Friday Fotos & Faves

Summer is slowly coming to a close here in the Pacific Northwest. This week there's been a slight hint of Fall in the air, and the days are certainly getting shorter! So since I've had to start cutting a couple of blocks out of my nightly walk, I've had a little more time to sit down and surf the Interwebs. Here are some interesting finds.

1. DIY Day-Glo shirt using neon fabric spray paint
2. Living letters
3. A little zine inspired by traditional Japanese crafts
4. Things you can make with vintage paint-by-numbers
5. Are we all crafters?
6. LEGO realism by Bruce Lowell

Enjoy, and have a great holiday weekend!

La Boca: Color-Blocked Barrio

Though one of 48 barrios in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, La Boca is certainly its most colorful. This popular destination for tourists boasts beautiful color-blocked houses and the Caminito, a pedestrian street where tango artists perform. I'd be dancing in the streets, too, if my neighborhood looked like this! Just about anything goes where color is concerned, and yet all of the color combinations work, which is inspiring!










An example of Fileteado art, which is typical of Buenos Aires, and prevalent in La Boca. This sign says, "Good for Adam that he didn't have a mother-in-law."

For the Abolishment of Drab

A couple of colorful, psychedelic, and a bit surrealistic Dexter Shoes ads from 1971. These were illustrated by Joe Veno, who also illustrated several Sesame Street books. If anything, these should brighten your Monday!

Back to School: Favorite Finds

1 Rainbow Mechanical Pencils from Kikkerland || 2 Camera Pencil Sharpener from Kikkerland || 3 Video Tape Ruled Notebook by Monkey Business || 4 Calculator iPhone Case by Zero Gravity || 5 Sticky Tapes Sticky Notes from NPW || 6 Birdie and Polka Dot Tissue Packs at NPW || 7 Index Fingers Page Markers at NPW || 8 Double Sharpener Desk Tidy from Suck UK

Back to School: School Supplies Pattern Contest (Vote for Me!)

Today voting kicks off for the Spoonflower's "School Supplies" Fabric of the Week contest. I've been away from the contest circuit for awhile, but jumped at the chance to enter this one! Below is the design I am entering this week. If you like it, please vote for it by clicking here.

Once you're there, all you need to do to vote is click on the Vote in This Week's Contest link on the right, then find my design and click on it (a green border will appear around the image). Make your way through the remaining pages, clicking on any other designs you'd like to vote for (you can vote for as many as you like!), and click the Review My Votes button on the bottom of the last page. When you have reviewed your votes, you can click Submit...and that's it! Designs that make the Top Ten are automatically offered for sale on the Spoonflower site!

Back to School: In Glam & Groovy Style

No school supplies list is truly complete without a check box for the mega-pack of 24 Sharpies in a rainbow of colors! Check out these awesome '80s Glam colors to add to your set. Five limited-edition, retro-inspired colors: Jellie Pink, Leg Warmer Orange, Valley Girl Violet, Banana Clip Yellow, and Argyle Green. Haven't decided yet if I'd take them out of the gloriously New Wave package.

And have you ever been to the Sharpie website? Incredibly, doodle-y inspiring. Plus, if you click on the Sharpie By Color tab on the left, you can see life-size pictures of every type of Sharpie available in that color!



And while we're talking about pen love, check out this groovy 1970s ad for Paper Mate Ops 'n Pops! It says they cost $1.59 apiece, which seems like a lot of bread for back then, but hey, the price you pay for fashion!

Back to School: Desk Graffiti

I don't know about you, but when I was in school, I doodled a lot during class. I don't remember ever defacing school property by doodling on the desks, but I could have repressed those memories, remembering myself only as a straight-A student who just didn't DO those kinds of things. Ha! Here are some interesting examples of desk graffiti I found online. Most appear to be from the '90s or later, and the spelling errors in a few of them prove that the "artists" probably should have been paying attention in class!









Click here for more samples.

Back to School Flashback: My College Dorm Room

It's Back to School Week here at penny candy, so I thought I'd kick it off today with a look back into my days of school supply- and book-buying days with some photos I found of the dorm room I had when I was a freshman in college. I was fortunate to have a single room, so I could decorate it however I wanted, including painting a mural on the wall. You'll be able to find out a lot about me from these photos (favorite music, former soda of choice, etc.). You may wonder how I got anything done with all that distraction, but the truth is, this type of environment actually helps me excel. Screaming inspiration and color from all four walls, and even the ceiling and floor. These photos are like a visual time capsule, complete with cheap-o, dual-cassette boom box and selection of cassette tapes. This was 24 years ago after all!

