5 minute tv hack

Here's a five-minute hack that will make your living room a happier place.

This evening, I was lounging around after a tough day at work when I looked over the side of the couch and my mind clicked. A couple of months ago, I bought an ultra-adorable Sukie handkerchief at the also-adorable Occupied shop. (If you're in Vancouver, go.) I've kept it since then, thinking that I'd like to something special with it... I also have this wooden picture frame that's old and worn with lovely peeling paint. That's been leaning up against the wall in my living room, waiting for me to do something special with it... And that's when it clicked: I should bring these special things together. What's more, I've been thinking of making a tv cozy ever since I saw this one.

So I mashed up these three good things - and it only took five minutes! I ironed the handkerchief flat, taped it around the frame's plexiglass, slipped it back into the frame and propped it up in front of the tv. Voila! Instantt tv cozy / artwork / cover.

Sukie is one of my favourite newly discovered illustrators. Take the handkerchief, for instance: aligators, inuit, guys with moustaches wearing shorts, pink peacocks, flying squirrels, four-legged crows, smiling hands, little green guys riding big cats... What more could you want? Check out Sukie's site for more of the awesome.

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bloggers, bloggers, everywhere

Northern Voice was fun. So many iBooks and cameras, it was crazy. You can a fraction of the kazillion photos that were taken on flickr here, here and here.

Here's a photo of me and Monique. Yes, the guy behind us is wearing a hat with moose antlers.

It seemed like there were a lot of bloggers there who blogged about and/or worked with blogging and technology, instead of bloggers like me, who blog about things other than blogs. But that was fine - I like all that techy-geeky stuff, and besides, lots of crafters craft about craft.

I learned a bit more about wikis and how to use them in education; how to use blog software to run a whole site, not just your blog (hmm, tempting...); digital photography tips; as well as some more general stuff about blogging, web 2.0, and theories about how we communicate and relate to each other and how technology may influence that. Interesting stuff.

One of the sessions I missed on Friday was about people's favourites little online tools. Here are a few I like:

• Paparazzi lets you take screenshots of a site (like the picture here).
  
• Text Expander will automatically "type" pre-set chunks of text when you type in code words. Useful if you're always including certain pieces of information in emails, like maybe your shipping address.
  
• VoodooPad is kind of like a wiki, kind of like a notepad. I like that you can make and save quick little sketches in it.

And now for a few blogger-meets-crafter links!

• Sew your obsolete floppy disks into notepads or CD covers, or - if you have lots left over - a bag.
  
• Decorate your laptop with decals or using laser etching - this Magritte Mac Powerbook is fantastic!
  
• Make a laptop sleeve out of foam and duct tape, your old pants, or even an old boombox which can also play music from your laptop!

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i am a northern voice

Tomorrow I'll be at Northern Voice 2007, a blogging conference held here in Vancouver. I had to miss Moose Camp today (does no one else have day jobs on Fridays?) but I'll catch up on all the geeky goodness tomorrow.

Anyone else going to be there?

The fab poster was made by the ever-talented Basco. I see his street stickers all over town.

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pancake tuesday all year round

I had to take a raincheck on Pancake Tuesday this year. The timing yesterday just wasn't right to make - or eat - a stack.

But really, you can celebrate flat, syrupy goodness any day of the year - just check out the Pancakes and Waffles flickr group.

Or, if you've already given up pancakes for Lent, don't worry, there are non-pancake-specific breakfast flickr groups for you, too: Cereal Offenders and Breakfast Fiends and The Breakfast Club. Remember to set your alarm so you can wake up early and get eatin'.

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meta plusha

The ever-talented Jess Hutch made a toy using fabric she screenprinted with drawings that look like the toys she makes. How meta.

He's a real cutie. You can track the life and growth of the toy, from printing the fabric to embroidering the eyes to sewing the shape to ... finally ... the finished toy!

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vintage ceramics

Bloesem has a great round-up of vintage ceramics by Scandinavian and Dutch designers.

She features a lot of pieces with illustrations which are just lovely, lovely, lovely. (Can you call them still illustrations if they're applied onto ceramics?)

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ironic moustache revival

The stache is back. And this time, it's for a good cause.

