Patriotic Poster Drink Charms

In honor of Independance Day, I thought I would repost this project from last year that I really loved creating... Vintage Patriotic Posters Drink Charms! They are colorful, fun, nostalgic, and celebrate the red, white, and blue in all their graphic glory. I just love them!

First off, you may wonder where I got these images? Well, straight from the net, baby! But, I didn't "steal" them, they are images in the public domain, meaning that anyone can use them for crafting, brochures, web sites, or whatever! There's lot of public domain images out there and a lot of great resources. I found this resource at Wikipedia. I actually acquired the images I am using for this project at the Online Library at Northwestern that I am using in this project. Their stipulation for using the images was that I state that in my reference.

Anyway, back to the project at hand. Here's how you create these eye-catching charms:

Materials
– Computer with Inkjet printer
– Charm images (you can get your own at the Northwestern Library web site listed above or use the 12 I used. Find them here.
– White cardstock
– Therm-O-Web self-adhesive laminate
– Small wine glass hoops
– Various-sized beads in red, silver, and blue
– Pliers
– Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Open up or layout your images in a photo preview program or Adobe Photoshop. Size, if needed where each individual image is about 1" wide.

2.Cut out each individual image. Tear off laminate from backing and place picture onto sticky surface. Lay another piece of laminate on top. Press firmly over surface with finger to smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles.


3.Cut out around each laminated image, making sure to leave 1/8" of laminate around image.


4.Use pin or safety pin to poke a hole through top of image (not through laminate, or it will tear). Put small jump ring through hole to make a charm.


5.String beads in desired fashion onto hoop. Use pliers to bend end of hoop to fit inside wire loop. Undo bended end from loop to secure onto wineglass.


Showcase your charms with pride on the stems of your glasses! They will be instant conversation starters. Who doesn't like retro Americana ads? If you don't want to go the trouble of making wine glass charms, print the images out on label stock, cut them out, and slap them silly onto red and blue Silo cups!



And aren't the old illustrations and fonts fabulous? Posters today don't even compare. I love the simplicity and the importance of the image. Here's a detail!



On a final note, when I reviewed these posters a few stood out to me...this one looked oddly familiar. Then I thought about it and realized it's an image used in the opening credits of Desperate Housewives! There is also a series of ads I found (reposted on That's my Skull's blog called Jenny on the Job encouraging women in the war work force to keep restrooms clean, wear low heals, be "fresh" as a daisy, and wear styles designed for victory. They would be incredibly demeaning today, but I'm sure back then, seeing those wouldn't have raised an eyebrow.


Hope you enjoyed this patriotic project. Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008

I'm profiled on Brenda's blog!

Hop over and check out my friend Brenda Pinnick's blog! I'm a featured guest! She asked me some super fun questions and check out all the revealing answers (har har).

While you're there, check out Brenda's wonderful blog and crafty goodness. She is a very talented artist (painting, illustration, crafts, and more) and has a lot of insightful posts and inspiration.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Inside Crafty Chica's bag of goodies

Kathy is town this week and she had a bag of toys and trinkets that were colorful, bright, and fun! She told me that she had gotten all of them off Ebay and that she hadn't done anything with them yet. She offered to let me take them home and I took several photos of them that I thought I would share!

For the pic above, I broke out my Crafty Chica™ bobblehead and poked her head through a shirt box and filled in trinkets all around her face. I was inspired by Boopsie Daisy's Flickr Stream. I love the bright, candy-coated look of her photos. Her doll photos are so inspirational and a true visual delight. I could look at them for hours!


Inside the bag of goodies was lots of colorful rings... with scorpions, roaches, and lizards!


I love these little guys. They are kinda like my zombie finger puppets. Anytime I get my hands on a puppet, I like to give it character and make it chase after people. I can't help it. I just always feel a compulsion to do so. You can tell this one belongs to Crafty Chica™! It has glitter all over it!


Check out all the kitschy trinkets! These were some of my favorites. I love the babies, martini shaker, door knocker, hot dog, money and tea cup best.

I can't wait to see what Kathy makes with these. Time will tell!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My personal MJ moments

Michael Jackson was such a huge celebrity that it's hard to have had him not touch our life in some way. I have had many MJ memories that personally affected me and I thought I would share.


