the crafty cpa

etsy shopping spree part 1: my different strokes

2012-03-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I've been on a bit of an Etsy shopping spree lately. Usually my first reaction when I see something I love is, "I think I could make that," but there are so many things that are beyond my capabilities....so so many things...

One shop I love is My Different Strokes. I just adore the illustrated pendants in this shop. I'm trying to build a more interesting collection of accessories to wear to work.

I think this pendant is pretty cool. Maybe it's just because I find art deco design very inspirational.

So quirky and cute.

So far I bought a golden retriever pendant (for me) and a bulldog pendant (for a friend). I think I may buy this blonde lady for my sister next.

Any other great unique accessory suggestions for me?

return on creativity: free motion embroidery herb pillow

2012-03-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I made a daffodil pillow using a free motion embroidery technique. I decided to make an herb pillow using the same font and technique as the daffodil pillow. I'm still perfecting my technique, but I think it looks very rustic and springy. Give it a try and thanks for reading!

inspired by: upcycling

2012-03-03T09:13:00.000-06:00

Thrift stores, antique malls, and even Etsy shops are great places to find interesting vintage fabrics for sewing projects.

I bought some vintage pillow cases from this Etsy shop and made one into the daisy pillow cover shown above. Shhhhhh... I have a pretty cool vintage pillow case project in process, but not ready to show yet!

I'm always on the lookout for great wool cardigans to make into pretty cardigan pillow covers. Here's my cardigan pillow cover tutorial.

When a bought a blanket on sale it came with two pillow shams that I didn't need. So I made one sham into a gold pillow cover.

I always snatch up vintage leather belts to turn into bag straps like in this grain sack messenger bag.

What are your favorite things to upcycle in projects?

return on creativity: new pillow cover ideas

2012-02-28T20:10:00.001-06:00

I made some new pillows for my shop using black fabric paint. The all is well pillow was inspired by three word sayings like "Life is good" or "Live Laugh Love". I hand painted the words and then sewed red felt applique accents in the loops of the letters.

I used an eclectic grouping of my collection of foam stamps to create this alphabet pillow. I bought most of my stamps years ago. They are mostly from Making Memories and no longer sold, but I found a set on Amazon here. I love my foam stamps. I use them on paper and fabric. If you find some snatch them up!

This is my favorite tutorial for sewing pillow covers. It doesn't win the prize for the prettiest pillow in my opinion, but the measurements seem to work really well for me.

Happy sewing and thanks for reading!

return on creativity: fabric napkin rings

2012-02-26T20:32:00.000-06:00

Fabric napkin rings are a great idea for using up scraps of fabric that you love.

Here's how to make your own fabric napkin rings.

1. Cut two rectangles of fabric measuring nine inches by three inches for each ring.

2. Stitch two rectangles together. I used my serger to stitch two wrong sides together. If you don't have a serger you could turn down the edges of each rectangle a quarter inch and steam with an iron. Then put wrong sides together and top stitch around all sides of the rectangle.

3. Sew a button hole one inch in from the edge of the napkin ring.

4. Sew a button six inches from the button hole. (I learned how to sew buttons with my sewing machine for this project. Holy cow! So easy! I followed my sewing machine manual, but here is a great tutorial. Seriously...why did I ever sew a button by hand?)

That's it! You are done. Below are some of the napkin rings I made that are for sale in my shop.

Happy sewing and thanks for reading!

me: documentary + design = heaven

2012-02-19T11:44:00.000-06:00

My husband and I both love to watch documentaries. Last night I watched a documentary about Charles and Ray Eames for the second time. I loved it again!

source

If you love documentaries and you love design I highly recommend this documentary (which you can watch online! cool!):

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/charles-ray-eames-the-architect-and-the-painter/watch-the-full-documentary-film/1950/

If you get inspired to own a piece of Eames yourself there are lots of great selections on Etsy.

Some of my other favorite documentaries:

King of Kong -- a surprisingly entertaining documentary about the world of competitive classic video games.

Man on Wire -- I just watched this again a couple weeks ago. Inspirational documentary about drive and destiny.

return on creativity: daffodil pillow

2012-02-13T21:18:00.000-06:00

It's super snowy here today, but I am ready for spring. I made this daffodil pillow this weekend. Daffodils are by far my favorite flower. I love the yellow color.

