Subversive Crafting

Christmas!!!

2011-12-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

I'm still making treats to send out to a few more family members BUT I am finished with the handmade gift this year. I made 35 copies of a small book I wrote and illustrated. Since most of them are out in the world and I even uploaded it to Amazon to sell as a kindle book (link forthcoming), I thought I'd post it here. I only have 5 followers so I don't think I'm giving too much away.

Puppy

by Beth

One sunny morning

I went outside to play,

and was followed by a puppy,

somewhere along the way.

He did not bark or bite,

And he seemed very tame.

How was I to know

That this was just his special game?

He hid behind the bed,

he hid behind the chair,

he jumped up to kiss me

and latched onto my hair.

I ran around the room.

I fought and cried and bit,

puppy finally came off

As I yelled at him to sit.

I went into my room,

As I saw his sad wagging tail,

And I pulled out my gat,

and sent him back to hell.

Wishing...

2011-12-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

I saw this prototype for an awesome camera and added it to my Amazon Wishlist just to remind myself of it.

Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera

But wait! It hasn't even been patented. How can I posses such a wonderus camera if only a few were in existance. Possibly I could make something?

How about I hit record on my phone's camcorder app and throw it up in the air?

It works about as well as I could imagine. Plus there was a real fear of dropping my phone. I will have to keep trying so I can one day have the camera.

Next item on my wish list:

ZERO-G Gife Package

Silly Walks Oh How You Torment Me!

2011-10-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt. I don't like it at all. I think it looks squished.

#2, better but still not quite enough.

If I get any better resolution the finished afghan will be enormous!

And Now For Something Completely Different

2011-10-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have always been a diehard Python fan and lately had some cravings to make something that would warm my cold dead heart.

I did the accordian book first but that wasn't enough. I am obsessed with this:

I formatted it in photoshop and sent it to a letterpress plate-maker so I can do even more. But wait, wouldn't this be a great aftghan like the Mythbusters? Yes. So here's what I've done so far. I uploaded the image to http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/ and then try and figure out if the grid size will be enough. The stitch size is 1:1. Now I need to decide if the resolution will work for the size. I used a sample just to see what it will look like and if I like it.

Big and Regular. I don't want this to be the size of a parking lot so (sample guyx12) the smaller is better.

And here's my mockup/prototype:

Now I have to decide if it will work and do I want the same colors, navy/off white, etc. Either way this will be awesome. Tunisian crochet has a tendency to squish the image horizontally so I also need to figure out how much I need to stretch the it before printing the guide.

Mythbusters...

2011-10-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Man every long-term project ends with me not liking it. I still need to block it and put a backing on and then I will be sending it out into the world. I am crocheting an 8-bit group pic for the bottom but I haven't decided if it makes the cut yet. Maybe.

I think next I will work on a version of:

Banana Update!

2011-10-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

"The banana you sent me was still a little green and had no bruises. I took a picture of it, but you'll have to wait a little while for it cause I won't have time to develop it before I leave. You'll get it though. And thanks for the banana bread and star wars stuff. I'm excited to do the puzzle at the airport during lay overs. And the banana bread was super good. It's almost gone:)"

Developing film? Seriously? Well, she's leaving for Argentina ina couple weeks so I can only do this a few more times.

Accordian Books

2011-10-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

I learned how to make accordian books 2 weeks ago, it was not what I expected with the long piece of paper folded up. It's smaller size pieces of paper folded in half and then glued inside at the fold and the ends (red dots):

Each one has a removable spine piece that can be pulled out and reattached to either side.

The second one was more of a love letter to Monty Python:

A Science Experiement

2011-10-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

My little sister is at the MTC in Provo, Ut and I mailed her a green banana from Salt Lake City. It was 2 day shipping so she should get it by Saturday at the latest. I included a letter explaining the expected outcomes and a request for her to take a picture and send me observations. There was no mention in any letter or postcard so it should be a surprise when she gets it.

I came up with the idea Sunday after seeing nothing but green bananas at the grocery store. My friend called to warn me about some fat guy flashing hikers in Millcreek and after discussing what I plan to do if I see him I casually mentioned sending Kathy a banana just to see if she gets it in time. For the record I will laugh, point and throw pennies and the cops can go all CSI and check emergency rooms for someone with an embarassing bruise.

10/5/11 ~3pm: After packing the banana in a lot of bubble wrap in a small box I delivered it to the nearby Post Office.

10/6/11 No data to report. Updates to follow.

This could have been a bad idea....

2011-09-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

I'd been thinking about reupholstering my 2nd hand couch for a while now, just to see if I could actually do it but after reading up on it I wasn't so sure. But I did know that sitting on my couch for any amount of time left it sagging and I had to rotate cushions all the time. But they weren't the problem. The books pointed to the springs as either needing to be replaced or repaired and I figured I could do that much.

Saturday night, I'd been to the doctor for a sinus infection that has lasted 2 weeks now and was just getting on antibiotics. I was cleaning up the living room and it was time to rotate cushions again. This time though I pulled out my box knife and cut the fabric and padding below off completely. This is what I saw. They were off on one side entirely and had curled up. No wonder the couch sucked.

I tried to reposition a few but my weakling hands weren't strong enough. I needed some tools. I couldn't really imagine regular pliers doing the trick, even though I had them so I waited until Sunday morning to hit up Joann's for their upholstery section. They had stuff for curtains and sewing cushions. Nothing heavy duty for respringing a couch. Next I went to Lowes for some good pliers or somthing that might help. And some of the spring clips were missing so I needed them replaced or some kind of work around.

They had hardware for shelving and regular tools but still not what I wanted. I bought some pliers and in the plumbing section got some u-shaped hose clamps. I planned to fold them in half and screw them in place of the plastic clips. I got home still thinking about how to stretch the springs enough to reattach. My weakling strength wouldn't be enough I knew and I had a wratcheting clamp which could force it to stretch but I'd still be holding it tight. I though about holding something perpendicular to the spring that the clamp could sit against and scrounged around for something strong enough. I found the metal part from the laminate flooring installation kit. I could brace my foot against the bottom and wratchet the springs into place. It worked amazingly. I took as many of the plastic clips as I could find, pulled out the staples and drilled a hole instead. Then I pulled each spring enough to screw them into place with the clips and then the hose clamps.

The cat loved it, I had to spray him out a few times with the water bottle.

This is all fixed. I need to find more of the padding and fabric to replace what I ripped up but some scrap dropcloth works for now. I layed the padding on top of that for stability.

The couch is so comfortable now that within 10 minutes of finishing I fell asleep on it. For 2 hours. Also, if you've started a big project and Sunday morning rolls around, trying to find supplies and tools on your phone's web browser sucks. My arms and hands are sore but not nearly as much as if I'd resprung it without the tools.

A secret necklace holder

2011-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

I found a really cool idea on craftster.org and stole it, beat it up and left it dying in a ditch somewhere. Ever since I was a kid I've always loved the idea of secret passageways and hidden spots and this was perfect for me (to make) and for the birthday girl. It's a painting that is hinged on a necklace holder. You hang it on the wall and the painting opens into the secret hiding place.

I had a canvas that was the right size, 12"x12"( it was dependant on how big I wanted the box to be). I added joint compound to the canvas in the shape of a tree and let it all dry. Then I painted the background, which I probably should have done first... after that was dry I painted the tree with metallics randomly. Using some scrap wood, I made the box and then added hooks and hinges.

And she loved it.

Latest Projects

2011-09-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

So the last month before I graduated I started knitting a stress blanket. Man I suck at knitting but afterwards I added some felted flowers into a tree shape. It was all pretty random how I added them but it will probably get promoted to Car Blanket this winter.

