unruly things

did you guys see this amazing wedding shoot Jamie posted the other day from Green Wedding Shoes?

that last photo?  get the heck out.  you know I’ve got a thing for astronomy…

{photography by tangerine tree photography}

during my maternity leave, I asked a few of my favorite mamas and mamas-to-be to kindly step in with some fun guest posts to keep you company

Hi everyone! My name is Casey, and you can find me regularly over at My Life as a Sugar Lander, where I post about days with my little boy, my shop, PAPER+TWINE, other crafts, and pretty things. I am so happy for Alyson and her new baby boy! What an exciting time. If you are anything like me, you have a steady (and ever growing) list of friends expecting. Some months there seem to be baby showers on every weekend! I love making a special gift for my soon-to-be-mom friends, and I try and change it up from time to time, to keep my friends on their toes. Although I love to Gocco print, I have recently gotten into stamps. Carving stamps, and printing to be exact! I love the handprinted/imperfect quality they bring to paper, and fabric. I wanted to share with you a project on how to make a fabric gift wrap, which I made for a recent baby shower. (You can wrap any gift in fabric, I am wrapping up some books for a little baby boy!) It just so happens that Alyson loves whales, so this project is perfect to share.

All supplies can be found at your local craft store. And if you don’t feel like carving your own stamp, any stamp will do! You will need: rubber blocks, a carving tool, fabric, (size is up to you, mine is 29″ squared) a brayer, and block printing ink. Carving is pretty easy, and makes for a nice craft to do at night while watching TV. Draw out your desired image, and with a pencil, lightly press on your image, that is laying on the rubber block, to make the imprint. Next, use your carving tool to carve away excess rubber, leaving your image raised. Also, make sure your fabric is washed, dried, and ironed before printing.

Squeeze some ink onto a paper plate. You don’t need much. Take your brayer, and using a little force, roll it into the ink, coating the whole brayer. There should be a nice, coated, yet thin layer of ink on the whole roll. Lightly apply the ink onto your stamp. It is always good to test print before you start printing on your final fabric piece! Press down on the stamp with your palm, for a more even application. Don’t be worried if the stamped image isn’t solid, this is what makes it beautiful, the imperfections, and slight differences of each individual print.

Once you are done printing, leave your fabric to dry for a few hours. When it is dry to the touch, iron to set the ink. I decided to sew my edges of the fabric, but it would be just as nice to leave the edges raw! When it comes to wrapping your gift, have fun with it! There is no wrong way. Place your gift in the middle of the fabric, and take opposite corners, and tie them, then take the other two corners, and do the same. And there you have it, a unique gift for the mom to be. The printing part of this project took less than an hour, and clean up is easy.  Just rinse everything, (rubber stamp included) under water and pat dry.  What a unique, thoughtful gift for a friend…a job whale done!

I love these crocheted/plush mollusk anatomy specimens by Jessica Polka.

I’ve been crocheting a baby blanket for our little man at what I would call a great beginner’s pace {updated photo soon!} but can’t wait to try one of Jessica’s crocheted sea specimen patterns.  she’s been a favorite of mine for a long while.  I especially love that Gentleman Prawn.

have you seen Ann Wood’s spiders?  I’ve always loved her little birds, but these spiders are so cute!

Elisabeth just wrote to let me know that she’s added more catnip mice to her shop.  at the Summer Social last year, where I had the pleasure of meeting Elisabeth, I bought one of her catnip mice with a rattle in it.  it’s Moose’s favorite toy.

Elisabeth has some other wonderful things in her shop such as pretty screen printed napkins and aprons.  if you haven’t already, go check out her shop!

I really love Melissa’s embroidery, especially this cute little pine needle and pine cone.

{from tiny happy}

I’ve been wanting to weave my own rug for quite some time now.  I took a weaving class at summer camp when I was a kid and loved every second of it.  I made a really cool pillow and mini rug on an old vintage loom which I’m sure my mom still has somewhere.

so today I had one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments while reading the lovely blog from Beklina.  scrap fabrics, old scrap wood and nails?  totally added to my list of things to do when I have time.

I la la love this DIY tutorial from Anna Bond, aka Rifle.