Here’s another great book find - one that delights my craft-hybridizing heart. Beautiful Hand-Stitched Jewelry combines a little hand sewing, a little embroidery, a little beading, and a little crochet to make really cool adornments.

There’s a metric ton of great ideas in this book, so I’ll just show you a few highlights. Like these recycled-sweater beads. (There’s also a version of this project where they’re rendered in silk.)

Emi Iwakiri is an accessories designer in Japan. You can see more of her work at her company’s website, car*g*mom.

I love Emi’s aesthetic, which embraces simplicity and uses some ingenious little construction techniques. This piece is a case in point. It’s based on elastic cord! How amazing is that?

These beads, which are crocheted in raffia, are hollow inside, so they’re very light and comfortable to wear. And the photo doesn’t show it, but the clasp is a wonderful little flower motif, which you can wear in front or back.

Love! And I can see myself making one of these beads as a simple pendant. Like, very, very soon….

(These are some of my favorite sweater-fabric flowers ever. In the book, they’re also rendered as a necklace and a wonderful scarf.)

From an instructional standpoint, the book takes a cue from many Japanese craft books. The key steps are nicely diagrammed, and backed up with clear text instructions.

The processes for most of the pieces are fairly simple, so I’d say crafters of any skill level should have no problem making them. There’s a thorough “basics” section, with all the sewing and crochet stitches.

Here’s an intriguing embroidered piece - and the book has projects for turning this motif into a necklace and key fob as well as a bracelet.

One thing I particularly love is how Emi offers suggestions on what kinds of garments each piece would pair well with. Imagining these combinations got me even more hopped up to make the projects.

There are several crocheted flower ring designs in the book, and some brooches, and the cherry design you can see on the cover up top there. This one’s rendered in pearl cotton embroidery thread. And I love the beaded center.

…And there are also several takes on crocheted chains. If I had the patience, I’d make this with tiny gauge thread.

Anyway - what a great collection of summer crafting projects! Small and fairly instant-gratification, and perfect to wear in warm weather.

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s what The Crafty Bloggers have been up to this week. . .

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About Family Crafts
What are your cleaning tips for crafting with kids? Please take a moment to share your tips and then browse through tips shared by others.

Aileen’s Musings
Hard as it was, Aileen has narrowed down the playing field and needs your help again to choose from her favorite sayings that have been posted for her blog giveway! Stop by and pick your favorite.

 
Cathie Filian
If you are wondering what to eat, craft and play on the 4th of July then head over to Cathie’s blog for ideas.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside you can watch the latest Look, Learn & Create video, which includes tips on drawing, plus two techniques and projects for cutting photos up, a bit of fabric eye candy, and a free paper stencil and project from the new book The Art of Decorative Paper Stencils 2. And if you leave answers to the day’s questions, you are entered to win free books!

 
Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy uses her jewelry making skills to create some beautiful and functional stitch markers.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Work at Your Own Pace - An encounter with a critter in the yard has Connie thinking about Cross Stitch (imagine that!) and speed.

 
Mixed Media Artist
Have you been wondering what happened to “Layers Upon Layers”? Cyndi’s still hard at work, but has moved to “Mixed Media Artist”. This week she’s got a a round-up of fabric painting ideas for you!

Naughty Secretary Club
Arty Masterpieces are overrated, it’s all about the Glittery Crafterpieces! Take a peek at the handmade art around my house and try your hand at making a fun glittery deer picture!

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
See how to make a card and card album themed for a rock and roll mom to be that uses cute die cuts in a cool way.

The Artful Crafter
“Panadieres for Zambia” is a neat story and one small example of crafters helping crafters – all around the world. As Eileen likes to say, “Crafters are just the nicest people.”

The Crochet Dude
Read Drew’s first installment supporting the 3/50 grassroots project!

 
The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares a technique in this post about embossing on slick surfaces!

Vickie Howell
Keep your kids busy this summer by setting up a Crafty Challenge for them!

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Yaaaaaay, the new Mixtape is here! With each new issue, I’m more impressed with the beautiful design and print quality of this zine. And this is their second full-color issue!

Take a look at some of the goodies inside…

An article on selvedges by Jodie, creator of the famous Selvedge Frock.

There’s always lots of great eco advice in Mixtape. This piece by Jorth talks about ways to precycle - or, avoid creating any waste in the first place.

OOh! Pull-out calendar for the rest of 2009, by the very-talented Valentina Sedda!

Mixtape is also a great resource for parents. One of the kid-related articles in this issue is by Kylie, offering strategies for introducing children to art museums and galleries at a young age.

I also loved this profile of paper-cutting artist Tina Tarnoff.

That’s only a smattering of what’s in this issue - you can get more details at the Mixtape website. If you’re not familiar with Mixtape, it’s a zine produced in Australia by Justine Telfer and her husband, Simon.

A truly great indie project. Check it out!

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Happy Monday, everyone! Ronnie Citron-Fink, who writes the EcoNesting blog at Care2, was kind enough to invite me to do an interview over there.

(Do check out the rest of the blog, too - it’s about DIY, green living, and home crafts. Great stuff!)

I think the tag list in the photo above just about covers everything we talked about! It was a fun conversation. Want to take a look?

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

My friends, Summer has officially arrived in Portland.

We hit the Hillsboro Market this morning, and had a splendid time. There are raspberries everywhere! We got gluttonous and scored both reds and goldens.

I love it when all the really colorful veggies begin showing up. And I can’t wait to roast some of this purple cauliflower, (Thanks to Michelle, who showed me how. If you haven’t tried this, it’s so easy and delicious.)

…Now who has a recipe for this?

I’m all hopped up to make these zucchini cakes soon.

Gotta go now, and start making the season’s first batch of berry muffins. Yippeeeeee!

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

I’m knee-deep in a couple big projects this week, but carved out a little time to do some more playing with my Hambly rub-ons. I had a thrifted ceramic plate and a dollar store candle holder. Perfect!

I was mostly interested in how these bad-boys perform on a curved surface. And I was really happy with the results!

So first, I figured out how I wanted to position the motifs. I also cut a little off some of the dandelion stems so they’d follow the contour of the plate’s edge.

I found it best to work with one motif at a time - you can press the pieces into the curved surface more easily that way.

If you’re working with a larger piece, you might even try clipping here and there into the edges so that it can lay flatter against the surface. The flatter you can get it, the nicer your rub-on will turn out.

…Still liking that crochet hook as a burnishing tool.

The whole key to success here is to peel the backing up very, very slowly when you’re done burnishing. If you see any evidence at all of the design not quite sticking, put that plastic back down and burnish some more.

So, it probably goes without saying, but the minute you add rub-ons to a ceramic dish, it’s no longer food safe. But it can still be useful! It’s a good idea to seal the rub-ons, because they can be scratched off with heavy use.

You can always use a spray sealer over the whole plate, but I wanted to try a couple of simpler options: Diamond Glaze and Mod Podge, brushed just over the design.

The Diamond Glaze was dandy, drying nice and smooth. If you’ve never tried this stuff, DO. It has a thousand and one uses.

The Mod Podge wasn’t bad - perhaps a little brush-stroky.

Incidentally, the glass was even easier to work with than the ceramic. All I did was gently press the rub-on to the glass along its center. Then I pressed out toward the edges.

This finger-press was enough to release most of the design to the glass, and a little burnishing with my crochet hook took care of the rest.

If you want to see more uses of these rub-ons, check out this gallery at the Hambly blog.

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been enjoying all your macrame comments so much, I dug out one of my favorite 70’s books on the subject: The Art of Macrame. (ISBN 0 600 360466. Can’t locate it online anywhere.)

(Hope, this photo is just for you.) :-)

Before I go further, I should say that this book is an absolutely great, wide-ranging instruction book on macrame. It presents a fascinating history of knotting, so many interesting knots, and a number of intriguing projects like this bag. I could totally see myself making a modern variant of this.

So, if you see it on eBay, or a local thrift, grab a copy!

…But today, I am in need of some crafty levity. And this book also has plenty of that.

A macrame chess set! See, this is what I love about craft books of the 70’s - the exuberant experiments. This is very much of its time, and yet you have to give the designer mad innovation props.

Incidentally, this book was copyrighted in 1972. Star Wars came out in 1977. Draw your own conclusions….

I wonder if macrame bikinis suffer from the same water-performance issues as those crochet ones?

Crazy tassel doll! I kinda love her.

The caption describes this as a “knotted veil.” Folks planning weddings, take note.

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s what The Crafty Bloggers have been up to this week. . .

