While I’ve always fancied myself a creative-type, I’ve always felt a bit embarrassed about my drawing abilities.  I mean, you’d get the point of what I was drawing, but things always had a cartoonish-this-isn’t-real quality.  The whole reason I took photography as my elective throughout high school is because I reasoned, “If you can’t draw, photograph.”

Anyway, my drawing self-confidence is way up, thanks to a fashion illustration class I’ve been taking.  I don’t know if it’s my teacher specifically, but when someone breaks down the drawing process, things just come together.  I know I have many hours of practice ahead of me, but just knowing that I can get my ideas down on paper has really gotten the creative wheels turning.

I just finished making this pendant lamp yesterday, and I’m quite happy with myself.  I keep forgetting it’s in my bedroom now, so every time I walk in, I get a nice surprise.  I’m really happy with how it looks, and not just because I made it.  It provides a lot more light than the last lamp we had in the corner AND it is helping my bedroom not look like an Ikea catalogue.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like the stuff they have to offer, I just want to avoid the too-much-Ikea look.

So, way back in March, Anna at Door Sixteen posted about globe cluster lamps, which led me to the directions on how to whip up this little number (designed by Jean Pelle) at ReadyMade.  Being the procrasinator I am, I first thought about making it, and then decided I did, in fact, want to make it, and then I procrastinated buying the supplies.  I bought all of the supplies over a two month period, and my procrastinator’s guilt finally took over, and I made the whole thing over two days.  A non-procrastinator could order the supplies online and have the whole thing made next week.  I like to spread my projects over a nine month period.

The directions are pretty clear, but here a few tips:

1. No one lists postal string by it’s width in inches.  Look for “medium” and “heavy” string.

2. If you don’t want wooden skewers taking up drawer space, look for a 1/8″ dowel at the craft supply store.

3. Don’t pay attention to the string lengths- cut all of your string at least a third longer than it says.

4. If you have access to a soldering gun, use it to fuse the wires.  Then keep your eyes peeled for white electrical tape.

5. Try to use a cord meant for a giant paper lantern instead of an extension cord.  Brian had one left over from college, and it came with a little switch on it AND little plastic loops for putting it through a ceiling hook.

Now that my attention is drawn over to this corner of the room, I’m realizing that it needs something on the walls… The decorating domino effect happens again.

When we lived in Santiago a few years ago, trips to the Jumbo grocery store were an event I’d look forward to.  First of all, it’s more than just a grocery- they carry things like coat hangers and DVDs.  They also carry American foods like peanut butter and toaster strudel that were impossible to find anywhere else.

Brian saved a bunch of the Jumbo grocery bags, and they were just sitting in a drawer, when inspiration struck.  I decided that the adorable Jumbo elephant would look great next to the deer featured on my Adelaide Fringe poster.  I cut the logo off a bag and put it in a record frame.  When we moved into our current place, Brian reminded me that there were a few more bags, so I picked out a few more to frame.  We’re now greeted by a collection of happy elephants every time we enter our place.

Bonus photo:

The mayonnaise aisle at a Jumbo.  A security guard came up to me after I took this photo.

To spruce up the old girl, I first took out the top two shelves and attached craft paper with double sided tape to the back.  I did kind of a crummy job cutting the top of the paper, so I’m on the hunt for some cute tape to cover up the jagged edge.  It is amazing how just some brown paper really gave the bookshelf some more depth.

I have these great dessert plates from Anthropologie that were a birthday gift from my sister a few years ago.  Sadly, they’ve just sat in my kitchen cupboards all this time!  I attached them to the back of the shelf with that putty you can use to put up posters.  I also made a little snake of putty that I put on the bottom of each plate to help them stay put.  They’ve been up for a few days now, and they’re holding quite well.

I found some clearance Amy Butler fabric (like $5 a yard!) to make the skirt.  I just did a quick sew job, as if I were making a little curtain.  A tension rod holds it up.

Now, the funny thing about all this is that with the exception of the desert plates, I don’t actually own any dishware worth showing off.  The antique radio (it still works!) passed down through Brian’s family seems to compensate just a bit.

All and all, the transformation cost about $10.   Anyone else have a cheap and quick furniture transformation?

They both cut really well, and you can adjust the tension on the blades (for cutting through thick paper).  I also wanted to get them because each pair comes with a plastic pouch that snaps shut AND a plastic blade cover.  I’m really looking forward to using the small ones on upcoming projects- I like the idea of making small, precision cuts on my collages.

As I said above, the sale is on ALL of her products- there were some really cute labeling stickers that I just may have to go pick up before the sale is over.

Have you heard about the new online marketplace for handmade goods?  1000 Markets had their official opening  last month but has had an online presence since September.  It’s been getting many comparisons to etsy, but 1000 Markets is setting itself apart in a big way: sellers need to be approved to sell in the marketplace.  On their website, they basically state that a seller needs to have her site ready to go in terms of appearance, and needs a minimum of six products to sell before a merchant’s site will go live.  In an interview with Techflash.com, 1000 Markets co-founder and CEO Matthew Trifiro says that “Etsy’s vast collection is actually problematic… Because there are so many products and merchants… it can be difficult to find what your are looking for. The quality suffers as a result.”  As someone who both buys and sells on etsy, I can see his point.  As a buyer, it can be difficult to search through all the listings for say, photographs (there were 1549 pages to search through last I checked).  This is also a problem with online shopping in general, but sometimes you just don’t know what you’re looking for until you see it.  The prospect of looking at over a thousand pages of merchandise gives me carpal tunnel just thinking about it.  As a seller, I can also see the advantage of selecting who gets to join a handmade marketplace; it can give the site a more legit handmade title (I’ve always wondered why etsy allows vintage items).  As I thought about the process of applying to and needing approval from 1000 Markets, I started to think about the value we place on things when we’re just given something, and when we work for it.  I’ll be the first to admit that I was very slow in actually starting my etsy site after I got the idea, and I still don’t have as many items up for sale as I’d like.  I don’t want to imply that I’m not responsible for that; but I can’t help wonder if I’d give my site more time if I’d had to prove myself just to get there.

I think it will be interesting to see how 1000 Markets sets itself apart from etsy, and to see how both buyers and sellers take to it.  Have you checked out 1000 Markets?  Do you think there’s room for another handmade marketplace on the web?

(Image from mattbites.com)

I’m guilty of letting the blog slide for a few months, but I have actually been keeping the craft flame burning. I’ve been doing collage out of old magazines. It’s something I started doing in college, to decorate mix cd covers, or for cards for my friends. Well, I’ve taken my collages, scanned them, and turned them into photo cards. I’ve also set up a shop on etsy.com.

While there is a satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes just from making things, it’s also nice to know that other people (specifically: strangers) like your work. Also, just having an etsy shop keeps me motivated in the people-pleasing-supply-and-demand section of my brain.

I did it myself!

This make-up brush roll was inspired by a project in one of Lotta Jansdotter’s books.  I use a lot of brushes in my daily makeup routine (hello, mineral makeup!) and I wanted a way of keeping them all organized and clean in one place.  I just couldn’t find anything that would hold all of my different brush sizes AND I wanted something other than basic black.  When I was a flight attendant, this really kept me organized when I was on the road.

I used upholstery fabric for the body, and pre-packaged trim to keep the edges neat.  I’ve been using it daily for a little over a year now, and it holds up well to being washed on the gentle cycle with a delicate soap.