Swap is Closed!

Wow, you guys are super fast! The swap is now closed! I will be swapping with:

1. Kris of http://www.everywhereorange.com/
2. @JaxOrganics of http://www.jaxorganics.posterous.com
3. Amanda of Beetle Britches
4. Jenny of http://handsfullofhappiness.blogspot.com/
5. Shannon of http://bubbaandpooks.blogspot.com/


Thank you guys! I am finishing up my questionnaire and will be contacting each of you via e-mail later today!

Swap With Me!

************SWAP IS CLOSED************

In my last post I proposed doing a craft swap with some of the readers of this blog where I make something for you and you make something for me. Here are the details:

This craft swap is for any type of craft and is limited to 5 participants, including up to 2 international* participants. I will list participants below in the order in which I receive the questionnaires. The swap will be between myself and each participant (I will make 5 items, one for each participant. Each participant will make one item for me, me, me!). Once 5 people sign up, I will close the swap.

The projects should:
be small enough to fit into a 6"x9" bubble mailer envelope
take less than 3 hours to complete
cost less than $15 to make
be in the mail and postmarked by October 8, 2010


Participants:

1. Kris of http://www.everywhereorange.com/
2. @JaxOrganics of http://www.jaxorganics.posterous.com
3. Amanda of Beetle Britches
4. Jenny of http://handsfullofhappiness.blogspot.com/ 
5. Shannon of http://bubbaandpooks.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE ONLY PARTICIPATING IN THE SWAP IF YOUR NAME IS LISTED ABOVE.
I will e-mail you with confirmation that you are in, and I will give you my answers to the questionnaire. Please make sure that my e-mail address, sadsilver@gmail.com,  is listed in your "Contacts" so it doesn't end up in your Spam/Junk folder.

Also, I will be blogging about this swap, both the projects I make and the projects I receive. This could include pictures, links, names and answers from your questionnaire. I will not include addresses/contact info, however, if you are very private, please don't sign up.


*U.S., Canada and APO/FPO addresses will count as "Domestic" and all other countries are considered "International"

The Questionnaire

Please copy and fill out this questionnaire, and e-mail it to me (DO NOT POST IN COMMENTS) at sadsilver@gmail.com with the subject "Craft Swap":

Real name:
Screen name and/or name used in comments:
What name do you prefer for me to call you on my blog:
Blog address, if applicable:
Email address:
Complete mailing address, including postcode and country:

Are you at least 16 years old (YES/NO)?
If NO, please provide a parent or legal guardian's e-mail address so that I can get his/her consent:
Do you (or does anyone in your household) have any allergies (YES/NO)?
If YES, please specify:

What types of crafts do you do?
Tell me about yourself in 3 sentences:
1.
2.
3.
Favorite colors and color schemes?
Least favorite colors?
Favorite themes and styles (vintage, goth, modern, victorian, messy, clean, etc.)?
Least favorite themes and styles?
Five of your favorite things in the whole world:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Places online where I can stalk you and get an idea of who you are and what you like (blog, Flickr, Etsy shop or Etsy favorites, wists, etc.):
Anything else I should know about you?

If you would like clothing or wearable items, please give the following measurements for them:
wrist?
ankle?
bust?
waist?
hip?
foot?
inseam?
head?
arm measurement from wrist to elbow?

************SWAP IS CLOSED************

Cape for Brandon & a Grand Idea

 I almost forgot to post this! This was the other thing I made for my Craftster swap partner. She has a 3-year-old son named Brandon, so I made him a cape with a big old letter B.

So, I have a little idea rolling around in my head, and I was hoping to get some feedback. I loved doing this craft swap. It was cool to have a set of parameters to work within, and have a specific person that I was making something for. So I was wondering if any of you guys would be interested in doing a swap with me? I haven't worked out the details in full, but I was thinking that the projects could be any type of craft, but it would have to be small enough to fit into a 6x9" bubble envelope. We'd answer some questions about each other, and then I'd make something for you and you'd make something for me.

Anyone want to play? If there is enough interest, I'll hash out the details.

Work In Progress Tote

One of my favorite craft sites is Craftster.org. I recently participated in my first Organized Craft Swap. The basics of a craft swap are that you sign up for a swap with a specific theme (in this case, it was "Yarnies vs. Sewists"), answer a questionnaire, and then a moderator will pair you up with another crafter. You are given basic parameters based on the theme (how much to make, how big the project(s), what materials/type of craft, etc.) and by your partner's questionnaire answers (favorite colors, styles, etc.) then you craft away! On or before the deadline, you make up a package and send it off to your partner and then eagerly watch the mailbox waiting for your package.
My partner's favorite color combo is red & black, and she preferred something non-girly. Styles she likes are rock, goth and steampunk. That was kind of challenge for me, as my style more vintage modern and I love light colors! But there is a Goth that lurks deep within my soul (wish I had pics of my Robert Smith worship days). I decided to do a Dias de los Muertos theme, and I made a WIP tote for her crochet projects based off of my original Monster Art Totes that I made awhile back. I found some great Alexander Henry fabric that fit my theme, and I lined the tote and made the side panels from it.

I also made a crochet hook book to fit inside the inside pocket of the tote. It is fleece and soft to protect the finish of her hooks.

I made a little something for her 3-year-old son, as well, but that will have to wait to post here because I have to pick up my 3-year-old son from summer school :)

Family Portrait

I just had to share this, as it was inspired by my last project.

by Huck, age almost 4
Family portrait: Upside-down head Daddy, hobby Mama, upside-down head hobby Huck and six-eyed hobby Milo

Hobby Horse

On a recent visit to a friend's house, Huck got very attached to a hobby horse. So attached that we ended up taking it home with us. That sparked an idea off in my head, and I started to draft a pattern for my own stick horse. My original plan was to make this as a Toy Society drop, but Huck really likes it, so I may have to just make a new one.

