Bare Maked

Handmade Swag

2009-07-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver screening of Handmade Nation was fabulous! It's a great film - a neat snapshot of the crafty, DIY scene in the US.

What really resonated with me was the community aspect of crafting. Crafting can be a very isolating/isolated activity. You don't need other people around, you can do most of it alone - that's part of why I love crafting actually, because I like my alone time. But, when I plugged into some online crafting communities, like www.crafster.org, I got way more inspired (and interested in diversity of crafts beyond my beadwork). Then I met some other local crafster forum people, and eventually Maked was born.

It's amazing, the power of the internet to help you forge connections that you wouldn't otherwise. As a result, I've learned to crochet, screenprint, make soap, bind books, do craft fairs, run an online shop.... the list is kind of endless!

Crafting alone is fabulous, I will never knock it, but getting out there and interacting with fellow crafty folks is tons of fun and will energize you to try things you never would have.

As an added bonus - at the screening I got a promotional swag bag full of goodies. Yay! It included an adorable tiny terrarium (complete with alien) by Plantscapes. I love it. I also love this tiny flower pin by Roxypop made from ricrack! It's very vintage-looking.

Design

2009-07-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm picking myself up off the floor to share with you my new totally-don't-need-it-but-I-want-it item.... the most beautiful lampshade ever, called Midsummer Light by Tord Boontje. I just need a place with even higher ceilings first.

More images of his work here.

Of course I'm also thinking.... if I just got myself some tyvek and a supply of exacto knife blades, I could make my own (over the course of 10 - 15 years). Seriously, where does one get crafty-grade tyvek? My preliminary research shows you don't want to use construction grade tyvek and there is a different kind that people use for papercutting arts. Anyone ever seen that in a craft store?

Momentum & Cycle Chic

2009-07-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I've got an adorable folding bike that I love to bits and I live in a city that's pretty progressive in providing bike lanes/routes (by North American standards).... so I've cycled here more than any other city I've lived in.

But the sporty style of bike accessories frustrated me. My cute bike and I deserved more! I'm not interested in going super fast and getting sweaty. I want to be relaxed and wear normal clothes and arrive at my destination relatively unsweaty. My desire for a more relaxed, stylish form of biking was fueled in a major way by this website - Copenhagen Cycle Chic, which documents the ease with which cycling fits into everyday life in Copenhagen. It's very inspiring - a glimpse into how things could be.

First, after much difficulty, I found a helmet that was in no way aerodynamic (I have no intentions of traveling at speeds where drag will be an issue, thank you), something with a bit of chic to it.

Then I made myself a few bike cuffs to keep my pants out of my chain while riding.

This month my humble little bike cuffs were featured in Momentum Magazine!

Momentum Magazine, a fabulous free magazine all about everyday person cycling (not sporty cycling), put out an issue all about the crafty DIY culture and how it intersects with bike culture. It's a fantastic magazine. If you can't find it in a bike store near you, request it. In the meantime, read it online here. And happy cycling!

(I've got ideas brewing for other bike accessories that could easily be more stylish (bike gloves!). If only I had more time. And magical sewing elves.)

Handmade Nation

2009-07-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got my ticket to this event the day they went on sale.

It's going to be awesome. All the crafty people in the area will gather together and celebrate the awesomeness of making stuff. Join us!

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Location: Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway @ Commercial Drive
Screening at 8:00pm, Craft Showcase at 7:00pm

Tickets & Info Here: http://gotcraft.com/handmadenation

Traveling across the world to sold out crowds, it is Vancouver’s turn to join the handmade revolution! Join Director Faythe Levine, July 9th, for Western Canada’s premier of Handmade Nation. Be the first in Vancouver to see the film, meet Faythe Levine and participate in a Q&A and book signing session after the screening.

Tagged as the ‘Ambassador of Handmade’, Faythe Levine has traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) ethos.

A companion book, Handmade Nation – The Rise of D.I.Y., Art, Craft, and Design, features 24 artists, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them.

