Books

Book | Blog tour | Taking great photos

by kath_red on February 11, 2012

in Books

Blog tour alert: The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos is published in the US by Interweave and in Australia by Murdoch. The author is Aussie girl Heidi Adnum who has her own Etsy shop and knows how to take a great product photo to sell her wares. She wrote a series on the Storque a while ago explaining how to take photos for Etsy and just like that she has now written has a book. Yay for her! And yay for crafters!

Taking great photos is really essential for a craft/design blog — as visual people we are drawn to images so it is important as a craft/design blogger that your images are good. But if you are trying to sell your product either on Etsy or via your own website then your images have to be better than good. They have to be clear and bright, they have to tell a story and draw people in — they have to be desirable!

Heidi is a photographer and crafter and etsy seller and offers fellow crafters some of her back-to-basics style advice. Her advice is simple and practical for the home DIY photographer. And the examples throughout the book all come from fellow bloggers and craftspeople.

She starts off with the basics, perfect for photography newbies — light, using it and making the most of it, the book then goes through the other basic areas of photography (aperture, shutter, colour, choosing a camera), before moving on to beyond the basics — like telling a story with your image through composition, props, styling, background etc.

Yes there are some diy tutorials to make a light tent and tripod and other photography equipment. Then each chapter of the book is dedicated to a particular craft — so all crafters are catered for!

24 January - papernstitch
26 January - Rena Tom
27 January - CraftBuds
28 January - SweatShopofLove
31 January - Wiksten
1 February - Jenny N Design
2 February - Rifle Paper Co.
3 February - See How We Sew
4 February - Imagination Kids Toys
7 February - Feeling Stitchy
8 February - UK Handmade
9 February - The Academy
9 February - Frankie Magazine
10 February - WhipUp.net

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What’s new, what’s old

by kath_red on February 9, 2012

in Books, Newsletter

I am excited to bring on this year, not that I want to rush into it, no, I just am glad it’s here.

This coming year for me is going to bring a few new challenges, projects and preparation — more on those aspects later in the year, but for now I want to tell you about a few things that I have been into lately, things that reenergise me and that inspire me and that you too can participate in. 

I am now on Instagram @whipup - huh! how did that happen – I know … another thing to get addicted to. But there you have it … it’s fun — what can I say!

[you can view my images in a few ways: followgram or webstagram or at instagram] [ps. That crochet there is the beginnings of a Scrappy steps afghan (it's Chawnes fault), you can grab the pattern here and watch the how-to videos here.]

Do you twitter? I do and you can follow me here: Twitter @whipup : but I what I want to talk about are the chat groups on twitter – the crafty chat groups on all sorts of topics, they are helpful, fun and energising. There is one in particular that is at a convenient time for me and on a topic that I am immersed in at the moment #talknt is all about quilt talk, it is hosted by @caraquilts and is on somewhere between tuesday night (US time) and wednesday midday (Au time) depending upon your time zone. There is a sponsor each week which is always fun, but more importantly about 50 other quilting enthusiasts join in.

There are many crafty twitter chats and parties … which ones do you host or participate in – I would love to know! Do you know of any yarn/knitting/crochet twitter chats? Here are the few that I know about:

  • #talknt is a weekly quilting chat hosted by @caraquilts
  • #CraftSocial is a monthly chat with a changing topic each time, it is co-hosted by @penguintrax and @sisterdiane. The next one is February 14th from 2-3pm EST and the topic is polymer clay.
  • #crafterminds is a twice weekly craft/business chat (Monday at 4pm EST and 8pm EST) hosted by one Crafterminds.
  • #CraftChat is hosted by Craft Critique and is held every Wednesday at 1pm CST. A list of topics for the month is posted on the blog.
  • #omhg is hosted by @ohmyhandmade. They meet every Thursday from 1-2EST to chat about a monthly theme usually to do with building your business or improving your skills.

What is a twitter chat? A tweet chat or party is an organized group conversation which discusses a specific topic, it makes use of a hashtag (#) so everyone can participate. The chats are hosted by people with an interest in a topic and often pose questions to the group to build up a dialogue.

How to join in on a twitter chat: I use either my iphone or TweetDeck or TweetChat and then just search for the hashtag that the chat is using to keep track of and join in to the conversation – it is pretty easy but does take a bit to get used to the speed that conversation goes at sometimes.

