Welcoming in 2012

I don’t know about you, but I try to keep my New Years resolutions obtainable. Two years ago it was “improved penmanship”, last year it was a general “be more creative” and this year my goal is to make at least ONE article of clothing that I will not be embarrassed to wear (meaning properly fitted and professional looking). I have tried making simple circle skirts and a few other items before but they have always come out looking horrid. I either didn’t use a pattern, or rushed through it, or didn’t read the instructions all the way. For whatever the reason, clothing seems to be the one craft hurdle I have not been able to get over so far.

So in the vein of facing my demons head on, today I invested a little bit of time and a whole lot of money on the tools necessary to make my resolution a reality.

I purchased a self healing cutting mat, a rotary cutter, a pattern which appears to be nothing more than “sewing for dummies”, and two super cute, whimsical fabrics to make skirts from. I decided to buy two fabrics so that if I ruined one, hopefully I could at least try again on the second one. But if all goes well, I will wind up with two super cute additions to my wardrobe!

By the way, if you live in the Nashville area today marks the beginning of Textile Fabric’s semi-annual sale! All fabric is 40% off through the end of the month. I know I will be making SEVERAL trips there in the coming weeks. It is honestly the best fabric store I have ever set foot in (I even love it more than G Street Fabrics up north. Although they have 20 times the fabric, they can’t compare to the awesome selection found at Textile Fabrics).

Halloween Costume 2011 – COMPLETE!

Welp, my costume is complete and I’ll be hitting the town this weekend as Seymour and I’ll have my handcrafted Audrey 2 puppet in tow. Not only was this costume CHEAP (half of the puppet materials were pulled from my recycling/junk drawer and the Seymour clothes were all thrifted) but it was oh so incredibly fun to make. I definitely foresee more puppet making in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Time at the Schneider Farm

It is getting to be that time of the year where we have to suck it up and start cutting back and cleaning up our garden spaces. Since my garden is an overgrown mess, I have been afraid to even look at it for the past few weeks. Today though, I mustered up what little courage I had and started cutting back our rogue tomato and pepper plants. As you can see from the picture below, I had no idea what I was doing.

After I cut an area of vines out,  I would take them aside and strip them of their gardeny goodness. I was completely unaware of how much the plants were still producing…

So now we have this ridiculous harvest and I need to figure out something to do with all of it. I am a canning novice, but I have already started by making one jar of fermented green tomatoes and peppers using my Perfect Pickler, and as I type this I have three quarts of ripened tomatoes on the stove in my pressure cooker (YES, I know people like to water bath can tomatoes but now a’days tomatoes are not as acidic as they used to be and I would rather be safe than sorry). I feel I should point out that I have never used my pressure canner before and I am somewhat convinced that it is going to explode and kill me before this is over. If that is the case, it has been nice knowin’ ya!

Assuming I don’t die, I also plan to make fried green tomatoes and green tomato pickles tonight and/ or tomorrow but I would LOVE any recipes and/or suggestions that any of you might have for all of the left overs.

Feed Me Seymour

So, I am hard at work on my Halloween costume and it is coming along fairly well. I don’t know that it will top my squirrel costume, but it will be a fun one none the less. I have been working on thrifting the clothing necessary to go as Seymour and tonight I worked on the Audrey 2 puppet that I decided to craft. It is composed of the plastic grids used for latch hook projects, felt, cardboard, fake foliage and hot glue. In all honesty it will probably fall apart the second I leave the house with it but I can handle that! Here is a picture of where I am at with it now. I still need to complete all of the detail work…

Tis’ The Season

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure – Nashville

I love crafting and I HATE BREAST CANCER so it only seems fitting that this year I would start up my own Race for the Cure team and name it the Crafty Cancer Killers. I need 10 team members to join before we will be officially recognized so if you live in the Nashville area and would like to walk or run the 5k I would love for you to join my team! This year’s race takes place on Saturday, October 29th in Brentwood, Tennessee. The entry fee is $35.00 per adult but that of course counts as a donation. If you don’t live in Nashville or cannot join us for the actual event, please consider making a donation of your own. If you click HERE you will be directed to my Race for the Cure webpage where you can make a donation or sign up to be a part of our race day team! Please join me in the fight against breast cancer by pledging your support in the Race. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund local innovative outreach, awareness and treatment programs for the medically underserved right here in our community… and up to twenty-five percent of your donation will support national cutting-edge breast cancer research.