For more information, visit:
Handmade Nation’s official website
Faythe Levine’s blog

Header

2009-06-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Nobody panic, I'm experimenting with a new blog header here.... feel free to comment. Since sock monkeys are no longer a big part of what we do (they pop up rarely), we thought we should retire our sock monkey branding. We'll see how this one works out.

Hiatus In Progress

2009-06-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hi crafty people of the internets!

Maked is on a hiatus while all of us pursue other things for the summer. We've still got lots of stuff available in our etsy shop, so keep an eye on that if you need to shop!

If you want some craft blog action - feel free to head over to Lisa's blog, Burrito West, which often features crafty adventures and has nothing at all to do with burritos.

The photo at left shows a top by my new favorite Etsy shop - a designer in Montreal, Ramona Lisa Designs. I'm in love. Go check her out.

Organic Cotton Goodness

2009-05-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at Got Craft last week - it was busy and packed full of awesome vendors. We've got stuff left over that we're slowly listing in our etsy shop.

I've already listed a few of our silkscreened organic cotton totes. Megan and Rhiannon had a brilliant idea for these - they sewed ties on the top so you can tie closed the bag while in use, to keep your purchases safe AND you can roll up the bag and tie it into a tiny little package (see left) - which means it's easy to throw one in your purse. I think that's awesome.

Here's a sampling of our prints - keep an eye on our etsy shop if you want one! (Click photos for larger versions.)

Craft Hiatus

2009-05-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hello world!

Maked is going to be at the best craft fair in Vancouver on Sunday, May 3 (11-5)! Got Craft - with 55 super awesome indie artists selling their fabulousness! Check it out - at the Legion Hall on Commercial Dr (@ E6th Ave).

This may be your last chance to buy Maked stuff in person, as our group is going on a bit of a hiatus afterwards. Not sure what the future brings, but everyone is busy with exciting stuff in their lives, so Maked is being put on the backburner. We may return one day.... no one knows!

Thanks to everyone for their interest and support - the four of us came together because of the awesome online craft community, so we really value the network of talented people out there in the internets! Craft on!

Screenprinting

2009-04-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night Megan and I did a marathon screenprinting session to finish off our 2 new product lines for Got Craft.... and everything looks awesome, if I may say so myself.

We've got organic cotton tote bags which are strong enough to carry your goods, but light enough to squish up nice and small and not take up much space in your purse - you can always have it with you!

And, we've got thick, super long jersey scarves. I wore mine today, and good thing because Vancouver has decided to revert back to January temperatures! But I was snug as a bug with my super cute scarf.

We had a lot of fun working out the images for these, and hope they'll be really popular at the fair! (Whatever doesn't sell at the fair will eventually make its way into our Etsy shop.)

We did our screenprinting at a place in Vancouver called Blim, which is a great resource - they are a Community Based Art Resource Center which facilitates screen-printing, button making, drawing, knitting, local underground audio, film screenings, animation, video, dance, spoken word, visual art, creative workshops, and crafts in the independent field. You can take workshops to learn everything you need to know about screenprinting, and you can book time in their studio space. For us urbanites living in apartments, it's perfect- we can do all the messy stuff at Blim! Definitely a place to check out if you're local and wanting to learn about screenprinting.

Clothing Swap Love

2009-04-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Vancouver events of the year is coming up this weekend (April 19) - Swap o Rama Rama!! I love this event!! I've volunteered the past 2 years and will do so again this year.... that's how much I believe in the awesomeness of this event - I want to help make it happen! The organizing torch has been passed this year to the organizer of Got Craft (best craft fair in town) in partnership with the Vancouver Craft Mafia, so I think it's going to hit a new level of awesome. (Can I set a new record for the use of the word awesome in one blog post do you think?)

