Thursday, July 19, 2007

Norfolk Craft Mafia happenings!

Norfolk Craft Mafia booth

The Norfolk Craft Mafia has been all kinds of busy this summer! We held it down at Pile of Craft, the awesome show put on by the Charm City Craft Mafia!

Norfolk Craft Mafia skill sharing workshop Norfolk Craft Mafia monthly meetup

We held several crafters roundups where we hung out, worked on projects and networked with other creative folks, and hosted the first in a series of Skill Sharing Workshops entitled Get Yr Craft On(line): Photo hosting, blogs and Etsy. We will have a booth at Crafty Bastards in Washington, DC and we're also totally stoked on our upcoming Art & Craft swap meet! Check out our flyer:



Watch for more events and crafty goodness headed from our corner of Virginia, including our first annual juried holiday show, Handmade Parade! Keep checking the Norfolk Craft Mafia website for details, applications coming soon!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Stop, Shop & Stroll, Sacramento Style!

Stop, Shop & Stroll was a blast! We had great coffee and eats at the Coffee Garden, tons of great shopping, art, and music by the Tip Top Trio. Stay tuned for info on future events - and be sure to check out the events page on our website!

Stop, Shop & Stroll

For lots more photos visit:
flickr.com/photos/sacramentocraftmafia/tags/stopshopandstroll/

and

flickr.com/photos/30298887@N00/

rock out with your smock out

ok Im not good at finding rhyming words that relate to crafting.
anyhow.
Pittsburgh Craft Mafia is holding our monthly craftology class and I am freaking excited for this one: business law and taxes. Thats right, how to work it to your advantage...Send your yinzer friends on over to take notes! (forgive the large pic size)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Tutorial: Rubber-stamped Cards

I've been meaning to post this tutorial for ages. Missy of Crafty Carnival had some really cute rubber stamps made of her own designs. I just love them! I have made dozens of cards already! I made so many cards that I figured I would show YOU how to make them too! They are really fun and simple.

P.S.) If you like the rubber stamps, you can purchase them in Missy's Etsy store.

Step 1:
Stamp a bunch of images into a peice of white cardstock for multiple cards (or you can just do one at a time). I used a brown stamp pad for a low-key vintagy feel.

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Step 2:
After you've stamped your images, color inside the lines with your favorite brand of colored pencils.

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Step 3:
Use a large paper punch to cut out pretty shapes around the stamped images. It might actually be easier if you punched the paper BEFORE stamping (trial and error, right?) But since I didn't do that, I punched upside down so I could see more clearly what area would be punched out (making sure not to cut off my stamped image).

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Step 4:
Use a paper cutter to help you cut out a rectangle of scrapbooking paper, which matches the colors used in the stamps. The rectangle should be smaller than the card you plan to mount it on.

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Step 5:
You can use a stamp with an appropriate word or saying (you can often get these in the $1 of craft and discount stores). Stamp it in the brown ink, directly onto the scrapbook paper.

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Step 6:
Use some double-sided mouinting foam on the back of your stamped image. Mount it on the scrapbooking paper. (You can find mounting foam at dollar and discount stores for much cheaper than at rubber stamping and scrapbooking stores, FYI).

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Step 7:
Use a double-sided tape pen on the back of the scrapbooking paper. I love these! You can also get them for WAY cheaper at dollar and discount stores and they work beautifully. Use the pen all around the edge of the paper and then in sort of a grid pattern in the middle. Center the scrapbooking paper onto the front of a pre-made card.

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And you're done!

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

I recently joined Etsy's Trashion Team (a group of artists who use recycled materials) and while looking at the list of other members, I came across the hats of Pillbox Productions.

I was INSTANTLY smitten with her vintage fabric hoods. Hoods are perfect for San Francisco wind and mist. I crochet them for myself to wear during the winter months, so of course I had to get one of hers made out of repurposed vintage fabric. Choosing just ONE hood was not easy!!! I am smitten with others including the the orange roses hood(shown below).
She also has lovely summer hats (some that remind me of a modern take on a 20's Cloche), adorable recycled paper flower pins and re-purposed albums turned modern art.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Indie Shopping

I went to Brooklyn this past weekend & while I was there I showed my wares at the Brooklyn Indie Market on Smith St. This cute little outside market features different emerging indie designers each weekend. When I was there I was most impressed by the work of Kisha Turner, ethnic clothing designer. You can see her work at http://kishatawaladesign.com.



The Brooklyn Indie Market will be open every Saturday & Sunday through December.

http://www.brooklynindiemarket.com

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Bend-the-Rules Sewing

Bend the Rules SewingI recently discoverd the new book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing, by Amy Karol. I am most definitely a "bend-the-rules" kind of gal when it comes to crafting. If there's a shortcut that won't ruin the integrity of my work then I'll take it!

If the name Amy Karol sounds familliar, it's probably because you've seen her blogs, Angry Chicken and Tie One On (about all things aprony). Speaking of aprons, there's some great ones in this book!

In fact, there are 30 great designs in this book (including the pillowcase clutch pictured on the cover) and it's great for beginners - that means even I can use it!

If you still aren't convinced that you need this book, check out the Flickr group for more photos.