howto - patterns & tutorials

How to: Mat your work!

Getting your work matted and framed adds a level of professionalism to your work. It gives small intimate pieces a more dynamic presence in a large room. But… it’s expensive! Last month I showed you how to take an old beat up frame and really make it shine through fixing […]

howto - patterns & tutorials

DIY FiloFax Planner

I saw these sweet little filofax planner pages for free on MyGirlThursday and just had to have my own filofax planner. But, being me, didn’t want to pay much for one. My sister gave me the notebook on the right, a very nice leather journal filled with graph paper (love!). […]

fabric - patterns & tutorials

How to: Patchwork Lanyard by C.L. Tice

C.L. Tice is a writer, poet, crafter, and mom. Her writing and creating adventures are inspired by the world around her. She can be found at her blog, Mused.

Recently, my workplace changed to having swipe card access rather than the punch codes we had been using. We’ve never required ID badges for employees and I’ve never worked anywhere where we had badges or cards. So this is a new experience for me.

howto - patterns & tutorials

How to: Build a Pea Teepee

I actually planted my peas according to my planting schedule for the first time ever and they have done great. So great that they are in some need of support before they turn into a tangle and smother each other right out of production.

howto - patterns & tutorials

How to: DIY Laundry Detergent Batch #2

I’m start to stretch my DIY wings again and I’m excited to make batch #2 and share it with you. I’m also happy to have some better pictures to make the process look a little more sexy than the last time. Well, would you look at that, my photo skills have improved over the last two years. Go me.

I want to thank Trent of the Simple Dollar for blowing my mind with this simple process over two years ago. I’m still in awe of it’s simple money saving power.

howto - nosew - patterns & tutorials

How To: Craft Stamped Thank you Cards

The littlest of leftovers are often the hardest to work with. What do you do with one foot of yarn? A single lone button? Well, I came across these two fun ideas and decided to join them together to make my own leftovers project that uses up those littlest of bits.

I still owe some family members thank you cards from my birthday in April so these will be going into the mail as soon as this post is up!

fabric - howto - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make a Replacement Pet Bed Filler


When we got Jak last month, I thought I was being oh so smart by getting a dog bed with a removable cover. The theory was that I could just take off the cover, give it a wash, and be good to go again. Well, that’s true except in the case of accidents where the whole thing gets soaked through. Next time I’ll make sure to get a cover that’s water proof as well as removable. Ah well. Hopefully we have dealt with the last of the pee issues.

Time to pull out the sewing machine and make my own. It was surprisingly easy, so I thought I would share this with you, just in case you have a pet with a bed that needs a new inside.

howto - patterns & tutorials - zines

Leftover Christmas Zine: Issue 2!

The newest issue of the Leftover Christmas MiniZine is in the shop! In this month’s issue we make ornaments together. I talk a bit about silhouettes, felt, and cut paper. The zine contains instructions for making your own ornaments in bulk from silhouettes and includes an my own original design […]

fabric - feature

How To: Fabric Stitchy Bookmark

One of the things I wanted to work on this year was reading. And I have. In fact, I’ve worked on it a lot. It seemed only right to make a new bookmark to mark my place. I’ve already read more books this year than I did in all of […]

journal - nosew - patterns & tutorials

Free Woven Coaster Tutorial: Just Pay with a Tweet!

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of Pay With a Tweet before, but, read on and you will! This great service let’s you set up a tweet, a gift to download, and then generate the code for you (or in this case me). It allows us to swap nice and even steven. :) You tweet (or post on Facebook) about my holiday related eBook Card.Paper.Ribbon. and in exchange, I give you this sweet little tutorial for using greeting cards by making them into sturdy, woven coasters!

fabric - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make an Ironing Mat


While the ironing board is a great craft room tool, it’s often a bit big and cumbersome. Sometimes I just need to press a little something while sewing–all nice and quick. I keep my cutting mat on my sewing table, so I wanted to make an ironing mat that would fit right over it and protect its rubbery surface.