Monday Morning

I'm having the most unexpected, lovely Monday morning. Upon checking the blogs I follow I noticed it is Sew Mama Sew giveaway day. Follow the link and you will see a list of all the blogs that are participating in this fun event. Each blog is giving something special away. Some are giving away fabric, some patterns, and some are giving away handcrafted creations.

I do have to warn you, the list is quite long. So, grab a cup of coffee and start browsing. The contests are open until Wednesday, May 25th so you should be able to tackle most if not all of them.

Enjoy!

Ciao for now,
Figgy

Baby Craft Fun

This weekend a few of us had the honor of putting on a baby "sprinkle" for one of my best friends Mariah. We called it a sprinkle because this is her second child so this time she got a sprinkle of gifts instead of a shower of gifts.

I had the honor, along with my lovely partner Carla, of putting the diaper cake together. There are many ways to construct these. I prefer the fanned version. It is quicker to put together and when the time comes for the diapers to be used it is very easy for the mother to take it apart. 

The ribbons were very easy to find. I knew I wanted my base color to be purple so I started with a solid purple ribbon. I then needed a print. Once I found my print I then needed a few accent ribbons to pull it all together. 

Now I couldn't just have ribbons on the cake. I needed something else. I roamed both Joann's and Michael's looking for the that finishing touch. I found nothing! So, it was all left up to me. 

I had received a link to a blog from a crafty girl who makes pom poms out of t-shirts. Given that I have a ton of tees because of Urban Creatures I thought that would be perfect. Luckily, I had a tee for every color on the cake. I was set. I had my idea.

I started making my pom pom and to my dismay it just did not work. I needed smaller pom poms and because I tried to reduce the size they kept falling apart. Oh no! What to do. So, I played with it a little and then started to see that from these pieces I could make flowers.

As Carla and I were making these cool little flowers for the cake we thought these would be a great accessory for Urban Creatures. 

After a little tweaking we have come up with the perfect flower accessory. Still, all made from old t-shirts. These are all brooches and will be debuted in our Etsy store this week. Aren't they cool?!?!

We will also use these flowers to make hair clips. Stay tuned;)

Well, after all this rambling I still haven't gotten the chance to talk about what I made for Mariah's gift. So, my next post will be all about the gift.

Ciao for now,

Figgy

Treasuries

This weekend I have been having some fun with Etsy treasury lists. Have you ever put one together? I've been curious about them for sometime. Urban Creatures is has been featured in a number of them so I thought it was time I put one, or two, together.

An Etsy treasury list is a collection of items from Etsy that you create. It is usually based around a central theme. The two I created were centered around color. They are Ballet Pink and Winter Blues.

Here are the links:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d3b92e00be46d91afc8583c/winter-blues?index=1

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d3cdef185e28eefe206ea97/ballet-pink?index=0

Check them out!

Ciao for now,
Figgy

Introducing Urban Creatures Home

As you know, our accessories from Urban Creatures are all made from recycled t-shirts. If its the right type of knit, it will curl when pulled. That's how we are able to keep our necklaces and bracelets from fraying. 

So, what do we do with a t-shirt when it does not fray? That is something we have been trying to work out for some time. We do not want to waste any fabric so here is what we have come up with...

T-shirt pillows decorated with scraps left over from our accessories.

This is our first and we look forward to making many more in lots of colors and different designs.

We applied an interfacing to the t-shirt so it will keep its shape and make it sturdy. 

Also, we are on the look out for an eco-friendly stuffing. So, if anybody out there has a suggestion please pass it along.

Hope you like as much as we do!

Ciao for now,

Figgy

Paper Folding

Just had to pass along a fascinating documentary I watched on Independent Lens this week called Between The Folds by director Vanessa Gould. It is about modern origami. I have to say I was a bit shocked that I enjoyed this film so much. I was blown away by what these current origami artists are doing.

Works by Eric Joisel

Vincent Floderer

When the artists were asked about who they looked to for inspiration they all spoke of Akira Yoshizawa. He seemed to be the grandaddy of modern origami. His work that was published in the 1950s is said to have spread the word about origami on a global level.

"Gorilla" by Akira Yoshizawa

I've never tried origami myself. I've thought about it several times though. The main appeal to me is the pretty papers that come in the kits. In the film they even touch on an artist who makes special origami paper. This was very cool to watch.

Besides all the cool paper, it was just amazing how these artists could fold a piece of paper, sometimes 1000s of times, and come up with these beautiful pieces. It was well beyond the basic butterfly or frog. However, let's not discredit the simple origami designs either. Some of my faves from this program were the pieces that would have fewer folds.

For more information on this program and to check your local listing check out visit www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/history.html.

Ciao for now,
Figgy

Happy New Year!

This is the time of year for resolutions and new beginnings. While 2010 was a good year, I'm always excited about starting fresh and getting my life organized.

My goals for the new year are the usual: to eat healthier and to exercise more frequently. This is always a given for this food loving girl. However, at this top of my list this year is getting my craft room/dining room organized.

When crafts overtake your life and you live in a small space it is inevitable that your dining room becomes your craft room. It is the one room that is rarely used and it comes with an automatic work space table. Well, mine is out of control. Our dining room has basically been eliminated. I need it to function as both a craft room and a dining room.

So, that will be my focus for the new year.

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Ciao for now,
Figgy

We Meet Again!

I'm back after a long break. These last two months have been filled with European travels, Thanksgiving at home in Tulsa, much success at Crafty Wonderland here in Portland, and celebrating Christmas festivities.

Now things have calmed down and its back to blogging!

These last couple of months have been great for Urban Creatures. In October we were asked to be a part of a local craft fair called Crafty Wonderland. If you read this blog or are a friend of mine on Facebook I know you know what I'm talking about. This was a big deal for us.

The craft fair was such fun! We really could not have asked for a better response.

So, as a thank you to all of our family and friends who have been a huge support we are having a little After Christmas Sale. Use coupon code URBAN15 and enjoy a 15% discount on any of our products at www.urbancreatures.etsy.com. Several new necklaces were added yesterday and today. Check it out!

Ciao for now,
Figgy