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!!

Indie Sacramento January

I had such a great time at the last one I am doing it again. I hope you all will join me!

My First Craft Show

Hi, it has been a while since I posted, so I thought I would give you a recap on my first craft show. I participated in the Indie Sacramento, the amazingly organizied Craft Fair, and it was a huge success. I was a little nervous, and everything went without a hitch!!! My big sellers were my Crocheted Hand Warmers, the Cool Corseted Coffee Cuffs, and the Pretty Pin Cushions. The Scoodies were very much an attraction, but I only sold One. It seemed like the lower priced items sold most. I had a great time, met some really nice people, bought some cool stuff, and sold quite a bit of my work, I really couldn't ask for more. And guess what? What? you say. If you missed this show, Indie Sac has decided to do monthly shows and I will be participating in the January show. Keep posted for the date, time and location. Thank you all for your support-Julie

Getting ready for Indie Sacramento this Saturday, December 6, 2008

I know I have been neglecting my blog, and I apologize. I am getting ready to show my stuff at my first craft show, Indie Sacramento this Saturday, Dec 6th. I am super excited and nervous and I know it will be a great experience. So if you are in the area on Saturday stop by and say HI.
Here is the link, check it out:
http://www.indiesacramento.com/

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