I can get pretty nerdy over pens, makers and paints. I'm already drooling over Marc Jacobs' Bookmarc and their new collaboration with Krink, the maker of the highest quality inks and markers. Bookmarc x Krink features three special pieces that will bring your design, art, or crafty projects to life. Choose from the K-12 Paint Marker ($9 in Black, Silver, Gold), K-47 Permanent Ink Marker ($8 in Blue, Green, Black, Magenta), and K-60 Paint Marker ($14 in Red, Yellow, Silver, Gold, Black, Light Blue). Time to get creative!
When I received Amy Palanjian's new book, So Pretty! Felt my 4 year old immediately said "Oh Mommy can we make these flowers?", referring to the beautiful array of felt flowers on a fabric clutch pictured on the cover of this book. Amy is the former deputy editor of ReadyMade magazine and her previous book is So Pretty! Crochet, one of my all time favorite crochet books (Coquette post here.) Needless to say, I am excited to be a part of the So Pretty! Felt blog tour. The book contains 24 stylish projects that are really easy to make. Many of them are so wonderful to make and give as gifts. Perfect for anyone to start DIY'ing!
Here are a few of my favorite projects:
I have a good felt collection and I love working with felt. It's one of the easiest materials to craft with because you never have to worry about frayed edges. These Rosette Hairpins are an easy way to get started and break into my felt stash. I love how they can dress up your ordinary bobby pins. I plan on making a few for my daughter.
This Double Ruffle Necklace is perfect for a little pop of color and texture to an outfit.
Likewise for the Spiral Necklace. It's such a beautiful statement necklace and the color combinations can take your outfit to the next level.
If you're interested in making very stylish projects that are easy, So Pretty! Felt is for you!
Please visit the rest of the blogs below for the So Pretty! Felt blog tour happening through next week!
Spring will be here soon and the weather isn't quite warm yet even though I keep wishing it will be. I love keeping cozy with a cowl and Stephanie from All About Ami has crochet patterns on her site to make this long double crochet cowl. She also has a pattern for a smaller chunky double crochet cowl that looks wearable for me in the chilly SF summer months!
Update your bedding for the spring/summer season with your own one-of-a-kind DIY painted pillows by Alicia of Whimseybox.
I just finished this Cloverfield Cardigan knitting pattern by Vickie Howell for my 4 year old daughter Chloe. Find out more about it on my mom style blog, Coquette Maman.
Now I am starting the Miette cardigan by Andi of Untangling Knots. It's the perfect little sweater to wear over spring and summer dresses. I'm knitting it in Blue Sky Alpacas cotton yarn in this wonderful tomato red.
Attention bag lovers and knitters! My crafty pals at Whimseybox is having a fantastic giveaway for this Jordana Paige Cezanne bag in Stone Gray ($119 value). I've been carrying around my trusty Proenza Schouler PS1 bag for two weeks straight now and I love this style of satchel that works as a crossbody as well as a handheld. There are lots of compartments and pockets inside this bag including a section where you can hold all your knitting needles (or crochet hooks, if you please). This is probably the most stylish knitting bag I have ever seen!
Head on over to Whimseybox to enter the giveaway. The giveaway ends on Thursday, January 24, 2012 at 11:59 Central Time. The giveaway is also only open to U.S. and Canada residents. See the Whimseybox post for more details on the terms and conditions.
What better way to invigorate yourself for the new year than with a fun craft project? I'm totally obsessed with Downton Abbey and the fashions of the 1920's. You won't want to miss Whimseybox's DIY project to make a DIY Jeweled Ribbon Headband which can also double as a chic ribbon belt.
Lastly, I love this little tidbit post by Jenny over at Sublime Stitching showing some of Greta Garbo's sewing stash that was recently listed as part of her estate auction.
I hope these links inspire you to make something. Happy crafting in 2013!
(Pictured above: Top: Chunky Wool Shawl/Scarf from Nisey Knits and Wishbone Necklaces by Sora Designs, Bottom: Love this City iPhone Case by Mantra Style and Elephant Pillow from Lil Fishy)
Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Show
Concourse Exhibition Center, East Hall
620 Seventh Street (@ Brannan Street)
December 1-2, 2012
Saturday and Sunday
Hours: 11am - 6pm web site
I am a craft fair lover and my favorite show has always been Bazaar Bizarre. This year's Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Fair happens this weekend! Over 200 vendors will be selling at the event so you can get your holiday shopping done by supporting local artists, designers, food makers and crafters. The first 200 visitors on both Saturday and Sunday will receive a limited-edition tote bag designed by indie illustrator Martin Hsu and packed with free goodies.
Get Crafty
The DIY Funhouse will have lots of workshops and demos from local arts organizations and non-profits including Workshop SF and Rock Paper Scissors who will offer silk screening DIYs for wrapping paper and t-shirts, creativebug who will teach attendees how to make books from matchboxes, and The Crucible who will host a jewelry making booth – just to name a few! For those who want to get competitive SCRAP will be holding a birdhouse-building competition with supplied recycled materials.
Bay area food lovers will enjoy lots of great eats curated by Forage SF and populated by some of the best food artisans the Bay Area has to offer including Kika’s Treats, Uncommon Pickle, Oaktown Jerk, Maison de Monaco, and more. You can also explore a non-profit area celebrating some of the cities most loved organizations including Center for the Book and Creativity Explored.
