Tick Tock! Crimson Clock from 1byliz

The last minute flurry of holiday activity is upon us. Don’t panic. Yes, time is short, but don’t get desperate and shower your loved ones with useless plastic and mass-produced junk. Take a deep breath and keep reading for last minute gift ideas you can still buy or even make, including a quick and easy zipper pouch project with video instruction from my favorite lady in the whole world (thanks Mom!).

You Can Still Buy Handmade

It’s true! You can buy handmade even this late in the game. Here are some suggestions:
Check your local handmade retail shops, including any holiday pop-up shops (like these in Portland, Atlanta and Providence). After a quick whip around the web along with some phone calls, here’s a list of shops that will be open either late tonight or during the day tomorrow (check their sites or call for exact hours).

Magpie in Somerville, MA
Art Star in Philadelphia, PA
Double Dutch Boutique and Red Tree and in Baltimore, MD
Young Blood Gallery in Atlanta, GA
Renegade Handmade in Chicago, IL
Fancy Tiger in Denver, CO
Schmancy in Seattle, WA
Land Gallery, Frock Boutique and Collage in Portland, OR
Rare Device in San Francisco, CA
Reform School in Los Angeles, CA

You can also try places like Whole Foods, which tend to carry lines from different crafty businesses like bodycare products from Biggs & Featherbelle or jewelry from Figs & Ginger. Check the sites of your favorite artists for a listing of retails shops that carry their products. You may be surprised and delighted by the increasing accessibility of handmade items.

Give Your Crafty Friends Patterns

I know lots of crafty people that are always looking for a new pattern to try. Patterns from .pdf downloads are a great way to handle last minute giving for this group of folks.

Crochet Handwarmer Pattern from adventuresofjr.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Cross-stitch Pattern from My Paper Crane.

Sublime Stitching has various PDF patterns available, including this one featuring designs by Carson Ellis.

Lots to choose from on Magpie Patterns, including knitting, sewing, crochet & embroidery.

You Can Still Make Stuff

These knit envelopes look like a great project for a plane or car ride. Magpie Patterns has a bunch of patterns you could purchase as a gift or make yourself. I particularly like the Breckenridge Cowl from French Press Knits and think the “instant gratification” nature of the project sounds promising for last minute making. Lots of kids at your holiday gatherings? Marimekko has a fun star wand project that looks easy and would make cute gift toppers or festive place cards for your holiday table.

Zipper Pouch Tutorial

If you have basic sewing skills, some fabric & access to a sewing machine, here’s a quick & easy zipper pouch you can whip up in 30 minutes.

Hello Craft Presents Crafting with Mom: Quick & Easy Zipper Pouch Project.

Basic step-by-step instructions included after the jump.

Quick and Easy Zipper Pouch
Supplies used:
-fabric (we used one pattern for the inside & another for the outside)
-zipper
-fuseable fleece (optional)
-Seam-to-Seam (optional- you can use pins instead)
-scissors
-sewing machine (or needle & thread)
-iron

Instructions
Step 1: Cut fabric & fuseable fleece to desired size.
Step 2: Iron out any wrinkles.
Step 3: Adhere fuseable fleece to back of the 2 pieces of outside fabric.
Step 4: Apply Seam-to-Seam to top edge of print side on one piece of outside fabric.
Step 5: Adhere fabric to one side of zipper. If it doesn’t stick, adhere with iron. Do not iron the fuseable fleece side (it will melt).
Step 6: Apply Seam-to-Seam to top edge on print side of lining fabric.
Step 7: Adhere lining fabric to zipper on same side of the zipper teeth as the outside fabric, but to the back side of the zipper. The fuseable fleece side will be facing the wrong side of the lining.
Step 8: Draw sewing line if desired. Sew both pieces of fabric to the zipper. You’ll need to reposition the zipper pull to complete the seam. See video for specifics.
Step 9: Repeat steps 4-8, applying the 2nd piece of outside fabric & lining on other side of the zipper teeth.
Step 10: Position so outside fabric & lining pieces are matched up & facing each other. Trim excess zipper & pin if desired.
Step 11: Sew seam down one side. Sew seam down 2nd side.
Step 12: Sew bottom seam on outside fabric/fleece side.
Step 13: Sew bottom seam on lining side, leaving a gap in the middle to turn the fabric right-side-out.
Step 14: Turn fabric right side out.
Step 15: Poke out the edges with a pointed utensil (my Mom uses a hemostat or bone folder)
Step 16: Sew seam at bottom of the lining on the right side of the fabric.
Step 17: Tuck lining into bag and admire you’re awesome work.

Now, off to finish my list. Happy last minute making & shopping!

In case you didn’t already know, it’s down-right hostile out there in the world of holiday shopping. Just this afternoon, for instance, I was elbowed in the back so hard by an angry shopper that I probably could have brought battery/assault charges against her. So, how does one try and minimize exposure to the passive aggression and spazzing that goes hand in hand with shopping this time of year? Why not make one of the many December holiday craft shows your one-stop shop for your entire gift list. You’ll meet amazingly talented people and get some one of a kind presents in the process. Below is a gift guide featuring some of the beautifully made and unique wares I perused at Second Storie — an annual holiday craft fair in upstate New York that I wrote about here — to give you a peek at the types of goodies that could be awaiting your purchase at your local craft market.

For Your Lady Friends:

From top left, left to right: Handwoven Loop Scarf by Secret Pocket. These scarves are very, very soft and sumptuous in person — I would like to commission some sort of full body suit made of them.  Feather Cardigan in Grey by RedPrairiePress. Simple, flattering, and comfortable. Check, check, and check. Classic Sedum Rosette Posts by Mani Designs. With it’s rustic yet polished look, this nature-inspired jewelry literally looks as if it’s glowing. 1920s Vintage Reproduction Garter Set by Previously. These cheeky and girly garters are constructed with the same techniques used for garters in the 1920s. Light on Water Necklace by Foundling. Much of the jewelry by Foundling cleverly features recycled bits of paper or fabric. I bought a ring for a best friend that showcases words cut from an old book.

For the Kiddos:

From top left, left to right: Classic Night-Owl Night Light by Happy Owl Glassworks. I showed this owl night light to my thirty year old friend and she said she wanted one for herself. I think that says it all. Imaginary Monsters Comics, volume 1 by Imaginary Monsters. The plot summary of this comic book reads like every Sci-Fi obsessed kid’s dream: lizard wizards, necromancers (?), and a skull who lives in a dungeon. Birdie Onesie by Peekaboo Collective. This screen printed onesie is cute, but it’s the look on this child’s face that sells it for me. Animal Softies by Bookhou. Check this shop out —  there are awesome tea towels, cute baby bibs, and amazingly crafted chairs in store. These colorful animal dolls look like they could be both a wee one’s best friend and their pillow.

Deck the House:

Cake Plate and Cake Flags by Herriot Grace. I immediately need to own everything in this shop. These very beautiful hand carved wooden kitchen items will make anything you cook look 10 times more delicious and impressive. Dotted Garland by Shanna Murray. What a clever girl, this Shanna Murray. A wall decal that serves as a picture frame of sorts?! Yes (to cake) by The Maple Ridge. I think we can all agree on this one.  M is for Magazine. In Black. by Paper Doll Wood Shop. If you’re like me, this is not only a well-designed magazine holder, it’s a direly needed organizational and de-cluttering item.

Happy Holiday Shopping!!!

Have you unearthed any rare treasures at holiday craft fairs? Do you choose to shop at them instead of at other venues? Please write to us below!

I don’t know about you, but I tend to glaze over when reading about technology. So here’s a simplified breakdown of these two brilliant tools and what they can do for the craft and farmers market vendors, the Etsy, Ebay or Craigslist obsessed, and even babysitters.

What is the technology? An update on the PayPal App that allows users to deposit cash into their accounts by photographing checks with their camera phones. The software works on iPhones, Blackberrys and Androids.

How does it work? To get started, you need to download the application or update your older version here or through the iTunes store on your Smartphone.

Once signed in, select  “Money Tools” and then “Add Money from Checks”.

After reading and accepting a description of the feature, the camera on your phone will open. Text at the top of your screen instructs you to photograph the “front of check.”

Capture the image, and viola! It is sent to PayPal for routine bank clearance processing. The money should be in your account within six days.

And what happens to the paper check? It can be thrown away fifteen days after the process is cleared.

How much will this cost me? The app is completely free and no additional fees are charged for the service.

So…what’s the catch? The only hitch is that there is a $1,000 daily limit and $3,000 per month limit on the totals you can deposit via virtual check. But even if those restrictions allow you to cash only a fraction of your profit through this new app each month, the feature still provides a brainless and stress free way to manage money.

If your payment poison is plastic over paper, Smartphones have you covered there as well.

What is it? The Square, a ½ inch square plug with a slot for credit card swiping, allows card transactions to be deposited into your account via your Smartphone, iPad, or laptop. Attach the Square to your device’s earphone jack and start selling (or spending).

Photo courtesy of Square Up

How does it work? First and foremost, everything is free! To get started, users can download the Square software by visiting the website: www.squareup.com.

To receive the Square swiper, submit your address online and it will be sent to you via snail mail. Your bank routing and account numbers are required to hook the software up to your account.

After the card is swiped and charged for a transaction, buyers can sign off by touching or scribbling on the screen. Receipts are then emailed to both the seller and buyer, ensuring that transactions remain explicit and simple. The receipts include a basic statement listing the date, time, item, price, and merchant, as well as a map of transaction’s location.

