The Intarsia´s or marquetry´s art covers the surface of furniture and accessories with intricate geometric patterns made of wood, bone, metal, and ivory. This art form has changed very little since the 14th century and it´s tradicional and typical from the city of Granada in Spain (it was used in making furniture and other objects in the Palace of the Alhambra).

It´s very interesting know how to make this art step by step.Read here.

El arte de la Taracea o marquetería cubre la superficie de muebles y accesorios siguiendo un intrincado modelo geométrico hecho de madera, hueso, metal, y marfil. Esta forma de arte ha cambiado muy poco desde el siglo XIV, además es tradiconal y típico de la ciudad de Granada (España) e isnpirado por el Palacio de la Alhambra.

Es muy interesante conocer cómo se realizan estoa patrones geométricos paso a paso. Lee aquí.

great little tutorial from twelve22, how to sew the zipper in the pouch – no excuses now – really good clear images and instructions – excellent tutorial.

Designboom and ‘MACEF international home show’ are looking for new ceramic tableware designs for their design competition Ceramics for breakfast. Participation is open to applicants from every country in the world, to professionals, students, and design-enthusiasts.

Above are two cups not related to this competition – but perhaps they could be? They’re by Elizabeth Robinson.

I’m sure many of you make your festive cards, and many others think about it. I’ve done both. (And I apologise ahead of time for seeming to whip-on the gallop towards that busy season.) The date for sea mail cards from Australia has already passed, and that’s no doubt true around the world, but there is still time to think in November of the cards you will send in December, whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or whatever your festive season may be.

One thing I’ve done several times is to include as part of my card a photo of some of my craft work from the year just gone. Have a lovely time fishing out the things you’ve made – quilts and other stitching projects, hats, bags, altered books, whatever you’ve created and spent time imagining. You may wish to include any fetching children you’ve been growing during the year, if you have them. Play stylist with your work, and have fun remembering all you did, the challenges and successes, while you arrange and photograph it. Digital gives you instant feedback and plenty of room to experiment – many items in one photo? a single shot of something you’re particularly pleased with?

Christmas quilts

Nothing is stopping you then working with your favourite photograph in a photo-editing program, if you want to add words, or maybe merge several images, if some of your works have been given to others (you photographed them first, didn’t you?) fd’s Flickr toys such as the Mosaic Maker or Hockneyizer offer further possibilities.

Commercial photo printers often offer cheaper deals on printing 4×6in photos as the holiday season approaches, and this may be more economical than printing the image yourself.

You can glue your final image to the left-hand side of a commercial card opposite the printed greetings, or make it the front of a card you make yourself, either folded or postcard style. If you opt for postcard-style, stationery suppliers stock sheets of 4in x 6in labels to put through the printer that fit on the back of a photograph – so you can prepare your text on your computer, fonts/message etc and just handwrite the bits you want.

Don’t forget to keep one for yourself. Over time, these photos become a wonderful record of what you’ve made in various years. To the recipients, they speak of who you are and what brings you joy. If you’re having an iffy modest moment about this seeming like bragging, go read what yarn harlot had to say the other day.

If you’ve got other craft ideas for festive cards, do share them in the comments.

PS: if you do do this, and have an image of your year’s work on the net somewhere like flickr or photobucket or in a blog entry, do post the (exact) URL in the comments too, so we can go and enjoy seeing it and being inspired.

Whiptipscraft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. View the Whiptips archive here. Submit questions to whiptips@gmail.com. Please include photos with your questions!

Susan from joybucket writes in asking what to do when you think someone is ripping off your designs.

I have recently discovered an Etsy shop that is selling (much to my horror) ripoffs of my work. I have my work under “Creative Commons – Some Rights Reserved” and the button is clearly posted on my blog. I have emailed the owner with a copy of the Creative Commons and I’ve emailed Etsy. What else should I do?

I think that Susan may have answered her own question – she has since posted a notice on her blog after consultation with the US copyright office.

