radmegan: in words and pictures

New Articles in Kids Crafts 123: Summer Craft Issue!!

2013-05-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

There's a new issue of Kids Crafts 1-2-3 on shelves now at Barnes & Noble, Walmart and Michaels! If you run across the issue, be sure to pick it up and look out for my TWO SUMMER CRAFT articles; one on "Seashell Magnet Friends", and one on making "Fingerprint Chalkboard Frames for Dad!"

I had tons of fun working on these projects with my sweet little nieces and hope you enjoy these projects with your own wee ones!

Pre-Pregnancy Food: Roasted Tomatoes

2013-05-07T11:26:00.002-07:00

We're looking at 8 days until the due date of our first baby! With the onesies washed and organized, car seat installed, and hospital bag packed, my new area of focus is FOOD. What on earth can I make/assemble/re-heat while in recovery mode. Fortunately, we have some seriously gifted and generous family offering help, but this morning, I decided to roast a batch of cherry tomatoes to have handy when mama needs a boost of vitamins.

Roasting tomatoes is super easy, quick and makes salads, pizzas and sandwiches THAT much tastier. Plus, it's a great way to make your toms last longer when you get a bumper crop.

Here's how I roasted mine:

- Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes

- Slice them in half and toss them in a large Zip-lock bag.
- Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil per 3 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes.

- Grind sea salt to taste into the bag

- Add a large handful of fresh thyme (chopped) into the bag.

(rosemary, basil and garlic are all welcome in this mix if you have them on-hand)

- Seal the bag and give it a few shakes to coat the tomatoes in the oil and herb mix.

- In a 300 degree oven, spread the tomatoes onto a lined (foil or Silpat), rimmed baking sheet

- Bake for 40 minutes

- Store in a jar in the fridge (if you don't gobble them up right off the cookie sheet first!)

Enjoy!!

Looking Back: Norway

2013-04-24T08:33:00.002-07:00

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant. It's been an awesome journey for me, but this week my body has commanded me to SLOW DOWN. So, I'm looking back through old travel photos. Here are a few snaps from our Bergen -> Flam train ride a couple of summers ago.

Looking Back at Craftcation 2013

2013-03-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

I spent last Saturday teaching at Craftcation and I just wanted to say that I had THE. BEST. TIME.

It's such an humbling experience to attend a conference that brings such inspiring business owners, makers and doers together. Time and time again I overheard intense conversations about how attendees were torn between two workshops in one time slot; they KNEW that both would enhance their businesses or lives and would get so upset that they couldn't attend both. I can't think of another event I've attended or spoken at where I heard this same complaint so frequently. There wasn't a workshop, panel or hands-on craft class in the entire line-up that didn't look AMAZING.

I started off the day teaching a small group of 16 students how to take their DSLR cameras OFF of the automatic setting, and get familiar with what the dials and modes mean, and how and when to use them.

If I'm honest, I was a bit nervous about this workshop. My "pregnancy brain" reached unparalleled levels of forgetfulness over the weekend, but keeping the group at a manageable size was a great help to me. I sent everyone home with "recipe cards" on how and when to use bracketing, what depth of field is, and how to "paint" with light. I may have also handed out a few of the DVDs I recorded on craft photography!

(Apologies to the folks who were on the waiting list and got turned away. I'm sure whatever workshop you ended up in was just as useful.)

Next, I had the pleasure of sitting on the "Effective Blogging for Business" panel with my Creativebug buddy (and author of Vintage Craft Workshop), Cathy Callahan, the best-selling author of The Handmade Market Place and Grow Your Handmade Business, Kari Chapin, and moderated by the hilarious and whip-smart Rosalie Gale of Unanimous Craft! The discussion was fairly straight-forward (how often should you blog, how do you get more followers etc.,) however the surprise take-away was that a lot of us are not blogging as much as we used to, and perhaps the reason is that blogging is NOT an effective tool for business. What do you think?

My last workshop was a full-house of crafters eager to learn how to build their own light box for better craft photography!

I was feeling mighty pooped out by this point, but I have to say, there is something awfully energizing and motivating about being in front of such a large group of folks, eager to learn. My students were awesome, and everyone left with a helpful tool that will diffuse light and ensure better product photography. Hooray for that.
Note- This workshop also had a huge waiting list of peeps who were turned away at the door- so if any of you are out there now- I have the full light box tutorial here on my blog. Enjoy!

One of these years, my plan is to attend a few workshops as well as teach them. But until that time comes, I'm just so honored to be a part of the Craftcation community, and want to extend a HUGE thank you to Delilah and Nicole who are the masterminds and muscle behind this event. They are two of the nicest, and hardest-working ladies you could ever hope to know. And thanks too, to their amazing crew of volunteers who always set my mind at ease and put a huge smile on my face. What a tremendous team you all are!
Hope to see you next year, Craftcation! Thank you again for the memories.

