whoops-a-daisy

LensHero

2010-12-21T15:10:00.003-06:00

Have you checked out LensHero yet? If not you should. I ran across it by accident killing time the other afternoon and was pretty impressed. It's a fairly straight forward system to help you choose a lens (or several) that fit your budget and your camera system. You can filter them by style of lens (macro/zoom/etc) or have the system suggest something for you. The results are nicely done and include photos of the lenses, your typical specs (aperature/stops), and weight/size information. The page for an individual lens has linked reviews and more technical information. The only thing they don't seem to offer is telling them what you have and suggesting lenses that would fill in the holes in your system, or a space to share photographs taken with a particular lens to get an idea of what's possible. Overall? I think my wallet may get a little lighter now that I've discovered more lenses than I knew existed for my camera. LensHero has the foundations of what looks like it's going to be a great site. They're also giving away some nice lenses and toys to kick off the launch of the site- but be quick. The contest ends on the 23rd though, so be quick.

Published!

2010-12-21T11:08:00.004-06:00

For those of you that have been following me for a while- I spent some time writing tutorials for Instructables.com and really enjoyed it. I received an email a few weeks ago from one of the editors, wondering if she could use two of my older projects (fusible binding and color picking 101) for a potential ebook project.

And it's available now as an epub through the itunes store. (If you have a reader but epubs don't work for you- think about trying calibre, a free ebook organizer and converter.) You can also see the other projects in the book by vising this page at instructables. Thanks for including me with some other great projects, there are definitely some I want to try!

moving forward

2010-12-21T10:57:00.004-06:00

I need to start writing more- I've been neglecting this space a lot, and in truth I just don't have the same time I used to for making things. My dissertation and research have been taking up the largest portion of time, but as some of you know I stopped eating both gluten and most dairy a few years ago and my life has changed drastically when I no longer have access to convenience type foods. I'm now making and cooking almost everything I put in my mouth, and while it's a wonderful way to live it cuts hugely into my available time. I had originally started this writing to try and document my crafting and making, and at the time I was actively selling things on Etsy. That too has unfortunately fallen short.

I'm planning on re-purposing this space a bit, and starting to talk about some of the other adventures in "making" I've been working on. I've got several posts I'm working on about projects I've been involved in and some cool photography stuff. If you're still reading, I hope you'll stick with me.

Spring has sprung

2010-04-05T15:46:00.003-05:00

I know it's still cold in many other parts of the country, but here in southern Louisiana it feels like it's almost summer already. I'm getting a late start due to lots to do at work, but I've been spending evenings in the garden to try and get some vegetables started. I started seeds last week with little peat pots, but the place where I've bought them before was out this weekend when I went to buy more. My neighbor helped me and we made tons of newspaper seed pots (I didn't write a tutorial but you can find one here). I used a $1 bud vase from walmart instead of a toilet paper tube, but it's the same principle.

I'm excited- having someone co-garden this year has energized me to really get going. We started 29 different things and still have a handful of seed packets to get to, but it's going to be grand (and a whole pantry full of canned food for the winter). My fig tree I was given last year has a whole 3 figs on it as well!

A return to blogging and a change in direction

2010-04-01T11:38:00.005-05:00

So I've been far far away mentally and had mostly stopped blogging. I had started this site as a way to keep up with my crafty projects, and in the past two years I haven't been crafting very much. Life's been busy and graduate school has moved from time consuming to life consuming- but blogger has been calling to me...

I keep meaning to update and write, but then I have to decide whether it's crafty enough. And I just haven't had the time to write when I've actually made something. I'm hoping in the next few weeks and months to try and write more about what's going on around me in life. There have been several life changes that have eaten into my crafting time, and I'm going to start trying to incorporate those into this writing. I found out I needed to eat gluten free several years ago, and time that previously went to crafty pursuits was consumed by learning about new flours, new ingredients, and making almost everything that goes into my mouth. About that same time I moved into a new house, by myself, and now have a yard and house to take care of!

I've been inspired by Mallory over at Miss Malaprop and Becky at Artsy-Crafty Babe who are both fellow Louisiana girls I've met in person that seem to always find time to share, even though their lives are as crazy as mine!

Expect to see some changes, and I can't wait to hear what you think.

WOW! summer's been busy busy busy

2009-07-10T12:10:00.005-05:00

It's by busiest time of the year for work and it's been insane so far! I haven't had a lot of time to sew or be crafty, though I did quilt a quilt for my mom (the adorable hexagon baby quilt above). I of course forgot to take a photo before I mailed it off for her to bind, but it had a nice medium meander in pink varigated thread. I also made some summer dresses, but I'll do another post about those.

I've been trying to keep up with the crafty blogs as well- it's of course been Couture Fashion week which always makes me drool a little bit. The Cut published an amazing video this afternoon of what goes into the Chanel Haute Couture process, and it's inspiring and a little bit frightening at the same time.

You've also got another week to finish (or start) something for the CRAFT and Singer Swimsuit Cover Up Contest. They're giving away some nice prizes, including a sewing machine, dress form, and gift certificates to the Maker Shed.

I've been.....

2009-05-16T17:16:00.001-05:00

I've been a busy little sewing bee!
updates to come....

Featured!

2009-04-28T15:37:00.004-05:00

I'd like to thank the folks over at instructables for featuring my "cupcake in a teacup" tutorial from last week! I was very excited to see it on the homepage as well!

Patchwork Swap Gifty Goodness!

2009-04-24T11:03:00.002-05:00

So I signed up to participate in Lindamade's Patchwork Swap last month... and made the cute "cupcake in a teacup" pincushion in the post before this one. I mailed it off with a pile of fun and bright fabrics (Kelly said she liked bright/jewel tones)... and I got this fabulous box in return!

And the adorable little bag is filled with my fabric and ribbon! The chocolate was delicious (in the shape of a foot for the NC Tar Heels), and I couldn't eat the cookies, but according to my student worker they're amazing.

And while the fabric was amazing... my favorite part? the bumble bee slap bracelet!

Tutorial: How to make a Recycled/Upcycled Pincushion

2009-04-20T21:21:00.002-05:00

I've been a busy girl recently with work and life, but took some time out to participate in a fabric swap over at Lindamade. I got Kelly as a partner (she doesn't have a blog to link to!) but I made her an adorable pincushion made from a vintage teacup and recycled and repurposed sweaters. I fell so in love with it I had to make one for myself too (below with the green trim).

I thankfully thought far enough in advance to take photos of how I made the whole thing! Just in time for Earth Day, I went ahead and published it as an instructable (link embedded below)... but I'm not sure how I like the format for a project that's so photograph intensive. I also have the whole series up over on flickr and might try to create a PDF that's easy to read and follow!

I also picked up a few extra neat containers in the quest for *just the right one* to use for hers! I really really like the effect of the cupcake type top and the vintage tea cup with hers, but don't rule out seeing some of these in my etsy shop.

Let me know what you think of the instructable/tutorial. If there's something that's not clear let me know and I can fix it before I do the next version!

Recycled Teacup Pincushion - More DIY How To Projects

Eye Candy Online Magazines

2009-04-19T10:43:00.002-05:00

- If you haven't checked out Parasolmag yet you should- beautiful eye candy available as a PDF or viewable is issu.

- Also, Blanket Magazine Online- all downloadable in PDF!

Check them both out for beautiful inspiration and photographs.

Publishing opportunities!

2009-04-16T13:28:00.005-05:00

Several people have asked me how I happened to get my work published in the "1000 Artist's Journal Pages" Book that was published last June. I found out about the opportunity at the time through the Etsy Traveling Journal Project (Which is now defunct, unfortunately).

I've recently run across a couple more open submissions for project type publications for those of you that might be interested:

- 1000 Artisan Textiles (Published by Quarry Books, the same group that published the book my journal pages are in) Submissions are due June 1, 2009!

- Bead Star (Jewelry project magazine). Submissions are due May 1, 2009!

- Lark Books is looking for Submissions on anodized aluminum jewelry, Iron Wire Jewelry, and unique jewelry made from leather/fur/skins. (Submission dates vary)

If you submit work- let me know! I've got projects in mind for two of them!

Busy Busy Spring

2009-04-02T13:26:00.003-05:00

As it warms up here it's been a busy busy spring already! (sorry for those of you in the land of the cold and snow). The cute little froggy is from being out and about in the woods last week- he was just relaxing on some reeds... I had an odd weekend other than the crazy weather here in Louisiana- I'm single again for the first time in a long time and it's kind of odd. I'm hoping to focus some of this energy to get things done for ME.

I got the door that's been leaning in my studio actually hung on the hinges this past weekend. It's from my old house and when I moved, the landlord told me to go ahead and take a door if I wanted it for the new house (they were selling half the properties they owned). The only unfortunate thing is that the door is about three inches to short at the bottom! It's definitely entertainment to see how many kitty toys are under the door when I get home.

Some Cool New Crafty Freebies:

* Orange you lucky! has a great free embroidery pattern of a bunny for the spring and easter!

* And this morning Creature Comforts posted a great link to a site called Canon Creative Park (japanese site, but in english!). She also had some great free aqua and orange mailing labels which you can find here.

* I also recently checked in with Amy Butler's website for the first time in a while and they've updated the free patterns page with lots of new fun things to make (all in PDF).

* Anna Maria Horner has a great new free quilt pattern up on her blog for her new quilt called "Folk Dance".

* Fat Quarter Shop has an adorable free pattern for a heart shaped pin cushion.

