September 15, 2012
by Tammy
4 Comments
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.
September 12, 2012
by Tammy
1 Comment
Nicole from the Positively Knitting podcast is running a “Sacred Skein Craft Along.” By “sacred” she is talking about skeins of yarn that we horde because they are too good to use or you are looking for that perfect almighty pattern before you break it open. This happens to crafters in general. I used to be really bad about buying gorgeous beads and then not using them because I was afraid the finished piece would not do them justice. I think I have gotten much better about not hording the good stuff when it comes to my craft projects, but I still felt the urge to participate in Nicole’s craft along.
Pictured is my progress so far on the Cascading Stylish Shawl pattern by Michelle B. of MyDailyFiber.com. It is a $1.99 pattern available through Ravelry.com. She uses Wisdom Yarns Poems Sock yarn, which is fingering-weight. So I decided to crack open my fingering-weight Chroma yarn in the Guppy colorway. I’m loving it so far. I think this is going to be a gift, but we will see if I am able to part with it when I’m done. The total finished length is 68 inches, and I’ve only got 9 inches done, which means there is a good chance I won’t finish this by the end of the month and be able to submit to Nicole’s craft along. However, her idea did urge me to get started on this and use this yarn that I have admittedly waited to use until I found this perfect pattern.
September 10, 2012
by Tammy
2 Comments
I still have my fingers crossed that sewing is slowly making a come back in the crafting world, and here is one example, an adorable new book called How to Make Stuffed Animals: Modern, Simple Patterns and Instructions for 18 Projects
September 9, 2012
by Tammy
0 comments
We are just hanging out crafting and web surfing today.
Carmi’s Art/Life World
Carmi has been experimenting with t-shirt fabric all week. Who knew it could be used like yarn?
Cherie Burbach
Cherie makes a glass sculpture using candy dishes, ashtrays, and a tea light holder.
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a fun mixed-media card tutorial and the graphics and techniques it was inspired by along with a recipe for edamame hummus.
Crafty Princess Diaries
The Crafty Princess is giving away a book about chain jewelry this month. Enter for your chance to win.
Eileen – The Artful Crafter
Wood and copper combine for a casual blue jeans themed bracelet. Instructions included.
Mixed Media Artist
Cut out felt circles…check! Stitch together…check! Add a button on a wire…check! Smile and share your felt flowers with your friends!
September 8, 2012
by Tammy
2 Comments
by Duy Nguyen is all about, a new book I was recently sent to review from Sterling Publishing. It is zombies. It is origami. They both merge together in a crazy how-to book filled with wacky characters like Suzie Gravemaker who you can make using paper and traditional origami paper folding techniques.
The book has a brief introduction that includes paper, glue, and folding tips and then jumps into the 13 projects. Each includes step by step illustrations and some brief text for each folding step. There is also a full color photograph of the finished item with the addition of a spooky background. After the projects section, there are 13 perforated pages, one for each project, that are mini-posters you pull out and hang up. To top it off, the back cover has a pocket full of 50 sheets of origami paper.
This book is spiral bound and retails for $9.95 US and $11.95 CAN, and is obviously geared toward children. I’m guessing kids around 8 or so and up would be able to handle the folding as well as the freaky text inside. For example, the Phineas Gouge character is described as someone “who can take an arrow to the head and still try to eat you” (Nguyen 27). Of course, crafty adults will also enjoy this, especially if you enjoy origami or paper arts. Considering the cost of this book and the fact that it has the supplies included and ready to go, I think there is a lot of fun packed between its pages.
September 7, 2012
by Tammy
0 comments
This mountain of yarn is from one donation from a woman who is moving from the area and was thus forced to go through her crafting supplies. It is 6 bags of yarn! It is going to take some time to go through it all, but most of it looks like acrylic, which for our club is perfect. Our service projects, like making snuggles for animals and baby afghans, usually require using acrylic yarn. Plus, many of our members are learning to knit or crochet for the first time, so again, nothing better to use than inexpensive acrylic. Now I need to spend time digging out my office!