I did some free motion embroidery on this pillow. I first tried this technique on my shabby rose pillow. I'm still honing my skills with this technique so my pillow is not perfect, but I still really like it and I want to get better at this technique. Here is a great article on free motion embroidery that I found really informative.

Here's how I made my pillow:

1. I sketched a daffodil and combined my sketch with a script font to create my template. I printed both the sketch and the word bloom on white paper and cut them out. Then I pasted each to piece of 12 by 12 paper.

Here's my sketch.

Here's my template. I used the font The Only Exception.

2. I then used scotch tape to tape my template to the back of my pillow to prepare for tracing my design.

3. I traced my design onto the pillow front with a Disappearing Ink Marking Pen and a light box.

4. I put the darning foot on my sewing machine, dropped the feed dogs, and set my stitch length to 0. Then I started tracing my design with stitches by guiding the fabric under the needle.

5. Finally I sewed everything together into a 18 X 18 pillow cover.

Give free motion embroidery a try. I hope you like it as well as I do!

me: which do you like best?

2012-01-28T07:45:00.000-06:00

Good morning lovely blog readers! I am seeking your opinion.

I decided to embark on my first blog advertisement. I will be advertising my shop on Elise Blaha Cripe's blog for the month of February.

I love Elise's style and posts. Her blog is one of my guilty habits during my lunch hour (or lunch ten minutes between running to meetings) at work.

So....I need to design an ad. I am so not a graphic designer. Sometimes I create something and love it. Other times I just can't seem to get it "right". (I use GIMP free software to edit all my pictures and create graphics.)

Which is your favorite?

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4 (I don't like this one because I think the colors are kind of depressing, but I like adding the "handmade home accessories".)

Any winners? Or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

inspired by: one word

2012-01-24T18:42:00.000-06:00

I love words. I love fonts. I love typefaces. I incorporate this love into a lot of my projects; embroidering words, stamping words, or painting words.

Ali Edwards does a one little word project each year. Each word is just waiting to be turned into a crafty project. Here are some of my favorites:

awake . balance . breathe . build . do . dream . energy . expand . focus . forge . grace . join . leap . less . move . now . pace . prepare . prosper . quest . reach . relish . shine . stretch . strong . tend . try . uplift . whole . within . yes

And here's a little word inspiration from Etsy:

source

return on creativity: clay candle holder

2012-01-22T19:45:00.000-06:00

I dipped my toe into the genre of sculpture just barely and came out with what I'm going to call a candle holder... I'm considering this project a prototype that can use a little tweaking, but I love the idea of it and wanted to share it with you.

I started by rolling out some Sculpey polymer clay and cutting out a leaf design. I used these Wilton leaf cookie cutters.

I cut out four leaves and laid them on my mold (a metal one cup measuring cup).

Then I added a circle cut out for a base. I baked my sculpture per the clay instructions.

I put a votive candle inside to create a little sculptural candle holder.

I think if I can find a bigger candle to fill up the space a bit more it would be perfect.

Or just add a circle cut out to the center and enjoy my creation as a sculpture.

Give it a try, modify, perfect and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and subscribing!

shop update: tales from a new shop owner

2012-01-17T19:43:00.000-06:00

My shop has been up and running for about a month now. I have been overwhelmed by the experience. Overwhelmed by the work needed to run a little shop and overwhelmed by the fact that people are actually buying my stuff.

My shop has far exceeded my expectations. This is thrilling and scary at the same time. I'm still adjusting my time management skills for blogging and shop running. I love my blog so much and still want to share many tutorials with all of you.

I thought it might be interesting to share some of the things I've learned from one month of shop running for all of you who might be thinking of starting a shop of your own.

Lesson #1 -- Luck helps. I have been tremendously lucky to be featured in Etsy's Home and Garden section, Valentine's Holiday section, and on the front page. I don't know quite how this happened, but I am very grateful for the traffic to my shop.

This is me on the front page, bottom row second from the right.

Here's my heart pillow on the Home and Garden page.

Here I am in the Valentine's Day section.

Lesson #2 -- Blogging for a year really helped me get my shop off on the right foot. Obviously my blog drives some traffic to my shop which is helpful. However, I think the bigger help is all the skills I have learned while blogging that I can transfer to shop running.