Radmegan Peeps Contest at Creativebug!

2013-03-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

There's a Radmegan Peeps Contest going on over at Creativebug this week!

Leave a comment on their blog to be entered. Contest ends Friday- so hurry on over if you want to win a couple of pre-made Radmegan Peeps AND all the stuff you need to make your own!

Good luck!

New Article in Kids Crafts 123: Yarn Wrapped Baskets

2013-03-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself at a Walmart, Barnes & Noble or Michaels this month, be sure to pick up the latest issue of Kids Crafts 1-2-3 and look out for my Yarn Wrapped Baskets article. I'm really excited to be able to share this fun craft that I enjoyed as a kid, and still love as an adult!

Enjoy!

radmegan

Early March Garden: A Few Photos

2013-03-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

March is an exciting time in the garden. So many quiet little blooms appear and tender leaves begin to unfurl. Here are a few glimpses of what's happening now.

Let's All Meet in Ventura for the Craftcation Conference- March 21-24!!

2013-02-26T09:59:00.001-08:00

Ventura, California is one of my favorite places to visit. It's a little sea-side village where rows of crops are tilled down the street from surf shops. It's also the place I called home for five years. The salty, sea air and nightly train horns comforted me through many of life's curve balls. So when Delilah Snell and Nicole Stevenson chose Ventura as their host city for the Craftcation Conference last year, I was overjoyed.

This year, the Indie Business and Craft Conference will again be held in fair Ventura, and I will again have the pleasure of speaking at Craftcation again this year.

Classes are selling out, and registration closes on March 1st, so you only have THIS WEEK to register!

So when is Craftcation Conference 2013?

March 21-24, 2013

at the Crowne Plaza Hotel

(The Little Miss Sunshine hotel)

in Ventura, ca

In addition to my workshops on:
- Understanding how to use your DSLR Camera
- Crafting a photography light box,

I will join Cathy Callahan, Kari Chapin and Rosalie Gale on a panel about
- Effective blogging for a crafty business

Loads of my favorite crafters will be speaking at Craftcation, as well as my peeps from the Urban Craft Center Days, and my Creativebug friends.

I hope to see you in Ventura! I'll be almost eight months pregnant by then, and would be overjoyed to see some of your friendly faces in my sessions! Plus, since I love Ventura with all my heart and soul, you know you can always ask me for the inside scoop on the best places to watch the sun go down, or where to get the tastiest food you've ever had in your life!

See you soon! And don't forget to register asap!!

Felt Viking Cap and Booties for Baby (My Baby!)

2013-02-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest or Instagram, you may have noticed an up-tick in my viking craft obsession lately. I am of Scandinavian heritage and quite proud of it. I'm a tall, strong woman, and I've always felt like I would have fared just fine in the viking days. I tie a mean knot, I can chop wood with the best of them, and if you are hungry, you can bet I've prepared something hearty and satisfying. I don't think it came as a surprise to any of my friends and family when I married my husband (whose secret nickname was "the hot viking" before we started dating.)

My husband and I will celebrate our 4th year of marriage in July, and it's still almost impossible for me to believe, that this year, we'll be celebrating it with our first child.

Yep! The big news around these parts is that I'm pregnant... with a baby viking, I mean, baby BOY.

To celebrate his approaching arrival (Due date: May 15th!) I whipped up these little felt booties from The Purl Bee, and created my own pattern for a felt baby viking hat. (Hopefully coming soon to my etsy shop!)

We could not be more excited about our new addition, and while I know things are about to get bananas-level crazy, I will rely heavily on the blog to be my creative outlet for midnight crafting and a way to stay connected with all of my friends, here on the interwebs. And while I'm not going to be posting all-baby-crafts, all-the-time, I'm sure a few will sneak in here and there. Hope you don't mind! :)

Please wish me luck in this journey, and thank you as always for reading!

xoxo

radmegan

Quick Lockets for Valentine's Day

2013-01-30T08:45:00.003-08:00

Last week I wrote a blog post for Creativebug on a little trip I took to French General in Los Angeles. While I was there, I picked up several treasures. It was so much fun looking at all of their lovely fabrics, ribbons and notions. I left with three spools of twine, a few brass lockets and brass wishbones, and a spool of red and white polka dot ribbon.

I wanted to make some quick necklaces for my loved ones, so I printed out special messages for each of them and used rubber cement to tack them inside the lockets. I strung up the heart lockets and wishbones on pieces of twine that measures about 24 inches long, then tied the ends with sliding knots. Finally, I stitched the ribbons in place with a needle and thread.

The whole project took no more than 5 minutes per necklace, but I'm happy with the results and will be sending these quick lockets out with the mail today.

How are you spreading love to your friends and family this year?

Call them Dutch Babies, German Pancakes...

