Professional Duo Complete from Repurposed Ladies Jacket

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The recycling and redesigning the women’s tapestry jacket was rather difficult, if I were to tell the truth.  Even though things look one way in your head, accomplishing that goal can be a whole different chore.  :)   But the jacket has now been completely disassembled and reassembled into two useful items.  Here is the tapestry jacket’s photo history…….

Sleeves cut away from jacket and splayed for cutting (in previous post)

The completed iPad cover made completely from the sleeves of jacket (in previous post)

Jacket body formed into a tote - items to complete are only laying on body. Handles, magnetic closure, black belting....

Professional tote/iPad cover set - not sure how to set this up to photograph decent. :)

Complete tote from tapestry jacket showing off its true color outdoors.

I lined it with a gray embroidered satin lining and couldn’t resist to put a final little touch to its closure – a silver leaf.  As soon as that went on, it truly had my name on it.  Not sure what will happen with this yet as Bill thinks I should be the one to enjoy this one.  He’s one of my biggest supporters, but if this could sell and make a couple of bucks, then that’s what we have to do.   :)

Thank you for stopping by and giving this a final look over!  One day it may make it into the Etsy store, but until then I’ll enjoy looking at it and thinking of ways to improve on the upcycling and repurposing of the great thrift store finds we have in our possession.  Yep, there is a whole tote full of beautiful sweaters, jackets and suit coats to re-fashion.

Happy Monday and happy crafting everyone!

Improvised iPad Cover

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Recycle and reuse – I’ve done this in the past, but this may be a good year to dig in a little deeper with the idea.  Saturday I completed the iPad cover that came from the sleeves of a beautiful ladies jacket.  The tote bag to go along with this, will be done at some time from the body of the jacket – it’s just waiting to be completed.

So I just wanted to share what the end result looks like with the silicone skin attached to the interior……

iPad cover closed

iPad cover open showing pocket and closure

The corduroy used for the inside lining really picked up all the little red pieces of ‘lint’ from when cutting the tapestry fabric, but hopefully the picture shows it cleaned up a bit.  :)

Happy crafting!  It’s Monday, so off to work I go…….

Kanzashi Flowers – Origami

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English: Amateur tsumami kanzashi representing...

I mentioned yesterday how I still love to hear the mailman outside – you just never know what goodies he might be bringing you!  We’ve been awaiting a shipment from Clotilde.com this week, and yesterday was the day it came and I am SUPER excited to try these two new tools:  Kanzashi Flower Makers by Clover.

 

Kanzashi Flower Makers

There is a large (pink 3″) and small (blue 2″) and they have NOT been opened because I know once I DO open them, I’ll want to play.  This looks to be somewhat like origami, which my brother got me educated and hooked on as a kid.  And yes, I still have all my original origami books that he gave me – they are treasures.

Have any of you ever worked with these before?  Is it really as easy as it all looks?  Will definitely keep you up to date when I get to open the package and try one out.  OOOOOO, can’t wait!

Oompa Loompas – Not Crafting

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CD Cover

So I happen to have the best job ever.  And this post has nothing to do with crafting or designing whatsoever.  So if that’s what you’re looking for, go ahead and check out the archive posts.  :)

While working my real day job, I am blessed to meet hundreds of people each week.  There’s opportunity to visit with some, get them to smile and make them at ease.  I totally adore the interactions, and seeing repeat patients come in is absolutely TOPS!  Which leads to always having some sort of story to tell and here is my FUN story of the week.  And yes, it has to do with Oompa Loompas.

As I was checking in a beautiful teenage set of twins, my focus was with their dad making sure I had all their information correct.  Off to the side, these two high school girls were mumbling and complaining about how embarrassed they were to be out in public – looking like a couple of Oompa Loompas!  Well, if you know me, I couldn’t leave that one alone so I engaged them in a conversation about “Why?”.  Come to find out they had been training for a local tanning salon and that morning they had a session on spray tanning.  Yep, they both had gotten themselves an over-the-top spray tan (if that’s the color you want to call it).  They were absolutely disgusted with how they looked, even though these were two very pretty young women.  Teenagers absolutely STILL rock my world – love ‘em.  Which leads me to my point….