Of course, this is my first go at this, so I see lots of things I can do to make my next one better. Less forehead, wider snout, crimp the ears so they stand up more. I'm happy with the mane-I found an amazing yarn store close to home where I plan to spend a lot of money. I'm still trying to figure out a way to properly attach the head. It pops off now and then. Hot glue, maybe. Inside and around the base (so it is stuck to the fabric as well as the stuffing inside). Steve suggested stuffing a bunch of red yarn on the inside so when the head pops off, the red yarn all falls out.

Here's Huck modeling it. And for those of you who wonder why I only use Huck as a model, I'll have you know that I dressed Milo to match the horse in a teal blue shirt and brown shorts and a brown & blue baseball cap, but when I tried to get him to "ride" it, he threw it on the ground and screamed "NO, MAMA!" and then ran off to the swings. Models!

Zipper Strap Lunch Sack Tutorial

The lunch sack tutorial is finally complete! This is a little different from the original Snack Sack that I made for Huck. After some use, I discovered several problems with the original bag and I had to do some experimentation to come up with the solutions. First of all, you'll notice that this is a bigger/taller lunch sack. I wanted something more diverse, so this one has the option of being a full sized lunch bag, or folding it down to make a smaller snack sack. Next, I changed the strap. The single strap on the original sack, attached at the center, simply doesn't work well. It flops around and doesn't stay put over the shoulder. Since the strap was attached only at two points (top and bottom centers) it also tended to try to migrate under Huck's armpit and turn upside down. Not good. So after some thought, and looking at single-shoulder backpacks, I figured out that I needed to attach the top at two points-the sides of the bag-and at the bottom. I also discovered that a zipper makes an ideal strap. You can zip it completely to make it a handle, partially zip it and wear it over one shoulder, or unzip completely and wear it as a backpack! And finally, I took some advice from comments here and on Craftster that suggested using a piece of plastic embroidery canvas to stiffen up the bottom.
The result is a very diverse, reusable lunch bag and/or snack sack.
Since this is sooooo image heavy, I decided that Flickr would be the best way to present the tute:

Visit Flickr to see the full tutorial

I hope you enjoy, and, as always, if you make one for yorself, please post it to my Flickr group! I love, love, love seeing what you do with my tutorials!

The Fine Print: Please remember that all tutorials, patterns and projects on Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! are for personal use only and may not be distributed commercially without my permission. Make them for yourself, make them for your friends, hand them out at your kid’s birthday party, but please don’t sell them without my permission. Making objects from my patterns for charitable donations is also okay, as long as you do not exceed 25 pieces for that purpose. If you want to make larger quantities or sell objects made from this pattern, please contact me for licensing information at sadsilver@gmail.com. For independent handmade sellers, I ask for a nominal fee ($5-$10/year) and a design credit. Thanks!

Aaaaand we're back! BIG WINNER TIME!

You didn't think I'd really let it slip before noon did you?

Okay, are you really ready now? Big congratulations to

EMILY SIMMONS!

Emily Simmons of One Prince, One Princess, COME ON DOWN! You've just won a fabulous Rainbow Doll! I will be contacting you very soon and handing you off to Megan of Rainbow Dolls to work out the shipping details. And remember, spay and neuter your pets!

Thank you to Megan of Rainbow Dolls for this awesome giveaway and Alison of Avi & Tali for providing the beautiful fairy dress. Please check out their Etsy shops and support handmade! And a very special thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and referred your friends. I was blown away by the response. 547 entries! Yowzas! Welcome to those of you who have found your way here because of this giveaway-this blog is a pretty cool place to hang, if I do say so myself, and I hope you stick around for awhile :)

Congrats again, Emily. I'll contact you soon!

Rainbow Dolls Giveaway WINNER!

And after 547 entries and 10 days of my Blackberry going absolutely nuts (every comment made it beep!), and just a *touch* of carpal tunnel from all of the copying and pasting comments from my e-mail into a Word document to get the entries sorted out (thanks for screwing up, Blogger!). Our big winner of the Alison the Cupcake Fairy from Rainbow Dolls is. . . . . . . . wait for it. . . . Oh, I'm sorry, we have to go to commercial.

Quick Update

Hi, everyone!
The Rainbow Dolls giveaway has been overwhelmingly popular. I'm so excited to see who will win beautiful Alison! Unfortunately, there seems to be some issues with Blogger's comment system in that not all of the comments are appearing on the post page. I've gone all over the Blogger Help forums and Blogger is "working on it." Whatever that means!
In the meantime, I wanted to assure everyone that every comment that has been written does get e-mailed to me, so even if you don't see your comment showing up, I have received your entries.
That said, I'm pushing back the announcement a few hours to noon, Pacific time on Tuesday because I am now going to have to manually sift through over 500 entries (maybe even more by Monday night :), take out extra comments, split up multiple entries in a single comment, and make sure all of the referral names get counted. It's going to be a bigger job than I had originally anticipated. Plus, I have to get my kid up and ready for summer school on Tuesday morning-so a 9:00 AM announcement just ain't happening!
Remember, you still have the rest of today and Monday to get more entries into the giveaway. Good luck to all who have entered!

Oh! Also, I finished taking pics of my lunch sack tutorial and that should go up this week. Excitement abounds!

That is all.

Carry on.