I am a huge fan of the Knittn Kitten vintage craft supply store here in Portland, and I was sad to hear that they’ve been having a tough time lately. So a group of of us are contributing free weekly craft patterns (to make everything from necklaces and beaded hairpins to iron-on patches and pincushions)…
Yoda! I spent 45 minutes wandering around the madness of the 30% off sale at Fabric Depot holding my trusty Yoda action figure up to different bolts of fabric, but I think I got some good ones! The polarfleece is super soft and cozy for her hat, and I liked the cheerful orange-stars quilting cotton…
I just got most of what I need for Pearl’s Halloween costume at Fabric Depot’s 30% off sale… I figured I’d carry on the tradition of posting some of my craft supplies last year’s sneak peek – I made her a Harry Potter costume! and seeing if anyone wants to guess what the costume I’m…
I love this giant yellow button-sign — I think it was above a tailor shop. I took this photo in Brugge, Belgium when Andrew and I were there a few years ago. I wonder if could I make one? I have to think about this. Hopefully I will successfully reverse-engineer it and my next post…
I’m excited to announce that I’m helping out with a fun project — donating a free pattern to support one of my favorite crafty archives, the Knittn Kitten here in Portland! Each week a different local crafter will be offering up a free project sheet to try, and you can find all the supplies for…
We’ve been on a pretty blissful eastern Oregon vacation for the last week and off the computer and the cell phone circuit, but I’m back in Portland and loving this gorgeous summer-fall weather… I’m already thinking about Halloween costumes and making a new quilt and tempting stuff like that. I also wanted to let anyone…
I got a copy of Christine Haynes’ lovely book, Chic & Simple Sewing, a little while back and had a chance to sew myself one of her pieces — the Retro Shift. It’s one of my favorite dresses ever! Christine gave me some advice on grading the pattern up slightly. (I’m about a size 12…
I’m so excited to announce that I’m contributing to the fantastic geekcrafts.com blog every Thursday now! This morning was my second post so I wanted to do a mini-round-up over here to let folks know… Last week, I spotlighted two fantastic Yoda crafts from Heather Mann — her Yoda hat and market bag tutorials. Heather…
We got up early Saturday and headed to Salem for our second trip to the Oregon State Fair! We got there in time for an early lunch, so the first order of business was eating some delicious fried food. We stuck with tradition and had deep-fried zucchini, but this time we ordered a sampler platter…
Last month I taught a Bead + Button Jewelry class at PNCA, which was fantastic. My seven students made such beautiful things and I was really honored to be part of the Summer of Making! I wanted to share photos of some of the Bead Simple-inspired projects from the class, which were especially fun for…
I mentioned in my last post that one of my lovely Bead + Button Jewelry students, Marty, brought in her antique family buttons to show us, along with some gorgeous vintage Bakelite pieces she’s found more recently. She was kind enough to let me snap photos of her beautiful collection, including the magical button tin…
Linda has been in town all week (she and Paul finally left today, we were sad to see them go) and we’ve gotten to do all the fun Portland activities you only treat yourself to when you have visitors! Among other adventures, we got waffles, Thai food, biscuit sandwiches, gelato and ice cream cones, and…