I'm currently visiting my boyfriend in Lincoln, and I need to get my craft on!  Eventually, I'll be living here, so knowing where everything is will be a big help. So far in my travels I've only seen a scrapbooking store in town

Does anyone know if there's a generic all-purpose craft store?

I'll be staying in Dauphin for two months (Aug & Sept) and I'd love to get together with any local craftsters. For the most part, I won't know anyone and will be all by myself.  I won't have a car though, but the place I'm staying is pretty big and has room for crafting! 

Has anyone made a Doctor Who scarf on the purple loom?  For whatever reason, knitting with needles completely confuses me, but I do pretty good on the looms. Last fall, I made a friend of mine a plan black long (8') scarf, and this fall I'd like to make one for my boyfriend. He's a fan of the Fourth Doctor, so I wanted to use the scarf colours from it.

Two problems:

1) I don't know how to change colour on the loom

2) I don't know how long to make the panels, because the patterns on the doctor who scarf site all involve needles, and I know the loomed stitches would be larger. 

Can anyone tell me in inches how big the panels are so I can just wing it on the loom?

Alternately, has anyone done a HP scarf on the loom? How many rows do you use for each colour?

Long story short - I had a pair of Old Navy Flirt jeans that were about an inch too big in the hips.  Going down a size made the pants way too tight, so I asked the sales girl if she had any ideas.  She recommended the Diva cut, so I tried them on in the store in the old size, saw they fit, and bought them.  I hemmed the pants (I'm 4'11") and the first day I wore them they were bothering me because the Diva cut is a skinny leg jean, and I have muscular calves. The bottom half of the leg sort of clings to my leg and bunches up and it just feels weird to have them like that.  It's not a major problem, but I was pretty annoyed with myself for spending $30 on jeans I won't be comfortable in.

A friend of mine said "you sew, why not add panels to make the leg flare out?". I think this is a great idea...only I have no clue how to do it!  I googled, and I found a set of tutorials from Expert Village on "how to make funky bell bottoms", but the video doesn't apply to me because it seems to be using existing wide-legged jeans to start with.

Do I just cut up the seam to the knee or so and then sew triangle shaped panels on, or do I need to do something else to the jeans too?

A friend of mine is adopting a baby from a 15 yr old girl who she knows through another relative, and she wanted to give the birth mom something special to remember her child by and as a thank you for allowing her and her husband to adopt (they've been trying to have a baby for several years now).

My friend found a poem online for a "birth mom bracelet", and sent it to me, and asked if I could make something for her to give her.


Here's the poem:
-The heart is to remind us that our hearts deserve a safe
place, where we will be treated with kindness, where
we give kindness in return.
-The pearl is to remind us that we are valuable in
the lives of our children.
-The diamond (actually an Austrian crystal) is to
remind us that we are all diamonds in the rough,
and that sometimes we need to dig deep to
find the treasure in others and ourselves.
- The leaf is to remind us that there are many seasons
to our lives, times of growth, of flourishing, of letting
go and quiet waiting.
-The star is to remind us to give word to our wishes
and dreams.
-The teardrop is to remind us that tears of sadness
and laughter are cleansing, and are important to shed.
- The rose quartz is said to promote healing of
heartache and loneliness.
- The ring is to remind us of the love we have for our
children and the commitment we have made to be
a loving presence in their lives.
- And finally, these beads are strung on a fine wire cable,
to remind all birthmothers that they are connected,
and that we are stronger together than we are apart.

After much scouring of my stash, and three different online bead sites, I came up with this:




The pink and blue beads are druk glass, as is the leaf.  The pearl, "diamond",and teardrop are Swarovski, and the silver beads are sterling sliver. My Quartz turned out to be loads larger than we had thought (the site said it was 18mm, and it really is nearly 2cm long!), so it wound up being the centerpiece for the bracelet.  The "ring" is actually the loop side of a small toggle clasp.

I really hope my friend and the birth mother like it!

One of my cousins made "kitchen angels" for all our aunts this year at Thanksgiving,and my aunt wanted to send some to our relatives who didn't make it to Thanksgiving, and asked me to figure them out:

Here's the original:



We went to the dollar store and found everything we needed (except for the ribbon, I pulled that out of my stash).

You'll need:
1 wooden spoon
1 tea towel
1 pot holder (preferably matching the towel)
1 rubber band
about 6 inches of star garland
hot glue gun
ribbon

Take your tea towel and fold it in half, then fold accordion style. 
Put a rubber band around the top of the towel and stick the spoon handle through the rubber band and push it down to the bowl of the spoon.
Cut a length of ribbon and tie in a bow covering the rubber band
Take your potholder and accordion fold it 2-3 times.
Cut a length of ribbon and tie it around the middle of the potholder (tightly, to keep the potholder together)
Glue the potholder to the back of the spoon/towel
Take star garland and form into a small circle
hot glue to the bowl of the spoon to make the halo
(optional, and if the potholder doesn't have a hanging loop on the top - Take a small piece of ribbon and tie into a loop. glue to the back of the spoon to act as a hanging loop for the angel.