——–

This Week I introduced a new series coming up over the next month here on whipup — and it is about my book  Little Bits Quilting Bee and pre-cut fabric: I’ll be discussing which fabrics you can use to make the quilts in my book and will be showcasing a few of the quilts. I was inspired by Weeks Ringle who has been showing the quilts from her latest book on her blog and discussing the design decisions behind each one.

In last weeks newsletter I introduced you to some dinner ideas – this week I am going introduce you to chocolate sheet cake: — inspired by this but using this recipe – chewy and fudgy at the same time – an instant winner!

And this week at whipup we had some guest posts: Baroque punk embroidery :: Valentines bracelets :: Mushroom love brooch.

I am reading… 

  • The big book of small business is written by a fellow Australian Andrew Griffiths (published by Allen and Unwin) — it claims to be the ‘Silver bullet to give you a competitive edge’, I am not sure there is such a thing — hard work, dedication, building relationships, creativity — those are the silver bullets. However it does have thoughtful, practical and useful guidance  – a checklist for success, and it does help you to ask yourself some hard questions. I am gladdened to read that I am on the right path … it is good to know when to stand firm and when to make changes … some valuable advice.
  • Graham Leslie McCallum has a useful series of books featuring various motifs: Flower & Plant Motifs,  Pattern Motifs, Art Deco Motifs and Japanese Motifs. These books include a CD of motifs and which can be manipulated and adapted for your own projects.
  • Sweat Shop Paris: Lessons in Couture from the Sewing Cafe by Martena Duss and Sissi Holleis (published by Andrews McMeel Publishing 2011). This indie style sewing book is written by the gang from the Paris based social sewing shop: ‘Sweat Shop’, it’s a cafe — a social sewing drop-in centre. The designs featured in the book are unusual and unique, hippy and punk and rock n roll diy — utilising refashioning and deconstruction, knitting and crossstitch, beading, glueing and stitching techniques to make a variety of hip and fashionable clothing and accessories as well as a bunch of playful things too.

[Thanks to publishers and distributors for sending me books to review, I don't get paid to post reviews but I am an amazon affiliate] (Australian’s can purchase craft books online through can do books or booktopia or else browse booko for the best prices.)

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Guest post | Book | Makes and takes

by kath_red on February 4, 2012

in Books, Guest Blogger, Kids Crafts

Marie LeBaron is a mother of 3 living in the Pacific Northwest. Always having a love of crafts, she enjoys getting messy with glue and glitter. There’s always some sort of project going on, her kitchen counter is often cluttered with crafts. When she’s not crafting and creating with her kids, she loves to run, read, and blog! She is the founder/editor of the blog Makes and Takes and has written a book Make and Takes for Kids (published by Wiley 2011).


I’m happy to be sharing a fun kids craft here at Whip Up. This site has been one of my favorite places to visit for a long time.

Today I’m showing how to make a fun foam heart bracelet. This project is from my recently published book, Make and Takes for Kids, that came out last fall. These festive bracelets are the perfect craft to make for Valentine’s day. Craft up a few for friends to share during this holiday of love.

Supplies:

  • Craft foam sheets in red, pink, and/or white
  • 9–10″ of yarn, any color
  • Hole punch
  • Scissors
  • Tape (optional)
  • Rhinestone stickers (optional)
  • Glitter glue (optional)
What to do:

1. Using your scissors, cut out 6–7 small 1 × 1″ (2.5 cm) hearts from the craft foam sheets. You will need 6–7 hearts per child, although the length of the bracelet may vary
for each child.

2. Use your hole punch to make 2 holes in each heart. You may have to press hard with your hole punch to get through the craft foam.

3. Wrap a small piece of tape around one end of your piece of yarn to help with lacing each heart and to prevent the yarn from fraying.

4. Lace the yarn through the foam hearts, weaving in and out of each hole. Lace up as many hearts as you need to fit the bracelet around your child’s wrist.

5. Once all the hearts are on the yarn, tie the two ends of the yarn together in a knot and trim the ends. Make sure you tie the bracelet so that it is big enough for your child to take on and off easily.