– I remember fishing in Post cereal boxes for stickers of the sparkly glove (see the sparkly one in the photo above?). MJ stickers were a coveted item in my household that you had to get your hands on first!

– My cousins Bethany and Miranda had a giant Jackson 5 poster in their room. I remember they loved Michael the best and would kiss it before they went to bed.

– For me, I was born in 1978, so even though Thriller was released in 1982, I don't have much recollection of it. I feel like the Bad era was something I connected with more.

– I LOVED the ending to the Black and White video. I remember thinking how cool that was that they morphed into different people. It is still pretty cool to watch; however, the technology is well beyond that point now. I totally appreciate that he was a design and visual trendsetter and that he was a storyteller.

– In 9th grade, I had some shoes with a square toe and I called them Michael Jackson shoes. I could stand on the toes and I would do the "hee hee" sound and sing "Jamone". My friend Destiny always thought that was the funniest thing.


– I dressed up as Michael and won first place for a costume contest at work 5 or 6 years ago. I wore a jacket my mom had made me in 8th grade and crafted fancy MJ-like shoulder accessories and the silver glove. I also wore a glitter hat with glued doll curls and face mask. I had a little "Blanket" baby that I through up in the air. I will admit, this was me portraying the "stereotyped" MJ. If you are as big or notorious as Michael Jackson, you face such ridicule. I also did the moonwalk and danced to Beat it. At one point I looked in the mirror and I saw Michael staring back at me. It was kinda creepy. Takes the song, "Man in the Mirror" to a new level. After my performance, one of the plant employees always called me "Michael".


–Lexington had a huge Michael Jackson "Thriller" reenactment each year that I attended several times. It was one of the more unique events that happened in Lex. I always wanted to participate to be a zombie in the performance, but never did. The photo above is from the reenactment. I purchased this at a local art fair in Lexington, thinking it was cool. For the reenactment, they made a giant paper maché MJ.

– I used to go dancing at a club in Lexington called "The Moon" with my Lexington friends and it was always Groundhog Day in there, meaning you knew they were going to play the same stuff over and over. Every Sat. night, you knew that the Michael Jackson remix of music would play. I always hopped out of my chair if I wasn't on the dance floor already and boogied away. They played Thriller, Beat It, The Way you make me feel, and Black and White. Michael Jackson music is some of my favorite to dance to.


– Just last week, I posted a picture of me wearing my MJ silver glove earrings on Flickr. I had been wearing those earrings a lot as of late. It always seems weird that we make references to people or talk about them in some way before they pass.

What kind of MJ memories do you have?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pier 1 is having a huge sale!!

I came home last night and konked out and didn't get to my blog post (I just realize I seriously misspelled konked...ha ha).

Anyway, I saw all kinds of stuff I loved including the frames above. Now, they weren't 75% off, but I still love them just the same. I really, really wanted to take lots of photos in there...the sun was streaming in beautifully, but I chickened out. I did get a few and my self-portait, which I have failed to upload just yet, but anyway, head on over there, there is some really COOL stuff :)

I promise a better post tonight! Hopefully I won't be so tired, y'all!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

This and that

Just wanted to share a couple things tonight. First off, I made this copper and red metallic G for my friend Gloria. I love these paper mache letters. Actually, I really love the giant ones at Joann. I would love to do a whole word project of some kind with these things. I don't know a person who doesn't love personalized letters!



I actually used that plastic/metallic mesh ribbon (the kind you can get at the fabric store fo 20¢ a yard) to create the texture. I actually used Tulip 3-D Fashion Paint for the dots. I'm really happy with how they turned out on this project. What can I say, I like dots! And their easy!

In other news, did I tell you guys that I was on Sister Diane's Craftypod Podcast? Check it out here. I'm the 3rd of 4th person that talks about why I "Make Things". You can prob. tell it's me, cause I'm the only one with a southern accent! Ha ha.

Also, you need to check out my friend Maya's tie dye video. She has become a real pro with the tie dye! I'm super impressed with her end creation. It makes me want to get some and make a cool t-shirt like she did. Oh, and listen to her as her "Daisy" character. She gives me a little shout out. It made my day today.



Well, gotta get ready for bed! Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Original ideas are hard to come by

So last night, I enjoyed myself quite thoroughly while watching the CMT awards (a repeat) and making these little button ring stacks. I have yet to glue them onto their bases, but I plan on doing them this week. Don't they look like visual candy? I think so.