More photos:



Mine alongside the original:


Back view:


If anyone needs step-by-step photos, I still have one more to make that I could take photos of.

I started trying to draw back when I was involved in the "Craft my Theme" Swap, and I did a pretty good job. I've been trying to doodle at least once/day ever since to try to hone in my drawing skills. 

Of course, it helps that my notebook is made of graph paper for straight lines. 

Anyway, here's my first two attempts at doodling something "as seen on TV":



The top image is the TARDIS from Doctor Who (which then got traced to make a shrinky dink of for the DW swap), and the bottom is the Prince from Katamari Darmacy.

Be gentle   I'm actually more proud of the prince, since the TARDIS was pretty much straight lines and following the graph paper lines. 

(I finally cleaned off my digital camera and had a plethora of crafty stuff on it!)

My cousin and his buddies have been saving bottlecaps for me for the past year or so and I usually use them in swaps to make magnets of whatever the theme is as the "small" craft and I've given sets to friends with their interest on them as gifts.

He asked me when he was getting a set, so I made these for him and his wife:


He's into Harley and she's recovering from Breast Cancer and loves pink roses.

I also made a prototype magnet for the cruise I'm going on in January from our logo:

I plan on making as many of these as I can and passing them out to my friends.

How I made them:

First, I take all the bottlecaps he gives me and I spread them all logo-up on newspaper and I spray them all with white spraypaint (to cover the logo) and then I sometimes add spray-on glitter just for fun.  Any colour would probably work, I just happened to have white leftover from another project and so far haven't run out of it! 

Then, I find images/photos I want to use.  My computer (I assume it's a standard windows printing option) has a proof sheet/contact sheet option that prints out photos that are about 1.5" by 1". I print out all the images, and then I take the Creative Memories 1" circle punch and punch out my image. 

I use modpodge and put a thin layer in each bottlecap and stick the image on. Then I apply another thin layer of modpodge on top.  I wind up applying about 6 or 7 thin layers of modpodge (wait for it to dry between layers!) to seal it in.

After it's all dried, I flip them over and either buy those stick-on magnets or I glue on regular magnets. 

I've debated making some into pins, but haven't tried that yet.

One of my aunt's turned 77 in November, and her granddaughter threw her a party, so I made this to give her.

In the gift box:


And here's a closer detail shot:


Made with Powder Blue Swarovski Pearls and Crystal Shade Swarovski Chaton mounts, with sterling silver accents (and a pewter toggle clasp). I wanted to make it with blue stones too, but the ones I ordered wound up being a turquoise colour!

My aunt loved it,and she said she couldn't even tell that it had been handmade!  She thought I bought it in a shop! 

When I was looking for the snowman soup poem online, I found the following ideas of tags you could attach to different candies for different occasions -

It's winter. Thank you for staying fresh with your teaching!
(Winterfresh gum)

When it's Zero outside, you add warmth to the classroom.
(Zero candy)

Thank you for putting your heart into teaching.
(Candy hearts)

Thank you for being a red hot volunteer!
(Red hots)

You were a Life Saver this week!
(Life savers)

You add pop to our program!
(popcorn)

You are a prize in our program!
(cracker jacks)

You're the apple of my eye. Thanks for teaching boys & girls!
(Apple or apple jolly ranchers)
or
You're the apple of God's eye!

You're a star in the nursery. Thanks for serving the Lord!
(Starburst)

"Twix" you and me, you're doing a great job!
Keep up the good work!
(Twix bar)

Bar none - You're the best!
(Bar None candy)

Here's a kiss and a hug for someone special!
(Hershey hugs & kisses)

Thanks for adding "Joy" to a child's life!
(Almond Joy)

You're a star in our galaxy!
(Milky Way)

It's a real treat to work with you!
(any candy)

You deserve an extra Pay Day!
(Pay Day)
or
What a payday you'll have in heaven!
(Pay Day)

You never Snicker at a child's needs. Thanks for your ministry!
(Snickers)

Thanks for your whopper ideas!
(Whopper candies)

You're making a Mound of a difference!
(Mounds)

You're a real slugger! Keep on batting for children!
(Baby Ruth)

By George, you're wonderful!
(Pretend $100 bill)

You're worth even more to us!
(100 Grand candy bar)

Thanks for sharing God's Majesty & Might with the children!
(M & M's)

You're worth your weight in chocolate!
(chocolate candy bar)

Your work with children is more precious than gold!
(gold wrapped chocolate candy)

We didn't know WERTHER or not you realized how special you are to us!
(Werthers)

When it comes to kids, you're worth a mint!
(Peppermints)

Thanks for proclaiming God's Word!
(Bugles)

This place would be a zoo without you!
(animal crackers)

We'd be in knots without you!
(pretzels)

Thanks for joining our party. You add a new flavor!
(party mix)

We're nuts about you!
(Peanuts)

Another idea that's pretty cheap, but works for a small office is "candy sleds" -

Two candy canes make the runners
gift wrap a standard flat Hershey bar and attach it to the candy canes (for the "seat")
decorate the top of the sled with more gift wrapped candy/festively wrapped mini candies. I've also stuck lottery tickets in between the chocolate bar and the sled for a little extra gift.