The gist of the event is that you bring all your unwanted clothes - do a good spring cleaning of the closet and get rid of those things that don't fit, that you don't like, that you never wear, etc - you hand them over at the door (with an admission fee to pay for venue rental n stuff), go into the swap area, grab as much stuff as you want from the heaping piles of clothes.... then you can go to one of the craft stations and work some crafty magic on your new find. Screenprinting, sewing, stencilling, embellishments, whatever you fancy. Crafty people are on hand to assist. At the end of the day all the left over clothing goes to charity. I love it. I get rid of clothes taking up space in my wardobe (I do not have space to spare), and I get to bring home fun new stuff which saves me from having to go shopping - yay! And because all the clothes are free, I can grab some funky stuff that I probably wouldn't buy but want to try.

To find a Swap-o-rama-rama near you, check this link.

It's really seriously awesome. I highly recommend clothing swaps - even if there isn't a big swap-o-rama-rama event in your area (they happen in a couple cities), you can organize a little clothing swap amongst your friends (helps if you're all generally the same size). I did this once with some friends here and I still have a skirt and top from it that I love.... and my friends were happy to see their neglected clothing being loved by someone. It's funny how fun it is to give away your clothes to someone who LOVES it. =) Something that was buried in a drawer and never saw the light of day becomes a featured part of someone else's wardrobe - that's awesome. A cheap and fun way for everyone to renew their wardrobes.

Epsom Salts

2009-04-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I acquired a single skein of Noro Silk Garden Lite in pinks, greys and purples. I decided to make a bowl and felt it. I could display pretty things in a pretty bowl. This seemed like a better idea than a hat that I wouldn't wear.

Here is the bowl:

what I didn't count on was Silk Garden not felting. There's too much silk and too little wool, then combined with my cold-water-only washing machine, I was hooped. Basically instead of getting smaller and stiff, I got a larger and floppy bowl.

This sat on my craft table for a few weeks. had thoughts of starching it but there was no starch in my house. I could have bought starch, but food and more yarn ranked higher on my priority list.
But then Ravelry came to my rescue. There were other things you could use instead of starch to stiffen projects.

1. White glue and water. Con: Can go yellow. Didn't have glue in house.
2. Sugar and water. Con: can attract bus and critters.

But the one I used was Epsom Salts! I had a tons of these because they are great to put in the bath to relieve sore and tired muscles, or mixed with a skin friendly oil as a body scrub. Wiithin 10 minutes I was boiling 6 cups of water and 6 cups of epsom salts.

While this was happening I covered a tupperware container with plastic bags and saran wrap to make a properly sized and shaped form for the bowl to dry on. I placed it on a tray covered in was paper.

Once the mixture boiled for a few minutes, I took it off the burner and let it cool down. Once it was cool enough to put my hand in, I put the bowl in the mixture until it was soaked through. The wet bowl then went onto my mold and dried overnight.

The next morning the bowl was dry and kind of firm. It could have held small ad light stuff but nothing too heavy. But by 2 days later it was completely hardened. I filled it with stray lip glosses, eye shadows and bobby pins, and placed it centrally in my room.

Overall I am really happy with this method and would definitely use it again. The drying process does take a few days, but the boiling part is really quite quick. It's also cheap and gives me another use for something I always keep in the house anyway. I had a few crystals on the rim of the bowl but they were easy to dab off with a wet cloth. I keep think of the possibilities of lace bowls, and anything that gets me thinking of a next project is a definite winner.

Sun!

2009-04-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering where is Maked and why aren't they blogging about awesome crafty stuff? Our blog posts have become somewhat sparse.... are we frantically preparing for the upcoming GotCraft? Busy with orders from our Etsy shop? Well, yes, kind of a little of each of those... but, to be honest.... the sun came out in Vancouver and along with it came proper warm spring temperatures. It's been a loooooong winter, so we've all been making the most of the good weather. And, 1/4 of Maked had a birthday! Happy Birthday Megan! (Check out her brand new Etsy shop - you can see where Maked gets its cheeky sense of humour.)

