A circle die, wool felt and a sewing machine can make wonders. Follow this link to a picture tutorial: felt-scarf-tutoroal

Happy Halloween!

Photos taken by the talented David Butler. See his great work at www.dabutler.com

Often when I throw my hair up in a messy bun my husband will call it my bird nest. So when I was asked to a party where we were all supposed to wear something in our hair, I thought why not? Pulling two ponytails off-center and a few inches apart, I wound the tails around this little yelow bird. I finished off the nest with streaks of gold hair glitter. The leaves are from my orange tree. The effect was so fun I may reprise this for an upcoming Halloween party.

For the Holidays, my theme is buttons! I wouldn’t normally take myself for a button person, but after I started making my own out of clay, felt and (pictured above) screen printed fabric I was hooked. Now I search thrift stores for the coolest buttons to fill out the collection.

You may remember my foray into wallet making. I started with Vinyl (read about it here) then graduated into sewing felted wool sweaters. Pictured at left is one of my wallets with a sculpted porcelain button. I’ll have this and others for sale at the upcoming Crafteria at Frances. Cyndi and I were thrilled to be of of the 40 chosen out of the 150+ makers who applied. It takes place the First Friday in December~
Friday, December 3rd, 6-9pm. Below is the close up…

Finally, my favorite of all my current makes~the button bracelet. All my buttons come together in one fun grouping that are selling like hot-tamales this season. I thoroughly enjoy the process of choosing and tying these little bundles of delight. They are available on my Etsy site >> Click here!

Okay, now the big news. Let me start out by saying that I am a graphic designer by education and trade. I gave it up five years ago because I no longer found it fulfilling or fun. Since then I have painted large canvases that hang in private collections and several galleries around the country, written a novel, got hired by Provo Craft to create crafting content (how-tos), and remodeled a vintage Airstream to inspire my creative heart. As for working in the design community~I never looked back.Then, a few weeks ago, the most extraordinary connection happened and I was asked to join the creative team at philosophy inc.

I never expected to find such an awesome group of people in my life. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work for a premier skin care company with the nicest, most talented people I have ever met. So, in light of that, I may not be posting as regularly as I used to. I’ll keep you posted on my making, though. Tune in soon~

xoxSarah

I used the Cuttlebug to emboss a plain piece of tin purchased at a hardware store. It was really easy to bend over the sharp edges then wrap it around 2 “D” rings from another (old) belt. After sewing in a length of double-faced ribbon from SAS Fabrics, I was ready to go!

How to Make a Rag Flower Pin:

Cut fabric into strips (1"x20")

Tie 3 strips together. Leave a little "tail". It will be the center of the flower

Twist first strip.

Run lines of glue, and begin wrapping twisted piece around center knot

Tuck end in and glue, and repeat process with other 2 strips.

Twist, wrap and glue all three stips.

If you need to, secure with a pin until dry.

Choose a fastener and sew on the back after the glue is dry.

Snip center of flower to fluff out the center.

Use the iRock to apply some sparkle.

Have fun! Have a great weekend!

Until Tomorrow~Sarah

I had been hanging onto a super boring denim skirt I bought at Old Navy (for, like, $2) and decided yesterday was the day to do something with it. Not only did I wear it last evening, but it became my first craft post on Mixology Crafts.

Now for y’all who missed the story on this: Cyndi and I fell into a great opportunity working with the crafting company Provo Craft (remember the crocheted owls in the 70s?). They needed a craft blog and we had the skills. I first met the fine people of Provo Craft in January at the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) trade show, and we have been forging a friendship ever since. The Mixology Crafts blog will soon reside on their home page (www.provocraft.com)—exciting!

Now back to my skirt…

Here it is all finished and ready to wear. I pulled out the Cuttlebug and the die-cutting dies—being careful to select the ones I use only on fabric(paper dulls the blades!) I backed cotton fabric with a stabilizer so it would cut better and chose the paisley die to be the birds’ wings and a fun flower to put in the tree.

A tight (.05) zigzag, set to a wide stitch (5) made the tree stand out nicely. Glossy embroidery thread helped the look adding sheen.

Details..details…here are the details…

I am sitting here listening to the most delightful music in the morning. After hearing Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (NPR) talk about his new CD I just had to have it for myself. It’s a mix of traditional Irish with traditional Mexican music. Check it out, it’s really spectacular >> The Chieftans featuring Ry Cooder “San Patricio” on Amazon.com. For you graphic designers out there, the (packaging) CD cover design is one of the most beautiful layouts I’ve ever seen.

A few years ago I knitted a scarf (my first actually!) and upon seeing it again I decided it needed a little flair. So, I unpackaged a nifty little tool I just acquired.

With the Knifty Knitter flower loom, I whipped out this pretty pink confection in under 5 minutes—no kidding! Then, I threaded the loose yarn bits through the scarf about 6 inches up so I could wrap myself up and tuck the end in. The flower looks like it’s pinned on, but actually it is fuss free.

It was so easy, I plan on “knitting” a few more flowers for my hair.