Showing posts with label well isn't that crafty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label well isn't that crafty. Show all posts

June 9, 2010

Dress Shirt Pants






Jen found a really fantastic pattern for making kid's clothes from old and not so old men's dress shirts. Here are a few photos of her first set of test pants up-cycled from a man's dress shirt. This shirt was bought at a thrift store. Check out the cuffs, how absolutely cool are they! (And what an adorable model.) Jen's inspiration came from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/48667933/4-men-shirt-recycling-projects . For Lydia Violet's next pair, I would like to see a pair of tuxedo shirt pants with cuff links.

February 24, 2009

Just for a second...


I just had a flash of wishing that Lydia was five so we could play with this Calafant cardboard treehouse. But I got over it. That will come fo' real, sooner than I want. Still cool though. Maybe I'll get one for myself at Moolka.com.

All pieces are made from pre-cut and pre-punched sturdy white cardboard and can be put together without glue and scissors. You can decorate it with watercolor or acrylic paint and then play. It's a craft and a toy! Plus, when it's finished it life cycle it's 100% recyclable! What a great time to be a kid!

June 24, 2008


I just got my invite to Spoonflower.com! This cool little beta site allows you design and buy custom fabric printed on demand. You can create and upload your own textile designs and print only what you need with no minimum order. But, because the list of users is limited to a small group of passionate crafters... for now, you have to be invited. I requested an invitation a few weeks ago with no hope, really, that I would actually get one. But I did! I'm so excited. Now I just need to sort through all my ideas and upload something. What to do first?! Home decor fabric? Or should that kid of mine be wearing clothes made of custom printed fabric first? Decisions. Decisions.

May 21, 2008

I wish I had been successful...

... at teaching myself to crochet when I was on maternity leave. Because if I had been I would make this:

You can buy the PDF crochet pattern for this ridiculously adorable capelet by leila & ben on etsy.com. I think I need to find a crochet class. Hmmmm.

baby... I mean tea cosy?

I've been meaning to post this for a while now. Our good friend Rosie Bee came to visit for Christmas and New Years and when she left she took one of LoVE's fleecey pairs of pajamas with her. She said she had a tea pot that matched it perfectly and she thought she could make a tea cosy out of it. Well, clearly she did. That's it, above. Cute as a button.

December 31, 2007

first fire

We've leveled the new kiln and set it to fire for the first time. Up to 1500 degrees, hold for 10 minutes and then cool. This is to burn off any dust that might contaminate a glass load and to make sure everything is working properly. Tomorrow we'll do the first glass load. We're making coasters--an easy first project.

December 20, 2007

blogging withdrawal

I'm feeling behind. I have so many things to blog about and so little time...
  1. the garage studio project wrap-up post
  2. my new glass kiln, which is technically a Christmas present, so I guess I can wait to post on that until Christmas has arrived (but it's already in the newly finished garage studio folks! V. exciting!)
  3. wind-powered donuts (yes, wind-powered donuts AND espresso for that matter)
  4. a new recurring theme post "LoVE Loves..." where I detail Lydia Violet's latest obsession. Examples of posts that are waiting to be written: LoVE Loves... Papas paintings, her newly discovered feet, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, etc.
  5. Lydia Violet in general. The only regular blog time she's getting lately is over on Baby in a Carseat. I think she's actually going through withdrawal herself.
  6. I've been reading a great book, Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business and I have no time to say all the great things about it that I want to. Sigh.
Well, that's six things (a total of eight potential posts, one of which I've already begun writing), just six, out of the dozens that are swirling around in my head. I've got a break from work coming up over the holidays. Rosie Bee will be visiting from England for TWO WEEKS!!! Maybe I can get caught up then? Though, her visit I'm sure will generate all sorts of new potential topics. Sigh. I really need to figure out a way to get paid to keep up with this blog. Then all my problems would be solved.

