handmade by stefanie

2019 is the 10th year of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (aka C2E2) , and I have been meaning to go pretty much ever since it started. Of course, back when it started, I worked a crappy service industry job and never had the weekends off. Over the years, various excuses have piled up, which ranged from not being in the country during the event (that one time I went to Germany for the H+H Trade Show ) to forgetting to buy tickets (oops), and all points in between. But at long last, I can check this off my list: last Friday, I went to my first ever C2E2! Technically, I was there on official client business, researching cosplay and trying to make some connections with movers and shakers in the cosplay world. I truly admire those who cosplay, and do it well because that's never been my skill, though I am feeling inspired to give it a try this year. My problem is always coming up with a good idea - the harder I try to think of something, the more my mind blanks out. ...

When I was a tween/teen, I used to love making my own jewelry. I would go to my local bead store, which was called Nomadic Notions, and would buy way too many beads and charms. Mostly I made myself necklaces and earrings, and that crazy thing is that I never learned the right way to open and close a jump ring . It's true. Only recently have I learned this skill thanks to the folks at Solid Oak Inc , who share a handy free PDF covering basic jewelry making techniques here on their site . Not to long ago, the kind folks at Solid Oak sent me a ton of goodies to play with, and I've been experimenting with different ideas over the last month or so. Nowadays, I don't wear a lot of jewelry, and when I do it tends to be something that's small and simple. My first (and favorite) project is this minimalist arrow necklace using a few pieces from their Estrella line: At first, I thought that the CZ arrow charm would be a bit too bling-tastic for my usual jeans-and-a-t-shi...

I love making projects to add to our holiday decorations each year, but lately I've found myself short on crafting time. Luckily, this project can be completed in under an hour, making it a great last-minute addition to your festive decor! You can make it in virtually any size you like and customize the look by varying the felt shapes you choose. Supplies:  1 skein Kartopu Alpaca Polo in Claret Several die-cut felt pieces in holiday shapes - I used pre-cut holly leaves/berries and a felt snowflake ornament** Fabric Glue or Hot Glue Scissors Marker Tapestry needle Small sandwich plate (the one I used was 8.5 inches in diameter) Small bowl (the one I used was 4.5 inches in diameter - make sure that you can pass your yarn through an opening of this size) Cardboard (to fit largest size of plate/bowl) **A note about the felt pieces: Between now and the time I was planning this project a few months ago, the place where I sourced these felt elements has discontinued making...

Merry whatever-you-celebrate! For the second year in a row, my husband and I made our holiday cards from scratch. I drew the design onto a piece of acetate, which he then burned to a screen - here's a shot of him rinsing the screen after completing this first step: Then, with the help of tiny elf of course, he printed the design onto card stock: Our original plan was to use silver ink on the red cards, but we had to do an 11th hour substitution when the jar of silver ink we thought we had on hand was nowhere to be found. Hence, our holiday cards became a bit more pyschedelic than originally intended; seeing them all in a row like this kind of makes me cross-eyed! All in all, I'm happy with the finished product, and it was MUCH easier to pull together than last year's ambitious four-color design (which you can see here ).

The urge to spring clean our apartment has been difficult to resist lately, and my craft room has been especially in need of a good reorganization. I probably should have taken a "before" photo, but I would have been too embarrassed to share it on my blog - that's how disorganized it was! I've been scouring pinterest for inspiration for organizing my craft room lately, but what really started the ball rolling was a flash sale from Thirty-One , where I was able to snag three roomy collapsible storage bins for 50% off! I realized that they would be a great way to make the most of the ginormous armoire in the corner of the room, and that my spinning fiber would be much happier if it wasn't shut inside a plastic bin. As you can see, the first two bins are filled with fiber; though you can't tell in the above photo, the third bin is stuffed with my finished handspun skeins! I have plenty of cedar sachets and blocks placed throughout the armoire (including a bl...

After finishing these fingerless mitts at the beginning of the year, I had a small amount of SilverSpun yarn left over. I thought about knitting a new pair of gloves or mittens and using the remaining yarn to knit the fingertips for a few of the fingers, but then I had a brainstorm: why not use the remaining yarn to retrofit all of my mittens for smartphone use? So, one by one, I'll be embroidering little SilverSpun dots on each thumb so that I can use my phone when it's cold out without having to take off my mittens - starting with my Robot mittens! As you can see in this Vine video , it's quite easy to do, not to mention effective: 

I'm a little obsessed with buttons, and have a sizable collection of (mostly vintage) buttons - probably more than I could ever use in this lifetime, especially considering I often purchase new buttons for specific projects. I used to keep my buttons in a plastic storage container, but one day I decided that they would be a fun and crafty addition to my home decor. The above container is an antique jar which I found in my grandparents' basement a few years ago, and it has an interesting metal closure at the top; in fact, you can see a few of the crafty items which are doing double duty as home decor: my wooden drop spindle, various knitting needles, and of course - buttons! Since keeping fresh-cut flowers in our house isn't an option (our cats love to eat plants), I've started using vases to display other objects. I've also filled a clear cylindrical vase with buttons and thought that a few wooden needles would add a nice knitterly touch in the absence of flowers...