It did my heart a tremendous amount of good to see that young people are still catching a classic movie here and there, such as the original Willy Wonka movie from the early 70′s.  Not everyone knows what an Oompa Loompa even is.  I agree that the Johnny Depp version was marvelous, even with its dark side, but the simplicity and in-your-face lessons of the original movie are still tops.  Grab a young person in your family and have them watch this with you – it’s just good stuff.  Re-familiarize yourself with those great Oompa Loompa songs….. (it will take you over to YouTube – can’t embed)

All you young folks, catch yourself a classic movie – there’s so much to enjoy out there!

Revising Thrift Store Tapestry Jacket

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After having a weekend of thrift store shopping, cleaning those items up and basically having no actual crafting mojo, this is all that was accomplished.  It’s not much and when I was working on the design it was feeling forced.  That means it’s time to stop.  I usually like to take a project and complete as much as possible when it gets started, but at least this little combo restyle is underway.

This started out as a ladies tapestry jacket with a zippered front.  I had cut one of the sleeves off the night before to show Bill just how much fabric there is in clothing that can be used for items.  Here it is with both sleeves cut off and splayed out to be re-cut into an iPad cover.

Ladies Tapestry Jacket (with zippered front)

And a close up of the beautiful fabric – it’s very lush and we both have really fallen in love with it.

Lush tapestry fabric

The sleeves are slowly turning into an iPad cover and here is how the closure looks.  It’s taken from the caps of the sleeves and shows that same shaping.  Velcro has been sewn underneath the flap.

Sleeve Cap Closure Flap

The lining to the iPad cover is really a soft gray corduroy which the picture doesn’t show real well, but trust me on that one.  :)   After this pic was taken it was time to get the hammer out and apply the 4 mega snaps to the inside lining and the silicone iPad skin so it can be removed when needed.

After showing Bill what little I accomplished, he kind of took a step back and said, “You’re going to have to keep this one – it’s VERY cool!”  Told him the handbag needs to get completed from the body of the jacket, then I’ll decide if it’s my style or needs to be listed in either Etsy or MySupaDupa Shop.  It will be a one of a kind combo package either way.

Keep checking in though!  There is never any creating on Tuesdays as that is my 12 hour day at work, but the rest of the week may hold some surprises.

Happy creating and thanks for stopping by!

MySupadupa.com

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For those who are looking for a new way to get your items out on the web to sell, check out MySupadupa.com!  I signed up for a storefront quite awhile ago and did not have time until today to get it set up.  And I actually have three (3) items up and listed.  Check it out, see if it possibly would fit YOUR needs!

The TygerLily on MySupadupa.com

Knitted journal cover on MySupadupa.com

Just For Fun And I Didn’t Break the Bank!

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With a new year comes new challenges and projects – is there any other way?  Didn’t think so.  :)   Of course there’s always going to be the hand knitted handbags happening around here, but the sewing room needed something a little different going on.  I have had an idea or three rolling around my head for a long time and yesterday, out of the blue, came an opportunity to stock up on items that can be upcycled in to new, useful and fun things to offer.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook probably saw all my excitement over thrift store finds yesterday.  Yes, I purchased 7, yes SEVEN men’s suit coats.  Bill was honestly intrigued by the idea mulling around in my head, but had to try on each suit coat, just to make sure HE couldn’t use them!  Bill and I are both short people, and finding a coat that doesn’t have arms down to our knees is always a challenge.  Hence, none of them fit him, all were too long.  But for TygerLily and Journal Junction, it was a relief!  Suiting fabrics are beautiful and professional.  It is just a perfect fit for the organizational side of our creations.

We challenged ourselves to come up with a professional type combo item, such as a matched set of something.  I found a perfect women’s tapestry jacket to upcycle for this project.  So Bill could wrap his own mind around how it would work with only a small women’s jacket, I showed him how to get more bang for our buck and started cutting it apart – just to show how much fabric is really IN a jacket!  You’d be surprised!!!

