Under Construction

Art for the house

I typed "house" into the search criteria at Etsy and came up with a whole bunch of cool prints (and a few originals) in my price range. Amazing the interpretations of a house.

Thought you might like to see a few of my favorites (all images from Etsy)

"Coming Home" by SeaSprayBlue (sold)

We have very few walls (and a boatload of windows) in our home. The one main wall with room for hanging stuff is getting pretty stale now that we've been here nearly 3 years (!) with the same photos up.

"The House Next Door" linocut by LeanneGraeff ($20)

I was thinking that I'd like to start collecting a few prints to (re) fill that big wall.

"Peculiar Neighbors" by atwhim ($15 large, $7 small) (LOVE this one)

I'm thinking that having a theme to my little print collection might make it more fun.  So (obviously) I'm thinking "house" or "home"

"Home Sweet Home Print" by JennSki ($25)

"Where the Heart Is" by AliciaBock ($35)

"Ain't She a Beaut'?" by ToxicGuineaPigs ($12 but they are currently on vacation)

So which of these are you liking?  Is this a dumb idea? It seems like a fun way to blow $100 worth of PayPal funds (not that I currently have $100 of PayPal funds).

"Brownstone Neighborhood" by SweetBabu ($23)

If none of those are of interest. You can always have a custom portrait done of your (favorite) home.

"Custom portraits" by Artitecture $($25)

I think that's enough for tonight. Biscuit had her school open house followed by tantrum of the century (turns out she really IS two!) so I'm pooped but the laundry pile is quite likely to take over the house. I best stop bloggin' and start foldin'.

Is it the weekend yet?

Wood cars and clothespin dolls in the shop

I had way too much fun with the photo shoots but getting the stuff listed is sort of a pain. 

Head on over and check out the shop!

edited to add: It's kind of confusing but in the shop I've listed kits to make your own clothespin dolls AND I've listed all the completed dolls shown above. If you buy a completed doll--let me know which one. If you buy a kit--feel free to suggest what hair/dress colors you would like and I can make a custom kit for you. I hope it makes sense...

I think the readers should win a prize

Yes, I survived NaBloPoMo. I must say, it was somewhat more challenging than I expected. The posts got pretty lame. I did get a nice pep talk from Becky around the 25th when I was starting to give up so I know a (very) few readers stuck with me on the journey of every day posting.  You deserve an award!

I also survived another craft show. This one was actually really fun and well attended (and I sold stuff!) I focused just on my kids stuff-very limited product offering-but it seemed to work. In addition to sales I feel like it was a good networking opportunity and a lot of folks took cards.  I also wrote (very) detailed descriptions about each product and noticed quite a few folks stopping and reading. I know some people are too shy to ask so I thought this might be a nice way to get across that, yes, I did make the doll bed and the trucks from actual wood. And yes, the bibs are small but they are for newborns. I can also use these descriptions to list the items on etsy.  Speaking of etsy, when I sat down at the computer 10 minutes ago an email popped up and it was an etsy sale. That's a nice end to the evening!

Anyway, at the very last minute I decided I wanted to make clothespin dolls and kits. I ended up changing the sign and selling them for a dollar. Probably sold only 4 or 5 but I had a darn good time assembling the kits and then creating samples. Addictive.  I'm saving some for little gifts for my nieces but I have several kits left. 

If you actually read all those posts in November (scouts honor) leave a comment. I'm not sure how many people actually read and how many of those would even want a clothespin doll kit but I'll do at least 5 kits and have a drawing (if there are indeed more 5 of you) My dad's a reader but I don't think he's in the market for a clothespin doll.

Even if you didn't make it through the crush of November posts, thank you for reading and commenting. I have a lot of fun with this little blog and you readers make it way more fun. Even if I'm a complete idiot at responding to comments with any consistency!!

Happy December!

Custom screenprinted t-shirts for sale

For ONE WEEK ONLY I'm offering my custom screenprinted shirts for sale so YOU and have an awesome Christmas card. Only $15 and includes domestic shipping. Mr. H says that's too cheap but hey, I want to make it affordable for ya.

You may remember these shirts from this failed photo shoot so I redid them without the live model ;)

Four designs, two colors, any kids size--these are made to order just for you!
You have to order by November 16 so get right on it!

Hope you like them. 

Maybe I like craft fairs after all

It's a surprising amount of work to photograph (badly) various items. Especially when you have a helper in your one bit of bright light that turned out to be too bright leading to shadows but oh my gosh I am seriously not retaking 40 gazillion photos so Etsy shoppers will just have to deal.

Play doh is not for sale.  Nor are the carefully molded teddy bears. What? You couldn't tell those Play Doh blobs were teddy bears?


Anyway. I did photograph most of the items that were for sale at the craft fair last weekend and are now available through Etsy. The doll beds are for sale but I need to sort out the shipping. Let me know if you are interested $50 with mattress and pillow (plus shipping...).  There are 4 different designs plus several quilt options (priced separately).

So far at Etsy I have uploaded several button cards, a few sewing kits, a few Zip Quilt Kits and two sets of coasters.  I still have scarves, mini quilts, coasters and the doll beds to list.  Thanks for stopping by to check out the merchandise :)

Tutorial: Interfacing applique technique

Does everyone already know how to do applique using fusible interfacing? I can't recall when I learned this great technique, it's certainly not my original idea, but I thought I'd share a quick tutorial.  Disclaimer: all photos taken with the flash leading to poor quality and weird reflections but I think you can handle it!

