Tutorials

One of my new favorite past time (besides searching Etsy for amazing items) is searching the web for wonderful tutorials. There are so many creative people out there that have created things that I want to learn how to make. I am always looking for new ways to use recycled sweaters and can easily find free patterns on the internet. I am thinking about making slipper using recycled sweaters!
One tutorial I found was how to refashion a t-shirt into a new style. I LOVE this. Here is my first attempt at refashioning a t-shirt. Hopefully this will just be the first of many I will make. The possibilties of patterns and colors are endless... I am also looking for a great tutorial or pattern to make undies out of recycled t-shirts. I made one pair so far and they are pretty fun! (Sorry, I'm not including a picture of those)

Check out my list of tutorials running along side this blog entry. Let me know how your creations turn out if you make anything! I am always interested in other tutorails too if you find something you want to share.

Holiday Season Approaching

This year I have taken the "Handmade Pledge". I pledge to give only handmade gifts this year... possibly with one small exception. My daughter has been hoping for an American Girl Doll... If you have not yet discovered Etsy, please take a trip to www.etsy.com and think about supporting these crafters/artists when gathering gifts to give this season. There are also a number of great craft sales coming up where you can find a great gift for the person who has everything. I was just at the Hood River Saturday Market Holdiday sale and found some great handmade wooden cooking utensils and cutting boards. You never know what you will find from all of the creative people around.



Here are a couple of sales I will be at this winter.

Outlaw Crafters Sale
Hazel Dell Grange Hall
7509 NE Hazel Dell
Saturday,November 29th
10am-5pm

Handmade NW Downtown Holiday Fair
World Trade Center in Downtown Portland
Tuesday, December 2nd
10am-6pm


2 Hand Revolution
August Moon Community Center
Vancouver, Washington
Saturday, December 6th
11am-5pm


Handmade NW Formal Holiday Artisans Fair
The Chelsea Ballroom
1510 SE 9th
Portland, Oregon
Sunday, December 7th
11am-6pm


Hip Happening Sale
Sellwood Masonic Lodge
Portland, Oregon
Saturday, December 13th
11am-6pm

Hope to see you there!

Stores

I have been busily working to get my crafts done to sell at the numerous holiday sales I have applied for. Not only am I busy creating for the sales, but I have also added my wares to a couple of shops in Portland, Vancouver, and Hood River.

Bowl of Thistle is located in Sellwood, Oregon and is a great shop filled with locally made items. I am officially the artisan from farthest east. I am selling my mittens at this location.

8036 Se 13th Ave. Portland, Oregon 97202

Phone: 503-477-8750

Email: BowlofThistles@gmail.com

www.bowlofthistles.com


Boomba Toomba is located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. It is a store that sells wonderful baby items, many made by crafty moms like me. I am selling my cloth diaper covers there.

Boomba Toomba Is located @ 1705 Broadway Street
In Downtown Vancouver, WA

Contact us:
360-607-4552
BoombaToomba@gmail.com
www.boombatoomba.com


Cutie Pie Consignment located in Hood River, OR at Mall 202, just a block off Oak Street. This is where I have a number of items including tag blankets, recieving blankets, tooth pillows and cloth diapers

Small Planet Trading is located in Hood River, OR in Mall 202... the same mall as above. Small Planet Trading is a shop that sells fair trade items from all over the world. They sell items that are made to give the artisan fair livable wage. I have mittens, purses and vinyl wallets at this location.

My First Show

I had my first show yesterday and although it was a slow day, it was a success! I got some excellent feedback and my mittens were a hit.

The show was called Handmade NW 2008 Fall Artisans Fair at Montgomery Park in Portland. There were about 20 vendors and we were set up in the atrium of the building.

We had all applied to be in the Crafty Wonderland Colossal Holiday Sale and are anxiously awaiting the email that tells us if we are in or not. I guess that is the motherload of all indi holiday sales in the area. I'm crossing my fingers that I will get a favorable email soon!!!

