The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

 Alright... I finally made the tutorial, so... no more hassling me about it. Okay? Whew. ::wink:: Add caption Voila! Enjoy the praise of your genius... and be sure to tell them all it's really my genius that you're just borrowing. 

Here's a little tutorial I've had sitting in my laptop for about 6 months. I found this... whatever... at the thrift store and bought it thinking I'd use it on So You Think You're Crafty. I didn't, but I do use it to hold all of my fly away recipes, even though I'm not sure I like it's current career. The varnish is what keeps the paint from sticking... that's what you want to sand off, unless you want an entirely new look without any hint of shabby, then sand it all down. Try to avoid the cheap spray paint... it's a total waste of your .96 cents. This thing sat on my counter for about a month before I decided to stamp it. Then it sat for another month before I decided to cover it all in paper. In the end I am quite happy with the results.

Did anyone guess which project was mine? I'm sure my super secret model didn't give any clues at all. Once again I was smack dab in the middle of the pack. Neither the best nor the worst. I'm wondering how long a person can hang on this way? This weeks and next weeks projects I'm nervous about. Not because they are bad crafts. I think both of them are excellent ideas, I just can't deliver well. If I had the camera, the energy and the brain cells with which to advertise my product I am confident they would be fantastic. But I am a woman of limited means. :) Anywho. Go over and vote.... see if you can spot which one is mine. Here's the link-- SYTYC . My model was fantastic last week! I got some awesome pictures of her dramatic littleness that I just couldn't wait to show on my blog. Isn't she just fabulous?! Okay, so my brain cell shortage has made me exceptionally tired the last few days, so I am going to go zone out on my bed or something....

This was my week two craft for So You Think You're Crafty. I placed third that week for this one. I thought you might enjoy finding out how I made it. I tried about a million different decorations before settling on one that didn't drown out my rings. I wanted them to the focal point. This is also why I went with black fabric and not something more vivid. Don't be intimidated by the lack of 101 I'm giving you. It really is a straight forward sort of project. If you know how to use a glue gun without burning yourself you can do this. Just be sure to dust off your imaginative brain space first. :) The one important thing you might be wondering is how I got the pink fabric to stick to the shoe. I really just Mod Podged it on. There are several different ways to make ring tubes that you can find online. One I saw used that colored foam paper stuff that you find in the kids craft section. I thought that might have been easier, but I had scraps o...

Okay, so I did pretty well last week with my altered shoe, but my roommate 'M' thinks I got shafted and should have taken it. She's nice. Then, after I took all the pictures and sent my submission in, I finished decorating the other shoe and wished I'd submitted that one as well (sorry no pictures of that one). I gave it to a friend as a gift, though, and she seems pretty darn happy. As for this pink lady... she's already packed for the move. That's how it's working around here. Not only am I challenged by the themes, I have an added personal challenge of coming up with things that I'll actually want to pack and move across the country. Ha. I'm insane. So this week on So You Think You're Crafty  the theme is ' Knock Off' , and I'm really not confident in my craft. NOT because I don't think it's a good job, but I had a bunch of crafting failures on this one and that takes a toll on a persons confidence. Anyhow... ...

NOTE: There is now a full tutorial for how to make these. Just go here. I've been waiting to post this blog today for Missy at So You Think You're Crafty to post hers. I gotta tell you guys.... YOU WERE ALL WRONG! I couldn't believe my eyes when that book lamp starting getting all these votes and you guys kept telling me how you were just soooo sure it was mine. Even my own sister's! I know, I know, it was all done out of love. So now that you realize the book lamp wasn't mine, I suppose I'll have to tell you which one was. These little shiny's are all mine. Each of my kids has a set... with my actual phone number on it. Not 867-5309. Did anyone catch that little wittiness of mine? Hahaha, I'm so funny. I really wasn't expecting my craft to do so well. I mean I spent a lot of time considering changing which craft I submitted and then, there I was at the top of the rankings. I couldn't believe it! All I wanted out of this w...

Okay, I couldn't say anything before now... but I have gone and done something rather insane. I signed up to audition for season 7 of So You Think You're Crafty. Am I a little nuts!? Yeah, just a little. Especially since--if I get in--I'll be doing this entire thing while trying to pack & sell a house AND move across the country. The craziest part is that I didn't realize the auditions were this week until I opened my blog this morning. It gave me shivers all down my spine to realize I was doing something that I've previously thought was WAY out of my league. But everyone keeps telling me how creative I am and I guess it got to my head. I'm so nervous! I'm not even sure I want to win (because of the packing and moving thing) but I sure don't want to fail!!! Anyway, I can't tell you which craft is mine, but I want you to go check them out and vote for the one you like best... then come over here and tell me which one you think is mine...

Yesterday I took the chance to work on the second step of making a quilt. The mathematics. Ugh. Okay, so bear with me while I try to explain this.... math is not my strong point so explaining it might be a little harder. First I took my basic layout and used it as a guide for what I wanted. Since I made this somewhat to scale (ie 8x10 when my quilt will be around 80x100) I knew that in the end what I was going to want was a quilt 5 blocks long by 4 blocks wide. So.... if I know my quilt is 105 inches long and that I need 5 squares I can then divide that and come out with 21. I did the same with the width (81/4) and since that didn't come out even I just rounded up. Making my squares 21 x 21 inches. Following me? We're still in the elementary education system here. Then I had to make my master pattern. Master Plan- Notice how it's color coded? This helped me keep track of what sections would be sewn together.  This was accomplished with a lot of aspirin an...

Anthropologie is, by far, one of the funnest (is that a word?) places to find ideas at. It entirely possible that I react so strongly to the price tags that my creativity kicks in out of sheer impulse. My second strongest response to those prices--after the gasp-- is to find out how I can make something like it. Case in point is this magnificent crocheted throw that they have over there. Price Tag: $198 I immediately fell in love with this thing. Ralexwin was decidedly NON in love with it, but since I'm the one that decorates he doesn't really get to have an opinion. ::wink:: But who wants to pay two hundred dollars for a throw? Well, evidently some people do it's just that I currently don't fall into that category. The category I do fall into, however, is that of the crocheting capable. I took about three looks at this beauty and I thought to myself... I can totally do that. So I did. What I can't do is take a good picture to save my life. I used th...

Vicbowin has decided that she wants to make her own comforter set (with my help of course). I've actually never made a full bed set before, but I imagine that it's not much harder than making the quilt and I've done plenty of those. So I thought that since this is going to be my running project for awhile I'd let you all in on the fun of it. Today I thought I'd tell you about the first steps that I take when planning out a quilt. First--come up with a pattern. Since I'm working with an 9 year old I started off using pictures of quilts I found online. She whittled her choices down to this one: source  Which I guess is a Pottery Barn quilt, so I'll be making a Pottery Barn knock-off while I'm at it. Now the key with quilting is that it's all an optical illusion. It's taking basic, easy to sew shapes, like squares, and making them look like different shapes. I'm really good at squares. In fact I did a good job of repeatedly mentionin...