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