Visual Caffeine

Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and free play of faculties, genius will manifest itself.
-Robert Henri

Photo by Bryan Rosengrant

Your turn! Do you have a quote or a photo that you think would make a good Visual Caffeine post? Email me using the Contact tab above!

5 Things to Do With Pipe Cleaners

Pipe cleaners? Wait, like those things little kids bend into animals?
Yes. Pipe cleaners.
It just so happens that I have a TON of them. Some vintage, but mostly leftover from teaching kids' arts and crafts classes. There's got to be some way to use these things up. Some way besides straight up kiddie crafts, hopefully. Could pipe cleaners be transformed into kitschy, fun crafts? Could pipe cleaners be transformed into something bordering chic?
Here's what I found from around the internet. The results will shock you. Sort of.


Martha Stewart has some cute little creatures you could make, all with easy step by step photos.
Some even come with curious descriptions, such as "This squirrel likes to wave his tail around, which really cracks up the nut." Ooookay. Martha also identifies a danger for us: the loss of sanity from working with pipe cleaners.

This is in no way a tutorial, but I simply have to post it. Full Of Bliss shows us that yes, it IS possible to make wonderful things out of pipe cleaners. The secret may lie in the very sparing use of said pipe cleaners.

Pipe cleaners make decent armature wire. Sometimes I use them in various plushies. Here's a tutorial on how to make a needle felted replica of your own pet, using pipe cleaners and wait for it...

YOUR PET'S OWN HAIR.
Thank you, Craftzine.
(Note: Anyone else thinking of this? No?)


These personalized gift toppers were recently featured in ReadyMade. Dare I say it...these are almost chic! Hooray, ReadyMade!

Finally, something I truly never considered before:


Hello, easy way to make stop motion creatures!

A peek inside the creative life of Moon's Creations

Today we get to talk to Marcy of Moon's Creations. She's the maker of what must be THE CUTEST amigurumi bunnies on the planet. Don't be fooled by imitations, ask for Moon's by name. Okay, that's not her slogan. I just made that up. Um...on to the interview!


First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
My name is Marcy and I make small amigurumi bunnies called Moon Buns.

What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
I'm currently in the middle of making holiday designs.


Where do you primarily create?
I primarily create in "The Bunny Mines" or my very cold, dark office.

Where do you find inspiration?
I'm inspired by movies, television, books and adorableness.


Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
I'd like to recommend "Lovin' From the Oven" It's a great blog that makes me wish I could spend more time in the kitchen.


Where can readers see more of your work?
http://MoonsCreations.etsy.com

Thanks for giving us a wee peek into your creative life, Marcy!

Crafty Kitchen - Lentil Pasta

Let me be frank. This dish is not a looker. Hence, no photos. Take my word for it though, it is delicious. And simple to make. And very very satisfying, especially on chilly wintry nights.

You'll need:

• 1 cup lentils (Preferably the French Green ones, but brown work just fine, too)

• 1 can vegetable broth

• 1 onion, sliced into 1/4" half rings

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 head Swiss chard, torn into pieces

• 1 box orzo

Cook the lentils in the vegetable broth and water until done but still firm. (About 30 minutes) In another pot, cook the orzo according to the package directions. Meanwhile, in a deep sided skillet, brown the onion in the olive oil. I mean really, really brown it. Deep, dark brown. This takes awhile, but it's worth it. When it's starting to get deep brown, toss in the garlic. When the onions are done to your liking, put in the Swiss chard, and cook briefly to wilt. Add the cooked orzo and lentils, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. DONE!

Serves 4 - 6. Freezes and reheats well.

5 Crafts to Make With Buttons

Ahhhh, buttons. Currency of the craft drawer. They're among the most coveted and hoarded of odds and ends, at least around here. When you're ready to show off a few choice specimens, here's a few crafts that are worthy of your favorites.

1. These Fruity Button Napkins by Martha Stewart Living are so cute. What a nice (and fast!) way to spruce up some boring old cloth napkins.


2. Bugs and Fishes has a cute idea to spruce up plain clothes:

Photo by Bugs and Fishes, of course. Check out her Button Sweater tutorial!

3. This flower bookmark by Pink Paper Peppermints is a really cute idea!

4. This Spring Bouquet by American Craft Studios would be great to work on during the more dreary days of winter. (AKA NOW.)

5. I saw this delightfully modern looking button bouquet on Flickr:

It's by Sunshine Walks. The tutorial can be found over on Kiddley.

