The Library of Congress on Flickr

The Library of Congress has long been my favorite site. They are now sharing some of their holdings on Flickr.
This one cracked me up.

There is a FAQ page explaining that you may use the photos and where to get higher resolution versions.

Also a Library of Congress Blog

Making Booklets

Geeze, I love the internet! Somehow I'm able to find just the right tools to accomplish the task at hand. I needed a way to turn the Matrimonial Primer into a booklet and found this tool.

BookletCreator.

The instruction page is very clear and offers printing instructions.

The instruction page had a link to this PDF creator

PrimoPDF

I ran the BookletCreator with an uncleaned copy of the pdf download of The Matrimonial Primer. It worked beautifully! I am still undecided about using the color or black and white copy. The b&w copy did not have the beautiful end papers showing and the lovely sepia fill color is a dead grey.

Sew A Wedding Garter

Instructions with pictures from Creative Needle Magazine.

Office Chair Cover

Ever creative Vicki is sewing covers for her ugly office chairs. Visit her blog, turkey feathers, to see how she made such a lovely transformation.

Matrimonial Primer

This little book would make a good gift for each place at a reception. It's illustrated, has funny and true advice for men and women and would be a good conversation starter for strangers seated at the same table.
The Matrimonial Primer is available at the Internet Archive and is downloadable as .pdfs. I think using the black and white version would make it easier to clean up the pages and then print it on some rich, creamy paper. Binding method depends on budget.
I'm almost done posting about the "home made wedding project".

Tape Sculpture as Party Lighting

I'm just crazy for Mark Jenkins' tape sculptures and think that the concept would make great outdoor lighting for parties. Tape sculpture is made by wrapping an object with plastic wrap and then adding layers of clear packing tape for strength. Cut the taped shape off the object, repair the cut with more tape and you have a sculpture.
I'm thinking stick up lights as the light source.
I want house shapes and trees for the outer edges of a yard party. The house shapes could be made from large cardboard boxes and pointy trees from upside down tomato cages.
Here is Mark's tutorial for making a tape sculpture.

Packaging Templates

This is the best site I've found for box templates. Idee Montabili offers 32 free vector (.eps) templates of boxes. There are also templates for clothing and other products.

update June 2, 2010
This USED TO BE a great site. The free offerings are far fewer now, a lesson in "snag it while you can.

Watermark Your Photos

Picmarkr is a free web based watermarking service.

Printable Paper Houses

Delphine Doreau shares a series of the cutest printable paper houses on her blog, Non dairy Diary

Mimi's Rose Tutorial

My favorite doll maker, Mimi Kirchner, has posted a nice tutorial for the sweetest, itty bitty felt rose on her blog, Doll.

CraftyPod News

A couple of interesting bits from Portland's own Sister Diane.

She will be teaching another series of classes in
Blogging as a Way to Market Your Crafty Business.
The 101 beginner class is April 5th, and the 102 intermediate class is April 13th. You can take either or both. Just follow those links for more info and registration.
These classes are held at the fab DIY Lounge, and are always a great time. She would love to see you there!
I do so wish that she would offer the information in downloadable form that we could purchase!

Kalmbach Publishing has given Diane three copies of Make It Mine magazine to give away. She is holding a drawing to choose the lucky recipients. Visit CraftyPod, leave a comment and keep your fingers crossed.

Making a Rosette

This rosette is a lapel pin but the same technique would make a good decoration for the pews at a wedding, decorations for 4th of July bunting and even as awards for kids for the summer reading program.

Cold Porcelain - Recipes

Recently I've been studying the modeling clay patents and have been surprised that the older compounds are similar to the products offered today. A friend needs a way to sculpt a wedding cake topper and and decorations for the favors. She does not want to use polymer clay and we think that cold porcelain will give her the delicacy and translucent quality she desires. The following links provide a wealth of information.
Arts and Crafts for Family and Kids - Cold Porcelain Recipes
Gina Atkinson - Porcelain flowers tutorial
The Artful Crafter - Cornstarch clay

White Glue Putty - Yes, It's Silly

A silly type putty from Steve Spangler Science that looks like tons of fun. It's a lesson about creating polymers.

Another site: Wayne Schmidt's Silly Putty Page

Sister Finds

My sister is going through her piles of craft related finds and putting them on here-Bay page . She has a nice 1944 wrap dress pattern and is working on putting up portions of her vintage trims among other things.
Yes, it's shameless sister promotion ;-)

Spoonflower On Demand Fabric Printing

Stephen and Kim Fraser are posting tips on the Spoonflower blog for preparing the artwork for your printed fabric. Visit, get help and ask questions. I can hardly wait and wish them all the success in the world.

Floorcloth Design Source

While I'm thinking about floorcloths I want to share my best design source for rug designs. Google Patents has more patent designs than I will ever be able to explore.
Some search terms might help here.
Search with the word design and look in the list for patent numbers that have a capital D in front of the numerals.
Design for a rug, linoleum, Congoleum, oilcloth, Bigelow etc. One search term at a time.
Some of the designs from the 20's and 30's are surprisingly modern. Click the pictures above to be taken to those designs. If you are willing to dig there's a wealth of inspiration.

Floorcloth for the Fridge

Lisa, of Canvasworks Floorcloths, is making canvas refrigerator covers attached by magnetic sheet. This is such a cool concept, go see.

Found via Kim's Today's Creative Blog

Easter Project

Aren't these the cutest? Patricia (Agence Eureka) does it again! Catch my heart. Thank you, friend.
Click these photos to be taken to her blog and then click her pictures to go to her Flickr set. She offers full size printable images so you have to click on "All Sizes" at Flickr.

Cute math lessons are in the same Flickr set. This is just two of them.

Beer Can Butterflies

Paul Villinski's Beer Can Butterflies
These works of art are so beautiful. Go see.
found via materialicious

I can't help but wonder if all these butterflies were cut by a laser. The artist did attend Carnegie Mellon whose students are doing some very interesting DigiFab (digital fabrication) work.

Then another, not related site
Hermitdog's Beer Can Butterfly Tutorial