Click on my ads people! That'll be a start. :^)

December 10, 2007

Eco-Fashionistas


Way back, when I used to work at The Nature Conservancy, I had a colleague who, while a dedicated conservation marketer by day, was starting her own jewelry business on the side. Well, she's since left her dot org day job and taken her jewelry dot com endeavor by the horns.

But that, by no means, means she left her altruism behind her. She and her friend Meredith now run Moonrise Jewelry full-time and her entrepreneurial efforts are to be admired. Not just because she's taken the brave step of starting her own businesss but because this is no regular, run-of-the-mill jewelry line. As they say for themselves, Moonrise is an "innovative jewelry brand blending artistic design with community development, ethical sourcing, and environmental stewardship."

And, to be guaranteed, this is no hippy-dippy, sculpey clay bead jewelry. Their line of necklaces, earrings and bracelets ranges from elegant to funky. (Well, these are what I consider elegant and funky. You'll have to make your own aesthetic judgments.) Essentially what I'm saying is, if you're still in the market for holiday gifts you're bound to find something for every fashion-forward environmentalist you know at www.moonrisejewelry.com.

And, not only can you buy their jewelry confident that the product is making a positive impact on the communities where they does business (all their materials are ethically sourced and all of their designs are handmade by local artists who have been trained at the Moonrise Jewelry studio), but you can also take part in their philosophy by hosting a fundraising jewelry party in your home—a Moonrise Circle SoirĂ©e—where 15% of the total sales will be donated directly to the charity of your choice.

But don't take my word for it. Visit their online store yourself and listen to those that know: Meryl Streep or even the Lazy Environmentalist.

November 26, 2007

garage art


Dima is hard at work mudding the drywall in the garage. I don't know if it's the long hours or the fumes but something enduced an inspired state during the process and he started seeing figures in the small spackle patches over the screws. (I guess not unlike Joni Mitchell's "Clouds.") He started sketching and these odd little characters were the result.

October 11, 2007

The Unsuccessful Crochet-er

I'm not sure why, but while on maternity leave (as if I didn't have enough to do) I decided to try to teach myself how to crochet. My dad's mother, my Annie, was a literal Wiz at crocheting. She made lovely, warm afghans and beautifully, delicate snowflakes and bells that we hung on our Christmas tree. She's been on my mind a great deal lately, so maybe that was what inspired me.

I am sad to say though, that no matter the extent of my inspiration, I have been unable to get the hang of it. I've mastered the chain stitch of course. Easy. But if I try to single crochet, or heaven forbid, double crochet, it all goes... as my English friend Rosie Bee would say, it all goes pear shaped. I even watched some crochet videos on YouTube, which helped, but didn't really convert me from novice to just better than a novice. This is all made even more complicated by the fact that I can't seem to concentrate enough to read a proper crochet pattern. Mommy brain, I guess.

So what to do? I may just take a class! But still, I must find hands free time to crochet. And with a 3 month old, house projects, endless mounds of laundry, etc., I'm afraid that kind of time is not easy to find. I'll be returning to work in 19 days. Perhaps I can start crocheting on the Metro. Thirty minutes-ish back and forth each day ought to give me enough concentrated time to lay down a few rows a day... no matter how slow and awkward I am, yes?

July 3, 2007

baby e's room

In response to popular demand and by virtue of the fact that we finally finished decorating and organizing.... photos of the baby's room.

The crib, from Christina and Mike and my
framed glass scraffito tiles.


I made these tiles in my intermediate
fusing class at
Weisser Glass Studio.

The changing table from the Bobos, Baby E's
going home
outfit and a soft and lovey lion
for snuggling.

Shelves. Glorious Ikea shelves.

The Poang Ikea chair.

The West Elm mobile put to use.
Love this. It casts really cool
reflections on the walls as it spins.

My old wardrobe is now Baby E's.
I wrapped lengths of ribbon around
the door and attached shower cards
with tiny clothes pins. On top, two
lengths of fairy lights with chinese
globes. The whole string is on a
switch. It works great as a nightlight.
See below.