Crafty Book Review - Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter

Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby: 24 Easy Projects for Newborns to Toddlers

Many, many, many years ago, I came across a Lotta Jansdotter book in Japan. I was instantly smitten with her simple, striking designs. Now, many many many years later, it's easy to come by her textiles and hooray! her books. With a little one on the way, I knew I had to have her Simple Sewing for Baby.

I really resonated with her introduction. Here was a designer/crafter who understood my own strange design sensibilities. (And general reluctance to spend an arm and a leg on things that were just going to get baby puke and poo all over them.)

There's a wide range of practical and fun patterns. (Simple pants! Toys! Nursing pillow! Bookends! Wait, what?) The photos of the finished projects are lovely. The patterns are printed on nice white paper, not that nasty tear prone brown stuff. There are even cardstock stencils included.

However, a caveat: the illustrations in said patterns are few and far between. For a visual learner like myself, this translates to TORTURE. Or at least it did on the crib bumper tutorial. Making that bumper was one of the more unpleasant things I've done recently. (And at the time of writing this, I am 32 WEEKS PREGNANT. So that should give you some idea of scale.) But I did get it DONE, and hey, it's pretty cute.

If you're not afraid to get in there and figure out a way to make the patterns make sense to you, go for this book. (Or if written descriptions of what to do work for you. You know, if you have a brain that works properly.) Most of the projects are simple enough that you can sort of figure them out just by looking at them, anyway. At the very least, it opened up my eyes to what it was possible to make for baby. That alone has been invaluable!

5 Great Supply Shops on Etsy

Okay, by "supply", it turns out I mainly mean "fabric". These are all shops that I've bought from before, and of course would happily do so again. So, in no particular order, here's a few of my favorites:

Scarlet Fig

Scarlet Fig sells mainly limited edition fabrics that she designs herself. And oh, wow, are they great.
I have a weakness for bright! modern! design!, and she takes that goodness and throws in lambs. And donkeys. And other stuff.

Feltgirl

Feltgirl is based in England, and sells delicious assortments of wool blend felt. And other colorful crafty tidbits. But, oh, that felt. I use it for Chickenpants accessories, and it is the best to work with.

JLMould

I love my custom stamp from JLMould! It has a clear back, so you can see exactly how you're placing it. (Very helpful for someone like me, who tends towards the sloppy.) Actually, if you've bought anything from me in the past year or so, you've seen her handiwork: she made my return address stamp. She executed my design perfectly, and I couldn't be happier with the stamp.

Blije Olifantje

Blije Olifantje has a wide selection of hard to come by Heather Ross prints, as well as some really fantastic import fabrics. Oh, and she ships FAST. Nice!

Sweet Flavor

I love how Sweet Flavor arranges her shop: by price. She offers a variety of imported Japanese fabric, and there are some great deals tucked in there. She also offers scrap bags, which I have a hard time resisting. Also, again with the fast shipping!

10 Fun StumbleUpon finds

I find StumbleUpon very addictive. True, I may have started using it because some thread in the Etsy forums said it was good marketing (Uh, it isn't.), but I kept using it as my own bizarre bookmarking service.
(Oh, and if you are similarly addicted, here's my profile. Let's be friends, or followers, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.)
Here's 10 of the best things I've seen with it lately:

1. The Emerson House...aka the most stylish dollhouse EVER.

I could really see my flock of Chickenpants living in a place like this...

2. Jason Lee's amazing photography.

THAT'S why you have kids. Thanks for the reminder! (I forget a lot.)

3. Whatimade.com is gorgeous. The projects he dreams up are delightful, too!

4. Box templates! Glorious box templates! All sorts of paper boxes you can fold yourself. Handy!

5. I want to make the heck out of this Cocktail Umbrella Lamp Shade.

Hooray, there's a tutorial!

6. Cats playing patty cake...what were they thinking?

Oh, now we know.

7. How to make live culture pickles.

Although it may just be the picture talking, those pickles look amazing!

8. Getting over perfection - a really fabulous post by Finslippy.

9. I really want to try this Flourless Chocolate Cake.

10. You've no doubt already seen this, but:

Super Mamika!

Flickr Finds - Terrariums

Okay, one of those is not actually a terrarium. One of them does have a cute little tutorial attached to it, though!


1. terrarium in my studio, 2. Terrarium, 3. Return of the Pants: Special Edition (The one where George goes Chickenpants crazy and changes out bears for chickens!), 4. Terrarium darlings

If you'd like to see one of your Flickr finest in an upcoming feature, post it to our group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/absolutelysmall/