Got Craft Holiday!

This Sunday Dec 6 is when the holiday season really gets going for me.

Maked will be at the best craft fair of the year - Got Craft? "Holiday Edition"!

I love this fair - the vendors are always fabulous, creative people, it's a nice, busy show, lots of my friends shop there and stop to chat, there are good tunes in the background. It's just a ridiculously happy experience. And this year there is a drawing for a Yudu screenprinting kit and an industrial button maker.... which is an extra layer of awesome on top of everything!

Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair Got Craft "Holiday Edition"
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
at the Royal Grandview Legion – 2205 Commercial Drive (at E. 6th Avenue)
between 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission: $2.00 (kids are free)

Featuring over 50 local vendors, Got Craft? has something handmade for everyone on your list from clothing to jewelry to art to ceramics and home décor. Psssst! The first 30 people through the door will receive a free, re-useable swag bag packed full of goodies from all of our vendors. (You have to show up early to snag one of these puppies.)

They will also be giving away a personal screen printing machine valued at $400 Cdn courtesy of Yudu and a DIY button kit including a machine and 250 parts courtesy of Six Cent Press.

For more information and a complete list of vendors, please visit gotcraft.com.

Fangirl?

Anyone who has every torn photos of cute guys from teenybopper magazines and stuck them on her wall.... should get a kick of this story over at my personal blog. =)

Be Bold

I've just finished and listed a new necklace. I wanted to make something that took me out of my comfort zone, wanted to push my limits and produce something new and bold. Something that would attract some notice.

I think I succeeded. I'm very pleased. Hopefully someone with the personality to pull it off will find it and fall in love with it too!

Got Craft?

Maked is officially coming out of hiatus to participate in the best craft fair in the universe.... the Got Craft? Holiday Fair. Yay!

We're thrilled to be vending there again, it's always a blast (and people seem to like our stuff).

If you're local, put it in your calendar - it is THE place to get amazingly creative, locally made gifts. And, there's always a good DJ spinning some great tunes in the background.

December 6, 2009 11am - 5pm. First 30 people get awesome swag bags full of goodies. 2205 Commercial Dr. Vancouver BC

Babies + Crochet

Yay for finishing baby gifts for people! Finishing projects is so satisfying!

Latest - 1 baby hat with an awesome button made from wood waste, and 1 round ripple baby blanket.

Bring on the babies.

Actually, don't, I'm still way way behind!


(The pattern I used for the blanket is here: http://woven-stars.tripod.com/rippletutorial/)

Esty Awesome

My latest find on Etsy is Emmy-ray who makes beautiful jewelry and accessories. I'm especially taken by her feather hair accessories - we should all wear more feathers.

She's got a great blog here too, where you can become a follower and keep tabs on what she's up to.

There's no end to the crazy talented people you'll find on Etsy.

Puff

I remember when I first discovered Lush. It wasn't available in my town so I had to hunt it out whenever I was traveling. I loved their stuff, the unusual scents, the amazing handmade products (this was before the handmade movement busted out, now it's wonderfully easy to find local handmade soaps). I recall walking down the street in Glasgow, Scotland on vacation and stopping, sniffing, and saying to Peter - "there's a Lush nearby", we turned the corner and there it was! It can be overwhelming, walking into a Lush store (in an olfactory sense), it's not for everyone but I still love it.

I have some of their dusting powders but don't use them much because they come in these odd shaker cans and I never could get used to the idea of shaking dusting powder on me like salt. I hunted around sporadically for a nice dusting powder puff. I knew they existed, Mom had one for her Chanel powder, a nice big one in a lovely container. I couldn't find anything! Crazy!

I finally got tired of lamenting the lack of puff available for purchase and grabbed some scrap materials I had handy and made one for myself - this is the joy of being a crafter, after all, being able to just make whatever you need! It's just a random bit of faux fur, cotton fabric, ribbon, and batting sewn into a rectangle. So easy, should have done it ages ago. Now I just need a nice container. In the meantime, I can shake the powder on my poof and apply it with dignity.

