Weekend surprises

Christie Adams, jewelry designer extraordinaire!
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

I went to the Kanapaha Garden Festival this weekend and ran into another artist I know, Christie Adams. I had totally forgotten that she normally has a booth at that show.

As usual, I was blown away by her booth -- both by the display itself with all of its retro accents, and of course by her individual creations, which are always so unique. I took a few photos that offer a glimpse of her crafty goodness.

Just look at all the great rickrack projects! Be still my heart. I do have such a weakness for rickrack. Who knew that you could make such fun accessories out of old rickrack?









Perhaps surprisingly, I didn't buy one of her rickrack pieces. Instead, I just couldn't resist the pincushion corsage. It reminded me a lot of the big felted flowers I make, but at the same time totally unique. Gotta love Christie and the things she comes up with!



If you want to see Christie's creations firsthand in Gainesville, you can also catch her at the O'Connell Center craft show in December. And she usually has a few pieces at Beads by Avalon in the Millhopper Shopping Center. Or if you're in the Jacksonville area, check out her booth at Fans and Stoves antique mall in the Five Points neighborhood. And of course, you can always email her at evonsmuse1@yahoo.com.

Felted calendar cover

Felted calendar cover
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Even with the ongoing surge of technology, paper calendars remain the tried and true way of keeping track of what's going on in life. In this era of ever-increasing personalization, why not create a fun cover to protect your paper planner throughout the year? You can also use the same technique to cover journals or other favorite books.

What you need:

Wool sweater
Washing machine
Scissors
Felt scrap
Pins
Ruler
Needle
Thread
Ribbon

What to do:

1) Find a wool or wool-blend sweater and felt it by machine washing it with hot water and a small amount of detergent. Include an old pair of jeans or a towel to help the felting process. Let dry, either at room temperature or in a dryer set to medium or high.

2) Open the calendar and measure its width and height, and then cut an identically sized rectangle from the felt. Also cut two panels that are the same height as the calendar and 2 1/2 inches wide. These will create the flaps to hold the calendar's front and back covers.

3) Create an apple applique (say that ten times fast!) from a scrap of contrasting felt and sew this to the front cover, either by hand or with a machine. Next, pin the panels to the cover and sew in place on three sides with a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

4) Cut a length of ribbon to serve as a page holder and sew this to the top center of the cover's spine.

5) Now insert your calendar and get organized!

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This tutorial originally appeared in the February issue of The Satellite. At this point, it looks like it will be the last tutorial to appear in that publication, since it is no longer printing. I'm working on finding another print publication that can run my columns.

Free felted fun coming to a library near you!

Orange felted flower pin
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Local blog readers listen up -- I'm teaching free, yes FREE, crafting workshops this spring through the Alachua County Library District. The first workshop takes place this Saturday, March 14, at 10:30 a.m. at the High Springs Library.

We'll transform felted sweaters and cool metallic threads from Kreinik into one of a kind flower pins that you can wear. Or if you're not into flower pins, then you can make a java jacket to keep your coffee hot and your hands cool. All you need to bring is your sassy self and a pair of sharp scissors.

Here's the skinny on the other three upcoming workshops:

(Click on the links and scroll down to "Sewing Hip Accessories from Recycled Sweaters" for a full description)

Hawthorne Library
Saturday, March 28 @ 2 p.m.

Tower Road Library
Thursday, April 2 @ 6:30 p.m.

Headquarters Library
Sunday, May 17 @ 1:30 p.m.

In these tough economic times, how can you pass up the chance to craft for free? Hope to see you there!

Sewing class wrap-up

Thanks to all of the ladies who turned out for my sewing classes through the UF Leisure Course program!

Six students made it the morning class, despite the early morning deluge. We went through the basics of working with a sewing machine, which was no small task given that each student had a different machine that ranged in age from 50 years old to less than 5 years old.

Here's a shot of my 51-year old Brother machine that I brought for demonstration purposes (though it does still run like a champ).



Then we made pillow covers out of old button-front shirts. Everyone seemed happy with what they made. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't take photos of the students' projects, but here's a shot of the demo pillow covers that I made.



Although nine students were registered for the afternoon class, only four showed up. Maybe some of the would-be students got distracted by the Celebration of Wine taking place down the hall. The smaller class size ended up being an advantage -- we had more table space for laying out the pieces for the pajama pants that we made in class.

Again, everyone seemed happy with their projects. And again, I neglected to take pictures. Dagnabbit! At any rate, here is a picture of the fabrics that I let the students choose from.



I'll be offering sewing classes like this again in the future. Check back here on my blog or on the UF Leisure Course site.

And speaking of sewing classes, are there any particular classes you'd like to see? I was thinking about offering an apron class but am open to other suggestions. Leave me a comment and let me know what classes you'd be interested in!

Tying up loose ends

CHA schwag
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Tonight I finished the prep work for the two sewing classes I'm teaching tomorrow. I'm very excited about them and will post pictures after the classes are done.

But first, I realized that I'm woefully late in posting photos from the Craft & Hobby Association convention. I'm so sorry about that--I've been busy getting ready for these sewing classes. But without further delay, here it goes!

This first shot shows you all of the stuff that I scored at CHA. I'm still not sure how I got it all to fit in my suitcase. By the time I was done, my little roll-aboard suitcase weighed 51 pounds! The Delta guy was a sweetheart and didn't charge me even though my bag was officially over the weight limit. (Though I did still have to pay $15 for the right to check my bag -- what's up with that, Delta??)

Probably the most amazing thing I came home with was the Sizzix Big Shot die-cut machine shown at the center front of the image. It's worth $100! I won it at a workshop that was taught by Margot Potter (thanks Margot!).

But so far my favorite find from CHA is Fabri-Tac adhesive. I'd never used it before and now I can't put it down! In fact, I'll be introducing it to my students tomorrow.

If you want the low-down on all the other other schwag from CHA, just click on the photo above and then follow the notes and links within the photo.

Now here's a shot of me with the one and only Crafty Chica.



I was so excited to meet her in person. She was sooooo nice, and in a very genuine way. And the glitters in her new product line from Duncan? Amazing! Click on the photo if you want to see the glittery goodness larger.

Here's a shot of me with Leah Kramer, the founder of the awesome site Craftster.org.



And here's a shot of me with Sarah*n*dipitous.



There's a funny story behind this photo. I was wandering the CHA show floor and was drawn to Sarah's booth as soon as I saw it--she made the whole thing out of cardboard!

We started talking and she insisted that she knew me from somewhere. Eventually we figured out that we're Twitter friends! Too funny.

That was the first time I'd ever met a Twitter friend in person--all I can say is that I hope all future meetings are as fabulous. Sarah is an amazing person who has seemingly limitless creativity and generosity. I wish we lived closer, but I'm sure our paths will cross again.

I also met Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, but for some reason I forgot to ask for a photo with her. She was so open in sharing her knowledge of the industry. Thanks Jenny, especially for the tip on Kreinik threads!

And finally, here are some shots of me and my clock in the Indie Craft Booth.







Okay, it's off to bed--I've got to teach in the morning!