pies and gossamer thread trees
November 30, 2009 at 12:17 pm | In I love to make things..., books and mags, button it up, chatty, cooking is crafty too, holidays | 8 CommentsI hope you had a lovely holiday (or if you are not here in the US, a lovely regular) weekend! Our Thanksgiving was a very welcome break from an overwhelming wave of work, and we had a nice time cooking way too much food for ourselves and Pearl, and then getting to hang out with friends later in the evening for dessert. I even made my first homemade pie crust thanks to my friend Robin’s expert tutoring — my pie looked like this going into the oven with the pretty swirly crust edging,
but it came out of the oven with crazy uneven crust edging.
Regardless of how pretty it was(n’t), it tasted good. I was happy with my first attempt at real buttery pastry dough and I will definitely be baking a pie for Christmas dinner too! Maybe with a little less filling next time.
Speaking of Christmas-y stuff, each of the six of us who contributed to Crafty Tree Trimmings (me, Diane, Kayte, Betz, Patricia, and Linda) are making our own versions of another crafter’s ornament this month — to start things off, I hosted a little get-together in my living room for the Portland ladies and our distinguished Philadelphian visitor. Kayte made my ornament, Diane made Linda’s, and I made Diane’s — the gossamer thread trees!
Diane’s instructions are marvelous — it was super fun to make my little trees. My additional tips are: 1) use serger thread if you have it handy (it winds more smoothly than a small thread spool), 2) if your fabric stiffener is watery, add a little Aleene’s Tacky Glue to improve the consistency, and 3) if you need holiday inspiration, listen to this box set while you are ornament-ing.
It was a very well-documented craft session (as you can see by three cameras in action) — in fact, you will see posts all week from my fellow ornament-makers!
I made a set of three trees in mint green, red and silver and varied the sizes by wrapping the thread lower on the cone on some (red, silver) than others (mint green).
I converted Diane’s lovely hanging ornament version to mantel decorations, I like having my tiny forest out before my Christmas tree is officially up.
I also added a final coat of Sparkle Mod Podge to make mine glittery,
and since I can never resist the siren call of buttons in my crafts, I made a little extra decoration for my trees, a white glittered felt star topper with a pearl button on each one. The little tutorial I wrote to make them is up over here on my button blog if you’re interested!
If you have had a chance to make an ornament from the Crafty Tree Trimmings e-book, please add it to the flickr pool! We would love to see it. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported the project by buying a copy of the book, or posting about it — we are so excited that our donation to Project Linus is growing, and very appreciative of our crafty community!
p.s. The book is only available until December 31st, so if you have your eye on it, be sure to snap it up before then!
crafty writers talking
September 16, 2009 at 3:04 pm | In bead simple, books and mags, button it up, chatty, crafty events, free crafty, oregon | 1 CommentWe’ve been on a pretty blissful eastern Oregon vacation for the last week and off the computer and the cell phone circuit, but I’m back in Portland and loving this gorgeous summer-fall weather… I’m already thinking about Halloween costumes and making a new quilt and tempting stuff like that.
I also wanted to let anyone local know that this coming Sunday (September 20) I’ll be part of Crafty Writers Talking, a panel with Alicia Paulson and Diane Gilleland over at Hollywood Library on books, blogs, craftiness and everything in between. I am really looking forward to it and honored to be on the panel with these two superstars, and would love to say hello if you can make it! All the info is over here and it starts at 2:00.
I’ll be back with more crafty stuff later on this week too… it’s been a crazy end of the summer but I have gotten to do a few things I’m excited about!
p.s. I recently made the not-so-fun decision to change all my photos of Pearl to friends and family only on flickr after an incident where one of them was taken off the site and republished without my consent. Things are resolved now, but I do have a bunch of holes here where the formerly public photos were — I’m leaving a few up where she is a small part of a larger photo for now, but that may change too. So please bear with me while I do some blog-mending over the next while, and my apologies in advance if the re-edited posts all show up on readers again or anything like that.
bead + button jewelry loveliness
July 29, 2009 at 11:30 am | In bead simple, button it up, oregon, washington | 1 CommentThis week has been so ridiculously hot that I can’t seem to get it together to post much of anything, and I haven’t had the energy to write about the wonderful Denyse Schmidt workshop I took (Amy, who is much more industrious than I am, has a fantastic post about it here with tons of photos). But I do have some photos to share from the Bead + Button Jewelry class I taught last week — my students were wonderful, and everyone made really lovely things in our four days together. It was such a joy to be part of it!
