Making your own pasta is an incredibly soul satisfying experience. Tastes wonderful, is pretty messy and you can get the whole family involved.
check out the egullet forums for a very explicit and clear tutorial as well as living venice blog.
For residents of the US, a three-part program entitled “Craft in America” airs tonight on your local PBS station. I have not seen the program yet but am excited about the prospect of a three-part documentary on craft followed by an associated two-year, eight-city museum tour and a companion book with a prologue by longtime craftsman, craft advocate, former president of the United States and personal hero of mine, Jimmy Carter. For those of you who do not live in the US or who miss the program, the website offers a DVD and links ot other resources. There’s also a preview of the program that can be seen online.
Just over a year ago in April 2006 at Beaconsfield in northern Tasmania, a mine accident killed one man and trapped two more. They were underground for days - the first joy of finding, five days later, that two had survived became a long wait while their colleagues found a way to get them out safely. They were trapped over half a mile or almost a kilometre underground - 925 metres. It was two weeks (or 321 hours) after the mine collapse that they walked free and put their name tags onto “safe”. That afternoon was the funeral of their colleague who had not survived the initial rockfall.
Later in the year, a ‘close-knit community knitting’ project began, to knit a scarf 925m long. You can read the ’seed’ story, from the ABC (Australia’s public broadcaster) here. People were invited to contribute small sections, to be joined together, their work symbolising the careful work of the many people involved in the rescue.
As the picture above shows you, many people started knitting. There were knitting days in the town, and contributions from farther afield (Tasmania, other Australian states, overseas) - read more here.
On the first anniversary of the accident, the “Close-Knit Community Scarf” was unveiled by local schoolchildren as part of the ceremony.
It is astonishing how many ways the work of our hands can serve to unite, to remember, to draw us together as human beings and people and communities. This is just one. The many AIDS quilt projects around the world are another, and the list of the multifarious possibilities, often beginning as the “what-if?” thought of one or a few people, is long and wonderful and humbling and grand. The value can be as much, or more, in the process as in the product, and about patience and commitment, not just skill.
Whiptips craft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. Whiptips archive here. Questions to whiptips@gmail.com.
After watching my photography evolve over the past year my husband got me a fancy DSLR this past Christmas. I love it. But, I don’t love the strap that came with it that so blazingly advertises the maker of the camera. I’d love something more “me” and unique. I’ve done some searching and haven’t found many options to buy ones from independent crafters. I’m wondering if any of the readers now of some good indie artists that sell such things or know of any good tutorials for making one yourself. Alternately, are there any tips they have for covering the one that came with my camera?
Making your own felt is a very satisfying and fun process. You can get the kids involved, experiment with your design and do it at home with very limited equipment. give it a go with this excellent tutorial and another one here.
Wendi wrote in with a link to a tutorial on how to bind a quilt.
http://gratzindustries.blogspot.com/2007/05/tutorial-how-to-bind-quilt.html
I thought this might be helpful to everyone finishing their mini quilts for Whiplash so I posted it there as a tutorial last night.
Also Wendy at Sunshine Creations is giving away her lovely mini quilt - go on over to check it out.
Carly Schwerdt’s new range of fabrics produced under her label SproutDesigns is simply lovely. A woman of many talents, she runs Nest Studio, a art studio for kids, and she sells her own wares as well. I ran an interview with about her new designs and Nest Studio recently and this is how it went:
When and why did you start Nest Studio?
Nest Studio started as an idea many years ago when I was working for a largish design firm. I had this strong desire to teach art to children, so my then boss sent me to America to live with a lovely family and I taught art in a local elementary school (with no teaching background mind you, only art & design, they were very generous). I fell in love with it and enrolled to study teaching straight away (back home in Australia), I couldn’t believe I was back at University again!
It wasn’t until back in 2003 (coincidentally when Lily was born) that I started feeding that idea to the point of buying the business name. I started testing my ideas with a little stall at the Prospect Markets, then I shared a space to teach art until finally in December 2005 I moved into my own studio space (which happens to have a shop front).
You run two businesses – a design business and an art studio for kids (and Morphe, a soft toy exhibition!). How do you get in enough hours for the day?
That is a very good question! I don’t. I constantly feel like not enough is getting done or that something is being missed (that is usually the housework, we have piles of things that need doing here at home). Gradually over the years with Lily I am learning to have a sense of accomplishment even if one ‘to do’ has been ticked off my never ending list. Funnily enough if something doesn’t get done today, it doesn’t miraculously do itself, so it is always waiting patiently for me. One thing that doesn’t wait patiently is Lily (neither should she) so I actually spend most of my time hanging out with her, she is a trooper… she comes to business meetings with me and hangs out in the ‘art room’. Fortunately when you run your own business, especially one that relates to children, no one minds if there is a child about. She is my constant source of inspiration, Nest Studio would not exist if it were not for Lily. I am slowly learning how to balance everything.
