More Felty Goodness

My latest video is a spin from day 36, how to make a wool felt garland.  In this video I show you how to make a cute no sew pillow using a felted wool sweater, it reminds me of pepermint candy!  imagine the color combinations you can use for this pillow...

Click Here to view video tutorial!

Felting Wool Sweaters for Crafting Day 36

In the day 36 video, I show you how to make a very cute felted wool garland, that is so easy to make.  The garland in this tutorial is red and green, but the color combination possibilities are limitless. 


You say "But I've never felted wool sweaters before", no worries it is really easy!  First off, go to the thrift store and find some 100% wool sweaters and then follow these instructions.  I have used felted wool for countless craft projects, here is the garland I made for this video:

My camera case is made from a felted sweater.

I also made this necklace out of felted cashmere and some beads for a Craftster.org swap

And a few more, some baby girl shoes and a wrist pincushion

Crafting with felted wool is rewarding and easy. The edges do not need to be treated, because once the felting process is complete the wool will not fray!


Thank you for watching my videos, and if you have any suggestions and/or comments please feel free to leave them here, on my facebook fan page or on my Youtube channel.  Happy Crafting!

Made it to Day 26

So here we are at Day 26 of my "365 Days of Craft Videos", so far this has been an amazing experience!  I have had such amazing feedback and comments, and that is what keeps me motivated to make videos every day.  On Day 21 I showed a cute "Tutu Skeleton Costume" for little girls.  On Day 22 you get to learn how to make Pony tail holders. Day 23 is a two parter where I show you how to make my Etsy best seller pincushion part 1, part 2, from Heather Bailey's Pop Daisy Fabric.  Then we come to Day 24 where I show you how to make a clutch / Pouch with contrasting fabric. Day 25 is a tutorial on making the fabric and lace flower headband, that I showed you in my Day 5 video.  Then we come to Day 26, where I show you how to make a rose / flower from ribbon. So there we are all caught up!  Please if you have any comments, suggestions or requests feel free to leave a comment here or on my Youtube Channel!  Happy Crafting...

Day 12!

In today's video I show you how to make fabric covered buttons. This is a really easy and fun project that you can use to embellish clothing, and accessories.

Have fun!

Technical Difficulties

Well I had planned to post my first video on September 15, and due to the use of a new camcorder and editing program the first video will be posted today! I will publish a blog post as soon as the video is uploaded, thanks for your patience~Julie

September

I am so busy gearing up for my 365 day challenge!  I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit anxious and nervous about this commitment.  Questions keep popping up in my head, can i do it? How will I come up with 365 tutorials? What if this flops?, and then I keep telling myself, you can do this! 

I already have over 1000 subscribers to my Youtube channel and I know they have been waiting a long time for more videos, well they are going to get them.  I am commited to this project  and am going to take it one day at a time, and let the universe take care of the rest.

Here is a link to my highest viewed video, enjoy... It currently has over 400k views and it was my first ever video.

ready, set...

I am very busy getting ready for my "365 days  of Crafty Tutorials" I am gathering supplies and compiling a list of ideas.  I am super excited about this challenge, my mind is working overtime on ideas!  If you have any tutorials you would like to see please leave me a comment and i will do my best to include your idea.  As I stated in my earlier post my "365 days" project will begin on Sept 15, 2010 and I can't wait to begin.  Check out my Youtube channel to see what I have done in the past.

A Year Later...

I have been wanting to get my blog going forever!! I have been pondering several ideas on what would make my blog different from other crafting blogs, and I realized "just make it your own, Julie"

I have a YouTube channel with almost 1000 subscribers of crafty tutorials that has been semi-successful. I am always asking myself, "what if" What if I had been posting more tutorials? I know I have a mind chock full of ideas. "What if" What if I had consistent postings to my Blog? I know if I write people will read.

I am so fed up with the "what ifs" and know is the time to DO!

My commitment is to do a blog post and video a day for 365 days. Sure there are tons of "365 days" blogs, some succeed and some fizzle out...

Here are a few of my inspirations, of course the movie "Julie and Julia" sparked the inspiration. Here are a few more that have sparked my creative juices:
whatgives365
This woman decided to give $100.00 a day to charity.
legomyphoto This is a unique 365 blog of Lego photos. Check it out is really unique, and to quote the author
"Why you should do this
So this is my message to you. I’ve learned more over the course of this project, by just taking a photo every day, than I ever did while trying to working under the deadlines of the newspapers and the magazines that I shot for. I wasn’t working under a creative director or for a client, it was personal work that allowed me to stretch my wings creatively and to learn at my own pace. Others began to notice the work I was doing and now wanted to hire me to shoot the brand of photography that I had desperately wanted to shoot all along.
So if you’re looking to get serious about your craft, why not challenge yourself to a photo a day with the only model that’s always available and as passionate as you are about it… yourself!"

So, I AM serious about my craft and beginning Sept 15, 2010, I will post a crafty tutorial and blog post for 365 days.

And Thank you to Crissy of Indie Biz Chicks for inspiring me!

Hot New Projects on Craftster

Well, we are half way through the December Holidays and we all made it!! I had an amazing time with my family and I hope you all did as well. I am a huge fan of Craftster.org and I credit the site for getting me creating again! It is a great palce to post your projects and get feedback and encouragement from other creators. It's been a while since I posted any projects on Craftster, so I decided to post something that is near and dear to me. This awesome Craft supply carry-all made from a placemat, ziplock bags, and some ribbon and trim. I was thrilled to be moved over to the Hot New Project side on Craftster. With all the posts I have made over the years, I had never been chosen. Due to popular demand I will be posting a tutorial on Wednseday Jan 7, after this weekends Indie Scaramento Show. So, check back if you want to make one of these super carry-alls.