So, the problem is concerning this project...I have the desire to sell these rings. Why do most people purchase materials to make things anyway? Well, I'm sure there are those people who have rooms and rooms of their creations that they can't part with, but for the rest of us it is our desire to part ways with our creations and hopefully make some money in the process.

And while I truly love these rings in their color and uniqueness (in my mind), it still kinda bothers me to know that if I do sell them, online in particular, they will more than likely go unnoticed or sit in my shop waiting to be purchased. I know there is something to be said about marketing your work, hyping it up, etc., etc. But I don't have that much time to devote to that (I'm sure some of you can relate to this as well). I want to put them online and for them to be appreciated and perhaps purchased. The problem is this: there is nothing totally "unique" about them to make them stand out from the Etsy crowd. It is soooooo hard to have an original idea these days, unlike 20 years ago, when something like this would have been purchased immediately for its uniqueness. Is this just me or do you other crafters out there who sale your wares know what I mean? With materials and supplies being so readily available on the internet and stores, and with ideas being so abundant, a basic craft project can be knocked off in no time. It's so hard to stand out from the rest.

Yes, I could prob. really sit down and hard and think of an idea that would be purchased, but it's kinda a crap shoot. An item I think is wonderful might not be that way for the next person. And a really good project that is totally original would require a process or style that couldn't easily be copied. As a lot of you know, once you put it out into the web universe, it is no longer your "exclusive design" becomes something a handful of people or thousands of people want to copy.

Does anyone else know where I'm coming from with this? I'm not meaning to sound all Debbie Downer or anything, it's just a frustration of mine that I've felt for a while.

OK, lunch is over...back to work!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Crafty Blogger Links!

Check out what the crafty bloggers are up to this week!

About Family Crafts
What is in your craft cupboard? What craft supplies can you not live without? Has there been a craft item that your purchased thinking it was the greatest invention of all time and then never used?

Aileen's Musings
Aileen needs your help! She's created another whimsical character in her curalicious series and needs a saying or quote to go with her! Post your quote or saying and enter to win a curvalicious coffee cup!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Create fun and graphic letter & number decopauge jars in a flash!

Cathie Filian
Recycle old jeans and fabric scraps into a quilted 4th of July Table Runner in under 2 hours!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there is Jenn Mason's episode of Look, Learn & Create where she shows us how to make a fun matchbook card and dyed plastic tube necklace, a window-screen art journal tutorial from the new book Re-bound and a mini journal with a recycled scrapbook paper catalog, a discussion of rule breaking in logo design and a recipe for roasted chickpeas.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Cat Domination at Jewelry Bench! Where or where can I work on jewelry, Tammy asks?

CraftyPod
Take a handful of buttons and some craft wire, and make charming button monograms to wear as jewelry.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Dinosaurs rule in the Land of the Lost and they also rule at About.com Cross Stitch. There are three of them stalking through Connie's latest free pattern collection.

Mixed Media Artist
Here's a way to combine planning with serendipity when you paint fabrics!

Naughty Secretary Club
Think all the marketing at a craft show is already taken care of for the vendors? Think again. Jen shares some marketing tips.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Another of Stefanie's Happy Bunnies-This one created using the help of the cool book: Stray Sock Sewing

The Artful Crafter
What new mom would not be delighted with this precious keepsake pendant? Eileen gives you step-by-step instructions for making it using polymer clay and decal paper.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge went on a bead buying trip to NYC! Get the scoop!

Vickie Howell
Craft Corps Stencil Kits are in! Check out Vickie's How-To on making your own, stenciled gear. Stand up, shout loud, you've joined The Corps and you're proud!

Letter and number decopauge jars

Here's a fast and fun decopauge jar idea that looks really cool and graphic. I'm a big sucker for bold letters and numbers. I love large letters for walls and pillows with giant numbers on them. I don't know what it is...I just love the shapes! I guess my fondness for letters and numbers graphically is attributed to being a graphic designer. I love fonts!

So here's how you make these cute jars that you can use for storage, change jars, flower vases or fun gift giving!

