Happy New Year!!

Here's to good cheer and new fabric!
xoxo
B

Leaf Printed Pillow

Last month we offered a class on printing with found leaves onto fabric, and then sewing up your printed fabric into a pillow. I got the idea from Lotta Jansdotter's lovely book, Lotta's Prints. I appreciate the simplicity of the process and the individual differences of each print. It's interesting to think about what you can make prints with.
Since the class is not continuing in January, I wanted to share the how-to with you!

Materials:
-Leaves and Branches. These can be dry or green, sparse or dense, large or small.
-Paint. We used regular acrylic paint in the class, but any fabric or permanent paint will work.
-Cotton Fabric.
-Newspaper, stipple brushes or scrap fabric, paper plates.
-Sewing machine and sewing supplies.

1. On your fabric, mark the size of your front pillow piece and draw a frame with chalk. Typical sizes are 12"x 12", 15" x 15", 12" x 18".

2. Gather your materials and think about composition and color. Do you want to repeatedly print with the same branch across? Or just print a single branch diagonally? Play around before you print.

3. Place the leaf or branch on newspaper, with the back side up. The back of the leaves and branches will have more detail when you print. Use a stipple brush or scrap fabric piece to blot paint onto leaves. Use a good amount of paint.

4. Be sure to put a piece of newspaper under the fabric you'll be printing on, or between the layers of your fabric. Transfer your leaf onto the fabric with paint side down. Place a clean piece of newspaper over the leaf and fabric. Press with your fingers and side of your fist all over the branch. Be sure to keep it steady. You'll have to press fairly hard to get a clean print. Repeat for as many prints as you want to make.

4. Let the paint dry.


5. Cut our the dimensions of your pillow, leaving a good seam allowance. Sew it up, stuff it, or place over another pillow.. that's it!


You can print like this on anything. Curtains, tote bags, wrap skirts, even your walls!

xo,
Becky

Winter Fair at the Waldorf School

A few weekends ago we had the pleasure of having a table at the Waldorf School's Winter Fair. I have never been there personally, but I had always heard such wonderful things about it, so I was excited to take care of our little table. We had all our Stitch Kits set up in rows, some pincushions,

and a few things from my etsy shop for good measure.


The school is amazing. I am jealous that I had to suffer through the joke of regular public school. The fair was magical, whimsical, campy, crafty, and fun.
We were lucky enough to get to be next to my BFF, Amanda Jones of Venus Art. She makes the most wonderful yarn and trinkets. One of these days I am going to splurge on some of her hysterical yarns. Maybe Santa will bring it for me? :)
It was so festive and fantastic.
Beth Berry, one of our talented class teachers, was also there with a table. Her crafts blew me away! She is so talented. I am kicking myself for not taking photos of her 'Fairy Houses', cork 'Mushroom Men' with little knitted hats, dresses, and baby bibs. So good, and so inspiring!

xo,
becky

..Gift O Rama...

The holidays. For many a crafty person, well, I'll speak for myself, it's time to start whipping up some handmade goodness for friends and family. I often have good intentions, but time seems to escape me. So I turn to little cute project ideas or supplies for my crafty friends. For the not so craftily inclined, I hope an easy little kit will inspire some creativity.
So thinking about this, I have come up with a few gift ideas.

For the Knitter:

*a knitty needle case made by moi, knitting needles, sparkle yarn by Vickie, a knitted tree sachet, and handmade gift tags to wrap it together with by venus art. Me Gusta!

For the Quilter:

*a Craft-O-Rama wrist pincushion kit, fancy little flower pins, a tape measure, and a few fat quarter bundles..both patterned and solid.

For the Stitcher:


* a few choice sublime stitching embroidery patterns, t shirt stabilizer, and a rainbow of floss. (sorry about the sideways photo, it wouldn't cooperate)

For a Kiddo or New Crafter:

*a few ADORABLE hand sewing patterns from wee wonderfuls, felt and fabric fat quarters, and a needle pack.

I love the holidays!
xo,
Becky

Bearded Ladies Present

Have you heard the news? On April 18, 2009, the bearded ladies are organizing a craft shin-dig that promises a wonderful time.

Created by Sisters Anne Marie Beard and Allison Wall, we can only expect a great event. For more information, please check out their website, thebeardedladiespresent.com for the latest information regarding the event.

Felty Weather

Ahh, it's that special time in Austin when the air smells clean and it feels a touch like fall. The past few chilly evenings have prompted me to turn on my gas fireplace, snuggle in with my puppy and kitty, and start my own knit storm. I love it.
This morning we received some new goodies, including new felting supplies and an adorable sea turtle kit from wool pets. I'm in love! With all these things coinciding on my Tuesday, I was
inspired to re-work our knitting/crochet/felting shelf and share the fuzzy goodness with you.

