Extreme Crafts 25 05 – 12 08 2007 at Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius Lithuania ::
the exhibition will completely embrace the spirit of the DIY movement–with major artworks, crackpot projects, and hands-on workshops (via Garth Johnson who I believe wrote the catalogue essay).

excerpt from introduction essay: (read the rest here)

Handicrafts are increasingly being used by artists and designers as a source of inspiration and method of manufacture. … Punk knitting, origami with an agenda and epic cross-stitch have surged in numbers. … Customisation is also experiencing a renaissance. Technology, perceived to be removed and sophisticated, is being re-attached to the user by the democratic ‘anyone-can-make-and-do‘ … self organised groups of artists and makers are creating forums for people to do it for themselves. … Crucial to Extreme Crafts is not only the product of craft, but the process of crafting: the gallery spaces will be activated by different groups invited to demonstrate their activities and importantly, visitors will be encouraged to participate.

Some of the participating artists include:

Sonya Schonberger is spending a week in the gallery space sewing an entire newspaper. The many hours of labour as the intensive sewing allows Schönberger to study the usually swiftly consumed media image.

Claudia Borgna’s accumulation of tightly folded plastic bags represents her relationship with discarded materials and the environment. Her installations are part of an ongoing observation and questioning of how ‘plastic’ and the natural realms interact with one another.

Catherine Bertola creates site-specific works with dust, skin cells, hair and dirt to recreate patterns and elements from times gone by. For this exhibition she has painted a pattern from a Lithuanian domestic interior with dust and has revived the endeavours of a previous artisan, in the stark Modernist halls of the exhibition space, acknowledging the history of the site which was once home to bustling shops and domiciles.

Tyre printing with Refunc and Garbage Architecture by Refunc / Jan Korbes

Jan Körbes from the Netherlands takes disused objects to create interiors, research projects and workshops based on recovered waste materials. The curators of this exhibition challenged him to find furniture solutions for the exhibition spaces. Employing the help of a team of local people, Körbes set about creating strange amalgams from objects which would ordinarily be discarded and considered useless such as bald car tyres, old sofas and bits of metal and wood.

The exhibition also includes community events and workshops (see timetable for more details) such as a knitting marathon, the second hand clothes remix and the refunc garbage challenge,

See more images at flickr and see the exhibition timetable here – if anyone is going to this – would love to hear about it.

Thanks all for introducing your craft at the whiplash page. Lots of time left for anyone else to introduce yourself and meet some like minded folk. You can upload a link for a tutorial or showcase – but remember please don’t upload links to items that are for sale. I will be featuring more entries next week.

Abmatic is making baby rugs/blankets/playmats and has a simple how-to do it if are interested in making these yourself.

crafty ginger is doing some perfunctional crafting – her word, it means taking an item that might be a little bland, and making it perfect for her (or your) needs. Love it!

Hey lucy has a neat little tutorial for making a simple booklet.

Ruby crowned kinglet has a video tutorial – with music – on how to make some gorgeous covered buttons. – pics too if the video is not working for you.

U-handbag has one of her fab tutes on making a bag – this time with piping.

Hanne has been doing up deck chairs – love the results

Check out website/online mag Cut out and keep – the fabric ball necklace tutorial is cool, sock gloves and magazine sushi.

The site is run by Cat Morley – she says: This is a website that teaches anyone, of any skill or age, how to craft and live creatively. All of the DIY projects are made from common household items and the step by step photo tutorials will teach anyone how to be a skilled crafter in no time.

Love this great way to organise your fabric stash

The adventurous scrapbooker: creating wonderful scrapbooks from almost anything, by Katherine Duncan Aimone. 2006 Lark Books.

I like this scrapbooking book because it is about using what you have or can find, not about purchasing expensive papers and accessories (although there are some cute products out there I will admit), however this book is really about using your creative side to make your own designs and using unusual materials, to step outside the traditional scrapbooking box and be an adventurous scrapbooker. There are lots of great projects in the book that utilise interesting materials, such as using a children’s board book as a base with vintage ephemera, maps and fabric swatches. Using an old book as a base and embellishments like index tabs and photocopied photos. Using mail order catalogues with lace and torn papers and maps. Another great idea is to bind vintage postcards together to make an album to use as a starting point. There are heaps of other great projects that will really get your creative energies going.

Acrylic revolution: new tricks & techniques for working with the world’s most versatile medium, by Nancy Reyner. 2007 North Light Books.

A wonderful resource for the budding artist, student or anyone wishing to experiment with acrylic paint. Chapters on what to paint onto, and with, various base treatments and effects and textures to incorporate as well as mixed media and stenciling. Chapter one for example – ‘you can paint on anything’ shows the more traditional materials such as wood, canvas and paper together with fabric, metal and glass with advice on how to treat the materials before using them. Each chapter is similarly explained all with excellent and really I mean excellent pictures and examples of the techniques in use and finished examples too. A great resource for classes, artists and families.

The art of beaded beads: Exploring design, color and technique, edited by Jean Campbell. 2006 Lark Books.