Letter and number decopauge jars

Supplies:
– jars of your choice (I used marshmallow fluff jars)
– magazine, newspaper, or junk mail clipped letter and numbers
– scissors
– Collage Pauge Instant Decopauge™
– ribbon of your choice
– Aleene's Original Tacky Glue
– paper plate

Instructions:
1) Thourougly clean jar and remove label or any other dust and debris.

2) Clip out various letters and numbers from magazines. I cut them out in various sizes and fonts in different colors.

3) Squeeze Collage Pauge onto plate. Use finger to apply decopauge medium on front and back of clipped letter. Place on jar and smooth out. Repeat until jar or desired area is covered.

4) Apply Tacky Glue to top of jar and apply ribbon around edge. Let dry.

5) Admire the swell job that you did!!

Hope you enjoyed this project! I know it's been a long time since I've actually had a project (prob. more than month). I'm not sure what happened exactly...I just wasn't in the mood to craft...I kinda go through spells. Sometimes I'm more in a photographic mood than a craft mood.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

A few things I'm totally diggin'!!

The illustration of Stina Persson:






These awesomely geeky RSS feed, Twitter, and Photoshop pillows from Craftsquatch.


These super cool t-shirts from Veer. The FPO means For Positioning Only. It's a graphic design reference that not everyone would get.




Love these photo display ideas I found compiled from San Francisco girl on the Jars of Cute blog.


Love these interchangeable rings from Switchring.


This recycled cardboard rings wall art is beyond fab!


Hope you enjoy these little finds as much as I enjoyed scouting them out!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

The Photographer's Right

So, something happened to me tonight and I posted it on my Facebook and it got more than 3 responses to it (which I deem to be a hot topic). Well, just to clarify, I'm not referring to this Hot Topic. Hee hee. Won't even begin to go there.

The hot topic that affected me tonight relates to my daily pic I take for my 365 photo you always see in the top right hand corner.

Once again, I was questioned as to what I was doing while shooting my daily pic, which always spins me for a bit of a loop.

So it went down like this...

Like any other night, I left my house in the hopes of getting a cool 365 pic outdoors. I opt for natural light over indoor light most nights and hope to get a cool picture outdoors. The thing is; however, that my apartment complex is less than stellar for photo taking. It's not that interesting of a place to take photos...all the community is rather cookie cutter, so I opted to go to a spot with atleast a little interest...some trailing ivy on the wall. I shot a few pics that looked like this:



After shooting these pics and examining some cob webs, I sat down on the curb to review the pics. I shot just a couple more with my camera toward the sky looking up at me and really was minding my own business. Next thing I know, I see a truck coming toward me and slowing down. Upon further realization, I realized it was the newly implemented apartment security, and he had a few questions for me...

Security guard: "Excuse me, miss, but we got a report in that someone was shooting license plates outside in this vicinity. Were you taking pics of license plates?"

Me: "I take a photo of myself a day, I was taking pictures of myself, not license plates, I'll show you if you want to see."

He didn't ask to see my photos, but he did ask for my name, apt. no., and told me that he got a complaint and just had to check it out for precautionary reasons. He told me they had recently had some stalkers in the area and that he had to check out any complaints and proceeded to tell me that anytime I needed him, there was a sticker on the side of the buildings with the no. to the security service.

While I do think he was really just checking things out and responding to a concern, I just always feel annoyed after these incidents. It just makes me feel rather annoyed that I'm singled out for my own creative expression. This has happened a couple of other times...I always feel like I have to explain my way out of the situation.

Sarah Moore of Craft Critique referred me to this document that outlines my rights as a photographer. There's some really interesting stuff on there that is good to know. In general, even if I had wanted to take photos of license plates, I have every right. My apartment community is gated; however, so I'm kinda wondering if they have the jurisdiction to decide if photos can/can not be taken on their premises. Some of this legal information is confusing and way over my head, but atleast this Photographer's Right document is easy to understand and lets you know your rights if you are in a situation.

I don't really feel too upset about this, I just sum it up that art and photography are often misunderstood and that expressions of it are often times way misinterpreted by those who don't understand it. I just wish more people had a more open-minded attitude and wouldn't jump to conclusions when they see someone with a camera or expressing themselves in an artistic and non-harming way in public.

