Art and Poetry
Cherie makes new pictures using her poetry.

Art quilt batting experiments
Have you ever mixed waxed paper with your quilt batting…?

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to fold a Pegasus out of a dollar bill, crochet a magic wand, and recipes for cocoa and green tea rubs.

Father’s Day Craft Tutorials
It’s not too early to think about what you’ll create for Dad or Grandpa. Father’s Day is June 16th!

Money Gifts
With Graduation coming up, one or more of these creative money projects would make a perfect gift for a special graduate.

Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses is a new title from Sixth and Spring Books. It retails for $14.95 and has 25 patterns.

Here is a description from the press release I was sent: “Learn how to make a basic beautiful girl’s dress—without straining your schedule or your budget. Employing a little know-how and a lot of imagination, the designers at Sweet Seams Studio offer easy instructions for transforming a simple T-shirt into a stylish dress for a special little girl. Perfect for tomboys, fashionistas or anyone in-between—the 25 projects use playful quilting fabrics and clever embellishments to create outfits that are anything but ordinary.”

ACreativeDream
One thing leads to another… how creating an art doll led June to creating a necklace.

Bag Lady in Training
Tammy documents her training as a new recruit for Thirty-One Gifts, a company who sells bags and organizational products.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to measure a book for a slipcover, make a raw edge applique, draw a dramatic portrait and form a caramelle (candy) shaped pasta.

Fabric Photo Magnets
Discover how easy it is to make personalized magnets using a photo and some fabric.

Mail Art Inspires One’s Art
Have you tried mail art? Mail art inspires creativity in both sender and recipient.

Mixed Media Artist
Finding the right background fabric for an art quilt can sometimes be a challenge!

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
How to make a pom pom Easter bunny

Strength
Cherie talks about strength and art.

I have been making amigurumi from Stacey Torck’s patterns for awhile now. I have taken one of her classes from Craftys.com, signed up for her Design a Monsters class over there, and have been following her blog Fresh Stitches as well. So when she sent out a call for guest bloggers, I knew right away that I wanted to participate. I had a few different topics in mind, but I ended up pitching a topic for how to start a craft club, which she agreed to (yeah!). You can find it published today: Tips for Starting a Craft Club. Thank you, Stacey, for giving me this opportunity!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a tutorial on how to create your signature initials for your Zentangles, a fun portrait made from confetti, some zombie fun and a yummy recipe for tomato pie.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Eileen shares the how-to for a Sand and Sea themed Glass-Beaded Bracelet.

Mixed Media Artist
Have you tried Derwent’s Inktense pencils? They’re like nothing you’ve ever used before!

Painted Glass Garden Mushrooms
Cherie makes some glass mushrooms for the garden using recycled materials.

Tapping Flamingo
Terry’s Friday photography experimentation takes a look at water.

Fresh Stitches
Stacey explains how her adorable crochet amigurumi owls came into existence.

I recently wrote a review about the new book Zombigami: Paper Folding for the Living Dead by Duy Nguyen, and now I have a little something for you to download and enjoy from the book, a free downloadable project. Click on this link pages-from-9781402786464_int_008-049-2 for instructions on how to make Suzie Gravemaker.

Reprinted with permission from Zombigami © 2012 by Duy Nguyen, Sterling Children’s Books, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

It is pretty rare that I buy yarn without a project in mind, but I have been drooling over this skein from Desert Vista Dyeworks called Happy Birthday Cupcake. It is self-striping fingering weight, and I love the color combination of pinks, browns, blues, and greens. I finally caved and bought a skein because Knitabulls Podcast viewers were offered a 20% code (obviously go to her podcast to get it) for the month of August, which meant I saved a few dollars. All of these yarns are hand-dyed to order, so it took a little while for it arrive in the mail, but finally, I got it the other day. Yeah! I am not really sure what I’ll do with it, maybe fingerless gloves or a little shawlette or scarf?



Here is another new skein in my stash, also fingering weight. This one, again, I have no clue what I will make with it, and in fact, normally the colors are not really my first choice. However, in person I love the softness and the colors are growing on me. I purchased it after watching an episode of the Knit Me Happy Podcast. She was selling this specific colorway, called Munchkin, in her Etsy shop as a way to help pay for the medical care of one of her cats, Munchkin, who was very ill. She was even offering a discount, so how could I not buy this yarn, seriously?



Finally, I saw that Knit Picks is now caring Harmony crochet hooks. I have been curious about these, and as it happens, I had a $5 credit owed to me by Knit Picks because of screwing up my last yarn order. I didn’t have anything but an email from them about the $5 credit, nothing listed in my account. I was told to just remind them on my next order, but I ordered more than enough yarn last time that I didn’t see my buying anything from them in awhile and was concerned that I’d forget about the credit. The size G hook (a size I use a fair amount) was only $5.79, so I figured I’d use up my credit and get a deal on one of these hooks. It is definitely pretty. I need some time to give it a good test run before I decide what I think about Harmony hooks in general.

That’s it, just a few items. I see so many amazing craft products on-line every day that I could really get into trouble if I didn’t have some self-restraint.

For July, the Crochlist is having a toy donation drive, and I thought it was the perfect excuse to try an adorable crochet crown pattern I found at Stitch 11. I made four crowns, two large (like the one pictured above) and two small (see pictured below). I used Knit Picks Brava in Rouge and a G hook, though the pattern calls for an F.

For the smaller version, I started with 56 chains (instead of 76). In step 4, I slip stitched 20 instead of 24 stitches. Then I ended after the ninth step.

The pattern was a breeze to follow and super fast. After making the first larger crown, it took me way less than an hour to make the other three, and that is with interruptions. This is a great stash buster project, and the toys are going to be donated to Big Hearts with Helping Hands, which is a non-profit group that makes and donates toys to disadvantaged children.

I have these packed and ready to mail out this week. Hopefully, I will squeeze out a few more toys before the end of the month too, but since these were ready to go, I wanted to get them sent.

Aileen’s Musings
Aileen has 2 free father’s day banners you can download and print!

Carmi’s Art/Life World
Carmi shows off her Ghastlie Zipper Pouch!

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Pearl stretch bracelets make the perfect accessory. Eileen made 3 in 30 minutes for less than $2 each. Here’s the how-to. No beading tools required!

Mixed Media Artist
In Photoshop, there are multiple ways to make line drawings…but which way is the best?

I’m switching things up a tad with the blog and posting me weekly list of links today instead of Sunday.

About Family Crafts
Read all about the Dr. Suess themed baby shower Sherri threw for her daughter and learn how she made many of the decorations and gifts.

Aileen’s Musings
See how you can win your own set of new Color Mists’ Patina Collection by checking out Aileen’s Pin it & Win it blog contest!

Craft Buds
Die-cut felt flowers and string of grosgrain ribbon are the ingredients for this simple toddler toy. Get the tutorial for a button snake, to keep your little one busy during a summer car trip or in the waiting room.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to make two paintings at once, applying and underpainting, a whole bunch of color variations of the Dutch Tulips quilt block, and some springtime cross stitch patterns.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
How to make a beaded pull chain for overheads lights or fans.

Lindsay Sews
Do you tackle one sewing project at a time, or work on multiple projects at once? Lindsay shares modern quilt blocks from a few recent works in progress.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi experiments with rubbing alcohol and acrylic paints…and ends up with a fun background paper!