Creative designs and techniques from top beadwork artists. A tribute to the art of beading, this book is both a technical guide and a project based book with designs by various artists who show the reader how to achieve and make their designs. Some gorgeous examples include the crisscross bead by Sharon Bateman, which is shaped like a cross. The lava lamp bead, designed by Wendy Ellsworth has a really unusual tube shape that slightly flares out. This book is totally for the beading enthusiast with a pretty good skill level.

Here’s something new to try! Ever see vintage bras at the thrift shop or yard sales? Grab a few and try out Crafty Chi’s Bra Wristlet Tutorial.

CRAFT recently featured a tutorial by etsy labs on how to fuse plastic bags together to make fabric. Something I have been experimenting with at home, so I was excited to see a tutorial. And TreeHugger recently featured an artist, Anna Roebuck, who makes jewellery and art from fused plastic bags (see pic)

Check out this video tutorial on doing it. And this fantastic dress made from this method, and this plastic bag wallet from vestal design. Also check out the tutorial from in the wake which was mentioned way back on whipup.

Duct Tape is hosting a “Stuck on Prom” contest where students from all over the US and Canada had to make their own prom outfits from, you guessed it, Duct Tape! I can’t believe how detailed and fabulous these designs are! The ingenuity displayed by each couple really makes me want to start experimenting. . . . I had no idea Duct Tape came in so many colors!

You can click over and vote on the best outfit! The lucky winners will each receive a $3,000 cash scholarship so you’ll be helping some creative kids earn some cash for their college educations! Voting ends 6/29.

There’s so much talent in the craftblog universe that it’s not a surprise that we’re starting to cross over into traditional publishing. Bella Dia just posted a handy list of bloggers in books. It’s quite the list, with more books on the way. Here’s a guide to joining in the fun.

books

The easiest way to get your work into books is to submit to projects looking for designers. Blogs will sometimes advertise for submissions for a book in progress, and Whip Up also occasionally posts submission requests from publishers, like Lark Books (project submission page). Some of these publishers seem to read craft blogs and approach people directly through email if they like your work. If you’re really serious, you can get an agent, but that’s beyond the scope of this post. Craft Sanity has some good podcasts with folks talking about how they got into the big time, including interviews with Amy Karol, the Sew Subversive ladies, and a variety of other (published) crafting rock stars.

magazines

There’s also the wide world of craft magazines, including online ones like Knitty (submission guide) and “real life” ones like Craft (submission guidelines), Readymade (submissions), and Adorn (design submissions).

When submitting projects, make sure to know what kind of things they are looking for and typically publish so you can make sure it’s the right match for your idea and style. Also, follow all directions, meet all deadlines, read any contracts thoroughly, and put your best foot forward in the proposal.

self publishing

The other route to go is to self-publish, which has the obvious benefits of lower barriers to entry, more flexibility, and that DIY ethic we all love, but the downsides that you have to do everything yourself and maybe even invest money up front. Graphic design and drawing skills are a definite plus. Patterns can be downloads or printed, free or sold through your website or Etsy.

PDF patterns

One increasingly popular route is the PDF tutorial. These are very much like the blogged tutorials we all know and love, but generally in a more put-together, printable (and saleable) format. There are over 1500 items in Etsy’s pattern category, plus some other examples like Fitzpatterns (sewing), Wee Wonderfuls (several toys), Futuregirl (cool octopus stuffie pattern) and Roxycraft (crochet and knit toys).

PDF patterns are pretty easy to do with fairly standard software. I’ve self-published a PDF book (for scientists, not crafters, but the concept’s the same) put together with my digital camera, scanned-in drawings, the graphics software that came with my computer, and Microsoft Word, which will export to PDF. Powerpoint can also do the job and has a little more layout flexibility. Illustrator and Photoshop are upgrades worth considering for more complicated stuff.

The Art of Crochet has a cool variation of this where you can buy downloadable patterns and also use an online size calculator to customize the pattern for your measurements. Plus they offer technical support. This is one thing I love about the intersection of publishing and the internet: the author is accessible, you can ask questions, get any corrections right away, and interact with other people making the patterns through Flickr groups or Craftster threads.

self-published but professionally printed

To take this idea to a more professional level, you can actually get patterns printed by a company. Disdressed (recent backpack pattern, sold out but being reprinted), Wee Wonderfuls (several pattern booklets and embroidery transfers, some still available), Angry Chicken (Mailorder) and Jess Hutch (knitted soft toys, out of print), among others, have successfully self-published patterns that are professionally printed, sold through their websites, and mailed to you. Overnight Prints seems to be a popular printer, though there are certainly others out there. Lulu.com is another way to do this. They offer both downloads and professionally printed options. The crafts and hobbies section includes stuff from The Crochet Dude among others.

Whew, long post, and it’s really only a cursory tour. People who know more than me, please feel free to add advice and resources in the comments section.

Doll stories has a visual chronology of how her fantastic dolls are put together here and here.

Her blog Bum Crane. Pru is located in QLD Australia.

I am a farm animal..hear me roar!

These are the next guys on the production front.They’re each made using six two piece moulds and one single mould which are all grafted together to make these little bird/pig fellows. As all seems to be holding, although not yet completely dry, I’ll push on with the herd. Colour and scrafito/text etc are yet to be added …which will be made up of hog fodder fables or something along those lines.