The square was in full effect last Saturday at Crafty Bastards! Below are examples of receipts from Hello Craft’s Sara Dick who purchased goods from Bossa Nova Baby by charging her card via the Square.

What else can it do? The software also acts as a sort of digital accountant, tracking cash, tax, tips and payment methods. You can also take photographs of your products or purchases, and write notes and descriptions. If you’re using the Square on a laptop or iPad, you can create a “digital shelf” of all of your items.

How much will this cost me? The service charge is 2.75 percent of the total transaction, plus 15 cents. This is significantly cheaper than actual merchant accounts (in stores) in which a business pays 3-4 percent of the total and an additional 30 cents to charge a customer’s credit card.

Cards can also be charged over the phone, without the actual physical card being swiped. All that’s needed is the card number, expiration date, and security code-much like when ordering something offline. Fees are bumped up for this service-rates are charged at 3.5 percent of the total with the 15 cents tacked on.

So...what’s the catch? There is no maximum amount on the transactions, but only the first $1,000 of a week’s charges will show up in your account immediately. The rest needs to be approved by auditors, which could take up to 30 days.  Thankfully, that charge limit increases after repeated successful transactions.

It seems as if the technological stars are aligning for small business commerce. Now any individual can become a mobile business with the ability to set up shop or provide service anywhere.  Transactions are recorded and organized with the swipe of a finger. All business operations are contained in one small portable device, free of paperwork and trips to the bank. It’s exciting and fascinating to see how new ideas make things plausible! Please feel free to share any experiences with the Paypal check capture feature, or the Square device in our comments.

Happy buying and selling!

At our pre-show party, we had great fun at Spacecraft making bags with Bags for the People and sampling some great home brewed beer from Brooklyn Brews.

At the Make Something Awesome Area we crafted our little hearts out. We made cup glove kits from Glue and Glitter, embroidered fun patterns from Sublime Stitching and created some fun felt projects from STC Craft.

Our button maker was a big hit all weekend, with our new friends stretching their creative muscles by finding the most amazing images that just needed to be made into badges. One seller loriMetals, used her own imagery to make buttons, then displayed them along with her fun and quirky jewelry for the rest of the show.

We gave a talk on the benefits of buying handmade goods, emphasizing the social and environmental good that comes from buying direct from an artisan.

Taking our own advice, we wondered the show floor in search of unique gifts, ending up finding more for ourselves than others. Oops!

We hope you enjoyed the One of a Kind Show in New York as much as we did. You can take a look over at our Flickr page for more fun photos from the weekend.

We’re having a blast making buttons and gathering business cards for our fancy handmade duct tape business card holders at the One of a Kind Show in New York.  But today we will be taking a small break from the Make Something Awesome area to talk about the benefits of buying handmade. 

If you are attending the One of a Kind Show, come to the show stage at 4pm to hear Hello Craft Directors Kim, Kelly and myself discuss the ins and outs of smart handmade shopping. We’ll cover what to look for, where you should be shopping and how buying handmade impacts shoppers, makers and even the environment.

Art vs. Craft
Milwaukee, WI
Saturday, Nov. 28th

Did I miss one?  Tell us about it in the comments.

December 11-13, 2009 (Preview Night December 10)
Pier 94, New York

After 35 years in Toronto, and 8 in Chicago, the One of a Kind Show and Sale is now making its New York City debut. The One of a Kind Show and Sale is a huge holiday shopping event featuring fine art and craft from hundreds of unique artisans and designers from across North America. Every item for sale will be made by hand, and every artist represented will be in attendance.

Join Hello Craft in the Awesome Area to try out free craft projects, participate in handmade seminars, and much more!

Win Tickets
We’re giving away 6 pairs of tickets to this show; each ticket is good for all four days!  To win, just comment to this post and share your favorite place to shop handmade in NYC or tell us who your favorite NYC crafter or designer is.

Deadline to enter is November 30th.

We’ll be posting more information the One of a Kind Show soon, so stay tuned.

For more information, please visit oneofakindshowny.com.

With yarn shops few and far between in the Washington, DC area, knitters, crocheters and spinners can now rejoice in the brand new yarn shop, Fibre Space, owned by Knit-a-gogo founder and Crafty Bastards sponsor, Danielle Romanetti.

Romanetti is a knitter-extraordinaire, who’s love for yarn crafts led her to create Knit-a-gogo – a series of classes and workshops for would-be knitters, hosted at various locations around the DC Metro area.  Her success with Knit-a-gogo has now morphed into her brick and mortar shop, Fibre Space, located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Fibre Space sells an awesome array of yarns, wool, cute gifts, knitting supplies and how-to kits, and also hosts many classes and events for beginners, advanced knitters, and everyone in between.  In this interview,  Romanetti shares how a love for what you do, combined with carfeful planning, can turn into a successful and fun business.

