Please help me congratulate Cindi, the randomly selected contest winner who’ll receive a copy of Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin!
Cindi said,
“Every month, my friends and I take turns hosting each other for a stamping group. This mostly involves card making, scrap booking and collages. We are beginning to use fabrics to create. I would love to win this book for our group.”
I’d also like to send out a special thanks to everyone who took the time to enter this contest. I appreciate you.
(Image via HNA Books.)

To celebrate New Year’s Day, I’m taking a look back at posts from 2008. I’m a picky blogger to begin with, so I don’t post things I don’t love. But these are some of my favorites of the year. Hope you find something new!
Retail Junk Creations
Cotton Monsters! The Work of Jennifer Strunge
Washing Machine Drum into Lovely Lamp at Reestore
World War II Helmets Used for Turtle Garden Sculptures
Other Junk Creations
Hannah’s Toadstool Doorstops
DIY Refrigerator Magnets
The Fondue Robot
My Junk Creations
My Paperboard Person
Kitchen Message Center from Cutting Board
Vintage Gift Tags from Me
Junk Artists
Emergency Response Studio in Prospect 1 New Orleans Exhibit
Mister Skunk’s Magnificent Creations
Metal …read more

Be gone foul wasp!
This week, Noreen designed a crocheted fake wasp nest to trick the wasps and yellow jackets into staying away from her home. Let’s hope it works!
Freaky Friday #66
A great visual journal writing prompt.
Is this a Blog? Or is it a Website??
Are you confused by the distinction bewteen a blog and a website? Eileen tries to sort things out for you.
Layers Upon Layers
Torn paper landscapes are super-simple backgrounds for collage.
Review: Last-Minute Fabric Gifts (In case you missed it here.)
This junk book helps you transform clothing you no longer wear into fun gifts like recycled sweater hats.
Sewing a wasp …read more

Cynthia Treen, artist and designer who owns an eclectic textiles business, dreamed up her book, Last-Minute Fabric Gifts: 30 Hand-Sew, Machine-Sew & No-Sew Projects. It was published in 2006, and is available online. I got my copy from the library. You know how I love to do that.
Some of the projects in this book will be easier if you know how to sew : ), but Cynthia also takes great care to explain techniques in the back of the book. My favorite projects include:
Coat sleeve bag – Cut off a discarded men’s coat sleeve about 10 1/2 inches from …read more