2013-01-26T11:44:00.003-08:00

I don't remember the last time I slept through the night without waking up at 4am. Insomnia can be a major bummer, but it's given me a lot of time to research recipes. This morning, I stumbled upon Dutch Pancakes.

Dutch pancakes might be known to you as Dutch Babies, or German pancakes. I also have a Viking cookbook that just calls them regular ol', pancakes. Anyway you slice it, these things are DEEEELISH. I used THIS recipe on Allrecipes.com which, even on my iPhone was quite handy because you can alter the serving size you want, and all of the quantities would automatically update. For the sake of ease, here's the recipe:

2 eggs

 1/2 cup milk

 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour

 1 pinch ground nutmeg

 1 pinch salt

 2 tablespoons butter

 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:

Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until light. Add milk and stir. Gradually whisk in flour, nutmeg and salt.

Remove skillet from oven and reduce oven heat to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in hot skillet so that inside of skillet is completely coated with butter. Pour all the batter in the skillet and return skillet to oven.

Bake until puffed and lightly browned, (about 12 minutes). Remove promptly and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Notes:

I chopped up three Pink Lady apples and sautéed them in butter (you know, to be healthy) while keeping an eye on my rapidly rising pancake in the oven. The apples were served directly atop the pancake, drizzled with just a DASH of maple syrup, and then dusted with powdered sugar. But apples... that made it healthy. Remember the apples!

Also, I did use a cast iron pan to bake my pancake, but you can use a Pyrex container as well (from what I've read).

Annnnd lastly, (and maybe because I doubled the recipe but) I baked my Dutch Pancake for 20 minutes.

Weekend Update: Full Plate, Happy Heart

2013-01-22T10:40:00.001-08:00

Hope you had a lovely, long weekend! I made the most of everyday with a kid's craft party, two craft articles written, photographes and sent off, freshly-knitted mug cozies, AND my dear husband even helped me repot my carnivorous plants. We of course had to celebrate with the BEST cinnamon rolls in LA (at Primo's Bakery) Hope you enjoyed your weekend too!

xoxo

radmegan

Craft Wars Reunion at CHA

2013-01-17T09:11:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week, I spent six days in Anaheim, California for the Craft & Hobby Association show. I was at CHA on behalf of Creativebug and their beautifully made online workshops... but it was hard not to feel like I was in a reunion episode of TLC's Craft Wars with all of the familiar faces I ran into on the show floor!

One of the fabulous judges, Jo Pearson, and Craft Wars producer, Cathie Filian

The lovely Margot Potter, Andrea Currie and Lisa Fulmer!

The ultimate in craft competitors, Angela Daniels and Pattye Duffner

and of course, the sassy Ashley J. Long!

The four-day long conference was such a phenomenal collective of creative minds. In fact, the above Craft Wars players have fast become some of my favorite people in the industry. Thanks for stopping by the Creativebug booth to say hello and flash your biggest smiles! I loved seeing you all!

For a re-cap on the show from the Creativebug point of view- stand by for THEIR blog post re-cap on CHA, later today.

Hope to see you next year, CHA!

Making Pupusas & Curtido

2013-01-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

On New Year's eve, a neighbor brought us a plate of authentic, homemade pupusas to try. We devoured the plate, and the next morning, I got up early and set out to make pupusas with curtido at home. Pupusas are an El Salvadorian dish. They resemble chubby corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of delicious fillings. Curtido, is the spicy, pickled cabbage "slaw" traditionally served with Pupusas.

Making the pupusas is as easy as adding the appropriate amount of masa (corn flower) to water. The masa bag I had at home had clearly marked proportions on the back. I also referenced THIS video to get the technique down. My filling was some left-over pork tenderloin, jalapeño peppers, and feta cheese. On an oiled griddle over medium/high heat, I fried them for about 4 minutes on each side. (Or- until you get a little color on both sides.) Other delicious filling options include mozzarella cheese, or feta cheese with Loroco flowers or (if you don't have a Hispanic market near you) green bell peppers.

The curtido really added pop to the pupusas. Here's how we made ours...

Ingredients:

1 head shredded green cabbage

2 cups grated carrot

1 red onion, thinly sliced

4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 Jalapeño chile pepper, minced (depending on how much heat you like)

1 tsp salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Place the cabbage and carrots in a large heat-proof bowl.

Pour the boiling water into the bowl to cover the cabbage and carrots and set aside for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing out as much liquid as possible.

Return the cabbage and carrots to the bowl and toss with the remaining of the ingredients.

(Note, we used apple cider vinegar AND white vinegar, since it was a spur of the moment recipe and we didn't have enough of just one type of vinegar!)

We placed our curtido into a 1/2 gallon Ball Jar for easy fridge storage, and then let it set at room temperature. You can let it set up for a few hours, but we were impatience, and waited only a few minutes before dishing it up!

Store the curtido in the refrigerator, and serve chilled with hot, fresh pupusas!
Note that since making our first batch on New Year's Eve, we've made them several times using a variety of fillings!

