Archive for the ‘Noticed/Inspiration’ Category

In my travels around the internet the other day, I came across one of the coolest craft ideas I've seen in a while. Wendy Tsao in Vancouver runs Child's Own Studio, a custom shop that creates soft toys from children's drawings.

Parents send in a drawing like this (notice that "Mom" is the name emblazoned on this creature, and she's holding a laptop!):

All photos, courtesy of Wendy Tsao, Child's Own Studio Flickr photostream

...and Wendy uses some funky fabric, some fancy stitiching and tons of creativity to turn that drawing into this:

She's made "a few hundred" of these soft toys for many a happy child who gets to see his or her 2-D creation come to life in 3-D. Check out her gallery of finished projects here.

There was another one that really made me smile – and reminded me of Monsters Inc. (one of my very favourite movies). It was this sparsely illustrated dragon:

...who Wendy turned into this fantastic multicoloured softie:

Fortunately for Wendy, business has been brisk. Unfortunately for us, she's not taking any new orders at the moment, and is working through her waiting list.  I think everyone here can sympathize with that – I'm not the only one with a years-long backlog of projects in her craft room, right? Ahem.

But it got me thinking. This would be a great craft project if you have kids and some decent sewing skills. What do you think? Would you try making something like this?

Chances are that many of you have seen our June issue on newsstands (or in your mailbox) by now. It's the one with the bright pink type and that delicious looking salad:

If you're a long-time reader, you'll have noticed some changes – we've updated the look, changed some things around and generally made your magazine even better than it was before. But there's one big change that I'm SUPER excited about: Canadian Living now has an entire section devoted to crafts!

Yay!!!!

Every month, you'll see the section opener: look for the big blue banner that reads "Crafts are for sharing."

That's the opening page of "Craft Matters," two pages that are devoted to exploring craft products, books, projects, hints and tips – every month! It's where we'll report on creative Canadians and great craft finds, take products for test drives (in June, it's scissors), and share the bits and pieces that don't fit into the larger craft stories.

After Craft Matters, you'll find craft projects for adults and kids – now conveniently packaged together. We've been working hard to come up with easy projects, short instructions and GREAT photos  – after all, you can get a lot of information and inspiration just from looking at the pictures. Here's a peek at what's in store in June.

A quick and easy picnic tote to sew, and...

...a Father's Day card (and Dad can even clip the tie to his collar! perhaps not boardroom-appropriate, but good for a giggle).

I really hope you like this new section and can't wait to hear what you think. And hey, if you've got an idea for something (or someone) you'd like to see in Craft Matters, I hope you'll let me know!

PS Not a subscriber? That's easy to fix. Sign up right here.

Well, if there's anything better than seeing a teeny-tiny baby sweater come off your knitting needles, it's seeing a photo of that sweater on a teeny-tiny baby. Oh, my goodness.

The sweater in question...only about 8 inches across the bottom hem.

I received just such a photo on Saturday, and if there's anything that will guarantee that I'll keep knitting for teeny-tiny babies, photos like the one in my inbox would be it. Seriously.

So, since today is the beginning of the TFA Colour Knit-along, and since I am going to see that teeny-tiny baby in just a month (so excited!), and since I'm a bit behind on my 12-in-2012 project...there's another baby sweater in the works.

Tanis's Blank Canvas Baby Sweater pattern (available as a free Ravelry download) will be just the ticket. I'm going to cheat a bit and upsize my yarn and needles – from fingering weight to DK weight – as an easy way of upsizing the sweater, since the baby seems to be doing pretty well at upsizing herself! And hopefully that will mean the sweater will fit for more than a few weeks.

Now the only question is what pattern to use. I'm thinking a monogram would be cute, or maybe a Fair Isle pattern from Mary Jane Mucklestone's great book, 200 Fair Isle Motifs. As if she knew what I was plotting, this morning she shared a great post about "how to choose and use pattern motifs" – great stuff! I see some quality time with graph paper and pencil crayons in my near future...

Will you be knitting along? What are you going to make?

The middle bit of a stockinette sweater is undemanding, but it doesn't exactly lead to opportunities for great photo ops or deep thoughts. Around my place these days there's a lot of mindless knitting-in-the-round and watching Quite Interesting (QI), which is a terrific, totally silly British TV show that I'm thoroughly enjoying.

And sometimes, there's a bit of stitching. But not much. As you can see, I'm still on "B."

Meanwhile, there are all sorts of delightful, colourful, lovely, funny things happening around the internet. And so I bring you a list of Friday links (it's been a while!).

