Handmade Goods at Maker Faire 2013

Laurel Begley

One of my favorite things to do when I'm at any fair is look at all the handmade booths.  But I especially enjoy looking at the crafts at the Maker Faire for obvious reasons.  Here are a few pictures I snapped at the Bazaar Bizarre tent at the fair.

Pictured above are some mushroom jars by the artist Laurel Begley.  I liked how all her pieces were bright, cheery  and had a touch of whimsy to them. 

I ended up purchasing one her small plates.  I think it makes a nice little card holder.  To see more of Laurel's work, visit her Etsy store.

As soon as I saw Katy Kristin's booth, I knew my daughter was going to want one her plush dolls.  And I can't blame her, they were all adorable.  

My daughter ended up settling on this hamster.  She liked that it had a heart print and a heart shaped face.  She kept it tucked under her arm the entire day and would not let it out of her site. 

To see more of Katy Kristin's items, visit her Etsy shop. 

Technically these robots are not handmade goods but you do build them yourself.  They're called Piperoids and they're a craft kit that comes with paper tubes that you cut and bend to make a robot.  I've bought some in the past for my son and they're a lot of fun to make.  I didn't buy any this time but I did get . . .

. . . this robot instead!  This is also a robot that you construct yourself only it is made up of wood and paper.  The company that makes them is called Play-Deco.  To see more of these craft kits, please visit Magnote. 

This is a very small look into the handmade crafts at Maker Faire.  If you would like to see more, Agnes Niewiadomski has a great write up with lots of pictures over at the Make: Craft blog.  You can also see more of the vendors at the Bazaar Bizarre site.

Digital Washi Tape & More Kawaii Links

For those of you that like all things washi tape, the ModeS Blog is offering up this free digital washi tape download.  Use it for digital scrapbooking, embellishing photos or decorating your blog.  Click here for the download.

Kawaii Handmade Goods - Read about the popular boutique, SOL & BeBe SOL, located in Harajuku on the Tokyo Fashion site.  After looking at all the photos, you'll feel like you visited the store in person.

Party Origami Giveaway - All Things Paper is giving away a copy of my book Party Origami.  Today is the last day to enter.

Mochi Plushie Tutorial - Learn how to make a mochi plushie by HapyFriendsShoppe.

Tapigami Exhibit at Maker Faire 2013

"Tapigami"

Last weekend I attended the Maker Faire in the Bay Area, CA.  The Maker Faire's tag line is "The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth.  It's a family friendly celebration of the maker movement.  If you've never heard of it before or want to learn more about it, I recommend checking out the official site, here.  You can also read about it on past posts here and here.

One of the attractions that caught my attention was the Tapigami Exhibit.  Tapigami (pron: Tāpəˈgämē) is a contemporary art form created by Northern California artist Danny Scheible.

The exhibit consisted of over 80,000 masking tape sculptures, with most made of basic cream masking tape.  I overheard someone on the tapigami staff say this exhibit took ten years to make. 

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the backdrop is hangers covered in tape.

If you want to make your own tapigami work of art, Danny has a new tapigami book available for sale which debuted for the first time at the Maker Faire.  I'm wondering how this technique would look with some washi tape.  What do you think?

Make a Washi Tape Village

Any guesses what I used for the base of these houses?  I'll give you a clue, you probably have one in your house right now.  If you guessed a paper roll, you're correct!  All you need is a few paper rolls and some washi tape to get started making your own village. 

Supplies
Paper rolls
Washi Tape
Scissors

1. Fold paper roll into a rectangular shape.

2. Once you have it folded, cut on all four folds about 1/3 way down on your paper roll (refer to red dots).  How far you cut down will determine how tall your roof will be.   I trimmed some of the paper roll off the top to make a shorter house.

3.  Fold the left and right side tabs in to make a point and tape together.

4.  Trim the front and back tabs to match with the point you just made.

5.  With your choice of washi tape, place strips all around the entire house.  The tape should cover part of the roof.

 6.  Wrap tape around the front of the house roof.  Flip over and repeat on the opposite side. Besides creating a decorative roof, the tape will also seal up the paper roll.

