It's not your Grandmother's Granny!

I have been looking at these 'rectangle' Granny Squares for some time.  I am not sure what to do with them, but blankets, throws, and yarn bombing come to mind.  Anybody else interested?

Graffiti-style Stencil Workshop

I had the great pleasure of attending a workshop at happymess art studio in Durham this week.

It was so much fun! Tarish was great as he helped us create fun stencils in a style that, to be honest, would not have been my first choice. And isn't that what Jack's Crafts is about? Learning something new, and having fun doing it?

So, first thing we did was go through a bunch of magazines, looking for pictures.

Tarish helped us chose pictures without too much detail, with a high contrast, and a great image. Here is the ad that I chose to work from.

Next, we placed carbon paper over a regular "For Sale" sign and traced over the picture. Once again, we relied on Tarish to help us see the shadows we could add, as well as the spaces our eyes would fill in (so we didn't need to cut them out.) We carefully cut out the spaces we wanted to be painted. I'm a slow worker, so it took me a couple of hours. Another guy in our class was done in forty-five minutes.

me and felicia, hard at work!

my stencil before I started cutting on it

Once they were cut out, we placed our stencils over paper and rolled acrylic paint over top. They turned out great!


I've got some mixed media plans for her.

Have you taken any fun classes lately?

Mmm... Cabbage!

Variations of this recipe can be found on dozens of websites. I love this cabbage salad recipe because it's so flexible--you can use whatever veggies you have on hand, and it gets better with age. It was actually requested for a recent potluck, so I thought I'd celebrate by posting the recipe!

1 medium head of cabbage, chopped (but I used two small--one red and one green)
1 red, green, or orange bell pepper, also chopped
2 bunches of broccoli, chopped
handful of green beans
1/2 cup almonds, sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
3 packages ramen noodles (I use oriental because it's the only vegetarian one they have--and only one brand is vegetarian so read the labels!)
8 oz extra firm tofu chunks
1 cup olive oil
6 Tbsn seasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
optional: 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tsp pepper

Chop and combine all your veggies. break up and add the noodles (not the seasonings.)
In a separate bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, seasoning packets, sugar, and salt and pepper. Mix up. Add tofu and marinade overnight. Pour dressing over veggies and serve chilled.


Marinading the tofu overnight really makes it pop with flavor. Folks won't realize they are eating tofu, and with all the toppings, they won't realize they're eating cabbage, either!

What's your favorite pot luck dish?

Happymess Art Studio on Living Social

When it comes to deal websites like livingsocial and groupon, I usually lurk. But today's livingsocial deal just sounds so fun! $17 for an art class for one, or $30 for two, at Happymess Studio.
First selling point: it's called happymess studio! Second selling point: ARTini nights.
Anyone care to join me? :)

Inspirations

I love Craft: magazine. I have since the first time I saw it. They recently posted an article about the photos that inspire them.

I've been watching for a way to spotlight some of my favorite photo blogs.

I've known Sarah since we were in college. I always adored her. She has a fondness for pyrex, fresh foods, thrift store shopping, and photography. What's not to love? So, I present, anonymous was a woman.



Punam Bean is one of my other favorite photo blogs. She has such a great style. I love how she frames her photos. Obviously, I'm not the only one who adores her. But whenever I need inspiration, I turn to her blog.

And, more technically-oriented, is Strobist. This blog is a must-have for photographers, whether they use natural light or strobes. It's an amazing resource.

What photo blogs inspire you?

Our First Meetup!

Today was our first meetup! It was so much fun to meet everyone. This group is full of great ideas! So, today's Sunday Shout Out goes to the people who came today, making Jack's Crafts a reality. (Unfortunately, we didn't think to take a picture before several people left. Sorry, folks!)

Looking forward to our next meetup!

Hurry and Enter!

I love a good giveaway and this one from Bursts of Creativity looks awesome!

It ends tonight so you'll have to enter right away! So fun!