Crafting Better Photos with an Easy DIY Light Box

2012-11-07T08:27:00.003-08:00

Happy Wednesday! I'm participating in a week-long craft photography blog-hop featuring Sister Diane from CraftyPod, Haley from The Zen of Making, Stacey from FreshStitches, Michele from Michele Made Me, and me, Megan from RadMegan.

Haley and Diane thought it would be fun to get all of us together to share our favorite tips, tricks and at-home fixes for craft photography (a subject near and dear to my heart.)

My tip for you is one I shared with my Craftcation Conference students earlier this year and it was a HUGE hit:

* * * Crafting a Light Box to Eliminate Shadows and Harsh Light * * *

Above photos courtesy of Craftcation Conference and Make Shop Live

In my opinion, natural light, aka the light from the sun, is the BEST light to photograph in. You don't have to worry about expensive set-ups or the "temperature" of your light bulbs, all you need is a couple of neat tricks to diffuse the light.

Diffusing the light means "softening" the light in photography terms. If you go outside at noon on a sunny day and look in a mirror, you will see a shadow from your nose casting down on your lips. Your lips, eyes, cheeks, hair, and any little wrinkles you may have will also cast shadows. This can be very distracting. You may see the sun's reflection, like a big white blob on your forehead...

When you go outside on a cloudy day at noon and look in a mirror, you probably look great! No shadows at all, and instead there is a nice even light across your face and hair.

Unless you live in an area that is overcast or cloudy all the time, you could probably use a light box to take nice, evenly-lit photos of your crafts. Here's how you can make one.

You will need the following:

- A Cardboard box larger than the majority of the crafts you make

- Box Cutter

- Metal Ruler

- Masking Tape

- Wax Paper (a large roll) or white, plastic trash bags, an old, translucent shower curtain, or even cheese cloth

- A large piece of heavy stock white paper

Step 1.) Tape the box closed.

Step 2.) Using your metal ruler as a guide, cut out three panels from the box: Two opposite sides, one front facing, and one on top. I like to leave about an inch and a half border when I cut my panels out for better overall stability.

Note, leave the back and bottom panels in tact.

Step 3.) Cut out three pieces of wax paper that are large enough to cover the top, and side panels. I like using my discarded cardboard cut-outs as a template for the correct amount of wax paper I will need.

Step 4.) Use your Masking tape and secure the wax paper over the top panel, and two side panels. Work carefully to avoid any wrinkles, cuts or tiny gaps in your wax paper. Tape all four sides of the wax paper down to create a sturdy, solid, translucent wall.

Step 5.) Your light box is nearly done, and only needs a backdrop! Take your heavy stock white paper, and measure it so that it is the same length of your "back wall" in the light box. (The back wall is the one opposite of the only open panel in your box.) Insert the white paper through the opening, and tape it to the very very top of the back wall. It's fine if the paper is too long and spills out of the box. Avoid folding or creasing this paper, and instead shoot for a gentle curve in the back of your light box.

Note, the fewer wrinkles or creases in your backdrop, the less photo editing you will have to do

Step 6.) Take your light box outside in the sunshine, place your handcrafted item inside the box and start snapping photos! The wax paper will diffuse the light for you and give you an even, well-light photo!

When I taught this workshop at Craftcation, my students were so excited, they went outside with their light boxes to see the difference. Below are two student photos snapped with a cell phone. Even with a camera phone, you can see the difference!

Photos courtesy of Stephanie Japel

For more photo tips from me, be sure to check out my two craft photography workshops here and here!

AND as soon as they become available, you’ll be able to find links to all of the other tutorials in this Better Photography Blog-Hop series just below this message. I hope you will visit each blog and check out the tips- so far, I'm loving them all! Big thank you to Haley and Diane for asking me to be a part of this fun and informative week!

Embroidery Book Winner Announced!

2012-11-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I posted a review of Lisa Solomon's lovely new embroidery book, Knot, Thread, Stitch...

...along with a give-away for one lucky participant! I received 15 entries here on the blog, and one email request, with a total of 16 participants. Using the random number generator, Blog commenter #3 won a copy of this fantastic book!

Big congrats to Draikou! I'm emailing you right now for your mailing address!

Thanks so much to all who entered! If you really had your heart set on this lovely book, I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy at your favorite local book store, or online!

Craft Book Review & Give-Away!

2012-10-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm super excited about this new book, Knot Thread Stitch: Exploring Creativity through Embroidery and Mixed Media by Lisa Solomon. I'm also excited for YOU GUYS, because Lisa Solomon is giving a copy of this book away to one lucky Radmegan reader! Keep reading to find out how you can win it...

This book is beautiful and thoughtful. There's a really interesting range of projects that incorporate different craft techniques with embroidery. Admittedly, I've been in a major craft funk lately (I know... shameful, but true) but Lisa's book has helped spark some inspiration in me to start pulling out the embroidery floss and get back to crafting.

