Patriotic Crochet Bracelet

I've recently been crocheting up a storm. I figured I could give my fingers a rest from crocheting for a little while and share with you how you can create your own patriotic bracelet for this coming 4th of July.

May Giveaway Day Winner

The winner of the Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day prize is Jen from Papillon Playground!

May Giveaway Day Prize

In celebration of Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day on 21 May, I am going to be giving away this adorable old school tattoo inspired rose.

Bicycle Panniers Tutorial

I just finished my first, in depth tutorial. Whew! It is a tutorial on how to make a pair of cute panniers for your bicycle. For those of you who've never heard of a pannier, think of saddlebags for your bicycle.

Copyrights and the Fashion Industry - TED talk

I just finished watching this very interesting TED talk by a woman named Johanna Blakley. The title of the talk was "Lessons from fashion's free culture" and it was all about how, in the United States, there isn't really any copyright protection within the fashion industry. That's not to say that there's no protection at all within the US. There is trademark protection that companies like Gucci use, but the government apparently decided years ago that clothing is too utilitarian to copyright. If all clothing was copyrighted, then you would have to pay $100 for an otherwise cheap t-shirt because you would have to pay for the licensing fees for the collar or the sleeves.

I like how Johanna points out that the lack of copyright protection actually helps both the original fashion company and the knockoff fashion imitation companies. Afterall, most of the knockoffs of high price fashion items are made of cheaper materials and they cater to a more cost conscious consumer, for lack of a better term. So in theory, it's really not causing the high price retailers to lose any sales because they weren't marketing their products to this demographic anyway.

She also points out towards the end of her talk that there are a lot of industries where copyright protection is not afforded to companies because their items are too utilitarian. I don't want to spoil the video for you, so please, check it out. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about the fashion industry from it.




If the video doesn't play for you, you can go to the TED website and view it here or click on the TED link below.

Rutilated Copper Necklace Tutorial

Today I thought I would share how I made my new favorite necklace yesterday.

I received my pair of copper rutilated quartz, faceted pear briolettes that I ordered from the Lyramare Rocks Etsy shop on Saturday and couldn't wait to use them to make a necklace.

 



Aren't they pretty?

Bakers Rack Upgrade

Seeing as how this is my first post, let me begin by saying hello and thank you for visiting my blog. I think, like many other bloggers, I have a wide variety of lofty goals for this blog, but I think an appropriate first post should include a dedication. My father used to tell me that I should write a book, since I've had so many experiences and seen so many things over the years. A book always sounded like a noble goal, but it also sounded like the kind of goal that you put on your bucket list. It would be sandwiched right up there between running a marathon and skydiving. Not that those aren't achievable goals but, like their literary list mate, they seem a little impossible when you're standing at the starting line or looking out the open doorway of the plane. So I think I will try to use this blog as a beginner book and I will try to post my ideas and my experiences (both crafty and otherwise) one day or one chapter at a time.

With that in mind, I'd like to share one of my more crafty experiences with you. I hope it will help inspire you to consider recycling some home furnishings of your own.

I bought this little bakers rack at a garage sale about a year ago for $10, I think.