* Purl Bee makes me want to knit again with this fantastic spring scarf pattern.

enjoy :)

Art Wall

2009-03-27T14:42:00.004-05:00

On Flickr long long ago I saw an art wall where one of my contacts (I swear it was heatherjeany but I can't find the photo today, so I may be wrong) had taken all the small art she'd purchased, gotten similar frames and started hanging them all on a wall in her living room and I was inspired to do the same. I found a similar photo (at left) on Saídos da Concha's photostream. My frames are black, but the same general idea.

Over the past few years, I've purchased some awesome line art from Briana Lamar of Moonswallow, a mini quilt from Shelece, original sketches from Spookydaddy Toys, mini-watercolors from Lollipopart, and a lino-cut print from Rainy Prints. My criteria for purchase is reasonably simple... it has to be an original, water color or pen, and it has to make me smile.

Today I made an exciting purchase which has inspired me to get moving on this project and hang all the art. For many years I've been in love with J. Vincent Scarpace's abstract fish art- I found him randomly on eBay when I was looking for some affordable original art to hang when I lived in Providence. It was always just out of my price range, and by the time I had saved enough to purchase one... he was no longer selling them on ebay. He now has his own site Ipaintfish.com and sells sketches and painting, but still out of my price range. So today in my email box I get an email.... Special $3 sketches! ACK- I'm now the proud owner of two small 3 x 5 fish painting to add to my art wall! (one of which is pictured to the right!!)

So this weekend I'm going to frame up the rest of my prints and get hanging! Pictures to come!!!

What have I done today?

2009-03-03T15:29:00.003-06:00

The short answer is not as much as I had hoped to do, though some of it was productive.

-I signed up for the patchwork swap over at Lindamade.

-I had purchased a non-working sigma lens from ebay for my Sony Alpha. It was dirt cheap ($10 with free shipping) and the seller claimed he didn't have a camera to test it on, so it was "as-is." I figured if it didn't work I'd take it apart and see what was inside... And it didn't work as expected. Though none of the grinding sounds or other bad things that normally occur with bad lenses. Upon some further research, the lens I purchased (a 35-135 Macro) appears to be an old lens in gorgeous shape. The even better part? It appears to not really be broke, but that the older sigmas have firmware on the chip that just needs to be update. I called the service center this morning, and it's a FREE upgrade (and a $10 shipping charge). So all total- new macro zoom lens will be under $30!

-Started cleaning and listing some odds and ends on Ebay. Next up- cleaning out the studio to list on etsy.

Review: The Stumpwork, Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection

2009-03-02T11:49:00.004-06:00

I recently purchased the book "The Stumpwork, Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection" by Jane Nicholas from Amazon after drooling over it for a while. A friend of mine had sent me a link to it several months ago and it had been on my wishlist for a while now.... combined with about $10 in mechanical turk money, I splurged.

I have to start with the fact that having this book in my hot little hands makes me wish I had splurged when he first sent me the link! It's a lot more substantial than I first expected it to be- no slim crafty book here. It's 405 pages and hardcover, think reference book. Even better than just featuring the embrodery, the book is scientifically accurate as well and talks about history, taxonomy, and the people behind the love of beetles! It's absolutely intricate and detailed, and while I admit I bought it to drool over I may actually have to try my hand at a few of these to hang over my desk!

Jane also has a cool website Janenicholas.com where she's got books, kits, and galleries of her other works. Next on the purchase list, Stumpwork Dragonflies....

Lifehacker meets quilters!

2009-03-01T18:37:00.002-06:00

The Workspace
Originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie

Wow.

One word sums up what I thought as I came across this glorious workspace today.

As many of you know, I'm a science geek as well as a crafty girl, and I routinely read Lifehacker. It's part of the gawker family (Gawker, Jezebel, etc) of blogs and they spend all day posting ways to make your life easier.

One of the features I always enjoy is the "Workspace Show and Tell" which routinely features gaming stations, HD theaters in home, etc. Think geeky paradise. They've got a group on flickr where you can post photos of a workspace or workspace makeover called appropriately Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell.

Back to the photos I've een drooling over. So Lifehacker posts their show and tell today, and My first thought was that google reader made an error! no way! They featured a garage turned quilting studio~!

So- you can see the original post and details behind the redo at Atwater Village Newbies by way of Lifehacker's Show and Tell. You can also head over to flickr to view the entire photo set!

Anyone want to help me rearrange?

2009-02-08T13:28:00.003-06:00

For those of you that haven't been following for a while, I had submitted the pages I did for the Traveling Journal Book over on etsy's forums to Quarry Book's "1000 artist journal pages" and mine were chosen and published! It was actually released this summer, but I finally picked up my copy a few weeks ago and I have to admit- It looks great! More information and a review to come!

On Amazon

In love with on etsy...

2009-01-30T11:14:00.003-06:00

Oh Moxie and Oliver why must you tempt me so? I *LOVE* this purse.

blog redesign

2009-01-29T16:30:00.004-06:00

I'd like to thank the people over at Design Disease for the fabulous new blogger template. This is one of their free themes available all the way to the right on their main site. I actually found them from a comment in a post on Smash Magazine's 45 excellent blog designs (which was inspiring).

I haven't been happy with the standard cookie cutter blogger backgrounds for a while, but absolutely love this one. it's fun and funky without being over the top.

Free Crafty Things, Samples, Swatches, etc!

2009-01-29T14:18:00.004-06:00

Many of us are facing the crunch of the recession and facing cutbacks. I'm sure that as many of you know from doing your own budgeting, crafts and hobbies were the first to go on my list of expenses to trim. I've been consciously working the supplies I have, and only buying things I need (like elastic last week for a costume).

So what's better than shopping? Free crafty and sewing things. Some require you to sign up for a shop's email list, others are free with shipping and handling. Many of the scrapbooking sites have free printable things.

These are a variety of links, and I haven't done them all personally. Much of this information is from the slick deals website, but much of it can scattered and hard to find over there, so for you viewing pleasure... free crafty things!

(i've checked most of the links, but if you find a bad one let me know!)

Free "Jewels" for joining the Online Quilt Club

Fabrics-Store Free Fabric Samples

Free Yarn Card Samples

Free Knitting Patterns

FiberShop Free Yarn Samples

Free pdf Pattern from Cherry Yarn

KNoon Designs Free Patterns

Free Sample from Lana Knits

Database of Arts and Crafts Freebies

Online Knitting School

NeedlePointers.com - Samples and More

Free Flame Resisitant Fabric Samples - call in

Free American Drapery Fabric Samples

Shower Curtain Store - Free Fabric Samples Page

Free Leather and Fabric Samples

Free Curtain Fabric Samples

Free Fabric Samples from Vassar - email

North Solar Screen - Free Fabric Samples

Free Leather Sample

Oriental Fabrics Email for free Sample Swatches

Free Rubber Stamper and More

PatchKraft Free Swatches

PriceYourSuit Free Fabric Swatches

Free Patterns

http://www.pccrafter.com/pchugclu...ntent.aspx

http://www.ulead.com/mse/free-tem...winter.htm

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday...clip1.html

http://www.ulead.com/mse/free-tem...istmas.htm

http://www.ulead.com/mse/free-template_01jun.htm

http://www.ulead.com/mse/free-template_01apr.htm

Five Free Paper Samples from Leader Paper

Free Photo Paper Samples

Free Sample from Daiei Papers

Free Sample Kit from Living Tree Paper

Free Organic Wedding Paper Sample

Free Samples of IBM Paper

Free Paper Samples from Q-Cee's

Free Samples from Paper Thoughts

Free Paper Tube Samples

Free HP Paper Packs

Free Samples from Ripped Sheets

Free Sample Paper Pack from NoCopi

Free Soft Paper Sample

Free Samples from Cox Paper

Free Linen Paper Samples

Free Colored Paper or Envelope Samples

Free Wedding Paper Sample

Free Safety Paper Sample

Free Commerce Paper Samples

Free Diecut Paper Samples

Free Samples from Twisted Limb Paper

Free Samples from WhiteHallPrinting

Malloy - Free Packet of Paper

Free Samples from Reich Paper (says to contact them)

Lean On Me Bookends

Free Cloth Doll Patterns

Bringing Home the Tree

2009-01-15T18:21:00.005-06:00

So as many of you saw in the last post, I got the bug to start doing things again after being home for the holidays and seeing my mom back on the making kick. She and my father retired and built a "cabin" on a mountain in the woods. It's nice, but my dad's garage is bigger than my house. On that note, my mother has a beautiful space to work as well, with two big windows and great light!

So they don't live far from Keepsake Qui lting, and they went one weekend and as my father wandered he apparently found the patten from Seams lik e Home called "Bringing home the Tree" and commented "Gee, this would look nice on the wall in the living room..." As you can imagine, the pattern went home with them. I'd also like to note that my mother's background is also not quilting, she made our clothes as kids, but in general she's WAY to anal to quilt.

So as you can see in the photo on the upper right, it's a nice winter scene applique that's done as a wall hanging. And it is nice, but she wasn't sure where to start but once I looked at the pattern I had some definite ideas. When I was home for thanksgiving, we went back to Keepsake, they had a kit available to make the wall hanging, but I really didn't like their fabric choices. We wandered and decided on a nice stack of pale and muted batiks. Most of them were pale blues, and tinted creams, but we also picked a frosted piece. I left for home without getting much farther than picking and buying them, I told mom to let me think about it before starting, as I really didn't like the snowball background. The more I looked at the pattern, the more I thought they took away from the pattern and the overall image. I ran across a book on watercolor quilts at one of the local quilt shops and had my idea... but did I want to sew all those little squares? She's got two nice Pfaff machines with the IDT (even feed) but come on....

