CRAFT - 10 new articles

Our My Paper Heart theme this month has me revisiting some real paper-infused gems from the pages of CRAFT magazine. Back in CRAFT Volume 05, Susan Brackney introduced us to an idea that is far from conventional when she tiled her faulty living room floor with paper and glue to gorgeous result. Way to take lemons and make lemonade, Susan! Check out her whole process here in this week's Flashback, and if you don't already have it, you can pick up a back issue of Volume 05, the Paper issue, in the Maker Shed.

Make a durable mosaic on the cheap with paper and glue.
By Susan Brackney

Maybe it was the wall-to-wall green shag, or the fact that the previous owner had housed 14 cats there, but my charming 1930s bungalow was a steal. The place purportedly had gorgeous hardwood floors throughout, but ripping up the smelly-cat carpeting had revealed one 8'×10' expanse of ugly pine boards — raw, uneven, and studded with rusty nail heads — smack in the middle of my living room. Turns out that leaving such unfinished business was pretty common back then; nice wood is expensive, and most people had area rugs anyway.

Rather than spend a fortune on refinishing or carpeting, I would do as the Romans did. A nod to Pompeii and my precious pooch, this durable "Beware of Dog" mosaic on the cheap is tiled with paper, not marble, and held together with glue, not grout.

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Katie Wilson, CRAFT's designer, points us to this enchanting stop-motion animation by Clair Neal. The girl goes through many rooms, all filled with different topical creative supplies that remind me a lot of being in art school. [via Teagan Tall]

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Fabric and quilt designer, Denyse Schmidt, has just released a downloadable pattern for these cute patchwork scottie dogs. [via Free Spirit Fabrics]

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I had the pleasure, along with my Handmade Detroit partner in crime Beth Nixon, to check out Knit Michigan 2010 this past weekend. This annual event raises money for local cancer charities. With more than 600 participants, an all-day knitting marathon, and $30,000 raised to help find a cure, this year's Knit Michigan was a huge success. I've got some photos here, but check out this Knit Michigan Flickr set for a better look at the event. Yes, there are more delicious pictures of yarn.

What kind of crafty charity events happen in your community?

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From Leah Buechley's photostream via the CRAFT Flickr pool, Leah shares: "on the steps of Shih Chien U, turn signals prototyped by me w/ parts from the taipei electronics markets & made by (awesome) Shih Chien University fashion students" in Taiwan.

More:

How-To: Make a Turn Signal Bike Jacket

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CRAFT is celebrating love, glitter, and craftiness with the Crafty Chica Love Shrine Challenge. Preserve your memories and tell your love story by building a shrine that creatively reflects your personality and expresses your hopes and dreams.This type of project is all about personal self expression. I began by digging through my collections of postcards and love letters. I sifted through my memories, photo by photo, reveling in the nostalgia of my drawings and notes from days gone by.

Certain things caught my eye, and whatever inspired me was set into a pile. Then I collected all the little treasures that I've gathered over the years — things like old wooden letters from a printing press, the tiny ceramic deer that my grandmother gave me, and a little gift box with a perfect bow. Finally, I went through my craft supplies and pulled ribbons, fabric flowers, pieces of bark, feathers, and seashells. Distill the materials that you've collected into themes. Look for common threads in your items that tell a single story. I didn't have any expectations for an outcome, and I started by just pairing up colors, textures, and associations. I found three distinct stories in my materials, and then selected the core "anchor" pieces for each shrine. Everything went into a big pile on my work surface, and I sat down with a drink and my current favorite playlist on the stereo.

This week I will share each love shrine and my step-by-step process for creating it. I hope that you will join our challenge and make your own individual shrine and add it to the Crafty Chica Challenge Flickr pool. Be sure to include a little story that describes your intentions. The reward is the beautiful shrine, but winners will be chosen to receive great ilovetocreate prizes too.

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Anna at Mochimochi presents her new pattern in her shop Hugs + Squoze ($5), a cuddly little duo to make for your main squeeze (or for yourself, of course) for Valentine's Day!

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Franco of Franco's Fiber Adventure, created this ingenious portable loom from a clipboard and a few other simple supplies. [via Craftster]

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Ranjit Bhatnagar is making an instrument every day in February. Some are electronic, some are mechanical, and some are both. This walnut shell rattle seems easy to make with a drill and some string, and makes a pretty satisfying jangle, suitable for weekend sock-clad marching band parades around the house.

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Regina of Creative Kismet shares a tutorial for making these Be My Valentine bookmarks.

A few people are doing Valentine exchanges and I wanted do the same. I thought it would be fun to make something that you can use all year long, maybe as a marker for a project in your favorite sewing, art or craft book.

Such a great idea! I especially love the free form stitching.

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