You are here: Home / Archives for Miscellany

Review – MiniEco

· Leave a Comment

MiniEco: A Craft Book by Kate Lilley is so much fun! Kate's blog, also named MiniEco, is consistently filled with fantastic craft projects and ideas and the aesthetic is so bright and colorful. The book is no different, the projects are extremely fun and varied. I love how many different types of crafts this book encompasses, some are more simple little ideas while others are more in depth with patterns. Each project's skill level is rated with stars to show the difficulty. The fuse bead projects in this book are what made me go and buy a huge tub of them, I really ... Read More

Experimental Cross Stitching – Fuse Beads

· 8 Comments

I wanted to play around with fuse beads, (or Perler or Hama beads, they go by many names) so last time we were at IKEA I picked up a gigantic tub of them. I will occasionally see things on Pinterest and the patterns are so interchangeable with cross stitching. My original plan was to make one of my cross stitch patterns out of the beads, which I will probably still do. However, Jenn of Beadeux, Isette, and 52Lasers fame, suggested using the beads to make a canvas and stitch on that. I was going to make a really large canvas to work on, but decided to start small. I ... Read More

Color Wheel Sampler by Dropcloth

· 1 Comment

I saw a photo of someone working on a color wheel sampler on Instagram and I immediately went searching for my own. I could see the name on the photo, it came from the Etsy shop Dropcloth. I ordered one and I can't wait to get started! My embroidery skills are pretty limited, I mostly have done back stitches and satin stitches. I know how to do a french knot and scallop stitch, but that's about it. I love the idea of getting to try out all these different stitches while also making a piece of art to hang. I can't wait to get started! Have you gotten anything ... Read More

A Beastly Swap

· 3 Comments

Well after a slight delay, this has finally made it's way into the hands of Olisa from cocoaeyesthestitcher and I can show it off. This was my fourth swap, they usually take place over at the Phat Quarter Flickr group, but this one was on the new social network site Weave. If you're a stitcher, you should definitely sign up! You can see what I did for the first three swaps here. The theme was "Bestiary" and I thought it would be so easy but I had a really hard time. I got such an amazing piece from Olisa from the last swap, I felt a lot of pressure to make sure I ... Read More

Quilty Stitches Update

· 2 Comments

I had hoped to be sharing the piece I made for the latest Mr. X Stitch swap, but unfortunately it wasn't delivered yesterday like it was supposed to be. So I figured I would show off my progress on the Quilty Stitches Sampler. I just finished my fourth block which I really love. This is really my first time ever working from someone else's pattern and I'm really enjoying it. I love seeing all the different color schemes that everyone has chosen. I like how one pattern can be transformed so many different ways by just changing the color. It's not too late to ... Read More

A Huge Announcement!

· 15 Comments

Keeping this secret has been so, so difficult, but I'm thrilled to finally announce that I will be a member of the Twinery's Design Team! I will be working with an amazing team of designers and crafters to create content for the Twinery blog. I have so many ideas and I can't wait to get started. I received an enormous box of Twine, so much that I couldn't even capture it all in one photo! There's so many fun colors, I am so excited to work with them all. Take a moment to pop over and visit some of the other designers and say hi! I can't wait to see what everyone ... Read More

Handmade Christmas – Ackbar Coffee Sleeve

· 2 Comments

I kind of can't believe I forgot to post this! I saw this Admiral Ackbar coffee sleeve on on Pinterest and knew I had to make it for Josh. There wasn't a tutorial, just a link to a Flickr photo. The creator answered my questions and I got started. The original is definitely neater. I should have made the sleeve tighter, it falls off a bit. I chose a more challenging shaped mug because of the bulge so it doesn't fit as well as I would have liked. The eyes gave me a bit of a challenge as well. My original plan was to do a magic circle for the back of the eyeball ... Read More

Craftsy Class Giveaway

· 4 Comments

I posted awhile back about Craftsy, a great site with tons of craft classes. I am thrilled to be able to partner with them for a giveaway! If you win, you will be able to choose a class with up to a $59.99 value! There are a ton of great classes, here are some that I think look fantastic! This class looks like a great way to start up embroidery with a full overview of different stitches as well as a section on how to design patterns. I would love to take this class, it seems like a terrific way to learn all the basics of embroidery. I have a lot of different ... Read More