Craft Test Dummies

    My name is Becky Striepe (pronounced “stree-pee,” like “sleepy”), and I am a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. My life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone!     5 tools or supplies you can’t be without 1. Vintage buttons 2. Ric Rac 3. [...]

 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1   I’ve been writing here on Craft Test Dummies for a while now (2 years this coming July). While at CHA in January Jenny and I started talking (Well, ok. The truth is that we NEVER STOP talking but that’s a story for another day) and [...]

Sometimes glitter gets a bad reputation. Often referred to as “the herpes of the craft world,” once you let glitter into your life, it likes to stay forever. But who says that’s a bad thing? Glitter is bright, bold, funky, and easy to use, and Momtaz Begum-Hossain’s 101+ Things to do with Glitter offers a [...]

I love a good upcycling craft, I love little storage containers, and I also love Washi Tape. This, my friends, is therefore my “Trifecta” of crafting- a project that recycles mint tins- like the ones for Altoids- into happy little storage tins! To make them, you’ll need: Recycled mint tin (I used Altoids) Sandpaper/spraypaint (optional) [...]

When Jenny handed me these Clover Kanzashi Flower Makers at CHA, I knew that I’d be reviewing them during National Sewing Month, but I had no idea how great the timing would be! As it turns out, a few weeks later, my husband was nominated for an Emmy, and I suddenly found myself making my [...]

This CHA coverage brought to you by: You know how crafters can speed walk through a notions store, only to be pulled in like a tractor beam to one tiny, amazing thing? That definitely happened to me today when I saw the satin cutout ribbon in the May Arts booth at CHA Summer 2011. I [...]

While I was at CHA I had the pleasure of meeting with Tricia from Epiphany Crafts. She was so gracious to share their latest tools with me which includes several sizes and shapes of the Button Studio as well as the Shape Studio. These are cool tools that let you cut a shape and apply [...]

This resolution is a promise to myself and a challenge to you, dear crafty friends! BRANCH OUT. CROSS POLLINATE. COLLABORATE. I know that I blog in the virtual world, but dearies, I LIVE in the real one. What I hope to do in 2010 is to take my crafty love OUT of my third floor [...]

With Christmas safely behind us, New Years’ approaches with that eternal question: “What can I change for next year?” Crafters inevitably have a long laundry list, but the one I’m tackling today is “charity.” There area a couple of ways to craft for charity. One of the easiest ways is to CLEAN UP, CLEAN OUT. [...]

I LOVE crafting for the holiday seasons. I gladly put my hand up for school parties, fundraisers, and occasionally wake myself up in the wee hours thinking about what I need to make next. Most, if not all of the above examples include deadlines. I also teach at local bead shop, and so I have [...]

There were so many cool GITD items to talk about in yesterday’s post, I just couldn’t get to them all.  So here’s another batch of glow-in-the-dark goodness for you! Thread, Floss, and Yarns I LOVE glow in the dard threads…all of my Halloween wall-hangings have quilted spiderwebs for quilting. You can also do rockin’ machine [...]

Halloween is just around the corner, and what better way to spice up your crafting than to add a bit of “glow-in-the-dark” goodness to it? In regular light, these photo-reactive products have a white or pastel hue…but then turn off the light, PRESTO! You’ve got some glowing, spooky fun! Here’s a round-up of some fun [...]

CraftTestDummies now has a fan page on Facebook.

Jenny meets crafting legend Suze Weinberg for a craft lesson with the hot wax stylus tool.

Jenny shares her day-three coverage live from CHA Summer 2009, the Craft and Hobby Association Trade show in Orlando Florida. Read on for the highlights of the day and vendors to watch.

Jenny visits Viva Decor to see their line of crafts, craft tools, Pardo polymer clay and paints. Endorsed by Lisa Pavelka, too.

Hiya! New year, new venture. I’ve been blogging for about 2 years at CraftTherapy.com and I’ve been thinking about all of the stuff I’d like to say or try… but it just doesn’t seem right for that venue. I am sometimes a little um..opinionated (Jeff, my husband is rolling his eyes) and maybe even verging [...]