love forever

Fall Leaf Napkins Tutorial on Parents.com

Fall is suddenly here and I am ready to nest. As soon as the cold weather hits, I start thinking about gathering friends and family together for big dinners. I always like to use cloth napkins; they coudn't be easier to make! I'll teach you how to print on napkins using fall leaves as your printing medium over on Parents Magazine website.

Guest Post: Pip from Meet Me at Mike's

Hello!  It's not Kayte! It's me! Pip!  Kayte is letting me post over here today, and I thought I'd show you a really simple 5 minute project for Valentine's day!

You can make these with things you have hanging about your craft room, and you can totally impress someone you LOVE with your crafty know-how!  It's true!  I give you... Doily Hearts! 

      

And thank you for having me!

 

xx Pip

Thanks Pip for this amazing tutorial! This is totally adorable! And a perfect project for all of those out there like me who are totally snowed in! 

New Craft Stylish Post- An Artful Scarf from Scraps

Here's my latest Craft Stylish project, my attempt to duplicate a friend's pricey museum shop scarf. It was pretty time consuming but the results were worth it. The secret ingredient: water soluble stabilizer. It disappears when you submerge it in water leaving just the beautiful web of threads and scraps.

Spring Centerpiece on Craft Stylish

Here's a new tutorial I have up on Craft Stylish, a little spring update of my autumn centerpiece. It's one of my favorite projects ever. I think I am going to use it for display at all my spring craft fairs.

By the way, so far that includes the Handmade Cavalcade on May 9th and Renegade Brooklyn on June 6th and 7th!

Guest Blogger Betz White and Furoshiki!

Betz White's son shows off a gift wrapped in a second hand shirt.

I am so excited to have the awesomely crafty Betz White stop by here on her blog tour to tell us all about the art of furoshiki. What in the world is that, you ask? Well Betz is going to tell you! Take it away Betz...

Furoshiki and Beyond: Creative and eco-friendly ways to wrap a gift without using giftwrap.

Fur-o-what-y?
Furoshiki is the word for the traditional wrapping cloths that the Japanese originally used to tie up and carry clothing and other goods. Today furoshiki is gaining popularity as a beautiful, unique, and reusable way to wrap gifts. Furoshiki can be made out of a rectangle of a variety of fabrics (such as cotton, silk, rayon, nylon, etc) as long as the cloth is not too stiff to tie. You can use repurpose items you might pick up while thrifting, like a scarf, napkin, or bandana as well as make one from your fabric stash. There are many different furoshiki folding methods to suit a variety of shapes from wine bottles to watermelons. In fact, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment has drawn up a useful guide of various ways of tying the furoshiki.

No square to spare?
Beyond fabrics, many other items are fair game when it comes to wrapping gifts creatively.
• Try wrapping a gift inside a folded or rolled T-shirt or blouse and secure with a ribbon.
• A wine bottle fits nicely inside the sleeve of a repurposed dress shirt (Cut off the sleeve and sew raw edges shut for the bottom of the bag. Slide the bottle in and tie with a ribbon below the cuff.)
• Do you ever cut off jeans to make shorts? Save the pant leg to use for wrapping a long gift. Tie off each end (like an old fashioned “cracker”) with ribbon.

Non-fabric wrapping ideas using stuff around the house
• Use the Sunday funnies to wrap birthday gifts
• Excess bubble-wrap laying around? Wrap the gift in a layer of colorful tissue inside a layer of bubble-wrap for a translucent effect.
• Print on brown paper grocery bags with rubber stamps
• Create a gift bag out of an envelope. Here's another option too!

or

• Create a gift box out of an empty facial tissue box. They have such pretty designs on them now! Just tear away the plastic film at the top, place your small gift inside, then tape a piece of paper over the opening.

Thanks so much Betz for all your great wrapping tips! Stay tuned later this week for a giveaway of her awesome book, Sewing Green!

Heather Ross Blog Tour

In celebration of her new book Weekend Sewing, Heather Ross is going on a blog tour! She will virtually traveling around to a bunch of different awesome crafty and design blogs and talking about her inspirations, her fabric design and of course, the new book!
She will be making a stop right here on Tuesday the 31st to talk about the process and inspiration for her fabric designs with an amazing giveaway!

Monday, 3/9: Make, Grow, Gather: Interview with tales and pics of young Heather growing up in Vermont.

Wednesday, 3/11: Heart Handmade: A day in the life of Heather Ross, and a chance to win a free book.

Thursday, 3/12: Disdressed: Q & A? Expose? Find out!

Friday, 3/ 13: Freshly Blended: A fresh review of Heather and Weekend Sewing.

Monday, 3/16: Whip-up: Illustrated sewing demo – learn fun tricks!

Tuesday, 3/17: House on Hill Rd: Erin shows off her lovely finished projects from the book, and asks Heather about her inspiration for each.

Wednesday, 3/18: Belle Epoque: Fit and style. Know what you sew, win a book! – Part 1.

Thursday, 3/19: True Up: Fabric design - process and inspiration - Part 1. Win a book.

Friday, 3/20: Charm City Craft Mafia: Heather burns rubber heading to signings in DC and Baltimore, with the Charm City Craft Mafia in hot pursuit! Win a book (or a pair of cement shoes).

Monday, 3/23: Philly Etsy Team blog: On the road again...this time to a sewing weekend at Spool in Philly. The Street Team investigates, and throws the book at a lucky winner!

Wednesday, 3/25: Knotions: Fit and style. Know what you sew, and win a book! – Part 2

Thursday, 3/26: Cathy of California: Heather discusses her old school inspirations and aesthetic!

Monday, 3/30: Wardrobe Re-fashion: Spring into DIY fashion, win a book!

Tuesday, 3/31: Thisisloveforever: Fabric design - Process and inspiration with fabric giveaway - Part 2

Wednesday, 4/1: Craftypod: Book review and giveaway...no April Fool’s joke!

Tuesday, 4/7: Etsy’s The Storque: How-Tuesday! Virtual project demo from the Etsy Headquarters!

Catnip Mice on Craft Stylish

 
I have a new tutorial on Craft Stylish for making these funny little catnip filled mice for your favorite feline friends. If you don't have any cats, maybe you should just make one for yourself. I did.

Credit Card Mosaic

Here's a new recycled craft tutorial I made over at Craft Stylish: a mosaic made from old credit cards!

This has been a really awesome month so far: check out these other fantastic recycled craft projects.

Happy Holidays!

I'm in Connecticut for the rest of the year hanging with my family and reconnecting with friends (I had lunch with a friend I went to grade school with yesterday!) so I might be a little scarce around these parts for a few days.

I hope all of you have a really wonderful, restful and joyful holiday!

PS- If you're looking for a cheap and crafty way to wrap up your gifts this year, try this potato printing gift wrap tutorial I have up on Craft Stylish.

A Few Things

Oh geez, another week has flown by with very little time to attend to my little blog. I have been crafting up a little storm, getting ready for the Holiday Handmade Cavalcade tomorrow. If you're in the NYC area, drop by and say hello!

A couple of other things that I would like to report on.

Ez from Creature Comforts just posted my flower garland tutorial and I was so flattered that she chose to make this project today (her birthday!) with her family. Apparently Ez and her family make a craft project every year on her birthday; isn't that a great tradition?!!

You can see the full post here, with instructions and templates for making your own garland!

Linda set up a special fundraising shop for her brother-in-law who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. She has lots of cool things in the shop, including ornament kits from Alicia Paulson, Linda's super-cool crochet accessories and an autographed copy of my book! So head over there and spend a little money for a good cause.