I asked Lisa a few questions about her new book and her work, and here's what she had to say:

1. Do you have a favorite project in the book? If so, why? Is there a personal history behind it?

You know – I don't have a single favorite… but a project that has a lot of sentimental value to me is the photo I recreated in embroidery of my grandma and me when I was about one. The book is dedicated to that grandma – Shirley – she was definitely a huge influence in my crafting and art making. Completely supportive and incredibly talented she was always knitting and crocheting and embroidering. I love that picture of us – especially because my little girl looks almost exactly like me at the same age.

2. You mention that you came to embroidery later in life, what was your earliest memory of crafting or making, and who was it with?

I did start embroidering late… grad school. But crafting was definitely in my blood. My mom is REALLY good at making things too – I'm thinking in particular about this cat costume she made for me – on the fly – with no pattern… I can't pinpoint a specific early memory, but I do clearly have this image of my mom and I gluing cotton balls together – adding tiny goggly eyes and scarves to make a series of snowmen for some school related gift thing….

I want to really try hardanger too. My grandma was SO good at it. It definitely is intimidating though- all the thread counting.

3.Who do you love to make things for? And what do you make?

I'll make things for anyone – anyone who appreciates it! In particular I like to make things for my daughter now, but I'll happily whip up something for a gift as long as I have time. What do I make? I like making little stuffed animals. Printed T-shirts, totes… jewelry! maybe some cookies now and again… I just bought some modeling clay – I want to try making little planters… I often craft in-between working on art projects. It helps to clear my head. I also can't ever just sit still, so I'm always making and working on something in front of the TV.

4. I really love the variety of projects in this book. Who did you have in mind when you were selecting projects? Who would benefit from it?

Awww thanks… I really wanted to try and have a wide variety – things that would be really good for absolute beginners [pillow cases] - things for intermediate embroiderers who really want to try some new stitches [the fuzzy monograms, tea towels with update phrasing] - things for the more advanced embroider/maker [finger puppets and free machine sewing]. Mostly I wanted to show that you really can use embroidery to enhance anything. I think if you've wanted to explore embroidery but didn't know where to start – this is for you. Or if you want to re-discover embroidery. This book might be of particular interest if you want to test it out with other materials – there are projects with shrink plastic, paper, photo iron-ons, contemporary twists on silhouettes… for me the biggest and most fun premise of the book was that I would present most of the projects with my version and a friend's version side by side. Just to highlight how you can take one idea and run with it in many ways.

5. Besides "Knot Thread Stitch," what are your favorite craft books out right now?

I will never ever ever tire of Japanese craft books. The simplicity and the photography always get to me. I just got Abbey Hendrickson's You are Awesome: 21 Crafts to Make you Happy and they DO make me happy. I'm still a fan of Ellen Lepton's DIY Design it Yourself… and Christine Schmidt/Yellow Owl Workshop's Print Workshop… and of course Amy Karol's books – Bend the Rules Sewing and Bend the Rules with Fabric. And I have to also mention Heather Smith Jones' Water Paper Paint – which really was the template for my book – it was her editor that contacted me. And if I didn't see how gorgeous Heather's book had come out I never would have gone for it.

6. What is the most creative/inspiring movie you've seen in the past few years.

Oh this is hard… I don't get to watch so many movies anymore but.… I recently watched "The Artist is Present" - the documentary on Marina Abramovic and found it incredibly moving and inspiring. I made my students watch it.

7. What, if anything will you be making for the upcoming holidays

I just finished an alligator costume for my kid [her request] for Halloween… I'm always making stuff for my side/craft business MODify/d. We'll be doing 3 fairs this winter, so there are a lot of buttons to be sewn on and elephants to stuff and sew up! I'm also going to try my hand at some adult more cuff like version of friendship bracelets. If they work then some folks will be getting those for the holidays. It's funny but with a kid I'm much more into decorating and making stuff for specific holidays than I ever was before. It's so fun to see her get excited about stuff. Hopefully it will become normal for her to just make stuff all the time too.

To Win a Copy of Knot Thread Stitch: Exploring Creativity through Embroidery and Mixed Media by Lisa Solomon simply leave a comment below with you email address. I will select a winner at random on Saturday morning 9am PST.

UPDATE! THIS GIVE-AWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Good Luck to everyone, and big thank you to Lisa for this beautiful book, and chatting with me about it! xoxo

New Radmegan Halloween Workshop on Creativebug!

2012-10-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hey friends, I am excited to share my latest Creativebug workshop with you all: My Candy Corn Headband Workshop.

Make a Sweet Candy Corn Headband with Radmegan on Creativebug from Creativebug on Vimeo.

