Playin' with the Queen of Hearts

This week I made my first little Flipagram animation for my Instagram feed, showing the designs in my new Queen of Hearts collection. I'm trying to focus for awhile on making smaller prints, which I'm hoping could be useful for a larger variety of projects. Let me know what you think! The collection is available on fabric, wallpaper, decals and gift wrap from Spoonflower, and totes, pillows, cards, and iPhone cases in my Society6 shop. (By the way, I can see this Flipagram thing becoming an addiction!)

TBT: Spring Craft Show Ideas from...1977

Yes, a few weeks ago was a banner day of thrift scores in the magazine category. Lots of "great ideas" to be found and recycled from days...decades...gone by. Here for your consideration are some bizarre (and some pretty cool) bazaar makes from the Spring 1977 issue of McCall's Needlework & Crafts.

Left page, clockwise from top right corner: felt collage on burlap; place cards made from paper, empty eggs, glue and pipe cleaners; bun warmer hen and chicken egg cozies; and felt babushka egg holder ("After Easter, she'll hold napkins, sewing items." Right page: appliqued house quilt, framed in calico!

Left page: fruit and vegetable pillows; embroidered placemat with appliqued calico text. Right page: "Mary had a little lamb" plushes with their own appliqued calico barn tote; and two fun totes made from recycled children's overalls!

Left page: crocheted long-legged rabbit; crocheted "mouselets"; and no-bake clay pet plaques. Right page: crocheted snake, monkeys, and clown, with a clown appliqué pillow.

And then there's this...

I saw one of these in the case at a thrift store several years ago and I still get a tear in my eye because I didn't buy it, even as a gag gift for my sister. Of course, who knows what sort of bacteria were living in the hair, but still... What a conversation piece! And since I didn't buy her, it will forever by this Decorator's Dream.

Alphabet 100 Exercise: A

About a month ago I blogged about a fun hand-drawn lettering project I had found that was created by Christopher Rouleau. My plan is to do a capital letter every two weeks, which means I should be done with all 26 letters by the end of 2014. Here is my completed sheet for the letter A.

If you'd like to do your own, you can download a blank project sheet from Christopher's website. Now on to the letter B...

TBT: Creepy Crafty Characters

Check out these "Masquerade Heads" featured on the cover of one of my recent thrift store finds: "Aunt Jane's Sewing Circle" magazine (November 1974).

Made by layering 5 to 7 layers of toilet paper and spray starch over a huge, blown-up balloon, they're like a creepy version of the "New Zoo Revue" characters. And they look like they'd be heavy and uncomfortable, too, but I may try the technique this fall to make a domed R2-D2 head for my son's Halloween costume.

The remaining crafts featured in the magazine are not as interesting as the typography and layout. Check out these two pieces of title art: first, writer Joan's tiny beehive-coiffed head floating in space...

...and then Mary Jane, whose paste-up head makes her look more like Liberace tickling those loom fibers.

A perfect 1974 craft specimen!

TBT: Beautiful 1948 Cotton Fabric Ad

In the box of presents my parents mailed for Christmas, my mom included this amazing ad for Ely & Walker Quadriga cotton fabric from a 1948 issue of "Better Homes & Gardens". Putting a different print in each state is such a fun idea! Have you ever seen a quilt made in the shape of the U.S.? Could be a fun project!

TBT: MacPaint

For those of you too young to remember MacPaint, this is what life was like 25 years ago. This was considered so "advanced"...futuristic! Considering how primitive it looks, people did amazing things with it!

Macintosh System 1.1 interface.

Above: Designed by Susan Kare, designer of the MacPaint interface.

UPDATE: You can now play with a modern, interactive facsimile, called CloudPaint. It's nearly identical! Check it out here.