All my snapshots of the finished pieces are in this set and the Summer of Making pool. Thank you so much to Patti, Dee, Marty, Mandi, Aya, Sandra, and Hannah for being part of the class, and a special thank-you to Diane and Hannah for guest-teaching their bead and wire crochet and structural wire approaches, too!
Speaking of beads and buttons, I’m getting ready for Urban Craft Uprising this weekend (in substantially cooler-sounding Seattle, hooray) and I’ll post more about that tomorrow! I’d love to say hi and make some button hairclips with you if you’re planning on attending the fair on Saturday…
quilts squared
July 10, 2009 at 1:29 pm | In art and craft, bead simple, button it up, chatty, crafty events, oregon | 2 CommentsThis month is filled with quilt events and exhibits all over Oregon. Here are the ones I’m going to in the next few weeks — if you are nearby, you might want to check some of them out too!
This afternoon, Pearl and I are meeting some friends to see the Quilts of Gee’s Bend exhibit at Elizabeth Leach Gallery, which includes both quilts and archival prints! I am so excited to see this show. I saw a big show of the Gee’s Bend Quilts at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco several years ago and it was incredible. The Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland also has a larger Gee’s Bend show this month and I am already planning a trip down…
Speaking of trips, Andrew, Pearl and I are heading to Sisters this weekend to see the world-famous Outdoor Quilt Show — we will miss yet another Gee’s Bend event that’s going on earlier this week, but will get to see a whole Saturday’s worth of quilts! I’m really looking forward to it, I’ll be taking tons of pictures and I’ll post them next week. While we’re there, I’m also going to see the “Patterns from the Past” show at the High Desert Museum in Bend — a collection of seventeen quilts made by Southern women from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War eras…
…and the exhibit includes a communal quilt that visitors can embellish or stitch on, a lot like the wonderful Stitch-O-Rama tablecloth we embroidered at craft events in Portland in 2006 as part of the New Embroidery: Not Your Grandma’s Doily show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft.
The Museum is also hosting a lecture by Denyse Schmidt which should be phenomenal, on Friday, July 17th at 5:30pm . It precedes her two-day workshop, which I am thrilled to be taking. I’ve always wanted to take her Connecticut-studio class and now that she’s coming to Portland, I am so excited to learn new color and quilting techniques!
The museum has an exhibit upstairs in the Lab with one of her quilts and work from the other teachers in the Summer of Making program. I am so honored that four pieces of my jewelry from Bead Simple and Button It Up are displayed in front of the quilt — Denyse is one of my craft heroes!
Just a reminder, too, that you can still enter to win a free spot in my Bead + Button Jewelry class through tomorrow. I’d love to see some fellow crafters there so if you’re blessed with a flexible schedule and want to spend four days making pretty things and learning new jewelry and embellishment techniques, please leave a comment on the Summer of Making post or on their Facebook page!
Thank you again to PNCA and the museum for putting on the Summer of Making, with a special thank-you to Josh, who has curated such a lovely program.
win a free class in the Summer of Making!
July 8, 2009 at 3:10 pm | In bead simple, button it up, free crafty, oregon | 3 CommentsI’m very grateful to PNCA for generously offering up a spot in my Bead + Button Jewelry class for someone to win — the winner will take the class for free, with all tuition and fees are covered, a $275 value! Just leave a comment here on their blog, on their Facebook page, or mention it on your own blog or Facebook by this Saturday, and you are entered in the drawing. All the details are here.