Then, the other day, I was leafing through my early-1980s copy of Terence Conran's The House Book and found these photos. In the second photo, I love that giant blow-up Wonder Woman on the ceiling, but I personally think Sting is better looking than Donny Osmond. ;-)

Friday Finds: Rainbow Connection

1 Paperthinks Recycled Leather Notebooks from Kate's Paperie || 2 Color Burst Temporary Tattoo by Tattly || 3 Color Wheel Umbrella from Karma Kiss || 4 Handy Bookmarks and Numberclips by NPW || 5 Rainbow Stacking Toy Necklace from You gNeek || 6 Tracing Rainbows Pencil and Eraser Set at ModCloth

A Collection of Letters

If you ever need some typographic inspiration, or just like to gaze at letterforms, check out this Flickr photostream. Chris from the UK has photographed thousands of letters, numbers and words from his everyday surroundings, not to mention other interesting objects most would consider mundane, like door locks and remote controls. In his Flickr Letters photo set, he has organized them by letter and by category. An amazing resource!

Published!

I'm so excited today because, for the first time, penny candy has been published! The Fall 2012 issue of Simply Handmade: Sewing, by Northridge Publishing, features a two-page spread on trendy triangle fabrics, and my TV Triangles is pictured with five other great designs!

The 132-page magazine is chock full of awesome projects to get you in stitches, literally and figuratively! Too many to mention, but some of my faves include a piggy coin purse, a modern take on the tomato pincushion, the pincushion featured on the cover (love those pom pom dingle balls in the corners!), and a fab hexagon quilt pillow. Felt projects, appliqué, autumn and Halloween, etcetera, etc. ... Plus, you can choose to purchase either the printed magazine, or a less-expensive digital version. Check it out here!

Tea for Two and Towels for Tea

This week I'm adding some new tea towels to my Etsy shop: a chalk-lettered antipasto towel, made using the technique I described here; a King of Cups towel, which coordinates with my Fire King-inspired collection of fabric; and a Cowboy Cookies recipe tea towel, which combines wood type with vintage western imagery. All are printed on linen-cotton canvas, which becomes very soft after a couple washes, and all were sewn by me...on my trusty, old, early '70s, avocado green Kenmore sewing machine, handed down to me by my mom.

Friday Fotos and Faves

I've been complaining all summer that it's been too cold, but this week we finally received a blast of summer heat, with unseasonable temps in the mid-90s. Finally! Fortunately here in Seattle we have no humidity, which makes the heat a little more bearable, but we also have no air conditioning, so after a couple days of extreme weather, the house is a bit hot. Here are some links I found while sitting in front of the fan!

1. Craft fads through the decades
2. Fat quarter wrap skirt
3. The amazing miniature world of Christopher Boffoli
4. DIY floppy disk planters (via Poppytalk)
5. COLORS Magazine now available online for free
6. DIY swing made from a skateboard

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

'80s Flashback: Speak & Spell Emulator!

Okay, I just had to share this quick find that is an awesome time-waster! Just click on the Speak & Spell below to play. When the emulator appears, don't forget to press the ON button! The developer, Kevin St.Onge, also includes scans of the original instruction manual for reference. Believe it or not, this was the first word I spelled in the Mystery Word game! (Scroll down to view a retro Speak & Spell TV commercial, too!)



Is that Mark Wahlberg blowing the birthday party horn in this 1980 commercial?

Scrap-tastic!

Juxtaposing found images and scraps of type, Mister Edwards pieces together colorful collages that can be both amusing and a little disturbing. And I can't stop looking at them! Here are some of my favorites, but you can find more of his work, including pages from his Crap Book (as opposed to scrapbook) on his Flickr photostream.

It's All Greek to Me!

Someday when I have more free time (yeah, right!), I'd love to learn how to really sew, and by that I mean doing more than appliqué stitching and hems around tea towels. The only sewing class I took was in 7th grade Home Ec, and while I'm able to do the basics, I dream of someday completing a huge quilt! Someday.

Until then, I am content with letting everyone else do the sewing when it comes to using fabric I've designed. When I receive pictures of something someone has made using penny candy fabric, I am always in awe. File this next one under: How did he do that?! These awesome Mix Tapes Greek letters were crafted and sewn onto sweatshirts by Stephan. Stitched and embroidered so perfectly. I love it! Thanks for sharing, Stephan!