Score! Found an Embroiderer’s Dream at a Garage Sale
SO GEEKED! Just found this set of eight pain, never-used, natural cotton place mats and napkins. $11 for the set! Whoever invented the garage sale should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since we painted the dining room that awesome shade of dark teal I’ve been thinking that I should embroider a set of place mats that would really pop. But the thought of sewing up all those rectangles just sounded so boring I couldn’t get myself to start on it. Now, I get to jump straight to the fun part… figuring out what I’m going to embroider on them!
FREE 10-Minute Purse Pattern
After I posted last night I got inspired to make something, anything, from all the amazing swag given out by the BlogHer Handmade/Creative Connection conference.
After staring at the delicious crafty awesomeness, trying to think of a 1 hour project I could do to expel all my pent-up, crafty energy so I could actually sleep, I remembered a super simple purse pattern Vin designed for Swap-O-Rama-Rama Chicago this year.
This is an AWESOME, 15-minute pattern perfect for fabric scraps that are too cute to throw away:
(Click image above to download and view full size.)
This project was designed to be quick and easy with a sewing machine, but honestly it was perfectly doable with just a needle and thread– though it took closer to 30 minutes. A sloppy running stitch works fine for Step 2 and a whip stitch or hidden running stitch for Step 4.
The swag kit was so awesome – it even had a short ruler, some fold-up Fiskars scissors, as well as some beautiful pink ribbon from May Arts I used to make a little embellishment. My hotel room provided a full size iron and ironing board (which helped a TON!) and I luckily had brought a needle and embroidery thread along as part of my in-flight entertainment. I wish I could tell you who the fabric was from, but I traded fabric with some of my table mates and mine ended up without a label. But it is pink and full of GLITTER!! How awesome is that!?! If any one knows who’s fabric that is, please let me know in the comments and I will update the post!
It is such a privilege to attend an event where the sponsors are as generous as the amazing speakers and presenters. What fun to be treated like such a rock star!
(And speaking of amazing speakers and presenters, check out my next post for a super special story about a crafty gauntlet laid down between myself and photo blogger/conference panelist Karen Walrond.)
Inspiring Urb Garden
I am blown away by this amazing “Urb Garden: A vertical food garden for the urban gardener”. So stinkin’ smart! It connects up to a compost system that allows you to water your plants via foot pump with compost-enriched water. It’s just the COOLEST! This makes me wonder if maybe we create some sort of deck compost system that is “pumped” in a similar fashion – I wonder how hard that would be to make…
Follow the link above for more pictures. You’ve got to check this thing out!
(via Craftzine)
How to: Photobook DVD Insert
So now that Christmas has finally passed I can finally blog about all the fun crafty gifts I made for the fam! First up, our wedding photobooks! They turned out simply fabulous. We used the book printing service offered by Apple through iPhoto. It’s a little more expensive than some of the other online photobook services, but we went through hundreds of photos to make these books and I can’t imagine dealing with that many photos through a web interface – having something on the desktop was just so much easier.
They turned out just lovely, printing quality was great. We also used iDVD to make a compilation DVD with the video from the ceremony, a slideshow version of the wedding photos and a fun compilation of the photos from our MacBook “photobooth”.
We needed a safe place to keep the DVD with the photobook so I inserted a DVD holder in the back of each book using the “backer boards” from our invitation, but any 5“ x 7” postcard or sturdy card stock could be used.
SUPPLIES:
Card Stock or 5“ x 7” Postcards (1-2 for each book)
X-acto Knife and Straight Edge
Scratch Cleaning Pad or Sand Paper (optional)
Craft Glue (Sobo)
Books
DVDs
Stamp or Label
Cut the cards to 7“ x 5”
Score them at .5“ from the bottom and 1” from each side
Cut off the corners
If your cards are glossy use a clean scratch pad or sand paper to score surfaces that will be glued down to aid adherence.
Put a moderate amount of glue on the edges and place in the back of the book (or wherever you want the DVD insert to be.)
Close book, and stack under other heavy books. Leave overnight.
While books are drying, label your DVDs. I chose to use a stamp we had made for stamping our invitation
envelopes to add a flourish to the DVD.
After the glue has dried, insert DVD and you are done!
Wrap and then distribute for an amazing Christmas morning – your family will flip out. 
Save America, Shop Indie
Jen at Indie Craft shares a simple cross stitch pattern that made me smile this morning.
We all need to be reminded that supporting small businesses and independent craftsmen in all areas is one of the best uses of any extra stimulus dollars we receive!