The class meets July 20-23 from 10am – 3pm at the college, and you can find out lots more information and download the class syllabus here. I’m very excited about it! I would love to see some crafty friends there, so if you’re interested in learning new jewelry and embellishment craft techniques, and having a whole four days to try all of them out, please go ahead and comment there!
The other Summer of Making classes are all so fantastic — Artful Blogging (which meets every Wednesday night, so convenient), By Hand: Needlework + Macrame, and Contemporary Fiber Arts.
Thank you again to PNCA for hosting this program and for offering the chance to win a class!
summer of making
June 5, 2009 at 1:54 pm | In I love to make things..., art and craft, bead simple, button it up, crafty events, oregon | Leave a CommentI’m very happy to be part of the Summer of Making next month at the wonderful PNCA here in Portland!
The Continuing Education department has put together a fantastic line-up of classes, and they’re offering a very generous giveaway this week if you help spread the word about them…
from the blog:
We have a nice package of promotional items to give away. This includes a signed copy of Susan Beal’s Button It Up, Denyse Schmidt’s Quilt-It Kit, a yard of County Fair, Patchwork Promenade Print by Denyse Schmidt and a Summer of Making Poster. To win leave a comment on the blog, become a fan of Summer of Making on Facebook or mention us on your Facebook profile or blog. You will get one entry for each of these (maximum of 4). We will randomly select the winner June 21.
I am very honored to be one of the teachers alongside some of my favorite crafters. Denyse Schmidt is coming to teach a two-day workshop, which I am so excited to take! Jess Beebe is teaching By Hand: Needlework and Macrame, Sarah Schlosser-Moon is teaching Artful Blogging, Brenda Mallory is teaching Contemporary Fiber Art, and I am teaching Bead and Button Jewelry.
I’m so excited about this class. We’ll have four days to work on jewelry, beading and embellishment techniques of all types, a luxurious amount of time to make things! Bead + Button Jewelry meets Monday through Thursday, July 20-23 from 10-3 in a nice big classroom with natural light at PNCA — all the details are here.
from the website:
In this hands-on class, students will learn and practice a range of beading, jewelry-making and embellishment techniques, including wirework, stringing, weaving, knotting, gluing, hand-sewing, and other craft methods. Bring in your own favorite pieces to design around, complementing them with vintage and new beads, buttons, findings, chain, fabric, and other materials from Susan’s collection.
Aside from the nuts and bolts of practical making, we’ll focus on color, balance, arrangements, and intuitive design – creating a collection of jewelry and other crafts that bring your treasures to life. With four days to work together, we’ll create a collection of instant favorites for gifts or for yourself, while building a strong foundation for designing future projects with your new skills.
The projects we create will reflect each student’s personal sense of style and other favorite elements – instead of a cookie-cutter approach, each designer will enjoy the flexibility to focus on what he or she prefers.
If you want to know more about any of the classes, you can download a syllabus for each one on its page at the Summer of Making site. And if you have any questions about mine in particular, please ask away over here!
One last thing: if you are interested in taking Bead + Button Jewelry, I would be thrilled to have some crafty friends in the class. If anyone who registers mentions that they read my blog or either of my book sites (or have checked out my flickr, or know me through Portland stuff) I will put together a special package of vintage beads and buttons as a thank-you! You can leave a comment here or just let me know the first day of class, and I’ll put something fun together with some of your favorite colors and styles and bring it for you to craft with the second day and beyond.
p.s. I’m cross-posting this announcement on my Button It Up and Bead Simple sites, too, so sorry for the exact repetition if you see it more than once, but since the class ties together techniques from both of my books, I’d like to spread the word in all directions!
button it up at Maker Faire!
May 28, 2009 at 2:34 pm | In books and mags, button it up, california, crafty events, free crafty | 2 CommentsWell, the good news is that Button It Up will be at Maker Faire this weekend! Yay!
