Little Bunny Foo-Foo

I'm taking my first tentative steps into the world of plushies. Don't worry, I don't intend to start selling them at {craftgasm} just yet; this little guy is the first of a few gifts for baby-making friends of mine.

Because I know how much everyone loves a crappy cameraphone picture.

I found what looked like an easy-to-cut, easy-to-sew pattern from the lovely Wee Wonderfuls blog. The easy-to-cut part was right on the money, though I've found the instructions to be a little frustrating when one is doing this for the first time and also is cranky because she needs to eat her dinner, posthaste. For instance, after you sew the ears wrong-side together, there is no further instruction on flipping them right side out before sewing them onto the bunny. And the skinny nature of the ears makes it incredibly hard to do that anyway. I winged it by flipping them right side out with a big pin, a pencil with eraser (for inserting the pin), and a lot of tugging and patience. I hope they're not prematurely flipped, but it doesn't look like they are. (If so, I'll deal with that later and let you know.) Also, the instructions call for embroidering after he's sewn up, but my common sense said that would be better done now.

Turns out my sewing machine doesn't like small pieces of cotton jersey fabric (or big ones either, really), and since I was lazy and haven't added interfacing to them, I'm sewing this little dude up by hand as of right now. We'll see if I get frustrated enough to iron some interfacing on later.

In keeping with the {craftgasm} mantra, the fabric pieces are all reclaimed. The solid green and blue were stained t-shirts, and the blue gingham is leftover from someone else's crafting. The little bit of white and pink on the insides of the ears was scrap fabric left over after cutting quilt squares from an old baby onesie. The whole thing will probably be stuffed with fabric scraps when he's done, too; I dislike the feel of polyfil too much, especially for a baby. And since it might be entirely hand-sewn, I don't want the polyfil leaking out the sides after its first round in the washer.

Who could be frustrated with that sleeping little face for long? Probably a good thing, then, that his face was one of the first things I did. I'll try to remember that when I'm ready to set fire to the whole project after I'm all cramped up, needle in hand.

Happy Tuesday to me!

You may remember oohing and ahhing over the lovely little Accessories of Old shop in Bethesda that I talked about. Owner and blogger Lisa recently had a contest -- and I was ever so surprised to read tonight to find out I'd won! I hadn't been keeping up on my blog reading while trying to get everything finished for the Homespun Yarn Party, so when I clicked the article today, I was just curious as to what the winning idea was. Turns out it was mine! Thanks so much, Lisa!

I'll be receiving the little sheep figures to put theory into practice as decorative knobs for yarn baskets soon. To save Lisa the trouble of mailing them, I may just have to swing up to Bethesda and stop by the store again. Oh darn!

Lisa is currently hosting a giveaway of some seriously cute Easter-colored vintage items, and though telling you about it dilutes my chance of winning, I love you enough to do it anyway.

Your favorite crafter halfway through the day, as seen by Anne. The fabulous crafting apron is from Becky of This Chicakdee.

The Homespun Yarn Party was a huge success yesterday! There were TONS of people -- apparently there was a long line waiting for the noon opening, which can only be attributed to the excellent promotional work done by Paula of Woolarina and Jess (whose blog will be linked here once I'm able to find out if she has one).

Here's a low-quality camera phone picture of about 1/4 of the sellers' area.

I learned some bits about some of the items I make. For instance, reclaimed manila folder mini-journals sell faster than I can make them; the only evidence they ever existed is in the top photo because I found the materials on Friday, made them Saturday, and sold all of them Sunday. (They're the purple and vanilla colored notebooks up there.) Also, buttons are a hotter item among knitters than I'd ever thought, as long as they are buttons of skeins and sheep. And cards sell much better in packs than they do singly, so I'm thinking about packaging the existing ones up together, like with like. (Is it because they can be given as gifts, or because customers feel they're getting a better deal on 3 or 4 that they aren't with just one? What do you think?)

I also had a newly engaged couple inquire about custom work after looking at the reclaimed stationery sets -- they want envelopes made with specific maps' locations for their wedding invitations. I love the idea! I hope to work with them soon on those; I'd love to get more into custom orders.

The new-and-improved Reclaimed Stationery Sets, as taken by Anne.

I love when my little creations go out into the world and find happy homes. Thanks so much to all the folks who stopped by and said hello!

Incidentally, I am going to be rescuing several hundred maps from a prominent publisher's recycling bin tomorrow, and will need lots of new projects to make with them. If you have anything in mind, feel free to get in touch with me! They're 2' x 3' to 4' x 6' so they can be used for pretty much anything. (Need some wallpaper?)

Homespun Yarn Party tomorrow!

I don't have much free time because of tomorrow's craft fair, but I wanted to share these with you:


Ignore the messiness of the dining room table (and the low quality of my camera phone) and enjoy the prettypretty papers I've been playing with this week. These are now packaged up as the new and improved, all-maps-all-the-time Reclaimed + Upcycled Stationery Sets for the Homespun Yarn Party; they'll be in the craftgasm shop next week!