What was the inspiration behind the new line of fabrics for SproutDesign, and what was the impetus to design your own fabric line?
SproutDesign’s range to date are mostly reproductions of a range of children’s textiles designed in the 1970’s by Pamela Walker. I have redrawn them and SproutDesign has updated the colourways and sizing for todays market, plus I have added 2 new designs (the Skipping spot & Skipping boy) to the range. SproutDesign intends to add many new designs to it’s bold and ultra funky range over the years as well as reproduce more of Pam’s golden oldies!
One of my main inspiration for Nest Studio (besides my daughter) is fabric, vintage or new, when I see a great design I just have to make toys or something crafty. I think it was inevitable that I at some stage I got into textile design, I absolutely love it, I am one of those sickening people who say “I am so lucky, I love my job”. I test out all of my textile ideas on my trusty Gocco, in fact I now even teach others how to print up metreage of their own designs to fabric.
What was the design and production process like? Was it difficult designing fabrics for the first time?
The designing stage is a joy however the production side has definitely been a huge learning curve. There is so much to learn, fortunately my background in design for paper translates quite well to textiles, for example they use the same colour system, but I will be the first to admit there has been some trial and error along the way and I know I still have plenty to learn. All of SproutDesign and NestStudio printing on fabric is handmade so I have no idea really about the machine processes, that would be fun to learn.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I can see myself doing exactly what I am doing now but I am sure Nest & Sprout will have grown even bigger and brighter. I have what feels like a hundred balls in the air but fortunately I can choose which ones they are now, which ever one I am holding will be a fantastic adventure I am sure. I am working on illustrations for a children’s book and a new pattern book at the moment so maybe they will be complete by then!
What are the challenges in having a crafty business (or businesses, in your case!)?
Keeping a balance and not losing sight of where you want to go as opposed to where you may be side lining to… taking the side road can be good to learn a lesson and test out ideas but never lose sight of your big picture. I am very passionate about children’s visual communication and visual education, so that is my beacon, I will always be heading in that direction. And when things get you down (like people stealing designs & selling them! Grrrr that annoys me) chin up and move on, buy some fabric and make a toy, that always makes me feel better!
Wonderful this process of seeing and following the wool as it comes off the sheep and is spun, woven and made into clothing. Check the wonderful process of this family who really are getting back to basics.
Making yoghurt can be easy or tricky depending who you talk to. Give these two methods a try - here and here.
Image and more info from chocolate and zucchini
As a lot of us are seriously working in a cross over field between arts and crafts, mixed media, clip art, journaling, collage making, whatever, I’d like to, please, draw your attention to the 4th International Collage Exhibition Vilnius 2008.
Deadline for submission of works is June 22 - in less than one month. The theme is: “Every night the same”. What that means is entirely up to your interpretation. You are welcomed to send 2 collages, any dimensions are accepted – there’s no size limit. However, the exhibition is censored; works will have to pass a jury. Participating fee is 50 euro or 65 USD and the exhibition will take place in Gallery Arka – a very central and highly estimated gallery in Vilnius in April 2008.
I know the gallery as well as the organizer and curator of the exhibition as I have been in
Application forms and further information see: www.bokartas.lt
More photoes from
Making cheese by hand at home is not as difficult as you might imagine. You need time, and dedication to the process. Try it with this online tutorial.
Making your own tofu is a simple process that requires time and patience. Give it a go with this online tutorial.
An interesting website explaining the technique to process and spin silk by hand.
Am loving the crazy and marvelous monsters over at cotton monster. Jennifer is a puppet, quilt and monster maker from Balimore, she has an online shop, selling her creatures (way too cheaply I think!) - they are currently all sold out.
All cotton monsters are made of old recycled sheets, blankets and p.j.’s. Bringing new life to discarded linens of comfort. Each one is hand made with love by Jennifer, without a pattern, so no two are exactly alike. Reach your hand deep into your monster’s mouth to hide treasures, protect secrets, or to amuse your buddies. Its bulging eyes and long arms await a new home.
If you’re keen to match the colours within your quilts, equilter has for a long time given you fairly specific colour names with each fabric, so you can search on turquoise or aquamarine, rose or blossom pink, not just blue or pink, and there is a design board view. A number of other online retailers have variations on these possibilities.
