Turn A Box Inside Out

I know a trick that is too good not to share--so here it is! 

I do a lot of swaps at Craftster, so I'm always needing boxes for mailing my swap packages.  Most of the boxes I have hoarded saved look like this:

There are all kinds of markings and stickers and labels on them, and it looks terrible, and I don't want to send lovely hand-crafted goodies in a terrible looking box. One day it hit me:  the inside is pristine, so why not turn the box inside out?

Start by locating the corner flap inside the box that is glued in place and holds the box together.  Just pull it apart right there.

Here's my box, nice and flat.

Turn it inside out and glue or tape the corner flap in place.  (There happened to be a bottle of glue on the table when I was doing this, so I glued it.  Normally I just tape it with packing tape on the inside, and add extra reinforcement on the outside.)

Fold the bottom closed...

...and tape it in place.

What a difference!  Now THAT'S a box worthy of both my hand-crafted gifts and my swap partner!

What Makes a Monster a Monster?

The Monster Pouch Swap is now open for sign-ups on Craftster--yay!--but it closes on Saturday morning, so hurry if you plan to sign up.

While writing the information about the swap, and sewing the two pouches who will serve as our "spokes-monsters", I had to ask myself, what exactly is it that makes a monster a monster?  Here's the first one I made:

I made it using the pattern for the eyeglasses case I showed you last week.  Thinking back to the Hungry Monsters we made last August, I added lots of teeth.  The eyes needed to be monstrous, so I made them different sizes.  It still needed something, so taking my cue from Susan's rendition of my mystery critters, I added some scraggly hair, by sewing on some short scraps of embroidery thread (that really cleaned up some of the mess around my sewing chair!)

But I wasn't completely happy with the eyeglasses-case-monster, so I went back to the first monster I ever made:  good ol' Zipper Face (below)!  The zipper is the perfect monster mouth, especially when you use a constrasting color for the zipper and the inside of the mouth.  The eyes are especially good on this one too, because they are both very different, and one eye has an orange spot around it, sewn on with random zig-zag lines of stitching.

Using Zipper Face for my guide, I made this new monster pouch, below.  Yes, that's better! The two things that bothered me about the eyeglass-case-monster were the teeth (just a little bit of overkill there) and the matchy-ness of the fabrics I used.

So here are the ingredients for a pleasing monster pouch:
1.  A mouth with a zipper or teeth (just not too many teeth).
2.  Eyes that don't match, plus some added detail, like a spot around one eye, or layered buttons for one eye.
3.  Mismatched fabrics (but not so many different colors that it looks like a kindergarten exploded!)--strong colors seem to work well, and a print that could be monster skin is especially awesome (of course, fake fur is the ultimate monster fabric!)
4.  An extra detail or two, such as wonky hair, a tongue, or arms and legs will go a long way in making your monster pouch really unique and special.

Pincushion Surprise

Over at Craftster, there's always something fun going on; a few weeks ago a challenge was issued, to do some sort of Random Act of Crafty Kindness, and then post about it on the challenge board.  Here's what I did:

I made a TON of these cute little tie-on pincushions (based on these at the Better Homes and Gardens website).  Here they are, in-progress.

and I mailed one to each person who signed up for our Fabric Basket Swap. The picture below shows some of them, ready for mailing.  I sent them anonymously, but about half of the recipients knew they were from me!  (I didn't know it would be so obvious!)

The picture below shows the three stages of construction:
1.  Cut out 2 heart-shaped pieces from wool felt, and choose two scraps of felt for the leaves and flower.  I cut the leaves and flowers free-hand.
2.  With embroidery floss, sew the leaves and flower in place; add a button to the center of the flower.  Choose ribbon for the tie, and embroidery floss for the stitching around the edges, in a color that will add a little contrast.
3.  Blanket stitch around the edges.  When you come to the top of the heart, tuck in the ribbon and anchor it with a couple of extra stitches.  When there is only a small opening left to sew, stuff the heart with fiberfill, and continue stitching to close it up.
4.  Give it away, or enjoy it yourself!

These were a big hit with all who received them; their happiness and excitement made ME happy and excited!  It is so fun to do something nice and unexpected for other people!

If you didn't receive one of these from me but wish you did, you still have a chance!  Starting on March 17th I will be hosting a 7-day-long celebration of both my birthday (yeah, I was a St. Patrick's Day baby!) AND my 1-year anniversary of blogging (I started last year on March 28th) AND having 100 followers (okay, okay, as of today I only have 90...but that's pretty close to 100!).  For seven days in a row, I will be giving away stuff I have made and brand new fabric fat quarters to people who leave a comment on that days' post!  It's going to be great!  I can't wait!!