I thought for a while and decided I'd really like to try a Quiltsmart background for this one. I admit, for those of you that really know me... I'm normally not a huge fan of the Quiltsmart interfacing. In particular, because I used to do machine quilting, and I absolutely hate the extra weight and bulk it adds to the quilt top. BUT we're not making a bed quilt, but a wallhanging. So, I went to the local shop and bought a couple of yards of what ends up being 1.5 inch finished squares. I brough it home with me for christmas, and my mother was horrified (being an anal retentive non quilting seam matcher) that we were going to sew that many little squares. (we also walked into Peggy Anne's while I was home and they were working on an awesome Quiltsmart Mariner's Compass/Star that should be on their website soone.

For those of you that haven't played with quiltsmart, it's admittedly pretty nifty. It's iron on interfacing that has the quilt pattern printed on it along with sewing and quilting lines. It's easy to do, and is pretty much no fail. AND it's got the directions printed on the interfacing..... can't beat that. It's impossibly to lose the instructions (not that I would ever lose instructions). The one that I bought is also used for Scrap Therapy projects.

So mom and I cleared the counter in the Kitchen and cut what seemed like a bazillion little two inch squares and then arranged/ironed them all onto the interfacing in some sort of random order that made me happy. And then came the sewing.... which was no where as bad as I expected! I sewed and ironed and sewed and ironed and ended up with a really cool looking piece of modern art from the back. (Go look at the flickr page! people were more interested in the sewn and folder words than the piece).

And when it was flipped over and done, I was really impressed. You're not going to notice the extra weight for two reasons. 1 is the fact that there is going to be tons of fused applique on top of it, and 2 it's a wall hanging! So the back is done and the border is chosen, but that's as far as we got over the holidays..... So more photos to come when the project gets farther!

I do have to admit that the quiltsmart went together really easily... the squares are 1.5 inches finished, and it's a fairly good sized piece. All total the whole thing from cutting to finished background went together in an evening, and overall I really like the effect of the small pieces better than large 5 inch snowballs.

New Year Resolutions.....

2009-01-12T16:41:00.002-06:00

1. Enjoy crafting again. I had gotten so stressed out with work and my dissertation and all that goes along with eing a full time student, that I had been using my sewing room as a storage area, and hadn't even gotten close to a machine in almost a year.

2. Make things. I want to make things again, and part of this was inspired by being home for thanksgiving and christmas and seeing my mom get back into sewing a lot was good. She decided she needed help for a project and it felt good to go shopping and see what was new and exciting.

3. Organize my sewing/crafting stuff. I just plain can't get moving when the room is a mess and I can't find anything.

Tree in my yard

2008-09-12T10:48:00.002-05:00

Tree in my yard
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

So it's been two months since I posted last, and I've been meaning to keep up but not. As many of you know I've been living in Louisiana, and Hurricane Gustav came through two weeks ago. We were without power, and finally got it back after a week of no power (but there are many in the area that are still in the dark).

Also, school has started again.... getting there slowly.

cool stuff on the internet... aka what i've been reading and looking at

2008-07-28T13:14:00.004-05:00

What I've been reading on the net this past week:

*Anna Maria Horner has a new line of fabric out! I'm not sewing so much any more but.... I may need a fat quarter or two...

*Mallory over at MissMalaprop.com is having a give-away with A.N. Original Jewelry. She also wrote a post for styledash about indie designers ripping off other designers, and specifically in this case an awesome local New Orleans designer called Trashy Diva who was ripped off by someone she was wholesaleing too.

*Several places have recently picked up the story about Timbuk2's problem with their new Lamitron bags. (which I REALLY wanted one of). Target objected to the company recycling their plastic bags into a repurposed material. This highly dissappointed me, as not only did I want one of the lamitron bags, BUT i really like target as well and it makes me sad they couldn't get behind a green effort.

*I'm perpetually inspired by Lorimarsha's Flickr

*Creative coffins sells eco friendly cardboard /designer coffins! "Nontoxic .... for a distinctive and practical funeral"

*Randy Pausch died this week. He was one of the most inspirational people I've ever listened to. He gave a famous "Last Lecture" on "Acheiving your Childhood Dreams" and then after surviving longer than expected, gave a graduation speech at Carnegie Mellon. He was only 47.

Christian Siriano for Bluefly.com

2008-07-28T12:49:00.004-05:00

Project Runway season 4 winner Christian Siriano launched his collection for BlueFly.com this week and if you blinked, you missed several of the pieces since they're already sold out (including the fierce jacket in the middle above). Yesterday there were 4 pieces available, this morning only two. The two left are the gold skirt and dress with froofy sleeves (and only in sizes 2, 4, and 6!!).

I'm more impressed than I expected to be with the designs and the general wearability of his pieces. I thought the collection was a bit small (only 7 pieces?) but I loved both of the jackets and the gold dress is adorable even though it would look atrocious on me. I was diappointed in the pricing of the line (though the price appears to not have impacted sales- unless there were limited piees available), I'm not entirely sure I consider $500 affordable.

Overall- I like it- hopefully there will be more!

One Block Wonder on the HQ16

2008-04-21T15:18:00.001-05:00

One Block Wonder on the HQ16
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

Ahhhh one project done.

The one block wonder quilt is *almost* done! It's completely quilted and the binding is half on....

and as a side note... School is almost over for the semester.

At Work

2008-02-28T14:58:00.001-06:00

At Work
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

It's been a bleak and busy winter, but for all of you that keep wondering why I haven't been around... I spent more time than not out and about. I haven't taken any great pictures lately either, the light's just not been the best.

stay tuned for more fun stuff soon... including some awesome color software called GenoPal, quilts, fabrics, dyeing, and faux stained glas....

Spanish Town Mardi Gras

2008-02-22T10:26:00.002-06:00

Well I'm still trying to get back together from Mardi Gras a couple of weeks ago. While most of the country seems to believe that Mardi Gras is solely a New Orleans thing, most of Louisiana celebrates for almost a month before Fat Tuesday.

Here in Baton Rouge, my neighborhood has the largest Mardi Gras festivities in the City. While it's a blast, it in reality is a neighborhood wide block party for the better part of two days with lots of random people, and more food and alcohol that you could imagine. This year the parade was on Groundhog Day and the theme was appropriately "Flamingo Phil Predicts."

The end result is a disaster area of a house and yard, and more beads than you know what to do with!

I'm in love with WOWIO

2008-02-06T12:51:00.000-06:00

So a good friend of mine IMed me the other day and was telling me about how I had to check out WOWIO. I've been trying to take a break from signing up for more sites that I don't need... but My excitement at the number of free quilting books quickly overwhelmed any practical sense of "Do you need to sign up for this?"

So from their site:
"What is WOWIO? WOWIO is a new kind of online bookstore that enables readers to download ebooks for free, using commercial sponsorships to compensate authors and publishers. Readers get free ebooks. Sponsors get a powerful new channel to communicate their message to precisely the people they want to reach. Publishers get a new means of distributing their books, expanding their readership, and monetizing their intellectual property."

Really- it means the $30 C&T Publishing or Martingale Press book that I've been wanting at the shop is free with a couple of ad pages attached to the pdf file. The one caveat is that you have to sign up with a "real" email, not with a free service. I used my school email and have downloaded 9 so far. You can get up to three a day, with a maximum of 30 over the course of a month.

Some quilty highlights: search for "quilt".

Reverse Applique with No Brakez
Jan Mullen
82 pages (May 2003)
C&T Publishing; ISBN: 1-57120-200-5

Wheel of Mystery Quilts: Surprising Designs from a Classic Block
Helen Marshall
98 pages (May 2006)
Martingale & Company; ISBN: 978-1-56477-633-4

Spellbinding Quilts: Wizards, Witches, and Magical Characters to Paper Piece
Maaike Bakker
98 pages (October 2006)
Martingale & Company; ISBN: 978-1-56477-674-7

Quilts For Guys: 15 Fun Projects For Your Favorite Fella
Cyndy Lyle Rymer (Ed.)
82 pages (July 2001)
C&T Publishing; ISBN: 1-57120-165-3

It's been too long

2008-02-06T12:31:00.000-06:00

It's been way to long since I last wrote. As many of you know I was sick much of last fall, and between work and school but blogging on the back burner. I had surgery the week of Christmas to have my tonsils out... and that is supposed to solve the whole sick and never really getting better part... we'll see. I'm feeling better than I was, but I'm still chalking that up to the two week vacation and having a million and one people stop by to check on me, bring me food, walk the dog, do housework etc.

I'd like to thank those of you that are still reading and finding my blog. There's been lots of traffic even though I've not been writing! So now that it's the new year- there's lots to be written about. As you can imagine, if I didn't have time nor energy to write, there wasn't a lot of time to be crafty either... but I'm starting off the year with a quest to finish works in progress (well those that are easily finished)

1. Katie's Wedding Quilt. It's one of the hardest quilts I've ever made, not because it was a hard pattern but that it was traditional and so not my style. It's a Triple Irish Chain in dark colors. She got married over a year ago (oops), needs borders and to be quilted.

2. Random Baby Quilt, made from the original Moda Robyn Pandolph. I started it for my niece when she was adopted (she's now 8) but they changed their color scheme after they told me what colors they were going to use. It's a nine block log cabin. It will probably end up on etsy when I'm done with it.

3. Quilt my mother left when she came to visit when I had surgery. Gift for my friend from home. She brought the quilt top to work on while she was here, and 'forgot' it when she left, and then called to ask if I'd finish it. It's little tiny octagons and triangles in pastel pinks, purples, and yellows.

