The shoulder bag of wonder.

So my most recent project has been a lovely shoulder bag project from tiny happy. I love this particular purse pattern because it only requires fabric and buttons to complete, so you don't have to deal with (or buy) fasteners or zippers.
The inside of the bag is a sheet music pattern I really adore. The straps long enough that you could probably carry it like a messenger bag (across the shoulder).

The one thing I did mess up is on the inside pocket; I sewed it on too soon and it ended up on the side instead of in the middle. But it's still functional.

(Here's the link to the tutorial again.)

Meet Ralph.

This is Ralph.
Ralph is a sewing machine I recieved from my mother for Christmas.* He is wonderful, and much less old than the sewing machines I've used in the past (and thus less easy to break, thank Jesus).
Unfortunately for Ralph, I've hardly sewn at all since my junior high sewing class, where I spent more time getting detentions from the teacher than I did actually sewing. So we're taking baby steps here.
The first thing I did was made a little baggie for a Christmas gift for my aunt:
This actually only required two lines of stitching; the tie part is actually just the bottom of an old t-shirt.
After that, I decided to have a go at the Robot Goody/Tooth Pillow from Cut Out + Keep. Despite the wonderful step-by-step instructions, I was only marginally successful:
The handstitching is awful and the robot is entirely asymmetric, but he's cute, and I'm pretty sure that was the goal of the project.


*I dig anthropomorphism, or the practice of naming inanimate objects. I name everything; I'm not even entirely sure why. But it's great.

Christmas gifts

Haven't updated in a while - it seems that I've been too busy crafting to update my craft blog.
Anyway, I successfully made all my own Christmas gifts this year, and now that I've had a chance to give (most of) them to their respective owners, I can finally post some pictures.
For the most part, I made pendant necklaces for my girl friends, along with candles. The candles weren't much to look at (but they smelled delicious) so we'll stick to the pendants, shall we?

These are all really easy to make - all you need are supplies (square glass pendants, string, findings, and bails), some spray-on adhesive, some acrylic coating, and industrial strength glue to glue the bails onto the pendants.
I'll post a tutorial with pictures later on, but for now, I'm off to check on dinner.

I'm in love with a...blog...

So I found Crafting a Green World today while surfing, and I am absolutely in love with it. While it's not particularly project heavy, it has a lot of great resources for how to use and find recycled materials. She also does a great job of finding resources for vegan crafters!

My favorite entry thus far is about reusing old CDs in jewelry making:

Etsy shop!

So I opened my Etsy shop today! I also got a little overzealous and made like a thousand new pieces of jewelry. Anyway, check out my shop (BA Crafts and Jewelry).
Here are some of the items I made today (and are for sale in the shop!):
Pretty jagged bead bracelet....
Pendant necklace...

This one is sort of cool; TJ's keyboard broke last week so I've been having a hayday making crafts from it. Some beaded earrings...
And this one isn't for sale because I couldn't bear to let it go, so I'm keeping it as a Christmas present for myself...

Easy bound books how to

I'm absolutely in love with this bound book project from Craftynest - it requires a minimal amount of tools and supplies, and no heavy cutting. Better yet, it's made from supplies that you can easily find in your own home.
And look how pretty!

I'll be posting my own rendition of these after I finish all of my Christmas gifts.

Some holiday crafts

While I've been to busy making Christmas presents to actually do any of these, I've found some awesome holiday crafts in my browsing.
I really love these grocery bag pom poms (complete with tutorial and photos) from Design Sponge:

As always, Martha Stewart's page is featuring some great ideas for holiday treats - her 1 dough, 4 cookies article allows for a variety of Christmas cookies without making yourself crazy.



Another fun holiday craft is the cute paper santa from _shakty_. Print the layout from the download, cut the pattern out, and fold! This may take some more meticulous fold work, but it sure turns out cute:

Spectacularly tasty calzones

So I made some calzones last night that were so unbelievable, I feel the need to pass on the recipe, as usual, from Allrecipes. I changed a bit about the filling, using italian sausage and some spaghetti sauce, but the crust was to die for. Here's the recipe for anyone interested.
I think what made the texture most interesting was the use of egg to brush the dough before baking.
Enjoy.

