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i really don't watch all that much TV. but there is one show i try not to miss. and i think my favorite show just became my even more favorite show. please check out stephen colbert making some very special crafts!
update: OH POO! the powers that be pulled the video off you tube. you missed clammy faye baker, clambo and abraclam lincoln. you'll just have to see it in reruns.
UPDATE: so it looks like you can view it here
one of my favorite things about making crafts has been all of the new friends i've made. and one of my favorite new friends just has to be robert mahar. if you've never visited his wonderful mahar drygoods website please do so right now!
robert recently asked me a few questions for one of his artist profiles.
a few months ago I had the privilege of demonstrating crafts at the L.A. county fair. i spotted a super cute pincushion in a 1965 issue of family circle magazine and chose that as the project i was going to demo. these kits were what i made available that day for people to purchase in case they wanted to do the project along with me. i adjusted and updated the instructions to better suit modern day craft supplies and of course gave it a little bit of my own spin.
much to my delight the folks at craft: magazine have featured the kit in the new issue! so i've made just a few more kits that are now available in my shop. after those are gone then that's it!
please check out the flickr group i created for everyone to share the pictures of their completed pincushions.
this is post is a plea to all of the fabric designers out there that read my blog. please knock this print off!
(from simplicity sewing book 1969)
i find myself so drawn to these illustrations because it reminds me of when i was first learning about fashion and style - right around the time i was too old to play with barbie and was beginning to be allowed to make my own decisons when it came to what i could wear. i think my sensibilities will forever be informed by this time period - especially when it comes to color.
these illustrations come from an early 70s british craft how-to book and i'm pretty sure that the illustrator was heavily influenced by biba.
(illustration from golden hands handcrafts 1973)
american craft magazine just keeps getting better and better. i could barely contain myself today when i opened my mailbox and saw the latest issue with this breathtaking photograph of lenore tawney taken in 1957 on the cover. there is also an article on edith heath(!).
(cover of american craft magazine februray/march 2008)
here i go again. instead of making dinner i'm flipping through the pages of betty crocker's hostess cookbook featuring more than 400 guest-tested recipes. how much do i love this place setting!
wanna try this at home? head to ebay for the candle holder and the "fluted flamestone" pattern dinner plate. on my first sweep i couldn't find the flatware or glass but with some more digging i'm sure it's all there.
now i think i'll go decide what to eat.
(from betty crocker's hostess cookbook featuring more than 400 guest-tested recipes 1967)
today instead of actually cleaning my own house i decided to sit down and thumb through good housekeeping's guide to successful homemaking, a recent thrift store find. if you follow my blog you know that i go just nuts over vintage cookbook illustration. well it's time to add vintage housekeeping book illustration to that list. no credit was given to the wonderful illustrator who was most likely on the staff of good housekeeping.
(from good housekeeping's guide to successful homemaking revised edition, compiled by the editors of good housekeeping magazine, 1961)
cover of macrame a new look at an ancient art by lejeune whitney published by lejeuene incorporated, sunnyvale, california, 1971
i have to admit i was totally unprepared! i have never made anything that sold so quickly. everything i put in the kits is vintage and/or new old stock so i'm going to have to do a little more searching and tracking down of the components.
stay tuned for further updates. i will let you know just as soon as i have more in my shop.
thanks a bunch!