If you want one and aren't interested in making it, I did finally find some much nicer ones on etsy.....

This one from Soapalaya Soaps

This vintage can (with powder) from Pursimonia

I'm a Winner!

Back when I lived in the US I was a sweeper.

A 'sweeper' being the term for someone who enters a lot of sweepstakes. Or in my case, online contests. There are so many online contests out there (especially for Americans, fewer for the rest of us), you could spend all day every day entering and have a hard time keeping up! I wasn't that hard core, but I did all right - I loved having random prizes arrive in the mail. Like a dozen roses, earrings, enormous quantities of Skittles, dvds, books, etc. My biggest win.... $5000 cash from Time Magazine.

Here's a hint to help weed out real prize win notifications from the scam ones.... if you really win a prize of substantial value, they will not tell you what the prize is until they have verified you're eligible for it. In the case of the $5k I had to prove I was of age first, I think.

I haven't entered as many contests since I moved back to Canada, but every now and then I do. I've had quite the streak of luck lately! I've received two lovely packages in the mail recently, prizes from online contests.

The first was a fabulous pair of earrings by Katrinna Louise (a fellow BC crafter) who has a shop full of pretty jewelry. Thanks Katrinna - I love the earrings!


The second package was a tin decorated for christmas with cute little gift tags and envelopes inside. This will definitely come in handy in a few months! Especially since I never have wrapping supplies on hand. This prize is from a monther/daughter run etsy shop called Le Pink Chandelier. They sell vintage and upcycled items. I particularly love the envelopes made from old maps. Thanks for my prize you guys!

The third prize is less craft related but is awesome - I got free passes to the Vancouver PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) - which I've never been to! I also got passes to Playland and a free dinner. So my boyfriend Peter and I are going to have a great weekend.... for free thanks to the Georgia Straight (a local newspaper).

I really like this winning thing. =)

Delica Glory

Our very popular delica rings have been featured over on this lovely Montreal blog. The writer of the blog is a creative spirit who is raising two beautiful children and running a jewelry business at the same time! I'm impressed.

Notepad Vice

You may recall a few months back I posted about making notepads out of the scrap paper from my office so it could be re-used before being recycled.... I've been doing this for a while now and decided that I needed a better system if I was going to continue.

So I went to the hardware store, got myself some wood, bolts, and wing nuts. I drew up a plan that would create a vice for a variety of notepad sizes. Just a simple device to hold the paper together while the glue dries. I made some measurements, drilled a few holes, and bob's your uncle, I had a notepad vice. No more stacking textbooks on top of my pads as they dry! I just put the paper in the vice, tighten it up, slather on a few coats of elmer's and it's good to go. The large bolts will allow me to do a big stack of notebooks at once too.

The next step is to get some real padding compound (already ordered it) - the stuff the pros use. The elmer's glue works, it's just very thin so it takes a few coats which is annoying. I'm already loving the process more now and think the end product is more professional looking. Can't wait to get my hands on the padding compound!

Beaded Tank

Continuing in the theme of finishing projects I started a really long time ago.... I've got this green tank top that I did a little funky bead embroidery on ages ago. It's one of my favorite summer tops because it's casual and comfortable but has a little unique detail on it. Nothing fancy, just a bit of personality.

I liked the finished product enough that I went to the store and got 2 more tank tops to do up. One I ended up wearing plain - I needed a shirt and didn't have time to wait for me to get around to crafting it up (I can be so slow!).

The other shirt got started and promptly shoved in a workbox. I pulled it out recently and decided the bead colour was all wrong (blue on white) - that's what caused me to hit a wall with it. So I took out the beadwork that had been started and I went with something more subtle this time. I've been working at it a bit here and there this week. I think a few more squiggly turns and it will be done.

Those who know me, know that doing random, organic/flowy things is very difficult for me. I prefer lines and patterns and things planned out in advance. Just winging it is not my forte!

But, it's good to break out of your box every now and then and do something that challenges your natural tendencies.

Handmade Swag

The Vancouver screening of Handmade Nation was fabulous! It's a great film - a neat snapshot of the crafty, DIY scene in the US.