826 Chicago, a non-profit writing and tutoring centre, is holding a Moustache-A-Thon, a moustache-growing contest to benefit their free writing programs for Chicago students. The opening cermony is tomorrow evening and they'll also be holding ‘stasche tracking parties on a regular basis. Get all the hairy deets here.

826 Chicago will also be opening The Boring Store in a few days.

THE BORING STORE’S BLAND OPENING
Friday, February 23rd
The time has come. The Boring Store – Chicago’s only undercover secret agent supply store - will open on Friday, February 23rd. We have grappling hooks. We have dissolving paper. And we have heavy surveillance at the door to protect your privacy. Drop by, ever so stealthily, any day of the week, from noon until 6 p.m. All proceeds from The Boring Store go directly toward supporting 826CHI’s free writing programs.

Hey, if you're going to fundraise, do it with flair.

UPDATE: Read Brad Flora's article and photo tour of The Boring Store It's, um, really boring. Yeah, that's it. :)

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amazing technicolour dreamsite

Need a little more colour in your life?

Yeah? Well, which one?

Colorstrology can tell you which colour's best for you - and your life. Not only does Colorstrology give you a horoscope based on your birthday, it also tells you what your colour is - and in Pantone no less.

For example, people born today are charismatic, intelligent and principled. And their colour is Orchid Haze (pictured here), AKA Pantone 16-2107.

This is the kind of site that you (or, um, me) can definitely get sucked into, checking out all your friends and family's colours. Love it.

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reading rainbow

A while back, I posted a link to an article asking how people arranged their bookshelves. I love the idea of organizing books by colour. I considered doing this to my own collection, but don't really have a bright enough spectrum of spines to make it work. More fuschia reading required on my part, I guess. Not everyone has this problem though - take a look at some of these gorgeous rainbow results...

This is Chotda's bookshelf. I think she has the perfect couch to offset her vibrant bookshelf.


This bright bookshelf belongs to Yvestown.



Yvestown also has a fab wallpapered bookshelf which is pretty great, too.

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another kind of tree house

Look closely at this tree...


Right at the bottom ... there's a tiny door!!!



I discovered this on a recent walk... The door's only about three feet tall, and has it's own doorknob and doorbell. I didn't dare ring though, as the address is 666. I choose to ignore that last detail; I'd prefer to think some nice gnome or a family of urban bear lives there.

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fold is the new click

I got a DVD player today. My first. And it won't work.

I'm sure we've hooked up all the cables correctly, but all we can get is sound. No picture.

I bet if we had an origami remote control, things would run smoothly.

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umbrellas are for lovers

Happy heart day, everyone.



Umbrellas are for lovers.

Lovingly made by Marc Owens.

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it's aliiiive... and googly!

A craft challenge inspired by Amy Sedaris's book: make your food come alive... using googly eyes!

Reminds me of the fabulous book How are you peeling? Foods with moods by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers.

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crafty travel report: seattle

I was recently down in Seattle - my first time visiting there, despite having lived in nearby Vancouver for a few years now. I was there for work, but did manage to squeeze in a few crafty happenings.

The first crafty thing that happened was totally random. While working, I spoke with an elderly man who was wearing a tie that I had made into a 'cravat cat' toy! This may not seem such an amazing coincidence, but seeing as it was (A) an old ("vintage") tie that I picked up at a thrift store, (B) had the Oympic rings on it, and (C) was made in Yugoslavia, I figured it was one of a kind. As I was speaking to the man, I couldn't figure out a simple way to explain to him that I'd used his tie to make a cat and isn't that an amazing coincidence - so I didn't say anything about it to him, and just tried to concentrate on what he was saying instead of staring at his tie.

When I got out of work, I headed over to the Bluebottle Art Gallery + Store, which is, in a word, awesome. It's owned by the lovely Andrea Porter and artist Matthew Porter, who also recently published a great ABC book. I treated myself to a ring that says ROBOT on it. Love at first sight! It turns out, was made by another Seattle artist, Fancy.

Another evening after work, I checked out the amazing Seattle public library. If you haven't seen or heard of this building, have a look at this slideshow. The pictures don't even do it justice. Wow.

After that I walked back toward the market (where I did NOT see anyone throwing fish! boo!). On the way I stumbled across the Marimekko store! I didn't even know they had stores in North America. Of course, I went in and looked at the gorgeous bags and fabric. Unfortunately, fabric was $40 US a yard, so I just admired the pretty colours and patterns from a distance.