Somewhat more of a bummer is that I won’t be there myself. I was so excited to go, and then instead of the family vacation we’d planned, things downgraded to me wrangling a lively toddler solo while flying, button-ing, and Maker Faire-ing. So I had to regretfully cancel my own plans, but lucky for me, my lovely friend (and bona fide button hairclip expert and book contributor) Diane Gilleland offered to teach my demo! So I brought over a box of buttons and a bunch of other sparkly bits
and I know it will be awesome!
I am so grateful that she is going to lead the crafty half-hour of power — and that CRAFT: will be selling copies of my book in the Maker Shed. I really appreciate the support for my book and my crafts — thank you to Diane and everyone at Maker Faire, especially Natalie, Rachel, and Dan, for making it happen with me a whole state away!
All the details for the Buttoning It Up demo are here, and it is in the Craft Demo area from 4-4:30 on Sunday afternoon. If you’re at the Faire, I hope you’ll stop by and make yourself something pretty!
I can’t believe how many amazing demos are going on , and I would love to see what you make if you stop by any of them! I’ll be glued to the CRAFT: blog and flickr to see some peeks at the awesomeness.
Diane will be teaching this cool little Maker Notebook project at the Provo Craft booth. Stop by and make a whole bunch of good things with her, Michaela, Jennifer and Jeff.
Cathy Callahan will be teaching Vintage-Inspired Paper-Mache — so cool.
I would love to know a few of Kathy Cano Murillo’s Secret Tips for Using Craft Supplies!
and I’m sure Michaela Murphy’s Kids Crafts: Story-Telling will be amazing too.
And in the world of needle arts (a personal favorite of mine), there are so many incredible workshops: Rachel Hobson’s Embroidery 101, Bonnie Burton’s Star Wars Sock Puppets, Craft Leftovers’ Mending 101, and Moxie’s Plush Monsters. Wow!
Okay, I’m already getting excited for Maker Faire 2010!
busting out your buttons with Jennifer Perkins!
May 21, 2009 at 1:29 pm | In button it up, chatty, house crafty | Leave a CommentI wanted to mention over here that the lovely and talented Jennifer Perkins has posted a book review and giveaway for Button It Up, plus an interview she did with me about button shopping, button-stash organizing, crafting with a Pearl in tow, and some of my favorite recent projects.
You can enter to win a copy of the book by next Tuesday right here… thanks so much, Jennifer!
The other big news around here is that we’ve already started eating greens out of the garden! I wish I had some good photos to show, but we always eat dinner so late that the light is scarce and nothing looks that great. Maybe this weekend I can make something cool during the day. My five-year-old self would be shocked that I am voluntarily eating (and growing!) collard greens, after the much-hated three bites I always had to have at holiday dinners, but they are so good. I really didn’t like collards at all until I was 24 years old, I still remember the amazing dinner that converted me.
Also exciting (to me at least) is that I joined Ravelry and found some button groups to hang out in! I have exactly two finished objects to my name (which is susanstars, if anyone wants to be crafty buddies over there) and maybe three more I haven’t taken photos of. Yes, I’ve been knitting for nine years, why do you ask?
pearl (button) crafting
May 8, 2009 at 1:40 pm | In I love to make things..., button it up, chatty, crafting with kids, holidays | 3 Comments
Handmade Nation news!
March 31, 2009 at 6:51 pm | In art and craft, button it up, crafty events, oregon | Leave a CommentLast Sunday night, I helped make pennants and fill goody bags for the Handmade Nation premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Craft! I snapped a few photos if you want a peek…
The gocco prints and lettering are by the fabulous Kate Bingaman-Burt and the bags are courtesy of CraftStylish and Princeton Architectural Press, the publisher of the Handmade Nation book. The crafty contents were donated by dozens and dozens of indie designers — you can see a list of them here.
There is a fantastic article on the film in the Oregonian today, and the first two shows (Friday and Saturday) are already sold out! And Sunday’s new show at 5:30 was selling so well that the museum has added an additional show at 3:00 — very cool.
I can’t wait for this weekend!
ps: if you’d like to check it out, my little button-hairclip segment from this morning is already up on the AM Northwest site — just click “crafting with buttons” to see the video.
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