Tin Can Creations

Some time ago I posted a tutorial to make tin can flowers. Well, today I found a few other uses for tin cans (other than the recycle bin).
These creations are from Quilts and Art by Cheryl Check out her blog. She has some great ideas over there. If you do, be sure to tell her I sent you.   

                                        This caterpillar is adorable!

These creations are from Quilts and Art by Cheryl 
Check out her blog. She has some great ideas over there. If you do, be sure to tell her I sent you.
Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff
MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Friday Freebies Plushies from Pantyhose Patterns

How’s your week going? I’m still going through my stash. At this rate it will take me a few years. Anyway, I found this clipping from Family Circle, 6/21/83 for soft sculpture made from pantyhose I thought I would share. I love recycling and these creations are so cute.


        

Hope you find time, and pantyhose, to give these creations a try. Happy crafting!
Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff
MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Congrats to WoollySomething; CRAFTY Pattern Sale

Harvest Pumpkin Knitting Pattern

Congrats to WoollySomething, the winner of last week's MissEileen's Etsy Picks. I am looking forward to her interview.



October 1 started the big 40% off sale at GoofingOff shops on Etsy and Artfire. All toy, decorating, handbag, craft patterns, and kits in the TOYS, BAGS, KITS section are 40% off with the coupon code CRAFTY. Make sure you use the code.

Some of the most unique, totally cool patterns have already left the shop. I don't know if I will ever uncover patterns like those again so if you see something you like, let me know. I can hold it for you. Some patterns, like the junk food and smocked pillow patterns, are pretty rare. They're gone but there's still some pretty cool ones in the shop, like these:




Vintage 1970s Looney Tunes Stuffed Animals



Simplicity 5778 Stuffed Dolphin, Hippos, & Gators



Dog Coat, Hat, Bed, and Toys pattern



Canopy Designs Baby Bassinette



Etsy Picks Winner 4/1/11 Dawnorama

The Etsy Picks for April 1 yielded 2 winners, LemonLizard and Dawnorama….yup, we had a tie. LemonLizard’s creation was her incredible Bluebird Note Cards and Dawnorama’s creation was the Funky Pin Cushion. Here is Dawnorama’s interview.

 Funky Felt Pin Cushion

Tell us a bit about yourself  My name is Dawn Parizek... I live in Des Moines ( Clive) IA... I am a stay at home mom/artist/photographer/new crafter...

What are your favorite materials?   My favorite material, right now, is felt. But that is ever-changing...

What is your favorite color combination?  My favorite color combination, as of now, would have to be... navy blue and a light yellow...

  Funky, Felt Pincushion

What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why did you make it?  The first thing I ever remember making by hand... hmmmm... I remember making an Easter Bunny, with my grandma, out of a dish soap bottle... We made it together, for an Easter decoration... I don't really remember how we did it... or all of the materials we used... just kind of remember sitting with her...

What inspires you? Who is, or was, your greatest inspiration?   The more I think about what inspires me, the more I realize that it truly is my grandma. She died when I was 15... but she was always making stuff... sewing, knitting, crocheting, crafting... I think she was the head of her local Homemaker's of America group... or some such thing. She saved EVERYTHING... and then actually used it for something. I used to think I was verging on pack-rat status... because I would save things, to use for future projects... so I think I inherited her creativity and inventiveness...

 

Feathers 8x12 Photograph

Where do your ideas come from?  Where do my ideas come from... that's a good question... they kind of just happen...

What is your favorite thing to do with your creativity? My favorite thing to do with my creativity... again, it's ever changing. At this moment, I'm loving sewing pincushions. I was making yo-yos out of felt, and somehow stumbled onto making a pincushion... now it's a borderline obsession for me.

 Funky, Felt Pin Cushion

Why should people buy handmade? Any tips of wisdom on selling handmade items?  I think people should buy handmade for many reasons... I think it's nice to know who created and crafted something your purchasing, on an personal level. There's a connection with the crafter that you don't get when you buy from the mass-produced market. Handmade items are one-of -a-kind, which is very satisfying... it's a great feeling to look at something, in your home, and think, " No one else in the world has one exactly like this"... makes you feel special... Handmade is awesome for the environment... buying something that was made with recycled materials... buying something that wasn't manufactured in a big, old factory...
I'm really new to the whole handmade world... so I'm still learning... I would LOVE some tips myself...