We'll be back at it soon!

In the meantime, I'm pulling a project from my archives to share - one of my favorites - the Tiramisu Blanket. It's a crochet pattern by Posie Gets Cozy - you can find it here (pdf). I love the texture of the finished blanket, and the ribbon detail. I made this for friends who struggled for a long time to have a baby, so when it all finally worked out for them, it was extra special. I'm hoping the blanket gets used up until it falls apart. Made with superwash wool from Knitpics in a great buttery yellow colour. Great yarn, great pattern and I love the finished product!

Got Craft? We sure do!

2009-03-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

We were very excited to find out recently that we've been selected as a vendor at our favorite craft fair in Vancouver: Got Craft? This was the first craft fair we ever did as Maked - so it has a special place in our hearts. It also happens to be THE BEST fair there is in town. It's been getting bigger every time as word gets out about its awesomeness. It's a great collection of indie vendors selling ridiculously creative and unique products. It always has a great vibe as a result of putting so many creative people in one room for a day.

It's also becoming legendary for another reason.... the first 30 people through the door in the morning get a swag bag filled with product samples and promotional items. Every year these swag bags get better. We're always kind of bummed that we can't stand in line for them! But, as more and more vendors apply for tables at the fair, we're very happy to have a spot even if we miss out on swag. =)

Hope all you Vancouver peeps will come out and see the awesomeness! It's May 3, 2009, 11am - 5pm at 2205 commercial Dr. Vancouver, BC To check out the list of vendors that will be there - go to the Got Craft Vendor Page.

Here's Megan and Rhiannon, hard at work making fabulous stuff for our table at Got Craft:

The Missing 'R'

2009-03-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

I had an epiphany recently. In my ever on-going quest to reduce my impact on the environment, I remembered the old R-R-R they taught me in elementary school.... and I realized, we've all been glossing over the first and second 'R's. Reduce - Reuse - Recycle. Be honest now, how many people kind of skip right to recycle and gloss over the whole reduce and reuse parts? Especially 'reuse'?

This was highlighted to me at my office where people are really good at recycling waste paper... except a lot of it is blank on one side. So, I've started collecting the reusable paper to cut up and turn into notepads. People will now reuse the scrap paper and then recycle it. Maybe the notepads will also help remind everyone about the other poor, forgotten Rs.

Here's the proper tutorial that inspired me, over on an awesome blog on The Small Object. But I couldn't find any padding compound locally and I heard school glue works just as well so that's what I used. (It works okay, I think padding compound might be better. I have to do a few coats of school glue to get good coverage.)

I cut the paper on a paper cutter to roughly the same size, paint some glue on my stack of paper (I'll split this up into thinner pads when its dry), stack some books on top to keep it all in place, and wait for it to try. Stupid easy project. Give it a try!

While you're waiting for the glue to dry - try to think up other ways you can Reduce and Reuse to lighten our load on the planet!

Fibres West 2009

2009-03-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Rhi and I went with the lovely Alexa to the show this year. It was a decently long and early drive to Abbotsford but overall worth it. I was expecting the show to be larger, with more independent seller presence, and more animals, but I still managed to spend all the money I planned to spend.

My purchasing mission for the day was undyed fiber. As a result most of the pictures are less then inspiring. I'll post follow ups of the dyed and spun fibers eventually. I'll also get Rhi to post her llama pictures.

Top left: 100% local Llama from the Fibres Plus booth.
Top right: Set of felting Needles from the Shades of Narnia booth.
Middle left: Magazines from Knitopia in Langley - the wearable art, and the paper issues
Middle right: angora wool blend from a booth I can't remember. ugh.
Bottom left: 100% bombyx silk from Twist of Fate.
Bottom right: this was bought at safeway when we stopped for lunch. it'll help make the fiber more exciting.

(Side note on wrist warmer pattern: After a bit of thinking, I am going to be providing my patterns under a name other thn maked. I hope to have a website up by the end of May. However, in the mean time, if you want the armwarmer pattern, email me at {staminea at gmail dot com} and I'll email it to you.)

