All posts filed under: Create.

clover weave.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I thought today would be an appropriate day to share these Clover brand weaving looms. See what I did there? I was suppose to teach two weaving workshops (sponsored by Clover!) at Craftcation 2020 in April, but unfortunately, Craftcation has been cancelled given the latest COVID-19 developments. I thought I’d share anyway because these tools are so fun! Thank you to Nicole of Craftcation (and Dear Handmade Life) for sending me a Clover mini weaving loom to play with! It’s such a nice portable craft tool. I particularly like the ‘lift’ it gives you when you’re working on your piece. Also a plus – the tines are removable so you can weave until the very top and still take your piece off the loom (versus leaving some warp blank for tying). Here are a few samples I’ve been working on, made with three basic stitches: tabby/basic stitch, rya/tassels, and soumak. Mixing up colors, yarn textures, and size of your tapestry can add so much variation. With this tool you can also …

all the poms.

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So, I made a ton of pompoms and tassels with my yarn stash. (Gotta use the yarn to buy more yarn, am I right?) I was thinking of creating some colorful decor for my office cubicle. I started winding pompom donuts in December of last year and every now and them would trim a few. I finally finished! I love all the fluff! And I’m very pleased with the color combo. I ended up making a garland (or panda scarf?) plus a tassel chandelier. Tahdah! Here’s to working through my yarn stash!

ink paintings.

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I attended Craft Night at Jenny Lemons with guest artist Kristina Micotti. Hubby joined me, too, and we made it a date night. We signed up for a 30 minute session, which means you jump right into painting! Kristina provided a brief introduction and showed a few techniques for using India ink. I am in love with this stuff. It’s like when you have a fresh black marker and the lines you draw are so richly black. Ahh… For inspo Kristina demoed quick paintings, and she also suggested a few things to Google. I searched for fat cats. Hubby searched for a cute panda. I also painted my Pilea plant and some art supplies. The paint is so basic, but so satisfying to paint with. It’s actually surprising how much texture and style you can give your piece with one color and one brush. It was so fun to paint alongside Kristina (she painted her dog!), and Hubby, too, duh. Can’t wait for another fun craft night!

earth rainbow.

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Embroidery kit fun! I met embroidery artist and kit maker Rosanna Diggs at the Etsy Indie Holiday Emporium; she was my booth neighbor. I snagged one of her earth rainbow embroidery kits. The kit comes with a pattern, cloth, embroidery floss, hoop, needle, felt backing, fabric pen, and instructions. You just need to supply your own scissors. I’ve tried my hand at embroidery before, but it’s mostly been practice stitches and not an actual ‘piece’ with an image. I was very excited to try working with a pattern to create my first embroidery art. The water-based fabric pen is so cool! I had never used one of these either. It writes well on fabric, and washes away cleanly with water (no scrubbing required!). I used the pen to draw guidelines. Then, embroidery! This piece used running stitch, couching, and satin stitch. Also, can we talk about this color combo? Yez, so pretty. Once I finished all the stitches, I ran the fabric under running water to remove the pen marks, then let it dry. I …

what she orda?

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Custom goodies! Here are some of my recent felt projects. A felt succulent garden for FtF fan Nicole. A ‘Baby Stuff’ garland for my friend Ana of Pure Alma. She makes baby stuff. A bandana cape for my friend’s pup Zoe. I finished the rope ends with cord to keep it from fraying. A flower garland for my friend Melissa on her wedding day! A trio of pennants for a birthday celebrant who loves plants! A Cal pennant for a new Golden Bear. Go Bears! Yay! More Feed the Fish co goodies on my crafty biz website and Instagram.

kintsugi.

