Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Handmade costumes- are they a thing of the past?

I make my daughter's halloween costume every year. It is something that gives both my daughter and I a tremendous amount of joy. This year, she wanted to be a giraffe, and she wanted to go to the Halloween festivities at the Bronx Zoo.
Of course, once we got there, we HAD to go see her brothers and sisters:

As we walked around enjoying the day, we began to get a huge response from everyone there. Many people were amazed and impressed by her costume. What we also began to realize was that we were the ONLY ones there with a homemade, handmade costume.

My daughter walked around the zoo, pretending to be an exhibit escapee, and hamming it up with all the kids and adults. Many took pictures of themselves along with her in her costume. She was very happy and proud of all the attention she was getting.
We both began to wonder, and she flat out asked me why there weren't more homemade costumes. I was kind of surprised myself that there weren't more, or ANY for that matter. Are homemade costumes becoming a thing of the past? I ALWAYS made my costume when I was a kid. Store bought costumes seem so expensive to me too, for what they are. Of course, I understand the reasons behind it, we as parents in this day and age are so super busy. I can see how a costume would be a low priority on the list of important things to get done.

But you know what? My daughter was so ecstatic, it was worth every minute I spent fighting with the felt and my glue gun. It was worth it to stop working on my bills and my problems for an hour here and there, to see the look on her face when she put it on for the first time. When the day was over, she made me promise to never buy her a costume, to always make it with her. I urge more people out there to give it a try, you won't regret it. It may not come out as good as you want it to, or look kind of silly, but it won't beat the happy feeling you get out of it!
We had a wonderful time.
:)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Great Movie and Bad Art

By Crystal of Vintage by Crystal:

Last weekend I took a break from all the cotton spinning and Ben and I joined some friends to see "Where the Wild Things Are". It was a great movie and a fun night! The Somerville Theater was decked out in cobwebs and other Halloweeny things.

It was a wet, but warm night...my favorite. Perfect for being out and about.


The characters in the movie were wonderful and really looked like real life versions of the book! My favorite part? The giant dog they saw walking in the desert.


After the movie we ventured down to the Bad Art Museum they had in their basement. It was rather entertaining and some of the "bad art" was actually quite good...like this crazy clown! Very well rendered but certainly a little scary.


The frame on this one was really interesting.


Some tedious pointellism. Silly to think that someone did this much work to paint a man in his tighty whities.


A sweet portrait.

This one was certainly poorly rendered and I'm not quite sure what's going on here...any ideas?

This was a fabulous night out in New England!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Monday Mosaic - Blue and White


Icy cool blues and whites from Boston Handmade.

Nancyrosetta
All The Numbers
Reclaimed to You
MaJenta Designs
Sea Glass Things
Stonehouse Studio
Christine Marie Art
Bumble Belly
Fraske Designs
Lush Beads
Kerry Hawkins Photography
Lucie Wicker Photography

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Handmade Holidays

by Nicole of 83west


Now that Halloween is officially behind us, I feel like I can start fully looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. November kicks off Sew Mama Sew's third annual Handmade Holidays "event". Handmade Holidays is a tradition at Sew Mama Sew that is certainly not to be missed.
This event features amazing daily prizes, tutorials, printables and much more.

In years past, tutorials have been sorted by type of gift (2007) and recipient (2008). This year each day is dedicated to a gift-giving theme such as gifts to pamper, celebrate, remember, etc. If you need some ideas for gift giving or even simply just some inspiration, it is a great place to start.

Be sure to check out the archives for ideas from their prior Handmade Holidays events.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Language of Color

By: Alicia of Chroma Lab

I recently went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History, where they're hosting a special exhibit called "The Language of Color." I'm always looking for color inspiration for our furniture and clocks, so I was (dorkily) excited to move through the show and learn more about the important communicative role that color plays in the natural world. Also, you know, it's eye candy!


There's a really interesting video in the exhibition about how a zebra's stripes may function. A couple of theories: to allow the animals to blend into one another and confuse dangerous predatory animals, and to resist pesky flies, who can't distinguish the stripes with their multi-lensed eyes (ew).