If you haven't subscribed to Creativebug yet, I'd just like to remind you that for $16.99 a month you can have six months of all-you-can-watch craft, sewing, knitting, crochet videos from some of my favorite people (like Heather Ross, Amy Karol, Debbie Stoller, Jenny Doh and more!) Plus, you could watch all of my workshops over and over again... and even on your iPhone or iPad now that they have a new, nifty App in the iTunes store. Just a friendly reminder! :)

xoxo
radmegan

Easy Home Recipes: Fake Burns & Bruises for Halloween

2012-10-17T11:25:00.001-07:00

Last year around Halloween, I became mildly obsessed with "Monster Makeup." I had been watching way too many television shows about zombies and wanted to make really gross looking burns and bruises a home. Turns out, there are really easy ways to do this!

My favorite trick is making fake burns at home. (This one REALLY grosses out my husband.) After buying a very tiny and very expensive vial of "fake burn powder" last year, I scrutinized the ingredients and realized that it was made of mostly Gelatin with a little bit of coloring! I could do that! I grabbed an old tube of blood red lipstick and an old bottle of mascara (to add a little "char") and got to work! Here's how I make my fake burns at home:

Next up, an easy-to-make black eye or bruise.

(Also one my husband hates!)

You can get the same look with eye shadow, but when I found this "Bruise Wheel" for sale, I scooped it up and fell in love! It's cream-based color that washes off really easily.

Here are the application steps I used to give myself a black eye (the painless way!)

P.S. There's still time to buy one before Halloween...

I've hosted a handful of Halloween parties for children using these fake burns and bruises. You would be surprised how excited little boys and girls get about looking creepy! The Gelatin CAN peel right off, but I prefer to wash it off with warm water. Same for the fake bruises; a little warm water and soap will get your child looking ship-shape in no time!

Happy almost Halloween!

Easy-Sew Trick-Or-Treat Bags!

2012-10-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

I have a new workshop up on Creativebug today! I LOVE Halloween and that's why I wanted to come up with a quick and easy way to make Halloween hand-made this year. Watch the trailer here (you might not recognize me in costume!) and check out the whole workshop- which includes downloadable patterns for all of my Halloween bag designs- online at Creativebug!

Watch the FULL workshop HERE!

Photo Saturday: Dem Bones

2012-10-06T07:33:00.001-07:00

I'm getting Halloween-ready by making up a batch of bones!

Creativebug + Pinterest = CONTEST!

2012-10-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

 My peeps at Creativebug just launched an awesome contest! Starting today (October 3rd) and running until October 16th you have three ways to win their grand prize worth over $400, and including a free THREE-month subscription to Creativebug and a heaping pile of materials and supplies that will enable you to complete many of the projects found on the site. There will also be 4 bonus prizes that include 2-month subscriptions to Creativebug plus materials. FULL list o' prizes seen here:

Grand Prize:
- 3 months to Creativebug +
- Alabama Chanin Kit including: 2 yards Alabama Chanin Jersey knit, 4 spools of Button Craft Thread, sewing needles, and Alabama Studio Sewing + Design by Natalie Chanin
- Radmegan's Needle felting Peeps Kit including: Wool Roving, Needle felting needle and foam, and instructions
- 2 skeins of Debbie Stoller's Alpaca Love yarn + 1 year subscription to BUST magazine
- 1 skein of hand-dyed yarn by Jill Draper Makes Stuff
- 2 Fiskars Hand Drills + 1 pair Fiskars scissors
- Assorted Rebecca Ringquist Samplers + needles + hoop
- Hello! Lucky Cake Topper Workshop Kit
- Found Bead Necklace Workshop Kit- Herringbone Necklace Workshop Kit
- Little Things to Sew by Liesl Gibson
- Gertie's Book for Better Sewing by Gretchen Hirsch- Heather Ross Prints by Heather Ross- Weekend Handmade: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Crafting by Kelly Wilkinson- Improv Sewing: 101 Fast, Fun and Fearless Projects, by Nicole Blum & Debra Immergut- Mod Podge Gift Pack including: Mod Podge, Podgeable Papers, Podgeable Shapes, Gold Glue and so much more!- Washi tape

(4) Bonus Prizes:
- 2 months to Creativebug +
- One of these books by Jenny Doh: We Make Dolls:Top Dollmakers Share Their Secrets & Patterns,Signature Styles: 20 Stitchers Craft Their Look, Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids, Creative Pilgrimage: An Exploration of Artful Gatherings and Discovery of Innovative Art Techniques
- 1 skein of Debbie Stoller's Alpaca Love yarn
- 1 Rebecca Ringquist sampler + 1 hoop
- 1 Liesl Gibson Straight Stitch Society Pattern
- Assorted Patterns, Fabric & Yarn
- Hello! Lucky Cake Topper Workshop Kit
- Found Bead Necklace Workshop Kit
- Herringbone Necklace Workshop Kit
- Washi tape

How does it work?

