Last year when I attended the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo here in Cleveland, I saw a lot of the same-old-same-old. However, there is one booth- one designer, really- who speaks to me year after year. I love Laura Murray Designs and her focus on surface design. (She’s where I first learned about foiling on fabric and also how to use Shiva Paintstiks on fabric!) Laura didn’t disappoint this year, either- she’s come out with an new book and rubber […]
Archives for September 2012
Craft Book Review: Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting!
I LURVE me some Halloween. I’m not sure if it’s the flirting with the dark side, the spooky fun, the costume, or my general fascination with the macabre, but I do love it. So when I was offered a copy of Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting! by Stephen Brown, I was all like, “Heck yeah!” You may recall that Stephen Brown, the author is also a judge on TLC’s Craft Wars. So let’s learn a bit more about […]
Craft Tool Review: Stamping Gear by Inkadinkado
I love stamping, and have quite the collection of both wood-mount and clear stamps. But after a while, you kind of get tired looking at the same images and get bored with them. But this new system – Stamping Gear by Inkadinkado from EK Success– will breath new life into your stamping. It’s got my mind literally spinning in new directions! Here’s how it’s described on the website: Let your creativity spiral into intricate, symmetrical designs with Inkadinkado’s Stamping Gear. […]
Craft Product Review: Liquid Fusion from Aleene’s
Adhesives are one of a crafter’s best friends- we need glues for everything from paper to fabric and everything in between! Liquid Fusion from Aleene’s claims to be 2 ounces of “pure muscle” by the description on their site. Let’s put that claim to the test. The description straight from their site is as follows: Liquid Fusion® Clear Urethane Glue is to the crafting world what energy drinks are to the sports world—2 ounces of PURE MUSCLE! Fed up with […]
How-To: After School Snack Menu
After school is always a kind of hectic time for my household. The kids burst in, tired from their day and walk home, and the first thing they do is as “what’s for snack??” So I make a quick snack menu to hang so that they know right away and I can cut down on the mayhem! I started out with a slate cheese tray that has rope handles. (I found it in the close-out bin at my craft […]
Craft Product Review: Kwik Sew Organizer Patterns
I definitely know a thing or two about keeping a craft room neat and tidy, so these Kwik Sew organizer patterns are right up my alley. And, since September is National Sewing Month, it’s the perfect time for a sewing pattern review! The fine folks at Kwik Sew gave me several organizer patterns to try out when I stopped by their booth at Winter CHA. For this review, I selected the Pouch with Pincushion & Cup Organizer pattern set because […]
Book Review: 30 Minute Bracelets by Marthe Le Van
Book Review: 30 Minute Bracelets by Marthe Le Van From the back of the book: Do bracelets make you HAPPY? Are you PASSIONATE about cuffs? Wouldn’t you LOVE more bangles? Good thing it takes just 30 MINUTES to make each of the FABULOUSLY FASHIONABLE projects in this book! 30 Minute Bracelets is another book in the 30 minute series like the 30 Minute Rings I reviewed a couple of weeks back. And like that book, this […]
Craft Product Review: Helmar REMOVE Cleaner
Friends, when you are crafting, messes happen. Sticky mats get gooey, tables get crusty, scissors get sticky… you know how it is. I’ve tried baby wipes and alcohol wipes to clean up my stickiest messes- you know, the leftover tape runner on the desk and the adhesive residue that is left behind on my snips- but they don’t really work. Fortunately, the folks at Helmar USA have brought us an aeosol-based, citrus smelling residue cleaner-offer (yes, that’s a technical term) […]
Totally Green Crafts & The Totally Green Contest
So y’all know I am WAAAAAY into recycle crafting. In fact, if you take a look at my projects, over half of them are upcycled or recycled. So when my “internets friend” Johnnie Lanier reached out and let me know that she was partnering with Suzy Myers to create Totally Green crafts, I was all in. Here’s a bit about their cool new site: Totally Green Crafts is a place to find ideas and inspiration for crafts & DIY projects […]
Craft Product Review: DCWV The Glitzy Glitter Stack
I recently reviewed the Die Cuts with a View (DCWV) Silky Smooth cardstock, so I thought, Why not stay with a good thing and go ahead and review their new Glitzy Glitter Stack! According to the website, the Glitzy glitter stack is, “Enjoy glitz and glam galore with the 12”x12” Glitzy Glitter Brights Stack! See the sparkle and shine for yourself in this striking, one-of-a-kind finish. ” One of the first things I noticed with this stack compared to other […]
Fall Serving Tray featuring Martha Stewart Crafts Glass Paints
