Creativity

Giant Multi-Theme Swap!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:36:27 GMT

So I went for a GIANT swap... basically five swaps in one! But we did have QUITE some time to craft! (It started way back in March, and send outs were June 9!)

My partner was Astica... and here's what I made & sent to her!

Her first theme: Japanese. 6 smalls were due...

Small #1: A Japanese Recipe book! (I found and wrote out the recipes.. phew!)

Small #2: Kawaii Shrinky charms, (my own drawings, but based on others I've seen through the internet!)

Small #3: Hello Kitty Patches

Small #4: A handcarved Hello Kitty stamp

Small #5: (Purchased!) A bunch of fun Japanese candy from the Japanese candy store in Jackson Square, "Red"

Small #6: A Kanzashi Flower Pin

Astica's Second Theme was... Disney's Alice in Wonderland (or also some Ariel or Tinkerbell). This was 1 large and 1 small.

The large was an "Alice in the kitchen" set, which included this Alice-inspired apron (also inspired by one on Astica's wists!). . . .

. . . and this Drink Me mug.

The small was a set of purchased items! The main thing was the Tinkerbell fabric, but then I also ended up getting a Tinkerbell journal & Ariel iron-on

Astica's third theme was Rainbow - 1 medium & 3 smalls

The medium I contracted out to my sister, who made this lovely painting (inspired partly by one on Astica's wists)

Two of the smalls are here: a big pincushion (believe me, it's big!), and a pencil case in matching fabrics...

... and here they are showing their blue sides!

The Third small was a set of fruit stationary!

Then, Astica's fourth theme was "Lights, Camera, Action (including Project Runway)". It was 1 large, 1 small as well.

The large I had fun with, and made a Project Runway Challenge Kit! I gave her three shirts, a sketchbook, and a set of Prismacolor pencil crayons - along with a challenge to design an outfit/item out of these 3 pieces which expressed her style as a designer. . . and to make it work!

And for the small I painted up a frame to look like one of those clickers when they do takes in movies!

Finally, Astica's last theme was Dr.Who. The scariest for me, since I haven't ever seen an episode! But she did say she really liked the Tardis, and I found inspiring, so both of the 2 mediums required in this package were based on that!

First, I stencilled her a Tardis shirt. . .

And I made a replica of the Tardis... trinket box!

And that's the package!

By the way... these were MY themes for the swap.... can't wait to see what Astica came up with!
Theme 1: The Apocalypse (especially Jericho-style [I’m wildly addicted], but not limited to zombies [Romero, 28 Days Later and others], pandemics [I will watch any movie on pandemics, especially crappy made-for-TV ones], and the Book of Revelation)
Theme 2: Skulls
Theme 3: Burlesque or Japanese Street Style
Theme 4: Backpacking Europe
Theme 5: Food (Sweet things or meat or fruits & veggies)

Some bags & purses from the Going Green swap

Tue, 06 May 2008 03:35:48 GMT

And here's a few textile-y things I sent in the Going Green swap (all made from things I already had, and mostly reconstructed/reclaimed materials)

First, some nice easy but handy zippered pouches made from the zippers I constantly have hanging around (and originally were all purchased from a thrift store) & fabric scraps - the navy one was once some piece of clothing... not sure what, it was unrecognizable when I did this cutting!

And then we've got some shopping bags I made from an old shirt & a scrap piece of fabric from a dress Heather made in fashion class. The shirt was the toughest, since there wasn't actually enough of it to have one big piece - I kind of had to scrap it together. But I liked the results. I roughly used the directions at www.morsbags.com . . . but not entirely.

And the "octopants" mini-hobo purse. (So named because the outside was old cords, and the lining was poorly made pajama pants. The octopus part is self explanatory.

And there's the inside

And here's a close-up of my octopus applique. Took me forever! It's also made of reclaimed clothes, it used to be a silver jacket that I got in a thrift store years ago and never wore because it made me look like a robot. It's already been used for another project!

Christmas Presents

Tue, 06 May 2008 03:21:45 GMT

Yep! I'm doing a bit of catch up.

I made Christmas some nice Christmas presents this year.

A long sweet treats wallet for Heather (based on my own wallet that I bought)

Here's the inside... 6 card pockets & 2 bill/receipt/etc pockets

And the back... zip coin pouch with a Fimo cupcake (not made by me!) as the closure

Then we've got a (poor & wrinkly) photo of the hardcore black (p)leather & studs stocking I made for my (biker) dad

And another not-so-great pic of the cherries eye mask also for Heather

Halloween in August costume!

