Scam Alert

This website is stealing copyrighted photos and descriptions of my work. And it’s not just me. The work of several other designers is also being stolen.

Rest assured that I’ve summoned all the bad karma possible and sent it their way, hoping they come down with a raging case of syphilis, but let’s digress from that for a moment. Someone asked  if this was another (yes, sad that we have to use the word ANOTHER) Chinese company stealing a designer’s work and then reverse engineering it to sell cheap knock offs. This site is actually worse, at least in terms of the customers, because they don’t even have knock-offs to sell.  Scammers love to steal pretty pictures, add a price tag, and let the money roll in (or your credit card number). Anyone that buys from this site can kiss their money goodbye, because that dress you just paid for doesn’t exist.

It’s only a matter of time before Paypal shuts this site down, and while I’m sure the doucheballoon that runs it has a million other scam sites out there, spread the word and make sure your friends know to avoid this site:

thegothicwear.com

P.S. Hey, TheGothicWear… asphinctersayswhat?

Cut it out!

It’s not really Spring yet, but it’s Spring-ish here in Michigan, and I’ve got cabin fever. Cabin fever always makes me want to try something new, and somehow I stumbled upon the art of paper cutting, and I’m smitten. (Obsessed might be a better word.)

So obsessed was I that I hadn’t even done a single paper cut before I started making all these plans for a big, elaborate, layered paper cut. I had to put on the brakes. Surely it would be wise to try it out first to see if I like it? Yes, my rational self says. That would be wise.

There’s a buttload of inspiration out there, especially these by Helen Musselwhite:

I LOVE the diorama effect. Dioramas. are. so. cool. They’re always one of my favorite parts of natural history museums. I used to spend hours on dioramas for school. Plus, it’s fun to say. DIE OH RAMAAAAAA!!!!

In a cloche! AWESOME!

I really SQUEE’ed when I saw the owls because the design I’m planning is a mirror image like that. I initially started it a few months ago thinking it would be an embroidery project, but now I’m in the midst of paper cut fever, so paper beats thread in this battle!

Here is my very first paper cut (unless you count snowflakes and paper doll chains I made as a kid):
Free squirrel Valentine template from Little Acorn.

I love the way you can bend the little branches and bits to make them stand away from the background more.

I used a piece of regular old printer paper as my test, as I didn’t really have anything better at the time. (Though I’m now armed with 200 pieces of pretty colored paper from the craft store, mwahaha.) I used a standard Xacto knife with a #2 blade.

I chose the squirrel design as my test because it’s symmetrical and cute.  Since the design is symmetrical, you can fold it in half and cut through two layers at once. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that with my design, thus the test. I actually wound up cutting the whole thing out flat. I tried doing it the folded way, but I couldn’t tell when I was cutting through both layers of paper, and I gave up. That’s okay, I like doing things the long, hard way (that’s what she said!).

The verdict is: paper cutting RULES! It’s the perfect thing to do in front of the TV, which is what I’m always looking for, since sewing in front of the TV doesn’t work so well. I love my Boob Tube, but I get antsy sometimes just sitting there like a po-tah-to. Now I shall be a knife wielding potato.

How to sew sequined fabric

Today’s Crafty Advice question is about sequined fabric:

 

Dear WhatTheCraft,

I’m trying to sew knit material with sequins that are glued on. My machine works fine with everything else I’ve sewed, but when I tried to sew this fabric, the needle gets gummed up with glue residue from the fabric and starts skipping stitches. Is there a special needle I should be using or is my machine just not capable of sewing this type of fabric?

Sequins are tricky. It’s probably more likely that the fabric is to blame than the machine, especially if the glue is actually getting on the needle. You might have the best luck hand sewing sequined fabric (that goes double for sequins that are sewn on to the fabric and not glued), so you can stitch around the sequins instead of trying to sew through them with your machine.

However, some tricks you can try: use a titanium needle, and put a layer of wax paper over the seam while you sew. Sew right through the paper and remove it when you’re done. The wax should “wipe” the needle off as you sew, preventing the glue build up.

What’s cookin?

All moved in and (mostly) unpacked! Party time!

One of my first projects for the new house is kitchen curtains. Maybe I should specify SEWING projects, as the non-sewing projects we’ve already done on this house are innumerable. Yesterday I drew some mockups and picked out fabric. I still haven’t decided between the two designs.

Try to look past the weird graininess- I was using picture of the kitchen from the online listings and they are teeny tiny and crap quality. But I’m too lazy to take my own, plus the kitchen has lots of boxes stacked all over the place, so it wouldn’t have been a very helpful photo anyway.