• Words cannot express how much I love this Queen Elizabeth colour chart from Vogue. The only way I'd love it more would be if it was arranged in a colour wheel, but there's probably a law against that, don't you think?
• Over on the Omiyage blog, a quick+easy way to customize your washi tape. So smart! Perfect for invitations, thank you notes, envelopes...
• How to make wind-up butterflies. Yes! Lovely and springy and make one for Mother's Day, why don't you?
• Glittery hippo! Best disco-zoo party centrepiece ever. (Now I need to have a disco-zoo party. That menu's going to be tricky to plan...)
• These clay plant labels are cute and would be a good way to dress up a Mother's Day plant. In fact, I wish I had time to whip a few up today, although my...esoteric...cookie cutter collection might be a hindrance. (Skull & crossbones, top hat, pig. Not exactly holiday-themed.)
• Maya Donenfeld has a new book out, Reinvention: Sewing with Rescued Materials. If you like to repurpose fabric, you can't go wrong with this book! I mean, check out this cover:

That sewing machine? Seriously covet-able.

Don't forget that you've still got lots of time to enter this week's giveaway for one of two "Yes Kits" – all you have to do is leave a comment telling us about your favourite messy craft to make.

Have a great, creative weekend!

There's something exciting about the riot of yellowy greens that's popping up on the trees in the neighbourhood.

Photo by garden beth, Flickr

There's so much potential in that mix of tints, shades and tones. Energy that's been locked up for months, waiting for just a bit of sunshine and a whisper of rain – a new beginning.

I think I know how that feels.

So each time I look out the window, I'm finding new inspiration. I've been Googling all sorts of green things. On Craftgawker I was looking for whatever came up under "green":

On Etsy I was trying to find craft supplies that would inspire a new project (LOVE the green buttons):

On Ravelry, I was on the hunt for a pattern that would make the most of two skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock mediumweight that I've been squirrelling away for the last year. The colourway is Irish Girlie Green, and it's just the thing for a little spring knitting.

After a long, leisurely look through (what seemed like) a million options, I clicked on the Sweet Oak Shawl by Megan Goodacre. It had just the right look for my beloved green yarn, and it's the perfect mix of interesting lacy patterns to keep my attention and give my lace-making skills a workout.

What colours are inspiring your creativity this spring? Are you a green person like me?

(Hey, don't forget that you've still got a couple days to enter to win one of the books we're giving away to celebrate our 800th post! Go on and leave a comment over here if you haven't entered yet!)

It took a few late nights (and several dinners of leftovers!), but I'm happy to report that today, I'm wearing a T-shirt that I made myself. So exciting!

It started with the T-shirt pattern drafting class that Lisa and I took at The Workroom last weekend. The teacher was Cal Patch, an acquaintance of mine from Squam Art Workshops and an all-around superstar when it comes to sewing clothes. She wrote this book:

Design-it-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified. It's a great book, and I own it, but I always found it was a little bit intimidating. So many things to measure!

I'm glad we took the class. Everything seemed so straightforward with Cal leading the way. It turns out that the measurements you take for a T-shirt pattern aren't really that different than the ones you take when you're sizing yourself for a knitted sweater. (You can just call me Master of the Obvious, if you like. ;^)

Once you've taken your measurements, it's just a matter of plotting them on a piece of paper and connecting the dots. Grading the curves was alternately frustrating and satisfying, but I got there eventually.

Cal shared lots of great tricks about choosing the right fabric, which stitches to use (hint: check your manual!) and what order to put things together in, and then she sent us off into the wild.

And it worked! It really worked. Check it out:

Hee! I'm pretty pleased. I mean, it's not perfect (I definitely need to practice sewing neckbands) but it's close, and it fits better than anything I've ever bought from a store.

At this point my goal of being able (at least in theory) to clothe myself in handmade clothes from head to toe is pretty well complete. Now I just need to find a class about pants, I guess!

Have a great weekend – hope it includes some crafting time just for you.

I thought that after yesterday's sort of rueful reflection on trying to get things done, we could use a bit of fun!

I love this video: Melvin the Mini Machine. It's an honest-to-goodness Rube Goldberg machine and it works! It's from Hey Hey Hey design studio in The Netherlands, and it's the best thing I've seen all week.

Click on the link or the photo above to watch on Vimeo. Enjoy!

Today Lisa and I were chatting about what to blog about today, and I thought about a conversation that we had over email yesterday. We were discussing our plans for the patterns we'd made in a custom T-shirt pattern making class we took at The Workroom...and incidentally, about the myth of the prolific night-time crafter.

From:  Lisa
Date: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:16
To: Austen
Subject: !

Superaweseome thought I just had: You could totally use that Tshirt pattern to make a dress! The most awesomely comfortable dress ever. I'm doing that.

---

From: Austen
Date: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:21
To: Lisa

That is a genius idea! So smart. Hellooooooo, summer wardrobe!

I am planning to try my pattern out tonight. But just for a T-shirt.