_________________________________________________________

About Family Crafts
What is in your craft cupboard? What craft supplies can you not live without? Has there been a craft item that your purchased thinking it was the greatest invention of all time and then never used?

Aileen’s Musings
Aileen needs your help! She’s created another whimsical character in her curalicious series and needs a saying or quote to go with her! Post your quote or saying and enter to win a curvalicious coffee cup!

 
Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Create fun and graphic letter & number decopauge jars in a flash!

 
Cathie Filian
Recycle old jeans and fabric scraps into a quilted 4th of July Table Runner in under 2 hours!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside, Jenn Mason’s episode of Look, Learn & Create, where she shows us how to make a fun matchbook card and dyed plastic tube necklace. Plus, a window-screen art journal tutorial from the new book Re-bound, and a mini journal with a recycled scrapbook paper catalog. Also, a discussion of rule-breaking in logo design and a recipe for roasted chickpeas.

 
Crafty Princess Diaries
Have you heard of the book Weekend Sewing? Tammy offers some tips for making copies of the patterns in this new book by Heather Ross.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Dinosaurs rule in the Land of the Lost and they also rule at About.com Cross Stitch. There are three of them stalking through Connie’s latest free pattern collection.

 
Mixed Media Artist
Here’s a way to combine planning with serendipity when you paint fabrics!

Naughty Secretary Club
Think all the marketing at a craft show is already taken care of for the vendors? Think again. Jen shares some marketing tips.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Another of Stefanie’s Happy Bunnies - this one created using the help of the cool book: Stray Sock Sewing.

The Artful Crafter
What new mom would not be delighted with this precious keepsake pendant? Eileen gives you step-by-step instructions for making it using polymer clay and decal paper.

 
Vickie Howell
Craft Corps Stencil Kits are in! Check out Vickie’s How-To on making your own stenciled gear. Stand up, shout loud, you’ve joined The Corps and you’re proud!

The Impatient Crafter
Madge went on a bead buying trip to NYC! Get the scoop!

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Hey, my friends - St. Martin’s Press has been nice enough to donate a copy of Micro Macrame (which I reviewed last night) for a giveaway.

So, you know what to do: leave a comment here and tell me about your own macrame experiences to date.

I’ll draw a winner at noon PST (or thereabouts) Thursday, June 25th. (And if anyone can explain to me how we’ve arrived at the third week of June already, that’s be great.)

International readers, you’re most welcome to enter.

Good Luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Emily, who just won the book!

SECOND UPDATE: Emily, in case you check back here - I’ve been trying to get an email through to you! I need your shipping address so I can send you the book.

THIRD UPDATE: Hi, Emily - I got your address! Thanks! Will ship your book ASAP. :-)

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.

Now, here’s a fun one. As a child of the 70’s, I’ve definitely done macrame, but not like this!

Micro Macrame uses very fine cord and small beads to create intricate jewelry pieces. No hemp rope or potted plants in sight. Annika DeGroot has created a nice range of projects - simple things to get you into the craft, leading up to bigger challenges.

And instructionally, it’s an excellent book. The 30 designs are based on combinations of just a few knots, which are simple to learn from the clear step-by-step photos.

This is a simpler project from the book - a basic macrame square knot creates a delicate cord to showcase a few beads.

At the more intricate end of the scale, the knots are the main event. Isn’t this pendant lovely?

You can use a variety of cords for this kind of macrame - nylon cord, elastic, silk, or even pearl cotton embroidery thread. Annika gives her assessment of the pros and cons of each.

(Just to give you a sense of scale, this little fish charm hangs from a 10mm ring.)

I did a little playing around with the basic knots. The book has a great method for fixing up an ordinary clipboard with a no-sew padded cover, which makes a perfect macrame surface. And the knots really are easy to do. The trick is placing them evenly. And keeping the cords from getting tangled.

…But let’s look at something way more professional:

Isn’t this one pretty? I love how the strung seed beads are interwoven with the knotting. There are also several gorgeous watch bands in the book - and what a great way to use this technique!

Every project has thorough step-by-step photos with accompanying (equally clear) text.

A great learning book for a very meditative craft. I’m excited to bust out my seed beads and play some more! Check out Annika’s website for some more photos of her work, and her micro macrame blog.

©2009 CraftyPod. All Rights Reserved.