What really resonated with me was the community aspect of crafting. Crafting can be a very isolating/isolated activity. You don't need other people around, you can do most of it alone - that's part of why I love crafting actually, because I like my alone time. But, when I plugged into some online crafting communities, like www.crafster.org, I got way more inspired (and interested in diversity of crafts beyond my beadwork). Then I met some other local crafster forum people, and eventually Maked was born.

It's amazing, the power of the internet to help you forge connections that you wouldn't otherwise. As a result, I've learned to crochet, screenprint, make soap, bind books, do craft fairs, run an online shop.... the list is kind of endless!

Crafting alone is fabulous, I will never knock it, but getting out there and interacting with fellow crafty folks is tons of fun and will energize you to try things you never would have.

As an added bonus - at the screening I got a promotional swag bag full of goodies. Yay! It included an adorable tiny terrarium (complete with alien) by Plantscapes. I love it. I also love this tiny flower pin by Roxypop made from ricrack! It's very vintage-looking.

Design

I'm picking myself up off the floor to share with you my new totally-don't-need-it-but-I-want-it item.... the most beautiful lampshade ever, called Midsummer Light by Tord Boontje. I just need a place with even higher ceilings first.

More images of his work here.

Of course I'm also thinking.... if I just got myself some tyvek and a supply of exacto knife blades, I could make my own (over the course of 10 - 15 years). Seriously, where does one get crafty-grade tyvek? My preliminary research shows you don't want to use construction grade tyvek and there is a different kind that people use for papercutting arts. Anyone ever seen that in a craft store?

Momentum & Cycle Chic

I've got an adorable folding bike that I love to bits and I live in a city that's pretty progressive in providing bike lanes/routes (by North American standards).... so I've cycled here more than any other city I've lived in.

But the sporty style of bike accessories frustrated me. My cute bike and I deserved more! I'm not interested in going super fast and getting sweaty. I want to be relaxed and wear normal clothes and arrive at my destination relatively unsweaty. My desire for a more relaxed, stylish form of biking was fueled in a major way by this website - Copenhagen Cycle Chic, which documents the ease with which cycling fits into everyday life in Copenhagen. It's very inspiring - a glimpse into how things could be.



First, after much difficulty, I found a helmet that was in no way aerodynamic (I have no intentions of traveling at speeds where drag will be an issue, thank you), something with a bit of chic to it.






Then I made myself a few bike cuffs to keep my pants out of my chain while riding.










This month my humble little bike cuffs were featured in Momentum Magazine!

Momentum Magazine, a fabulous free magazine all about everyday person cycling (not sporty cycling), put out an issue all about the crafty DIY culture and how it intersects with bike culture. It's a fantastic magazine. If you can't find it in a bike store near you, request it. In the meantime, read it online here. And happy cycling!

(I've got ideas brewing for other bike accessories that could easily be more stylish (bike gloves!). If only I had more time. And magical sewing elves.)

Handmade Nation

I got my ticket to this event the day they went on sale.

It's going to be awesome. All the crafty people in the area will gather together and celebrate the awesomeness of making stuff. Join us!

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Location: Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway @ Commercial Drive
Screening at 8:00pm, Craft Showcase at 7:00pm

Tickets & Info Here: http://gotcraft.com/handmadenation

Traveling across the world to sold out crowds, it is Vancouver’s turn to join the handmade revolution! Join Director Faythe Levine, July 9th, for Western Canada’s premier of Handmade Nation. Be the first in Vancouver to see the film, meet Faythe Levine and participate in a Q&A and book signing session after the screening.

Tagged as the ‘Ambassador of Handmade’, Faythe Levine has traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) ethos.

A companion book, Handmade Nation – The Rise of D.I.Y., Art, Craft, and Design, features 24 artists, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them.

For more information, visit:
Handmade Nation’s official website
Faythe Levine’s blog

Header

Nobody panic, I'm experimenting with a new blog header here.... feel free to comment. Since sock monkeys are no longer a big part of what we do (they pop up rarely), we thought we should retire our sock monkey branding. We'll see how this one works out.

