Instagram photo books

Posted in Paper, Photos, Stuff to make by Margaret Muirhead

More summer fun projects–Instagram antics! I’m trawling through the (seemingly endless) camera roll on my Iphone and modifying my favorites on Instagram (see above: first grade Crazy Hair Day). What I like about Instagram: turning all images into squares and filtering them circa 1976–and yes, one of the filters is called 1976. Once I get to 72 images, I plan to make a set of these wee photo albums from Printstagram (you get 3 tiny books for $10).

I also love this photo book by Elizabeth Kartchner at Dear Lizzy. She used Blurb to create her paperback album and had the savvy idea to keep some pages blank to write in captions and anecdotes by hand.

18Jun2013

Summer Craft Camp

Posted in Fabric printing, Kids, Stuff to make by Margaret Muirhead

School’s out! (In 9 days–but who’s counting?) My list of summer hopes & plans grows with each passing minute. First on my list? Something frivolous & impractical that I can do with my kids like . . . build this children’s summer teepee by Courtney Cerruti from Creativebug! Creativebug offers online D.I.Y. tutorials for a fee, but this summer the site is featuring family-friendly “craft camp”–free video workshops of stuff to do with kids. Other workshops include making clothespin dolls with Amy Karol or Shrinky Dink earrings with Nicole Blum.

8Jun2013

Knitting in the summer

Posted in Stuff to make by brigitdermott

Why do I get interested in knitting as soon as the weather gets brutishly hot? Maybe it’s the sitting still part of knitting and long and lazy summer days? Or the portability of a knitting project? Anyway, I’ve been thinking about delving into some knitting and I was so happy to have stumbled upon Quince and Co in my pinterest travels. Don’t you think these cardis are lovely? Of course, I love the stripes.

1Jun2013

Quilt photography

Posted in Photos, Quilting, Stuff to make by brigitdermott

I don’t want to confess how many hours I’ve spent trying to take some decent photos of my new quilt. It seems improbably difficult. The colors in this quilt are so pretty in person–not really a bright tomato red but a more subtle coral. I know most people take pictures of their quilts outdoors (hooray for natural light!), but I was so taken with the photography in Denyse Schmidt’s new book Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration that I wanted to try some interior photos. I just opened my Etsy shop (Brigit Gail), which except for the photography, is incredibly easy. Etsy recommends five photos per listing–compounding my difficulties. Here is the essential close-up….

I think these photos turned out pretty well, but I have a bright pink quilt that is harder to capture than a unicorn. I’m off to try hanging it on a wall to see if I have any better results.

30May2013

Painted Rocks Round Up

Posted in Stuff to make by Margaret Muirhead

Rock art is a perfect project for hunchbacked, myopic beach combers like myself. I mean, what to do with those treasured stockpiles of rocks anyway? Don’t even get me started about the shells.

To make these garden markers, I grabbed what I had on hand–rocks, black Sharpie, white gel pen, and Mod Podge. The white gel pen didn’t last long–I’ve since read that white paint markers work far better. I’m going to make more–there’s something so appealing about doodling on a rock! Here are some other nifty ideas: