Saturday, the 7th of May was the Crafty Wonderland Spring Sale and it was great!  I was working the I Heart Art booth, because I am one of the members of the I Heart Art Leadership Counsel.  All of the members take turns volunteering for this program.

If you’re not familiar with I Heart Art let me tell you a little about it.  I Heart Art is a collaborative project between PNCA, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Etsy and the PDX Etsy Team.  This program is all about offering professional development in the form of workshops and events for Portland’s artists and makers.  These workshops and events are very affordable, as in $10 or free, which makes them accessible for everyone.  I helped set up the booth at Crafty Wonderland and also worked the first hour of the sale from 11-12.  We offered a coloring contest at the I Heart Art booth as well as information about the program.   I was surprised by how many people didn’t know about this amazing program.  All were really excited about I Heart Art once I filled them in on the program.

If you’re a maker and you’re anywhere near Portland
you should really consider getting involved with I Heart Art.

OK, back to Crafty Wonderland . . . usually I sell at Crafty, but this time I didn’t have enough time to build my inventory so I decided I’d wait and do the next sale (that is, if I’m juried into it).    After I finished my shift at the I Heart Art booth I was able to walk around and talk to people – vendors, customers and friends, which was wonderful! I got to see  Susan Beal and check out her new book, World of Geekcraft, which are available online or you can find them locally at collage.  I chatted with my friend Kirsten Moore of Piper Ewan and Cynthia Lucas of Bella Sisters.

The community of makers in Portland are a special breed of awesome!

Here’s a picture of the I Heart Art booth.  One of Portland’s special breeds of awesome is my friend Shawn Collins, who makes Fuzzy Lamps.  He agreed to help me with my volunteer shift at the I Heart Art booth.

Cathy and Torie do a great job organizing Crafty Wonderland sales.  The Convention Center was packed with cool art and crafts and tons of shoppers!  When I think of community, cool and creativity I think of Crafty Wonderland.  Hooray for Cathy Pitters and Torie Nguyen and the hard work they do putting on such a great sale!

After Crafty Wonderland  I went to a Kentucky Derby Party.  Overall it was a wonderful day!

by: jen

Sure, I could have done something easy for my last project, but I wanted to go out with bang.  I have to admit that an unfinished project really bugs me.  I usually either finish a project or hide it from my view where I can forget about it.

I started working on this chair over the summer and then I got busy with other things and never finished it.  As you can see it was pretty bad.  Someone had reupholstered it at some point but they didn’t really know what they were doing.  I decided this chair deserved to be beautified.

This project was so cool that I knew I didn’t want to abandon it, which is why it has been sitting around taunting me with it’s unfinished-ness for months.

One of things that makes this chair really cool is that the design is loosely based on a photographer Damon Winter’s work. A friend gave me a card last year with this design.  The minute I saw it I knew I was going to do my own interpretation of the piece and put my own spin on it.

Here is the chair partly completed.  I added some additional batting to the seat and back of the chair to make it more cushiony.

For the original photo the photographer captured light beams in a window display, but mine was done with ribbon.  I changed the silhouette somewhat by making the image feminine rather than a masculine one.  I also left out the woman in the foreground as I felt I wanted a simpler design. I also changed the color scheme.  In the picture below you can see the detailing that I did to the silhouette.  I created lines with my stitches that both reinforce the image and also add another decorative element.

Day 31: Finishing a Damon Winter Inspired Chair:

Wow, it’s day 31!  I made it . . . in many sense of the word!  I am so thrilled to finally be done, but I also feel like I have a renewed sense of my skills as a maker, artist and designer.   This project was the longest project of all the projects I’ve completed.  In all I think this project has taken me 6 hours to finish, but it looks great and I am very happy with it.  Every once in awhile it’s good to flex your crafty muscles and this one was a fun, rewarding challenge, for sure.

Thank you everyone for reading and sharing this process with me.  I am curious to know what project people would most like to know how to do themselves?  Please let me know which if any, of these projects would you most like to see turned into a tutorial.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

Recently I was going through my closet and found that I owned something like 10 pairs of yoga pants.  Many of them were ill-fitting in one way or another.  I decided I wanted to trick out a pair of my yoga pants and turn them into bloomers.

The first thing I did was to cut off the pants just below the knee.

Then I made 2 very long strips out of the cut off portion of the pants (lower portion of the pants).  I sort of estimated how long I wanted the strips to be.

Using my sewing machine I sewed a long (3.5) straight stitch with my sewing machine all the way on one end of the strips.  On the other side I serged all the way along the strip.  The reason for the straight stitch is so that it doesn’t stretch as I work with it.  The other end that was serged I wanted to stretch slightly to create a subtle ruffle effect.  Then I evenly spaced the strips and stitched them down to the bottom of the pants in a spiral fashion wrapping around the leg.

Day 30: Yoga Pants to Bloomers

Here are the finished bloomers, which I can wear by themselves or under skirts.  What do you think?  I like ‘em.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

Did you know that Sangria is one of the most delicious, affordable and simple drink options you can provide at a party?  It’s true and in this post I am going to cost it out and give you the raddest recipe ever.  It’s a hybrid of a couple of recipes and it’s pretty boozy too!

Here’s the shopping list (prices may vary where you are):

• Box wine – buy the Corbet Canyon Merlot because you can get it for $10.99 and it 4 bottles of wine.
• Brandy – smaller bottle $11.99 (you’ll use half to bottle so $5.99)
• Ginger Ale – 2 liter $1.19
• Orange juice concentrate – $1.67
• Lemonade concentrate – $1.67
• 2 oranges $1.73
• 2 Limes $1.18
• 2 Apples $1.75
• 2 Lemons $1.45

Grand total: $29.62

Day 29: Sangria for 20-ish people for $20-ish

Sangria Recipe:

Directions -

Start this recipe the day before your party.  I like to use a large pot for mixing the batch of sangria in.  Mix together the brandy, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, orange juice concentrate, red wine. Float slices of lemon, orange and lime, and maraschino cherries in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.  Add ginger ale just before serving.  Then add water to taste.  The reason for the water is that this drink will be pretty thick if you don’t add water.  It’s a great way to make the drink to your liking.  If you like your drinks strong add a cup or two of water.  If you like it a little weaker or you have a larger group to imbibe you can add numerous cups of water.

Makes: 48 1/2 cup servings (everyone can have 2 drinks this way)

Costed out: $.62 per 1/2 cup serving.  If you add more water this recipe can be as low as $.50 per 1/2 cup serving.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I have a friend named Jocelyn.  She owns a bakery called Bakery Bar.  She spends a lot of her time decorating cakes.  Jocelyn told me she wanted some pillows for her couch in her home.  I told her that we could make them together.  She basically did one of her cake designs, but in a pillow format instead.  She cut out the felt details and drew the design.  I was the sewer in this project because I am a more experienced sewer than she is.

I used batting to create the inner pillow.  One thick piece intended to be used for floor pillows and some thinner long pieces that one might use for a quilt or blanket, but for this project I used them to wrap the pillow.

I cut up the large piece of batting to the dimensions I needed.  Then I cut out some pieces of knit material to create an inner pillow for the slip cover.

It was fun to work on a new project with new designs that I didn’t even have to think about coming up with.

Day 28: Felt Pillows With Flair

Here is the completed pillow.  I hope Jocelyn likes it!

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I made a meatloaf yesterday and realized that I didn’t enough ketchup to top the meatloaf with.  I thought, “maybe I could make my own?”   I remembered that the last time I was at the Victory Bar I had ordered hush puppies that came with homemade ketchup and it was amazing.

I haven’t made ketchup before so I started searching for recipes.  I found this one from Epicurious. I didn’t have any cans of whole tomatoes so I substituted 2 smaller cans of tomato sauce.  I finished it and added it to my meatloaf.  It was unbelievably good.  Next time I think I’ll add a little less brown sugar.  I put the extra ketchup in a canning jar, so we can use it in the future.   Now I want to try my hand at making hush puppies too, maybe this weekend.  Here’s a recipe for hush puppies that sounds great.

Day 27: DIY Ketchup

Can be chilled for up to 3 weeks.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I have this shirt that is waaaay too short. It’s one of those shirts that every time I wash it it’s a smidge shorter than the time before.  I decided I was going to redo this article of clothing for functional reasons, but also in the process add some detailing to make it custom and unique.

I used a bathing suit pull-over thingy.  What do you even call those things?  Bathing suit cover-ups?  I almost never wear bathing suits and when I do I cover up with my clothes so this cool green thing is getting no use in my life.  Perfect for a redo.