4. One Block Wonder in Free Spirit's Marabella. This quilt has been "Almost Done" for months. I half quilted it and then couldn't decide if I liked it and took it off the frame. Needless to say it never made it back.

5. Blooming Nine Patch. This quilt's been in previous posts and was moving smoothly for a while.... not so much any more. I get tired of making 1,587,643,587,324,958,734 little nine patches. I know it's not REALLY that bad but I'm about as ADHD as they come.

6. Moda Blossom Quilt. This was a shop sample for the shop, and needs borders and to be quilted.

7. One Block Wonder- Asian by Alexander Henry. These are all cut, and pinned together in a pile in my "Studio". Notice the word studio in quotes. That's because there have been various people sleeping on the couch in there. I think I need to get rid of my pull out couch some days. This quilt is much farther from being done that the others.

Happy and Shiny (and on Sale!)

2007-10-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

So I've moved 90% of my things, and the new landlord has been very cool about the fact that I've been super busy have three tests this week in addition to moving in the middle of the semester.

In honor of the new place, I of course had to get myself something for it! So I was actually looking for an armoire for my TV, and I ran across this fabulous mobile at West Elm. Even better? It was on sale for $11.99 and Free Shipping!

It came yesterday, I put it together and hung it up! It's very shiny and happy (and it was on sale!).

Random Email: I've got Color!

2007-10-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

I really do like random-ish emails. Not the spammy/porn type, but the discover a new place to shop, or a book I might not be able to live without type. Some days I think they do nothing but clog my inbox, but then there are other days I discover gems!

Today I recieved an email announcing "I've got Color" from CB2. And since I'm procrastinating going home to move the rest of the odds and ends from the old house, I opened it. CB2 is apparently a modern-ish home decor store similar to things you'd see from Chiasso and West Elm, but owned by my all time favorite of places to spend money Crate and Barrel!

So back to the email! CB2 has teamed with apartmenttherapy to host a "I've got Color" contest, with the winners getting fairly substantial gift cards to CB2 both at the regional level and at the national level. On a side note, the regions are random (maybe associated with CHB2 stores?) but the closest location to me is Chicago I think- they're probably about equal.

The gist is that they want to see photos of your spaces that you use color in, and how you use that color. The only caveat is that you need to be quick, October 15th is the Deadline for submitting photos.

Think I can get unpacked in time?

Moving

2007-10-01T10:04:00.000-05:00

There are pros and cons to moving your entire house and life.

Pros
1. There's the fact that there's no question that the house you're moving into will actually be clean for a little while
2. You can organize to your little OCD heart's content

Cons
1. You have to move it all.
2. When people help you move, they inevitably think they know how you organize, and you lose things.
3. Your cats are hell bent on massive destruction on their quest to investigate the house.

So- I'm almost done moving, and hopefully this will be the last move for a long time. No bad neighbors (I have yard on both sides), no letting the significant other move in, no landlord selling the house. I'll share some photos a bit later this week!

Thanks to Instructables!

2007-09-19T13:32:00.001-05:00

This is a quick shout out to the folks over at Instructables who have my Color Picking 101 Tutorial as a featured tutorial on the front page! Thanks so much to all of you that have clicked through, or have found me as a result!

Color Picking 101: It's easier than you think

2007-09-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

So I've finished my tutorial on choosing colors for crafting in general. As many of you know, I work part time in a fabric store and have worked at a half a dozen crafty type stores in the past. I'm always amazed at people who are amazing artists, being afraid of color and afraid to work outside their box.

Many people who come into a fabric store either ask for help in finding matching fabrics, or they buy pre-packaged bundles and kits we put together when the store is quiet. I put it together more to inspire confidence to new crafters more than anything, and I too use this method especially when I'm working out side my comfort zone of colors.

I hope you enjoy it- you can find it here at instructables!

Monster Dishtowels

2007-09-11T19:16:00.001-05:00

Monster Dishtowels
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

As promised, finished monster dishtowels for a housewarming gift for my brother! I was really happy with the way they came out and he's going to get a kick out of them! coming soon- review of the new creative vision machine!

Etsy Meetup in New Orleans with Erin

2007-09-07T17:38:00.000-05:00

Several the local southern Louisiana Etsy sellers met with Erin Haldrup at Flora's in New Orleans and talked about crafting post Katrina. Erin's posted the first part of her videos on the Storque, Etsy's new news format! I was there, as were Mallory (Dismantled), Mag (ArtbyMags), Mischa (BakingwithMedusa), Michelle (GreenKangaroo), Kerry (RustChic), Heather (NolaSalvage). We had a great lunch, and met some local characters, one of whom runs the website neworleansbywater.com

Moda, United Notions and P&B

2007-09-07T13:16:00.000-05:00

So I know I haven't been posting much recently but the school year has started again and I've been in Dallas, Texas all week for the Pfaff convention. (More about that later though) We drove to Dallas on Tuesday night, and got here a day before the convention to make stops at the Moda/United Notions and P&B Textiles warehouses to shop for the quilt shop before we had to go to classes.

We started at Moda/UN at about 7:30 am. First of all, it's a beautiful building, and the lobby is nicely decorated with many of the Moda premade house things and many of the sample quilts are hung off the balcony upstairs.

We of course started in the clearance section, where it almost looks like a normal everyday fabric store. Bolts on racks, flat folds, notions, and fabric headers all for sale (other than you have to buy the whole bolt!). So we did a bit of shopping, picking up some more pieces of the Roman Holiday Collection, and picking a lot of more random fabrics to fill in some holes on the color wall. Everyone who works there seemed really happy, and they all wear thouse cute Moda aprons. Even better several of them were riding around the warehouse on tricycles with big baskets filling orders. We also bought a bunch of great jelly rolls for the shop since they've been so popular recently (Monkeys, repros, and great trendy prints)!

We also hit the United Notions side of the warehouse, picking up lots of odds and ends for the shop, including scissors, books, and Mary Ellen's Best Press (If you haven't tried it you have too- it's amazing and it smells nice. It also doesn't leave crap all over my iron).

Above the United Notions warehouse is their showroom. As one of the staff members explained it to us, it's their idea of a perfect shop, and it's even better because no one messes it up! I've included a couple of photos, but you can find more in my flickr account! They've got one of the coolest classroom spaces I've ever seen, and use it for business meetings and conferences. It seats 12 students, all at their own table and chair with lighting that's independent from the rest of the shop area. You can also see it's in the middle of the area, so everyone shopping can see how cool the class is.

Just off the showroom was possibly the coolest feature of the whole place. They have a Moda fabric library, where they've kept a half a yard of every fabric Moda's EVER PRINTED. It was awesome to look through and see fabrics that I have and love, or remember seeing in the stores or in great quilts. There are literally thousands of pieces, labeled by name and the year and month they came out!

The P&B warehouse was hot, way smaller than the other, and not quite so customer friendly (Though I do understand... it is a warehouse after all). Though the awesome part was that there were people working while we were there putting fabric on bolts from the hug commercial runs! They were working on these big awesome machines that I'm not sure what they're called (Folders?) that take the big commercial bolts, folt the fabric, and spin it on the cardboard ones we all know and love.

More tomorrow on sewing machines and convention!

Monster Embroidery

2007-08-27T15:38:00.000-05:00

I've been busy recently so I haven't posted as many updates as I might like. I've been getting ready for the semester to start, and teaching at the fabric store as always. I've been running a monthly embroidery club, where every month we've been working with new techniques and working on projects. This month we worked on embroidering towels since the pile makes embroidering interesting to say the least.

My brother just moved to a new apartment, with his first real job... so I figured I'd do some kitchen towels for him. I debated making something classy and stylish, but then if it didn't go with his decor at some point he wouldn't use them. So I figured I'd be better off to go with ridiculous/fun and that way there was no worries. They wouldn't match anything. Ever. So he'd use them.

I got a cheap set of towels, rags, and pot holders at Target for $6, and figured they'd be perfect. As I sorted through my embroidery designs, I debated lots of options for something fun. I ended up using the Viking #62- Crazy Creatures Collection, and stitched #1, #10, and #14 on the towels. Below is the final color of #14 doing the outline.

Ducks and Quacks!

2007-08-21T13:11:00.001-05:00

So I picked up a copy of Domino Magazine the other day while I was standing in line at Whole Foods and was distracted by all the fun things that I don't really need for my house, or can't afford.

Case and point: They featured this amazing mirror by Kikkerland Design that's free standing on two cast pewter duck feet. The magazine lists it solely as Kikkerland Design and RISD/Works. I couldn't find it at the RISD store, but found it at a fun site called mookiegifts! So... I think I might need it for my dresser.

Etsy Poster Contest Winner!

2007-08-17T10:37:00.001-05:00

Yay! It's a Winner!
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

So Jared, an admin over at Etsy, had advertised a contest a while back to create a promotional posted that would be used to hand out at shows and events and the like. The posters were to be created using a treasury like tool with 16 images, which were sent in a convo to Jared.

The winners were supposed to be posted on the 8th I think, and then Jared let us all know that they had been "crushed" under a wave of entries. I figured with so many entries mine would never get chosen....

And so Wednesday was my birthday, and it was not quite the best of birthdays. Things have been bad in my personal life, and hadn't been helped by what is supposed to be a happy event.

BUT! I woke up to a convo from enamor who I featured in my poster thanking me for using her photo in my winning poster! So I had to go and check it out (you can see the other 59 winning entries here) and has a great time looking! Such beautiful work! And then I got a happy birthday convo from QuirkynBerkley who I made one of my first etsy purchases from (though from her other shop QuirkynBerkelytoo).