A new site offering colour and design possibilities is fabricmatcher.com. You can pick a colour from a generous grid of colour options (with hex colour codes given as well) and see which fabrics match (the fabric partner is Hancocks of Paducah). You can upload a picture and see which fabrics resemble its patterning. The site also offers patterns and more.
If you can suggest other sites with colour guidance for quilters, by all means add them in the comments.
In the name of all things crafty and good, Faythe Levine and Micaela O’Herlihy crossed the continent numerous times documenting the new resurgence of craft. With a working title of “Indie Craft Documentary,” the film has now been officially christened “Handmade Nation.” Levine is the asker of questions, O’Herlihy is the one behind the camera and together they documented the works of makers and crafters just like you.
After interviewing 50 different artists and makers and traveling to over 15 different cities, they managed to capture this new wave of craft that has changed many of our lives for the better. I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of meeting them both last summer at a festival in Chicago, and in full disclosure, was interviewed for the film. While I am more than honored to be involved with this project, I’d still be in love with it even if I wasn’t…
Here is a sneak peak of the film, now in production, with an expected release date sometime in 2008. In the comments for the video online, one person remarked, “If this is craft then craft as I knew it is truly dead.” I think that what is sometimes overlooked in all of this is that we’re not trying to reinvent something new- we’re embracing something old and bringing it forward to the present.
For far too long craft, both high-brow and low, has been stuck in the shadows of art as something utile, less knowledgeable and easier to rebuff. With projects like “Handmade Nation” in gear, maybe more people will rethink their old definitions and retool their own stereotypes and fixed notions. That is my greatest hope of this current resurgence, that instead of bringing about alienation or creating a rapid trajectory with no firm ground, we come one step closer to cherishing our traditions and familial histories.
(Thanks to Linda Permann for the photo. And for the curious, the crafter being interviewed above is none other than Dennis Stevens of Redefining Craft! Apologies to any international crafters who may feel slighted… I’m sure there is a void for you to fill in this regard in your own countries, too!)
Coming out of the closet with my TreeHugger moonlighting gig. My posts mainly focus on eco art and craft and DIY. Posts on refashioning shoes, shirts and sweaters, fun stories on Haute trash.
Image: “Crochet Coral and Anemone Garden” with sea slug by Marianne Midelburg. Photos by Alyssa Gorelick. The Institute For Figuring (IFF) is crocheting a coral reef.
The latest posts on the crochet coral reef, eco friendly yarn and recycled fashion might interest you too.
You also might want want to check out TreeHugger’s green guides, parents might like the guide on how to green your baby.
I’m categorising this one under “extreme”.
Dorodango - Instructions under “create” and also more at this site.
Hikaru dorodango are balls of mud, molded by hand into perfect spheres, dried, and polished to an unbelievable luster. The process is simple, but the result makes it seem like alchemy.
Via link.
Look what I created last week: homemade jiffy pots made out of 100% recycled paper.
I needed some little pots for pre-sprouting and as I´m not very found of thee little green plastic ones from the super market I started experimenting with newspaper by wrapping some newspaper around this “thing”. I really don’t know what it’s called in English - it’s not to find in my dictionary. However, it’s a kitchen tool - a zinc cylinder with a hole in the bottom and a wooden part that fit’s into the cylinder. Traditionally used for making balls or dumplings for the soup - and to form dough into vanilla cookies. But now it’s also a gardener’s tool!
Anyway, this is what how to do it, it´s very simple: You wrap the paper around the wooden part, sprinkle the paper with water, squeezed it a little, removed the “thing” – and voila: a nice little jiffy pot for pre-sprouting made out of 100 % recycled materials!
And the recycling goes on: so one day when your pre-sprouted plants are ready to set out, you just dig a whole in the soil and place your plant, jiffy pot included. Don’t bother to remove the pot – the roots of the plant will easily penetrate the paper, and at the same time the paper will disintegrate and vanish into the soil.
Whiptips craft advice column for readers to ask questions or offer advice by leaving comments. Whiptips archive here. Questions to whiptips@gmail.com.
Hi I wondered if any one had a pattern or tutorial for a crochet Babette Blanket, I am unable to find one on the net, and cannot find a Crochet Interweave Magazine anywhere in Western Australia! Thanks for your help.
Jen
Of course we don’t suggest any copyright infractions - however, if you are someone in a remote community without access to this particular pattern, perhaps you could try making good old fashioned granny squares in various sizes and joining them together in a random patchwork fashion.