So before I go off and start getting some stuff done (like laundry), I wanted to share the photo of all the goodies purchased at two of our local thrift stores yesterday.  For the price of a movie for two and a large popcorn, this is what we ended up with…..

Future Handbags, Totes, iPad covers and Journal covers.......

There are hundreds of key chain rings in that little bag and under that is a box of FIVE vintage broaches that I found, which got polished up last night.  The stores obviously wanted to clear their racks, and I was more than happy to help them out.  I did sneak one summer sweater out of the group and put it aside for myself to actually wear.  tee hee

It’s time to write up an application to a crafting throwdown and enjoy one more cup of joe.  May you all have a wickedly fantastic day, and please keep checking in now that we’re back up and in the swing.

Blessings, my friends.

The Ultimate Challenge (and a free knitting pattern)

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While surfing around the web on Christmas, we came across the greatest and funnest  Ultimate Challenge ever!  Somewhere along the line, I have been blessed by being called “McGyver” and people ask me first when they are ready to throw something out if I could use it or make something out of it!  So here’s the deal………
Now Seeking America’s Most Talented Crafters!!!

Are you ready to show America your unique, creative skills?

Do your friends refer to you as the “MacGyver” of arts & crafts?

Can you create, design, build and implement visually stunning
and out-of-the-box creations on the fly?

A MAJOR CABLE NETWORK & the Executive Producers of “CUPCAKE
WARS” and “HALLOWEEN WARS” are seeking Arts & Crafts Designers
for a new competition show.

Each episode will feature Arts & Crafts competitors who battle
against each other for a $10,000 prize and an opportunity to
publicly showcase their craft masterpiece!

Casting Males & Females, (18 and over) with fun and upbeat
personalities that can think on their feet!!!

If this is you, we want to hear from you ASAP!
Email craftcasting@gmail.com the following information:

-Send us your full name & contact numbers
-Tell us what city you live in
-Tell us in a short paragraph about you and your specialty
-Pictures of you and samples of your work

Here is someone’s YouTube audition.  Don’t think I could actually do that.  But I could sure use some help writing up an audition email!!!  Any takers on that one?

Can’t leave without throwing in a free pattern.  Found this lovely thing this morning and will put it into my own library – it would be perfect on the front of a handmade purse.  Don’t ya think?

Click the photo and you’ll go directly to Berroco for the free pattern download.  ENJOY!

 

CRS Palm Holder

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I was enjoying a little conversation with my sister the other day over on Facebook, and she requested a special little mini portfolio that would accommodate her Palm Tungsten and a pad of paper.  Yes, we are sisters obviously.  Neither of us can give up the feel of paper and pen.  So this is what I came up for her with some of the left over fabric from the large size iPad portfolio I had completed earlier.  Excuse the photos, I was in a hurry as there is a lot to do today.

Pink Poppy CRS Portfolio

CRS Mini Port Magnet Closure

CRS Mini Port Open - Showing Velcro ready for her to attach to her Palm

You may ask what the CRS in the name means.  As my sister couldn’t remember either while I was teasing her, it only made the name more appropriate.  “Can’t Remember Sh**” Palm holder, because we need to write down with pen what we need to put in our electronic organizers!  It’s perfect and I totally understand what she means.  I’m the same way.  So hopefully this will be something a little fun and bright for her to use.

Accomplished some projects yesterday, two of which I forgot to photograph before bagging up.  Those two were winter ear warmers for my son-in-law’s aunt to give as gifts.  So that was two down.  Then there was a request for a baby pixie hat in my FB inbox from a co-worker who had moved on and had a baby.  This is what got made from the photo she sent me of what she wanted….

Yellow Baby Pixie Hat

I couldn’t find anything round to display this on without having to scrub an old hamster exercise ball.  tee hee  So the chair just has to do it.  This was a really fun project and trying to figure out how to get a pixie point on top was fun!  Even got out the old knitting encyclopedia to make sure I was doing the right thing.  Success!!  So that’s ready to ship out to her tomorrow.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving with our oldest daughter and her family.  Hopefully her kids will give us many ideas for Christmas gifts.  Since it’s a ‘handmade’ Christmas this year, it could be tough, but we’re going to sure try.  :)