Posts tagged ‘recycled’

I must admit that I am sort of band-wagon jumping here, but how could you not? The best craft “fad” I’ve seen yet is the mustache. It’s just so funny. Something about the awkwardness of a bad mustache makes me really love the idea of putting them all over stuff.

For Crafty Mart (which was fantastic by the way, loved seeing many of you there!) I made “stir-staches” or a mustache on a stir stick for your cocktail glass. I held one up in front of my face for most of the day, and enjoyed making conversation with shoppers incognito. A good deal of people borrowed one for conversing with me. We enjoyed the silliness of it a great deal.

These guys are going to be for sale in my etsy shop soon. I’m waiting for the next sunny day to grab my camera and photo everything I have left over from the fair. As much fun as it is having a suitcase full of crafty-wares, it is more fun to have people out in the world wearing them.

Making, making, making. All of my evening craft time is consumed with making little flowers for Crafty Mart. The fabric for the flowers is scrap strips from these scarves I’ve been making. The idea came to me all of a sudden, as all the best ideas do, while I was driving to pick up Olivia from Kindergarten.  They are so simple, and classic. They’re also very fashion current, given the “deconstructed preppy” look (which I am in love with, by the way).

I love to leave little remnants of an item’s former life when I upcycle things, so these have the shirt tail hem left at the ends of the scarf. The contrast seams are both attractive and functional, in navy blue. There will hopefully be a gold trimmed version, if I can find a gold metallic thread that doesn’t hate my serger.

By the way, what do you think of my cashmere sweater? Someone gave it to me to felt it. But I love it, so I washed it and blocked it, and now I want to wear it every day!

While making a wallpaper turkey with my daughters I found some amazing burlap wallpaper samples. They were so attractive I really wanted to use them in my decor since they seemed so “autumn” but there really wasn’t very much of it. I thought of framing them and placing them in the dining room seasonally, but then the texture would be kind of lost.

Then I remembered my mums I had in a cheap blue vase, not really making a statement at all on my piano. I thought it would be awesome to have a vase kind of like these to display them, but in brown. But I’m lazy, and I wanted them now, and to make something like that would require a trip to the store and multiple steps. So instead I grabbed my stapler and rolled the paper into a tube and stapled the seam shut. Then I put the tube over a heavy Ball jar of water and put the flowers in the water. The only “technique” required is making sure the ugly part is in the back!

I do really like the look of these, so maybe when I have a free moment I will make them for real, but for now I have the look, and that’s good enough for me!

I am simplifying my palette for my Templeton line and Crafty Mart this year. Trial and error has convinced me that I had overshot what I make and mostly left buyers confused as to what it is I offer at my booth. So this year I am making many of the same items, but only using men’s clothing fabrics that I have upcycled.

I have made flower pins many times in the past, and even made a tutorial on it. But this time I did box pleating and cinched it in the center, which I think makes a fabulous flower shape I hadn’t achieved before. I also have some other broach shapes I’m experimenting with. I haven’t decided if they are turning out or not, so no pictures at this time.

I have some other ideas brewing, this week is a big making week, so you’ll see how they’re turning out in a few more days.

I bought these shoes for Cressida and myself at the thrift store with the intention of spray painting them. I used some fabric spray paint that is supposed to adhere to leather, and went to it.

First I taped off the soles and set out my paper. I read the instructions on the can and followed them completely.

The paint came out of the can in a huge glob. I don’t know if it was old, or what. Then it dripped every where. I got all frustrated and hoped for the best. Then when it was “dry” I went to see if they turned out better than I’d expected. The paint remained tacky indefinitely! These shoes are now on my craft room cutting table, a couple of weeks later, and they are still sticky.

Fail. Tomorrow they take a trip to the trash.

Now I want to try again with a different brand of paint.

I’m fascinated with home energy efficiency & resourcefulness.  I want to wrap my mind around the pros and cons of green living roofs, radiant floor heating, & grey water systems.  And because I have no plans of building a new house, how feasible & cost-effective are these for an existing home?

So, for a little research, I went to the Museum of Science & Industry’s Smart Home.  I was disappointed that we weren’t allowed to photograph while inside the home, only outside (because of some inventions & artwork).  But besides that, the house was amazing to visit and completely worth the $10 admission.

I liked:  the solar shades within the windows to keep the solar energy out, duel flush toilets, countertops made with recycled glass, a portable fireplace that runs on denatured alcohol, a gray water system to move used sink water to the toilet, open floor plan for air flow, and of course the rain barrels, green roof, & composter.

And since they renovate the home every winter, I hope to revisit it sometime to see the new technologies.

I’m teaching this free class at the Highland Square branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library .

Iris Paper Folding Wall Art

Come use recycled paper and Iris Paper Folding techniques to make a 5″ x 7″ frame-able wall art. Iris Paper Folding is basically layering paper in a pattern and using it as a background behind a shape cutout. Participants are welcome to bring their own recycled papers such as envelopes, junk mail, greeting cards, or discarded books to use, but a selection of papers will also be available. If attendees have a paper trimmer, they are welcome to bring it, as cutting paper strips will be much quicker.

Sign up is required, and begins August 16, at 330-376-2927.

If you can’t make it to class, I also wrote a  tutorial for this project.

As hard as it is for a former English Major to part with books, I’ve managed to gather some up for the Book Swap.It’s so much more managable to say good bye when I know I can bring home some new books, and eat some tasty goodies, and hang out with my friends and meet new ones.

It’s true. I love swapping.

Here’s the info! See you all tomorrow at the Fabulous Craft Akron!

I made these beads from pages of an old poetry book.  My inspiration is from a similar project in Playing with Books-The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book.  The only difference was that they rolled up triangles & I rolled up rectangles, so my finished beads have more of a tube shape.  With either shape, the basic idea is to roll up a long strip of paper (leaving a hole for beading wire to go through), use adhesive to secure it closed (I used decoupage glue), cover the outside of the bead with glue (for a protective finish), & let it dry.

This beautiful vintage button belonged to my grandmother.  There’s only one, and I’ve been painfully particular about how to use it.  When guest blogger, Erica, wrote about making a vintage brooch into a necklace, I immediately thought about my button.  But since I’m on a hair-accessories kick, I thought I’d try it within a flower instead.

I used recycled shirt fabric & a vintage button for this flower.  It’s just like this orange flower one I made a while back.  The original pattern & idea came from a fabric flowers tutorial at Wise Craft.