What came first?

While perusing the Halloween costume section at the Old Navy Outlet store last month, I came across the cutest chicken costume for Big K.  Buggy, meanwhile, spotted a flimsy, gauzy ladybug number that she wanted me to get her.  Uh, it could snow on Halloween...this is Minnesota.  Gauze is out.  Fleece is in.  I threw the chicken costume on the heap of clothes that were piled haphazardly on my umbrella stroller, and nudged Buggy over to the fleecy cupcake costumes.  There weren't any warm costumes that did it for her. 

Then, I had a brilliant idea...Brilliant!  If Big K is a chicken, then shouldn't Buggy be an egg?!  I told her we were answering the age-old question of who came first.  (The Egg!  Obvi.)  She readily agreed, and I began noodling on how, exactly, to make an egg costume.  Of course, I turned to the internet to find a good tutorial.  I found lots of how-to's for making a fried egg - cute, but not what I needed.  None for making a whole egg.  I decided I would buy my fabric first, stare at it for a while, and see if I could come up with something.  I started with 1 1/2 yards of 54" white fleece.  At the time, I didn't realize I purchased a perfect square of fabric, but when I spread it out and realized my unintentional genius, I was thrilled.  As I stared at the white, fluffy fabric spread out in front of my TV, I took pen to paper, and started sketching.  Then I remembered how, in grade school, whenever a flattened out picture of our round globe was displayed, it was like several ovals connected to one another.  That's it!  I needed panels to sew together.  How about four of them?  Then I could just fold my fabric, cut, sew, and done.  I sketched out the shape of my egg, did some measuring and some (gasp!) algebra, and recreated my drawing to scale on the fabric.

First, I drew the shape of the egg, then measured my drawing, transferred it to the fabric, sewed my oval panels together, added some Velcro, holes for arms, legs, and face, and voila! 

An egg was born!

Buttons

Hands down, one of my favorite materials to work with is buttons.  Most of the items in my Etsy shop are dressed with a button or two.  I love them for so many reasons.  1. Their versatility: they can convey a casual or dressy look, they can be used as a focal point or a detail.  2. Buttons are whimsical.  Who doesn't love whimsy?  3.  They beg to be stacked, and the colors played off of one another.  4.  They're cheap and easy to find.  5.  Buttons always add a finishing touch to any project.

 
I have bins and bags and boxes of buttons.  If you don't believe me, just ask my husband.  I don't know why, but he is not a button fan.  Unless they're on his shirt or pants.  Then he LOVES them.  Something to do with keeping his clothing fastened...  I digress.

I wanted to share a couple of quick ideas, and maybe some inspiration to find some buttons and make something cute!  The first thing I do with my buttons, is sort them by size and color.

I usually find my inspiration as I'm sorting new buttons or looking through my collection for something completely unrelated.  That's when I fill my work table with piles of inspiration... like this:

Once I've done that (completely abandoning my initial project at this point...) I search through my printer's drawer that houses all of my ribbon:

I find just the right ribbon to complement my buttons.  I like to use embroidery floss to give the buttons a finished look.  It's also handy for affixing buttons to one another.  Once they are sewn together, I line a 40mm snap clip with 5/8" ribbon (tutorial forthcoming), and glue the button to the clip.  Voila! 

Another super-easy project is to string buttons together using elasticized string, and make a unique necklace or bracelet.  It's a great project for kids - and you'll enjoy wearing it much more than a macaroni necklace!

Miss B Accessories Giveaway

I am proud to be a part of the Minnesota Etsy street team, HandmadeMN.  As part of this group, I was given the opportunity to participate in a blog giveaway!  There are many (low-committment) ways to enter to win one of my very favorite creations - the Purple Confetti Korker Pony.  All you have to do is go to the HandmadeMN site (http://etsymn.blogspot.com/2011/10/handmademn-giveaway-miss-b-accessories.html) and do one or more of the requirements to enter.  It's as easy as becoming my fan on Facebook, following me on Twitter or commenting on the post.  You can enter more than once to increase your chances for winning!  This is a great way to support local artists in your community and bring awareness to our online presence.  Don't forget to forward this to your friends who may not know about Miss B Accessories, or Tweet about it, or post on Facebook!  Thanks for your support!  I hope YOU win!  