Lots of excellent entries – there were a few entries that were things that were obviously for sale and were entered as a promo – so while these were great items they unfortunately cannot be considered for a prize, and same goes for entries that were made a while ago and not made in the month of October.

Here goes:

1- three month subscription to the sampler
Anocrismo – teaparty necklace

the next 5 people receive some knitting/crochet/yarn goodies (see the whiplash page for the stuff) for their great entries.

2. Creative Kismet – how to make buttons tutorial.

3. Kardemumma - crochet bracelet tutorial

4. jetson - dork wallet tutorial

5. greeting arts - felted thimbles

6. Linques - cascading earings tutorial

The next 3 entries receive a special mention for being totally in the whiplash spirit:

girl on the rocks - angora handwarmers tutorial

Ann wood - tassle birds

paper flower girls - quick necklace

Thank you to every one who entered. Look out for Novembers Whiplash announced soon.

Week Two of Origin was as full of interesting makers as Week One. I went around with an eye for traditional techniques or unusual materials and found lots of British makers to tell you about.

Jennifer Collier works with paper, fabric, wax and found materials to create amazing sculptural and decorative pieces. Her paper shoes keep popping up in magazine features and they are even better in the flesh. She also makes jewellery from haberdashery and bits and pieces set into resin.

Whitby Jet is a very unusual material. Jet is a fossilised wood that is common to the Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby. This amazing material was used for Victorian mourning jewellery, but Jacqueline Cullen is the only designer working Jet in a contemporary way.

I love vintage kitchenware and thought Steve Handley’s way of re-using implements as decorative elements in wood furniture was just great.

There were several fabulous milliners at the show – it was hard to pick just one to mention here. Rosy Naylor caught my eye with her vaguely vintage shapes with added twists and folds and decorative stitching.

I first saw Cleo Mussi’s mosaics on display at Hove Museum a few months ago and was totally captivated. She uses recycled materials to make whimsical and charming pieces, both small and large. I think mosaic has been a bit under-rated in recent years, and it’s great to see Cleo in this show.

As a textile designer, I am always interested in how other people extend the boundaries of thread. Betty Pepper’s stitched jewellery is delicate and pretty but has an underlying narrative which is enhanced by her use of old books to make containers for the jewellery and as constructed decorative pieces in their own right. She also had one of the nicest stands.

Sarah Thirlwell makes elegant and simple vessels from turned wood with colourful detail. Unlike most turned wood products, Sarah’s work seems very fresh and original. She also makes jewellery and other interior products using acrylic.

Explore more exhibitors yourself by looking at theExhibitors list and Springboard.

My little mochi - a real jem of a craft blog.

Lately she has been doing some halloween crafting with the kids – here is a sample:

Her recent monku monday really hit home – a list of all the things about crafting that really annoy her. Here are some of my faves:

2) Having to re-thread my bobbin when I have just a couple inches of sewing left to do.
7) “Someone” using my good sewing scissors for cutting things other than fabric.
11) Zippers – which really aren’t as hard as I like to think they are, however, I do think they are hard to do well, especially when sewing clothes.

I don’t know about you, but when it starts to turn cold, I tend to reach for a cup of tea and a book when I’m snuggling on the couch with a blanket trying to stay warm. I may not have any furniture, but I do have a whole lot of books.

Thankfully, there have been some recent publications that have provided much inspiration as well as insight.

1. Craftivity, by Tsia Carson

2. Making Stuff, edited by Ziggy Hanaor. Although I do have a pattern inside that doesn’t mean I’m not overly excited about all the other good stuff inside this book!

Need some inspiration on a cold winter’s night? Put the kettle on, and get to reading!

Whiptips – a crafts advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. View the Whiptips archive here. You can submit questions, to whiptips@gmail.com. Please include photos with your questions!

Camilla of horse flesh productions writes in asking ideas for recycling plastic road signs.

You know those plastic signs that popup everyone in the autumn, exhorting you to vote for this, consider that, or espouse something or other? Lawn signs, I think they are called, or campaign signs. I haven’t seen a good craft for them, and they’re everywhere, so it seems like there should be some sort of useage for them once their information is no longer useful.