#1 Ways to enter (only this first section is mandatory to participate)
- Creativebug is obsessed with Pinterest, so to participate in this contest, you must first be following Creativebug on Pinterest...

- Then create a Pinterest board that includes at least 5 projects you have made, or projects on Creativebug that you would like to take (Feel free to FILL your board with RADMEGAN projects!)

- Also pin official contest pin from the Creativebug I made this! Contest Board.
(Or just pin the image at the top of this blog post)

- Call your Pinterest board "I made this!" and

- THEN go to Creativebug's blog at: http://blog.creativebug.com/i-made-this-contest/

- And enter the link to your Pinterest board and your email address in Creativebug's blog so they can contact you and tell you when you WIN!

#2 To increase your chances of winning, after you build your Pinterest board you can leave a comment here on MY BLOG with just your name and email address. You can also visit the blogs of my fellow Creativebug instructors, and leave a comment on their Creativebug contest posts. Each comment counts as one more entry! (Limit one comment per blog.) Here's the list of participating Creativebug instructors:

Improv Sewing, Hello! Lucky, Rebecca Ringquist, Jody Alexander, Liesl Gibson, Jill Draper, Cal Patch, Natalie Chanin, Courtney Cerruti, Megumi Inouye, Heather Ross

#3  More ways to enter!
- Creativebug is also accepting tweets about the contest as entries if you follow @Creativebug on Twitter and then send them a Tweet include the hashtag #Imadethis

Here are the official contest terms.

Good luck to everyone!!!

The Ten Dollar, Two Hour DIY Wonder Woman Halloween Costume

2012-09-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

When I was a youngster, my mom made Halloween costumes for me and my sister by hand, every year. She's one of those crazy talented, super busy, do-it all moms; a real, live Wonder Woman. So when I started thinking about what I was going to be this year, I knew I wanted a homemade costume that was quick, easy, cheap to make, and if it could be a nod to all the working moms and busy juggle-everything ladies out there, all the better! Wonder Woman ahoy!

I up-cycled a red-ish tee-shirt I already owned, and grabbed a few sheets of golden felt from my massive pile. If you were to buy felt sheets, they would cost you about 39 cents each, and you would need about 3 of them.

You, of course do not need to use a tee shirt. If you had a tank top or even a TUBE TOP you could apply this same design. My tube top days are far behind me...

I began by cutting one piece of my felt in half, across the shorter end. From there, I started cutting a rainbow-y shape that ended up looking a bit like a Ronald McDonald hand. I used one of Ron's hands as the template to cut the second one. I grabbed some scraps for the center of the shape... It might to look like a LITTLE a Palm tree made of fast food French fries, but it's not. It's Wonder Woman. Wait for it...

I pinned the shapes in place and stitched them using the double zigzag stitch (circled at right.) Once the entire shape was stitched in place, I set it aside.

Taking another piece of felt and cutting it in half across the short end, I roughly measured how much felt I'd need to make a head piece that would sit on my head comfortably. While wearing a wig. I cut out a red star, stitched it on by hand, and then sewed up two seams on the golden head piece.

I needed two cuffs to complete the look. I managed to get two cuff pieces out of the scraps from my headpiece. If you don't have extra, don't worry, there should be that third piece of felt lying around somewhere.

After I cut out and hand stitched two red stars to my cuffs, I needed a comfy way to attach them. I ended up making clasps with yellow buttons, and loops of elastic that were sewn into the opposite side of the cuff. The elastic loop wraps around the button and presto! A one-size fits MOST Wonder Woman cuff.

The entire costume! Including the headband, two wrist cuffs, and the modified shirt. Done and done!

This crazy easy costume costs is to be paired with a denim skirt or jeans. I also added a yellow rope belt for a bit more authenticity. My handmade Wonder Woman outfit DOES look crafty and handmade, but it costs next to nothing, used material I'd been hoarding, and was completed before lunchtime. What's wrong with that?

I did buy a ten dollar wig at Target yesterday, because I wasn't ready to commit to dying my hair. If you are in a pinch for handmade Halloween costumes this year, feel free to crank out my $10, 2-hour Wonder Woman get-up - and p.s I'd love to see photos! Happy almost Halloween, friends!!

Photo Saturday: Fire-Side Spa Treatment

2012-09-15T07:51:00.002-07:00

My dear husband and I went camping at Montaño de Oro last weekend. We visited the State Park in February, and wanted to see it again in September.

The weather was a cool 60 degrees (a very pleasant escape from the triple digits of Los Angeles) and was PERFECT for lots of hiking. After a 6.5-hour hike up a mountain peek and across vast stretches of beach dunes, we returned to camp in need of a little something for our aching feet.

To create a soothing, fire-side spa treatment, we filled our dish-washing bin with hot water and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, left over from the previous night's dinner. If you've never soaked your feet in a basin of hot water, while seated in a quiet, coastal, State Park, I highly recommend it.

