Winter Warm Fuzzies

Whew! It's been a busy month, for me and I'm sure for many of you. My apoogies for not posting sooner.

The three craft shows I did in December all went well. If you're interested, check out the photos from the Holiday Art Market, Handmade Holiday Bazaar, and Atomic Holiday Bazaar.

And now, on to a quick crafty project to keep you warm since it's now officially winter! I saw this cute set of Lucky Brand Jeans winter accessories on the Macy's site and thought they were darling. Of course, the first words out my sassy and crafty little mouth were, "I could make that!" In fact, you could too.

1. Start with a felted wool sweater (get tips on felting here).
2. For the scarf, just cut a few long strips. For the hat, cut about six pie-shaped pieces that taper down again at the "crust" edge.
3. Then whip-stitch the pieces together with a contrasting yarn and then add extra yarn as shown to make decorative tassels. How easy can that be? You don't even need a sewing machine!
4. Use the sleeves of the sweater to make arm warmers. Just hack the sleeves off at a good length, then add a small stitch about 1/2 inch from one edge of the cuff to separate the finger area from the thumb area. You can then add decorative whip stitching to make them even cuter.

Depending on how much your sweater shrinks during felting, you may not be able to make all of the accessories shown in the photo. But hey, even two of the three would look great and help keep you warm.

If you'd like additional inspiration on working with felted sweaters, check out Sweater Surgery by Stefanie Girard (which features a few of my projects) and of course, Warm Fuzzies by the darling Betz White.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Buy handmade this holiday season

With the holidays just around the corner, thoughts turn to the presents we'll give to friends and family. This year, skip the stores and instead support local artisans. You can even sign the handmade pledge and join the more than 25,000 other like-minded individuals who have pledged to buy handmade.

If you live in Gainesville, be sure to stop by and see me at the Handmade Holiday Bazaar this Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Loop de Loop (205 NE 16th Avenue). I'll be selling my wares alongside nearly 20 other vendors who'll have everything from jewelry to skull-themed Christmas stockings. It's bound to be a blast.



I'll also have a booth at the Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Sarasota next Sunday. If you're in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by. The show runs from noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 14 and the first 100 people through the door get a free swag bag.

If you're reading this blog from somewhere other than Florida, you can check online for listings of indie craft fairs in your area.

+ CRAFT: Craftzine blog
+ Craftster.org
+ ReadyMade

Threadbanger: Sweater Surgery

The latest Threadbanger video features Stefanie Girard, the fabulous gal who included a few of my sweater purses in her book Sweater Surgery. She was selling the book and her handicrafts at Felt Club, an indie craft fair held in Los Angeles.

If you're a crafty type and have never seen Threadbanger, you'll love it.



Update: the embedded video player seems to have conked out, so you'll have to click through using this link.

Crafty exaltations!

I have some truly exciting news to share. The Craft & Hobby Association recently sponsored an Indie Craft Contest searching for 30 indie crafts to highlight at the upcoming winter convention (details here), and my atomic eggbeater clock was one of the projects selected!

They want me to send my project and some promotional fliers, but it sounds like they'd also be receptive to me attending the show and possibly doing a demo. Woo-hoo! 

It would probably be expensive for me to get out there, but I'm thinking that there's no way I CAN'T go. I mean, what an amazing opportunity. 

Last year's show had more than 16,000 attendees. I could rub elbows with all of the crafty celebrities I love. I could take some of the fabulous workshops being offered by the top names in the craft world. I could also network with reps from various craft companies and publishing companies. Heck, I've been talking about writing a craft book for a few years now--what better way to pitch my ideas than in person?

I need to call my friends who live in L.A. and see if their offer to stay with them any time still holds. I need to check flights on Southwest and the other airlines to see how much airfare will set me back. I also need to call my best friend from Oregon who, in an ironic twist, had arranged to see me in Florida at the tail end of a cruise she's taking that same week. So much to do!

Oh, and did I mention that I need to recreate the clock? I already sold the one that's pictured. Oops. 

Well, time to stop blogging and get busy on all these things I need to do. Whew!