Virtual High Five...

Yesterday I spent the day surrounded by creative entrepreneurs at the Etsy Success Symposium.  It was so much good information and points big and small to work towards. I left feeling reenergized, head spinning with motivation and ideas. It's just real, real nice to be with your people too... that's Rebecca, Nguyen, Virginia and I hammin it up in the photo booth.

So with all that excitement I'm a bit behind with my weekend project, but here's a little sneak peak of a test I did below. I've also got to take little Lillian to an adoption event today. Cross your fingers that she finds a good home today!

Hope you're having a great weekend so far!

Inspired by...

the photography of Hideaki Hamada...

I can just hear the whir of the fan and their little kid distorted Darth Vader voices and feel that warm sun. Makes me want to be a kid again! I fell hard for Hideaki Hamada's images of his sons. They encapsulate so well the sense of everyday wonder and adventure of being a kid. These brother's seem so close. I wish I had a sibling that I could have grown up with, just like these two, discovering the world together! And, another thing I love is that a lot of his work is shot on film.

There are so many sweet photographs of these boys on Hideaki Hamada flickr and blog. Also, don't you just want to hang out with this family?! 

My lately...

1. Studio organization never ends.
2. Banjo cat with his little pouty lower lip. You should have seen his eyes when we first found him. What a recovery!
3. My new Purl class is tonight! I'm really excited, so I made a new sample piece for it. You can check out my classes page or FB to stay up to date with my latest classes.
4. Did you see my latest DIY project to make snail mail even better?
5. Exploring an old building with my fave model, the handsomest Jeremy.
6. This is my favorite pic of the past week- Bug watching me walk our new foster dog Mrs. Lillian Vernon. Jealous, creepy and cute.

Speaking of, meet Mrs. Lill in all her tiny, sweetness. She was found wondering the streets in the Bronx, dirty, scared and starving. I'm fattening her up and hopefully helping to restore her confidence with people. She's 12, but so spunky. If you or anyone you know would like to adopt her hit me up or Badass Brooklyn Rescue.

Her funny tail kills me! Hope you had a great weekend!

Weekend Project

DIY Miniature Tea Bag Shaped Letter Sachet

For last week's DIY project I made button & string envelopes and thought I'd stick to the snail mail theme and make little letter sachets.  I bought these tiny fish shaped letter scents at a now closed Japanese store in NYC. I'd never seen anything like them before, so I hoarded them away with my stationary supplies. The store owner told me they were called Fumiko, but I wasn't able to find anything about them. If you know any of the history of letter sachets, please share!

Stuff these into your envelopes for a sweetly scented letter. A vellum envelope would be so nice with these. I love the idea of adding another sense experience to receiving a hand written correspondence. Only makes a great thing greaterer better!



You'll need:
Template
Fabric
Ruler
Rotary blade (optional)
Scissors
Iron
Fusible webbing
Tweezers
3.5 in string

1. Cut out tea bag shape with the template or measure a 2.5 x 1 in. shape with tapered corners.
2. Iron in half and adhere one side of the tea bag with fusible webbing. Remove paper backing of the fusible webbing.
3. Iron about 1/8th of an inch on both sides of the tea bag. 
4. Fill the bag with your scent. It's helpful to use tweezers. I had some loose lavender, but you could use other herbs or spices like chamomile, vanilla beans, rosemary...
5. Tuck a string into the open bag about an 1/2 in. in down.
6. Seal the bag closed by ironing the top and angled sides.
7. Make the tea bag tags by cutting small rectangles out of matching fabric and ironing to fusible webbing. 
8. Cut out tab shapes, fold in half, and insert the tail end of the string. Iron closed over the string to seal. 
9. Tiniest tea sachet!

p.s I you can also machine or hand sew these suckers up easily. I'm just all about the no sew. Funny, I use my sewing machine mainly just to sew paper. I'd like to change that soon and make these!

Please let me know if you give these a try. I'd love to see how it comes out!

More Make! Via la snail mail!

New Class at Purl Soho

Embroidery Basics - Custom Monogram


So excited about my new class at Purl Soho. I really wanted to do a project based class, where you can leave with a finished piece. We'll be making these insanely cute customizable embroidery pieces. If you're in NY and looking to learn embroidery or just take a fun class I hope you'll join me! The class meets Monday night 3/26 & 4/2 at 7 p.m. Find out all the details here.

I also have a basic embroidery class that goes over a bunch of stitches, Stitch Dictionary. Tuesdays 4/3 & 4/10 6-8pm. 

my lately...

Goats & greek food.

