How to Embroider a Greeting Card

So here it is! My first free tutorial! It may 10 pages long but it's worth it! It covers everything you need to know about stitching a card by hand. Enjoy!

 Embroidered Card Tutorial

Thank You crafters!

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all the folks who came out to Craft Bar last night at the Museum. I had a great time showing people how to make their own card and was delighted to chat with some of you. I hope you all had a great time!

I'll be posting my online tutorial for the "You Are Awesome!" card tomorrow and DIY tutorial packets for cardmaking will be available in my shop on Monday.

And I'll be in the Lower Haight at Underground SF tonight selling some goodies at the $5 Art Party too! Whew! Busy week.

Color Photos from the 1940's

*All photographs seen here belong to Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

I was a photo geek long before I started crafting so I was absolutely giddy and speechless when a friend posted a link to an FSA gallery of color photographs. I'm really surprised that I haven't seen these images before. I feel like these color photos capture the hard times of the Depression so much better than some of the more recognizable black and white shots. I can almost feel all the dirt, dust, and sweat from that era. And those calico dresses are to die for!

You MUST take a peek and be sure to go all the way to the end. They definitely save one of the best photos for last. Link is HERE.

The weekend was full of long dog walks and a trip to SF Renegade Handmade. I told myself that I would have a little budget saved for this event the next time it rolled around, but alas I adopted a dog and all my pretty little pennies went to him a couple weeks ago. As usual, there were LOTS of items to peruse.

Here are a few photos from the event. But what you should really do is go over to one of my fave blogs, I go by Katie, and check out her Amazing photos of the event. She took the time take some portraits of some of the participating artists and they are quite good! I regret not getting one of these paper mobiles from Mystic Mobiles.
Can't wait for them to have a website I can order from! I was extremely impressed by this felt card catalogue made by Kelso Doesn't Dance.
Super cool! I was speechless when I found these embroidered dolls by Hillery Rebeka Sproatt.
The one above was double sided with different designs on each side. Going on my wish list. Adorable handmade Elephant by Flock Home. that belongs in someone's nursery. I kept my eyes open for unique display ideas and I really like how this vendor draped this antique paper (not sure what kind of paper it is?) on her table.
She also used wooden embroidery hoops with simply embroidered accented fabric to place her earrings on. Very clever!

Embroidered Greeting Card DIY!

I am so thrilled to announce that I will be participating in the Museum of Folk Art & Craft's Craft Bar next Thursday! This month's Craft Bar is centered around paper goods so there will be about 3 local artists teaching people different bookmaking projects and I'll be there showing people how to embroider their very own floral post card! The tutorial I am teaching at the Craft Bar has been simplified a little due to time constraints, but you, my lovely blog readers, will get the full tutorial and then you will know all my little greeting card secrets. I have been planning on sharing a DIY embroidered greeting card tutorial for some time on the blog, but it got postponed when I was invited to participate in the Craft Bar. Well, next Thursday I will be publishing my first DIY tutorial (if all goes well)! You will get to learn first hand how to make your own "You Are Awesome" embroidered greeting card.
Pretty cool huh?

Also, if you are in the Bay Area, you should come by to Craft Bar next Thursday.
6-9pm at MOCFA in SF. There is beer and free food. Only $5 for a great time!

Rupert is definitely the kind of dog that you just want to put stuff on, whether that be a flower, or a metal mustache. I'm already thinking of costume ideas for Halloween.

My crafty space

I never thought that I could bring myself to share my little crafting room on my blog. Maybe because I am slightly embarrassed by my small, plain space. But then I thought, what the hell! I'm not the only one with limited space, time, and money out there crafting so maybe I should share my space just so people can see what I have done with what I've got. It may not be super cute or filled with fun design ideas, but I can proudly say that everything is now organized! If I had more time and money, I would make/look for more appealing custom storage units to replace the plastic ones, paint the walls and try to install a few bookshelves too. I use every free inch that I have to store stuff. Underneath the benches are my display supplies for craft fairs, shipping supplies, and more fabric. I also finally went through and organized all of my scrap fabric and leather. At first I was tempted to throw all of it out but I just couldn't do it. I'm still not too sure what to use my scraps for but I do have a couple of ideas. I was thinking I could make a sort of basic patchwork dog bed for Rupert or maybe even some patchwork coin purses too.

What do you do with all your scraps? Do you hold onto them? Donate them? Or just throw them out?