Instagram Sunday: Weekly Recap

Here's my weekly Instagram recap!

The Doctor vs The Daleks...on my purse.  Handmade Doctor Who inspired pins by my friend Jen from Old Familiar Way.  I bought the TARDIS pin last weekend to go with the Dalek one Casey gave me for my birthday.

Been craving watermelon lately.  Ate the half that was left over from bringing it to a baby shower last weekend...with a spoon.  So yummy!

I have crossed over. I had my first "real" cup of non-fancy (ie: not mocha or chai) coffee last weekend at the craft show (there was free coffee available for the vendors). This is my first cup at my house...in my lovely mug I got as a prize at the baby shower!  But I have to have a LOT of cream & sugar.

Who needs a cat bed when you have an Aldi's bag?

...Or a laundry basket?...

Sold a sweater monster on Etsy this week.  My monsters are required to be contortionists when I ship them.   Have fun in your new home Rory! ;)

Handmade Accessories by Fellow RNESTers

Last week, I finally bought my first spoon pendant from my friend and fellow RNEST member, Erin of Sunshyne Silverwear!  I've wanted to buy one from her for awhile, but had a hard time deciding which one to get.  But I recently decided on this blue leaf skeleton one.  

She does such great work!   You can find Sunshyne Silverwear's website here, her Etsy shop here, and her blog here.

 I love getting cool, handmade accessories from my fellow RNEST peeps!  I love that when people comment on them (which happens a lot with my feather hair clips), I can direct them to the artist that made them!  I've started keeping my friends' business cards in my wallet so I can give them to people when they compliment me on my pretty hair clip/spoon necklace!

My feather hair clip is from my friend Casey of PeachesProducts.  I traded her one of my Owl Nubbins for it. (yay for artist trades!) You can find her Etsy shop here.

The Handmade Holiday Pledge

I just said in my last post that I never officially signed the Handmade Holiday Pledge...well, even though Christmas is over, I just went and did it!A perk of "signing" it is that you get to add a link to your site/shop, so there's a little bit of self-promotion there. ;)

I like this pledge. I feel it is more realistic than pledging that ALL your gifts are handmade like some pledges I've seen in the past. Some people are hard to make or buy handmade gifts for. Men are notoriously difficult to make/buy affordable handmade gifts for.  Cool, handmade stuff for men is usually pretty expensive (but, as an artist, I understand the amount of work involved and why those items have to cost more).  I also like that they say "by me, a friend, or a cool artist"...so people who "can't" make anything (to which I say, "Yes, you can make something!") can feel like they can take the pledge because they can buy handmade items.

You can add a link to your own shop/site on the page for the site when you "take the pledge". "We are committed to making {and buying} handmade gifts this holiday season. Feel free to visit our websites, blogs, and shops. Take the Handmade Holiday 2011 Pledge, then scroll down and add yourself to the list. Click on the blue "add your link" button."  Then you can put the cool little button (like the one above) on your blog!

Handmade Costumes ROCK!

I saw this commercial while I was shopping at Target the other night, and it kind of annoyed me...

UGH! I feel like it's kind of a slam at handmade. I thought the homemade Iron Man costume was great! (well, until the light fell off, but some hot glue can fix that!) I think it was a brilliant idea to use a touch light for the Iron Man's reactor thingy. If I had been that little boy, I would have thought "Wow, my mom is so awesome for making this for me!" It takes more creativity to lovingly make a costume than to just go buy a plastic one! My mom always made our costumes growing up, and I liked it that way. I never even had a desire to go get any cheap storebought character costumes.

Case in point...

The year was 1999. Star Wars: Episode I had just come out. I was 17 and had gotten some comments from some people that they thought I looked like Natalie Portman, the actress who played Queen Amidala. I think she's prettier than me, but anyway, those compliments got the wheels turning and I decided that I wanted to dress up as Queen Amidala for Halloween...

I told my mom about it, and my wonderfully crafty mother (a woman who insists that she "can't sew") gleefully took on the challenge and MADE me this costume! And it was (and is) so much better than any cheap, overpriced thing we could have bought at the costume store!

One of the biggest challenges of the costume was the elaborate headdress. Mom bought a pool noodle, stuck the ends onto a wooden dowel, and pinned/glued hair extensions onto it. She then built the rest of the headdress out of gold fabric, red lace, cardboard and...lamp parts for the very top.

A cool little "secret" about the costume is the gold filigree design on the front of the costume. Mom used gold fabric paint, and wrote my full name in cursive, then mirrored it, so that to the untrained eye, it just looks like a scrolly design. Oh...and the little balls around the bottom?...clear Christmas ornaments stuffed with colored cellophane. And on the nights I wore it, we would put glowsticks in the balls so they would glow (the little balls light up in the movie if you look closely).

And I ended up winning every costume contest I entered that year. :)

So, whatever Target...don't tell me handmade costumes aren't cool. Handmade costumes ROCK!

Koumpounophobia...

This video will either make you laugh...or creep you out.
Or both...



By the way, Neil Gaiman is the guy who wrote the book "Coraline" (the book upon which the movie that is coming out tomorrow is based). Guess what I'm going to be looking for to check out at the library (unless everyone else has the same idea).