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I remember reading about kintsugi – the Japanese art of fixing broken ceramic pieces by filling the cracks with gold adhesive. I’ve wanted to try it, but I didn’t want to break something just to try it. So, ‘luckily’ I dropped a bowl. I was sad, but then I remembered kintsugi. My friend Roberta told me about the kit from Humade. It comes with everything you need to make art out of broken pieces. First, you mix the epoxy. The glue has somewhat of a strong smell so make sure you’re in a well ventilated area. The red tab on this particular brand serves as a cover for storage; make sure to keep it. Then you mix some gold powder in the epoxy using the included sticks. Apply some of the gold glue to the ceramic cracks. Hold the chips in place. I think I used to much glue for this step because it oozed out. You can’t really wipe off the epoxy so apply lightly for this step. There’s also a clay-like material you …

soap.

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I felted soap! I’m quite the soap collector. I love buying locally made soaps when I travel, and when I stay in hotels I’m a big fan of taking the daily soaps. I grew a collection so I decided to share the goods and create some felted soap for gifting. The felt acts like a loofah! The process is quite simple For this project you will need: bar soap, wool roving, pantyhose foot, draining rack, warm and cold water, and a bowl (optional). I read that merino and alpaca wool roving works best for this project. I went with merino because I found that it comes in many more colors and is less expensive than alpaca wool. Wrap each bar with small pieces of roving, wrapping in different directions. Then, working one bar at a time, enclose the wrapped soap tightly in a pantyhose sock so it’s completely covered. Dip the soap in a bowl of warm water and rub the soap in different directions for 1-2 minutes. The idea here is that the roving …

ring dishes.

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For our fifth annual Hearts and Crafts Valentine’s celebration at work we made ring/catch all dishes out of air dry clay. We celebrated early to allow the air dry clay to dry in time for Valentine’s day gifting. To set the crafty mood, we decorated with paper fans and honeycombs, a felt ball garland, and heart balloons (leftover from Hubby’s tennis bday!). My friend and I made a snack plate and guests brought additional goodies to share. All set up for the craft! I also made kits for my coworkers who were out sick (it’s flu season!). Look at all the fun creations my coworkers made! Someone even made a rat (for Lunar New Year)! Here’s the how-to for the marbled effect. You will need: air dry clay, hard surface, parchment paper, circle shape guide and Xacto knife (or cookie cutters), rolling pin or glass jar, paint markers, decoupage glue and brush (optional), and stamps (optional). I explored the interwebs for the best air dry clay and found Maqaroon’s super helpful air dry comparison video. …

mini envelopes.

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Valentine’s is just around the corner. Here’s a super quick paper envelope DIY for the occasion (or any occasion!). For this craft you will need: paper, paper cutter, bone folding tool (or similar), and glue. Cut paper into a square, any size works. I cut out 5″ squares to form ~3.5″ by 2″ envelopes. Fold paper in half diagonally, open, fold in half diagonally the other way, and open. This creates guidelines. Use a bone folder to create crisp lines. Fold the left and right corners into the midline. Fold the bottom corner up, not quite to the midline. Fold the bottom ‘corners’ up, aligning the edges with the tip of the bottom corner. Add glue to the left and right flaps. Fold up to seal. Write a mini note. Fold the top flap to complete the envelope. Optional: add stickers or other decor to your envelope. Review! Happy Valentine’s crafting!

sparkle clips.

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I found these festive vintage floral and star patches on my last visit to Tinsel. They spoke to me. I knew I had to create something special with these pieces. Look at the detail! I had some fabric swatches in my stash (remember my fabric swatch garland post?). I picked out the velvetty ones. I wish you could feel these! And I decided to make clips! For this project I used: Patches Fabric swatches Felt or fabric (for backing) Metal clips Fabric scissors Hot glue First, some color and texture pairings… Then, to cutting! I went with different shapes. To get a layered look, I used the patch as the template and first cut the top layer, then used the top layer as a template to cut a second layer. I assembled with hot glue. For each clip I cut out a matching back. Cut two small slits in the backing for the clip, then hot glue onto the back of your piece. I really liked how these turned out. These would be perfect for …