I decided that I going to use the top part of the cover-up at the bottom of my shirt.  To tie the piece together I decided I was going to make an octopus embellishment.  I cut out the octopus out of paper.  Then I laid it down on the shirt and tried it on to be sure that the octopus was placed above my breast and not on my breast. 

Next I cut out the octopus and pinned it onto the shirt.  Notice that I didn’t iron this shirt or the embellishment.  I also didn’t back the embellishment with a stabilizer either.  I wanted to keep this really simple.  If you aren’t much of a sewer a stabilizer is a good idea, but I like to challenge myself and do things in new ways when I can.

I sewed the octopus onto the shirt using a straight stitch of 3.5.  When I was done stitching I trimmed away the excess material.  After I was done sewing the octopus.  I pinned and then sewed the top of the cover-up (the smocking portion) to the bottom of the shirt.  I could have made this into a mini dress if I had wanted to by leaving the bottom portion (the skirt part) of the cover-up, but I wanted a shirt so I cut that part off and used it for the embellishment.

Day 26: Short Shirt?  No Problem.

Here is the completed shirt.  I took two items that I wasn’t wearing and created one super wearable piece that I LOVE.  I hope this inspires you to create something new in your wardrobe from something or somethings that weren’t working for you in your life.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I have this table runner that I’ve had for years.  It’s at the point where many people would probably throw it away or give it away.  It has tons of little holes in it and a few stains, but I still think it’s so pretty and I don’t want to give up on it.  With some simple, fast sewing techniques I can salvage this old tired table runner.

I spent a few minutes trying to think of a simple design that would complement the already existing design.  Since the table runner is already red and white I decided I would stick with those colors.

Day 25: The Fix Is In – With Embellishment:

I cut out red circles of felt  and pinned them onto the runner over every hole and over every stain.  Then using my darning foot, which you can do free motion sewing with, I sewed rough, simple spirals.

I felt that this would look loosely like the roses that are already part of the runner’s motif.  I cut out a few sizes of felt, so that it would have a somewhat random pattern.

One of the benefits to sewing these circles on is that the stitches help prevent or slow future wear and tear on the holes that have already begun.

Another thing that is cool about this techniques is that as future holes develop you can continue to add more “roses” to the runner, which will make it look more and more handmade as you add the more embellishments to the piece.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I made some fingerless gloves out of a wool sweater.  They were so fast and fun to make.  I decided I wanted some that were really, really long.   Past my elbow, kind of long.  I cut the sweater sleeves off just past the arm pit of the sweater.

I put the sleeve on my arm and decided where to put the thumb hole.  I cut a small circle out for the thumb, then I put a zigzag stitch around the circle that I had cut to finish the edge so that it won’t fray.

Next I selected 3 buttons and put them on the outside of each wrist.

Day 24: Extra Long Reconstructed Fingerless Gloves

Here they are!  I finished the edge of the sleeve with my serger, but you could easily use a sewing machine zigzag stitch at the end.  I didn’t add elastic and casing to hold elastic, but you could do this very easily if you are worried about the sleeves slipping down when you where them.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen

I am working on some decorative pillows with a friend of mine.  She is using this flower design on some pillows that I will be sewing for her.  More on that in another post, but I saw this flower and thought it would look good in my hair so I whipped something up.  I love the look of fascinators; you know those cool headpieces with flowers or feathers?  The problem for me is that I rarely go anywhere fancy enough to warrant wearing such an elaborate headpiece.  I was thinking that if I made a headpiece out of felt it might be more wearable for everyday.  I was inspired by this fascinator, but I wanted to something a little bit simpler.  Here is a picture of me modeling the fascinator I made. 

I constructed this fascinator out of felt and sewed it to itself after I layered the flowers.

I attached the flower to a headband I had around the house.  I used hot glue on the high temperature to secure it to the headband.

I put my completed fascinator in my tiny brass tree collection because i thought it would photograph well there and it was hard to photograph it well on my head.

In case you didn’t read my first blog post about this project . . . this post is part of a 31 day challenge I am doing to bring more creativity, stories and solutions to my life.  I have been using my creativity almost exclusively for work in the recent past and for the month of January I will creating things for my personal life, talking about them and taking pictures.I would love input from readers as to which project you enjoy the most and if I get enough comments on one particular project I’ll turn it into a tutorial after the 31 day challenge of crafting, stories and solutions is over.  So please let me know what you like!

by:jen