Yeah there are a THOUSAND

OK so I didn't fold a THOUSAND cranes but one of my cousins did and I thought it would be fun to post it. I DID help her string them together. My only advice is to use the block color paper. She used this crazy psychedelic multi-colored paper and it was nice individually but when you string everything together they sort of got lost in the mix and makes it look more like throw-up of color. This is the only picture we have since she accidentally deleted the rest T_T . . . she's pretty upset.

Scroll

For another birthday present, Grip N Flip (lil cousin), decided to make an Asian wall scroll. She was already taking Chinese calligraphy at Chinese school and even took a Chinese art class. The only problem would be how to transform what she drew into a scroll.

I ended up looking online to see how it was done. And what I found overwhelmed me. The process of mounting traditional calligraphy or paintings was an art form in itself. After all that research, I humbly decided to switch my tactics since, hundreds of years of secret mounting techniques couldn't be learned in a week. I came to the decision that as long as I made it LOOK like a scroll, it would be enough.

I borrowed a wall scroll from my Chinese teacher (which I have yet to return . . . thank you 老師!!) to have an example to follow. I then bought some muslin and fabric for the scroll (as opposed to paper), red ribbon for trim, and dowels for the ends.

I first tried it with fabric glue . . . . and that was an unmitigated disaster. I was prepared for the worst and thankfully had back up drawings.

I ended up using HeatnBond for the fabric and drawing and then fabric glue for the red ribbon trim. I wouldn't recommend doing it this way but it worked.


Grip N Flip drew a phoenix because her friends name means "light" or "shine" in Japanese (can you guess the name??). The words on the right [愛是光] translate to "love is light/shine". The words on the left are her name.

I think it was a really cute gift. Something that was personal and heartfelt.

Star Tote Bag

This is one of my first projects for sewing class. I found lots of brown corduroy fabric in the garage and decided that free is always the best option. Little did I know, or understand, the difficulties that lay ahead. Apparently one of the characteristics of corduroy, while being sewn, is to not align correctly. A battle of wills, between the basic nature of corduroy and my desire for perfection, ensued and I can proudly proclaim to be the victor of this war, though not without losing a few battles. Not exactly something a beginning sewer would want to experience, but a good lesson none the less. I also found a blue and white stripped fabric to line the inside of the tote bag for $1. I was super excited to implement a star design throughout the bag.

I placed a frayed star patch on the front pocket using the lining fabric. You can't see it here, but I also lined the front pocket, which wasn't necessary for the class but I thought it would be nice. I went through a lot more trouble than my classmates and took longer, but well worth it.

The back of the tote bag I sewed double stars .

This is the inside of the bag. I placed a frayed star patch with the corduroy and also lined the straps. Everyone asks if this bag is reversible. Unfortunately, even if the inside is pretty, I didn't consider the possibility in the beginning and was too late. May I will do it if I sew another tote bag.

This bag was one of my proudest achievements. I really really liked it, which doesn't happen with me very often since I can be somewhat of a perfectionist with sewing (my sewing classmates can attest to this).

I ended up giving this bag to my friend since I'm not a big tote bag user. She was the one that really got my excited about it anyways. Since she's had this tote bag, several people have threatened to steal it and many others asked if one could be sewn for them. I'm deeply flattered by the theft threats. As to doing another tote, I currently have too many other projects on my mind right now to want to sew something I've already done. Maybe sometime when I'm inspired by a fun pattern or design to place on a tote bag I'll do another one.

Harry Potter Frame

I was asked by Grip N Flip (lil cousin) to do a Harry Potter frame as a birthday present for her friend that's a crazy Harry Potter fan. It sounded like a fun idea. I always have frames (from IKEA) on hand to do projects like this. I wanted to do 3 hanging frames and a piece of wood with the Harry Potter Logo on top. I used a wood burning kit to transfer and burn "Harry Potter" into the wood. I've been wanting a wood burning kit since forever, and remembered that Marcia had given me a Micahels gift card for my birthday. This project sounded like the PREFECT excuse to buy one!!!! (THANKS MARCIA!!!!!!!) I also tried to transfer the Hogwarts logo as a background to the Harry Potter Logo, but somehow it didn't transfer. I think that even though the printer I used was laser, which is what is needed to transfer with the wood burning kit, the color portion was still ink jet. I was sort of disappointed that the Hogwarts Logo didn't turn out as well, or at all, unless you squint really really really hard. I also tried to use coffee and tea to stain to wood frames to give it an Harry Potter antique wizard-used look, but it actually didn't stain too well. I ended up scrapping and banging the frames to give it a worn look and used the wood burner and brown varnish/paint to give it the color I wanted. To be honest I was over zealous with the first set of frames and broke them. The ones you see in the pictures below are my second attempt. Overall I am pretty happy with the results.

Sheepcap

Fork (my lil cousin) wanted me to do a sheepcap for him. This particular request (definitely not an unusual request when it comes to my cousins) is inspired by Goong S (the squeal to a popular korean drama based on a manhwa).

I truly enjoy their strange requests sometimes. I find the unexpected challenges to be fun since they are projects that I would never have truly pursued or finished had I been doing it for myself. I work better when it's for someone else. All of my projects, without a patron, usually end up on the wayside, incomplete and condemned to a fragmented glory unbefitting the radiant inspiration of which they where born.

Here are pictures of the sheepcap I am to make:

I'm hoping to be able to do this next week. I've already bought the fabric at Joann's (with a 1/2 off coupon). I'm excited to see how this will turn out. >.<

Back Logging

Well I guess the first order of business would be to start posting some of the projects I've already done. I'm hoping to get all my random projects up before I post any current projects. Back logging doesn't sound fun at all, but at least I get to share some of my older projects with you guys. I'll have to dig around to see if I have pictures of everything. It would be a lot more fun to show you the process of how some of the projects were created, but I guess it's not possible for the old projects. You'll just have to bear with my horrible garbled written explanations.

Welcome the my Korner of Random Krafts

I've decided to start a blog on all the random kraft projects born out of cheapness and/or ingenuity. We'll see how long this will last . . . . . ?