And just to let you know, the photos I took outdoors tonight felt tainted to me, so I instead went with a more abstract and artsy photograph tonight (seen at top right of this page) that I shot through a drinking glass. It turned out much more interesting than my outdoor ones did anyway!

Crafty Blogger links

Check out what the crazy crafty bloggers are up to this week!

The Impatient Crafter
Ranger has a three day intensive university and Madge has the 411 after spending a weekend getting fully certified! Inky and crafty goodness was enjoyed by all!

The Artful Crafter
Eileen helps a reader who needs to start her Christmas crafting early with instructions for a beaded glow-in-the-dark star ornament.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Modern Sweater Surgery Toilet Paper Cozy Inspired by the new book- Felt Furnishings by Anne Kyyro Quinn

Mixed Media Artist
Let's do the twist! Cyndi demonstrates a fun way to paint fabrics with a surprise ending.

Cross Stitch at About.com
An unsettling project has Connie in a contemplative mood. What do you think of this project?

CraftyPod
Sister Diane's latest podcast is all about how to write a great craft blog.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Have you heard of the book Weekend Sewing? Tammy offers some tips for making copies of the patterns in this new book by Heather Ross.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside has the latest episode of Look, Learn & Create featuring William F. Powell showing us some great methods of mixing paint colors, and there is an explanation of the different types of clay, how to plan a business, draw an outline for an illuminated letter, and finally how-to's for beading and embellishing filigree jewelry from Karen and Ann Mitchell.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Alexa shares several craft projects that she has every intention of eventually making.

Aileen's Musings
Aileen offers you another printable freebie...a word sheet for you to download and use in your art . . .

Naughty Secretary Club
Jen gets crafty with wallpaper! A review, how-to project and contest to win a copy of Wallpaper Projects.

About Family Crafts
Check out photos of home-made Father's Day cards and submit your own photos to this gallery.

One of these days I will get to that...

If you are a die hard crafter like me, it is more than likely that you have a large stash of unused or never opened packages of fabric, beads, buttons, paper, paints, or surfaces that you have stored in your craft room. And if you are also like me, they are stowed away in a random plastic shopping bag that you haven't searched in for months (even years). You had every intention at the time of purchase to create something great, because you were so inspired that you had to get right home to make something fabulous! In reality, the project left your mind because you moved onto that other "great idea".

So with that in mind, I thought I would share my projects and supplies I was so pumped to do that still remain unfinished!


This is a piece of orange vinyl sticker that I intended to make something for this spot on the wall. I put it up on the wall so I would be inspired. 3 or so months later, nothing has came to be. My friend Katie's boyfriend was so nice and gave me this piece of vinyl from his work, and I want to do something cool, it's just that I would like coverage over the entire wall, but I don't have enough to do that. I have had ideas to do a coocoo clock, cutout cool words in a modern font, or starbursts or rain drops like this. I just don't know. I should just dive into it one evening and figure it out.


Fell in love with this yellow focal bead and the other purple iridescent beads in the pack; however, I just don't know where to go with it. I haven't come up with anything yet I want to do. Too bad there weren't 2 focal beads so I could go the easy route and make some earrings.


I want to make another photo/graphic purse like this and cover it in Envirotex Lite. I need to come up with a theme/photo I feel inspired to do something cool with. Something colorful with numbers and a distressed look sounds cool to me at the moment. Just haven't gotten there.

I have a few of these embroidered letters that I bought like 9 months ago at Hobby Lobby (for 17¢ each, by the way). I would like to take the collegiate-like letter and used it in a mixed media way on a shirt or bag or wall hanging. We'll see what happens.


I have had these different bracelets (wooden and plastic) for a while. I want to do something different and unexpected with them, but haven't felt the inspiration at all to do them. I'm thinking this would be more fun to create some bracelet crafts with a friend on a lazy Sunday afternoon.


And unfortunately, I've never gotten around to use my sewing machine for a cool project. I want to whip up some pillows, cuffs, and sewing basics like figuring out how to do a darn zipper! My mom gave me some money toward sewing lessons, but I never took them (sorry Mom). It's not that I don't have the interest, it's just that I haven't a lot of time. Between blogging, working, concepting, and crafting (which admittedly, I haven't been in all that of a mood to do as of late), I haven't made time for it. I think part of that is that the sewing machine is a challenge and doesn't come naturally to me, so I need to just jump in and figure it out. That being said, I also have the same feeling when I think about getting around to designing my new Swelldesigner home page. It's been sitting idle for close to a year.

