Easy Peasy Breezy Ribbon Bracelet

Here's a fun, easy Ribbon Bracelet I made recently using twill ribbon that looks like a tape measure. I measured my wrist (about 6"), then doubled that (since the ribbon loops back on itself) and added about an extra 3" (to allow for hemming and the overlap of the loop).

To start, I folded the ribbon in half and zig-zagged all the way from the tails to within about 1/2" from the top of the loop. You want this opening to be big enough to snugly go around a button since this will be the bracelet's clasp. And don't be stingy with the zig-zagging up here...it should be good and sturdy.

I sewed on the buttons with regular old black thread, starting with the button furthest from the loop (in this case the round wooden one on the far right), dinking around with the placement to make sure that when it went through the loop, the bracelet would be snug but comfortable. I trimmed the tails so that I could turn under about 1/2" and zig-zagged the hem.

Then I sewed the rest of the buttons on, layering some of them (the spacing was a cinch given that I was essentially sewing on a fabric ruler) and Presto! I had a fun bracelet using only materials I already had on hand.

Grandma Alice

For several years I've been lucky enough to be part of an artgirl reunion at the Navajo reservation in Arizona. We stay in the guest house at the Good Shepherd Mission, make art every day in the big common room and then go on field trips arranged by our friend Melissa.

This is a picture of Grandma Alice, a medicine woman whom we bonded with. Have you ever seen such a kind, wise, loving face?

Valentine's Day

When we were kids, we thought it was SO clever and SO naughty to say, "Happy VD" on Valentine's Day. Of course, kids today have never heard the acryonym "VD" so it's only funny to us old folks. Dork that I am, it kind of IS still funny.

All's right with the world...

My friend, Salvage Sister Lisa, sent me a link to this video which I watched over and over because it made my heart so happy. Make sure you have the sound on so you can hear Louis Armstrong sing his classic.

Creepy Cool Flower Factory

This is from the Coroline movie website...you can make your own flower. Select the type of petal, how big you want it, the color combination...very cool! In that creepy kind of way.

Spring fling

Feeling the need for a little spring in my life, I crafted these little stitched paper collages. The background is a stack of pages from an old foreign book held together by sewing the bird image on top. The bird images came from a fabulous sheet of upscale Cavallini wrapping paper (with 25 images per sheet, it's just pennies per serving!)

I love those little flower stamens that come in all sorts of colors, so I added a few along with a strip of fun ribbon to the botton. I used a circle hole punch at the top of the first page and then glued an image behind the little window.

I love the look of the vintage game tiles with letters so I crafted a "faux" set by painting a piece of chipboard with acrylic paint, then slicing it into small squares, onto which I stamped letters. I threaded a short length of ribbon through two holes punched at the top corners for hanging and it was complete.

The blue collage contains stamps I collected from Roratonga in the Cook Islands when I was lucky enough to go scuba diving there several years back. A few matching buttons, baubles and scoopy little scallops on the edges finished it off.

Curtis Steiner plays with blocks

As I was using my new pink and green Midori paper (the one with the whimsical pea pods), I noticed it was designed by a Curtis Steiner. I remembered a Seattle artist by that name who has a funky cool store in Ballard named Souvenir. A few years ago, I went with a bunch of artgirls to the Seattle Art Museum to see an amazing exhibit he designed.

It was a vast assemblage, a sort of Cabinet of Curiosities, brimming with ornate and mysterious wonders, that he describes as "gently beautiful". Every single treasure was placed just so, and I could have looked at it for hours, and in fact would have done so, except the museum was closing and the artgirls were calling.

So I checked out his site to see what he was up to these days and it turns out he has a new exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum which incorporates 1000 walnut blocks. Each block is identical, with a different pattern on each of its six sides. This allows for an infinite number of astoundingly beautiful patterns to be created, and visitors are encouraged to play with the blocks to create their own designs. Check out this slideshow of 100 designs: