The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog

August 29, 2009
by Tammy
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Yarn Fix It Gal to the Rescue

We had a heck of a storm roll through here yesterday. I had just fed the dogs, and we were in the backyard when the wind started picking up and dark clouds rolled in. It went from light to dark in minutes, actually dropping in temperature from 87 to 75 in about five minutes! As the wind whipped up, I noticed one of the boards on our fence was flapping around partially loose. Unfortunately, the DH was gone for the day and wasn’t expected home for a good while still, and I was worried that the board would fall with all the wind and obvious storm closing in. What’s a crafty gal to do?

I wrangled the dogs back inside, zipped over to my trusty yarn stash, and pulled out a scrap piece. As the first sprinkles started coming down, I raced over and tied the board back to the one next to it, and voila, safe and secure at least until DH can get out his hammer and nails.

About an hour or so later, the storm finally left and we had an inch of rain in the rain gauge and even lost one of our little pine trees.

There were sticks, bark, and pine cones all over the place, but the board was still there as was my yarn fix it. DH comes home today, so I’m curious to see what he thinks of my yarn crafting on the fence!

August 28, 2009
by Tammy
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Craft Power, Women Power

I wanted to share this interesting article from the New York Times, “The Women’s Crusade,” which talks about the place of women (or lack there of) in the 21st century, primarily in third-world countries. Of course, men craft just like women do; however, in this article they give two examples of women who used their crafting skills as well as their brain-power to make their lives and those of their families better. The first story is about a woman who was regularly beaten by her husband, a drunkard who threatened to take another wife so he could have male children. (Yes, obviously he never took a Biology 101 class!). The woman eventually started an embroidery business, and it became so successful the power in the family switch over to her because she was bringing in so much money.

Now, I’ll warn you that the article is pretty long, but even if you just read the first page, I think you’ll be inspired. The rest of the article is also inspiring in places as well as disturbing, so that’s another warning for you.

August 27, 2009
by Tammy
0 comments

Demand Your On-line Jewelry Classes!

Kalmbach Publishing (who publishes Bead & Button, Art Jewelry, and BeadStyle magazines) has a new venture on-line called Jewelry Classes on Demand; it sounds sort of like movies on demand that you can get through your television. The site offers a variety of jewelry classes such as making chain, making clasps, polymer clay photo transfers, and so on. When you purchase a class through the site, you end up receiving a downloadable pdf file with all the instructions plus you are able to view a demonstration of the technique. So you can watch it from your computer and you still have the instructions after viewing the video. Most of the classes look like they cost $19.95 each.

August 26, 2009
by Tammy
8 Comments

Craft Booth Advice

When I was busy with the local art and craft show circuit, one of the tasks involved that my husband (who used to come with me and help) and I got pretty good at was setting up our booth and breaking it down. I say “good” meaning we were very quick because we were always running late, and when it was time to go, we really wanted to go.

Now that I look back on it, I realize we probably could have created a much fancier set up, but time was also money, so it just didn’t make sense to either of us to spend hours setting up when we knew that these small shows we were doing and the income we brought in from them just didn’t justify all that extra time. Some shows we did very well at, of course, but still, when you add it all up – making all the jewelry, pricing it, tagging it, storing it, displaying it, traveling to the show, setting up, breaking down – well, let’s just say you probably don’t want to add it all up!

Trade shows are well above the little local craft show level, and that means more time and effort to set up your booth. In both cases, though, you are basically setting up a temporary shop in a way, so even if you want quick and speedy like we did, you still have to think things through. And with trade shows, you need to really create a professional image because you are selling to other professionals who will retail your products.

Pam Corwin, a professional crafter who also writes about the business of crafting, has an interesting video posted on her weblog documenting the work she typically puts into setting up a trade show booth. The video is only 4 minutes long, but it took her over 7 hours to create the finished booth. Wow! It’s a lot to think about if you’ve considered taking a step towards some of the larger crafting outlets when it comes to selling your craft work.

August 23, 2009
by Tammy
0 comments

Craft Bloggers Unite 08/23/09

I have loads of amazing links for your today from my crafting blogging buddies.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Sometimes, you’ve just gotta go against the grain. Find out when and share your comments about stitching against the grain.

Mixed Media Artist
Have you ever tried using heavy watercolor paper to make a peeled paper collage?

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Relax! A Toilet Paper Cozy never looked cuter then when embellished by embroidering with ribbons to make a plaid square on a recycled sweater using a tutorial from the book Ribbon Embroidery by Natalie Bellanger-Clement.

The Artful Crafter
A reader asks, “What are the pros and cons of selling crafts online?” Eileen answers.

The Crochet Dude
Drew gives good advice on how to handle the non-crafty people (muggles) in your world.

The Impatient Crafter
It’s time for back to school fashions and Madge has whipped up a fab tiny Moulin Rouge inspired top hat headband project for your discerning teen…or any gal who likes a little splash of whimsy in her accessories!

Vickie Howell-Craft.Rock.Love
Make cute-as-a-button frames to match with your favorite picture!

About Family Crafts
Find out how to can make a story sack for the book, and soon to be movie, Cloudy With a Change of Meatballs.

Aileen’s Musings
Aileen’s created a quirky copper bird pin,,,,stop by and check it.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Alexa revisits and reconnects with a craft from her childhood

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside has a sneak peek into the soon to be released book; Who’s Your Dada? Redefining The Doll Through Mixed Media, free graphics of good angel/bad angel birds with a tutorial for using them as T-shirt iron-ons, how-to’s on bleaching and cutting photos to create windows, and a mosaic chicken project. The book and bobbin winder contest continues, leave a question on any topic and you are entered to win!

CraftyPod
Sister Diane’s new podcast compares two ways to publish a craft book: the traditional print and publisher method, and the ebook method. If you dream of writing a craft book, this is useful information.

August 21, 2009
by Tammy
1 Comment

Summer Crafting Almost Ova!

I’m taking a few minutes today to look back on my summer, including a few accomplishments, almost-accomplishments, and just general fun times. School starts back for me full-time and then some on Monday, so that means my leisure crafting will become much more limited. As the typical book-nerd, part of me is excited to be back to the school grind. I get a chance to teach two sections of a totally new class for me (a technical communications class), and I took a class I’ve been teaching for many years and completely changed my approach. All this newness also means more work, but it means not doing the same ‘ol same ‘ol, which can become stale both for me and my students.

It’s been fun to be home so much, spending time with my menagerie as well as cranking out a lot of jewelry and crocheted items. I even got some sewing done over the summer. Earlier in the summer, I cleaned out a lot supplies, packed them up, and donated them to a few groups. This lead to some reorganizing and at least a brief period where I had an amazingly neat and organized studio.

All this does not mean I will be cutting out crafting. It just means that crafting will just take on a different, less-leisurely feel. For example, I won’t be sitting in front of my PC, cat sitting on either side of the computer, crocheting for an hour or more as I listen to crafting podcasts. Basically, the change means crafting turns into more of the job route as I craft projects for my site and other side jobs. This is by no means necessarily bad versus good; it’s just different.

Anyway, I know I’m not the only crafter headed back to academia next week. I hope all of you crafting princesses and princes enjoy the new school year and still manage to carve out time for your beads, yarn, or whatever it is you enjoy.

August 19, 2009
by Tammy
7 Comments

Momiji Couture Contest Call for Entries

For all you doll lovers and/or fabric fanatics out there, here is a call for entries to consider: Momiji Couture Contest. Also known as “message dolls” these dolls carry secret messages in the base of each one. The idea for this contest is for participants to create one-of-a-kind fabric Momiji dolls. The 10 finalists will be exhibited at Royal/T, a cafe/art/shop space located in Los Angeles, California. The winner will be featured in Selvedge magazine. The deadline is late October, and you can find out the details for creating your doll as well as how to enter at the contest’s web site, which also has a pretty cool (though new) weblog.

August 18, 2009
by Tammy
0 comments

Knot Your Normal Knot Bracelet!

This is one of those techniques from the way-back machine, but I have to say I had totally forgotten how to do it! Thank you so much to Jean Campbell over at Beading Daily for posting a wonderful tutorial on How to Tie a Sliding Knot.

This type of knot makes the bracelet a little more adjustable because you can push the knots out (away from each other) to tighten the bracelet, and move them together to make it larger. One issue with bracelets is getting the size exactly right since most women will wear anything from a 6 1/2 inch to an 8 inch bracelet. The diameter of the beads can also affect the overall fit of a bracelet, so the sliding knot trick is very handy to create bracelets that can fit a range of wrist sizes.

August 17, 2009
by Tammy
6 Comments

Big Crochet Fun in Little Crochet Books from The Crochet Dude

The Crochet Dude, Drew Emborsky, has four new crochet books recently published by Leisure Arts. While they are called “Little Books” by the publisher, I think size can be deceiving here because each 32 page book actually has a fair number of project in them, especially when you consider that they retail for only $3.95 each. I’ve seen just one pdf file project go for that much.

  • The In All Caps book includes 6 hat designs for women. I especially like the slouchy beret that’s on the cover. Even if you aren’t into hats much, there is a cute headband pattern that could keep your ears warm and not mess your hair up.
  • If you are into roomy totes and purses, then you’ll want to check out Must Have Handbags. It includes 6 crocheted bag designs. A few of the bags, like the one pictured on the cover (the Hobo Tote), look like they’d work well as book bags.
  • All Washed Up includes 9 dishcloth patterns. These are perfect for anyone who is just learning to crochet and wants some very do-able projects. Though these have a lot of texture going on and were obviously designed for dishes, I don’t see why some of these (like Put Your Heart Into It! or Real Men Do Dishes!) couldn’t also make nice wash clothes. Add a fancy bar of soap, and you have a super easy gift idea.
  • Finally, Sweet Pet Comforts has some adorable projects for your favorite cat or dog. Of course, my cats and dogs think everything I crochet I’m making for them, but still, it is nice to actually make items just for them. They seem to appreciate my efforts more than some humans I’ve gifted crocheted items to! This book has 7 designs including a few pet beds and toys. I’m not sure if I’m sold on the Dog Toss project, but I’ve always had big dogs, and toys like this last about two seconds with them. However, the Catnip Toy looks like a winner for cats to me.

The most difficult thing with these little books is picking what project to start with first! I’ve been on a wash cloth kick lately, so I’m leaning towards that. However, I’ve been hording some organic yarn in dark blue that I think will make a perfect beret! I’ll, of course, show my efforts here, and I’d love to hear from anyone who has already tackled some of these projects.