Sunday is for the refashionistas out there. I have recently purchased two books about deconstructing and reconstructing denim. You know my love for recycled denim, so it is natural that I would start collecting books about using it in fashionable ways.

The first book I ordered, a little over a month ago is called Jean Therapy and was written by Scatha G. Allison aka Miss Velvet Cream.
This hard-cover-coil-bound beauty of a book comes with four full size patterns. (Conveniently they are for my favourite projects.) But, there are also twenty one in depth and well illustrated projects for you to do and twelve more gallery photos to further inspire you.
You know how some refashion manuals are more inspirational then do-able? This book is not one of them, while there are a few projects you would not catch me making and/or wearing, there are more that I am looking forward to both make and wear. Like what? How about the grommet cuff or Pencil Skirt? Two very simple projects that are too simple to personalize.


The second book I ordered (and received almost creepy fast) this week. It is called Denim Revolution and was written by Nancy Minsky who also has a fabulous blog called Jean Repair about restyling denim. This book as a whopping thirty two projects and even a chapter on distressing your denim that I found fabulous. (I can't wait to take a hammer and nail to my jeans!)
While this book does not have the full sized patterns that Jean Therapy does, it does come with patterns and templates for you to trace,copy and enlarge.
This book, had fewer projects that I myself would tackle but I found it more inspiring than Jean Therapy. (Did that make sense?) My notepad has a few full pages after reading this one. I should mention though, I love Nancy Minsky's use of trims and patches. Particularly on the Alice in Wonderland Pedal Pushers.

Both books had some similar projects such as denim cuffs of both a romantic and hipster nature. Both books had projects for gauntlets, jeans to skirt remodels and the denim bag. But, in all fairness these accessories are the go tos for many a crafster who loves denim.
That is wear the similarities end though. There styles as designers differ greatly, so even the projects that are based on the same idea branch out very differently. Which was nice, I was worried I would end up with two books almost exactly the same.
The one complaint I have against both designers is there lack of finished edges. While I love a shabby chic look as much as the next gal, and I do appreciate denim for it's beautiful fray, not every piece has to have unfinished fraying edges. With a lot of the projects in this book, where jeans were deconstructed rather than embellished, I found almost all seams to be unfinished. And while it works for some pieces, I think other pieces could use more finishing. Such as the Pencil Skirt from jean Therapy. For this particular project, added measurements for finished seam are given, but wouldn't it have been nice to see a more polished finished project? Just saying.

That being said, I would recommend both books for any refashionista looking to expand both their library and denim sewing repertoire. I can't wait to actually get to some projects from both.

 

Friday, August 27, 2010

Link Parties 'R' Us!

There are so many link parties out there, I don't think I could list them all without some serious time on my hands. But, with the help of the Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V buttons, I was able to make a quick go of the most popular ones.  This way, when I link to parties other than my own fabulous My Crafty Weekend I have a great go-to list as well as proper credit to those wonderful blogs hosting them! If you host a party that you don't see here, please let me know! I have not visited all of these parties yet, but I am hoping to in the next few days, feel free to recommend some! For those of you that are with me on the unfamiliar ones, maybe we'll see you there soon.

Monday:
Making
The DIY Show Off
The Girl Creative
BWS tips button

Tuesday:
Photobucket
 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
BWS tips button

All Thingz Related

Wednesday:
Show and Tell Green
 http://www.thethriftyhome.com
My Backyard Eden



Life in the Pitts

NightOwlCrafting



giveaways
Get your craft on Thurs.
make it wear it
Friday:
Simply Designing
Decor Mamma
Saturday:


BWS tips button




Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special
Sunday:
UndertheTableandDreaming