An exciting Adventure Time announcement!

Those of you who follow me on instagram probably saw this yesterday, but I am so excited I had to share it with my blog readers too!

A while ago I was asked to contribute to an upcoming Adventure Time Crafts book for Cartoon Network, and the book comes out next Tuesday! Today I got my preview of the book and I am SO excited to share it with you.

There are tons of amazing tutorials by some awesome crafters; The Slivered Blade, Chalkboard Nails, Yummy Pancake and the book itself is created by Chelsea from Love & a Sandwich.
My particular tutorial is for painting your own Treetrunks shoes!

The book is available for preorder on Amazon now, but it's officially out on October 7th.

Chelsea has already posted a free tutorial from the book to make some awesome Adventure Time Finger puppets. Check it out here.

Rainbow Pinata Cross Stitch Pattern

As you probably saw in Sunday's blog post, my newest craft addiction is cross stitch. I initially started is as part of my uni project, but I think I'm going to continue with it. It's been a much more relaxing way to stay occupied on long tube journeys than playing angry birds and pet rescue saga!

Besides a few little cacti, this Rainbow Pinata is the first proper cross stitch project I've done in years. It's inspired by my Mexican Project and the adorable Adventure Time pinata Manfried.

Here's the pattern for anyone wanting to stitch this!

Simple leather (or pleather) crafts

Yesterday at uni we had a whole day of learning different finishes and crafts with leather. We learned some pretty cool effects and tricks are were easy and really fun to do. So I immediately hit pinterest to find a way of sharing these techniques with you guys. Of course you can use pleather or some other kind of material to make these too.

1. Magic braiding

This was one of my favorite techniques I learned yesterday but I wouldn't even begin to know how to explain it to you. Melissa Esplin describes it perfectly in her Magic Braided Leather tutorial. Don't forget to check out Melissa's other posts too, she has a flair for craft and design and updates her blog with great tutorials regularly.

2. The Five Stranded Braid

I didn't learn this technique yesterday, but it's on my list of things to try. I love this effect because it looks strong and decorative at the same time. Design and Form shares a brilliant step by step tutorial on how to achieve this beautiful effect.

3. Leather Wrapped Bracelet

This Leather Wrapped Bracelet tutorial by Lebenslustiger looks a little harder than the others but totally worth it. For anyone wanting Faux leather cord for this, Nature Beads on Etsy has a nice selection.

4. DIY Leather tassels

FACT: Tassels are awesome. They're super simple to do and very effective. You can use them to spruce up presents, stick to shoes and bags, make keyrings and jewellery with. Miss Renaissance.com/ proves just how awesome they can look with her DIY Leather Tassels. Her use of colour and detail makes these tassels look extra special and makes great inspiration for creating your own.

Etsy Love - My Little Pony

The My Little Pony converse I did a couple of weeks ago got me searching etsy for some fun My Little Pony inspiration. There is so much bright and fun MLP love on Etsy, so I thought I'd share a little of it!

Check out more of my Etsy Love here.

1. Ketchupize / 2. Ika Boushi / 3. Captured My Soul / 4. Shnookers / 5. Hungry Panda Supplies / 

6. J Seames Illustration / 7. The Paper Pony Place / 8. Hipster Octopus / 9. Athenas Wink

Etsy Shop Crush - Sombrilla Verde

When I came across Sombrilla Verde, I just had to share their adorable creations with you guys.

They sell loads of creative things, including plushies and illustrations, but I'm especially in love with their little gourds (this is the best definition I could find for gourd, I hadn't heard that word before).

These cuties are so adorable, full of character and unique.

[Etsy Shop]

Etsy Shop Crush: Stedi

Stedi provide a new, more modern twist to embroidery and cross stitching. They combine beautiful colours and threads with objects you wouldn't usually expect to be embroidered. I love their functional embroidered spice racks and shelves.

Stedi is run by Elena Kirsanova, a Netherland based designer who is inspired by combining different materials such as textile yarns, wood and metal. I'm a big fan of Elena's work, I think the items she sells are so original and unique.

[Etsy] [Facebook] [Pinterest]

Guest Post: Modern Girl Blitz

Hello lovelies! Today I have a really exciting guest post for you from Midge at Modern Girl Blitz. Midge is a very talented illustrator and zine maker. I love her work and the amount of thought that must go into it. Please take some time to check out her wonderful Etsy shop and blog.

Hi there! My name is Midge and I’m a zinester/artists who loves to make quirky feminist art and crafts! In other words, my job is pretty awesome. I got started making zines when I actually was studying them for my thesis in graphic design school. When my project was over, I missed it dearly, so I decided it would make some sort of continuation of it. So in my mind, my thesis is on-going! My zines are centered around feminist views and issues, but get down to the real nitty gritty of certain topics. I talk about everyday things and examine them from a feminist perspective (like things from tattoos to every day social situations to speaking out). Making zines as a hobby combined with not being able to find a design job in the “real world” after college resulted into creating what I like to call my quirky crafty feminist shop, Modern Girl Blitz! I’m hoping it will keep on evolving and that I can rode this wave for much longer, making my arts and crafts for feminism.

Most of my shop items center around a strong sense of feminist pride and self confidence, which are both things that I think we need more than ever. I like to think that a lot of my art and writing in my zines cater to many coming of age feminists, and not so young feminists as well. But I do find a lot of younger folks liking my zines and art I guess as their gate way drug to feminism, if you will! Which rules. This idea inspired me to come up with my little slogan “feminism is cool” Cause it is! Come see what I’m all about at moderngirlblitz.etsy.com and at my blog at moderngirlblitz.blogspot.com

Love,

Midge

Wednesday Art Feature: Melanie Meulenberg

Melanie Meulenberg's creations are the ultimate in creepy cute adorableness. Melanie is a craft artist from the Netherlands. She specialises in polymer clay and needle felted creations.
I can't even comprihend how she even goes about making these! It must take her days.

You can find more of Melanie's work on her Deviantart

Blogger

and Facebook