Either way...I'm looking forward to seeing "Coraline". If you liked Nightmare before Christmas or Tim Burton type stuff, you'll probably like it. I've wanted to see it ever since I saw a 3D needle come at me in the teaser trailer last year when CJ and I went to see the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. If you click the link oabove to watch the teaser trailer (that someone obviously recorded on their cell phone in the theater...there's a better quality version here), note that collective "Whoa!" from the audience when that needle comes through the button! That happened when I saw it too! When you have those 3D glasses on, that thing looks like it's going to poke you in the eye!

I think it's cool that stop motion animation hasn't yet become a dying art due to computer animation. What a brilliant job to have! Go check out some of the other videos on Coraline.com.

Even More CPSIA stuff...my letter...

I read on this blog that "The CPSC is requesting comments on Section 102 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act"

Below is my letter I sent to Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov. ("Comments may also be filed by facsimile to (301) 504-0127 or by mail or delivery to the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 502, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. Comments should be captioned “Section 102 Mandatory Third-Party Testing of Component Parts.”)

"To whom it may concern,

I have only recently decided to start my dream of having a home craft business selling handmade plush toys over the internet and at small craft shows. This new law, if left unchanged and unedited, would destroy that dream by making it impossible for me to do any sort of business at all. I don't have $4000 to test a toy I would only be selling for between $5-$30. I am not a huge,mass market company that makes thousands upon thousands of dollars a year. I am a housewife trying to make a little extra income in this time of impending economic stress. And I can't imagine how this Act, left unchanged, would effect someone who makes their living off of selling their handmade toys/clothes.
I use clean recycled clothes, storebought fabric, polyfill, and other simple materials bought from fabric/craft stores that I'm sure have already been tested for their safety before they get to the store, due to the fact that the fabric/thread/ etc. is being sold with the intent of someone using it to handmake clothing/blankets/toys. There has been a strong movement growing in the past few years encouraging people to "Buy Handmade". Many people who handmake items are passionate about being "green" and having their items be safe for the planet. If they're safe for the planet, shouldn't they be safe for children? People buy handmade things because they trust the idea of an item being handmade. Think about the term...HAND-made. If there was something dangerous, wouldn't you think that the HANDS that MADE it would be the ones to be in danger first?

Please don't destroy the dreams and livelihoods of artisans the public has come to love and trust! Please amend the CPSIA!

Sincerely,
Kira Sinclair

http://kirascraftylife.blogspot.com

http://kiraarts.etsy.com/"

Purple FIngerless Gloves

I finally finished the purple fingerless gloves! Aren't they gorgeous? Someone is getting them for Christmas...

I need to get cracking on a pink pair next for someone else for Christmas...

Homemade Pass the Pigs Game

This homemade "Pass the Piglets" game I saw at Roman Sock via Craftzine made me think of my Mom.

Does anyone else remember Pass the Pigs? I remember that it was Mom's favorite game for awhile when I was a kid. She brought it everywhere for awhile. Most of my memories of playing it are at my Grandma's house. It's such a cute, simple game.

The version that we had looked a lot simpler than the one that is for sale now. Ours was a simple black plastic case with two pig-shaped spots that held the little rubber pigs and scorecards.

If I was a more experienced knitter/crocheter, I would totally make this for Mom for Christmas!

Jewelry I Dig

I feel like I've been in a creative schlump lately. But I think it's mainly because my workspace is a mess right now. But one thing I have been doing is making necklaces. I found some cool ceramic donut beads at the store (I don't remember if it was Joanne's, AC Moore, or Michaels) and made myself another necklace.

It's so simple to make...the hardest part is putting the clasps on the end of the leather cord (I opt to just tie my own), but I think the charm is in its simplicity. And it has such satisfying results that I have been making more of them as gifts for friends. I've already given away 3 of them this month for friends' birthdays. Now I need more beads (I love these donut beads!). I guess it's off to the craft stores tomorrow! (before my coupons expire!) I may start selling them in my Etsy shop as well.

Speaking of jewelry and Etsy shops...these are some cool jewelry pieces I saw on the Etsy Gift Guide...

A Boy Named Sue bracelet by monaco

Woodgrain Ring by honeybee

Rock On custom necklace by J2Jewelry

Handmade Christmas

I know some people may think it's "too early" to be thinking about Christmas gifts, but when you want to give your in-laws their gifts when you see them at Thanksgiving, AND you want to handmake them...now is a pretty good time.

Last year I saw that "Pledge Handmade" button/badge (see right) on a lot of the craft sites I browse. But I'm not wanting to handmake gifts out of any philosophy or "stick it to the man" feeling towards consumerism/commercialism...I just like how satisfying and meaningful giving a handmade gift can be...and also more economical.

Handmade items for kids and women are usually pretty easy. But what stumps me is what to do for a handmade gift for a man...more specifically, my father-in-law & brother-in-law. I tried looking at the Gift Guide at Etsy...but nothing really struck me. Anything that did, I either didn't have the skills to make (metalcraft/woodcraft/leathercraft...all the manly crafts for the manly gifts), or it was too expensive to buy from the Etsy merchant selling it.

Maybe I'll just forget it and get them gift cards. :P

Maybe I should forget it for now and get knitting and/or painting if I'm going to finish any of the gifts I'm making!