This is a bantha for my nephew's birthday party. I came across the Star Wars Book of Crafts and found an online tutorial that was geeky enough for me. I also got him some Thomas stuff because this isn't something he wanted and that's what he played with after opening everything. Ah well, I figured I should give him a gift he actually wants. I had the little sand guy in my purse and keep forgetting to give it to him.

Site update

2011-08-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah I need to post more stuff. I have to wait on a few things until the people get them in case they read this blog. But for now I redid my site and farmed all the work out to flickr. Suckers.

www.subversivecrafting.com

Zentangle Postcards

2011-07-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Since I send out postcards to friends and family I recently decided to try making them from scratch. I bought some watercolor paper and then painted some planets. I hit both sides with paint though the side with the address has less. After it dried I cut each page into 4 pages and put them in my book press to flatten. Once that was finished I doodled on them.

Jupiter

Mars

Fairy Homes

2011-06-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

A friend at work made a comment about knowing someone who turns birdhouses into fairy houses. I was secretly obsessed and she didn't even realize it. I had a 3yr old birthday party and needed one for her cousin too and this was so much fun to make.

I plan to do an instructable tutorial on the next one so stay tuned.

At the craft store, not the one in the news recently for having card skimmers stealing debit and pins and including mine, I found some unfinished birdhouses. I pried off the roof and 2 of the walls and added a hinge for an easy opening. You can see the hinge covered by the sticks and flowers. Using wire cutters and pliers I snipped off and pulled out the perch beneath the circular opening and glued the twigs to look like a window.

Someone had been cutting branches in my neighborhood and left them on the sidewalk for the garbage men. I grabbed a bag and scissors and cut off some twigs and kept them for this project (over the winter, it's been in my head for a while). After painting the parts with a couple coats of greens and blues I cut up the twigs into a pile about 5"-7" long apiece.

I had some leftover wool roving from another project and metal wire. I also bought some teeny little silk flowers and pulled them a part. Each twig got a couple small flowers and leaves and were wrapped with either the wool roving or the wire. Afterwards I glued them onto a side at a time and let it dry, repeat with all sides.

The tops are completely removable, I thought about making them latch or hinge but it's not really needed. From the silk flowers I pulled apart the petals and glued/stapled them to the top. Since the plastic centers weren't flat enough to glue down I had to put a dot of yellow into the centers and some buttons. Inside the roofs I glued down stickers.

One was painted blue inside the other greenish. I cut up some scrapbook paper and other stuff to put on the walls. Each house got a tiny table and bed. The legs to both are balsa wood leftovers from other projects and were easy to cut with scissors. When glued down I added a tiny book and key onto the table. Next to the table were 2 small corked vials, one has sparkly beads and the other has watch parts. Also glued down.

The beds were fun. Each one is a rectangle with the same size felt on top and then some muslin on that. More from my stash and I made mini blankets with flowery fabric on more felt glued onto the bed. The pillows are muslin and whip-stitched around and stuffed. More gluing down, I don't want a phone call from someone telling me their kid choked on a tiny pillow.

Both got a small wooden fairy with flower petals wings and a plastic dragon. They were opened last night and the girls loved them.

Maker Faire Inspiration

2011-05-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

No I didn't go but I will next year I hope. I did stream it and caught some cool stuff, some way over my head but mostly interesting.

I bought 2 pieces of 1/4" mdf and cut it to be ~ 40"x30". Then taking a metal ruler I drew in lines to designate where I would be adding the (not routed) panels and windows. My wood (that's what she said) wasn't quite the right dimensions for it to be exact and since the panels are larger in height than width I had to adjust some of it, which you will see later on in this post.

This is a close up of the soon to be windows. I also got a 1/8" piece of the same mdf and measured out the windows and panels and then cut them all out with a box knife. There was no way I was going to get anywhere with a circular saw, it was pretty flimsy.