Egg Fun

2009-03-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Easter is still a ways off.... and it's been a long time since I've dyed eggs - but this tutorial has me itching to do it again!

Check out the adorable eggs - there's a full tutorial on how to achieve this awesome result over on LollyChops (pic is hers also)!

I finally did it!!!

2009-03-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that this is shameless advertising but this has taken me forever and a day to actually get my poop together so I am pretty excited and I can't contain myself!!!
Check me out heart-on and I will be adding more stuff as time goes on!!!

teaser!

2009-03-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here are the wristwarmers I made from the fiber I dyed last week. Sometime in the next week we will put up a free pattern for them on the website. Get 200 grams of 28 st gauge yarn ready! You even have time to custom dye it with your own kool-aid.

Dyeing tutorial I used is here.

Good News!

2009-03-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Button Button is reopening!! This is only good news if you're in the Vancouver area, but for those who are it's very very very good news. They'll be in gastown around the end of this month. Those are all the details I know of but it's all very good.

But I can't post without pictures so here's some hand-dying I've been doing. The original yarn is Diamond Alpaca Prima, I dyed it with kool-aid, and it is becoming garnet stitch armwarmers.

Button Button!!

2009-03-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love buttons to bits!!! Ask anyone who knows me. I am always on the hunt for cool buttons!! I seem to find them in all sorts of unexpected spots in all different shapes and sizes!! I was cruising the world wide interweb and happened to come across something that blew my mind. Not only was it a button but it was made out of chocolate which united two of my favorite things: chocolate & buttons. I mean really what more can you ask for????

I am yet to purchase the molds and all the goodies to go with it but as soon as my next pay cheque comes in I will definately be going on a bit of a shopping spree at Bake it Pretty they also have a tutorial and some freebies for their nifty packaging!! I think that these would be super cute as grab bags at birthday parties or baby showers or anywhere where you'd love to leave your guests with a pleasant tastes in their mouths!

Hope this makes you as happy as it made me!! xox

Baby Gift #1

2009-02-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

Whoo hoo! I finished one of the baby gifts! Just in time too, I think the first baby is due in a week or two (it's hard to keep track when everyone is pregnant.) [Previous post on this topic.]

I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It was a little fussy pinning everything in place just right so the ricrack would poke out the way it should, but I took extra care to make sure my fabrics were measured and cut into proper rectangles which was a huge help. Usually I'm a little sloppy on the measuring/cutting front... you can imagine the frustrations that causes.

I'm very pleased with this little blankie - I love the polkadot fabric especially - it's cute without being nauseating. And, note that I actually managed to sew straight lines!! WHOO! I was so excited that I did a second round of topstitching.

Hopefully some little kid will be dragging this blanket around for a few years and the mom will have to hide it so he/she doesn't try to take it to the first day of preschool. (Also - I've found a new use for my floor loom - a blanket rack.)

Design hurdles

2009-02-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

The above image is direct from my design notebook.

I'm currently most focused on a simple openwork shrug made from Teva Durham's moss yarn. I'm using the turquoise and I am just loving it. I think that some people are turned off by the nylon content but it's not bothering me one little bit.

After that swatching that original chart a few times, I realized that I wasn't happy with the burst-/spider-like part of the motif. I left it alone for a day and then spent most of Friday in a downtown cafe re-working it. I finally settled on something and am now just finishing with ball 1 of two on the sample.

One thing I am really struggling with is the charting process. Not actually figuring out and drawing the chart, but making it look professional for the pattern. I just have no idea how to get it into the computer. There's one program I found that might work, but it doesn't look great for charting is expensive considering it has so many other features I wouldn't use. I also found a crochet symbol font, but it didn't look great in the preview.