I'm working on a mini quilt, applique on chenille, as one of my cozy items for Handmade Parade.   Without further ado, on with the tutorial:

Draw the designs you want to applique on the back (non bumpy) side of a lightweight fusible interfacing:

Pin designs to the fabric you want to applique with the bumpy (fusible) side of the interfacing toward the good side of the fabric:

Now sew on your drawn lines (or just inside since you don't want the pen marks to show like they do on my project).  Stitch all the way around your shape without leaving a gap:

Then cut out your image pretty darn close to the stitch line. Clip corners as needed to reduce bulk and make curves smooth.

Now cut a slit in the interfacing through which you will turn your applique piece right side out (thereby tucking in the raw edges:

Carefully turn your piece right side out taking care not to tear the interfacing (too much).  Poke out the corners as needed:

Arrange your applique pieces on the fabric you are appliquing them to and iron to lightly fuse them in place:

We interrupt this tutorial programming for me to comment on how much I love my dorky little hand sewing kit. I made this little pouch and added a needle, a spool of thread, a leather thimble, a few pins and embroidery scissors and it's a perfectly portable kit for a perfectly portable craft (hand sewing or hand quilting). I have another one for embroidery. I love this simple kit so much I'm going to make a few to sell at Handmade Parade. I think they would be a cool gift for someone who enjoys sewing or wants to learn.  The ones I'm making will come with a needle case and without a wine stain (oops).

So, hand sewing, you need to hand (or machine) sew around the edges of your applique pieces. If you hand sew, use a coordinating thread and a blind stitch as you would use to sew binding.

And that's it. Good looking applique quick and easy with no needle turning required.

I hope this is helpful--let me know if anything is unclear.

have a great day!

 

Working in series

When I was getting ready for my first craft show I discovered that I work best 1. under pressure 2. within boundaries and 3. with a theme.

For the spring show I chose the theme "Garden Party" and tried to make all the pieces (aprons, totes, notecards and more) fit within the theme. I also tried to make several of each piece aiming for quantity rather than perfection. I found this approach worked really well for me. I created 4 half aprons and liked each one I made more than the previous as I refined my ideas as I worked with the fabric.

For Handmade Parade (only a few weeks away!!) I'm working with the theme "Cozy."  It's a concept that's been rattling around in my head since I bought all that wool in Chicago. My recent tv cozy craze fits in as well.

For spring I made aprons, for autumn/winter I'm making scarves. I'm really trying to do something different with each piece and finish everything I start regardless of how much I hate it part way through.  I have one scarf complete and two in process. I hope to make at least 5 but I've been doing a lot of hand sewing so we'll see. 

It's also relevant to note that I never wear scarves of any variety and have no real sense of how they should be. I welcome any feedback on this. Long? Short? Wide? Skinny? Heavy? Light? Colorful? Neutral? How 'bout some of each?

Above I have a short pink scarf, woven wool on one side, knit wool on the other and bound with cotton. I made the oversized wood button from a block.  (please ignore the fact that I'm in my pajamas in this photo).

I am also working on a brown scarf seen above in progress that is ruched (sp?) and backed with fabric from a sari I bought in India several years ago and finally cut up. 

The gray one is a wool suiting and I'm working on some embroidery ideas based on the conversation I had with Biscuit this morning about who is related to who. Baby E's mommy is Aunt Michelle and Woolis (Uncle Luis) is Baby E's daddy. Aunt Michelle is daddy's sister and so on. Trying to explain the family tree got me thinking about drawing one in the style of a biology class pedigree chart. So the scarf is both sides of Biscuit's family tree (abbreviated to immediate family).  Not sure how it will look in embroidery but I'm going to go climb in bed with some cheap wine and a tivo'd episode of the Daily Show and get embroidering. We'll see.

More planning

A hammock, a sunny afternoon and a hubby watching the munchkin--the perfect setting for some quick 'n' dirty embroidery.

The Etsy shop is coming soon....

Maker Faire Recap

Well, three trips to electronics stores and $90 later we're back online here at Casa Haworth. To celebrate, I'm posting the single solitary photo I took at Bazarre Bizarre at Maker Faire last weekend.
A photo of Michael who, five minutes after I arrived, bought my favorite book clock "Horton". I feel confident that Horton has a good new home with Michael the estate planning attorney (sorry ladies, he seemed to be there with a girl).  The sale of Horton ushered in a sales dry spell that concluded with the sale of my second favorite clock a few minutes before my shift at the Sacramento Craft Mafia booth ended. 

The  other clocks I made and the Zip Quilt Kits will be up on Etsy as soon as I have a chance to set up shop over there. Stay tuned.

For more Baz Biz and Maker Faire photos, go here.

Oops, I did it again

But the 40% off sale was ending...(is that a good excuse?)  My other excuse for the fabric buying spree is that I thought it would motivate me to make up a bunch of Zip Quilt Kits and actually try to sell them. What the heck. Bazaar Bizzare is coming up in a few weeks and Sacramento Craft Mafia has a booth.  As a member I'm allowed to sell a few things so I figured I would.  Worst case, I have materials for a lot of fun doll quilts.

Between now and then I'm going to try to come up with a business name, logo and Etsy shop so that I can make business cards to give out and actually have a purpose to the business cards. Crazy? Maybe. But deadlines are motivating.

Come by Bazaar Bizzare on May 19 and say hello!