Craft Room Organization- The Best Way To Organize Fabric, EVER.

My studio is far from all organized, but I just had to share this with you. A little while ago I came across a great tutorial by Sew Fantiastic on how to organize your fabric. She came up with the idea to wrap your fabric around comic book backer boards.
She is a GENIUS. I've been using this method for a few months now, and it is perfect. My stash is still organized, and everything is easy to see at a glance. And easy to put away. And pull out. Added bonus: comic book backer boards are CHEAP. My local comics place sells 25 of them for $2.

Basically, you fold your fabric neatly in half, then fold it around the board and pin into place. Simple, and it works. I'm using this technique for knits, silks, and even ripstop. (For unpinnable/delicate fabrics, just use a little binder clip instead of a pin. Done.) I have every thing from tiny, less than a fat quarter sized bits to multi yard swaths on these boards.

Life is good. Fabric is gloriously organized. It's like my own tiny fabric shop.
Thank you, Sew Fantastic! You can check out the full tutorial here: http://sew-fantastic.blogspot.com/2010/09/organizing-your-stash-on-budget.html Check out her scrappy storage tutorial while you're at it. I'm using this system, too. It also works really well for me!

A new custom Chickenpants - EMT CP!

I recently completed this custom order, and I just had to share him with you. There was an awful lot of hand stitching involved, and I loooooved doing it! The idea of tiny working pockets just delights me to no end. So does the idea of making things that are ridiculously detailed to the point of one being utterly unable to make a profit on them. (Er, not that this guy was, but you know, in general.) Which begs the question: is miniature crafting some sort of mental illness? And is there a suitable name for it? Minimania? What would you call it?

Squirrels, Woodpeckers, and Treasury HTML-ing Tools

I started this post because I was dying to try out the Etsy Treasury HTML Code Generator made by Whale Shark Websites. (And detailed on the Handmadeology blog. Thank you, Handmadeology!) "Aha!" I thought "What a nice idea for a quick blog post. Surely this will put me back on the path to blogging every single day!"
As is my habit, however, I blew this project all out of proportion, and now it's this monster post. Hi!
Okay. So. What better way to test out this tool than by illustrating the ancient war that has been raging on my porch all summer?
Squirrels. Woodpeckers. What do they have in common? They both covet acorns. Specifically the acorns that the woodpeckers have been *ahem* squirreling away under the eaves and in the walls of my house for, oh, eons. The squirrels got wind of this, and bam! Turf war, right on my porch. Right in front of my studio window, in fact. Now, before you accuse me of having a wild imagination and a lying cheating heart, BEHOLD THE FOOTAGE:

Squirrels hate Woodpeckers. And vice versa. from Absolutely Small on Vimeo.

There. Actual, filmy proof of the hatred squirrels and woodpeckers harbor in their bosoms for one another. On my porch. And walls.
And here's the treasury to commemorate The Great Squirrel/Woodpecker Battle of 2011:

'Squirrels vs Woodpeckers' by absolutelysmall

Squirrels and Woodpeckers are mortal enemies. I know this because there is currently a turf war on my porch. At stake are literally THOUSANDS of acorns stuffed into the walls and under the eaves. Who will win? Only time will tell.

ORIGINAL Squirrel Water... WaterInMyPaint $40.00	WOODPECKER Bird Waterco... lorisworld $18.00	Still I Love Snow - Squ... mingtaphotogra... $15.00	ACEO signed PRINT - Woo... poordogfarm $5.00
garden woodpecker limit... beethings $25.00	Squirrel Art - Jane Ste... amberalexander $20.00	5x7 Print Downy Woodpec... studiotuesday $18.00	Peek - Grey and Brown S... ByTheWinter $12.00
Meet Sam The Smallest S... doodlebirdie $20.00	Woodpecker, Limited Edi... badbird $60.00	Love to Swing - PRINT JAustinRyan $16.00	Woodpecker print 5x7 berkleyillustr... $10.00
Red-headed Woodpecker W... SandraHealy $45.00	Squirrel Art - Dionysus... amberalexander $20.00	Needle Felted Red Belli... InspirationByK... $175.00	Needle Felted Wool Ani... darialvovsky $98.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Look at that! You can click on everything! And I coded NOTHING! Hooray!
In other words, dang, this tool is fun. I see myself making a LOT more treasuries in the future thanks to this baby.
Go forth and add treasuries to your blogs willy nilly, people!

Crafty Book Review – Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures

I recently* picked up a copy of Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama fame. This book is a total delight!
I loved that this book focused on reusing fabric. There were several projects that called for used clothing, which is a really neat way to preserve memories, I think. (I know I'll be saving and crafting with some of my baby's finest.)
This book really opened my eyes to different sorts of projects, and the idea of sewing useful things for the home. Before reading this book, I'd really only focused on sewing plushies. But once I got started making useful things, I was hooked. Our house is steadily becoming filled with handmade textile goodies. It's really oddly satisfying.

There are tons of projects to try, especially if you have little ones to craft for. If not, there's still plenty to keep you busy. It's a huge project, but I'm dying to try my hand at making a rag rug, as laid out on page 39.
There's a wide variety of projects, and nearly all of them useful.

Check it out on Amazon, where you can peek inside:

*Ahem. Okay, by "recently", apparently I mean February. Because that is when this post began. Somehow**, it never got posted until now.

**This is probably how:

Couple of quick things

I woke up to a really great link in my email this moring. Check out the felt ABC book a reader made:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvarney/sets/72157627543697203/show/
Yes! Awesome!

In other news:

I have two separate marketing posts in my drafts. One is whiny, one is a project I started and then needed to scrap. Sometimes not having the time to post your ideas immediately is a very good thing.

Been working on lots of custom orders. Such as this tiny showgirl:

She's only 11 cm tall. Actual conversation snippet:
Dan: She's a miniature showgirl Chickenpants?
Me: Yes.
Dan: So...that would make her a bantam?
Me: Yes! Nice useage of chicken terminology!
Dan: I thought so.

Important tip: marry a man who knows his way around chicken vocabulary.

Baby Crafting - Embroidered Bib

I haven't been making as much stuff for Olive lately (shame!), but I have been making more stuff in general.
I wanted to test out the new Bunnies in the Kitchen embroidery pattern I designed, and we always need more bibs, so voila! Embroidered bib.

I knew it would get ruined within minutes of making it, so I deliberately chose quick stitches. This is not exactly an heirloom. :)

It went together very quickly. And yes, within a few hours, stained by something or other. But hey, it's still in circulation! So that's something.