A year spent blogging was also a year spent developing products. When choosing what items to offer for sale I had a good feel for what items might be popular and what items might not resonate as well. Blogging gave me a big head start in product research.

Also I've had lots of practice taking pictures of crafts. Pictures are so important for online sales.

Lesson #3 -- Taking pictures is still not my favorite thing to do.

Lesson #4 -- I have a wonderful and supportive husband. I kinda knew this already, but after sending my hubby to the store for boxes or to the post office with packages I now refer to him as my VP of Distribution. I am very blessed to have a helpful husband.

Lesson #5 -- Just do it. I wanted to start a shop months ago but I was too worried about everything being perfect from day 1. My shop will never be perfect. It's an evolution. Just start somewhere and then start working on making improvements over time.

So far my shop has been a lot more work than I expected, but I love every second of it. I love making things for people. I love seeing the locations that my items are being shipped to. I even love packing boxes and printing postage.

I still don't like taking and editing photos.

return on creativity: star applique pillow

2012-01-10T20:10:00.000-06:00

I made this star applique pillow this weekend. It was so easy and fun. Here's how to do your own star applique:

1. Draw a star on a piece of paper (just like your grade school teacher did at the top of your papers!)

2. Trace around the star to create a template for your fabric.

3. Cut your star tracing out of fabric. I used felt since the edges don't fray.

4. Pin or hold your star onto your fabric and sew a star just like you drew in step 1. It's really pretty easy to sew because it is all straight lines! When you get to the end of one straight line leave your needle in the fabric, lift your presser foot and sew in the next direction.

Pretty fun and I think they look cute!

This pillow is available in my shop for purchase.

craft fail: polymer clay bowl

2012-01-08T19:12:00.000-06:00

It seemed simple enough, make a little polymer clay bowl. They looked too cute in this blog post. I rolled out my clay and cut a circle. Stamped the word "change" for a change dish for my honey. I found the perfect aluminum steel bowl to shape it on. I decided to cook the clay on top of the bowl so it didn't lose its shape.

It seemed to smell a little funny while it was baking, but this was the first time I'd cooked clay in my new craft room. Maybe the ventilation was different. I didn't really think anything of it. Until my bowl came out looking like this...

Yep, I burnt my first piece of clay. The bowl was too tall and my clay was touching the top of the toaster oven. I didn't realize it because the toaster oven was on the floor at the time (mid craft room move) and I just shoved my bowl in without looking.

By the way...burnt clay is really really stinky.

a big idea: art for inspiration

2012-01-05T19:49:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that I love doing applique. Here's some inspiration for applique designs from the art world. These images are all from Laura Nugent's website.

This would be a simple design to applique...all straight lines! Use two shades of green fabric to give the illusion of hills.

A beautiful blue bird on a gold patterned background. I love the bold colors.

These trees are so pretty. I think my fabric version would be fabric circles appliqued with hand embroidered leaf designs.

I think I will have to raid my fabric stash and give some of these a try in fabric form.

return on creativity: clay gift tags

2012-01-03T20:19:00.000-06:00

Do you love wrapping presents? I made some clay gift tags just before the holidays. They were so easy and I love the results. I think these would look so special on a wedding gift.

Here's how to make:

1. Evenly roll out some Sculpey oven bake clay.

2. Cut out a circle shape. I used the middle size of these Wilton circle cutters.

3. Press an appropriate sentiment stamp into the clay. The specific Making Memories stamp set I used is now discontinued, but this stamp set from Making Memories is very similar and has a lot of great "gift tag appropriate" sentiments.

4. Bake your clay per package instructions. I started using a toaster oven to bake my clay and it works perfectly for small projects like this.

5. Once my clay was baked I used my hubby's Dremel tool(the drill bit) to make a hole. Beware, this creates quite a mess (think hand mixer and uncontrollable cake batter)!

6. Make a bunch to have on hand for beautiful, simple, and elegant gift wrapping!

Think graduation and new job gift wrapping!

Birthday gift wrapping too of course!

Don't want to make it? Buy this is my shop, 645 workshop!

year in review 2011

2011-12-31T12:09:00.000-06:00

Twenty eleven has been a very busy year. This year I resolved to focus on being more creative and revived this blog. Here are some of my favorite creative moments from the year.