Fall/Winter Portland Craft Shows

So I am trying to break into the craft market in Portland and have found some great shows. Now it is just a matter of getting my work selected to be a vendor. If you are in the Portland, Oregon area and want to check out some great urban crafting here are a couple to see.


Crafty Wonderland
The 2nd Sunday of Every Month
at Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside, Portland, OR
11am-4pm * All Ages * Free Admission


Portland Craft Mafia

Date: Saturday September 27, 2008

Time: 5-10 PM

Location; Secret Society Ballroom/ 116 NE Russell St/ Portland Oregon (www.secretsociety.net)

Cost: $2 at the door, kids 12 and under are free

Features: 25 local crafters, door prizes, free swag bags for the first 30 adults in the door, open bar

For more information check out http://www.portlandoregoncraftmafia.com/

Crafty Wonderland
Super Colossal Holiday Sale - 2008!
Featuring art and handmade goods from over 125 amazing vendors!!
Sunday, December 14th
from 11am-7pm
at The Oregon Convention Center - Exhibit Hall E
777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232

Fall Artisans Fair at Montgomery Park!

Handmade NW at Montgomery Park - October 2008; Flier designed by Sweet Bonny :: www.mailen00.etsy.com

When

Date(s): October 14th and 15th, 2008
Time(s): 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. both days

Location

Montgomery Park
2701 NW Vaughn Street
Portland, OR 97210


More Handmade NW

• Tuesday, December 2nd - Handmade NW Downtown Holiday Artisans Fair at The World Trade Center!
• Sunday, December 7th - Handmade NW Formal Holiday Artisans Fair at Chelsea Ballroom!
• Saturday, December 20th - Handmade NW Farmers Market Holiday Artisans Fair at The PSU Ballroom!
• Sunday, December 21st - Handmade NW Solstice Holiday Artisans Fair at The Bossanova!

DIY Holiday Craft Show and sale

2Hand Revolution

December 6, 2008
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
August Moon Community Center
111 W. 39th St., Vancouver

Vendors, arts, music, food, drinks and sweet, sweet craftiness.

Vinyl wallets

I like to try and reuse items to make into something new. I came up with vinyl covered wallets that are made from found objects. I started with using scrapbooking paper since it comes in such wonderful patterns. Once I got my technique down, I started experimenting with other types of paper too. I found that making wallets with paint chips... you know the ones you can get for free at the paint stores... made wonderfully colorful wallets. I went crazy gathering up paint chips each time I was near the paint section! How many of those can you take as free samples before it becomes a problem? I guess I will be the first to find out.

When making these wallets I ran into two problems. Finding a sewing machine that wanted to sew through two layers of vinyl and two pieces of paper. My firs sewing machine was too whimpy and once I got a new (used) machine, it found that sewing through such thick material was no problem. I also learned that I needed to use thread with polyester blend or the thread was keep breaking on me... My other problem was finding a snap that was heavy enough to go through all of the layers, but not too big and bulky that it was overwhelming for the wallets. I finally settled on "colored snaps". These worked better than the fun pearl snaps that I loved so much.

I have started experimenting with other fun "paper" to make wallets from such as Bingo cards, flash cards, vintage book pages, vintage wallpaper. I am having so much fun with these. I can't wait to see what else will become my latest wallet.

Reversible Headband from Scraps

What do you do with all of the scraps from your craft projects? I hate to throw them away to end up in a landfill, so instead I tend to keep them hoping for a future project. This is what I came up with. Reversible headbands made from scraps. I can make the headbands wide or thin depending on the size of scraps I have. I can mismatch the fabrics or pick a color or pattern theme. This headband is made from scraps of recycled bed sheets I had been using for a number of other projects.
The neighbor girls have been my testers to make sure I am getting the size right. Making crafts for others is always so much more rewarding. Seeing my neighbor wearing her headband on our walk the school puts a smile on my face.