Wool Pets:


Roving:


We have carried Lamb's Pride yarn in the store for quite some time, but we have recently replenished our stock.
Enjoy the rainbow:



And we have my favorite yarn by Vickie Howell, Vegas! The colors are lovely and the glittery effect is amazing. I think it would make a beautiful holiday-ish cowl. Plus, it is made with wool and soysilk fibers, which is interesting and green.
This photo does not do this yarn justice...so I guess you'll just have to see it in person.

Finally, let's talk about Hysterical Yarns made by my bff, Amanda Jones. Check on her lovely goods at venusart.org. It's GORGEOUS!!! If anyone wants to buy me the perfect xmas present, this would be it.
Drool...



xo,
Becky

Tasty New Treats Arriving this Week!

Jennifer Perkins' Amazing Casa

I am in love with this lady's house. It's so great, witty, interesting, fun, and so very Jennifer Perkins. We love you, Jen, and we ADORE your house!!!
These are a few of my favorite photos from Apartment Therapy's article about her South Austin home.





Please check out the whole review on their site. Make sure to spread the love with some comments.
She will be teaching some classic Naughty Secretary Club style jewelry classes soon, so be on the lookout for those dates.

xoxo

Darling Drawstring Dress Class

I was so thrilled with the different versions of this simple dress that was made during my class a few weeks ago. I wanted to share their lovely creations. Way to go ladies!
Here's what they made:

New Arrivals this Week

Maker Faire and Bill Murray

We had such an amazing time at Maker Faire. There were so many lovely things to see, lots of people to be inspired by, and then there was Bill Murray.

Yeah, Bill Murray.

Needless to say, instead of taking photos of all the crafty wonders to be had, I decided to focus my lens on Bill Murray and his infatuation with furry hats.
Sigh. I kinda wanted to make out with him. Just a little bit.

At least I got a photo of our table.

We did debut all our new Stitch Kits (which are all available on Etsy), and they were a success! Very cute.

Oven Mitt How-To

There are definitely some exciting classes coming up for November, one of them being an oven mitt and matching apron. I thought I would show how to make a little oven mitt here.

Step 1: Cut out all the pattern pieces. You'll have a 2 pieces from a lining fabric, and 2 from an exterior fabric, plus 2 pieces of wool batting. I used regular cotton batting for the class sample, but you'd probably want wool so it'll be more heat proof.


Step 2: Make a 'sandwich' with the lining fabric, batting, and exterior fabric. Bind all 3 pieces together by quilting a free form spiral from the center out.


Step 3: Stitch along the outer edge of your mitt, leaving an opening for your hand. Clip around the edges and turn right side out.


Step 4: Using a 2 inch wide strip of the contrasting fabric, fold and iron to make a nice strip of binding. You can pin the binding along the raw edge of your mitt, or it you're brave (or lazy like me), you can hold and tuck as you sew. Use a remaining piece of binding for a little hanging loop, and attach at the opposite seam as your thumb.


That's it! Now you have a dandy oven mitt.

Pincushion Mania!!

Dang. It's crunch time for Maker Faire! This is so exciting, but we have a lot of work left to do. Here's a sneak peek at some of the goodies you can expect to find at our booth. Enjoy!

New Month, New Fabric, New Things

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been ridiculously long since the last post. I am a little ashamed, but I promise that October is definitely the month of ACTION!! There are so many exciting things happening for us this month.
-new sewing, knitting, business, and crochet classes
-autumnal fabrics
-MAKER FAIRE, oh yeah.
-and hopefully a crispness in the Austin air...hopefully.

Here are the new fabrics we received today...magical:


And this is a little sneak peek of new Stitch Kits that will debut at our Maker Faire booth. They will soon after be available on out etsy store and in physical store. Their cute little faces make me happy.


More to come, and much more often!! Seriously. Failure is not allowed during the month of ACTION.

Mmmm, mmmm

Yummy new treats in today from Alexander Henry. That's it, ta ta for now!

Be Sure to Attend........

This Saturday's book release party for Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club! Join us here at Craft-O-Rama from 3pm-5pm for lots o' fun including craft making, demonstrations from the book, door prizes and giveaways, not to mention yummy treats and drinks.

There will also be lots of Jen's new book "The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry" available for purchase and signing during the event.

If that wasn't enough to get you out of the house Craft Magazine will be releasing their 8th issue the very same day here at Craft-O-Rama as well!


Here's the skinny: Saturday 8/30 from 3pm-5pm
Craft-O-Rama
3100 S. Congress Ave. #3B
Austin, Tx 78704
We are across from St. Edwards University and right behind Amy's Ice Cream, if you need help with directions feel free to call us at 512-707-2405. See you soon!