What have been the most valuable lessons learned from other artists?  I have quite a few friends that are artists/crafters... Just watching them do what they do has been inspiring to me. My biggest take-away from them would have to be... Get yourself out there. Get on Etsy... get your butt into some craft shows... find some unique shops in your area that would be willing to sell your awesome creations... Facebook your stuff...

Apart from creating things, what do you do?   Aside from creating and crafting, I am a mom to 2 wild and crazy boys... so life is full of volunteering at school... sporting events... doing housework is not my forte', so I'm trying to get better at that... and I am married to the best guy in the world... who coaches our boys... plays drums in an awesome band... and takes care of me like no one else could... among many other things...
What are the Web addresses for your work?  You can find me on Etsy at : www.etsy.com/shop/Dawnorama ...and I am working on a website... www.dawnparizek.com ...

Are you offering my readers any specials?  I'd love to give your readers 10% off any orders... just have them mention your blog ...

Thank you, Dawnorama, for this wonderful interview. Your creations are wonderful.

Sewing with Nancy

I am a crafter. I fell in love with making things by hand when I was five years old. I remember receiving an embroidery kit with a little printed fabric, a hoop, threads, and a needle. I don’t remember who gave it to me or if I ever finished it but I remember working on it. I loved the thought of creating something by hand. It seemed so much more important than something I could buy at the store. I haven’t changed much in that respect. I still like to craft and create. It is my therapy. I am always looking to try new things and learn new crafts.
“So, what does that have to do with Sewing with Nancy?” you ask. Well, for all my want-to, I didn’t know how to sew. I tried and even took a sewing class in school. I just loved it but after that class ended I was on my own. My mother didn’t sew, she didn’t even know how to run a sewing machine. Good eye for fashion but not a crafter. My grandma knew how but she liked to crochet more so she taught me that. Still left me in the dark about sewing. I could read a book but for some reason the knowledge wouldn’t cross over to my hands. I could sew a straight seam (pretty much), and insert elastic but not a lot more. That is, until I found Nancy Zieman on PBS and her show, Sewing with Nancy. She took the mystery out of zipper insertions, buttonholes, and facings. All of a sudden I could finish a project and it looked good. I was making skirts, blouses, jeans, everything, and they didn’t look homemade. They looked good. I was so proud.
Nancy Zieman is the TV host of Sewing with Nancy, a half-hour TV show on PBS. The show has been on the air since 1982 and is the longest running sewing program on North American television. She creates patterns for the McCall’s Pattern Company like this one here.

McCall’s 2879 Easy Knit Wardrobe, sizes 8-22
She has a columns in sewing magazines. She doesn’t just show how to sew, she makes sewing make sense. She is a sewing queen with a needle in one hand and thread in the other, her throne is the chair in front of her sewing machine. Hail Nancy! Long may you reign!
I don’t sew much anymore. I bought a sewing machine that was supposed to do everything but pick out the fabric and it was a lemon. That darned machine spent more time in the shop than in my home. I finally sold it on EBay a long time ago just to get it away from me. It was that or it was going to be an anchor on one of the hubby’s boats. Since then I bought a cheap machine at Wally World, good enough to do what I want, which isn’t much anymore. Cost less than 1/30 of the other, still runs, and never spent a day in the shop (Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I might have jinxed myself). The lemon took the zeal out of my sewing passion (I should have said peel. lol, sorry, couldn’t help it).
I still have a bit of the sewing passion in me, though, especially when I see sewing patterns and fabric. I guess that’s evident when you look at my Etsy and Artfire shops with lots of vintage pattern and fabric listings. I don’t know much about sewing, at least compared to others, but I thank Nancy for what I do know. I can sew a zipper in 15 minutes or less and I can make it look good. Thank you, Nancy.

Post by Eileen Patterson of GoofingOff.etsy.com and GoofingOff.Artfire.com