Craft Tutorial Thursday - February 16, 2012

Yes, it’s Saturday. And, it’s taking every ounce of willpower I have to make this post. Winter this year hasn’t been all that cold and we’ve only have two days with some flurries. Most of the past 4-5 months have been filled with gray, dismal days where the sun only occasionally peeks out from behind the clouds. It was only supposed to be nice yesterday. But, shhh, don’t tell mother nature but she has given us three partly sunny days in a row. It might be a new record. It’s hard to stay on track and get work done when the sun is beckoning you to go outside and enjoy the day. So, after Thursday simply got away from me and Friday’s siren song of the sun led me to play hookey all afternoon, I’m finally getting back to business.

While I may be more than a little susceptible to the lure of the great out of doors when we actually have a sunny day, you shouldn’t think that I’m any less thrilled by being able to share with you some of the great tutorials and freebies being offered by folks participating on Crafty Tips.

So, bring on the trumpets and drums and play flourishes as I introduce you to this week’s Craft Tutorial Thursday participants…

Wee Folk Art
It was their gift to everyone for Valentine’s Day and while this lovely felt applique peony pattern would make a great gift to the flower lover in your life, I think it would make a great pin or hat embellishment, don’t you? Kimara and Michelle are so generous. Their blog is full of wonderful applique and quilt patterns and ideas. They even offer sewing tutorials. If you haven’t been to their site yet, you should really check it out.
Sweetly Scrapped Art
Emily is my new favorite person. I can’t tell you why just yet but I am so very excited about a project we are working on. She does so very much for crafters in offering many wonderful free printables on her site each week. This week, it’s a collection of vintage advertising images. Not only does she find all of these great images, she cleans them up and even isolates items like this shoe from the backgrounds and layouts where she found them. This group of lovely images came from an old Montgomery Ward catalog. Oh, how I miss that store, they had some of the prettiest linens. And, from the looks of Emily’s catalog images, they also had some beautiful clothing too.
Happy Together Creates
Jessica shared a great tutorial she calls gotta love sequins shirt tutorial. She is a talented photographer, has two of the cutest children and has provided so many awwww-that’s-cute photos that this post is like two gifts in one. This tutorial has a slightly heart-day theme but it is both a design and idea that could be used in limitless ways all year around. Be sure to check out her great photography as well as this quick and easy sequin shirt embellishment tutorial.
Rustic Crafts
This cool rustic style clock tutorial includes everything most crafters love in a project. It uses recycled pieces, natural materials and can be as detailed or as simple as you want it to be. Using an old compact disc, a tree slice, recycled clock parts and a free clock face printable, Renee has created this rustic and chic piece of home decor. While you may not have an old clock that you are willing to dismantle, there are often clocks available at the only a buck type of stores that you could easily use for this project.
Cinnamon Jewellery
I think sometimes we can learn as much from our failures as we can from our successes. And, when crafters share how a particular craft supply does not live up to claims made on how it can be used, I think it’s important that information is shared. After all, craft supplies are an investment and when they don’t work like has been advertised, well, let’s just say, it stinks. In this case, we have a cautionary tale about using copper clay. You’ve probably seen the stuff, it starts out as a clay-like substance and after being kiln-fired turns into copper metal. It’s great stuff for jewelry makers. Well, one jewelry maker put this stuff to the test and if you have ever considered using this clay without using a kiln, you should probably read her post, PMC Books & Tools For Sale first. Of course, if you are in the market for supplies to use in your own crafting with this clay, I suspect you might get a great deal on these materials in her Ebay shop.

A Vision to Remember

And one more tutorial this week that I don’t want to spoil the ending by including a photo. If you’ve ever wanted to have a cutting table that doesn’t leave you with sticker shock, you’ve gotta check out this great post on how to make your own cheap cutting table. It’s one of those super ideas that will leave you wondering why you didn’t think of it yourself but are so thankful someone else did and shared it with everyone.