What idea/project have you not seen to completion or thought of in a really long time? Tell me about it :)

Until next time Swellions!
Alexa

Cute new shoes and other great deals in swell history

Check out my cute new zebra flats. OK, so they are a half size too small, but I'm thinking I will deal with it...I'll stretch 'em out, right? So, I totally got them for only $10 bucks at Target, which I think is a fab deal! I love them so much! Love the combination of zebra and sparkle. I think I have a loud personality, but my wardrobe doesn't always reflect it. It's little touches that earrings, shoes, and belts that you see more of a reflection of me in. I'm pretty casual and conservative in my everyday wears.

I was thinking about it and I'm pretty crazy about deals like most of you are as well. I can't say I'm always a big deal spotter...I HATE and pretty much refuse to wade through the big cardboard box bins at Express. It's not worth it that much to me, but I have found a few awesome finds over the years. For example:

– A red denim mini skirt from Old Navy for 99¢
– A pair of black going out/butt kicking books for $5 (also at Target)
– A navy and white lined pair of Steve Madden kicks from Ross for $2
– A Levi's dark denim jacket for $8 at JCPenney
– A Jantzen swimsuit for $9 at a Lee factory outlet

I've prob. gotten a lot more that I can't think about, but when I get a good deal, I wear it like a badge of honor. Ha ha. I'm not always good about remembering coupons, but back in the day when I got an additional percentage off as a JCPenney associate, you better believe I worked it! I remember I once got 2 sets of nice red JCPenney brand towels for under $10. A set included the large towel, hand towel, and washcloth.

What kind of deal have you gotten over the years that you are super proud of?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My family loves to tie dye!

Well, that's what I found out when I discovered this pic in my inbox on Monday. My mom went to Wal-mart and bought the Tulip® Tie Dye Bright Colors and Camo Colors tie dye kits. She's super supportive of me and even buys the products that are made at my work. Cool, huh?

I asked Mom how it went and she said the kids had fun making the shirts. Taylor tied rubber bands into little sections all over her shirt (she likes to make her own unique mark on any craft project she does) and Taylor even did the little onesie that Ava is wearing. Cute, huh?

Grant (top left) didn't actually make his shirt. The kids made one for him, but after seeing their awesome results, Grant said he wants to make a shirt the next time he comes for a visit.

This really is a great outdoor craft and is great for all ages. There's no boiling water involved...you just fill the bottle with water and go for it! The kit comes with everything you need to do several shirts! There's some great techniques to try in this video.

Anyway, just wanted to share. I thought they all look super cute!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

I <3 Uppercase!

I came across a site tonight via Elsie Flannigan's blog (love her). It's called Uppercase and there's a bevy of cool graphic-designery things on there that I'm betting will inspire you just like they did me...

Their site sells it's own magazine, books & papergoods. It's a cool, eclectic mix of great design and craftiness...what a way to speak to my heart!


Like, check out their beautiful Eclectonote journals. It is made of repurposed books, vintage papers and has fine detail including foil stamping, die cuts, and laser printed transparent covers. I love it! There are some other cool themes too including "Arts & Crafts", "Peas & Carrots", and "Home & Garden".


I also really love the type treasures eclectic paper good kits. Giant transparent numbers...now that's some good stuff!


There's also other fun gifts like these awesome retroesque pocket mirrors. This one comes in 3 colors.


They also have great cards. I love the simplicity and simple message. That's the power of good graphic design.

Check out their awesome blog too! They also publish great books like Work/Life (actually it's on pre-order, but you can preview it). This is published in Canada, so you may want to check out their ordering section for more info. If you are anything like me, there will be plenty you will want to order. Check them out!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Crafty Blogger Links

Check out what the crafty bloggers are up to this week!

About Family Crafts
Have you played along with my Make-It-Over Craft Challenge yet? What would you make out of this ordinary object?

Aileen's Musings
Aileen is very excited to announce that the Ties That Bind Art Doll Raffle has begun! Its an amazing project, with contributions by over 100 artists. Stop by to find out how you can purchase raffle tickets to win this amazing art doll, and help us reach our goal!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Swelldesigner shares all week on her blog tales from SF Bay Maker Faire 2009 starting off with her Bizarre Bazaar experience!

