Win a Custom Eco Coffee Sleeve!

I'm doing a giveaway in coordination with Monster Bites for a free Custom Eco Coffee Sleeve!  You get to choose what you want on your sleeve!  To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post and tell me - How do you like your coffee? - ... but be sure to sign in or enter your e-mail address so that I can get in touch with you if you are the winner.  Contest will end at 12 noon (EST) on Saturday and the winner will be chosen at random.

Here are a couple of sleeves to inspire you!

These sleeves are made from recycled materials!  The outer layer is made from fused plastic grocery bags... several layers of plastic bags are fused with a low heat to form one strong, solid material that both looks and feels like wrinkly leather.  The lining and patch are made from upcycled materials.  A vintage button and small elastic loop allow this sleeve to fit a variety of cup sizes...even cans!

For more info about my products and Eco Coffee Sleeves, please check out my Etsy Store :  soshesews.etsy.com

So...


How do you like your coffee?

Stuff I have... and LOVE!

Along with 2010's awesomeness, every Sunday I will be bringing to you an installment of something in my possession which I absolutely adore.  Pay attention because some times you might find a neato crafting tool that I cannot live without, maybe a thrift store find, and sometimes I'll show you my latest Etsy or craft fair purchase.

So... on with the first of many!

 

This adorable robot painting is done by Rebecca Scott.  She has such an adorable style... I love it!  The mustache is actually a piece of thin foam... it makes you want to touch it!  Ben and I got this from her last Fall at the Indie Craft Experience and have it proudly displayed in our Hallway-o-Art.  She also paints the most adorable mermaids and dinosaurs!  Please check out her work!   Click here to see more from Rebecca Scott at her website!

2010 is going to be AWESOME!

There's just so much...

... so much to tell you my dear bloggy.

First, let's start with what we've missed.

1. The biggie... I got married! I've been screaming about it (almost everything was DIY, of course) for months, and you can check out my Flickr if you're interested in the whole scoop... but here's a tiny dollop to satisfy your cravings (Photos are done by the very talented Andrew Thomas Lee... please refer to him for complete amazingness!).


2. Second, business has been great! I'm starting to learn that for me it has more to do with keeping up with the demand, and being productive every day.

3. You can now find my goodies locally in Atlanta at Beehive Coop!
It's been really fun being there so far! So many talented designers in a one-stop shop! Check it out!

And now for the Future News!

1. I've got TONS of new designs in my shop now! Foxes and Whales and Artwork... OH MY!

2. Now that I am a genu*wine* arteeeeesst, I must have an art show to launch my new work! The month of March, you will find my newest line of art on show at Octane Coffee here in the great Westside Arts District in Atlanta!

3. And of course, no awesome year would be complete for me without major plans for ...

...CRAFT FAIRS!

This year's gona be a bit strange (Indie Craft Experience announced this month that they will not be having a summer show... boooooooo! hisssss!). ICE will be missed greatly... but I'd really like to try my very hardest to do one of the Renegade Craft Fairs. It would involve a lot of traveling... a huge expense (the closest one is in Chicago)... but I think I would kick butt there, so we'll see if it pans out.

As usual, you will find me at least once a month (as long as the gettin's good) at some local craft fair. Follow me on Twitter get the latest updates about what craft fairs I'll be doing!

xoxo

Love you!

Retouching photos is difficult!

So I am having photography woes.

I just cannot seem to get my lighting right. Or maybe it's my exposure. In any case, I do not know enough about photography to get things done the way I need to get them done.

You know when you stare at something so long that it starts to look normal? Like having a vase on your mantle that you see every day and you don't notice how much dust is gathering on it until a clump of dust slides down the side of it.

I stared at this photo for so long...



... and tinkered with it for so long on picnik.com...


... and ended up with what I THOUGHT was a great-looking re-touched photo....
NOW it just looks like this cloud is floating in a world of airbrushing. It's a lifeless being without a shadow... just searching for a slightly-yellow tinted nothingness in which to suck the life out of you with.

Or maybe he's a sad cloud because he empathises with my plight. The neverending ache of what it is to take delightful, slightly blue-ish natural sunlight-ish, but not too contrasty or washed out, somewhat enhanced color saturation, with depth and appeal and lets not forget to use the MACRO!!!! OMG!

I just want to sew and create!

Can't these photos take themselves? Gah.

Tutorial: Organize your Trim with free, recycled materials into a cool hangable chandalier type-thing!

Organize your Trim, Bias Tape, Lace or Ribbon!

So I bought this really cool little tool a while ago…
…It’s designed to make ½” bias tape. How cool! I love it! Now, I have a quick and easy way to outfit all my recycled creations with bias trim that’s also recycled! Yes!!!

But I had an issue. A big one. Once I made all this awesome cool bias trim, I had no place to put it.

I reckoned that folding it around flat pieces of cardboard would cause some of it to crease and wrinkle where I didn’t want it to. I decided that wrapping it around something round would be the best. But what?

My mind instantly thought of empty toilet paper rolls. Now, there are lots and lots of great uses for empty toilet paper rolls! And this is another one! I began wrapping all my trim I’d made around these old rolls. I tape the beginning of the trim to the roll with regular scotch tape, and when I get to the end, I just use a pin to secure the end so it won't come unraveled. When I ran out of rolls, I began making more rolls from longer tubes that wrapping paper used to be on. Sweet!

But the rolls were cumbersome. They rolled out of my craft trays. They rolled off my lap. They rolled off shelves. They fell on the floor constantly.

So, then I designed this great way to hang up all these rolls.

All you need besides the rolls is some yarn. I used this really cool thick vintage yarn intended for macrame... but if all you have is thin yarn, you can just braid it... or even use some rope or make some t-shirt yarn out of an old t-shirt.

Cut a length about 12" of yarn and thread it through your roll. Tie the ends together.

What you have now is a trim dispenser! Now just look at all my trim!

But wait! You need to get all these dispensers together!

Cut a longer piece of the yarn... around 22". On one end make a big, fat knot. On the other end, make a loop that doesn't tighten. Don't ask me how I made this loop and this knot... I'm no sailor but I just tried out a few loop-dy-loops until it got the look I wanted. Make sure your big, fat knot will fit inside the loop!

Now string your trim dispensers along this new piece of yarn...

And there you have it! Your trim dispenser.

NOW... you may be wanting to say to me... "BUT BROOKE... do you mean to tell me I have to take all my trim dispensers off this loop just so I can use one?"

NOPE.

When you're ready to use one of the trims, just take the whole chandellier with you. Set it in your lap or hang it from a back corner of your chair, or hang it from the side of your sewing table. Unpin the trim you want to use.... and use it. Since it's on a roll it will just... well... dispense.

You made the big, fat knot and the loop just so that you can add more trim dispensers on. But you will never have to take them off the loop once they are on.

A Winner has been announced!

The SweetGreens blog was hosting an Earth Friendly Etsy Giveaway last week with one of my items... and a winner has been announced! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Believe it or not, the winner lives less than a 30 minute drive from me! Imagine that!

Everyone please check out Sweet Greens often for more giveaways! Entry is really simple and easy!

http://sweetgreens.blogspot.com

Please vote for my dress!

So, I desperately left a comment on an article about this voter thing over a week ago (thinking nothing would come of it, really) for them to "please include one of my tube dresses" in the running for the Spring Equinox thing. Basically, the top voted items make it into Gift Guides and other things on Etsy that will get me lots of great exposure.

So... I would really appreaciate it if you'd vote for my Garden Party Tube Dress!

http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=35

And here's a screen shot of it!