Sundays

2007-08-12T09:47:00.000-05:00

It's been outrageously hot here and I've been sick again, so I haven't been posting much. As it's Sunday morning and quiet here with my kitties and I'm checking my usual sites. Postsecret.com has a movie up this week, instead of the usual postcards. Check it out.

etsytools.com

2007-08-08T16:09:00.001-05:00

There's been a bunch of discussion lately over on the etsy.com forums (fora?) about the new etsytools.com site.

I for one think it's brilliant. I know that's somewhat of a controversial opinion, but I don't think in any way they tried to mislead people into thinking they were affiliated with the main site itself. Nor do I blame them for not disclosing their identities, as disclosing your primary shop's name could be construed as trying to gain publicity... I think the forum police would have gone after them one way or another.

Check it out- there's a lot of interesting information! Though one thing I'd like to see is a list of the top 100 sellers (of all time) like what the sampler used to do. As well as possibly a list of random sellers, or most recent sales.

Camera Found!

2007-08-03T11:34:00.002-05:00

And I did find my camera... where is inconsequential because I can't believe I left it there.

pretty pretty princess!

2007-08-03T11:34:00.001-05:00

pretty pretty princess!
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

I've been a busy busy girl this past week and keep forgetting to blog. Now that I'm single again I've been rearranging my house, and when the springs poked through my mattress this past week.... I knew what my birthday gift to myself was going be (two weeks early)! So my friend Heidi and I decided to spend an evening trying out mattresses and had a blast. I discovered that if you're tired enough, thousands of dollar for one of those hotel mattresses seems reasonable but they're sooo comfortable.

We discovered that full size beds are sold in the children's section... why? I don't know. Though we did have a blast climbing around bunk beds, princess beds, and baseball beds to try out the different types of mattresses. The bed pictured above was a Cinderella's carriage bed and was absolutely adorable (and actually the mattress I bought). Every one needs a pretty pretty princess bed.

I moved my bedroom, and put the new mattress in, and have started hanging some of my etsy art on the wall! photos coming soon!

Camera

2007-07-23T07:36:00.000-05:00

I'm in Tallahassee for a couple of days for work (at a really nice business hotel... do you think I can sneak that mattress out with me?) but the worst part is right before I left I couldn't find my digital camera. I'm in a huge panic that I've lost it....

Uncommon Threads in Baton Rouge

2007-07-20T16:10:00.001-05:00

For those of you local to me you may be interested in the Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Juried Show happening here in Baton Rouge. It ought to be an amazing show and is being juried by Suzanne Perron from New Orleans who makes the most divine custom wedding and debutante gowns and Susan Elizabeth Ryan, a well published Art Professor here at LSU. It's being sponsored by a who's who of local cultural organizations and the showing will be a fashion show, so entries need to be wearable.

thanks!

2007-07-16T17:37:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to qbranchltd who featured me this week at their blog!

1000 Artist's Journal Pages

2007-07-16T16:57:00.001-05:00

Etsy Journal [book 2] pages 5-6
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

I'm so excited! I'm going to be published! My contributed pages to the etsyjournal project organized by stella and heather has been accepted for publication in the 1000 Artist's Journal Pages book to be published by Quarry Books!

Dawn Sokol is the author/curator of the book, and she runs a great blog called D'Blogala all about journaling.

Getting her email today almost made me forget about the crappiness of the rest of the week!

LeafLetter

2007-07-06T17:51:00.000-05:00

I just recently discovered leafletter and I may be in love!

If you haven't played with it- it's the neatest little widget program that lets you build brochures (or if you're an etsy fan, something like a cross between the etsymini and the treasury!) So I've been itching to try it out and was inspired today at work. As we drove the fields were filled with dragonflies, and they were swarming and all trying to defend their little space. It was amazing and surreal all at once, and for all I tired to capture it with my camera it wasn't working.

So here's my own little swarm for you!

Fireworks

2007-07-04T23:21:00.001-05:00

Fireworks over the Mississippi River
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

Happy Fourth All!

I spent the evening down by the Mississippi River sitting on the levee and watching the fireworks. I took tons of photographs and got a few that were really good! The whole show was only about 20 minutes long but the crowds were amazing. I'm not sure I've ever seen that many people downtown. ever.

an Etsy Kitchen

2007-07-03T13:39:00.000-05:00

My personal life has been thrown for a bit a of a loop recently (and part of that is my fault), but the end result is I have the house to myself now. So the ex-boy is slowly moving his things out, and I'm gaining lots more space just for me. The perk is that I'm going to start planning dinner parties again! I haven't hosted one since I lived in Pennsylvania and we used to have them about once a week combined with a movie night.

So... I've been looking for fun dining things. I love the look of handthrown pottery, but the reality is as a graduate student being able to afford food is much more important than having an awesome bowl to eat ramen out of. Though I've ordered a few that were "seconds" but are going to be awesome! I'll take photos when they get here.

On that note I've been looking for some great table stuff that's reasonably inexpensive.

At the top right are some great recycled beer glass glasses (tongue twister!) that I think I'd like to try and make! the pair pictured were made Rachel Sudlow over at Sudlow Jewelry. She makes awesome stuff, and these look like loads of fun. I've been stockpiling printed beer bottles for a bit now... and I think I have enough to finally try it. I just need to dig out my glass equipment.

I also have been very into the table linens recently. I've been drooling over these matching place mats and napkins recently. They're the second photo down on the right. How cool are they? They're from MichelleBrusegaard and would look perfect on my dinner table. I've also been looking at the recycled silver spoon napkin rings from LTCreatesJewelry which would also be fabulous.

Envirosax

2007-06-26T12:53:00.000-05:00

I have a series of reusable sacks and bags I use instead of getting plastic bags when I go shopping, but several of them are starting to look a little sad. I have one in particular I bought almost 10 years ago that has a few holes big enough for small cans to fall through. I also have several of the green totes from Whole Foods that look like their paper shopping bags but made from a green material.

Mallory over at MissMalaprop had posted a while back about Envirosax bags... and I bookmarked them to go back to. I had a n olderbag fall apart this week and decided to go and check them out. She really like the graphic series (at right), but I love the bright colors of the flora bags.

They're available individually or in packs of five that come in a pouch. They fold up really small as well (4x2) which is way smaller than any of my other bags (other than the ones I make) and that pouch should fit in my purse I carry! They also carry double what would fit in a regular size plastic grocery bag.

Envirosax is based out of Australia, and is only recently available in the US- both on their website and several small boutiques. They've also been well documented in the Australian media but not so much in the US.

Their company has a great mantra as well, believing in a sustainable future and being ecologically sound in their daily life.

(I ordered the Flora Pouch withe all five bags to replace my bags that are finally falling apart.)

Etsy Teaches!

2007-06-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

SarahKat convoed me the other days after I wondered who else was posting tutorials for various crafty adventures on their blog. She's posted a two part tutorial on making paste papers on her blog (Part1, Part 2) which looks like it could be reminiscent of finger painting (and loads of fun!).

Gemmafactrix also recently posted a tutorial on her blog on Adventures in Papermaking and creating your own deckle screens in custom sizes!

Blooming Nine Patch (2)

2007-06-25T16:38:00.001-05:00

blooming nine patch
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

One more row (the orange) on the blooming nine patch quilt. I'm getting there slowly on this one... and it's growing on me. I wasn't entirely sure I really liked it but I'm liking it more as I get more sections on.

Etsy Seller Shoutout: Mixed Species

2007-06-23T01:08:00.001-05:00

Over at Etsy there lives a conglomerate of several guys (rare enough on etsy) but with a deceptively wicked sense of humor called Mixed Species. They were the featured sellers earlier this week and make crazy awesome stuff.

They're currently all over with their "Brief Jerky," being sold as a custom listing for $139. As you can see on the right, they're not only edible underwear made of beef jerky, but bejeweled and embellished as well. If you haven't seen it, go look at the listing here, complete with more photos. They've got over 10,000 hits and are still climbing.

From their Etsy Interview:

In 2007 a crafting commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the West Coast underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as crafters of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire Mixed Species."

Actually, we are a group of four, one in Washington State, two in Oregon and one in California. In aggregate we are a capitalistic hippie, white trash, former model with four kids who plays a mean bass, does PR for a Fortune 50 company and are a former member of too many bands to count!

Click here to read the rest.

Gocco is available in the US again!

2007-06-22T13:18:00.000-05:00

For all of you that are just as excited as me about the fact that gocco might be here in the US... it looks like it happened! Papersource.com has gocco supplies along with the gocco arts kit (the one with the larger printing area that I wanted/have been drooling over!). Now we'll see if they bring back the B5/B6 (small print area) and B10/B11 (small area with advanced registration)

You can also check out this great blog post about the gocco called "Do you Gocco? You Will!".

Etsy Seller Shoutout: ArtsyCraftyBabe

2007-06-21T13:18:00.001-05:00

tote for teacher
Originally uploaded by artsy-crafty

Well to start with she's one of the etsians I've actually met in real life! As some of you know I work part time in a fabric store, and she comes in and shops. She's got cute kids too :) She makes gorgeous bags out of superfun fabrics, and adorable clothes too. Her etsy shop is located at artsycraftybabe.etsy.com and she blogs here!

ps. I love this bag she made (and Jane Sassaman designs awesome fabrics. She's amazing, if you ever get a chance to take her classes DO IT).