My dilemma right now is that bottom curtain – bows or scallop top? I’m kinda leaning scallop. I like the idea of the bows, but I’m scared they’ll look a little too… precious. A precious kitchen I shall not have!

I did decide on the fabric. Michael Miller’s Fifties Kitchen and Dumb Dots:

Michael Miller Fifties Kitchen

Michael Miller Dumb Dots

This was my runner up… I don’t know how I resisted the little anthropomorphic dishes. In fact, I think I’ll probably wind up using it for cushions on the Future Kitchen Bench Project I have planned.

Michael Miller Any Cup Will Do

Happy New Year!

We hit some big milestones this year.  Over 86,000 unique visitors, 125,000 total visits, and 1.25 MILLION page views in one month!  Thank you all for the feedback, ideas, and comments that keep me motivated and inspired.

Things might be a bit quiet over here for a few days, as I am armpit-deep in fabric while I move my studio (and the rest of our house) to the NEW house. But rest assured that I have lots of awesome in store for WhatTheCraft in 2012!

How does your garden grow?

This post brought to you by Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we just bought a new house. That means a new yard to play in! One thing I planted a lot of in our current house were tulips and daffodils. They’re some of the first flowers to bloom in spring, which is probably part of why they’re two of my favorite flowers.

I might dig some of my bulbs up and take them with me, but even if I don’t, the good news is that bulbs are SUPER easy to plant and grow. They really are one of the most idiot-proof flowers. The only problem I’ve had with my tulips is the squirrels stealing my bulbs! I moved most of them from around the yard to right next to the house, and that helped a lot.

Aside from being super easy to plant and maintain, a lot of bulb varieties naturalize, which means that just a few bulbs will multiply to fill in an area all on their own! I planted a bunch of naturalizing crocus bulbs in my lawn, and the purple and gold colors looks so pretty poking up through the grass and (sometimes) snow. I always do a happy dance when I see the first crocus blooming, because that’s when I know it’s REALLY Spring!

If you’re new to bulbs, I’d suggest you visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more about bulbs.

I love Marcy’s tip here:

I rake my leaves over every part of my garden! It beats bagging or burning and the plants love the mulch.

Because bulbs are so easy, they would make a really nice holiday gift. One thing I learned from the DigDropDone website is that you can actually plant bulbs in snow!  A lot of bulbs are also suitable for “forcing” indoors during winter, so you can have a little splash of spring color in January!

Bulbs work well in pots, too. I love this little collection of potted bulbs. I have a red polka dot enamel tea kettle that’s just begging to have some jonquils planted in it (they are THE best smelling daffodils on the planet!).

After you check out the DigDropDone website, be sure to submit a photo of your yard at Curbside Chaos to be entered to win a $5000 yard makeover and help from landscape master Taniya Nayak.

Curbside Chaos has a great Garden Guru tool that can help you determine when and what to plant depending on your planting zone and when you want your flowers to bloom. Just pick your country, location, and what month you want blooms.

Here’s one of the suggestions it gave me:

I love allium. The big globe shapes look really great in rows on both sides of a walkway!

For every share on Twitter, “Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.” will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together – the nation’s leading nonprofit, working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.

So be sure to tell your friends about the #curbsidechaos yard makeover contest from @digdropdone!

IZZE Holiday Craft Challenge!

I was invited to participate in the Izze Holiday Craft Challenge. A bunch of us craft bloggers were each sent an identical box of craft supplies and were challenged to make a holiday themed craft using ONLY the items in the box.

View the entries and vote here: http://craftgossip.com/blog/izze-voting/2011/12/12/
All voters are automatically entered to win a $50 Target gift card and some IZZE samples!

When I first got my box of craft supplies, I thought about making a hat or a tree topper or even a big decorative Christmas card, but I figured I should play to my strengths and sew something. The only problem was that the only fabric in the box was white. Plain boring white. What could I do with white fabric? Then it occurred to me- surely there are paint pens and glitter in here for a reason. I can make my own fabric! I’ve never used paint pens on fabric before, but there’s a first time for everything, and it worked out pretty well.

I drew a bunch of wonky little Christmas trees with the paint pens and used the glitter glue pens to give them some sparkly details. Once I had the fabric idea, I knew I wanted to make a retro-inspired apron, because I love cooking and baking for the holidays, and I also collect vintage aprons.

I drew candy cane stripes on the scrap fabric I had left over and used that for the ruffle trim and tie belt.  The paint pens also worked surprisingly well on the felt I used for the candy cane pockets. I painted a few wooden stars to top some of the trees, and I used some glitter ribbon for bows on the pockets and for the neck ties.