This past weekend I visited friends in my old hood, Rochester. My friend Nicola is an amazing chief and makes the best baklava from an old family recipe. She was going to cook a Greek Feast for 40 in a small town just out of Ithaca, so I really wanted to visit and take part.

Part of the feast for Nicola was curating the fresh, local ingredients right off of farms. The highlight for me was visiting Clover Meadow Creamery where we picked up goat's milk and yogurt. It's baby season and the farm had 30 new kids! They are expecting about 60. They were so kind and brought out lots of baby goats for me & Nicola. I've seen baby goat's before, but to see these children carrying them out just for us made me start crying. Such a cry baby!

I loved seeing the behind the scenes in this amazing kitchen where the feast was prepared. I've never been in such an open, bright, and functional kitchen.

Opa!

You can also click on each image for more on Flickr....
More goat pics here!
More food pics here!

Weekend Project

Make Mail! DIY Button & String Envelope

Making and receiving good mail – not bills, not ads, no junk, but a hand written letter – is such a pleasure. I've always been smitten with stationery and office supplies, especially if it's vintage. I don't think I'm the only one who gets excited to shop for sticky notes, new pens and gummed labels!

I wanted to send a nice package to my mother. I wanted her to know that I was thinking of her and make her feel special, so I put together this little fun, creative care package. I got a bunch of little things at one of my favorite NY haunts, Kinokuniya, a Japanese book store, and shipped them to CA in a handmade button & string envelope. You can make yours any size- just use any envelope size as a template. Or you can use one of these wooden templates or these envelope template Illustrator files. This is the kind of envelope I used (6 x 9"), and lots more free templates here.


You'll need:

Paper or card stock (I used a vintage file folder)

Old envelope (for template)

Pencil/sharpie

Scissors

Ruler

Bone folder

Glue

1" circular punch

Eyelet & eyelet tool set

Craft or regular hammer

Cutting board

11" string (I used unwaxed linen thread)

1. Carefully open all the seams of an envelope that you'd like to recreate. This is your template. Place it over your own paper and trace the outline with a pencil or sharpie, and then cut out the shape.
2. Use a ruler and bone folder to score and fold the flaps of the envelope. 
3. Glue the sides and bottom flaps together. Don't use too much glue. Place a scrap piece of paper into the envelope, so you don't accidentally glue the envelope shut. 
4. Punch or cut out your button shapes. They don't have to be circular! Use your eyelet kit and hammer to punch holes in the center of your button shapes over a cutting board. (The eyelet punch will be round, hollow and has a sharp edge.)
5. Mark the envelope flap in the center where the top button will be. Your template envelope may have this measured for you. Punch a guide hole here with the same eyelet punch. Tie string around an eyelet. 
6. Place one button part over the eyelet tied with string, then place the flap over the button piece. Use the eyelet setting tool and hammer against the straight end of the eyelet. Don't tap the hammer too hard or you'll smash the eyelet too much. 
7. Mark where the second button will be placed about 1 inch from the first button on the flap. Insert a small cutting board or hard surface into the envelope. Punch the eyelet hole. Insert eyelet, then the second button shape, and set the eyelet. 

My favorite part are the little, vintage details: the gummed label, the screen printed label on the file folder, and of course the button & string closure...

Make someone's day and make them a good mail day package!! Have you ever received a surprise package that made your day? One year for my birthday some friends made me a package full of vintage goodness, embroidery threads, and even a tea pot!

Behind the scenes

on photography day...


Spent the sunny afternoon hours photographing some items for the shop yesterday. I really enjoy planning a shoot, styling the images and pulling props from around the house. Between my boyfriend and I, we have our own mini prop house. I always like the moment where the mess I've made becomes a lovely tableau. I find it so hard to create randomness, but if I step back from my work there it is...






I'll be offering up blank library catalog cards and glass vials I use as storage for crafty bits and our travel collections. They'll come with a set of label stickers too!

Funny how my offerings here are all about collecting and storing. I like the idea of creating a personal archive. I'll have these ready by the end of the week. I'm not sure about the quantities I'll offer as these are really destash items. What do you think? 25 cards in a pack, or more? Bottles in sets of 3 or 5? I'd love to hear!

my lately...

1. Making little sweet love notes.
2. I gots my hrrr did! I've wanted to rock a shaved side for.ever. Finally, just up and did it. Still getting used to it- feels so weird.
3. A trip to the Rubin Museum. This was my favorite piece of the current show, Modernist Art from India. Those colors and that red wall! I also have baby brain right now so...
4. Every weekend I think, "What should I do?" And I know I should clean, or do laundry, or something responsible, but somehow sweets & NY always win. This week, Dunwell Donuts & tea then the book store.
5. Spent many hours at Kinokuniya just browsing Japanese craft books- love their aesthetic. I also got a bunch of paper & stationary goods to make a little care package for my mom.
6. I did get in some Sunday cleaning, but instead of feeling accomplished I just feel like a hoarder. I've got so much stuff: mounds of paper, vintage this & thats, acorns, rocks, fabric, threads, and so much random stuff. Halp!