Hiatus In Progress

Hi crafty people of the internets!

Maked is on a hiatus while all of us pursue other things for the summer. We've still got lots of stuff available in our etsy shop, so keep an eye on that if you need to shop!

If you want some craft blog action - feel free to head over to Lisa's blog, Burrito West, which often features crafty adventures and has nothing at all to do with burritos.

The photo at left shows a top by my new favorite Etsy shop - a designer in Montreal, Ramona Lisa Designs. I'm in love. Go check her out.

Organic Cotton Goodness

We had a blast at Got Craft last week - it was busy and packed full of awesome vendors. We've got stuff left over that we're slowly listing in our etsy shop.

I've already listed a few of our silkscreened organic cotton totes. Megan and Rhiannon had a brilliant idea for these - they sewed ties on the top so you can tie closed the bag while in use, to keep your purchases safe AND you can roll up the bag and tie it into a tiny little package (see left) - which means it's easy to throw one in your purse. I think that's awesome.

Here's a sampling of our prints - keep an eye on our etsy shop if you want one! (Click photos for larger versions.)

Craft Hiatus

Hello world!

Maked is going to be at the best craft fair in Vancouver on Sunday, May 3 (11-5)! Got Craft - with 55 super awesome indie artists selling their fabulousness! Check it out - at the Legion Hall on Commercial Dr (@ E6th Ave).

This may be your last chance to buy Maked stuff in person, as our group is going on a bit of a hiatus afterwards. Not sure what the future brings, but everyone is busy with exciting stuff in their lives, so Maked is being put on the backburner. We may return one day.... no one knows!

Thanks to everyone for their interest and support - the four of us came together because of the awesome online craft community, so we really value the network of talented people out there in the internets! Craft on!

Screenprinting

Wednesday night Megan and I did a marathon screenprinting session to finish off our 2 new product lines for Got Craft.... and everything looks awesome, if I may say so myself.

We've got organic cotton tote bags which are strong enough to carry your goods, but light enough to squish up nice and small and not take up much space in your purse - you can always have it with you!

And, we've got thick, super long jersey scarves. I wore mine today, and good thing because Vancouver has decided to revert back to January temperatures! But I was snug as a bug with my super cute scarf.

We had a lot of fun working out the images for these, and hope they'll be really popular at the fair! (Whatever doesn't sell at the fair will eventually make its way into our Etsy shop.)

We did our screenprinting at a place in Vancouver called Blim, which is a great resource - they are a Community Based Art Resource Center which facilitates screen-printing, button making, drawing, knitting, local underground audio, film screenings, animation, video, dance, spoken word, visual art, creative workshops, and crafts in the independent field. You can take workshops to learn everything you need to know about screenprinting, and you can book time in their studio space. For us urbanites living in apartments, it's perfect- we can do all the messy stuff at Blim! Definitely a place to check out if you're local and wanting to learn about screenprinting.

Clothing Swap Love

One of my favorite Vancouver events of the year is coming up this weekend (April 19) - Swap o Rama Rama!! I love this event!! I've volunteered the past 2 years and will do so again this year.... that's how much I believe in the awesomeness of this event - I want to help make it happen! The organizing torch has been passed this year to the organizer of Got Craft (best craft fair in town) in partnership with the Vancouver Craft Mafia, so I think it's going to hit a new level of awesome. (Can I set a new record for the use of the word awesome in one blog post do you think?)

The gist of the event is that you bring all your unwanted clothes - do a good spring cleaning of the closet and get rid of those things that don't fit, that you don't like, that you never wear, etc - you hand them over at the door (with an admission fee to pay for venue rental n stuff), go into the swap area, grab as much stuff as you want from the heaping piles of clothes.... then you can go to one of the craft stations and work some crafty magic on your new find. Screenprinting, sewing, stencilling, embellishments, whatever you fancy. Crafty people are on hand to assist. At the end of the day all the left over clothing goes to charity. I love it. I get rid of clothes taking up space in my wardobe (I do not have space to spare), and I get to bring home fun new stuff which saves me from having to go shopping - yay! And because all the clothes are free, I can grab some funky stuff that I probably wouldn't buy but want to try.