I think out of all the tutorials I have created this year, this pillow was my favorite to make. It is so simple and I just love the texture on the finished project. My most popular tutorial has definitely been the paint sample coasters.

I use this bag all the time and I get so many compliments on it. This project was made with upcycled materials; a vintage grain sack and a thrifted belt. I want to spend more time thrifting in the new year.

I started using polymer clay this year for various projects and I am so addicted. I enjoy working with clay almost as much as I enjoy sewing.

I really struggled with the decision to move my craft room. Now that I am (almost) moved in to my new digs I am so pleased that I finally decided to make the move. Today I sewed some pillow covers while looking out an actual window. So exciting!

So far I am really enjoying my new shop. This is another decision that took me a really long time to make. Mostly I was concerned about having enough time for work, blogging, and shop. I'm still not sure if I will have enough time, but I am enjoying running my shop so much that I am willing to sacrifice a little TV watching time.

I have been thinking of some goals for the new year, but I have to admit that I'm a little behind on goal setting. Hopefully that isn't an omen for 2012!

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve and thanks for reading and subscribing!

another take: variations on love balls

2011-12-27T18:13:00.000-06:00

Remember these love balls? Click here for the tutorial.

This weekend I made some variations:

hug and kiss balls for Valentine's Day.

hope balls for a friend that could use a pick me up.

I intended to make some holiday themed balls, but just didn't get to it. (I also didn't put up a Christmas tree this year which is kinda sad, but I also don't have to take one down which is kinda happy!)

Stay tuned! I have an epic craft fail to share later this week!

merry christmas

2011-12-25T18:54:00.000-06:00

craft room redo: organizing fabric

2011-12-22T12:23:00.000-06:00

I will be the first to admit that I have a lot of craft ~~junk~~ stuff. I try to buy supplies only for specific projects, but somehow other ~~junk~~ stuff jumps right off the clearance rack or the remnant bin or even the regular price shelf and right into my cart.

As I move my ~~junk~~ stuff from the basement to my new craft room I am finding more and more items that I forgot I have. And here is the dilemma...in general I am not a pack rat, except when it comes to crafting supplies. With crafting supplies, I am not just a pack rat...I hoard. I agonize over what to throw away and what to keep. Every little thing seems to have value. Each scrap of paper or fabric or ribbon seems like it has a use...some day.

Even though I hoard craft supplies, I never thought of myself as a person who has a lot of fabric. I think this is because I don't sew with a lot of prints. I might buy muslin or linen by the bolt (with a nice juicy coupon), but I don't see myself as a fabric hoarder.

For the new craft room I bought four pretty milk crate baskets at Target to store fabric. I thought that should do...

and it did...

just barely...

That might not look like a lot of fabric to some. It's certainly less fabric than my grandmother has, but I was surprised at how much fabric I have. I also learned that I haven't met a red or red striped fabric that I don't like.

These milk crates will be stored on a shelf in my closet that is transforming into a desk area. Here's a progress shot.

I think I will like this storage better for my fabric. I can see what I have, which will hopefully lead to using more of the fabric I already own rather than buying new.

My bolts of muslin and linen will most likely be stored under my sewing table. The bin that I bought for scrap fabric is already filled to overflowing so I need to get to work on making some things out of scraps also.

What is the best thing to do with fabric you know you won't use? Will goodwill take it?

return on creativity: pair of hearts pillows

2011-12-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

I've been looking for striped fabric ever since I pined the beautiful striped bags in this post. I finally found what I was looking for at Ikea in red stripes and black stripes.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit where the inspiration for this pillow came from. I was flipping channels and landed on the movie, "Friday" long enough to see a character wearing a striped shirt with a heart on the front. I then quickly figured out that this was not my kind of movie (Wikipedia defines it as a stoner comedy-drama-buddy film) and moved on down the channel.

I guess inspiration really does come from the strangest places!

To make this pillow I cut a heart template from typing paper First-Grade-style by folding the paper in half and cutting half a heart.

Then I traced the heart onto some felt and cut it out.

I pined the heart in the center of my eighteen inch square of striped pillow fabric.

I set my machine to a zig zag stitch and sewed around the edge of my heart.

Finally I sewed my pillow top into a pillow cover with an envelope closure. I used white muslin for the back.