Most of us could probably guess that male butterflies, like other animals, have evolved their flashy colors to attract mates. But I learned in the exhibition that females are also drawn to UV-reflective markings on males, which are invisible to the human eye. Makes you wonder what else we're missing out on, huh?

So what did I learn about our furniture based on the exhibition's instruction? Let's find out:

Many birds (like flamingos and goldfinches) are the same colors as the food they ingest. Clearly, this Super Blue Writing Desk has eaten a diet consisting primarily of blue M&Ms. Even the inside is a chocolate-y brown. However, tests show the desk will neither melt in your mouth, nor in your hand.

Much like zebras, this clock must have developed its stripes over time to confuse predators. When in a large pack, their boundaries blurred, predators can't for the life of them read the time, rendering them hopelessly late for important appointments.

And speaking of camouflage, judging by the colorful squares on these pieces, I'd say we're looking at a genuine pair of wild confetti factory dressers. Very rare, indeed!

You can catch "The Language of Color" exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History until March 28, 2010.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Return to Dwight and Nile

by Jaye of Thirteenth Story

My cousin, David, is the director of a new documentary about a plane crash that happened in 1978. The film was recently previewed for feedback by a select audience in Dedham, MA, and since then I hear it has been picked-up by PBS in San Diego. The studio is called Nantascot Films.

The poster is 18" x 24" - one of my largest ever.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

My visit to the Fairbanks House, Dedham, MA

by Kerry of Kerry Hawkins Photography

My friend Steph and I took a tour of the Fairbanks house, several weeks ago. They don't allow photos inside this historic home. I took a few photos of the home and grounds. It was built in 1641, originally historians thought it was 1636. It is thought to be the oldest timber frame building in North America. It was an interesting tour and a look into american life over the centuries. I have lived in Dedham for a total of twelve years and have never visited the house.
Finally, I rectified this and took the tour.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Dress Up Your Holiday...Packages

by Amy of Bumble Belly Designs

Get your family and friends drooling at the mailbox by dressing up your gift shipments with fancy tape and labels from Tape Swell. I love to get packages and to receive one that is also beautiful on the outside only increases the anticipation!


Meet Eileen and learn more about Tape Swell on The Daily Grommet


And check out all the "Tacky Ideas" on her web site - Fun!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Make the Most of Your Etsy Shop with These Tools

By Bexx of White Sparrow Bindery

Five Third -Party Etsy Tools I Couldn't Live Without:

1. #!etsyhacks – etsyhacks provides a variety of tools that enable you to make your Etsy shop more efficient. A few of my favorite tools:

*Copy listing – Copy an existing listing with one click!

*Fast Tagger – Allows you to add all of your tags at once

*Edit This Item – Lets you edit and item from the “view listings” page.

Etsyhacks also has features that allow you to bulk upload photos, and see a buyer’s shipping address on the “sold” page, and more!

2. Craftcult – Craftcult’s Heart-O-Matic, lets you track hearts and views in your etsy shop, and also lets you know if your shop has been featured on the front page, gift guides, or Storque. Definately an addicting tool.

3. Craftopolis - Think you might be featured in a treasury but don't want to search through dozens of pages on the sometimes painfully slow treasury server? Then head over to Craftopolis and use the Treasure Hunt feature to search the treasury for you shop. There's also a Treasure Clock, which lets you know how soon a treasury will be opening up.

4. Craftweasel – Has a useful tag finder tool to helps you find the best tags for your item. Also shows your shop stats in helpful graph form, and lets you search for similar items.

5. Etsy Fee Calculatr – Use this site to calculate how much you’ll be charged in Etsy and Paypal fees, determine your profits , or to figure out how much you need to list an item for in order to cover your costs.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Monday Mosaic- Animals

Take a trip to the Zoo with these animal themed items from the members of Boston Handmade!
Nancyrosetta
Mimi Kirchner
Muchacha K
MaJenta Designs
Bumble Belly
The Hole Thing
Kerry Hawkins Photography
Vintage By Crystal
Fraske Designs
White Sparrow Bindery
Lush Beads
Lucie Wicker Photography