Future Craft Collective

You're probably sick of reading about my super-rad cousin Kathie and all the cool stuff she's doing. But this time you can actually WIN something by checking out one of her projects. She and her pal Bernadette have been working on the Future Craft Collective for some time now, and have just launched a new website. Check it out and leave a comment on their blog and you can win a cool Ramonster shirt. While you're there sign up for the newsletter.

Messy Mama

I see pictures of immaculate sewing rooms. Beautiful, color organized fabric walls... inspirational rooms that would motivate anyone to create. There's even a flickr group to share photos. Drool-worthy. Then there is my sewing room. Until about a month ago we called this the office. Then the desk got taken over by my projects and now it's officially the sewing room- and it's a disaster. Granted, it's the week before Christmas and Hanukkah, so I not only have loads of cape orders but also my own projects for family and friends... but to be honest, if you stopped by in the middle of June it just might look like this. My plan is for a few more shelves above the sewing table. And bins. And I would like to organize my fabric by color. And I should do something with those two bins of scraps that I don't know what do to with but just can't throw away. But for now, here it is. My sewing space. Soule Mama I aint.

More capes coming soon!

I will be listing about 15 in-stock capes in the next couple of days. Head over to my Etsy shop to check them out! More will follow. I will have limited custom capes available over the holidays as I focus on spending more time with my family and finishing my own projects! Of course, gift certificates are always available and would make a great gift for kids who want to design their own cape.

Creative Handmade Holidays

We are taking the Handmade Pledge again this year. This means that we are making many of our gifts by hand, and are shopping for handmade, preferably local, gifts for the rest of our gifts. You might be thinking, "Lame. There are only so many knit scarves and macrame plant holders a person can take." but I encourage you all to think outside the box! Etsy is an amazing place to shop for creative, unique gifts. Here's what shopping for the holidays looks like for me.

"Hmmm, what are we going to get for Dave? He's really into bicycling. Let me do a search on Etsy and see what I find." I do a general search throughout all of Etsy and it yields 2332 items. I add the word "mens" and it narrows it down to 305 items. I can handle that. I also try it with "bicycle unique" and "bicycle man" to see what that gives me. Then I sort by price. Here are some of the cool things I find that I could get for Dave that are handmade:

These pins are $1.50 by lolabot. They also have a lot of other bicycle related items.


Shirt by Vital, $24


Recycled Bicycle Gear Bottle Opener by Foundry Wear $25


Matted and Framed 8x10 print, "The Bike Mechanic" $75 by Mary Williams Photography


Custom Bicycle Headbadge for $120.


Two Bicycle Pint Glasses by Bread and Badger, $28. They have loads of other cool etched glass pieces, and they are located here in Portland.

So you see- cool stuff! You just have to look for it. In the next few days I'll be posting a few of my favorite unique items from Etsy. Check back in for ideas for kids, teenagers, baseball lovers, and crafters!

Play Kitchens, Play Food!

Max loves pretending. Just today alone he was a spy, a circus clown, a robot, a pirate, and a dentist. We've been eying play kitchens for awhile, and I've recently been tempted by the retro one at Costco which is on sale for less than $100. Then I thought, why not look on Etsy? Turns out there are some great ones on Etsy! I should've known. Really, what CAN'T you buy on Etsy?!? These are heirlooms that would be nice passed down to grandchildren.

Palumba has a great assortment of handmade toys including this simple play kitchen hearth for $349.99 (that includes shipping). The craftsmanship is gorgous, it even has a cutting board that slides out!

This one is by Willowtoys for $225 (shipping included!)

This one by Imagine that Woodshop is only $143.50 plus shipping.

And now on to play food! There are many types that you can buy, I'm partial to felt or knit playfood myself. And it's so easy to make! Using felt you can hand stitch or use a machine. Here is a site with lots of patterns for inspiration and some patterns, too. I just knit up a little strawberry the other day and it's so cute! Here's a website that links to knitting patterns for everything from a banana to a cinnamon roll. Apparently you can even buy scented batting to stuff your playfood so the piece of cake really smells like cake. Yum.

Here are a few of my favorite items by Etsy sellers for inspiration:

These cupcakes by CrazyDaisy60are adorable! 3 for $24.95, or you can buy the pattern for $5.50

Clementines by Eternal Sunshine, $9

Pancakes by Harvest Moon... yum! $30

Bug Bites Play Food has so many cute items, it's hard to choose one! This Farmers Market produce Basket is $35.
For the discerning appetite- Felted Sushi by Mango Avocado. This is a custom order and not for sale, but she does take custom orders!

Camping set pattern by BuggaBugs $6


Go forth and play!

Crafting Explosion

I like to listen to Podcasts while I sew or drive to work. Crafty ones help motivate me and often introduce me to people and shops that I am unfamiliar with. I love Crafty Pod and Craft Sanity, both of which are an interview format with one hour long show being an interview with (usually) one person involved in arts and crafts. Great interviews, great podcasts. I've recently discovered Craft Mentality - a new podcast of two women chatting about various creative projects they are working on. Everything from knitting and sewing to cooking and Project Runway. They have links on their blog to all the projects that they discuss and MAN, has it got me crafting!

I've started making this bird mobile (click link for pattern). I have no idea who it's for or what I'll do with it, but how could I pass it up?!? It's really easy to make with scraps of fabric. I also went to a local quilting shop where they had small pieces of fabric for $0.50 a piece. I mixed and matched. I've used a sewing machine, but it's simple and easy enough that you can totally hand sew it. And if you just absolutely love it but don't have a crafty bone in your body you can just buy one in Oh My Eye's Etsy shop.

I picked up the knitting needles again after about 9 months of not knitting a thing. I am currently working on a really cute pumpkin hat, some fingerless gloves, and a pair of baby booties. I'm lucky that I have the opportunity to knit at work during my down time!

I also joined Ravelry- an online community for knitters and crocheters. It's a really amazing way to organize your projects. not only that, but you can search for patterns and see other Ravelry members finished versions of them. Nice!

I'm also participating in a craft swap with some local Portland mamas. Just in time for the holidays! Last year we took the Handmade Pledge and had a great shopping for items that were handmade for our friends and family. Of course it was also nice to support other Etsy sellers. Stay tuned for a post of all my favorite handmade holiday ideas!

Ditch the Disposables Challenge

One blog that I really like, Crunchy Domestic Goddess, has issued a challenge for September and October- Ditch the Disposables!!! From her blog:

" We live in a society of convenience, where throw-away products are the norm rather than the exception. But all of the disposable products take resources and energy to produce and then, of course, get thrown away, filling up our landfills. All of this is bad news for the environment."

There are many easy ways you can make a change. Below is a list of suggestions, many of which we already do in our home. I've made little notes next to some of them sharing my thoughts.

So what am I swearing to give up? Disposable coffee cups from Starbucks. Seriously, I work right upstairs from one, and often grab a drink on my lunch break. I have a reuseable mug in the office, but I never think to bring it down with me. Same goes with weekends when we stop by Dutch Brothers for an afternoon treat. We all have travel mugs (even Max) but I never bring them with me when I go to a coffee shop. Until now! I mean really- Ron has one of these and they stay hot for something like 5 hours!

Here are some ideas from Domestic Goddess to get you started. You can make the switch from:

Paper napkins to cloth napkins (There are lots available on Etsy, or at thrift stores. I'm sewing some right now...)

Paper towels to cloth towels (we could be better at this)

Tissues to handkerchiefs (sometimes I grab one of the cloth wipes for Max if he's got a cold, but never think of it for myself. I should make some)

Paper, plastic or Styrofoam plates to your kitchen plates

Inexpensive plastic “Take & Toss” sippy cups to Sigg or Camelbak bottles or the Kleen Kanteen ***We LOVE our Sigg and Kleen Kanteen cups! Max has one of each. I prefer the Kleen Lanteen for him because the spout is easier to use and doesn't leak if it's on it's side. Great way to avoid the BPB's in plastic, anyhow! Especially if I've left water in it for a day or two- no plastic taste with the KK or Sigg bottles. ***
Disposable water bottles to (again) reusable bottles like Sigg or Camelbak **Again, we love these. For adults I like the Sigg better- perect size opening to drink from.

Swiffers (or similar products) to a broom and dustpan or mop (or use reusable cloths like cloth diapers/terry inserts in your Swiffer

Disposable dust rags to cloth rags

Disposable diapers to cloth diapers **I could go on about this forever- we love our cloth diapers! I do admit to having disposables around for travel and for when I get behind on laundry, but the cloth ones are much nicer. We love Fuzzi Bunz, but there are many options out there to choose from.

Disposable wipes to cloth wipes (inexpensive plain washcloths work really well). This is the best part of using cloth diapers, using cloth wipes! It's nice to have an extra thick barrier when you're cleaning poop. I make mine with one layer of soft flannel and one layer of terrycloth, then surge them together.

Disposable feminine products (tampons, pads) to reusables like DivaCup, MoonCup, Glad Rags, Luna Pads, Pretty Pads, or New Moon Pads, among others **I made this change about 6 months ago and wish I'd done it sooner. I love love love the DivaCup. So easy and convenient. And for those of you who have tried those messy "Instead" things- it's nothing like those. And think of the money you'll save- $25 for a Diva Cup that lasts years.

Grocery store bags to reusable bags I'm terrible at this. Oh, I have plenty of reuseable bags, I just forget to bring them with me. Working on it! I think I might get one that scrunches up really small like this and carry it in my bag.

Paper lunch bags for Cloth Lunch Bags, Insulated lunch bags, Bento Boxes, or metal stacking tins. We have the metal stacking tins and LOVE them. And Max loves to take them apart and put them back together again. If you really want to go all out, I've heard these Mr. Bento Box's are awesome. Supposedly they keep your food piping hot (or cold) for hours.

Plastic sandwich bags to Wrap-n-Mat. Again- we seriously love our Wrap-n-mats. I have a few, and the cool thing is that when you open them you have a built in placemat.




Plastic disposable utensils for bamboo or metal ones. These bamboo sets are great. If you eat out a lot, or get takeout on the run,. why not carry a set of these in your bag? Has a napkin and everything.

So there it is. Challenge yourself to make a change for 2 months, then see if you even want to go back! Or simply pick another item from the list in 2 months and take another challenge. Head over to Crunchy Domestic Goddess and tell her what you are ditching- she'll add you to the list of people and blogs who are taking on the challenge.