To find a Swap-o-rama-rama near you, check this link.

It's really seriously awesome. I highly recommend clothing swaps - even if there isn't a big swap-o-rama-rama event in your area (they happen in a couple cities), you can organize a little clothing swap amongst your friends (helps if you're all generally the same size). I did this once with some friends here and I still have a skirt and top from it that I love.... and my friends were happy to see their neglected clothing being loved by someone. It's funny how fun it is to give away your clothes to someone who LOVES it. =) Something that was buried in a drawer and never saw the light of day becomes a featured part of someone else's wardrobe - that's awesome. A cheap and fun way for everyone to renew their wardrobes.

Epsom Salts

A few months ago I acquired a single skein of Noro Silk Garden Lite in pinks, greys and purples. I decided to make a bowl and felt it. I could display pretty things in a pretty bowl. This seemed like a better idea than a hat that I wouldn't wear.

Here is the bowl:


what I didn't count on was Silk Garden not felting. There's too much silk and too little wool, then combined with my cold-water-only washing machine, I was hooped. Basically instead of getting smaller and stiff, I got a larger and floppy bowl.



This sat on my craft table for a few weeks. had thoughts of starching it but there was no starch in my house. I could have bought starch, but food and more yarn ranked higher on my priority list.
But then Ravelry came to my rescue. There were other things you could use instead of starch to stiffen projects.

1. White glue and water. Con: Can go yellow. Didn't have glue in house.
2. Sugar and water. Con: can attract bus and critters.

But the one I used was Epsom Salts! I had a tons of these because they are great to put in the bath to relieve sore and tired muscles, or mixed with a skin friendly oil as a body scrub. Wiithin 10 minutes I was boiling 6 cups of water and 6 cups of epsom salts.


While this was happening I covered a tupperware container with plastic bags and saran wrap to make a properly sized and shaped form for the bowl to dry on. I placed it on a tray covered in was paper.


Once the mixture boiled for a few minutes, I took it off the burner and let it cool down. Once it was cool enough to put my hand in, I put the bowl in the mixture until it was soaked through. The wet bowl then went onto my mold and dried overnight.

The next morning the bowl was dry and kind of firm. It could have held small ad light stuff but nothing too heavy. But by 2 days later it was completely hardened. I filled it with stray lip glosses, eye shadows and bobby pins, and placed it centrally in my room.



Overall I am really happy with this method and would definitely use it again. The drying process does take a few days, but the boiling part is really quite quick. It's also cheap and gives me another use for something I always keep in the house anyway. I had a few crystals on the rim of the bowl but they were easy to dab off with a wet cloth. I keep think of the possibilities of lace bowls, and anything that gets me thinking of a next project is a definite winner.

Sun!

You might be wondering where is Maked and why aren't they blogging about awesome crafty stuff? Our blog posts have become somewhat sparse.... are we frantically preparing for the upcoming GotCraft? Busy with orders from our Etsy shop? Well, yes, kind of a little of each of those... but, to be honest.... the sun came out in Vancouver and along with it came proper warm spring temperatures. It's been a loooooong winter, so we've all been making the most of the good weather. And, 1/4 of Maked had a birthday! Happy Birthday Megan! (Check out her brand new Etsy shop - you can see where Maked gets its cheeky sense of humour.)

We'll be back at it soon!


In the meantime, I'm pulling a project from my archives to share - one of my favorites - the Tiramisu Blanket. It's a crochet pattern by Posie Gets Cozy - you can find it here (pdf). I love the texture of the finished blanket, and the ribbon detail. I made this for friends who struggled for a long time to have a baby, so when it all finally worked out for them, it was extra special. I'm hoping the blanket gets used up until it falls apart. Made with superwash wool from Knitpics in a great buttery yellow colour. Great yarn, great pattern and I love the finished product!

Got Craft? We sure do!