Last week I shared my review of the Martha Stewart Crafts Glass Paints from Plaid and you got a sneaky peek of a work in progress. But today you get the whole tutorial of how I transformed a “blah” glass serving dish into a lovely fall focal point! Can you believe that I found a plain chip/dip glass serving platter at an outlet for under $7.00?? And with a little Martha Stewart Crafts Glass Paint and silk screens, I transformed […]
Handbag Upcycle Featuring Scrapbooking Attitude by Avatrex
Yesterday I shared my review and video overview of Scrapbooking Attitude by Avatrex- that whole “printable film” thing is wicked cool! And if you remember, what I was most excited about was not its uses for paper, but for cool substrates like leather, wood, and craft foam. As I was doing my swatch tests, I kind of fell in love with the idea of upcycling one of my older handbags- a boring little brown bag- into something hip and high-end using […]
Craft Product Review: Scrapbooking Attitude (Shoe Attitude) by Avatrex
I love the Craft and Hobby Association tradeshows because we get to see the new, cool and often innovative craft products. Scrapbooking Attitude by Avatrex was once such cool innovative product. Originally Scrapbooking Attitude was conceived as a product to be used to apply decals to white athletic shoes- no kidding! (I have the original YouTube video on that right here.) However, as the product made the rounds it became clear that it could be used for so much more […]
Review: Epson Stylus Photo R2000 Color Inkjet Printer
For years, I’ve avoided doing certain crafts because frankly, my printers have been pretty substandard. (Some were even hand-me-downs from my Dad- thanks, Dad!) But there are so many cool projects to do with a larger-format printer- like printing 12X12 sheets, for example- and I just haven’t had a good enough printer to do some of these crafts. So my world was kinda rocked when I unboxed the Epson Stylus Photo R2000 Wireless Wide-Format Color Inkjet Printer ) So I […]
Patriot’s Day: (Remembering) September 11th
Today is the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the US by al-Qaeda. In some respects, it seems like a million years ago… after all, my son wasn’t even a year old when they occurred and he’s a middle-schooler now. But in other ways it feels like it was just yesterday: the looks and feelings of terror, of confusion, of loss, of horror. I’ve never written about it, but I wanted to share how I coped with all of […]
Craft Product Review: Magikote by Decoart
I was sent a bottle of Magikote by Decoart to try out and review. Magikote claims to be able to transform stryrofoam into a hard paintable surface. Let’s test it out. The Decoart website describes the product with the following information: Create Styrofoam™ masterpieces. Simply carve, combine, or sculpt ordinary Styrofoam™ shapes. Then cover with MagiKote™ for a smooth paintable finish.With simple painting techniques and MagiKote™, Styrofoam™ takes on the look of stone, pottery, and much more… at a fraction […]
How-To: Craft a Hanging Scissors Organizer from Recycled Neckties
Hooray! Today we have a guest post from a lady I totally admire for her recycled crafting mission! Thank you Becky for being our guest today on CTD & sharing a totally practical and CUTE craft using recycled neckties. Take it away… Hi there! My name is Becky Striepe, and I am a freelance writer and vegan crafter who’s life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! You can find my craft projects […]
Craft Product Review: Martha Stewart Glass Paints by Plaid Enterprises
It seems like glass painting is all the rage lately- and now Plaid is hopping on the bandwagon with Martha Stewart Glass Paints. As you may remember, I reviewed the Martha Stewart Craft Paints and they were purported to work with glass, too. (Actually, I tried them and they worked great.) So why the specialized line? Well the Martha Stewart Glass Paints come in a number of finishes for all your glass-specific needs, including: Gloss Opaque Translucent Frost Fine Glitter […]
Book Review: Jill Wiseman’s Beautiful Beaded Ropes
Jill Wiseman’s Beautiful Beaded Ropes – 24 Wearable Jewelry Projects in Multiple Stitches is to beaders what the newest, hottest Halo game is to gamers. It’s for serious beading geeks. Like me. Well, I’m only a little bit of a beading geek. But I’m working on it! I’m madly in love with stitching beads together to create amazing jewelry. Much like a knitter uses lengths of yarn to create a beautiful, wearable work of art beaders use thread […]
Craft App Review: Tim Holtz App
When I first saw Jenny at CHA in Chicago and we sat down to chat about what’s new and popular she asked me, “So how long did it take you to download the new Tim Holtz app?” I said, “Minutes!” And it’s true! I went back and looked through my twitter feed and it took me four minutes to download the app from the time Tim announced it. So yes, to say I was excited for this app is an understatement. […]