Adding fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, thyme, or even wild-growing sage and lavender* to hot water will release the natural oils from the herbs; perfuming the water (and your feet!) and will help soothe away the ache! We threw a couple of pieces of lemon in my husband's soak which smelled nice, but I would not recommend this if you have cuts or blisters on your tootsies.

Also, be sure to scrub out your basin thoroughly with soap and boiling water after soaking your feet and before you use it to wash the dinner dishes.

*And a friendly remember- do not collect plants like sage and lavender from National or State Parks.

DIY Dry Erase Board and Calendar with Martha Stewart Glass Paints

2012-09-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

You know how life sometimes presents solutions before you even realize there's a problem? Thanks to Blueprint Social, I recently received a heaping box of Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint which allowed me to finally create a project I'd been thinking about making, but had never quite gotten right before: A DIY Dry Erase Board and Calendar.

I had attempted a similar project a while back, using an old picture frame, some tape and spray-on chalkboard paint. The results were not impressive. So when the box o' Martha arrived, it felt like the heavens opened up and a divine hand of organization reached down and smacked me on the back of the head. I quickly began familiarizing myself with all of the awesome paints, stencils and precision tools that I had received. I also did something I rarely do: read the instructions. (Incredibly helpful!) I painted up a couple of test projects (see the black mug, and bird-shaped salt and pepper shakers below? I highly recommend test projects first!)

Then, using an over sized, double-paned picture frame that I'd purchased almost 3 years ago, I set out to paint my way to a more organized existence. Note- I DO USE a calendar on my computer, but I am a champion list-maker, and there is something to be said for writing things down in a list and on a calendar that you will SEE in your home every day. For me, that's a bit harder to hide from than good ol' iCal...

I started out by taking one of the 2 panes of glass from my frame, and washing it with glass cleaner.

Next, I made a Scotch tape border around the edges to protect my fingers, create a no-paint zone and to secure the glass to the table to prevent it from sliding around as I worked on it.

Knowing that I wanted both a calendar AND a place for notes, I grabbed my metal ruler and wax pencil. On the "right side" aka "front side" of the glass, I measured and drew the lines for my design.

When the lines were drawn, I unattached the glass pane from the tabletop, flipped it over to the other side ("the wrong" or back side) and used my Opaque Metallic paint in "Yellow Gold" to paint over the wax guides which were showing through from the "back" of the glass and therefore didn't affect how the paint would adhere to the glass.

By painting on the backside of the glass, I was ensuring a flat surface on the front side- which could be written on over and over again with dry erase marker and cleaned up with a number of glass cleaners.

Along with my wax pencil, using a ruler and tape were extremely helpful for me when I painted the straight lines of the calendar boxes and notes area. (Notes area painted in Translucent Frost in the color of Sea Lavender.)

To add some decorative elements, I used one of the circular boarder stencils in both Translucent Frost Sea Lavender and Transparent Gloss Polar Blue. The stencils were very easy to use- and since they can be peeled up and re-stuck to your project, creating patterns and design elements is a snap. The hand squeegees were also super easy to use and clean.

When the designs on the "wrong side" of my glass were done, I placed the entire pane somewhere safe and out of the way, to dry.

I then grabbed my picture frame's SECOND pane of glass. Originally, I HAD attempted to use the Martha Stewart letter stencils incorrectly by painting them backwards on the "wrong side" of my first glass pane. This was not a good idea. But thanks to the scraper tool in the Martha Stewart glass paint collection, fixing mistakes wasn't difficult in any way, and only proved to me that you should, in fact use some tools as they are meant to be used...

So! On the "right side" of my second pane of glass, I used the letter stencils to spell out "Notes" and "THIS MONTH." I left the calendar numbers off, so that I could write & re-write the numbers of each month with dry erase marker and use my calendar all year long...

Here's a glimpse at my favorite tool- the scraper. Mine is already well-used and totally covered in paint, but it still works like a charm.

And here are my other favorite tools- the squeegees, my beloved scraper, my personal wax pencil (not included in the kit- but useful in MANY craft!)

After I had finished decorating my glass pieces to my liking, and they had both dried COMPLETELY, I placed the painted calendar pane on top of the pane with the lettering (still keeping the paint-free side facing out) and then slid the two sandwiched glass panes into the frame.

The reason I love this particular style of frame, is that you can leave a background off of your dry erase board and let your wall paint, wallpaper or wood grain (seen above left and top of the post) show through as you write on your calendar, or you can use your favorite craft paper (above right) to mount behind the frame and give it a bit more definition and customization options.

Again, big big thank to Blueprint Social and Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint!

To follow Plaid and learn more about their complete line of awesomeness, check them out online on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclosure: This post was written as part of a paid campaign with Martha Stewart Glass Paints and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

Want to see more Martha Stewart Glass Paints projects?