7.  On the roof, place one or two pieces of tape on top to cover the paper roll.  This will also cover up any unsightly edges of tape from step 6.

8. Last, add any details such as windows, shutters, doors, shrubs, etc with tape. 

The house pictured above my 7 year old daughter made.  I had to fold the paper roll and cut it for her.  She covered the house with tape herself. 

Changing subjects, I wanted to let you know that there's now information over at Whip Up on how you can donate to a trust fund for Kathreen's children.  Click here. 

Remembering Kathreen

I had planned to post a craft tutorial today. But after hearing the news about Kathreen Ricketson and her husband Rob Shugg's tragic accident, it just didn't feel right.  I am in disbelief and deeply saddened by this news.  It was just a few weeks ago that we had talked briefly via email. I never met Kathreen in person.  I wouldn't say we were especially close but I considered her a friend.

Many of you know Kathreen from her popular craft blog, Whip Up.  When I first started blogging, Whip Up was one of the first craft blogs I started reading.  I was even fortunate enough to be featured on the blog a few times.  Kathreen contributed to the craft community in so many ways. I will miss Kathreen and her creative adventurous spirit.  My prayers are with her family and children.

To keep updated on how you can help her family, visit whipup.net.  Currently an education fund is being set up for her children.  Once more information is posted, I will share.

UPDATE:  There's now an email address posted to donate via Pay Pal plus and address to send checks.  Click here.

Itch A Skitch: My New Favorite Time Waster

Does this image look familiar to you?  It's called Itch A Skitch but it's basically the online version of an Etch A Sketch.  Just like the vintage toy, you move the knobs with the arrow keys to make a sketch.  When you want to make a new sketch, you just click on the "new skitch" button and it shakes your image away.  Click here to test it out and tell me what you think.

Did you ever have an Etch A Sketch?  What was the best thing you sketched on it?  I was never good at drawing  with it.  I always got frustrated that I couldn't make nice curved lines.

Kid Craft: Washi Tape Friendship Pins

Do you remember friendship pins?  Traditionally they were made with beads and safety pins.  As a child I enjoyed making them and giving them out out to friends.   Those memories prompted me to revisit the craft and give it a contemporary update with washi tape. I like how they ended up having a slight preppy look to them with the monograms.  These friendship pins would be great for a craft party or just an after school project.

Supplies:

Safety Pins - I purchased some vintage brass style pins at Michaels
Washi tape
Scissors

1.  Fold tape in half over pins so both sides of the print show.

2.  Trim the bottom to make a decorative edge.

3.  Add layers of tape for extra texture. Add letters or other embellishments.

DIY Mother's Day Card

Today I'm excited to be participating in 100 Days of Tombow.  One hundred bloggers across America are creating projects with Tombow products to celebrate the company's centennial year.  But the best part is that for every blogger who participates, $100 will be donated to the Council for Arts Education.  You may know that art education is very important to me.  Often I volunteer my time to do art projects at my children's school.  In fact, just last week I scheduled an outing for a couple classes to visit a pottery studio.

Tombow sent me a few of their projects to make a craft for this event.  Today I will be working with the Tombow markers to make this Mother's Day Card. 

Supplies:
Tombow Markers - two coordinating colors
White Crayon
White Cardstock
Scissors
Ruler
Piece of plastic - I used a disposable plastic pie cover.  Any kind of plastic packaging should work. Check your recycle bin.

To make this card I'm using a wax resist technique.  With a white crayon I wrote out the words "Happy Mother's Day".  To get your letters straight and centered as best as possible here are few tips.

1.  Work in a well lit room so you can see the white crayon on the card.

2.  Place a ruler on the paper and use it as if it was a blue ruled line on your paper.  This will keep all your letters straight. 

3.  A good way to write well centered and spaced words on a card is to start with the middle letter.  For example, write the letter "P" for the word "happy" in the center of your paper.  Then write the letters on each side evenly spaced.

Once you have your images written out, you're going to cover the entire card with marker.  To give it a gradient look, use this method. 

