wire lace ombre pearls

 Phew. The Craft Show happened and it was an exciting morning!

Here's a few photos of the pearl gradient necklace encased in wirelace that I taught Martha how to make.

 

 More how-to photos to come.

crafting hour on MARTHA!

  

Mark your calendars to watch the craft hour on The Martha Stewart Show, live at 10am Wednesday on the Hallmark channel!

It is so amazing to be able to work with such talented people at Martha. 

Hosanna, who leads the craft department at TV, is a craft fail solver—I always go to her for suggestions, opinions and advice on the work I am producing for the show. I trust her aesthetic, and her experience with working in so many mediums is impressive. Before becoming a full time crafter for Martha over 10 years ago, Hosanna studied photography, but her passion is really in fabricating jewelry. 

Check out her most recent collection of acorns. They are more than just whimsical!

  

We have two Dartmouth graduates in a craft department of four. Figgy thinks like a scientist and sometimes I can't understand what he is talking about. If he wasn't testing alum to form crystals or mixing borax to make goo, he should probably just start a lab—he'd be really good at figuring out the perfect concoctions! Check out some of his kits at Professor Figgy.

We are very bummed to be missing Kirsten for the craft hour. She is literally about to give birth. Another smarty pants, Kir is great with words and writes all our craft how-to's for the web. Before she bailed on us to have a baby, she made an awesome solar system mobile—soon to be a demo on an upcoming show. The sewing crafts often fall in Kir's lap—she is an expert quilter. Her meticulousness and accuracy boggles my mind—look at these silk tie pillows she quilted—they are impressive! 

The craft hour is going to be a fun show with interesting projects, good techniques and a glossary of the must have craft tools! 

Get a sneak peek at some of the stuff we have been working on here.

beading beading beading beading beading

 I have been beading for 2 days straight—non-stop—for my segment on Wednesday in the Martha Stewart craft hour! I can't wait to show you how every turns out.

Thanks Meli for straining you eyes all day to help me get this done!

we're not kids anymore

Artwork Ashley did in the 4th grade, about 20 years ago!!!!

What?!

We're adults?!?!?!

Used to have a mohawk, now Ashley's bald.

Are we getting old?

Dot.

the world's smallest stop-motion animation.

teeny weeny.
itty-bitty.

.
dot

factory craft

On March 2, Martha is dedicating an entire hour to crafting!

We are very excited to share a few new ideas, talk about our favorite tools and materials, and see what the most popular crafts are. Stay tuned!!! Its going to be a good show full of DIYs!

 

It's intriguing to think about all the people that make things in the world. Homosapiens' ability to use tools and create new things is is quite amazing. Our species has mastered the art of making. To think about everyone that goes to work each day and makes something?!? Look at what you are wearing for example. Someone cut the fabric and stitched together your pants or printed the graphic on your shirt whether it was a large factory in China or a self employed artisan in Brooklyn. There are millions of "crafters" out there!

Photographer John Spinks documented the people and factories that produced garments for a UK label—a glimpse into what we don't normally think of when we think of crafting. 

Theses shots definitely got me thinking about how almost everything is man made——crafted.

banner card & garland

I'm not the best card maker. In fact, I kind of hate making cards, hate filling cards out and often don't even attach one to a present I am giving. 

Ashley's father turned 60 though and I thought some thoughtful words was the best gift I could give—so I made a card.

I scored a piece of red card stock with a bone folder and ruler. On the fold, I cut small triangle flags so they were double-sided. With an adhesive roller, I secured and sandwiched a piece of baker's twine between. The ends of the twine were knotted and glued to the inside of the card. Simon was spelled with letter stickers.

When the card is open & standing, the banner hangs.

I didn't want to write anything inside the card to distract from the banner surprise so I wrote on the back.

With circle punches, I punched Ashley's and my face out of a photo and used word bubble stickers for Happy & Birthday (photo taken before I wrote it in).

This past weekend, we celebrated two more Birthdays, at my apartment. I made a similar flag banner but this time on a bigger scale. 

For this, I cut triangles from card stock and used a screw punch to punch holes in the top corners. Two colors of seam binding were threaded through and used to hang it. 

Easy craft projects can make big impressions.

Simon, Amanda and Noah all loved their birthday flag garlands, big or small.

Happy Birthday.

Pisces

If he only knew he was celebrated every year on February 20th by so many people around the world. I'm not sure he would have been able to handle that fact.

oh well, whatever, Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain.

ox

upcycled leather jacket tote bag

 

Watch me on the Martha Stewart Show when I show Martha how to turn an old leather jacket into a cute new tote bag! 

I use two tools that every crafter should have at their work table: a Dremel Stylus and an Awl for All.  The Dremel has unlimited uses—it's that friendly power tool that tends to come in handy when making many different things. The Awl for All is basically a hand-held sewing machine—perfect for any sewing project a standard machine can't handle and useful to have around for repairs. When you get in the rhythm of sewing with it, it begins to feel therapeutic, similar to knitting or crocheting.

On the show I demo how to turn a single jacket into a tote, but you can be creative and make any style bag you like.

I found this green 80's moto style leather jacket at a local thrift store and used its leather to make a cross-body purse. The lapel lent itself perfectly to becoming a flap. 

Home Depot carries some interesting hardware, like the Stainless Steel Anchor Shackle, which I used to attach the braided strap on this purse.

It's clever to take the material from one item and transform it into another—it's a great way to recycle—upcycle actually.
 A great reuse for an old fur coat is donating it to Coats for Cubs!

The Humane Society set up this amazing program of giving fur back to the animals.
Buffalo Exchange participates and are collecting coats right now!!

If you miss the show, watch the segment online here.

A & K

Necklace I made for Ashley for our 9th anniversary & of course Valentines.

 

nail in a hole.