Can't wait until then? Stop by the Homespun Yarn Party from 12 - 5 on Sunday, March 15 and snap some up in person!

Image by The Handmade Movement.

I just learned via Etsy about sneak attacks on new Etsy sellers by The Handmade Movement. Despite the alarming-sounding name, the goal is a worthy one -- give a newer Etsy member a boost by having as many people as possible buy an item from them all at once. How fun!

The sneak attacks are announced at 7pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so head over to check out who the latest victim is! (I'll be on my commute home during tonight's, but they assure readers that participating a little bit late is okay. )

I've been on vacation (the charming and lovely and EFFING HILLY San Francisco) and doing an insane amount of decluttering the past couple weeks, so while I treasure the time I get on the Metro to read others' blogs, I haven't had time or energy to post to my own. Silly, I know.

However, I promise a blog post every other day leading up to the Homespun Yarn Party on March 15th, where you will be able to find me, other crafters, and a crapton of fiber artists. How's that for a deal?

However, to buy myself a bit of time before my next-promised post (and because I'm only able to find time right now because I'm waiting for my fabulous boyfriend to finish up a project before we go get dinner), I'm going to let you vote in the comments what you want to see next. Evidence and progressive pictures of my craft area/bedroom's destashing and decluttering? Pictures from San Francisco of all the awesome stores (mostly Daiso)? The evolution of craftgasm's Etsy shop as I retake pictures of products? I'll get to them all eventually, but what do you want to see first?

Hey, adoring public. Yeah, you.

I am going to San Francisco (or really, anywhere else on the West Coast) for the first time on Friday for the long weekend and meant to ask: what should a crafty gal, thrift store goddess, and urbanism nerd like me not miss?

I'll be sure to take a bajillion pictures of all the flea market awesomeness that I manage to come across.

Also, excitingly, I will be a vendor at this year's Homespun Yarn Party in Savage, Maryland on Sunday, March 15! I jut got the confirmation tonight, so I will add more details as I learn them. But mark the date and start planning your weekend! I've never been to Savage, so I can't give you tips on the best way to get there (tip: not Metro), but as I figure it out, I shall share.

Bird-themed EcoEtsy Treasury

Thanks to the EcoEtsy Twitter feed, I found out about Treasury West opening up this afternoon. I grabbed a spot and, inspired by the flock of birds in my tree this morning and with Valentine's Day coming up, made it lovebird themed. The items are all EcoEtsy team members, so if you snap anything up, rest assured they have green business practices!

Accessories Of Old

I am going to alert you right now that this post is going to consist entirely of pictures from my Saturday trip to Accessories of Old. Side effects may include jealousy, moaning, and the repeated urge to craft. You have been warned.

They have a wall FULL of buttons. It was amazing.

Vintage barrettes!

For someone who doesn't do a whole lot with her long hair, I sure did take a lot of photos of the hair accessories.

Lisa, the shop's owner, has very smartly bagged up variety packs from which customers can choose. The pretty scrapbook paper in the background is the main color of items in the package. They include a combination of all sorts of things, like a length of lace, various buttons, and ribbons. All vintage, of course. (I snagged a package of two different colors of sunny yellow velvet ribbon.)

Vintage trim, still wrapped on its original package. How cute are those little printed faces?

Lovely gift tags for that lovely person for whom you are buying gifts at Accessories of Old.

So, when are you going?

Brick and mortar and pixels.

My friends Meigh and Christina, the crafty ladies at NoPantsMcGee, sent an email to me earlier this month:

"Ohmygodohmygodohygod. We're going, yes?"

After Inauguration Madness and their return from the Outer Banks, we managed to make time this weekend, and oh my goodness, I am so glad we did. Accessories of Old sells vintage sewing notions almost exclusively, along with a few other pretty gifts and vintage items. Lisa, who we met along with husband Andrew, keeps the store's blog up-to-date with pretty pictures and projects she's working on. I took a bunch of pictures, but foolishly left my camera's cord at my office, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see my goodies.

Another adorable, localish store is Three Potato Four, based in Reston, VA (though their shop is an online-only set-up). I have always enjoyed their inventory, especially because of the beautiful way in which they style their photos. Imagine my excitement, then, when Etsy used TPF's Sneak Peek at Design*Sponge to come up with a Get the Look: Decor article for them. (Mostly my excitement stemmed from not having known there was a Sneak Peek of them!)

I love peeking into other people's well-appointed homes, especially with my own move coming up in a few months. I need to curate and cull what I have here to make it easier to get everything to the new place in an economical and timely fashion -- not to mention that I don't need so much stuff. I'll likely be updating with my adventures in downsizing, so feel free to share any experiences you've had on getting stuff out of your life, and any lessons I should learn from you!