Halloween Y2K11

Howdee! I have been dramatically uninspired lately (hence the lack of posts) but I’ve got Halloween on the brain and that is putting me in much better head space.

Anyways, a couple of years ago I decided I was done with store bought Halloween costumes. They are expensive, boring, and 99% of the time if they are designed for a female… they are slutty beyond belief. Sexy school girl, sexy nurse, sexy Harry Potter, SEXY CLOWN. I don’t think so. So in 2009 I designed and created my first homemade Halloween costume. I really enjoy out of date references so I decided to go as Bjork in the swan dress. Most people got it, and those that didn’t just looked amazingly perplexed. I’ll call that a win in my book.

I was pleased with the result and honestly I was a little bit afraid that I would not be able to top it in 2010. Thankfully I started brainstorming early and came up with one of the most ridiculous ideas ever. I was going to be a squirrel.

For this costume I made the head, tail/outfit and (thanks to a suggestion made by my mother-in-law) an acorn purse complete with a hinged top to keep my personal effects in. It was magnificent. Maybe not as magnificent as that girl’s booty hanging out in the background of this picture (see what I’m saying about slutty costumes??!?!?) but pretty darn great.

So now I find myself in 2011. What am I going to do this year? Well, let’s just say my somewhat dated references are back in full effect…

I’ll keep you posted on how things progress!

Fun with “Found” Leather – a short tutorial

A few months ago I attended a craft swap and acquired a really nice scrap piece of leather from another crafter. It has been sitting in my craft closet just waiting for me to get  a little inspiration and today it finally came! Below is a quick and easy tutorial on how you can turn any scrap fabric into a fun little flower accessory. All you need is fabric, scissors, thread, a needle and a button!

First I started by cutting out three scalloped pieces of leather, each one slightly smaller than the last, and one long strip.

Next I stacked the scalloped pieces in descending size order to create the flower and topped it off with a vintage button. Although it was extremely difficult to do so, I hand sewed them all together simultaneously through the center of the flower. Just imagine that you are sewing a button on a single piece of fabric but pull your needle through all three pieces. With any other fabric, it will be significantly easier. The leather just happens to be a very unforgiving fabric.

Once the flower was entirely assembled I stitched it onto the long strip of leather that I cut earlier and easy as that, done! A cute, rustic little headband or necklace.

Wedding Craft – Peacock Style

This weekend I got to help a friend of mine celebrate her marriage in La Crosse, Wisconsin! Her theme was “peacock feathers” and the entire affair was awash in saturated teals, purples and greens. It was one of the most beautiful and colorful weddings I have ever had the honor of attending.

As an extra bonus, the bridal party got a chance to bond and craft fascinators and boutonnieres together for the wedding! I myself have been somewhat afraid to dive into the world of fascinators as I know MASTERS of fascinator creating (like Brittany of Potential Creations) and knew I would have a high standard to live up to! This was the push that I needed to at least give it a try however, and I was pleased with the end product.

Here are the results of our labors! I loved how different they all turned out. Each one reflected the personality of the person whom had created it which I really appreciated.

This is the one that I crafted for myself. It’s a little gaudy, but hey… SO AM I.

And here it is getting used on the Big Day!

Can’t Talk… Crafting

I have had the craft bug in me big time lately. I finally got my ETSY shop up and running and I have been spending time working on various other projects including hair accessories and my first commission piece (a bumble bee nursery mobile). Here is one of the little bee guys I have been working on…

Anyways, I hope to get a new tutorial up in the next few days on how to make felt flower hair accessories. They are fun, cheap and seriously easy to make. One even saved my fourth of July when I needed something red and white to go with my new blue dress! I was able to throw it together in about five minutes and you know what,  I love the stupid little thing.

Speaking of crafts, this weekend is especially exciting in the world of Nashville Crafters as Saturday, July 9th is the first ever Porter Flea! It is going to be an outdoor event featuring awesome Nashville crafters, clothing designers and artisans. It really gets me excited to know that there are so many talented people right here in the place I choose to call home and I can NOT wait to go and check it out. Lucky little bonus for me is that it is within walking distance of my house AND taking place right next door to my favorite coffee shop. Oh yes, it’s going to be a good morning.