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:47:02 GMT

So I attended something of a Halloween in August. Not THAT many people were dressed up, but really, I couldn't miss such an event ;)

I picked up this dress at Valu Village: (eew. Ha)

Then.. the AFTER! I whipped out a quick hem-age (not the neatest hem in the world, but it adds to the twirlyness of the dress!), added a string of "pearls", a cloche hat, white opera gloves, a pair of very 20's shoes, and some appropriate make-up (red lips and dark eyes) - and voila! A flapper.

Ooh!

Shirt...

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:00:05 GMT

Well I made another shirt for fun, this one is also being "sold" in my Shop the Swap shop! Purple wings! (on the back of course!)

Here's a nice big picture of the stove modelling it ;)

And a bit of a close-up:

Shop the Swap goodies

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 04:31:56 GMT

Made a few seasonal and non-seasonal items for the Shop the Swap barter sort of economy!

Some hand-painted (nice & big) Jack-O-Lantern magnets. I named them "Grinny" and "Dopey"

And some fabric bookmarks. Pumpkins, Zebra Print, and Chinese Dragons! On cardstock...

Halloweekend Swap

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:46:06 GMT

Ah... Halloween is the best of times.

Here's some stuff I made for crafty_dame for the Halloweekend swap! (Only Friday at midnight to Monday at mail time to craft!)

A lovely skully tote bag. The skull fabric I bought for this, but I kept some for myself... simply because it is so excellent. Made with an old belt for a handle!

And the inside... black lining and a nice purple pocket (fabric from my stash!)

Also, a ribcage stencilled shirt. . . It's pretty cute, and has a lacy bottom (I picked up the tank at Walmart). I may go up to Walmart to get another to make myself a ribcage tank! I only did one layer of paint, because I liked the bone-y colour effect it had.

I also gave a couple earrings. . .

A few more items. . .

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:55:37 GMT

Well I had a few other swaps in there, and some of them were quite fantastic. Here's a few of my favourite items that I made from the "Favourite Historical Period Swap"!

Here's an initial embroidered hanky for my partner's Victorian theme. . . I've only done one cat in embroidery, so I was pretty proud of myself!

And then we've got a purse in the 50's theme (well.. the colours at least. The style is almost is the 20's theme!). Red pleather pleated clutch with a vintage button!

And it has pin-up girl interior!

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:40:47 GMT

So it's been far too long, and I've got a couple bits of pictures! (Apparently second term was a killer, because I didn't even find time to post anything!)

Some swaps for now.. hopefully we'll see some stuff for me later!

Lovely "I <3 the library swap" off craftster. A fan of nice brighter colours was my partner! To start: my favourite part. The big thick rainbow tote with blue insides!

And I did some cute black and white pattern on one side/bright colours on the other side bookmarks ("laminated" with packing tape!). Here's one side:

. . . and the other side:

I also made what is a one of my favourite newer crafts for a small item, a covered journal! (Covered in felt, and there's a darker pink felt on the insides of the covers). This was intended to be a book journal.

Finally, there's the last item (other than some chocolate bars that aren't availble to the US), a stencilled shirt with a stack of books on it!

Halloween Swap

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:23:26 GMT

Ooh. I just realized I hadn't posted the Halloween swap goodies I made for rangerbeth!
I unfortunately didn't get pictures of everything, but here's some of my favourite stuff :)

A (very bad) picture of some candles I put scary cats on! (I used a tissue paper and hair dryer method :D)

And I covered another journal! Felt and bats. Yes Yes.

Here's the inside! Yay!

I also made a little Halloween-y bag! With a skeleton face, . . .

. . . an orange lining, . . .

. . . and a cute Halloween treats ribbon edge!

Yay for Halloween! Upcoming: this year's costume, and another Halloween swap (this time Halloween in December, which mails out on the 6th!)

People Wearing My Shirts!

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:09:39 GMT

Well I just whipped up a few more shirts for boywonder in the Christmas Stocking Swap 2.... and since it came back with pictures of him in them, I might as well post a few more: "people wearing my shirts"

Here's boywonder in a bike shirt inspired by the one on his Wists --> In BC!

And again, in the tree shirt! (Fun to make!)

Here's the back of the shirt (Stars!) There are also little stars around the tree on the front.

Here's a shirt I made last year or so... it's JaneDoe and her bf, with JD in a shirt of. . . . her and her bf! (Note: she had dreads in the picture I used for the shirt!) --> In Australia!

Another last year or so shirt: aschnebly's lovely baby girl! I just love this picture too! --> And yep, this one is in Las Vegas!

Best of 2006 in A&E

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:00:06 GMT

Another article with my thoughts in it. Here's my way of pressing my beliefs on the rest of the school readership, bit by bit.

(Read the A&E staff's best of 2006 in The Cord Weekly here: http://www.cordweekly.com/archives/1379 !)

Alphabet (etc!) ATCs

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:56:28 GMT

Whee. Catch up on pictures time! Hooray! Here's some Craftster personal catch-up swaps with the alphabet of ATCs....