Eyeglasses Cases

The last pair of sunglasses I bought came with a horrid vinyl drawstring case.  I promptly threw it away.  Later, when I flew to Arkansas to visit my mom, I put the sunglasses in my carry-on bag; unbeknowst to me, my nail file was right next to the glasses.  Emerging from the airport several hours later, I put on my sunglasses, and wondered what was wrong with that left lens...yeah, the nail file had rubbed against the lens the whole time, and the sunglasses were ruined.

That won't happen to me again, because I have vowed to always carry my sunglasses in a case from now on!  When this package of fabric arrived last week (from Sew Mama Sew) I knew that some of it would be perfect for glasses cases.

I made up my own pattern.  It's just two pieces, the body of the case, and the flap.  In this picture you can see the outside of the case on the left, and the inside on the right. 

The button is just for decoration, since the flap stays closed with velcro.

I will keep one for myself, and take the rest of them to the store where I sell my work.

Problem solved.  Yay!

Beaded Hair Pins Mini Tutorial

While looking online for some sort of hair ornament I could make, I came upon this cute little idea at annekata--pretty beaded bobby pins that would be appropriate for all ages.  I love these, because they look great but they aren't too big, and they are really useful too--I frequently use a bobby pin to hold back stray hair, but these will really boost my style quotient!

I tried making them with thread, like she did, but the beads didn't feel secure to me, so I tried again with 34 gauge beading wire (it is as thin as thread so it wasn't too bulky, and it was strong and easy to work with).  I bought my beads at Joann's; I just used two different types, a faceted glass bead alternating with an irregular polished stone.  If you look at Annekata's post, you will see that she used all different types of beads, which looks really great!  I had some beading pliers (I guess that's what they're called!) that I used to pull the wire tight, but they weren't really necessary.  Scissors are necessary to cut the wire. (Obviously, don't use your best pair!)

I used seven beads per pin.

Start by cutting a 20" piece of wire.  Wrap it around the end of the bobby pin, positioning it so that one strand of wire is longer than the other (the short one should be about 6").  Thread the first bead onto both wires, then wrap the longer wire around both the pin and the short wire, 2 times, right in front of the bead.  Continue on this way until you reach the end of the pin.

At the end of the pin, you will need to hide the wire ends, so feed them back through the hole in the last bead, and cut them off close to the bead.

Wrapping the bobby pins with wire had an unforseen bonus:  the pins stayed in my hair much better than unwrapped pins ever have.  A pair or two of these would make a nice little gift, even for someone with short hair.

SHINY!!  PRETTY!! 

Strawberry Pouch

I make a lot of zippererd pouches, and I've decided I need to step up my game a little--you can find a basic fabric pouch at every major retail store, so mine should be something unique, something that you CAN'T find at a big store.  That's what hand-made is all about.

I just got these marvelous fabrics in the mail this week (a gift from my equally marvelous friend, Susan!)  I decided to use the cute strawberry print fabric for my pouch.

I found a red polka-dot fabric to add to the front for constrast, and I wanted to do something else, but what?  A button?  Something embroidered?  Taking my cue from the fabric itself, I settled on a felt strawberry on a square background, sort of like a badge or medallion (or maybe a postage stamp?)  I cut the green square using a ruler and my pinking shears; I cut out the strawberry and stem freehand.  Here it is before any sewing has taken place:

Here it is, hand-sewn onto the fabric that will be the front of the pouch.  Isn't it cute?!

This is a medium-sized pouch, measuring 6.5" x 5".  It's a perfect size for organizing the small things in your purse.

I also used the red polka-dot fabric for the lining.

I finished it off with a leaf charm tied with a red ribbon to the zipper.  (I wish I had a strawberry charm!)

It's so exciting when something comes out just the way you want it to!  No more plain pouches for me! 

My Favorite Artist

It has occurred to me more than once, that with the word "Art" in the title of my blog, I ought to be showing you more of that!  So today I want to introduce you to my favorite artist:  my daughter, Jenna.  I plan to post her artwork regularly, perhaps once a month or so.

Jenna is currently a freshman in the School of Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.  She's always been artistic and creative, and when she entered high school she already knew that she wanted to pursue art as a career.

Here she is at her Senior Art Show last spring at her high school, surrounded by her work:

 She is fabulously talented as a painter on canvas, and as a digital artist on the computer.  On her left you can see a painting of her cat, Q-Tip, done in the style of a painting by an artist whose name she can no longer recall!

Jenna has a unique personal style that is quirky and offbeat.  She doesn't always paint fluffy white kittens; usually the tone of her art is more like these highly-detailed, painted ping-pong balls (which I set on spools of thread so they wouldn't roll away during the photo session!)

Front view:

Back view:

On the left, the Monster from the Black Lagoon; on the right, a "lovely" mermaid:

On the left, a vampire; on the right, a mummy:

I think these are amazing!  I especially love the mermaid, because it is completely opposite of the "average" mermaid, with her missing tooth and over-done makeup.  I'm also impressed with the mummy's wrappings, which extend smoothly around the entire ball.

Next time I will show you a couple of Jenna's sculptures...they are really cool...!