from crazy mom quilts

Ok, did you ever think that you would like jewelry made with hardware from your husband’s stash? No, me either. Until, that is, I ran across these really cool wave washers in his tool box from Lowe’s. I said, “What the heck do you use those for?” He began to tell me “Wah, Wah, Wah,” I said “Whatever, can I have them?”. Being the wondrous hubby he is of course he let me.

I laid those things on my craft table and looked at them daily for about a week. I thought, maybe I should give them back, what am I going to do with them. Well, then it hit me. Why not use them as links in chains, just like you would any other decorative ring? I did have to fashion some handmade jump rings to accommodate the width of the washers, but besides that they were great to work with. I needed the practice on the jump rings anyway!

I am very pleased with how these worked out and hubby was impressed too. So go rummage in the tool box you never know what you may find.

Author: Dana is a married mother of two great daughters and works full time at a local veterinary hospital. She is a very eclectic crafter and never knows what she may be creating next. Her passions include beading, wirework, sewing and mosaic. You can check out her blog or my Etsy shop for more.

ok – very weird and strange – but here they are – tampon ghosties and ghouls and a whole website devoted to tampon crafts [thanks to Caren I think]

Expectant Little Knits: Chic Designs for Moms to Be
By Suzanne J.E. Tourtillott published by Lark Books (January 1, 2008)

While the fashion industry has known for a while that pregnant women don’t want to wear ugly or tent like clothes, and the underwear industry finally seems to be getting the same message, there hasn’t been too much attention paid to great maternity clothes in the handknit arena. Until now. Expectant Little Knits is a collection of tops, tanks, dresses, shrugs, hoodies and tunics, all for pregnant figures and all gorgeous! They range in style from a casual babydoll top knitted in camo yarn, to a houndstooth tailored jacket designed for the office, to a filigree lace top. There is even a sweater to knit with a front opening for breastfeeding.

The biggest flaw that I can see with this book is that there are so many great things to knit, that a pregnant knitter would run out of time to make all the things she wanted to make from this book before the baby was born and she wasn’t pregnant any more. Another good reasons to be friends with people that knit!

About the author: Kate is a busy mother of four and has far too many craft projects on the go at any one time. These could include, but are not limited to, crochet, sewing, dyeing, paper making, spinning, felting and bookbinding. Kate has challenges in the areas of finishing things, saying no and craft supplies storage. She also has a very very patient and tolerant husband.

from jennifer murphy via making time.

just in time for halloween this cute tutorial from bitter betty on making this buggy lamp fitting.

from cheeky mapgpie [via craftzine]

I have always been a big fan of selvedge magazine, its lovely square format, luscious images and informative articles are a sure fire combination. Unfortunately it is quite expensive here is Australia and so I usually browse through the magazine at the library or at the book store. Which is why I was pretty excited to be offered an online subscription in return for an evaluation. I don’t really subscribe to any/many online magazines, but am pretty sure there are some standard features – like clickable URLs (very handy) zoom features and easy viewing/navigation of the contents. The online version of Selvedge has these lovely features – it is easy to navigate and it will zoom up to full screen to allow easy reading of text and there are lots of lovely links to follow.

During my library/book shop browsing of Selvedge, I always find lots of fabulous features I mean to follow up but of course I usually forget. So it is very nice to have it in front of you so you can click on websites and check out the featured artists directly. Also links back to the main selvedge website takes you to their shop and free online patterns. The latest online edition of selvedge (and hardcopy) offers a free pattern to a habu shopping bag – there is a lovely anecdote from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, an article on endangered breeds of sheep, and lots lots more. Highly recommended.

painted fish studio gives us this simple pattern to knit and felt these adorable little bowls [via crafter-holic]

Hairpin Lace Crochet Mask pattern at stitch diva [free pattern]. [via worsted witch]