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Chickpeaa is most well-known for her handmade vintage style necklaces with a green touch! She makes wearable gardens in the form of her Moss Terrarium Necklace - a small glass jar pendent with live moss inside. A perfect gift for gardeners and plant lovers that will certainly lead to many compliments.
Crafty Tip
Before throwing something away, always stop and think, could this be recycled? Almost anything could be remade into something useful. Have three miss-matched wine glasses? Glue the glasses together to make a bird feeder!
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Moiracoon, much like her raccoon brethren, is quite attracted to shiny bits. She enjoys creating jewelry and other decoratives, incorporating recycled elements with new components to create unique art pieces that transcend eras.
Crafty Tip
Here's a simple recipe to make new copper have that aged, grey-green verdigris patina...
-2 parts white vinegar
-1 1/2 parts non-detergent ammonia
-1/2 part non-iodized salt
Use steel wool to clean your copper and to remove any laquer or finish. Rinse well with water to remove any remaining residue.
Put the ingredients into a misting bottle and mix well.
Lightly spray the mixture onto the copper, covering it thoroughly, and allow to dry for one hour. Reapply as need to ensure full coverage. Set aside the piece until the next day. Use a brush to gently remove the loose particles on the surface. If desired, sand the raised areas to allow some of the shiny, "un-aged" copper to show through. Seal the copper with clear spray lacquer.
Use more salt to create a more boldly green patina and less salt for a more greyish patina.
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Handmade one-of-a-kind polymer clay jewelry and religious accessories by Virginia Soskin combine her colorful polymer clay designs with the finest quality sterling silver, crystal, semi-precious stones and beads. E-mail her to place custom orders.
Crafty Tip
Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel to clean liquid polymer clay from your craft brushes. It’s always at my sink, so I just work it into the bristles, then rinse. Apply again if needed. The gel is less drippy than rubbing alcohol and stays on the bristles better where it can do its job! No more ruined brushes!
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Erika Davis has been working with textiles for over 30 years. She is known in her hometown for her handmade bags and jewelry. She works with only quality materials including Czech glass, crystals and gemstones. She also works with polymer clay, resin and textiles, often dying the fabrics herself. Along with her lovely brooches, she offers a variety of beaded jewelry items, evening and bridal bags and handmade wedding accessories. Commissions are welcomed and she offers resizing on her necklaces and bracelets.
Micro Macrame Crafty Tip
For micro macrame and braiding make your own board. Cut a piece of board 4 inches wide x 20 inches long. Cut 5 pieces of cotton bump the same size and lay onto the board. Cover with a piled fabric like velour or chenille, pull the fabric round to the back of the board and staple in place. You now have your own board to pin threads to for braiding and micro macrame and the piled fabric will stop your work sliding about.
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Beautiful handmade guest books decorated with a selection of embellishments and personalised with any message of your choice.
Crafty Tip
When folding the corners of your chosen paper over the mountboard covers to create a book cover, fold and glue the shorter ends first for a neater finish.
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Sandi enjoys anything "that lets her creative spirit fly" but among all of the words she uses to describe herself, quiltmaker comes first. As you get to peek over her shoulder into the life of her family, you'll also find many wonderful craft projects and quilt patterns that you can try. She's been stitching for over 40 years and her blog is a veritable showcase for all of her lovely quilts. This busy lady also stitches, creates miniatures, designs and offers quilting and crafting classes. Visit A Legacy of Stitches to learn more about the wonderful things she is creating and be sure to check out her Wooly Buddies and Seasons BOM Yahoo! Groups.
Quilting Crafty Tip
When making a quilt for children out of fleece and flannel, zig-zag the seams for added strength.
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Home of the Brave Quilts is a non-profit organization based out of Redlands, CA that continues a tradition that began during the Civil War. The U.S. Sanitary Commission was funded and staffed by a group of northern ladies who made clothing, rolled bandages, supplied medicines and stitched quilts which doubled as bedrolls. Their cot-sized quilts provided a touch of home to soldiers and were often used to comfort the wounded. Home of the Brave Quilts is using one of those original quilt patterns to offer comfort to military families missing a family member who fell in the line of duty. The quilting guild which founded Home of the Brave Quilts, Citrus Belt Quilters, has provided a wonderful tutorial for the Civil War quilt pattern being used by volunteers in California.
Crafty Tip
Use a 'starter strip' of folded fabric to help eliminate having to cut off loose threads and to prevent the fabric from getting caught in the feeddogs.
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It began with the Citrus Belt Quilters Inc. of Redlands, CA. They wanted to offer some measure of comfort to military families of fallen soldiers who were buried at Riverside National Cemetery or were from the greater Inland Empire area. The quilts were replicas of those made during the Civil War by the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Their idea has spread to all 50 states and the US Territories and the group is endorsed by the US Department of Veteran's Affairs. Visit their website to find contact information for local chapters.
Crafty Tip
The U.S. Sanitary Commission was staffed by women volunteers during the Civil War. Self-funded, the group met many of the needs of the soldiers including bandages, clothing, medicine and quilts. The original quilts were 48 X 84 inches (the size of a standard military cot) and could also be used as bedrolls. It's believed the ladies made between 150,000 and 250,000 quilts. Sadly, only four are known to have survived one of which is housed in Smiley Library's Lincoln Shrine in Redlands.
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Directly from the Amazon Rainforest. We're manufacturers & offer the largest selection of eco-friendly, natural tagua beads, available in 23 colors. Lowest prices delivered to your door, GUARANTEED! Worldwide Shipping! No minimum order!
Crafty Tip
Tagua beads are ideal for ecofriendly beading and jewelry making. These bead crafts are manufactured with eco-ivory (tagua).
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Judy Niemeyer, a quilting instructor who shares her expertise across North America and Canada, founded our family owned and operated business in the mid-1990's. Since then, we have produced more than a hundred foundation paper piecing quilt patterns that are quite popular with quilters and quilt shops. We also conduct quilt retreats where quilters meet and have fun quilting. Be sure to check out our Samples gallery where you can see pictures of finished quilts made with our patterns.
Foundation Paper Piecing Crafty Tip
If you would rather glue your foundation paper piecing patterns to your fabric than pin them, you can use a glue stick. Use only one very light swipe of glue and don't press down too hard otherwise it will be difficult to remove the pattern from your fabric.
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