September 3, 2012
by Tammy
2 Comments
Crafters are always thinking about the tools they use, and there tends to be endless choices to make when selecting them. When I first discovered bamboo crochet hooks and knitting needles, I shunned my previous use of aluminum hooks and needles. I thought I had found “the” perfect material for these tools. However, after awhile, I realized that sometimes aluminum works better than bamboo. I tend to work faster with an aluminum crochet hook because it has more glide to it (if that makes sense), and for some types of yarns, like cotton, I also prefer aluminum.
Now I’ve added wood into the mix in the form of my first Harmony crochet hook that I got from KnitPicks recently. It is made of laminated birch, and it is so pretty! But is it practical? I have been using it on a shawl I’ve had in the works for awhile, and I’m giving it the thumbs up! It feels light in my hands (it’s a size G) and it has a fair amount of glide to it. Plus, the hook end is nice and deep, so it grabs the yarn really well.
I’ve tried all three types now – wood, bamboo, and aluminum – and I don’t really have a favorite any more. I like them all, and I really use them all based on what I’m making.
September 2, 2012
by Tammy
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ACreativeDream
June is building houses now. Come see what’s going in… maybe even build one of your own!
Blue Glass Garden Sculpture With Bud Vases and Beads
Cherie makes a glass sculpture with some gems she got at a rummage sale.
Carmi’s Art/Life World
This is the week Carmi is gathering flowers to dry for the winter projects she has planned.
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are fun tips on how to date your work easily and use tracing paper and photos to sketch your ideas, an idea for probably the easiest crochet scarf, and the 7 types of foraging walks.
Eileen – The Artful Crafter
Are you making Homecoming Mum corsages this year? You’ll find everything you need at The Artful Crafter – from suppliers to directions, including love chain weaving instructions.
Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi shares about a bracelet project that took her four tries to get it right!
Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Bead and button spiders have been made kicking off the Halloween decorating.
September 1, 2012
by Tammy
14 Comments
September is here, and that means I have a new giveaway going on here on the Crafty Princess Diaries. We are looking at the craft of jewelry making again, this time looking at chain jewelry and the book Chains Chains Chains: 25 Necklaces, Bracelets & Earrings
Now for the info on how to enter the giveaway. First, here are all the rules and regs:
This giveaway is available to anyone living in the continental US. Post your comment only once in this blog entry and you will get a chance to win. The deadline for entry is September 30th midnight ET. Then during the first few days in October 2012, I will randomly pick one winner. Make sure to include your email address when commenting. I will email the winner who will have 5 days after the drawing to reply back with a mailing address. Anyone who does not reply after 5 days will no longer be eligible to win, and I will draw a new winner.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, leave a comment answering the following question: Do you use chain in your jewelry designs, and if so do you make the chain yourself or use prefabricated chain that you purchase?
August 29, 2012
by Tammy
0 comments
is written by Ruth Lane, and like the other books in this series is a techniques-based versus a project-based book. It retails for $24.99 US/$27.00 CAN/$16.99 UK and comes as a soft paperback with 264 pages and 500 full-color photographs.
As the title suggests, it is all about felt and not just making it. This text is a comprehensive guide to the story of felt including the history of wool and felt; the process of cleaning raw fleece to be used to make felt; and then lots of different techniques for creating and working with felt such as wet felting (which most people are probably a little familiar with), needle felting, and Nuno or laminate felting. Since it really focuses on the methods of felting, don’t expect a how to make x, y, z project in this book. While there are lots of project ideas throughout, the basis of this book is designed to help someone who wants to learn methodology over just how to make a felt bear, for example.
If you are okay within reading in-depth information and like the combination of using visuals (as in lots and lots of photographs) to learn all there is to know about working with and making felt, then this technical book is a wonderful resource. Like much of crafting, felting is not an exact science, but the information in this book would be really useful for someone who wants to dig in and experiment with the possibilities that wool can provide when it comes to felting.