Kusadama origami flowers

I'm in the process of DIYing pretty much everything for my wedding - the flowers, the food, the decorations, you name it. While I've been an origami goddess for a few years now, I recently found this fantastic tutorial for an original and gorgeous origami flower:

All you need to make these is paper and some glue; it takes some nimble fingers and a lot of patience to make, but once you're done, it's completely worth it!
Click here for the instructions from Peace of Paper (complete with helpful pictures!).

Book plate how-to

I have an obsession with anything that is decorated with book pages. This obsession led me to create some super sweet book plates, also inspired by the Big Ass Book of Crafts.
Do note that, once finished, these plates are not dishwasher safe, although the acrylic sealing should make them (carefully) hand washable.


What you'll need:

• The same 1:2 mixture of glue and water (1 part glue to 2 parts water) from the lamp project
• Clear plates (I spent a solid 5 hours searching my town for these, and finally found a perfect set at Wal-Mart)
• A book with thin pages (mine was a $1 clearance book from Half Price Books)
• A children's book with pictures for the main image (whatever makes you happy)
• A thick-ish (1" or so) paintbrush
• Spray-on acrylic for sealant

Cut out small 1" squares from the thin-paged book. Be careful, though, and make sure that these squares contain text (some have breaks with just blank pages)
Cut out the images you want to use from your children's book.
Using the same application technique from the lamp project, cover enough of the plate with glue to fit the image. Attach the image and another layer of glue on over it.
Cover a small, 1" section of the plate and attach a book clipping on top. Brush on another layer of glue mixture over top.
Repeat until the plate is covered in bookey goodness.
A few notes: Don't be afraid to let clippings hang over the edge of the plate; you'll trim it down later. Do be sure to cover the entire plate, no gaps!
Let dry.
Once dry, you'll probably want to use another layer of the glue mixture to make sure everything is glued down well. Those clippings can be tricky, and are constantly trying to escape.
Let dry again.
Trim any overhanging clippings on the edge of the plate.
Spray on a couple layers of spray-on acrylic, let dry again. (Repeat until it seems sealed enough to undergo water, and is shiny)
You're done! Enjoy your fancy new plates (which, by the way, make great gifts).

Newspaper lamp how-to

One of my first projects when I got into this whole crafting business was a newspaper decorated lamp, inspired by a project in the fabulous Mark Montano's Big Ass Book of Crafts.



What you'll need:

• A lamp (you can find super cheap lamps at your local Goodwill or Salvation Army)
• Newspaper (preferably one with some colorful pictures)
• Elmer's glue
• Water
• A larger paintbrush (1-to-2 inch works best)
• Some sort of finish (I use spray-on acrylic from Michael's)
• Spray paint (optional, used for base and lamp shade)

Directions:
If you're planning on spray painting any part of the base, do so before beginning to apply the newspaper. My paint job dripped a bit, but it actually made the base look more interesting.
Make a 1:2 mixture of glue and water (1 part glue to 2 parts water) and stir well.
Cut out pictures/ads from the newspaper that are vivid or interesting. You'll want enough to cover the entire base of the lamp.
Use the paintbrush to brush a small portion (enough to cover one clipping) of the base with the glue mixture.
Attach a clipping on top of the glue-covered portion of the base. Apply another layer of glue mixture on top of the clipping.
Repeat until the base is covered with newspaper clippings.
Let dry until you can identify which portions of newspaper aren't stuck on well enough (it's easy to tell, they tend to peel). Apply another layer of glue to secure lose clippings.
Let dry completely.
Apply a few layers of finish/acrylic spray.
If you're spray painting the lamp shade, do so separately away from the base and let dry. Don't apply paint too heavily, though, otherwise light won't shine through.

Once everything is dry, reassemble and voila! You've got yourself an edgy, colorful new lamp.

the very first BA post

I am a college student.
As a college student, I have this month-long break called "winter" (or, if you want to be nonPC, "Christmas") break.
This "winter break" is fantastic except for one thing: any time I have a break in school, I also have a break in work, since I work on-campus.
So I lapse into a month of mandatory unemployment, during which time I usually make an attempt (and miserably fail) at finding a seasonal job.
Long story short, this break, instead of finding a job, I'm going to open my own etsy shop and begin selling my crafts online. To accompany this, I also decided to fuel my obsession with craft blogs by starting my own.
So, hello, blog. I hope to be making you prettier and more full of knowledge quite soon.
In the meantime, I recommend you check out some of the crafting ideas I've been obsessed with lately: homemade coasters and origami polyhedra and spice jars, oh my!