Making Christmas Gifts

Every year I say, "this year I am going to make all of my Christmas Gifts" and it usually doesn't happen. This year however, is different, I am making a "majority" of the gifts I will be giving. What makes this year different you ask? Well, I am not working 60 hours a week at the restaurant this year, so I have a little time on my hands.

My dilemma is always, what do I make for the men I give gifts to? I think I've figured a few things out. For my son a purple scarf, he's 24 and loves purple (I will buy him something as well) For one of my brothers I came up with this camera case. The grey and orange one is something i made for myself when I purchased my new camera, and I love it. So I made a male version complete with a loop on the back to wear on a belt.


I made these cases out of old wool sweaters that I found at a thrift store, and felted in my washing machine at home.

To felt:
I placed the sweaters in the washing machine, set the temperature to HOT on the longest cycle, and add a little detergent and a pair of jeans or something else that will help in the agitation (It is a good idea to place the sweaters in a zippered pillowcase, your washing machine will thank you) . I have found the most effective detergent to be one with baking soda. The heat will swell up these fibers and the agitation will force the individual wool fibers together. Rinse the items in cold water to encourage shrinking. Dry them in a hot dryer to pull the fibers together even more. Depending on the sweater, you may need to do this process more than once to get nicely felted wool pieces. They were reduced in size by about 50% and should not unravel when cut.

Next I cut three pieces one 4" x 5", one 4" x 10" and one 1 1/2" x 3 1/2.

After you have them all cut use some wool yarn and a large needle and blanket stitch the pieces together. First stitch the belt loop to the back of the larger piece (see diagram View A) Then turn large piece over and stitch the last piece to the large piece, lining up the bottom edges (see diagram View B) Blanket stitch the pieces together and continue the stitch around the top of the case.

After you are all stitched up sew on the button( I like to use vintage buttons) , and cut a corresponding button hole (stitch around the button hole as shown).

Diagram:

Supplies:

For my camera case I crocheted a strip of orange wool yarn and I felted it as well. Felting hand knit items is a slightly different process. You can find a lot of instruction on felting on the net.
I hope you can understand this tutorial. I usually like to do my tutes on video. Please comment with any questions and I will answer them for you-Have fun!!

How To Make a Tutu Video

So a few months ago I started a YouTube channel to assist in marketing WOWzzy. I made this "How to make a tutu" video and had no idea how popular it would be. In four months I have had over 53,000 views and so many wonderful comments and questions. I feel like I would not be doing justice to my blog if I didn't share it with you all. So here it is, have fun.

Make These Earings!

I promised yesterday the I would show you all how to make these really cute earrings, so here goes.

What you need is:

Flower lace trim (or any other fabric, or lace use your imagination), Fabric stiffener, two jump rings, two eye pins, two earring components, beads of your choice, basic jewelry tools(needle nose pliers, and wire cutter)

Next you want to cut the trim into individual flowers, and apply fabric stiffener.

After the flowers have dried and are hardened, you poke a hole in one of the petals with a pin. Then you will put the jump ring into the hole. The next step is to put the eye pin on to the jump ring. Add your beads to the eye pin, and make a loop with your needle nose pliers.

Next just attach your earring component and voila!, you have these cute and easy to make earrings. You can go wild with this technique, here is an example of some earrings I made with some cute skull fabric. With these I used chain and attached the beads with head pins to the chain.

Have fun making these, and please leave comments or if you have any questions, just ask!

Cheers,

Julie

The Pretty Pink "Kira Clutch"

Since the first time I saw a felted handbag, I have been intrigued. I am a very novice knitter and not real saavy on following knitting patterns. I really need to take some lessons (I am in the process of finding a good instructor) and in the meantime I decided to just make something up. I have to say that this project was really easy and super rewarding.

First off what I did know is that when knitting a piece to be felted you use large needles and that your stitches need not be perfect. With that in mind, I went out and bought some really beautiful 100% wool yarn, some beautiful fabric that I thought would compliment the yarn, and size 15 knitting needles.
Next,I cast on enough stitches to equal 15" or so and knit a rectangle, 15"x23". I then found felting instructions (the easiest I could find) and felted my rectangle. When I figured it was done (when you couldn't see the stitches anymore) I rinsed the piece and rolled it up in a dry towel to get out the excess water. I then blocked the rectangle, on a dry towel using straight pins tokeep it in place while drying.
After the piece was completly dry, I laid the piece on the beautiful fabric and marked the shape of the rectangle plus 1". I then ironed the raw edge of the fabric unber in the shape of the rectangle. Note: the rectangle will not be perfect, that is what gives your clutch charm. I used a magnetic closure and applied it as per the package instructions. Next step is to hand blind stitch the fabric onto the felted piece, this will become your lining. After you finish fold your clutch and stitch the sides with the yarn used to knit the felted piece. You can also add a button or some other cool embellishment to the top of the closure.

I hope this wasn't too hard to follow, I will add illustrations at a later date.

Mindbites Baby Formula Contest

Hi again, I just want to let you all know that I am currently entered in a how to video contest. My video "How to make a princess or ballerina tutu" has over 50,000.00 views on YouTube and has helped many women make tutus for their little girls. I have entered this video in a contest and I need your votes. Here is the link http://www.mindbites.com/tags/the-baby-formula You can vote everyday until Nov 28Th. Thank you!!