We were very excited to find out recently that we've been selected as a vendor at our favorite craft fair in Vancouver: Got Craft? This was the first craft fair we ever did as Maked - so it has a special place in our hearts. It also happens to be THE BEST fair there is in town. It's been getting bigger every time as word gets out about its awesomeness. It's a great collection of indie vendors selling ridiculously creative and unique products. It always has a great vibe as a result of putting so many creative people in one room for a day.

It's also becoming legendary for another reason.... the first 30 people through the door in the morning get a swag bag filled with product samples and promotional items. Every year these swag bags get better. We're always kind of bummed that we can't stand in line for them! But, as more and more vendors apply for tables at the fair, we're very happy to have a spot even if we miss out on swag. =)

Hope all you Vancouver peeps will come out and see the awesomeness! It's May 3, 2009, 11am - 5pm at 2205 commercial Dr. Vancouver, BC To check out the list of vendors that will be there - go to the Got Craft Vendor Page.

Here's Megan and Rhiannon, hard at work making fabulous stuff for our table at Got Craft:

The Missing 'R'

I had an epiphany recently. In my ever on-going quest to reduce my impact on the environment, I remembered the old R-R-R they taught me in elementary school.... and I realized, we've all been glossing over the first and second 'R's. Reduce - Reuse - Recycle. Be honest now, how many people kind of skip right to recycle and gloss over the whole reduce and reuse parts? Especially 'reuse'?

This was highlighted to me at my office where people are really good at recycling waste paper... except a lot of it is blank on one side. So, I've started collecting the reusable paper to cut up and turn into notepads. People will now reuse the scrap paper and then recycle it. Maybe the notepads will also help remind everyone about the other poor, forgotten Rs.

Here's the proper tutorial that inspired me, over on an awesome blog on The Small Object. But I couldn't find any padding compound locally and I heard school glue works just as well so that's what I used. (It works okay, I think padding compound might be better. I have to do a few coats of school glue to get good coverage.)

I cut the paper on a paper cutter to roughly the same size, paint some glue on my stack of paper (I'll split this up into thinner pads when its dry), stack some books on top to keep it all in place, and wait for it to try. Stupid easy project. Give it a try!




While you're waiting for the glue to dry - try to think up other ways you can Reduce and Reuse to lighten our load on the planet!

Fibres West 2009

Rhi and I went with the lovely Alexa to the show this year. It was a decently long and early drive to Abbotsford but overall worth it. I was expecting the show to be larger, with more independent seller presence, and more animals, but I still managed to spend all the money I planned to spend.

My purchasing mission for the day was undyed fiber. As a result most of the pictures are less then inspiring. I'll post follow ups of the dyed and spun fibers eventually. I'll also get Rhi to post her llama pictures.



Top left: 100% local Llama from the Fibres Plus booth.
Top right: Set of felting Needles from the Shades of Narnia booth.
Middle left: Magazines from Knitopia in Langley - the wearable art, and the paper issues
Middle right: angora wool blend from a booth I can't remember. ugh.
Bottom left: 100% bombyx silk from Twist of Fate.
Bottom right: this was bought at safeway when we stopped for lunch. it'll help make the fiber more exciting.

(Side note on wrist warmer pattern: After a bit of thinking, I am going to be providing my patterns under a name other thn maked. I hope to have a website up by the end of May. However, in the mean time, if you want the armwarmer pattern, email me at {staminea at gmail dot com} and I'll email it to you.)

Egg Fun

Easter is still a ways off.... and it's been a long time since I've dyed eggs - but this tutorial has me itching to do it again!

Check out the adorable eggs - there's a full tutorial on how to achieve this awesome result over on LollyChops (pic is hers also)!

I finally did it!!!

Ok, I know that this is shameless advertising but this has taken me forever and a day to actually get my poop together so I am pretty excited and I can't contain myself!!!
Check me out heart-on and I will be adding more stuff as time goes on!!!

teaser!

Here are the wristwarmers I made from the fiber I dyed last week. Sometime in the next week we will put up a free pattern for them on the website. Get 200 grams of 28 st gauge yarn ready! You even have time to custom dye it with your own kool-aid.



Dyeing tutorial I used is here.