Blisstree Arts
You can never know too many tricks for painting background fabrics!

Cathie Filian
You still have time to whip up a handmade gift for your Pop, Grandpa or Hubby and Cathie Filian has over 12 ideas!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Craftside wins Editor's Choice at Maker Faire-see lots of pictures from the fabulous event, the latest episode of Look, Learn & Create has a tutorial on how to make needle felted flowers from recycled wool sweaters, some excellent exercises to relieve back stress (what crafter couldn't use those), a free knitted leaf pattern and some cool quilt dish!

Crafty Princess Diaries
What are your thoughts on retail and the off-line world today when it comes to craft stores and just in general?

CraftyPod
Sister Diane muses on how we crafters can help keep our favorite websites, magazines, and TV shows alive in a tough economy.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Check out Connie's Photo of the Week - it's one of her recent finishes and in her favorite medium - variegated floss.

Naughty Secretary Club
It's terrarium week over at Naughty Secretary Club and Jen is celebrating with a kitschy terrarium style picture frame tutorial! Grab your mini garden gnomes and glitter and stop on by!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Recycled Sweater Necklace brought to you by the new book-Feltique and the letter "O"

The Artful Crafter
How to make a wall hanger for a heavy plate or tile.

The Crochet Dude
Drew reviews Vickie Howell's new book "Pop Goes Crochet" and shows off his design for a driver's cap from page 18.

Vickie Howell
Hey, stitch fanatics! Dig movies? Love knit & crochet wear? Check in with Vickie's blog every week for Movie Mondays; posts with pictures from your favorite flicks and pattern suggestions for making similar, show stopping pieces. This week's feature: The Shining!

One word: RANDOM!

Tonight, my friend and I went to a local eatery called the Public House. Outside and behind it were all these carnival rides and amusements in a field...totally just sitting there serving no purpose whatsoever. Totally looked like an accident waiting to happen! There was also trash littering the area as well. The whole area around this restaurant was very, very shady. They were working on a night club right behind it and it was the most bizarre/random structure ever. See?



It's not every day that you see a Communistesque bar next to a Blues club with a kiddie train and Rodeo trail just hanging out in front of it! Oh, and on this building, there was some really awful faux finishing work done to look like fake brick and sandstone blocks. It reminded me of Neverland Ranch or something...you know those amusement-like parks that you hear about in foreign countries that look good from the outside but look like major fire traps on the insides? It just didn't all fit together.

There were also some random horse rides...I think they went to the Rodeo Trail game...the type where you sit on the horses and shoot water at targets. Oh so bizarre.



I do find this type of place amusing though, esp. from a photography angle...just wouldn't want to be there at night by myself! More of this type of thing would make life more interesting!

I also found this incredibly random...a nice office chair just hanging out in the middle of a field.



Hmm...sometimes you just really can't even begin to understand what people are thinking!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Meeting and making new friends at Maker Faire!

This past weekend at Maker Faire, I met so many cool people (not all were new, because I knew of them or had conversed with them over e-mail). Anyway, it is always super cool to meet people who you've admired from afar.


Here's me with Kathy a.k.a. Crafty Chica and Sister Diane! I've actually hung with Kathy before and always have a great time with her, but it was my first time meeting Diane. She has so much insight and it was so cool to talk and share ideas and thoughts on the craft industry together. It was awesome! Oh, and by the way, notice the shirt I'm wearing, I bought it at Old Navy and died it randomly with Purple One-Step Tie dye from Tulip™.


I also was stoked to get to hang with Kathy's daughter Maya. I've enjoyed watching Maya's videos online and she is so funny and sweet :) We goofed off and I even did my Roger Rabbit dance for her to film. We will see if they show up later in one of her videos.


My soul sister in design and craftiness Amy Cluck a.k.a. Peptogirl was also there and we walked around the show together for a bit (we had to stop to try on some wooden mustaches). If you haven't visited her web site, it is a must! It is so adorable and totally my speed! She has put together Indie Sacramento for quite a while now and I don't know how she does it all! Her blog is one of my favorite blogs...I totally appreciate the design (I think we have a similar design aesthetic in a lot of ways) and she makes the cutest crafts :) She has a lot of tutorials and business insight on there too! I'm hoping maybe we can hang out some weekend together...we're only like 3 hours away from each other!