A is for airplane, B is for bomb, C is for comics (off to stunnedbannana)

The mod version of A is for airplane, off to Banga in Cali

J is for Juicy (key apple bum picture there. Ha.), and K is for Kaleidoscope, now residing in Germany with Banga

And also with Banga, for her classic Hollywood collection, Charlie Chaplin! (In pink!)

Finally, another pink one, paper inspired "Drowning in Love" (now living with my sister, who is supposed to make me one in return, but hasn't yet...)

Stats Shirts!

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:03:40 GMT

Phew. I haven't posted in awhile! (School is standing in the way of some creativity. I have made some ATCs though... I'll post those later.

I made these for a personal swap for batgirl on craftster! (Her.. um.. boy.. is a statistician, and they're a surprise for him.) She hasn't seen them yet, so I hope she likes them!

Fake newspaper headline!

The close-up:

And the second shirt (it looks like it's crooked on the shirt, but it's not... just the way the shirt is laying!)

Costumery! Halloween through the years..

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 14:07:41 GMT

I promised myself that if I got up early, I could post this. It might seem silly, but it got me out of bed! (And yes, 9:30 is early for a Saturday ;) )

So, in light of the season, here's some of my costuming creativity through the years!

2005 (Sailor! I'm the one on the right). The sailor hat is purchased, the rest is thrifted or dug out of closets (mine and other's). As for GoGo from Kill Bill beside me, I can't take credit for the whole thing, but I found the coat and the tie...

My (20th) Birthday 2005 (Pirate Party!). So I had a rockin pirate party. Everybody had to come in costume. I did my own, and advised to a great extent on my roommates' costumes (not to mention, half of their outfits came straight out of my closet... *ahem*...). From left: Katie (wearing my shirt), Ro (wearing my skirt, although you can't see it), Me (looking a bit aggressive in my salute), & Leanna (wearing... my tights out of sight, and maybe something else).

And here's a close-up of just me. I considered myself the captain, even though I was without a hat. I had boots, and no one else did. So there. (Again, everything came straight from my closet.... although some was from my "costume" closet...)

2004 Gangsters!/Bonnie & Clyde. I put together both costumes from thrifting (except for the hats, which were a costume shop purchase) [Yes, that's an ex in the picture, but the costumes look better with both of us in the picture!]

2003 1980's Rocker! (Ignore the "good witch" in the picture... ) I actually made the vest and cuffs out of this ridiculous looking blouse from Valu Village. (It was old lady style, but what old lady has faux-leather strips on her cuffs? Crazy!). And I dug some pleather pants out of the back of my closet (Why did I EVER have pleather pants? I don't know.). There's also the very large aviators (which I've now taken to wearing daily), and the really red lipstick, which you can't see in this pic.

2000 Cruella DeVil. Well this was kinda fun. I attached the "dalmation" fabric, wore my mom's bridesmaid hat from her sister's wedding, picked up some gloves and a cigarette holder, and I was set. The hair is also dyed black and white, but it looks pretty crappy.

THE GHOSTS OF HALLOWEENS PAST --> So I must have got my obsession with costumes from somewhere, right? Well I rarely had a store bought costume as a kid (I don't know if I did until I was a teen and needed something "cooler". Ha). Although my mom always wanted to dress me as something nice, and I wanted to go as something scary. Ah well... such is life.

I'm a tomato! Aw. (Pictured here with my aunt).

The early days of my pirate obsession. (I love how this costume looks like a pirate, but also seems to evoke the look of the early 90's. How sweet.) Too bad the picture quality is so bad though.

And the early days of my vampire obsession. Ain't I sweet.

I'm the tall one! (my sister Heather, the clown, has a hand-put-together costume as well!). This costume may look store bought, but it is far from it. The mask is one you buy in a kit that my Dad handpainted years ago. The scythe is also made by my dad (that would be painted wood). And the "robe" is actually an old dress, with the middle cut open, and the top part carefully pinned to my head. I don't know why it wasn't actually EASIER to get a cheap robe from some store... but ah well.

Craft Swap! Japanese theme...

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:43:12 GMT

So here's some stuff I sent for a craftster craft swap! The items went to Odri, and the theme was Japanese. She said she was interested in the girly side of Japanese style, and a couple anime/manga.

First of all, I made her some Kanzashi flowers (the ancient Japanese art of folded fabric flowers... apparently). I've made them before and she mentioned liking them.. I don't remember them being so tricky to make! I just left them as flowers so she could turn them into pins, hairclips, or whatever else she desired...
The crazy pattern one:

The nice white one:

I made (or more specifically, revamped) a tote for her!

I did the applique flower...

