I spent my afternoon walking through my local conservatory.  It was such a treat to get away from the city for a couple of hours and just enjoy the tropical flowers and lush plants from all over the world.
Of course, I can’t leave my camera at home and so I’ve got dozens of photos of lovely plants to use as inspiration.  I find that the “macro” image is the one that interests me the most, so I rarely seem to end up with the whole flower or plant in the frame.
One game I like to play is imagining how I …read more

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!  I think it’s fun for the whole family to share holidays together, so I’ve found a collection of different free kids crafts for Valentine’s Day. I’ve already got a pretty good collection of free Valentine’s Day craft patterns online already – but let’s have fun with the kids today!
My woven heart bag is a great project for kids – younger ones may need a little extra help though   I’d recommend using felt or another non-fray fabric instead of the fused cotton I used during the tutorial.

image: © C Findlay-Harder
Family Fun …read more

Martha Stewart has a great little free tutorial, using lace to create this delicate & feminine “Blossoming Brooch“:

The tutorial calls for flat, un-gathered lace, but I’d love to try it out using sheer organza ribbon or even scalloped ribbon.  Ooh… what about using variegated ribbon?  Too many ideas, not enough time
image: Martha Stewart

I’ve been a busy crafter in my studio this morning and have created a new free tutorial for you all!
I’ve been making these woven heart bags since I was child and wanted to share them.  They’re a fun way to package up little gifts and trinkets – and of course, if you change the colors, it will work for any season.  To see the whole tutorial, just click on the photo

image: © C Findlay-Harder

I’ve written about the incredible fiber artist, Sharon Schamber before – she does amazing things with fabric!
Sharon has created a three-part video tutorial on how to create the perfect bound edge.  Learning how to create neat, accurate bindings can be a tricky process (talk about trial and error!) but Sharon’s method takes a lot of guess work out of the process.
Bindings aren’t just for quilters – they’re a great way to finish off all kinds of fabric projects!

It’s the time of year again when I browse through my archives from the past year and pick out my favorite posts – as well as your favorite posts!
The all-time reader favorite post from this year has to be the free pattern to sew your own snuggie. This post has got to be one of the most popular ones I’ve ever written!
My ribbon roses tutorial is another top reader favorite – month after month, people still enjoy it… even though I wrote it in 2007!
In no particular order, here are some of my favorite posts from 2008:

I’ve gotten a few …read more

Hand-made Christmas ornaments make charming little gifts – perfect for tucking into gift baskets or hanging on a package for a friend.  I try and create at least one hand-made Christmas ornament for my tree every year – this year, it’s a little felt bird:

This year, I’m using felt and Bettsi McCombs’ lovely “Folk Bird” pattern to make my ornaments.   I sewed three sequins onto each wing (using my free tutorial from last week) and sewed each seam using blanket stitch.  The eyes are the same beads I used to sew the sequins on.
In one evening I sewed the complete …read more

I got a reader request on how to make basic yo-yo circles.  They’re a technique I’ve mentioned quite a bit here, but I had forgotten to actually write a complete how-to for you all!
Yes, yo-yos are fun and easy and no, you don’t need any fancy plastic tools to make them
Am I obsessed with yo-yos?  Oh yes…

I’ve got the complete tutorial here, or just click on the photo
image: © C Findlay-Harder

 I’ve been going through my archives to find my favorite Christmas craft patterns from last year for my lovely readers
As always, these are my own original patterns & designs and are not to be copied or reposted elsewhere without my permission.
Here are two more fun embroidered patterns – the first is a machine-embroidered gift card holder.  It’s a great way to play around with different stitches on your sewing machine, and make a cute Christmas gift for someone special!

 This one is for my hand-embroidery fans!  It’s a crazy quilt Christmas card that I created using little pieces of …read more

Yes, I know that Halloween was just here, but I like to get an early start on my Christmas crafting!
I love making Christmas ornaments, and I ended up creating quite a few original Christmas ornament patterns last year.
Here are some of my favorite Christmas ornament tutorials and how-tos from last year.  As always, these are my own original patterns and are not to be copied or reposted elsewhere without my permission.
Dog paw-print ornament (part one and part two):

 Machine-embroidered Christmas tree ornament:

 Russian punch-needle or Igolochkoy ornament (part one, part two and part three):

 Yo-yo Christmas tree ornament:

 Happy Christmas crafting!
all images: © C …read more