Mmmmmmm dogs

While visiting some fantastic friends in Seattle a few weeks ago we
went to a nice little beach and made these- yes, bacon-wrapped hot
dogs. So amazingly delish.

Getting Ready for Vacay

okay, in three days the Cap'n and I will be off travelling to many exciting places - Michigan, Mexico and Colorado!  And we get to meet my new nephew/niece (we don't know yet which!).  I am sooooo excited!!!!!

so, here is a parting pic of the new craft room which will be lonely for a few weeks- sorry dear craft room!  but know that upon my return the craftin is back.  in fact, stay tuned because i am about to bring Craftrama back with a vengeance because we have some great ideas, and great crafters ready and willing.  Yippee!

i may even be posting on my travels if i can get my phone to rock it- so stay tuned!

Mushroom Shelfs

Check out this project- perfect for SE AK!

100% thanks to Paul at Findermaker! Totally brilliant and he even has a tutorial for you!  I want to see these oot and aboot next time I'm over to your place!

Drink Beer- Organize socks- Tute

so, in the early morning when i stumble from bed, to shower, to underwear drawer i always seem to run into the same problem - mismatched socks!  i know you're surprised.  but tanna, you say, you're so alert and perky in the morning, how can this be possible!  hah!

let's just say socks are picked before coffee is consumed- ACK!

so, i have devised a solution to the miserable state of my sock drawer, and luckily for the cap'n it involves drinking lots of beer!

Here is the before

You need a couple of these- any flavor will do - even non-alcoholic!

Now don't drink all the beverages right before you do this.

Remove socks - insert six packs and mark the packs at the top of the drawer sides.

Cut the 6 packs on your marked lines.

refill your drawer like a really organized person would who wears equally matched socks every morning.  ahhhhhhh.

Back to School and Plastic Free

ok, technically i am not going back to school- but I still need sandwich wraps, (see above) lunch bags and snack bags and veggie bags and reuseable portable devices of all shapes and sizes- don't we all?

so in honor of that ideal- and the crafty spirit behind making instead of just using the plastic-status-quo I've written this week's craft column about ways to GET CRAFTY, NOT PLASTICY! boy, that probably would have been a much better title, hah!

so, check out the article here. i was assisted by friend and fellow crafter, Anji Gallanos. Check out her blog Ruby's Hill - she is a mom and a fabulous crafter. I LOVE her seaglass creations.

also, check out the links from the article:
- the No New Plastics Facebook page if you want to join Anji in trying to cut back/cut out plastics for a week- it sounds like a real challenge, but worth it
- Tipnut has 35 reusable bag patterns for FREE for you to make, handy-dandy!
- Instructables user Scoochmaroo has a sweeet pattern for a Reusable Sandwich Wrap- totally worth it, I'd say
- and get clever making your own yogurt instead of collecting hundreds of little unrecyclable cups (well, at least they are unrecyclable in SE Alaska- maybe other places have 5!)- WikiHow shows you how!

And coming up i'll be gettin' crafty with leftover plastics so all those bags you've been saving until now won't go back in the landfill- but can turn into something super-stylish instead.

AF 2009- Wheeeee!

well, the craft addicts and I gear up for the Autumn Festival craft fair all year because it is just right up our alley- crafts, friends, goodies and even craft beer! who could ask for more?

so, I've written it up a bit in my most recent column (as you could guess!). Take a peek at that if you'd like!

i won't give away too much about what is in store at our table but I will say we will have things for small ones, things for tall ones, things for delicate touches and things for rough play. papery things, and boxy things, and soft things, and hard things. things you can wear, and things for your hair.

and a SUPER surprise i hope i can pull off inspired by this blog post.

see you saturday at the JACC!!! mwah

i love pumpkin spice lattes

and so does flash forward on etsy! She's included me in her etsy treasury- yum, yum, yum!