1.  Write on your plastic with the darker color marker.

2.  Pick up the color with the lighter marker.  Just rub the marker brush on the ink and it will pick up the darker color.

As you color over the letters they will resist the crayon and show up.  The marker will also gradually lighten in color as you draw due to the technique you used above, giving it a gradient style.

Make your card into any shape you want.  You can also use this technique to draw images as well. 

 

Business and Legal Forms for Crafters

Once in awhile my husband will check out a book for me at the library when he sees something that he thinks I will like.  Last weekend he brought home Business and Legal Forms for Crafters and I was pleasantly surprised at how informative and useful it is.  The book comes with 30 forms from basic invoices to licensing contracts plus shares how to use the forms.  Included with many of the forms are negotiation checklists to help you as well.  The book was published in 2012 so the forms should for the most part be up to date.

I wanted to share this with all of you because when I started out as an independent designer, there were a lot of things I didn't know.  For example,  I didn't know how to write something as basic as an invoice.  I can remember the first time a magazine requested one from me and I was a little overwhelmed by it.  I ended up using Sage One  to send out my invoices.  And I should say, I'm still learning as I go.  I don't have it all figured out.

If you get a chance, check this book out at the library.  And if your library doesn't carry it, see if they will transfer it in from another library.   I decided to buy a copy of the book and it was only $2 on Amazon.  Click here to see the book. 

Origami Tea Packet Favors

Looking for party favor ideas?  This simple origami tea packet folds up quick and is inexpensive to make.   And if you're not into tea, you could place a candy or photo inside them instead. What's also nice about this project is you can change the style and feel of the favor depending on what paper you use.

Even though this project is quick and easy to make, I do recommend some knowledge or origami before getting started.

Supplies:
Origami Paper 6 x 6 - I purchased the flower print paper at Daiso.
Tea Packets -  no more than 3" in height.  I did have to bend back part of the package to make the tea bags fit.  I used Good Earth teabags for this project.

Click on above image for a larger view.

Starting with the blank side up, fold paper for directions 1 - 7.  For step 8 I've created some photos to make it a little easier to see how I got to step 9.

Grab paper at the center crease and fold towards center.

 Continue to fold each side towards the center.  The paper should naturally form into its shape from the previous folds you made.

Your finished piece should look something like the picture above.  Now all you have to do is tuck a tea packet under the four corners and it will stay in place with no glue.

On the back, add a printed sticker label with the details of your event.  

Origami Snack Container

Hi everyone, you can find me over at the Chronicle Books Blog sharing how to fold an origami snack container  and talking about the first origami piece I folded.  Hope to see you over there!

Lets Talk Camp Crafts

Today I'm over at the Galileo blog sharing how to make this ammonite fossil that's pictured above.  But before you head on over there, I'd like to talk a little about camp crafts.

As a child I went to numerous camps and made a lot of cool things.  It was a lot of fun but I realize now, they didn't have a lot of substance.  The projects were fun to make but they didn't teach me anything.  And I'm not saying all crafts need a teaching agenda.  You know most of my crafts that I post here are just for the sake of making.  But if you're looking to teach children in a fun way, crafts can be a great tool.  Especially for those children who flourish in the arts but not traditional subjects like math and English.  That's why I like the craft projects at Camp Galileo.

Each week at camp Galileo there's a theme and the art and science projects coordinate with that theme.  Pictured above are some of the projects kids will be making for the Amusement Park theme this summer at Camp Galileo.  Here's a little information about the projects in Galileo's own words:

Art: Join Cirque du Galileo. Learn the art of mixing tints to make masks inspired by the elements. Use professional sculpting wire and tools to create performers and props for an Alexander-Calder-inspired wire circus scene.

Science: Design your own dizzying, hair-raising rides. Learn about centripetal force and torque to engineer a one-of-a-kind spinning attraction. Then use your electrical know-how to make basic series and parallel circuits to illuminate your rotating ride.

To find out more about the Camp Galileo and each week's theme, click here.

Click here for the Ammonite Craft Project.

Disclaimer:  My children are receiving one free paid week of camp as compensation for this post series.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.