Do you have any sort of background in crafting or the arts?
I do! I ran my company, Knit-a-Gogo, for almost three years before opening this retail shop. I taught knit and crochet classes around the DC metro area.

How does your business support independent artists and crafters and/or the handmade community?
I provide supplies for several independent crafters who sell their finished knit, crochet and weaving objects at local craft shows. I also buy my knitting project bags from local crafter this chickadee, who I met at Crafty Bastards last year.

Who are your favorite yarn spinners and local knitters?
Some of my favorite local yarn dyers are: Three Irish Girls and Woolarina. My favorite local knitwear designer is Olga Buraya-Kefelian.

How can crafters get involved with your shop?
We have a regular “Stitch in Space” night on Thursday evenings from 5-9 p.m. which is a great way for local crafters to network with the shop and with each other.

What’s the most unusual item(s) for sale in your shop?
We have roving! There doesn’t seem to be a source for roving in our area, so we knew that we just had to carry it for spinners or needle felters.

Any advice for those interested in opening up their own boutique?
Planning. I started working on my business plan for this shop last August. It took almost a year to get it open. Careful planning allowed me to manage through the tight economy and still open with a bang. Having had the previous company already set up was a huge help. I already had a customer base and an established business with credit.

Where do you shop, besides your shop, of course?
My local Alexandria favorites are actually featured in the “community” section of my site.  A few from that list: A Show of Hands, Bellacara, La Fromagerie, Potomac Bead Company

Any exciting upcoming events or sales going on at your shop?
This weekend we are hosting a “Dog Days of Summer” event.  To celebrate the amazing new dog sweater patterns we just got from Style Hounds, we are throwing a doggie themed bash.

Bring a PHOTO of your doggie and get a 5% discount on your purchases that day. Meet and greet all day with the local Italian Greyhound rescue, who will be out front with some of their dogs.

Featuring a Contest:
Join us for a dog sweater contest! Knit up a dog sweater with fibre from our shop and be entered to win a $30 gift card. Sweater can be your own design or from a pattern. (extra points for unique versions of an existing pattern or for original design). Entries due by August 22nd and will be judged during the event on August 23rd. Don’t want to enter? Join us and vote for your favorite!

Note: Due to the potential for fibre related disaster, dogs will not be permitted in the shop during this event. We are happy to host them outside with the italian greyhound rescue.

Next month, we are featuring two new “yarn tastings.” These are an opportunity to try out a yarn company and their fibres while enjoying a tasty treat. We will have: Imperial Stock Ranch yarn tasting, September 18, 7-9 p.m. featuring the Columbia sheep yarn and sheep cheeses from La Fromagerie. Blue Sky Alpaca Yarn and ACKC chocolate Tasting, Sept 27, 3-5 p.m. – featuring Blue Sky Alpacas smooth and lucious fibres along with the tasty smooth chocolate of local chocolatier ACKC.

Fibre Space is located at 102 N. Fayette Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Check out Fibre Space online at fibrespace.com.

If you own a boutique, gallery or other place of business that supports the indie craft community, and want it featured in Talk Shop, email Kimberly at hellocraftinfo@gmail.com, with Talk Shop in the subject line.

In two weeks us folks living in the Northern hemisphere will celebrate the Vernal Equinox which marks as the transition from winter to spring.

I’m a big fan of all weather related art and design.  Here’s some of my favorite rain cloud related items.

Above is a watercolor painting by GollyBard.  It’s actually a diptych, a watercolor and an ink drawing.  Check it out and if you don’t buy it soon I just might.

Cloud Brooch by French textile designer Julie Pollen

Rain Cloud by Flatland OK

Cloud Pillows by Donna Wilson

(via designsponge)

Last but certainly never least is a fantastic cloud spotter badge available from The Cloud Appreciation Society.  Membership is a just a small administrative fee plus postage but bragging rights will last you a lifetime.

photo: Phranc

Times are tough.  Funds are short and art supplies aren’t getting any cheaper. No worries my friend, I have assembled a small but incredible list of artists doing amazing things with cardboard that I am sure will inspire you.

photo: Phranc

This weeks search for lovely and amazing things made out of cardboard has led me to a happy discovery. Everyone’s favorite Jewish-American lesbian folk singer Phranc has an Etsy store.  Her Fancy Pants Air Fresh’ner is a definite must have.

photo: Mike Leavitt

I think these shoes are genius.  They will be part of Mike Leavitt’s solo show “The Cardboard Shoe Show” at Fuse Gallery opening on March 21.

See more of Mike’s incredible art on his website.

photo: Pattianne Stevenson

You need to see the work of Pattianne Stevenson.  Who would have thought that cardboard could be so delicious?

photo: Chris Gilmour

Chris Gilmour makes life size cardboard models of automobiles and everyday objects.  I won’t keep you any longer.  I know you want to visit his website immediately.