Blisstree » wearable-art

Stretch Your Buttons!

Christine Gooding — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:00:42 +0000

What do you mean s-t-r-e-t-c-h your buttons? That’s impossible! Surely, that could not be possible, you might say. But what I mean is of course for you to use up your leftover buttons and put to good use. It doesn’t really matter if its made of plastic, metal, vintage or othervise. It can be transformed into a beautiful piece of wearable art.

Most of us would have tons of sewing odds and ends, and in our trusty little sewing kit will reveal some buttons that are rather long forgotten. Although we normally have what we call spare buttons, you know, just in case we have those wardrobe malfunction moments, oftentimes these buttons remain spares for a very long time. So what can we do with them aside from taking the place of the one that was lost, er, snagged?

Image: Lilly Ella

All together now… transform it into a beautiful piece of wearable art.

Lilly Ella shows us in this tutorial just how economical this project can be, while hers also exude that vintage feel. It’s one cool piece of jewellery that you can truly call your masterpiece.

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Stretch Your Buttons!

Artsy blogging round-up!

Cyndi Lavin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:22:52 +0000

The Artful Crafter:
Eileen blogs about learning photography – one frame at a time.

The Crochet Dude
Drew is giving away all his latest designs that are included in his new line of patterns that just launched nationwide! To enter you just leave a comment on his blog!

The Impatient Crafter
Make a super cute pair of flip flops with your kid or teen for your end of summer vacation! Madge shares the 411 in this post for I Love to Create

About Family Crafts
Hurry on over and submit your photos and ideas! Sherri is now accepting Halloween submissions. Share your costumes, haunted house ideas, more and browse through the photos everyone else has submitted.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Alexa shares 3 great photography tips for taking better photos of your crafts. You don’t even have to have an expensive camera!

Cathie Filian
Join Cathie Filian on HSN August 17th where she will be showcasin the new formulas of Mod Podge, Chalkboard Paint and Texture Paint.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside has a how-to on making a Traveling Mail Art Kit from the soon to be released book-Good Mail Day, a tutorial on how to line a flap and step by step directions to make a painted fusible web postcard. Be sure to answer the week’s questions to be entered to win free books while your getting your fill of crafty goodness.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy has a bag full of fun crafting ideas for the crafter with a birthday.

CraftyPod
SisterDiane interviews a top Etsy seller who decided to downsize her business.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Help Connie decide a caption for her free Bat Cross Stitch pattern.

Naughty Secretary Club
Jen dishes up a recipe for making a pin cushion out of vintage tin.

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Earrings made with something old, something new and a how-to from the new book- Simply Gemstones by Nancy Alden

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Artsy blogging round-up!

Call for entries: Altered Couture

Cyndi Lavin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:00:08 +0000

The autumn quarterly issue of Altered Couture is on the horizon, and I thought that looking at Nancy Judd’s amazing recycled wonders a couple weeks ago might be just the inspirational push you need to get you going this time. You’ve got two months before the deadline, but don’t procrastinate…you know how time can sneak up on you!

A hand-me-down sweater … a raggedy old skirt from the thrift store … a plain T-shirt … Using just a few tools coupled with your creativity, all of these items can be transformed into fantastic works of wearable art! The publisher of Belle Armoire and Somerset Studio invites you to submit your own altered and embellished clothing and accessories to be considered for this exciting publication. The special theme for the next issue will be Altered Suits!

Deadline for artwork to be received: September 15, 2009. Please read submission guidelines before sending your submissions to: Stampington & Company · C/O: Altered Couture · 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B · Laguna Hills, CA 92653

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Call for entries: Altered Couture

Artsy blogging round-up!

Cyndi Lavin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:38:13 +0000

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world:
At Craftside there is a bling-tastic video on hand lettering with Lisa Engelbrecht, from the new book The Crafter’s Devotional a how to make a leather book cover and flag cuffs made from a book cover, an “actual size” silver heart using PMC, and a fun snack recipe.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy shows off her cool new sewing cabinet that was surprisingly inexpensive.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Why no knots in Counted Cross Stitch? Find out why and how to secure your floss in alternate ways.

Mixed Media Artist
A report on using the new CopprClay. This stuff rocks!

Naughty Secretary Club
Thinking about starting up your own craft business? Jen has a few suggestions of things you might consider first. Plus learn how you can take a Crafty Business Seminar with Jen from anywhere in the world!

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery
Old plastic bead necklaces go under the knife (and in the toaster oven) to make Melted Plastic bead Star Earrings perfect for the patriotic holidays

The Artful Crafter
Eileen suggests you go shopping for craft supplies in your jewelry box and closet. Make an old accessory into something new and fresh.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares the clip from her recent appearance on Lifetime TV’s The Balancing Act for Beadalon.