... and added the lining! (with cool vintage fabric Heather picked up at Valu Village)

I also made her a journal with a picture frm her favourite anime/manga, Nana on it.. (and lined the inside covers with felt as well)

And last but definitely not least, I knitted my very FIRST thing EVER!! It's a skinny pink "fashion scarf" (as in, it's not thick or toasty enough for cold weather, but makes your outfits look pretty)

Here's some pictures of me wearing it, for posterity's sake (I was thinking about keeping it... but no! I can now knit my own... at any time!)

Another. Demonstrating the awesomeness that is my first scarf.

And here's all the stuff together! (Also notice the tasty Japanese candy, and the cute little kawaii cat purse that I picked up at a store closing sale in Kensington Market!)

My Room! - big and decorated

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 05:45:11 GMT

Ah yes. Here's some pictures of my fabulous room decor! (I'm like an interior decorator or something. Yeah. That's right.)

My theme-ish: Red, black, and gold.... gauche, gothic, 50's, evil queen stylin'. Yep.

Welcome. (Door pictures: First = Sad Cat Girl from theblackapple.etsy.com, Second pic = Skyy ad [I collect them]... there's also a Jolly Roger above them, but it fell down when I was taking the picture. And ooh.. on the back of the door there's a Batman symbol. Because I am. Batman I mean.)

The bed area with loverly black canopy (which is now getting saggy due to the fact that it was not made for single beds, and I kick it all the time. By accident.) Note fantastic lamp and vintage Misfits poster.

Fantastic lamp. Gold cherub!

Corner area. Pin-up pictures, and a beaker vase! (Actually just a beaker. Filled with flowers.)

Vanity (I painted it nice and black and gold!), With curlicue mirror (I painted it too! It was really 80's ugly), black mermaid lamp, and there's that zebra stool we've all come to love.

The best pic I could get showing the amazing vampire girl picture (I got it in a craft swap with witchybelle4u on craftster!).... And a mirror/lamp/Alice in Wonderland poster edge close-up

"Rasterbation" of a film noir-y scene I printed... yeah, it's really called a rasterbation. Look it up on google!

And the last: my bling bling piggy bank. ("Adventure summer" savings account). And phone corner.. with Liechtenstein phone girl poster.

Backlog of Craftiness - Revamped Purses

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:58:18 GMT

So I've decided some other stuff I made should be all documented here!

So here's a mini-backlog-ender (umm..) of my 3 favourite remade purses!

The Comic Expressions purse (made from comic books!)

The Revolver purse (with bling & heart charm!)

And the Mardi Gras purse (which currently belongs to crafty_dame from Craftster)... I need to make a mask like the one I made for this purse to put on my wall of masks! :o

Cord Article on Craftster!

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 05:59:02 GMT

Well I guess this one counts as being DOUBLE creative. A newspaper article ABOUT crafting! (Or at least about craftSTER ;) )

It took me a week to post, but here's the electronic version!
http://www.cordweekly.com/archives/1054

Unicorn Purse!

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:51:22 GMT

So I made this little guy in the summer from a crazy discounted Gap purse (of all things). I found a picture I liked, made it into a stencil, and painted it on there! (The purse is lime-ier than it looks, and the unicorn is just black.)

Also revel in the magnificence that is my 1970's chair.

And the close-up! (Little stars not included)

More ATCs

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:54:47 GMT

So these guys were from a holidays ATC swap a while ago... but I figure they need their due.

So here we've got St. Patrick's Day (looked better in person), Talk Like A Pirate Day, Man Watching Day, Valentine's Day, um... one I don't remember, and Anti-Violence Day

And here... Mardi Gras (looked better in person), Nail Polish Day, Canada Day, um.. some writing day..., New Year's Eve, and Chinese New Years

What did I do during the summer?

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:46:34 GMT

Nothing worthwhile except building a stool! I bought an old stool at some thrift-y place that was gross, repainted the legs, pulled off the old fabric and stuffing, replaced the stuffing, and changed the fabric to ZEBRA (with my dad's help with the stapler gun. Stupid stapler gun.)

Some ATCs!

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:44:15 GMT

Well I made up some alphabet ATCs, and these have been received!

K for Key

and L is for Lollipop

Weird Stuff...

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:14:30 GMT

Well this isn't exactly my creativity, but it made me feel weirded out, and helped my general creative spirit. (i.e. made me look at the world a little different).

So, it's an article I found: are the carebears based on the voodoo pantheon? Very interesting conclusions... http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/01/155621.php

Drawstring Bag!

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:32:46 GMT

Well here's a drawstring bag I'm all excited about! (Why, you ask? When I've clearly made nicer looking things?) Well. . . . this is my very first functional item made on a sewing machine! Where this would have taken me hours my hand, it only took a couple minutes. Hooray for technology!