October 2nd is Batik Day, a celebration in Indonesia and around the world for batik fabric. Batik fabric is created by an intricate technique that uses a manual wax-resist dyeing. The technique is very detailed and batik artisans usean intricate copper tool to draw out the liquid wax. It can take from a month to a year to finish a piece of batik cloth, depending on the complexity of the desige. Because of this complicated production process, batik can be considered to be high end and expensive.
I was honored to be asked by Shinta from BatikAntik in Indonesia to help bring awareness to the art form and help celebrate the amazing artisans in Indonesia who painstakingly create these beautiful pieces.
In 2009, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which is "the totality of tradition-based creations of a cultural community expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and social identity."
I am wearing a pink chiffon crinkled batik scarf made by Riana Kusuma. The colors are beautiful pastels of pink, purple and coral featuring beautiful hand drawn flowers. As a crafter and fabric lover, I am amazing that I had not known about all the details on what goes into creating batik fabric. I of course knew about the patterns, but didn't realize how tedious the actual production work was.
This fantastic BBC article about Batik designer Josephine Komara of Obin explains a lot about the creation of this artform. Obin has brought batik out from the shadows of state functions, to to trendy cocktail parties where batik and Hermes bags go hand in hand. Watch the video above to see more of the handmade process of batik.
Today you can see batik fabric designs used by some of the top fashion designers like Dries Van Notten, Diane Von Furstenberg, Armani and Nicole Miller.
I have edited quite a few of bread-making articles when I was editor of CRAFT. My mom even had a bakery for years while in my teens. Yet surprisingly, as crafty as I am, I had never attempted to try to bake bread myself. Last week, while crafting at Nancy's house, she presented us with her homemade bread. I couldn't believe that the crust had that wonderful crunch just like from a bakery and there was the wonderful "fresh from the oven warmth" that melted the butter oh so perfectly on top of the bread. I assumed it was complicated, after all I grew up seeing racks and racks of loaves of bread being shuttled in and out of a large brick oven. Nancy assured me it was so easy. She brought out this book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois ($16 at Amazon) and let me borrow it. Let's just say it changed my life.
I started with the basic artisan boule. The authors talk about how to make the full recipe for the dough and to refridgerate the rest in a container for up to two weeks. (You can also end up using part of that dough to create a sort of sourdough starter for the next batch a few weeks later.) I love that it's no knead. The key, I found is using a baking/pizza stone in the oven to get that crisp outer crust. I bought this Bialetti pizza stone ($12.60) at Target last friday. I didn't get a pizza peel as I took Nancy's suggestion to use just a wooden cutting board but sprinkled with cornmeal. As you can see my technique needs a bit of help as the round loaf got a bit smushed when I tried to quickly flick it onto the pizza stone in the oven.
The basic ingredients you need are all purpose flour and yeast. I used just regular Fleischmann's ActiveDry yeast and not the "instant" kind. The recipe will give you around four one pound loaves. You can cut or double the recipe if you want.
The title of "5 minutes a day" is a bit misleading. I am sure someone added that in because we are always so crazed to do things in just 5 minutes. The process of making the bread is really fast but you do have to account for times for the yeast needs to rise and a half hour for it to bake in the oven. All in all, if you have the dough pre-made and refridgerated, you will have fresh baked homemade bread in about an hour!
As the loaf cooled down, we enjoyed it with brie and pâté while watching the Emmy's red carpet. I am looking forward to trying out making mini-baguettes (we never finish full baugettes and they always get so hard in a day), as well as brioche. Nothing smells better for your home than fresh baked bread. This is also a wonderful gift for friends, dinner parties or just because.
BurdaStyle features eight new patterns inspired by the roaring 20's. I love this color block dress that features lots of panels and a low waist band. All of the dress patterns look fresh and modern for today's gal. Time to dust off your sewing machine!
My crafty friend Meg Allan Cole shows you how to make this driftwood wall garden that is a beautiful decor piece for your home. Subscribe to her awesome DIY videos on You Tube on her channel, Meg Allan Cole Crafts.
I don't know what it is about summer, but I love making at eating guacamole. Katie Goodman from GoodLifeEats was one of my favorite food contributors when I was editor at CRAFT. She always has great Tex-Mex recipes and her Roasted Salsa Verde Guacamole Recipe is perfect for summer lunches and snacks.
Also a quick alert to Bay Area peeps that the Renegade Craft Fair will be coming to San Francisco on the weekend of July 21-22, 2012 at the Fort Mason Center.
I'm missing the craft community a lot lately and just had a great catch up call with Erica from P.S. I Made This... which made me remember all the fun fashion-related crafty projects I loved to read about. I'm going to try to do a roundup every other week. It's a reminder that fashion is fun and doesn't always have to be bought in a store. I also love food and new recipes so I'll try to include those as well.
I always encounter people who think they aren't crafty but it really just takes one project to make to get you hooked with the crafting bug. Find an easy one to tackle and just give yourself a hour or a few to have fun with it and not worry about the end result. For starters, I love Erica's Knot Rope Necklace (inspiration board here) which is oh so very easy to make and is totally on trend with the rope detail and bright colors. Enjoy making it and wearing it around town while the compliments pour in.
by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois ($16 at Amazon) and let me borrow it. Let's just say it changed my life.