Community Garden Fair

last weekend my ma, aunt and i geared up (literally- it was pouring cats and dogs) to check out the community garden's yearly competition. it was so lovely!
it is quite different to get vegetables and flowers to grow in such a rainy, cool climate so it is always fun to see what people can get to grow here! a few things that even i can plant, or that grow wild- rhubarb, blueberries, salmonberries and lupine. this year we had strange bouts of SUN! so, it was fun to see all the things the gardeners coaxed up.
there were gorgeous flowers at this year's fair. but i was spoiled on flowers from ma's garden.

ma lives right on the bay and has a garden on the beach and one up near the house. it is really impressive. this year she planted swiss chard, lettuce, carrots, peas, zuchinni (they were enormous!), garlic, brocolli and tons and tons of flowers. her favorites are forget-me-nots, the state flower. they are a tiny little blue flower and they are delicate and beautiful. i'll have to get a pic of one for you to see.

coming up this weekend is the second annual farmer's market downtown at the JACC. If you are here you should go! i will be whiling my time away in Seattle! yay! where i will be attending a wedding, doing some bridesmaid shopping, and having a generally fantastic time in the SUN! see you when i'm back!

Crafting-on-the-go-go

Who is this lovely lady? She is a crafter on the go. Yes, that's right - vacations are coming on and I have to get ready. So, first things first, I did a little research and whipped up an article about crafting while travelling. Check it out next Wed on the CCW site.

PS - sorry for the delay in posts! busy buzy bee! actually, I've been getting some design work done for the upcoming Autumn Fest. Stayed tuned for more info on our yearly indy craft fest!

Fishing Tackle into Jewelry Tutorial

up here in alaska fishing is not just for fun, it is a way of life. that's why i, as a crafter, have found a way to incorporate the fishing into my crafting world! yesssssss.

so, for this week's article in the Capital City Weekly i've written about taking fishing tackle (literally, the tackle off my dad's boat) and making a couple of really fabu necklaces out of it! I am not kidding- these are some really fun bedazzled pieces. So, check out the article here - and look below for pics of the process. Thanks all!
here's my dad on the boat with his tackle box full of beads and "gumpucky" (don't ask me!)
quick break to take in the view.
oooh, look at all the beads! and those are for fishing . . .
here's what dad actually does with those beads- the squid is called a hoochie- fish love 'em
oops, a quick stop for a humpback whale watch- cap'n is soooo jealous!
show some flukes whaley!
ok, to make the necklace I took the tools home, here is my actual jewelry accessories case (left) next to dad's tackle case (right)
here's what you need- fishing line, beads, and some stuff that looks like jump rings and swivels.
chain all the metal pieces together- the swivels and hawaiian snaps and weave in a hoochie- cinching it down with a zip tie for security.
works as a long bohemian necklace or a shorter choker.
here are the beads (used in fishing) laying in my actual jewelry beading tray. teehee.
i made a simple pearl-like necklace out of these. you could easily layer this necklace several times for a chunkier look.
i used hawaiian snaps, hoochie head fillers and a swivel to finish the necklace. it gives it a touch of pizzazz!

i'd love to see other versions of these tackle necklaces! leave your links here- thanks!

Lovely Summer Headband Tutorial

we had the best time making some fun quick headbands the other night - i thought i might whip up a tutorial for all to share. this is just a guideline- so have fun trying it a million different ways!
start with your supplies, an elastic hairband (or use a ribbon, or plastic headband covered in fabric), scissors, felt sheets, and later you will need a needle and thread.
fold over your felt about 1" and cut. no need to be too precise here.
snip off 1" squares of the folded over piece you cut. if you were to unfold them they would be about 2"x1"
keep snipping down your felt strip
with the folded edge in your fingers cut the top edges in a simple leaf shape. Keep the folded bottom wide for now.
soon you will have a little stack of felt soldiers. admire your work. ah lovely.
get out your needle that is in your pincushion (mine is a shameless plug of my rowdy ravens up now on etsy)
back to it! take one leaf and squeeze it between your fingers so that the folded edge gets ruffled.
stitch through the leaf to maintain the ruffles
continue with the same process adding each ruffled leaf to the last to create a row of ruffles
like this lovely row- do you have enough? make some more quick if you feel like it!
now start stitching your row of petals to your hairband. if you are using a plastic headband covered in fabric make sure you don't sew the leaves on right in the center- believe me, it looks silly.
stitch stitch stitch, you are almost done!
and there it is!
here are some tries with other styles - little layered flowers and such!
i made five the first time i tried! i'd love to see yours- send me pics or links to show them off!

beautiful cuckoo

so i am going to post tonight or tomorrow am the tutorial that went along with the Craft Addicts fabulous Craftrama night of headbands.
but briefly i just found this via APT and i soooo want to make a version! i LOVE trees and birds. and we have no clocks in our house. not that this would really help me keep track of the time. but whateves- come back, i may just make my own this week!