HandmadeMN Giveaway

I am happy to be a part of the collaborative community of HandmadeMN - an Etsy Street Team that I joined based on my geographic alignment.  I haven't been as active in it since having the baby (I know, what else is new?) but when I was active, I really loved bouncing ideas off of other members, getting my small business questions answered by peers, and getting encouragement and inspiration.  Now, I have been given the opportunity to do a blog giveaway!  Visit the HandmadeMN blog to find out more about this incredible community comprised of local artisans, and to enter for a chance to win one of my hair bows.  Please take a minute to check it out!  My giveaway is October 16th through 29th, but you can enter the current giveaway now!  Click here!


Also, if you want a fun way to spend a couple hours and pick up some one-of-a-kind gifts (you know, knock out that holiday shopping early!), check out the Fall Market at the Ballentine VFW (yep, the one where you sing your heart out on karaoke night.  Yeah, I thought I recognized you!)  Ok, so don't miss it.  Saturday, October 22nd, 10-5.  I'll be there!

Excuse #38

I haven't posted anything new on Etsy in a few days.  I haven't finished my tutorial.  I haven't made any new products.  Sheer laziness?  No.  Unmotivated?  No.  Uninspired?  Definitely not.  The reason is simple.  And sad, really.  My studio, my beautiful craft studio, a room all to myself where I can leave out all my projects and materials, and never worry about anyone complaining about the mess, is in the basement.  So?  Well, after a few heavy rains this past week, we recently discovered a drainage issue, and the ship, as they say, has taken on water.  Boo.  My craft studio was spared (thank goodness!).  But the room right in front of the studio had to have the carpet taken out and dried out, and all sorts of other fixes.  So, while there is no problem in my studio, I can't actually get in because the door is blocked by a big wad of carpeting.  The good news in all of this is 1) we found the source of water entry, and the fix is pretty easy.  And 2) I had my printers drawer and every spool of ribbon out of the studio before the leak occured, so I was able to finish my ribbon reorganization.  Now I just have to photograph the final product and write a bit about it!

Believe me, as soon as I can get back in my studio, I will!

Organization is key

In trying to come up with relevant and interesting topics to blog about, and potentially write tutorials about, I decided that ribbon-ry and hairbow-ery isn't where it's at. It isn't all that interesting or groundbreaking. And heck, let's face it...anything you want to know about making hair accessories can already be found online. It's where I learned all the basics.

I needed to find just the right thing to tutorialize, and by George, I think I found it! Creative organization! I was inspired by one of my recent projects to organize all five gazillion spools of ribbon that seemingly have no place in my craft studio. I am still in the process of this project, but wanted to give a heads up that a tutorial is forthcoming. I've been documenting my project with photos, and it's nearly ready to debut.

Here's a sneak peak...

I'm repurposing, upcycling, dumpster diving (or rather, saving something from the dumpster)...whatever yawannacallit...this:

 

To organize this:

 

The wheels are spinning, and I am coming up with other blog tutorial ideas that can transcend craft room organization, and just might inspire those just looking for interesting ways to use a space.

Until the next time... Craft on!

Tutorials

One thing I really love about blogs in the crafting community is the availability of high quality tutorials.  Don't get me wrong, I've run into my share of mediocre tutorials that leave out a lot of important details (or include blatent miscalculations), but for the most part, I've had great success using tutorials to learn new techniques or find inspiration for projects.

One of my new favorite websites is loaded with vintage patterns and sewing tutorials.  I gush over the patterns, and dream of having time to make my own piping.  Someday!  But for now, I visit Colette Patterns and find inspiration.  You should, too!

One of my visions for this blog is to offer high quality tutorials that will inspire the crafty-at-heart.  I hope to have my first tutorial  posted soon!