July 17, 2012
by Tammy
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When you think of weddings and TLC, you probably think of “say yes to the dress.” But now there is a new twist airing tonight on TLC’s Craft Wars. This time, the crafters take over!
Tune in tonight – Tuesday – on TLC at 10pm eastern time/9pm central.
July 16, 2012
by Tammy
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I’m still on a toy kick. I forgot how much I enjoy amigurumi! My latest creation is called Mr. Toothy and is a pattern I received when I signed up for Craftsy.com’s Design Your Own Monster course. I have not had time to complete the entire course yet, but when you sign up you receive handouts. As part of the class handouts, you get a number of patterns, and this was one of them. In the version from the class, you are supposed to glue on a felt tooth, but I didn’t include the tooth. I might add one later.
July 15, 2012
by Tammy
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The Crochet Dude
Drew is having a Pinterest contest and giving away an ENTIRE set of his new ergonomic hooks!
About Family Crafts
The newest craft challenge is all about chalkboard crafts. Drop by and play along!
Aileen’s Musings
Aileen gets you revved up for summer by showing you how to make a wreath out of flip flops.
Carmi’s Art/Life World
This week Carmi has the opportunity to combine her love of rubber stamping with resin!
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to needle felt a bird ornament, crochet a swirl granny square, an interview with Alena Hennessy author of Cultivating Your Creative Life, and a recipe for coconut rice with peaches and rum raisins.
Eileen – The Artful Crafter
Come join the fun. The Artful Crafter is celebrating its 6th blogoversary. Party favors, cupcakes, and prizes for all!
Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi is going to be giving away the whole Stash Happy series over the month of July…starting with the fabulous Applique book!
Cherie Blogs
Playing With Blue Glass – Cherie finally finds some blue glass to build sculptures with.
July 13, 2012
by Tammy
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Why silly stuff like this excites me, well, I don’t know, but I was giddy yesterday when my Stockinette Zombie HO bag arrived in the mail. “HO” is one of the many fiber terms thrown around over at Ravelry, and it means “half-finished object.” Here is Coco helping me open up the package. We both were impressed with the extra swag (pin and sticker).
July 12, 2012
by Tammy
2 Comments
After finishing a knitting scarf kit recently, I have not cast on any other knitting yet. Though, I do plan on tackling a ribbed scarf again soon. I’m going back and forth on the size needles and yarn to use for that. My cross stitch is hibernating right now. However, I do have a few things on my hooks, two of which are fairly large projects though not necessarily difficult to do.
I’m probably about half way done with this ripple shawl. I’m loving the jewel tones of the yarn. I normally work on this a little in the evenings if there is enough light. Hubby likes to watch TV in a cave.
July 10, 2012
by Tammy
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July 9, 2012
by Tammy
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If you have been loving Craft Wars on TLC raise your hand! Yes, me too! In fact, I also wanted to pass the word onto those on the east coast who have Xfinity or Comcast or whatever they are calling themselves this week that you can see previous week’s episodes of Craft Wars on Monday nights on TLC. I think it comes on around 7pm, so if you missed last week’s show or just want to watch it again, take note!
Now for tomorrow night’s show, as usual there are three contestants and two craft challenges: first they have to make a toy box and then they have to make a dog house. Here are some clips from tomorrow night.
July 9, 2012
by Tammy
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It has been awhile since I made any amigurumi items, but the I’m still pushing to make a few more toys for the Big Hearts and Helping Hands toy drive, and these are super fast to make. Plus, they are so cute!
The frog pattern is a free one from the Lion Brand web site, and then I used that to make the monster. I just changed a few things like made him a little longer, gave him one eye ball and some hair, made his legs longer, and gave him an extra arm.
I’ve got a third monster in the works. This one is from a pattern by Stacey Trock of Fresh Stitches.
July 8, 2012
by Tammy
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Craft Buds
If you’ve ever hit a wall in running your creative business, be inspired by these top 12 new resources from our expert, Anna at Urban Stitches.
Aileen’s Musings
Aileen shares more lemony goodness with you by showing you how to make your own tasty limoncello!
CraftFoxes
If you still haven’t found that ideal summer swimsuit, maybe it’s time to make your own! CraftFoxes highlights 10 free swimwear patterns for summer.
Eileen – The Artful Crafter
How to keep ’em in stitches with your mail art.
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a recipe for zucchini slaw, a tutorial for a herringbone and beaded blossom embroidery stitch, a fingerprint American flag card, and knitter’s letter to President Lincoln.
Cherie Blogs – Feeling Patriotic
Cherie makes some red, white, and blue paintings.
Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi has finished a quilt that pays homage to the beautiful lava flows on Hawai’i!
Resin Crafts!
Carmi has a fun idea to pour resin into vintage baking pans.
July 7, 2012
by Tammy
1 Comment
Recently, I made a very cool necklace that includes a ceramic pendant with bunny rabbits on it. I posted the tutorial over at the About.com Jewelry Making site. For whatever reason, I did not make a matching pair of earrings at the time, and I have been wearing other earrings I already own with it. However, I felt this necklace really need a pair of earrings that more closely matched the beads I used in it.
For tools, you will need round-nosed pliers, chain-nose pliers, and wire cutters. The materials I used are as follows:
2 Turquoise nugget-style beads (about 12mm size)
2 8mm Faceted mother of pearl (natural colored) beads
8 Copper colored seed beads
2 Copper head pins
2 Copper ear hooks
About 8 inches of 21-gauge copper wire
1. First, put one copper colored seed bead, a mother of pearl bead, and another copper colored seed bead on a head pin.
2. Then use chain-nose pliers to bend the head pin into a 90 degree angle, just past the beads.
3. Holding this bend part of the head pin with round-nosed pliers, use your fingers to wrap the head pin around the pliers.
This will make a loop in your head pin that looks like this:
4. Use wire cutters to trim off the excess head pin.
5. Take a few inches of copper wire, use chain-nose pliers to bend the end into a 90 degree angle, and then use round-nose pliers to curl the bent wire into a loop.
6. Slip on one copper colored seed bead, a turquoise bead, and another seed bead, and make another wire loop at the top, cutting off excess wire.
7. Connect the turquoise component you just made with the mother of pearl section you made previously.
8. Attach one of the copper ear hooks to the top of the turquoise piece, and repeat all of the steps above to make a matching earring.
Now, be warned that it is really tough to find two turquoise nuggets that match perfectly. The two I found are pretty close, but one is a little thicker than the other. Still, they turned out alright and now I have a pair that better matches the necklace I made.