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For more kids craft, creative ideas and activities go to the Action Pack website

Book excerpt | Mushroom love brooch project

by contributor on February 3, 2012

in Books, Whip Up Tutorials

Lark Craft’s upcoming book Heart-Felt Holidays: 40 Festive Felt Projects to Celebrate the Seasons is the follow-up to Fa La La La Felt. The book comes out in April, but Lark Crafts are starting the fun early by offering this Mushroom love brooch project by Lisa Jordan.

Mushroom love brooch project by Lisa Jordan

What You Need

  • Templates – see image below
  • Basic sewing supplies (needle, thread, thimble etc)
  • Turquoise, white, yellow, and red felted garment wool or wool felt, Plus dark gray felt (optional, see Tip)
  • White, red, turquoise, and yellow embroidery floss
  • Pin/brooch back
  • Fabric glue (optional)

What you need to do:

  • ONE: Using the templates provided, cut one small heart from the turquoise felt, one medium heart from the white felt, and one large heart from the yellow felt. Cut an additional large heart from the dark gray felt, and set aside. Use the templates to cut the two small half-circles from the red felt for the mushroom caps and the V shape from the white felt for the mushroom stems.
  • Tip: To simplify, cut the second large heart shape, which will be the brooch back, from the yellow felt instead of dark gray.
  • TWO: Using the photo for reference, position the mushroom stems on the turquoise heart, and whipstitch them in place with a single strand of the white floss. Add a few small running stitches down the center of the V to help define the two stems. Use one strand of the red floss to whipstitch a red mushroom cap on top of each stem.
  • THREE: Thread your needle with two strands of white embroidery floss and add a few decorative French knots to the mushroom caps.
  • FOUR: Stack the turquoise heart on top of the white heart, and stitch them together using the whipstitch and three strands of the turquoise floss. Then stitch this stack of hearts onto the large yellow heart, using three strands of red floss and the running stitch. Set aside.
  • FIVE: Sew a pin back to the felt backing piece. (If you like, you can cover the base of the pin back with a small felt heart.) Then position the heart stack on the backing, tacking it in place with the fabric glue if desired. Begin sewing the stack to the backing using a blanket stitch and three strands of the yellow embroidery floss. Stitch around the entire piece, hiding the knot beneath the stitches.

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Discussion, dialogue and dinner

by kath_red on February 1, 2012

in Books, Newsletter

This week is the last week before my big baby starts high school (year 7). It is a huge milestone and we are all pretty happy about it. My daughter is pretty darn excited to be leaving primary school behind — she is keen to take up new challenges, make new friends and try new things. It is a new year and a fresh start and we have a few of our own challenges to face this year – as I am sure you do too.

In last weeks newsletter post I promised you the result to the survey which I asked whipup readers to fill in – thank you all – over 1300 folks filled in the survey and the results can be seen here.

Also last week I discussed using bi-carb and vinegar in place of shampoo for washing hair: I have been experimenting with using homemade hair powder in between washes to keep your hair looking fresh – I have been sprinkling bi-carb powder on my hair and then massaging and brushing it through (works wonders), but readymade has a recipe for a natural scented powder which looks kinda cool, also I hear you can use talcum powder too (just not too much unless you want grey hair).

Whats for dinner tonight? I am quite addicted to taste spotting and food gawker websites for leading me to some new and delicious blogs. This is comfort food week in our house: tonight we are having pea and ham soup, tomorrow night is curry night and I am making Butter chicken and Mung bean dal (also known as moong dal), then wednesday night is bolognese night (also known as ragù alla bolognese), thursday mmm it gets a little fuzzy on thursday so I searched for ‘comfort food‘ and had an array of choices in front of me … the rest of the week it will be braised brisket, garlic soup with egg and Mexican meatball soup. Unless of course the weather turns hot again and in which case its back to chicken schnitzel and salad. (Images above)

Now onto other things…

I am reading…

[Thanks to publishers and distributors for sending me books to review, I don't get paid to post reviews but I am an amazon affiliate] (Australian’s can purchase craft books online through can do books or booktopia or else browse booko for the best prices.)

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Social: flickr :: facebook :: Twitter @whipup
Email: submit@whipup.net
We use and recommend Igloo self service ads: igloo

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