I think these pillows would look fantastic in a teen's room or a dorm room or even my room!

Rather buy it than make it? Purchase these pillows here and here.

clay alphabet magnet giveaway winner!

2011-12-19T20:42:00.001-06:00

And the winner is...

Email me at thecraftycpa(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!!!

return on creativity: simple handmade gift wrap

2011-12-18T16:17:00.002-06:00

I have to admit that I can get a little obsessed with wrapping gifts. It is my favorite part of gift giving.

A few years ago I threw out all my wrapping paper, preferring to only store one roll of kraft wrapping paper that I decorate with stamps or paint or even just a simple ribbon. Of course I also keep a stash of gift bags and tissue paper to save the day when I don't have enough hours to get everything done.

Recently, I made a bunch of simple muslin bags out of fabric scraps to use for shipping in my shop. These little bags are great for gift wrapping small presents.

To Make:

1. Cut two rectangles rectangles of fabric the same size (large enough to fit your gift).
2. Serge or hem one side of each rectangle which will be the top of your bag.
3. Put right sides together and sew on three sides. Turn fabric right side out and you are finished.

I stamped my bags with letter stamps and Stayz On ink in black. I tied it together with baker's twine.

I whipped up this holiday version in about five minutes! So easy and a great way to use up fabric scraps!

P.S. If you like my "Happy Holidays" gift tag, stay tuned for another day! Thanks for reading.

me: all i want for christmas...

2011-12-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

Lomography Paper Pinhole Camera

Stash Happy: Felt: 30 Fun Projects for Felt (and Fabric) Lovers

Learning Resources - Jumbo Numbers & Operations Stamp Set

Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing

Moleskine 2012 12 Month Color A Month Daily Planner: Set of 12 Monthly Planners

Stained by Sharpie Brush Tip Fabric Markers, 8 Colored Markers

OK, maybe this isn't quite all. I always have a permanent spot for diamond earrings on my wish list. What crafty things are you hoping to get for the holidays?

craft room redo: workstation

2011-12-13T20:13:00.001-06:00

This is my favorite craft room update to date because I love how it turned out! I wanted to have a counter height workstation for cutting fabric and working on little projects without bending over a table. I searched far and wide (on the Internet) for a kitchen island that didn't look too kitcheny and was small enough to work in my room.

I found a bar height dining table that I thought might work, but then I saw this island at West Elm. It was perfect, although a little pricey...but I went for it. I couldn't be happier with the results!

Here's a view from the other side. You can see my spray painted curtains in the background.

Doesn't it look at pretty as a picture? Maybe as pretty as this picture?

source

I wanted to replicate the letters in this picture. I found my letters at Hobby Lobby ($5 a piece on sale), but they were ugly aged gold and needed paint badly.

I spray painted the AKE in black and the M in red. I love that the M is a different color because it is also my first initial!

To hang the letters I traced and cut them from newsprint, and marked where the hangers were. Then I taped the newsprint letters to the wall and adjusted as needed before pounding my nails. It was definitely worth the extra effort because the nails were in exactly the right place.

Slowly I have been moving things from the basement to the new upstairs craft room so I am to the point where I am really working out of two rooms now...not ideal, but I am making progress.

giveaway: shop grand opening giveaway and discount code

2011-12-12T00:00:00.006-06:00

I'm not totally comfortable with the idea of self promotion. I always thought that if I was forced to take a job in sales I would cry everyday. But part of pushing yourself to do new things is stretching and growing and getting uncomfortable. So here goes some shameless self promotion to celebrate the grand opening of my shop 645 workshop.

First, a giveaway...

I am going to giveaway one set of alpha magnets. These little magnets remind me of typewriter keys. I have a cute set on my fridge right now in "qwerty order".

Two ways to enter:

#1 - Like my shop's Facebook page by clicking the button on the right sidebar of my blog or on the right sidebar of my shop.

#2 - Pin your favorite item in my shop on Pinterest.

Leave a comment for each entry. I will randomly draw a number on Monday, December 19th at 8 PM central time.

Second, a discount code...

Now through Monday, December 19th I am offering a 15% grand opening discount in my shop by using code GRANDOPENING at checkout.

Whew, self promotion over and I survived! I have a really exciting craft room update to share this week, plus I made some stuff out of Ikea fabric.