This is a partially finished door. Notice the blue on the underside. I got too excited and painted way too early. Mostly done with both sides I then noticed that the paint was oil based and all of my other paints are acrylic. Crap. Ya know the really cool crackle effect you can use to age painted stuff? Yeah that's what I was headed towards.

Back to the project. I poured wood glue over it and then spread it out with some scrap mdf which saved me a foam brush. 5 points to Gryffendor.

Then you place the wood over the glue aligning to the pencil lines. I used a staple to keep it in place until the glue drys like the New Yankee Workshop does but they never mention that for newbies such as myself it shows through. I actually tried removing them from one of the doors and the wood is too soft and thin. I either obliterated the area with the staple or destroyed the edge of the piece. So one door has 'em and the other doesn't.

Panel layer #2. Gluey glue, stapley staple. The left door got a piece of trim on the end and instead of a top panel I put in a 1/4" strips framing the square.

It rained that night and I couldn't paint anything and leave it out to dry so I layed down some tarp and painted one of the doors. The painting took longer than everything else.

I don't know why I didn't take a lot of pictures in between but I painted what I wanted to be highlighted white and some light blue and let it dry, also the windows got white too.

Then I did several layers of watery acrylic and let each one dry, this look a long ass time. After wards when it was dark enough with just a hint of white peeking through I sanded the parts I'd highlighted, where I wanted it to look worn. I hit everywhere else with the sander just to remove any shine or smoothness.

Inside I also sanded but then stenciled on the angel and the warning. The stencil was printed from word and then the letters were cut out with an exacto knife. After the white dried I painted over it with a few layers of glow in the dark paint. I'm still trying to figure out how to take a picture of it... glowing.... in the dark...

The Police sign was stenciled the same way, then painted over with more glow in the dark.

The windows had many layers of the glow in the dark paint, then watery navy blue, then both mixed. Again and again, I had to keep hauling it into the bathroom to check the glow.

A hedgehog and Who

2011-05-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this post on Craftster.org and was obsessed:

So I e-stalked the artist and bought the pattern from etsy. It's soo teeny! I dilligently bought the crochet hooks, since mine don't go that small and went to work. Ok I can't do it, I'd have to be using thread to crochet with so I went to the smallest size I could handle and made a couple. This is the newest one.

The first attempt has some problem with ahem... scoliosis so I did not take a picture.

Just started project #2!

It is Doctor Who related but I won't say what it is just yet. It cost me an ami octopus. I heard my neighbors in the back patio next door and went to tell them I would be using power tools for 20 minutes and make sure it wouldn't cause [future] problems and offered an octopus to their kid. The husband does crochet and showed me some stuff much better than the octopus. I think I may have to one up them with a hedgehog.

Pretend Author

2011-05-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

I just created an ebook through lulu.com and am awaiting Amazon's approval process for a Kindle verison. This was based on the fairy book I made for Eden last year. It's only the first one and it doesn't have even half of the names and descriptions in all of the versions.

Mostly Mean Fairies Lulu.com
Mostly Mean Fairies Amazon.com

Another WIP

2011-05-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

I started this quilt a few years ago and then got into some other stuff but haven't forgotten. Except the damn cat ran off with my quilting foot and I know he did because a month ago I saw it someplace weird and put it somewhere and can't remember where.

Macgyver's eyes are eating my soul. Well they would a lot less if I could get some free motion shading done. The fabric is dyed with tea, it made the closest color to skin I could find. The rest, including the mullet, is appliqued. I ordered some super awesome fabric from Spoonflour for the back:

Macgyver Fabric

Works in Progress

2011-05-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

I got the reader at graduation to say that my middle name was Chewbacca (M. Ed. thankyouverymuch). This was filmed by my sister on her phone. I can only hope I have inspired her.

Since there's a theme here....

His hand isn't finished but this was a hard one.