I realize I could solve this by just writing the pattern out old-school, but you know what, I really like charted patterns for open work. I think they are much easier to follow and break apart if you're having problems. The other solution I'm considering is hand drawing and then scanning it. I anticipate this taking hours of my time, and not really ever feeling like it's "good enough to sell".

But otherwise I am feeling more and more comfortable with the design process. The shrug pattern will be done in 3 sizes and that feels like a step up from bags and scarves. I also feel like it's motivating me to take on more advanced projects for my personal crochet/knitting projects. So overall this is good. I feel like each pattern and project is something more than the last and I'm super motivated to keep in that direction.

Another scarf? Why yes.

2009-02-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to realize that, uh, I may have more scarves than I need. But I love scarves. And I really love making scarves - so low pressure, no worries about gauge and fit, you can just grab a yarn and go.

This scarf/shawl was done using a pattern from A Little Slice of Life who has been creating wonderful lace patterns for crochet (the spiral scarf pattern is hers also). I used some yarn in my stash left over from my first ever weaving project (another scarf, see last photo). I actually really dislike the yarn - it's a plastic-y acrylic.... but I'm trying to be good about using up my stash and it was a good weight for this project and it turned out quite nice.

Confession Time

2009-02-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

So there's a little secret I've been keeping from Blogland. For the last two weeks, and for the next month or so, I have been, am and will be unemployed. At first I thought I was embarrassed about being unemployed, but then I realised that wasn't really the problem. I lost my job through no fault of my own, I have another job lined up, and I really hated my old job anyway and I'm glad to be moving on. I realised today that I wasn't embarrassed about being unemployed. But I WAS embarrassed about how little I was getting done. There's a lot of pressure involved when you self-identify as a crafter. Free all day with a huge stockpile of craft supplies... I should be blissfully churning out the goods. But I haven't been. I've been dabbling.
But you know what? It's been good. Yes I'm sleeping in, yes I'm leaving showering way to late, and yes, I haven't cleaned the cat box yet. But I'm starting to realize that this time has been really good for me and allowed me to jump into things that I was too afraid to before. For example:

A) I started some colourwork mittens.

Sure, in the beginning I was cursing because they were turning out way too small. But it turns out they fit my housemate perfectly. Yay for friends with tiny hands! And I had some issues with the thumbs, but I think I've figured that out too. (Knitting stranded mitten thumbs is much easier if you knit them inside out).

B) I started socks!

And not just any socks but cabled socks, two at a time, toe up with heel gusset and flap socks. And they're for a specific person (husband) and I have a deadline (birthday). These have been causing me a LOT of frustration, but I think things are starting to come together.... (Pictured is my fifth attempt.)

C) I've been getting to spend lots of lovely, outside, sunshiny time with this guy:

We've been doing SOME training. But mostly just stinky beach exploration.

D) I actually BAKED some stuff. Including BREAD. That uses YEAST. This is something that I was afraid of for a long time. And I won't lie, the process was stressful. But the goods have been turning out not bad at all.

You gotta start somewhere right?

It's about time!!!

2009-02-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

Ok so I think it is about time that I finally post!! I am the long lost member of Maked, the one that is usually off somewhere and comes back just in time to take all the credit!! I know I sound like a total jerk but sometimes I am able to make a fine contribution here or there!!!

Today I am here to tell you all about the lovely and talented Rhi!! She has made me some gorgeous arm warmers and her latest feat was the cutest little outfit for my best friend's baby. The little ensemble included a little toque and jacket with lovely buttons that I had found at a flea market in japan!! I think she wore the thing the whole time we were together, which was about 4 days, so there you go Rhi, she is already getting lots of wear out of it!! Everywhere we went people were commenting on how darn cute she looked in her little ball of yarn. Ok without further ado here is Rhi's masterpiece!!!

She is always dawning an adorable toque (beanie to anyone not from Canada) so I fear that she may never grow hair but I'm ok with that!!!

And here is the full outfit she looks a little bit like a little emperor. I love it to bits!!! Thanks Rhi you're a peach!!!!