My favorite part is that this apron lights up! When I saw the fairy lights in the challenge box, I knew I had to use them. I used a few pieces of felt to make the light up trees so they would stand out from the trees I painted. A couple Izze bottle caps made the perfect tree toppers. Then I cut holes and poked the lights through and voila! My light up retro christmas tree apron!

 

Now it’s your turn to vote for your favorite! I’d love if you’d vote for my apron, but the other entries are so cool, I won’t hold it against you if you vote for someone else! But do make sure you vote, as you’ll be automatically entered to win a $50 Target gift card and some IZZE samples!

View the entries and vote here: http://craftgossip.com/blog/izze-voting/2011/12/12/

WhatTheCraft Handmade Giveaway – UnwindRewind Photography winner!

Congratulations to our lucky winner:

Katie!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Hope you’ll be back for more in the new year!

Stuff it!

This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

A stocking, that is.

Emptying out the stockings Christmas morning is almost more fun than opening all your gifts. Okay, that’s a lie, but we always got to check out our stockings first when I was a kid, and finding what surprises were crammed inside was a perfect start to the morning.

There’s a trick to stuffing stockings, of course. The items have to be small, but fun. What better place to find small, fun items than a dollar store?

I stocked up for stockings (ha!) this year at my local Dollar General.

For Mr. Smarmy’s little sister, I got a reindeer Pez dispenser (Pez dispensers are classic stocking stuffers, in my opinion) and a bunch of knee socks. I was obsessed with fun socks when I was her age, plus there’s something amusing about stuffing a giant sock with more socks.

 

For the cats, even though they’ve probably been more naughty than nice, a cute little owl catnip toy and some rattle balls (which I may or may not regret giving to them, depending on how noisy they are, haha).

And for the adults… a nice assortment of ornaments. As you can see, I’m quite partial to snowflakes. Oh, and some silly Christmas pencils for good measure.

When asked what item I’ll save money on this Christmas by shopping a dollar store such as Dollar General, I’d say the ornaments were the biggest steal. Everyone wants to have a tree covered in cool stuff, but when ornaments are $3, $5, or even $10 a pop, decorating the tree can get pricey. With ornaments for $1, you can’t lose.

Now I need to go make these stockings….

WhatTheCraft Handmade Giveaway – UnwindRewind Photography

This week’s WhatTheCraft Giveaway is sponsored by Laura of UnwindRewind Photography & Altered Ephemera!

The winner of this giveaway will receive:
your choice of any 8×10 photograph UnwindRewind, custom framed!
Valued at $40!

Special BONUS! From now until December 31st, WhatTheCraft readers can receive a 20% discount in the UnwindRewind shop! Just enter code WhatTheCraft at checkout on Etsy!

How long have you been doing UnwindRewind?
I have been doing UnwindRewind as a business for a bit over a year now, but I’ve been doing photography for much longer – about 8 years.

 

Want more?

Find more about UnwindRewind here:
Shop
Blog
Facebook

Giveaway Info:

UnwindRewind is giving away one custom framed 8×10 print.

There are lots of ways to enter, so even us lazy folk have a chance at winning!

This contest will close on December 5th at 11:59 PM EST. I will randomly select one winner after the contest closes.

You MUST comment on this post with your entries as you complete them.

If you do not comment, I will have no way to count your entries.
You can post a separate comment for each entry or
put all of your entries into one comment.

If you have Liked/Followed/etc. WhatTheCraft in previous giveaways,
you can still use that as entry, just comment saying you have done so.

Ways to Enter

On Facebook:
Please include your Facebook name in your comment

• “LIKE” UnwindRewind on Facebook
  
• “LIKE” WhatTheCraft on Facebook
• “LIKE” SmarmyClothes on Facebook
• Post a Facebook status update with a link to this giveaway
• Post a Facebook update with a link to your favorite item from UnwindRewind

 

On Twitter:
Please include your Twitter name in your comment

• Follow WhatTheCraft on Twitter
• Follow SmarmyClothes on Twitter
• Retweet this tweet from your Twitter
• Tweet with a link to your favorite item from UnwindRewind
  

 

Other Ways:

• Follow the UnwindRewind Blog
  
• Follow SmarmyClothes on Tumblr – include your Tumblr username in your comment
  
• Blog about this giveaway and/or about UnwindRewind - include a link to the post in your comment
• Subscribe to my YouTube channel – include your YouTube username in your comment

 

PLEASE make sure you include a valid email address on the comment form so I can get in touch with you if you win!

This giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on Monday, December 5th, 2011.