I made 2 of these and gave one to my brother. He asked what it was from :( The pattern comes from Craftster.org user GeekySweatheart who has it embroidered and a free pattern:

Star Wars Embroidery

And just because this is amazing, I came across a Han Solo mini shrine on craftster.org and it is unbelievably awesome:

Han in a Box

Fun With Yarn

2011-04-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

I taught myself to knit because I've wanted to make a Mythbusters afghan for a long time now. I used a fan art picture because it cartoonized Adam and made it easier to do, this is crochet btw. The knitting didn't work out how I wanted it to. This is also the furthest along in the blanket I've gotten. I probably should have made sure I had a good skin color before starting too. I'm not sure, I think I may try Jamie now since I've got about 7 or 8 partial Adams.

I call this one my stress blanket. It's not finished, there needs to be more cherry blossoms and curly tree. The blue is knitted with some fuzzy acrylic stuff and the soft super saver yarn. The cherry blossoms are wool and crocheted and then felted in the washer. I sewed them on with some yellow acrylic. It's a stress blanket because I finish school this week and have a lot of crap to do so when I get a break I work on the blanket. I saw a pattern for a knitted bag and ordered it so that I would be motivated to learn some new knitting techniques. They cancelled my order and said they were out of the pattern. What Might Have Been

A Book Purse

2011-04-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

I keep seeing these on Etsy and really wanted one. It looked fairly simple so I browsed around for a book that would fit, from Barnes and Noble's Classics Collection, and found some fabric scraps.

The handle and button closure I got from Joann's. I think in total this project took a few hours and cost $25. Much cheaper than anything online, and it was fun. I'm going to make some as gifts now.

Eden's Birthday Present

2011-04-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

I know she's only 4 but I love her birthday. I wasn't sure about what to do until maybe February and I'd gotten a book on mixed media doll houses and started this one. It was a wooden tray and I sawed off the handles and filled it in with cardboard and covered both sides. Then I glued in the walls and floors and spray painted purple. Of course while drying outside it rained a bit and I'd gone to the store so I came home to a wet tray. The enamel paint protected it pretty well and I only had to redo a wall or two.

I covered each room with scrapbook paper and then cut out windows. I should have switched the order on that one... After touching up the window edges with more scrapbook paper I glued in the window pieces.

I bought some scrapbook stickers, the really cool kind, for the ballerina, zoo and school. I also bought some balsa wood which came in a 'picket fence' style. I started with the bedroom. The bed is chipboard and fabric, with a sheet too. I sandwiched some quilt batting with pink fabric and hand sewed around adding beads. Then the pillow with some poly fill. I glued those down and then made a bed skirt with some nylon curtain remnants and then glued it all into the room.

I added the rectangle of cardboard covered with more scrapbook paper and sanded out 2 lines for drawers. There's some cute bday cards at Costco I buy all the time so I'd gone through them for extras on the dollhouse and on a new baby card I found some teeny buttons, for the drawer handles. Then another small piece for the shelf and balsa wood for the supports. The 'books' are folded cardboard from a cereal box (Crunchy Nut) covered with more paper and glued down. I really wanted a tiny teddy bear and actually looked at Hobby Lobby in their dollhouse parts. No luck. I couldn't find anything small enough in the scrapbook section either. I did learn how to felt a while ago and sat down, turned on the Walking Dead and made a bear. He got glued down too. I also needed a shoe or two under the bed and found some erasers at another craft store.

The bathroom is more paper and cardboard. I painted some paper silver and used mulberry paper for the shower curtain and towel.. Oh yeah and felt for carpet on some of the rooms.

The zoo was pretty simple, I glued all of the stickers from the pack and added the rhinestones. The fence was leftovers from what was going to be in the front of the house but got changed.

The chalkboard was in a sticker pack along with an apple and glasses on the side walls. The desk and char are from covered cardboard and fabric with more quilt batting. The legs are balsa wood painted blue.

The frog is another eraser. I decided not to buy any actual doll house parts since it would be too easy and instead made everything, except for the doorknob and 2 keys that came with it. One key is on the desk and one is on the bookshelf in the bedroom. The couch is cardboard, batting and tapestry fabric, the end table is the same as the chair in the school room. The rug is something I crocheted with the skinniest yarn I could find. The door is cardboard with fabric on both sides glued to the wall and outside so it moves easily.