---

From:  Lisa
Date: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:26
To: Austen

I was thinking I might too. Though I often daydream about these things in the afternoon, and then when it gets to be about 8 p.m. and I finally have a few spare minutes, I don't follow through.
Excited to see what you come up with!

---

From: Austen
Sent: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:30
To: Lisa

That happens to me too. For some reason I feel like I should be able to start something and finish it on the same day, and then when I  know I can't, I get frustrated so I just don't start anything at all. And watch TV instead.

So maybe I should say that tonight I am going to cut out the pieces of a tshirt. Or, more realistically, tonight I am going to set up the ironing board. At this rate, I'll have a new t-shirt by Labour Day. Guess I should make it long-sleeved after all?

---

From: Lisa
Date: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:34
To: Austen

Glad it's not just me! I always imagine that you go home every night and make or cook or write something

---

From: Austen
Date: Tue, 1 May 2012 13:41
To: Lisa

Well, you know: make (a mess), cook (boil the kettle?) and write (a four word email).

--------------

When I re-read this exchange this morning it made me laugh (and it sort of reminded me of this post on Dinner: A Love Story).

I think that sometimes – even to people we know quite well, people with whom we share daily routines and typical ups and downs – it looks like we're just effortlessly putting in the 9-to-5, then going home, taking care of business (dinner, housework, family, all the rest) and, oh yeah, no big deal, whipping up a craft or two on the side every night.

But we're not. Some nights, just ironing the fabric for that new T-shirt is as good as it gets. If we're really lucky and someone else is making dinner, sometimes we might get more done. But there are many many nights that end, not with some late-night sewing, but with a dead drop onto the couch.

Just thought you might like to know.

Do you memorize recipes? I do. Most of the time it's not deliberate – it's just that after you've made the same cookie recipe five or six dozen times, you're bound to remember the details. And so Chocolate O'Chippers* are a permanent part of my repertoire.

Same for scones, pancakes, and baking powder biscuits. For me, they're all comfort foods, and there's nothing more comforting than being able to walk into the kitchen and start baking – no cookbook required.

Just this weekend I realized that I've started to do the same thing with my knitting. I've got a few standby patterns that now reside permanently in my head. Glenna's Nice Ribbed Socks have taken up residence, as have the Cutest Booties from the Yarn Harlot. Given a repeat knit or two, I think that the Classic Raglan might move in, too.

I've also got a simple shawl pattern stored away up there. It's based on Simple Things – a super basic triangle shawl built with symmetrical yarn overs, with rows of garter stitch and yarn overs as decorative edging toward the bottom of the shawl. It was just the ticket for Sunday afternoon, when I had a movie to go to and nothing simple to work on in the dark. This is Noro Silk Garden, knit on 5 mm needles. I'm loving it.

* You didn't think I'd let you go without providing that cookie recipe, did you? Of course not! This recipe was shared with me by my friend Ali. I don't know where she got it, but I do know it's my favourite.

Chocolate O’Chippers
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with sugar until light. Add vanilla and egg; mix well. Add flour, oatmeal, baking soda and salt; stir til incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 min, or until edges are golden and tops are just beginning to set. Makes approx 36 cookies.

(You can play with the add-ins if you like: I'm also a fan of raisins, pecans and coconut, in any measure.)

My intrepid husband and I are half-finished laying down new Pergo in our living room. Yay, right?

Ugh. We hate it. And so does Artie – it's so slippery under his old paws. Plus, he hates all kinds of renovations. Or change of any kind.

Don't get me wrong – Pergo is lovely stuff. And this floating type with the underlayment attached is almost criminally easy to install. There's not one thing to hate about the material.

The problem is: it just doesn't work in this space. We installed this very laminate flooring throughout the second floor, where it's lovely and dark and quiet. It's ideal in bedrooms (and quilt rooms), where you want something soothing.

But the living room gets almost no natural light. That means a dark floor will suck up all the light and make the room like a cave. Olive thinks dark rooms are a total bore. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So back to the drawing board we go. But it got me thinking: What do people do with those bits and bobs left over after a flooring/reno project?

• Buddy Allen Carpet One in Nashville, Tenn., rounded up a bunch of neat ideas for using up carpet, laminate and tiles, including a Decorative Tile Message Board from Serenity Now
• eHow has a guide to using up laminate scraps in interesting ways – homemade picture frame, anyone?
• Dremel offers up a few fun crafts you make with leftover laminate tiles, including turning them into hard felt-backed placemats (for messy eaters like me)
• Instructables has a tutorial on making decoupaged signs from laminate floor planks
• Crafting a Green World has a step-by-step lesson in creating custom coasters from leftover tiles

So what do you think? Have any other great ideas for using up leftover building materials? I'm all ears.