Tutorial: Fusible Binding

2007-06-19T14:57:00.001-05:00

This tutorial is designed to be a step by step guide to making fusible binding for your projects. A fusible binding is perfect for display pieces that will not receive the wear and tear bed quilts do. It's perfect for wallhangings in specific and lots of other small things I haven't considered. It's easy and fast to make as well! I used fusible binding in making a soft backed children's book as well. The patterns are for sale here.

Step 1- Selecting your fusible
There are many fusible interfacings available that are double sided. The most common are Steam-A-Seam-2, wonder under, and thermobond. I like Steam-A-Seam-2 better than the other types available (for this project) because there are two sheets of paper and the fusible in the middle is sticky so it doesn't shift while you're trying to work with it.

Step 2- Cutting the Interfacing and Fabric
You should cut strips of the fusible interfacing a bit wider than you intend for the the binding itself to be (so you have room to trim if you need).

I cut all of my strips with a rotary cutter. As a side note, I keep one marked specifically for cutting paper and non fabric materials. Older blades that won't cut fabric will still cut paper just fine.

I cut both my fabric and interfacing strips 2.5 inches wide. The strips shown in the photos are short for example's sake. You'd cut your strips the length of the item you're looking to bind.

Step 3- Getting Ready
Steam-A-Seam-2 is unique because the fusible interfacing itself is sticky and is enveloped in paper on both sides. When you start this step you need to peel back one of the sheets of paper, and off the interfacing. You should be left with a piece of paper that is tacky to the touch (this is the interfacing) and stick it to the wrong side of your fabric. If you look at the photo to the left, the interfacing has a honeycombed texture, while the paper alone has a similar texture to freezer paper.

The photo on the right shows the interfacing temporarily attached to the wrong side of the fabric, ready to be ironed.

Step 4- Ironing (aka don't burn yourself)
Once you have the Steam-A-Seam-2 lined up, iron it to the fabric. Remember, you are ironing paper, so use a medium heat and keep the iron moving. Turn off the steam! The paper becomes almost translucent after being heated to attach the interfacing.

Step 5- Decorative Trim
So in reality, the piece of fabric you have in your hands could be used as a fused binding, but it's really not that exciting. I've also found that sometimes a straight grain fusible binding can fray and make a mess over time with a little bit of wear.

I use a wavy edged rotary cutter to give the piece a decorative edge. I trim one side, and then place the ruler line at the two inch mark in the middle of the waves for my second trim.

Step 6- You're ready to bind!
So now you have a two inch wide strip of decorative fusible binding ready to attach to your project!

The paper back peels off, leaving a sticky binding that's easy to position before ironing it down! I normally also try to stitch it down after ironing as well... it gives a more traditional look and a bit more polish.

All Done!
The photo on the right is of a children's book I made that uses these same instructions to bind soft pages with Fast2Fuse or Timtex. The photo is of the corner of the book, and shows a red fusible binding stitched down with black thread for contrast.

You can also find a version of this tutorial at the instructables site or included in my pattern for a soft children's book found here on etsy. The fabric used in the demo is from the Michael Miller Kid's Toile Line.

Knitting Needles Galore!

2007-06-18T11:35:00.001-05:00

I've had a series of bad days recently thanks to some hiccups in my personal life. I realized it's been 10 days since I've posted here and now I feel a little delinquent... so I've got some fun things to show you!

One of the local crafting stores here recently went out of business this past week, and the manager offered me a deal I couldn't pass up. I've talked to her a couple of times about selling things on etsy, and enjoying the community and being able to get great supplies as well as great handcrafted things (most of which I don't really need but they make me happy). So long story short she offered to make me the deal of a lifetime if I bought most of the needles she had left. Hence the photo you see in the upper right of this post. That's about half of what I walked away with!

I picked up lots of double pointed needles for knitting in the round (sized 5-10) that are plastic covered brass, Circular needles in both bamboo and the plastic/brass in all sort of sizes, and a variety of straight needles that are bamboo. There are also some assorted other odds and ends including crochet needles, cable hooks, stitch markers and a couple of learn to knit DVDs.

So I've started listing them at my other etsy store, Shootingstar Supplies, which you can find here. I think I've priced them below what you'd be able to buy them at a store on sale for, because I'm all about supporting the crafty ones! (and it's amazingly cool to look at hundreds of pairs of knitting needles in all different colors!).

Monkey Pillowcase

2007-06-07T13:55:00.001-05:00

Monkey Pillowcase
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy

I haven't posted in a while and I'm sorry- My personal life is a bit of a disaster area right now and I've been super busy with the end of the semester and the start of summer field work.

The uber-fun monkey pillowcase pictured is an awesome fun little embroidery project. The money head is chenilled in the hoop, and then cut afterwards- it was easy and fun.

Crazy Ladybugs

2007-05-22T18:10:00.000-05:00

Because we all need more games to kill large amounts of time.

Crazy Ladybugs

Locher's

2007-05-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

(warning mild profanity ahead)
If you haven't been passed on this link to Locher's you must simply check it out. They fuse deceptively sweet tops with classic styling and delicate embroidery. They jump out as being different because of what they say and how they say it. This shirt is simple my favorite (since I'm a caffeine junky), it simply says, "I really need a fucking coffee." Others says things like "I hate Children," "Dirty Little Lovemaker," and "I don't play nice."

The line was started by a nice little swiss girl "straight out of the sound of music" who discovered a vintage hankie with exquisite embroidery. She realized that the embroidery was special and that work of that class is rarely found today. She became determined to bring back quality embroidery on tops that would be fashionable today and to combine those two spirits. Her current line fuses each embroidered blouse or shirt with a playfully dirty saying. She says her tops are "something mommy wouldn't wear and daddy shouldn't see," calling the line "perversion with a touch of class."

Check them out!

mmm good (Etsy Seller Shoutout)

2007-05-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that while I love to cook, life gets in the way of making delicious goodies. I had seen a post that gemma made that she had ordered sinfully delicious cookies from thecountrybaker over at etsy. So the other night in a fit of chocolate cravings and PMS, I ordered both a "Three Fudge Sampler" and a "Surprise Box." I came home today and there was a nice box on my porch.... I was surprised to note that even though it was 85 today, the fudge was not melted! (it was soft, but not liquid).

Soooo goood. The "Surprise Box" was filled with individually wrapped little bars, cookies, and fudge. So far I've tried two different types of cookies and some Double Dark Fudge. I can *feel* the pounds packing on...

They also offer packages for troops in service to our country, and if you don't know someone but want to help they maintain a list of troops who are more than willing to receive extra goodies.

A quick additional shoutout to themommyandmeboutique who did a neat little feature on some of my bobbies on her blog.

Contests

2007-05-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

For all of you illustration types, J.Jill is having a tshirt design contest with a pretty sweet prize of a 4 day artist's retreat and a gift certificate to their chain. They're looking for an illustration inspired by nature, and no more than six colors. If you're interested they stop taking submissions on the 28th of this month.

you can find more information about the contest here.

Email Subscriptions!

2007-05-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

If you're excited about arts and crafting and the DIY movement- you can now subscribe to this blog's RSS feed via email!

There's a little box to type your email into at the bottom of the limey green box to the right!

Tropical Bobbies

2007-05-15T15:12:00.001-05:00

Tropical Bobbies
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I was unintentionally super crafty last night. I tried to lay in bed a read a book, and fell asleep very early, somewhere around 5 o'clock. Therefore, when I woke up at 9 I was WIDE awake. What do you when you can't sleep?

Make Stuff!

So I purchased all these super cool bobby pins blanks a while back and figured I'd start playing. This particular pair are great, they're made from reproduction vintage metal buttons that I cut the shank off and polished flat. For once my dremmel wasn't dead (my boyfriend has a new fondness for it- I'm very close to buying him his own).

I also used it to drill holes and turn some fun stuff in to even more fun earrings! I made brushed copper flowers and the ubiquitous vintage Indian brass charms into even more fun earrings. I made far more than I posed in my shop to day too.

I've got a new goal, to relist or renew 5 items a day. That's $1 a day, or ~$30 a month to stay up in the listings. I think I can do it!

Crafty Enabling

2007-05-14T14:26:00.000-05:00

Sales Sales Sales!

JoAnn's is having a 40% off any one item online when you use the code MAYH740 Today!

Hobby Lobby also has a 40% off any one item on their website! You have to print it out and bring it in though... find it here.

Do you like to do machine embroidery?

2007-05-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

I do and I love it. I do hand work too, but there's something soothing and relaxing listening to the machine run. (besides you can start the machine, and sew on a second machine and be twice as productive) It can also be quite hypnotic to watch the needle jump up and down.

I buy many of my designs at the shop I work at, but I also really like being able to buy my designs individually. Unfortunately design collections can be really expensive, and as cool as they may be, if I'm not going to use them all it's just not practical. So here's my reviews of some of my favorite places to get machine embroidery files online. Some of the sites are country specific (I'm in the US) so if you have a problem let me know and I'll see if I can find you the right link.

Embroidery.com is one of my favorites for downloading both packs of designs and individual designs. They're the online vendor for Cactus Punch designs and you can buy them individually as well as the whole package. They also sell lots of smaller vendor designs, and I've never purchased anything that has stitched out poorly. Make sure you get on their mailing list, they've got amazing sales.

I also have a coupons for 5 free designs from them... We hand them out at work for people to try the site and start embroidering on their new machines!
1. Go to www.embroidery.com
2. Enter your sewprize number in the box on the upper right hand corner AFG6K8PC427J
3. You can then download the 5 designs in your choice of formats

Ann the Gran.com

Ann the Gran has lots of designs as well, including large names like Dakota and Vermillion Stitchery. They also have a large section of the website devoted to free designs that can be stitched on items to sell, give, or keep for yourself. The free designs vary in quality as they've been digitized by users of the site and not necessarily an individual company or a professional.

Criswell Embroidery and Design

The Criswell site is full or gorgeous machine embroidered lace. They do sell through dealers as well so you may want to see if there is a store or shop near you that sells them. They're thread intensive, but are amazing once they're finished! My personal favorites are the snowflake lace and the Peacocks 2 CD.

Embroidery Library

Again- lots of designs and well organized. Also well digitized, and they offer various free and cheap designs. They have great sales a well and routinely have 17 cent designs.

Zundt Designs

These are some of the most elegant designs available. They've got religious designs, kids, lace, etc. They're amazing well digitized and again, stitch intensive. I have one of the butterfly CDs and it's unbelievable. They sell hard copies (CDs) and downloads.

Rose stitches up close
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

Pfaff Software Online

These are a sampling of Pfaff Embroidery Designs online (often including the ones they use in their advertising campaigns). These are the FREE designs :) click on the Downloads sections, and then on "Showcase Sample Designs" for the different groups. It's a random assortment of files, all well digitized, but only available is *.VIP, *.PCS and *.DST. You can always convert them if necessary. Pfaff's home website also has a few free designs available here. The design to the right is from the Grand Elegance Collection by Pfaff (Not Free though, Sorry).

Inspira

Inspira designs have been bought by VSM (which owns Pfaff, Viking, and Singer), and are now available here. They're great for kids, but not so much of it is grownup looking. They're pretty straightforward designs, few color changes, and nice.

Bernina Designs

Bernina designs are in the same quality bracket as Pfaff and Viking. They stitch amazingly and they're expensive. So even better if they're free! Bernina has an inspiration gallery with free designs located here.

Viking Sewing

Viking again are high quality designs, and expensive. They have a selection of free designs on their website here and here.

Whew! That's a lot of links for you to look at- This is just a beginning, I'm sure There will be more to come.

Artist Review: Leonard Nimoy

2007-05-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

Nimoy's Photograph
Originally uploaded by bbethany7.

This week the New York Times published an article on Leonard Nimoy that led me to spend an entire afternoon looking up his photography and reviews of his work before I realized what was happening. Now I know you're thinking you recognize the name, but you've probably never heard the name in conjunction with the words artist or photography; and before I get too far you do know the name unless you've been living under a rock. Leonard Nimoy acted in the Original Star Trek Series (with Captain Kirk/ William Shatner) and starred as the original Vulcan named Spock.

Star Trek began in 1966 and stopped filming 3 seasons later, he returned to school and worked toward a degree in photography. He didn't graduate but holds master's degree in Education and an Honorary Doctorate. His photography came to the fore front of discussion in 2002 when he published the book Sekhina.

Raised in Boston by Russian Jews, Nimoy used traditional jewish names and symbols intertwined with the female form. The word Sekhina for example is yiddish for the female side of god. The photographs themselves were of very sensual women, wrapped and draped in phylacteries which are typically only worn by Jewish men. (On a side note the famous Vulcan hand signal is of Nimoy's own design, representing the Hebrew letter "shin," the first letter in the word for God.

Spock' N Awe
Originally uploaded by andisheh.

On a more recent note, as mentioned in the Times, Nimoy is making waves with his photography again. His new project is entitled "the Full Body Project" and makes some thought provoking statements about body size and perception of that size. The times article quotes him as saying that the series is a direct result of women to be a size 2.

One of the photographs is located at the top of this post, and a scan of the Times article is placed here to the left. Notice the Times page places the article called "Girth and Nudity: A Pictorial Mission) between two department store ads, both featuring Twiggy like models.

His new photographs are showing the at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts through June while a larger show at the same gallery is scheduled with the release of the book of photographs from this series in November.

I found the photos in the series (you can see them here) engrossing for lack of a better word. The photos are explicit, showing large nude women in poses from famous paintings, and enjoying themselves. It's very refreshing to see that not only are these woman large, but they're visibly comfortable with their bodies. As a woman myself, it's also nice to see that the women aren't "plus sized models." They're larger than any other model I've ever seen, nude or otherwise, and they're disproportionate, some with larger hips, and others who are huge on top. There's significant variation in the women in the photographs, just like real women.

On a side note, he's apparently over the years published two books including one of poetry (I am Spock and You and I), and recorded several albums: The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, The Way I Feel, Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space, and Space Odyssey.

Celebs We've Seen: Leonard Nimoy
Originally uploaded by Andy & Amy.

The Real Mr Spock?
Originally uploaded by rock against ass.

Etsy Seller Shoutout: TonyaBug

2007-05-12T10:02:00.001-05:00

my mini with flowers!
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I also had to give a quick shoutout to Tonyabug over at Etsy, who made me these AWESOME daisy decals for my car in a trade. I personally think I probably got the better end of the deal, but she really likes her pendant too :)

I put them on this past Thursday since I had the car serviced Wednesday, and they washed and waxed it before I got it back. The decals came with specific instructions that the car had to be CLEAN (which it never is) so I took the opportunity and finally put them on the car. I love them!

Her shop has all sorts of other cool car decals (all hand cut from 6 year vinyl) and magnetic bumper sticker type things :) check her out!

I've been a busy girl!

2007-05-12T09:51:00.001-05:00

5FM Cover
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

Life has been a bit nuts recently, as evidenced by my lack of posting. I'm sitting here actively procrastinating my final exam for statistics this afternoon (whomever decided finals should be on a Saturday was EVIL)

This weekend is also the shop hop of quilting shops here in southern Louisiana! (which I'm missing most of because of said final). I did successfully complete the pattern I wrote to make this adorable children's book from the 5 Funky Monkeys fabric panel from Moda! I wrote up a pattern with lots of photographs and directions for fusible binding techniques.

For the book itself I used a coordinating fabric from the same line for the inside and back of the covers, and did a fusible binding for the edges. I 'bound' the book with eyelets and yarn and tied a cute bow on the back!

The patterns were a big hit the first day of the shop hop, we sold several which is always a happy event to know that people like your patterns. They're also available here at ShootingStar on etsy, my second shop for supplies and destashing. I'll slowly be making more of my patterns available online...

Gadget Alert!

2007-05-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

If you're at all interested in fiber arts involving yarn at all, you simply must buy have a yarn ball winder. This is the one I have and it's great... I like to buy old tacky sweaters at the salvation army and take them apart for the yarn. This gadgam-gig pulls the yarn from the sweater/scarf and winds it into a ball, without knots!

It's ready at this point to be reused and made into something else beautiful, It goes easily from a know free ball into whatever format you'd like to have your yarn in (if you're going to dye it etc.)

Busy Busy Life:

2007-05-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

Life's been super busy recently, but I've been working on things for you! I'm almost finished with a tutorial on binding (several types)... it should be awesome and exciting! I'm also going to go home this afternoon and work on my blooming 9 patch :)

Etsy Commercial

2007-05-04T22:16:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged!

2007-05-04T21:48:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged by fellow etsian Sing Yee at Kawaii~Neh to do this...

• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself
• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog
• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names
• Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog

1. I'm an entomologist by trade... I spend lots of time playing in the swamp and looking for little tiny weevils. I collect insects and have a whole set of boxes filled with dead bugs on pins...

2. I have three cats and two dogs, and most days my life is like a circus. There's always one pet getting into something they're not supposed too, especially with my crafting stuff. I have one cat (roxy) in particular who is very into anything shiny and small, one who loves thread (hannah) and the last one (calpernius) who wants to do nothing but find the biggest pile of stuff and push it over so she can sleep there.

3. I don't like ham and didn't eat it for years, even at family functions because my cousin and I would trade... he'd eat my ham and I'd eat his green bean casserole.

4. I pay an outrageous sum of money to get the magazine selvedge by subscription sent from the UK, and I don't feel guilty about it at all because I drool over the magazine.

5. I love perezhilton.com and read it every day regardless of the content, not because I care, just because it gives my brain a break and makes me smile.

6. Stripes make me happy.

7. I wish I were more organized... my life and house are the epitome of chaos.

TAG- other etsians who might just do this are

1. Gemma at Love, Gemma

2. Mosaico

3. Tara at Jewelry by Tara

4. Jen at RedInstead

5. A Rose by Name

6. Amy Keith

7. and anyone else who's like to fill out the survey!

filigree wings for your dreams to fly away on

2007-05-03T23:25:00.001-05:00

filigree wings for your dreams to fly away on
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I ordered more of these beautiful fairy filigree wings in both silver and gold and they make me so happy! they're all spread out on my desk waiting to be made into beautiful things! I also received some art deco inspired wings with simple classic lines that I *LOVE*. One pair or each will definitely be for me!

I though I was caught up on all of my orders, both for etsy and for bookmooch, and they I was thrown for a loop today. One of my neighbors came and knocked on my door and handed me the dame bag I left out for the post man the other day.... full of packages that had been opened and rifled. The left the books (though I'm going to have to reprint/repay for mailing them), the DVDs were in there from netflix though the envelope was gone, and some of the jewelry was there but not all. So, I'm remaking orders this evening and desperately seeking components I know I have more of somewhere...

Ugh. Why? Do you have nothing better to do than take my mail going out? come on now. Sorry I'm frustrated and venting this evening.

Featuring Etsians

2007-05-02T20:44:00.000-05:00

I'd like to give a huge thanks to Featuring Etsians (aka sewingsimple on etsy) for doing this great interview with me. She's got interviews with a bunch of other sellers up as well, and uses the etsymini feature to show everyone's items!

are you a book hoarder?

2007-05-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

I am and I admit it!

I love books, possibly as much as crafting supplies. I love to read, and I love to feel a book in my hands. I'd guess that almost 90% of my collection is hardback, so they live all over my house in little stacks and piles. I've recently started organizing, and trying to get my books back in some semblance of order. They *were* in subject and alphabetical order before our move, but they didn't get to the new house that way.

I've been cleaning like crazy, and I have a stack to list on my etsy supply shop. I've got lots of paper crafting books to list mostly, card making and scrapbooking. I do have a couple of fun odds and ends like a book on how to make the real-deal teddy bear. It's an amazing book, great patterns, and cool project but I've come to terms with it- that I'm never going to actually *make* a teddy bear.

I've also been listing noncrafty books on bookmooch.com or registering them with bookcrossing.com and leaving them places. They're both awesome sites, with the same theory about passing on books to others for free. Bookmooch runs on a points system, and you can import an amazon wishlist and "mooch" books as they become available. I'm getting rid of all sorts of odds and ends, and acquiring cool new books in the process. It don't totally get rid of the books, but there's less around? Does that count?

Check them out- they're both well worth the time.

save gocco

2007-04-29T20:16:00.001-05:00

save gocco
Originally uploaded by pantufla.

I've decided I think I need a gocco. Well, not really like I need, but I want it really badly. So... I've been doing a bit of research. The Goccos of course are no longer being exported to the US, and they're reasonably expensive on ebay. Savegocco.com has hints that a mjor US arts and crafts retailer may be carrying them later this calender year.... but I feel the printing urge NOW.

The B5/B6 seems to be the most common system, and the most common size around. I think I'd like to be able to print a little bit larger than 4x6 ish, but it's all up in the air...

Mini Survey:
Do any of you have one?
What size do you have?

taking the plunge!

2007-04-27T13:10:00.001-05:00

Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

Well I've done it and taken the plunge to open a second etsy shop purely to destash myself. I came to the conclusion that I have more crafty stuff than I'll ever use, and that someone else could be using these things and I won't feel wasteful If I pass them on to someone else to use.

In addition I often buy in bulk when something inspires me, and then something happens.... or I get distracted by something else... and I've got a lot left. So nothing in the shop is junk or trash, they're all things I've bought to use myself at some point, and just didn't. Or I'll just never use the quantity I have.

So check it out.
Shooting Star Supplies at Etsy

:)

In the hoop, but done!

2007-04-26T14:25:00.001-05:00

In the hoop, but done!
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I've been working on this great quilt at work for a shop sample, and I think I've finally figured it all out.

These designs are Huge which leads to my first problem. I'm doing them in the 'grand hoop' which requires that the machine sews one side of the designs, then you turn the hoop 180 degrees and it sews the other side. In addition there are almost 60,000 stitches, which leads to puckering and all sorts of other problems with the fabric. I'm using silk dupioni (which is amazing by the way for embroidery) so all I needed was enough stabilizer to make it happen.

I stitched one of the other designs out previously and had a lot of problems, so I doubled up on the heavy duty (Inspira - washable sticky back) stabilizer and it worked! so the design with some puckers will most likely become a pillow, and I'll redo that one for the quilt.

one a side note: These designs are from the Pfaff Grand Elegance collection, which has 10 of these huge floral designs. You'll be seeing more of them as I get going. The designs take about 3 hours a piece (with no thread breaks or problems etc).

Spring has sprung

2007-04-25T23:12:00.001-05:00

Papilio cresphontes (Giant Swallowtail)
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

It's been beautiful here (until about two hours ago when the skies opened) but spring has definitely sprung. The sun has been out, the skies are blue, and the butterflies are out.

This photo is of Papilio cresphontes also known as the Giant Swallowtail. This butterfly is a swallowtail and is common across the southern United States. Adults feed on a variety of nectar sources in gardens and the caterpillars are referred to as "orangedogs." The larval stages feed mainly on citrus and can be a pest especially in non-commercial settings.

This photo was taken at the Boston Museum of Science's Butterfly Garden Exhibit in the Spring of 2005.

The Creation Station!

2007-04-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

I'd like to give a quick shout out to powderpuff on etsy. She did a great feature on my shop at the end of January in her blog, and when I went to check out her shop she makes awesome super cute stuff and furry monsters.

This is a link to her blog post she did on me (I'm all the way at the bottom) but she profiles an etsyian (is that a word?) fairly often.

strong

2007-04-24T23:19:00.000-05:00

I've been sitting here procrastinating doing statistics labs becuase I'm quite far behind, and I have a lab practical tomorrow. I have all my programs written and run, so I have output to write about, but now it's 11:25 pm and I'm ready to go home and go to sleep.

But in the meantime I've been sitting and reading the news online, which while much of it is too serious and makes me sad, or it makes me want to go and find another planet to live on. I ran across this article this evening about Roger Ebert, the film critic. He's currently undergoing a series of surgeries for cancer and refuses to hide for the public eye while he's going through treatments. While he can't speak becuase of the number of surgeries he's had, he writes lots of notes and will be at a film festival soon that has installed a lazy-boy recliner for him to watch movies in. He requests that all gossip rags refer to photos of him as a "lay-z-critic"

If you're a new junky like I am for stupid news, you should check out fark.com if you haven't already. It's a fabulous way to waste lots of time.

Blooming 9 patch on the design wall

2007-04-23T17:29:00.001-05:00

Blooming 9 patch on the design wall
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I took this great quilting class this weekend to make a Blooming Nine Patch quilt, and got four out of eight fabrics up on the design wall. I'm not entirely sure that I love it so far, but it changes with each color you add, so stay tuned for more photos.

The pattern for the quilt is from the book "Traditions with a Twist" by Blanche Young and Darlene Young Stone and while the photos in the book aren't that exciting some of the other quilts I've seen in this pattern are amazing!

technorati tags: quilt blooming nine patch make

Bleeding Hearts

2007-04-21T23:06:00.001-05:00

Bleeding Hearts
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

I am absolutely in love with this quilt. It's part of the QuiltPink auctions happening on Ebay right now, and If you don't know anything about them you should check out the information at www.quiltpink.com and the auction site here.

Over 1000 Independent quilt shops around the country (and the world) hosted quiltpink events last year. Both groups and individuals contributed finished pink quilts and they are currently being auctioned, with 100% of the proceeds to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Fund.

This particular quilt was donated by Sharon Smith from French Fantasy Designs, and looks absolutely amazing. I have a strong desire for it to be hanging on MY wall (and I'm not a wallhanging person) but with several days left on the auction the price is already over $300. As much as I would love to purchase this quilt I love that so many people are bidding and buying quilts to support research. Even better is that there were nearly 4,000 quilts donated to be auctioned off with starting bids of $150 each. While many are going for the minimum bid several quilts have sold for much more. The top earners so far have been sold for $535 and $530 and were amazing as well.

If you haven't gotten a chance yet, you should go and check it out.

Tigerlillyshop on Etsy- Copper Pod with Pearl

2007-04-21T00:09:00.001-05:00

Copper Pod with Pearl
Originally uploaded by tigerlillyshop.

I also have to give major props to Tigerlillyshop on etsy. She's one of my contacts on flickr and when I saw this gorgeous necklace float across my homepage I knew I had to have it!.

It came in the mail this week and I wore it and got tons of compliments! I need to shorten the chain, but I like shorter necklaces than the rest of the world I think.

That and the photo is amazing. I"m a sucker for gorgeous product photography.

work... work... work.... and more work...

2007-04-21T00:02:00.001-05:00

Quilting
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

So I should really go to sleep so I can get up early in the morning. It's bound to be a busy crafty day. I need to try and get some quilting done, my bookcase is getting out of control with tops..... hopefully I can double up on some of the smaller ones.... we shall see :) Ameila is out of town in Berlin for a dealer trip- so Linda and I are going to try and get other stuff done around the shop as well. We need to try and assemble the shop-hop sampler quilt (it's going to be made out of the Benartex Metro fabric - you can see an example here)... and I'm hoping to get part of the needle felted table runner finished. There's no way that it will all get done, but you never know.

Oh- and I'm going to skip out and try to go to the departmental crawfish boil for a bit as well!

I'm also making strides to organize my crafting space. I've got cabinets along one wall now with plenty of room (but I haven't had time to fill them yet) and my desk set up with jewelry supplies. I need somewhere to set up my serger and sewing machine, and I need to find a new home for the cat box farther away from where I sit. I bought magazine organizers today at Target and put them up on top of everything, hopefully I don't need more than what I bought, since they were the last ones on the shelf!

Etsy Journal [book 2] pages 5-6

2007-04-19T17:22:00.001-05:00

Etsy Journal [book 2] pages 5-6
Originally uploaded by antelucandaisy.

Since I've linked on the right to the EtsyJournal Project, I figured I'd start by showing you my contribution. I was completely inspired by a fused quilt class I took at the Gulf States Quilting Association Meeting this year with Robbi Eklow called Free Expression Quilting.

So I started with a big roll of wonder-under and fused the blue batiked background into the book and started playing. I have so much fabric that working this way is almost like playing with stickers. Each piece can go anywhere you can iron if you can cut it out.

I was really happy with the result, and love the finished project. I can't wait till all the books are finished and we can get a reproduction! as for right now I'm the last person in my book to have finished (that I know of) so I hope it's moving along...

Welcome

2007-04-19T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well this is officially to welcome you all to reading this (though currently no one knows it exists). I love crafty things, indie-ness, bright modern fabrics and crafty things, and I *hope* to eventually blog about things I make, things other people make, and generally cool stuff.