The kitchen was fun. The table and chairs are the same with batting and fabric. A rectangle of cardboard covered for the refrigerator and handles. I glued mulberry paper onto wire and then over the window. I used snipped brads for the ends of the curtain rod.

This was so much fun to make! Ok, the outside. It was originally some brick scrapbook paper. Nope. I have a die cutter and a small postage stamp die and cut up about 50ish pieces of a cereal box for the shingles. Each one is painted watery purple and then water copper which is then wiped off. After I dip each of the 4 sides into the copper about 1/8th of an inch and let it dry and then glue on. Cut in half I did similar with the windowsill. I painted the front with purple and white and then added some vines and flowers around everything.

The birds were from one of the birthday cards I scavenged from my stash. After it was all done I printed up some scrabble tile sized images and glued them everywhere that needed an extra picture on the wall. I added some stickers on the door and a few other places glued with epoxy. I did paint some little people but didn't take pics.

And Eden loved it.

Too picky?

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

I needed a new watchband and didn't want to spend $$ so I found some interesting prospects on etsy and even contacted one to see if they could make their leather cuff into a watchband but they wouldn't. I was going to email another seller but started thinking about what it would take to actually make what I wanted, a leather strip with snaps for the watch face and fitted so snaps on the ends instead of a buckle.

I checked out Tandy Leather to see what it would cost, less than $10 but then I'd have to drive there.... and laziness took over. But wait I don't have to actually hand tool some leather, I can find a belt and cut it up and it might even have something I can paint. Yes I actually did that. I stopped by the mall and found something at the Gap for $20. That night I cut it to length, painted it and added the snaps. I misjudged the length so one snap is almost too tight and the other is too loose. I might have to refine the technique.

The watch face is from the Inemployed Philosopher's Guild with Shakespeare and a quote that circles around as a second hand. Watch Link

Spring Break

2011-03-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

I took the week and did a lot of nothing. BUT I did redo my website. I did like it before done in fireworks, dreamweaver and photoshop, I just thought it could look better. I found a lot of free templates and then tweaked one to fit.

Subversive Crafting

Bird Cage Light

2011-03-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

My living room has no overhead light and this annoys me. There is no wiring to hook anything up to either but I'm working on that.I first grabbed a plant hanger and tried to decoupage tissue paper to it but it didn't work. I was thinking of a Tiffany Lamp, so I got some white cotton fabric and bunched and sewed it to the plant hanger. Then I took a sharpie and drew in the lines of the hanger and colored some in. I used an Ikea light cord (Ikea) and hung it inside the bowl.

I'd recently seen an awesome hanging bird cage light for $65 and really wanted it but thought I could make it for cheaper. I went to Tai Pan Trading and found a white bird cage that had a top I could easily remove to add the light and cord. I dremeled the top off and then spray painted it black, thought it would look better against the light. Plastic Land

It was a windy day and got paint everywhere so that was fun. I used the chain from the plant hanger and cut 3 5 inch pieces and bent them to the cage top with a center ring to add the part that hangs from the ceiling. Then I grabbed some unbleached cotton muslin and glued/sewed it to the inside to mute the light. I'd glue up about 5 bars, let it dry and then sew it onto the last bar then repeat.

While buying the bird cage I saw a small wooden bird and grabbed it too. I didn't really have a plan, maybe inside the cage or something. Hanging from underneath the cage sounded good so I drilled a hole in the top of the bird and pounded a hole in the bottom center of the cage and epoxyed some hooks. My drill bit was too big. After drying I connected the two with a short chain.

$30 bird cage

$2 spray paint

$1 fabric

$2 wooden bird

I actually used two of the Hemma cord sets because the fabric muted the light a little too much but it's done and looks fabulous.