About Family Crafts
If you are looking for a creative way to celebrate every day during the month of July, check out this special events calendar!

Aileen’s Musings
Ever wonder how to get that cute copyright symbol or better yet, how to put one on your artwork or photographs? Aileen offers a easy tutorial using PSP.

Cathie Filian
It is summer and that means beach & pool time! Visit Cathie Filian’s blog to learn how to stotch up a terry beach throw.

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Artsy blogging round-up!

Recycled fashion collection

Cyndi Lavin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Nancy Judd of Santa Fe is brilliant! She creates what she calls “eco trash couture” as her statement to the world about conservation, and shows them at Recycle Runway. Nancy has been commissioned by major corporations to design fashions for them too.

Nancy teaches workshops that aim to have the participants create functional pieces, with the goal of at least 90% recycled material going into each project.

Each of Nancy’s original hand sewn garments like the ones shown below take between 100 and 400 hours to make. Her work is exhibited in airports all across the country:

Fan Mail Dress, 2000. Junk mail.

Plastic Bathing Beauty, 2004. Detergent bottles.

Images: Nancy Judd

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Recycled fashion collection

Call for entries: Hats

Cyndi Lavin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:00:40 +0000

Big hats, little hats, fancy hats, plain hats (this is starting to remind me of a Dr Suess story…), all hats are welcome as entries in the juried exhibition sponsored by TLD Design Center and Gallery. Hats 2009 is open to all artists and designers doing original work. Only hats of your own design and individual effort are eligible. All entries must be wearable.

High quality photos or slides which are tightly focused must be submitted by July15, 2009 with a non-refundable entry fee of $3.00 per hat entry. Up to 5 entries per person.

All information on submission

Tammy L Deck, gallery owner

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Call for entries: Hats

Call for entries: Altered Couture

Cyndi Lavin — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:00:27 +0000

Altered Couture
A hand-me-down sweater … a raggedy old skirt from the thrift store … a plain T-shirt … Using just a few tools coupled with your creativity, all of these items can be transformed into fantastic works of wearable art! The publisher of Belle Armoire and Somerset Studio invites you to submit your own altered and embellished clothing and accessories to be considered for the second volume of this exciting publication. Chapters will include Skirts & Dresses, Pants & Overalls, Jackets & Vests, Shirts & Tops, Children’s Wear, Sassy Shoes, and Accessories.

Deadline for artwork to be received: June 15, 2009. Please read submission guidelines before sending your submissions to: Stampington & Company · C/O: Altered Couture · 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B · Laguna Hills, CA 92653

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Call for entries: Altered Couture

Call for entries: 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats

Cyndi Lavin — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:15:17 +0000

1000 Fabulous Knit Hats
Editor: Annie Modesitt
Quarry Books
Deadline for submission: July 1, 2009

Quarry is looking for submissions of images for possible publication in 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats, a definitive and inspirational collection of hand knit hats presented by Annie Modesitt.

There are cash prizes for original designs!
Publication date: July 2010

More information and submission forms

Image: Quarry Books

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Call for entries: 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats

Call for entries: Haute Handbags

Cyndi Lavin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:15:44 +0000

Stampington & Co is getting ready to publish another issue of their special publication Haute Handbags. The deadline is May 15, 2009, so get out your supplies and get going! Here’s all the important submission information.

How do you carry it? That’s the question Somerset Studio would like to help answer through our new and exciting special publication titled Haute Handbags. Whether we use purses, clutches, totes, portfolios, sacks, bags, or attachés, there are many styles made with an astounding array of materials emerging from all corners of the creative world – all vying to be carried and used with style. You are welcome to construct a bag from scratch, or to purchase one that you embellish and alter with paints, beads, rubber stamps, ribbons, buttons, transparencies, and more. No medium or material is ruled out so use your imagination to make bags of leather, wool, fabric, paper, plastic, wood, glass, or any other materials that you love. Deadline for artwork to be received: Bi-annually every November 15th, and May 15th.

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Call for entries: Haute Handbags

how-to of the day: fiber fusion with fabric, yarn and silk – how yummy!

Chloe Findlay-Harder — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:02:31 +0000

This is one of my favorite tutorials – I actually wrote it a few years back, but the photos got eaten – ack! I’ve re-written it and dug up all the photos from my old computer – boy, thank goodness for portable hard drives

Click the image for the complete tutorial:

Fiber fusion is a great way to use up little scraps of yarn, thread trimmings – or even scraps of fabric left over from fussy-cutting motifs. You can make fiber art, wall hangings – even clothing or jewelry with it!

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how-to of the day: fiber fusion with fabric, yarn and silk – how yummy!