That's the field report from me, Sleepless Crafty in Seattle.

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so, a llama visits the dentist...

Not long after I posted that photo of the happy-making llama in a scarf, one of our readers, Carrie, left a comment that I could not resist investigating. She mentioned a segement she'd seen on TV about a llama visiting the dentist.


"What?! Really?," I thought, "That sounds amazing! ...To Google!"

So Google, I did. My search brought me to this site, which had a collection of links to Sesame Street clips. The funniest thing was reading the many requests for the song, "Me and My Llama", which rapidly grew more desperate and frenzied. It started off innocently enough, with questions like "Does anyone know where "Me and My Llama" can be found?", but then things went downhill...

"Please, someone find Me and My Llama!!!"

"I am also dying to watch ME AND MY LLAMA!! Please someone find it!!"

"noo.... we want the llama plZ!!!!!!!!!!!"

"ME AND MY LLAMA PLEASE! our lives are in your hands. please let us live. we need me and my llama"

"am desperate; someone needs to find this me and my llama soon"

Finally - thank goodness - somebody found the video online. So, without further ado, here it is: the video of the Seasame Street song, "Me and My Llama". And yes, it was worth the wait.

There are tons of other great Sesame Street clips linked from that site, including these gems:

• The Villain In The Panama Hat
  The voices in this one are fantastic.
  
  
• Pinball Number Counter
  "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12!" This song was one of my faves growing up.
  
  
• National Association of W Lovers
  "Without W [...] a fine word like 'waffle' would turn out just awful."
  
  
• Big Bird and Johnny Cash
  "Don't take your ones to town, bird." (The number one, of course. Hilarious!)

Sesame Street rules.

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portable craft case

With the nagging feeling that I'm going to have to move soon (I really dislike moving), I'm slowly organizing, trimming, arranging, and preparing to pack my things. In particular, my craft corner has gotten a little out of control over the three years I've been in this apartment, and needs some attention. When I saw this lovely suitcase, was I ever pleased! Not only would that be a handy way to store all my stuff (knitting needles, scissors, jars of buttons, piles of zippers and other bits...), it'd be all ready for movin'! Plus, I love old suitcases. Now all I have to do is find one - I so rarely see any in my area that I like. Sio, want to mail me one from Van?

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eating cupcakes with chopsticks

Q: What's sweet, savoury - and sashimi all over?

A: The ultra-adorable the sushi cupcake by Deidre Jean! This just cracks me up. What a great idea.

It was made using a recipe from a cookbook that I hereby nominate for the prize, "Best Cookbook Title EVER": Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Also of note in cupcakeland (ie. further evidence that cupcakes, vegan or otherwise, will take over the world), have a look at these hyper-real paintings by Anselmo Swan that were on display at Gallery Jones in Vancouver earlier this year.

He paints chocolate bars and their wrappers, as well as - yes! - cupcakes. His subject-matter looks suspiciously like it came from one of the the Cupcakes stores in Vancouver. Mmmm...

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adorable... but it'll cost ya

Wow. How cute is this fabric? A-dor-a-ble.

But man, is it ever expensive. $18.95 US a yard. Yikes. I guess if you have something really great planned to make with it, that might be ok - maybe - but I usually buy fabric on impulse cause it's cute, inexpensive, and I'm think I can use it for... something.

It's availble at Superbuzzy, and also in "rust" and "natural" colours.

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getting ready for spring

I'm just going to open this post with a quick note. The content you are about to read does not say anything about my feelings toward winter. I am really enjoying the cold that we've finally gotten, the snow, and all that goes with it. I'm not excited for spring. I'm going skating tomorrow. Please keep that in mind. Moving on.

Oh my gosh, a pattern for socks you can wear with sandals (namely, flip flops)! Hm, I'm kind of torn. On the one hand, sweet, there's a free pattern out there for geisha socks. I have to admit wanting a pair of those on more than one occasion. On the other hand, ugh, socks with sandals. Seriously, just wear shoes already. Back on the first hand, I have a soft spot for that hippie worksocks-with-Birkenstocks look. Back on the other hand, um, nerd?

I'm torn. But the pattern looks good. Decide for yourselves.

I'm going skating. And maybe I'll start a pair of these babies.

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