I also had the pleasure of meeting and talking social media with Rob of Threadbanger, chatting it up with the Craftzine gal editors, meeting paper extroidonaire Jeffrey Rudell, Backcountry Betty authorJennifer Worwick, and Michaela Murphy. I met a lot of really other fabulous folks as well. The cool think about crafty folks at these events is that they are just so nice and down to earth. It's like being part of a big happy community...everyone is so supportive.

Sorry about not posting the robots like I promised, but you can see some cool ones in my Maker Faire set on my Flickr stream! Also check out more Maker Faire photos I took here I love robots (I even talk like one on many occasions), but I just didn't feel like posting about them today!

Hope you have a fun and inspiring day! And go and check out my crafty friends' sites and get super inspired!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

More Maker Faire fun

Maker Faire is really cool and there is something for everyone. I found myself drawn more to the crafty aspects, but there was lot to do there for both tech and craft geeks...here's some photos of stuff and things that I saw!




These cupcake cars were pretty darn sweet (pun intended). It was so funny to watch the guy in the white birthday cupcake scoot around the lot. It was right out of a cartoon!

Here's a video of them in action!




A giant "Blue Rain" light up wall (I look mean here, but I promise I wasn't in a bad mood when I took this).


Here's another crazy pic of me (I was trying to get a good 365 shot), this time in front of the crazy 2-liter sculpture...see a video here.


The giant lego cake! This was cool, but I would be equally excited if I saw one of these in person!


I'm not sure what exactly this orange flowing material was (and I can't find a link for the life of me...searched 30 minutes), but it was pretty. Reminded me of a Christo creation


The Video Folk Art lady had such a bright and colorful look that matched her equally colorful and wild booth!

That's all for tonight, but I'll be back with more goodies tomorrow! I want to share some crazy robots I saw!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My maker faire weekend!

So, I feel a little neglecting of my blog these past few days. I went to Maker Faire through my work (been super busy prepping) and I have some really cool pics to share this week. I think I'll break it up into a few different posts so that I can better expand upon the creativity I saw there!

There was a lot of inspiration to be found. My favorite part was Bizarre Bazarre and seeing all the cool innovation there...I was super impressed with the variety...I just wish it wasn't as crowded as it was. I like to be able to look around 3 or 4 times and make my mind up on my purchases, but it was really, really crowded!

I really loved a lot of the crafts, but a few of the vendors stood out to me!







Loved meeting Tara Tonini...her business name is Tara to the T. She was the prettiest girl at the Faire. I love her vintage retro style and her airline-inspired theme. She told me it takes her 45 minutes to do her hair this way. I totally love people who live and breathe a past era in our modern times. To me, it is very refreshing. She had super cute flight attendant uniforms, hats, and feather headbands (that's the one I bought above) and accessories with sass. She was super sweet too and so genuine and that made me like her even more. Doesn't she look like a movie star?



I also loved the signage, buttons, jewelry and all kinds of crafty goodness at Katy Kristin's shop! She had such whimsical designs. I bought a cute Pippi Longstocking button and a red and white gingham buttom of Goldilocks and the Three bears.



These cards from Motormouth Press totally jumped out at me. I don't know what it is, but I have a literal and figurative sweet tooth and these cards popped out at me right away. I love neopolitan ice cream bars. The first thing they remind me of is the freeze dried ice cream bars that I saw in 8th grade on a Space Center trip.





Also loved seeing Erika at My Imaginary Boyfriend's booth. Her stuff was super whimsical and cool and you just have to love that banner! Also, who doesn't love her shop name (it reminds me of a certain imaginary boyfriend I have). For a while, I've honestly thought that award ribbons should come back and I guess she did too! I found one that totally spoke to me! How could I not buy it? I have another story to tell involving this ribbon that I am on the fence about telling about, but it is a pretty good story. I'll have to think about if I want to reveal it or not!

I also talked to a lot of other cool people as well, including the DJ (I was charging my phone next to him). He did DJing as a hobby, but he was a farmer and a ceramicist. How cool is that? He was playing some really cool tunes!

Check back tomorrow and I'll share more about the cool stuff I saw and people I met. I promise it will be good stuff!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa