My first real weaving project

Dear Shayne,

The other weaving project I showed you was just practice. (I may make something else out of that fabric yet, so stay tuned...) Meanwhile, I have finished an actual weaving project since then and I love it!

Here it is, still on the loom:


The yarn is a generous gift from my friend Jan (Hi, Jan!) of Blue Moon Fiber Arts sock yarn in the colorway Happy Go Lucky. It's currently only available to Rockin' Sock Club members, but it will be available to all at some point.

I know this colorway is right up your alley, Shayne, but so sad for you: it's wool. Happy for me, though! :)

Here it is, finished:


I always wrestle with the best way to photograph scarves. What do you think of this artful arrangement:


Or maybe I should just always go straight to the best way to photograph anything...

... with Kaesea.

Kaesea says: "Yes, that's always best."

love,
kelly

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear Shayne,

For Valentine's Day this year, I made buttons (of course!) and handed them out at work:


I used this craft punch to punch the hearts out of white tracing paper. The heart outline showing through is actually the silver of the button itself (Shiny!)

Then I used a red Sharpie to draw in the little hearts. Awww. I worried that it was a little too "cutesy" but, heck -- it's Valentine's Day!

Have a good one!

love,
kelly

PS -- If you're looking for a last-minute Valentine's Day gift idea, my little 52 Things I Love About You book has been getting a lot of press around the web lately. Check it out!

Whee! I'm Weaving!

Dear Shayne,

For Christmas, I got the always appreciated gift of "go buy yourself something nice" (that is: cash). So I bought myself a loom. I've been wanting one for a long time, after hearing that it's faster than knitting and also uses yarn (of which I have... well, let's just say I have yarn and leave it at that.)

The kit actually came with yarn for a first project, so I used that for practice. And look! I'm making woven fabric!


So. Cool.

"Practice" is the key word for this project, as I am clearly having trouble keeping the edges even:


So I either need to get a lot better at this or, you know, embrace the "rustic" look (knowing me, I'll probably do the latter.)

Hey... what's that in the background?


Why, it's Kaesea, of course!

My little helper.

Okay. Back to weaving.
(Oh, yeah... it's totally addictive.)

love,
kelly

Winter Purse

Dear Kelly,

Jenny needed a new winter purse which was not in her budget, so we decided to be crafty and make one. (Apparently, I can't craft without her now :P )



Important things to note are:

1. We didn't use a pattern.
2. We lined it. (Only had to rip it apart twice to get that right.)
   
3. We only used what I had in the house. (Including braiding unhemmed fabric to make the handles.)
   
4. She actually likes it enough to use it.

Overall, a craft WIN.

Love,
Shayne

It's calendar time!

Dear Shayne,

I love this time of year -- discount calendars! Not just for the usual purpose of figuring out the date, but for crafting (of course).

When you were out visiting in May, we scored some $1 calendars at Chronicle Books. What a find! Then we spent some quality crafting time making envelopes. You made some from the Porn for Women calendar (Wow! 2010 is out of stock already -- looks like you won't be making a $1 score on that one this year...)

Here you are cutting out the envelope (yup, a man scooping a litter box):


And here's your finished envelope, complete with super-cute label:


We both got the Stuff on my Cat and Art of Modern Rock calendars. Here are some of the envelopes I made from Stuff on my Cat:


And Art of Modern Rock -- I think you also made one from this bird, but you cropped it differently and I remember liking what you did better. :)

I love to make envelopes -- it's fun to find something crazy in the mailbox.

Just this past week, I saw a project on craftster that takes this project up a notch -- user McJulie-O made the envelopes, then cut out the little thumbnail photos from the back of calendar and used those to make matching cards. It's so cute! Check it out.

So, did you mail that litter box one to anyone?

love,
kelly