Beautiful, Colorful Kansas City

Thanks to FabTabulous for creating this colorful collection of Kansas City Etsy Team Members wears.

Send the Bride and Groom Off in Style

When Christina dreamed of her wedding day, she imagined the most amazing exit - friends and family showering her and her groom with a sea of color coordinated streamers as they departed the reception. 

But every product she found either seemed to complex or to expensive!  So naturally this talented bride created her own hand rolled streamers and turned this wedding solution into a growing business, Extravagant Exits, where she offers this and other creative options to make your send off on your special day extra special.


You can read more about Extravagant Exits in KC Weddings Magazine Fall/Winter 2011 Issue. 

Tutorial Tuesday - Shoulder Heat Pillow tutorial

Nicole at Ni-Chern Designs created a Shoulder Heat Pillow tutorial on her blog.

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Here are the supplies that you need:
1/2 yard of fabric (cotton, flannel, etc - any would work)
~ 10 1/2 cups of flax seeds (or buckwheat or rice)
~ 7 tablespoons of dried lavender (or dried chamomile) -- this is optional

Go here to get the pattern that I drew out. It should fit on two 8.5 x 11 sheets. You'll see two dashes on page 2, that's where the first page should line up with the second page.

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces from the pattern from the 1/2 yard of fabric

Here I used Flower Bed Blush from Art Gallery Fabrics' Coquette collection

Step 2: Line up the two pieces with right sides together and sew all the way around until you get to one side of the C-shape.
Leave about 2 1/2" inches open on one end.

Step 3: Turn the right side out. I would mix 1 1/2 cup with 1 tablespoon of dried lavender.

Step 4: Pour the 1 1/2 cup in the C-shape, then I'd pin the flax fabric to keep the flax seeds in place. It helps to have a funnel.

Step 5: Stitch the along the pins, you want the flax seeds to have some room so it's not so bulky and it would sit on your shoulder better than a big chunk of seeds in one spot. In the picture below, I had the pins pretty close to the flax seeds, then I'd stitch to where the foot would barely touch the pins giving the flax seeds room after it's stitched.

Step 6: After your last flax seed fill for the pillow, close the 2.5" opening by turning a little bit of the opening fabric in.

That's it! Heat it up in the microwave or put it in the freezer. Don't just leave it in your microwave and walk off! Heat it 15-20 seconds to see if that's the warmth you like... and repeat if you want it warmer. It may be too hot to handle if you toss it in for too long! And I don't want anything to happen to you if that happens!

 

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Now here are some things that I did that you may or may not want to do.
Because flax seeds look like bugs, and I'm not a fan of bugs. If I see one, I'm spraying the house or calling the exterminator!

So, I zig-zag after stitching in Step 2 in case any flax seeds decides to escape, and I freak out because it looks like a bug! You could probably see the zig-zag stitching in the picture. This is totally up to you, you can go back and stitch zig zag if you want.

If you do not want to worry about the pins on keeping the flax seeds in place and stitch 7 times and just leave the flax seeds loose, you can. I did it because it keeps the flax seeds where you want it, it evenly distributes the heat on your shoulders. That is also optional.

Make this for you and what works best for you!

Let me know how it goes! :)

Happy Birthday Mr. President

In honor of Presidents Day, where we celebrate the birthday's of George Washington (Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln's (Feb. 12), we're showcasing these two whimsical penny creations from jewelry designers CuriouslySappy and christinavitale.  

Lucky Penny Necklace by CuriouslySappy 

Domed Penny Bracelet II by christinavitale

For the Avid Reader

Rose Brown is a fan of fandoms! Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, and now The Mortal Instruments. She simply can't get enough and as a super fan, her love of good literature influences her jewelry design and is the inspiration behind everything she creates for her Etsy shop, ReadingFanGirl. 

Rose creates everything from delicate necklaces and earrings to ornaments, key chains, and bookmarks, each with a subtle or not so subtle book reference.  Pictured above we have The Hobbit inspired door necklace, Harry Potters Golden Snitch keychain, and a Beaded Mockingjay Katniss Peeta bookmark.  For more pieces inspired by literary works, visit her shop, ReadingFanGirl, and take a look at her sold items too. 

Party in Style

Bright, colorful and affordable DIY parties are what you'll find at Gretchen's shop, Three Little Monkeys Studio. Custom orders are gladly accepted!  Gretchen is a graphic designer and mother to three sweet "little monkeys" who provide lots of inspiration and opportunities to throw parties!  She shares her fun and playful party printables and artwork with you in her Etsy shop.

Find a wide variety of themes for birthday parties, baby showers and everyday fun at  ThreeLittleMonkeysStudio. 

GingerLuvs

GingerLuvs is a husband and wife team, dedicated to making quality, natural, preservative free cosmetics and soaps, made with only the best ingredients.  In an age when everyone is reverting to homemade, from scratch products to use on and around their bodies, it's refreshing to know it's so easy to find rich mineral make-ups in stunning shades at fabulous prices!  Here's just a taste of the beautiful shades you'll find at GingerLuvs.

Artist Megan Leong

Megan Leong is a local Kansas City mixed media artist who is inspired by feminine traditions, memories, landscape and textiles. Her shop, ShinyButtons, showcases her work with mixed media, watercolor and acrylics in pieces in all sizes and in all price ranges in a variety of subject maters.

You can see more of Megan's work this Friday evening, February 10th, in a two person exhibition at Got Art Gallery in Lee's Summit.  Megan will show her work along side the work of Jennifer Bricker-Pugh.  Megan will be showing select pieces from her MFA thesis exhibition along with other work she hasn't exhibited locally.  Find out more about where she is showing her work and more about what she's working on by following her on facebook. 

Vintage Vinyl Valentine

Does your sweetheart have a love for 45s?  This handmade album holds a collection of nine 1950 45s from a wide variety of artists ... from jazz to lounge music to exotica to tiki music to torch songs to big band jazz to just plain love songs -- Julie London - Cry Me a River / S'Wonderful - Liberty Records; Brook Benton - Endlessly / Close - Mercury Records: and Della Reese - The Touch of Your Lips / Won'ch Come Home, Bill Bailey - RCA Victor to name just a few.  

Bound together using a modified Japanese ribbon bookbinding method this collection features wide vintage cotton lace woven together with a variety of ribbons on the cover, creating a unique Valentine for the lover of vintage vinyl.  

Vintage Vinyl Valentine from TangoPony

Anything But Square

If you've visited Sara Cramer's Etsy shop than you know this interdisciplinary artist's current project has her working with thousands of small square glass beads, stringing and weaving them into stunning, graphic statement pieces ... wide bangles, chevron earrings and breastplate necklaces are just a few of the things you'll find within her shop.  

Pictured is one of her many tribal inspired pieces.  This black and white necklace, features five strands, in graduated lengths, that combine to form a single beautiful, 1" wide band that goes around the wearers neck.  One seamless design perfect for wearing alone or layering with other pieces.