Best part of my weekend was just being lazy at home. Jeremy made some  no bake cookies and we just hung out. I'm such a homebody. What was the best part of your weekend?

Weekend Project

DIY Red Cross iphone Cross Stitch Case 


One obsession of my boyfriend's that I fully support is his love the red cross symbol. So, for christmas I made him this phone case. I don't often cross stitch, but after seeing a the cases at Purl Soho I wanted to give it a try. The case kit comes with a needle, a few thread colors, and some pretty lame patterns (think teddy bears and sports cars). I wanted a more masculine color scheme and a pattern that he would like. My inspiration came from an old military trunk in our bed room.

This project will take more than a weekend probably. I made this over a week or so and just enjoyed zoning out stitching it. My boyfriend has been using the case and while it has matted the stitches down from being in his pocket all the time, and is a bit darker now, it still looks pretty good. I do wish the case was a little firmer though. I really enjoyed making this (especially designing the pattern!), so maybe I need to make one for me too.

You'll need:
My pattern, see below
Leese Cross stitch case (comes with needle or 24 Tapestry needle)
DMC embroidery thread (535 gray, 347 red, 3051 green)
Scissors
Thimble

1. To start each piece of thread, knot the end of an arms length of 3 ply thread.  Start with red thread and locate the center point on the case (the yellow square on the pattern). Starting from the center out, use the tent stitch, which is basically one diagonal half of a cross stitch, and start stitching the large cross. Starting at the center makes it easier to count stitches and follow the pattern.                                                                                                      
2. To end a length of thread tuck your needle under a few stitches on the back side of the case and then cut the excess thread close to the case.
3. Stitch the circle, then the top and bottom bands (gray areas on pattern). Make sure to leave space for the little red cross on the bottom band. 
4. Stitch the small red cross in a 2 ply cross stitch. It's raised, and makes a nice detail.
5. Fill in the rest of the canvas in with 3 ply tent stitches. 

Note: If you want to make traditional cross stitches use a 2 ply thread. I used a tent stitch because the weave of the plastic mesh felt too tight, and I struggled with cross stitches. I tried 3 ply cross stitches on the very bottom rows (see pic below). It felt too tight and looked messy to me. Less thread would help, so try 2 ply.  

Another note: Once you're stitching you'll notice that the pattern is missing a row of stitches along the outer edge. I scanned the grid from the packaged directions provided by Leese, but since the outer most part of the weave was not intended for stitching it's not on the gird. BUT, I found that I could stitch through this part. It's a bit harder to push the needle through, so try using a thimble.  I liked that the stitches now covered the entirety of the case without a bit of the weave showing on the outer edge.

So, you gonna try this or what? I wanna see if you do!

p.s I thought I was so clever with my "Weekend Projects" title, but I guess it's been awhile since I've been to Poppytalk, cause they have a recurring feature of the same name. I really like having a weekly DIY project to share, so then what do I call this recurring feature on my blog?! Halp!

Recent stitches...

Heart factory.

One of my favorite parts of making these tokens of love is imagining where these pieces end up in their new homes. Alice received her package and left some super, gooey sweet feedback for me, which I'm so thankful for. She also attached this pic, which I quite like. Thank you!

My lately...

Ginger beard & cat feets

Had to start with a picture of my boys looking oh so sweet on a very lazy Sunday. My SLR has been collecting some dust since I discovered instagram, but today I took her out and I'm so glad I did. Jeremy and I were playing with a harmonica which drives Bug crazy for lovin (video proof below). This is not normal. He's pretty much a jerk! Albeit, a super cute jerk.

And now my instagrams....

1. Green juice to help me beat my sinuses into shape.
2. Recent stitches.
3. My embroidery class at Purl Soho. 
4. So grateful for my unoffice!
5. Hacksaws & embroidery, just the everyday life of a crafter...
6. Making my weekend project: DIY wood spool photo holder
7. Visited the Brooklyn flea this weekend & spotted Brady & Kowalski's typewriter booth
8. Cat superman! Banjo helping me enjoy the laziest Sunday. 
9. Banjo won't stop licking himself (which drives me crazy!) so I covered his body with a pillow. His head is poked out on the other side... so cute!

More instagrams @miniaturerhino...

So how was your week?!