Kaleidoscope Crochet Scarf
Share Remember that freeform crochet bolero I received but which did not fit whatsoever? I modified it into a rather fun and happy scarf that sure stands out. (I have a few crochet flowers / rosettes left over, one of which is going to be a crochet brooch, which I’ll show you another [...]
Save OUR Internet Liberty
Share Today, NO new tutorial. Instead, we protest over the SOPA and PIPA bills that are before the US House and Senate. We unite with many sites who are taking their entire site down for a day. SOPA/PIPA = prohibitive for bloggers like you and I. If you want continued creative finds from around the [...]
Martin Luther King Craft: Dream Quilt
Share Martin Luther King Day coming up again on Monday January 16. To me, Martin Luther King Jr. stands for following your heart, your soul desire, your dream, your conviction and for courage doing so. Therefore, every year, I like to orchestrate a creative project in his honor. This dream quilt pattern featured today is [...]
Freeform Crochet
Share As you all know, I love knitting & crochet. So it’s to be expected that I get these kind of gifts. Usually I am thrilled with them, but sometimes, …. sometimes, it’s a miss… (silence) … So, here is my first challenge of 2012: a white elephant. It’s a ‘designer’ freeform crochet bolero vest. [...]
New Year Umbria Jazz Festival
Share Happy New Year from Italy!!! We were partying here on the first day of the New Year. Umbria Jazz Festival is held every year around this time in the gorgeous Italian city of Orvieto. As this year, New Year’s day fell on a Sunday we enjoyed the happy opportunity to actually go see [...]
DIY ZhuZhu Pet Food
Share Pin It : What are Zhuzhu Pets? Do you know? Zhuzhu pets are delightful little furry animals, that can race around the floor, go in all directions, make funky sounds when they bump into something (like ‘ohoh’). In short, they are adorable. They started out as being just hamsters, but there are raccoons and [...]
Blog Milestone: 600
Share Yesterday we posted the 600th post on our craft blog http://www.FineCraftGuild.com. Wow. What a milestone. I am just amazed and grateful for how much I’ve learned in these past few years, writing all these articles. As well, the ’600 articles’-milestone means that we either handmade or studied nearly 600 DIY, craft and home decorating [...]
Funky Coat Hangers
Share These coat hangers caught my eye at Paris’ main Flee market. \While I personally have been designing crochet coat hangers, I was enamored by the thought of having these colorful wooden, felted and bead bejeweled coat hangers to cheer up my wardrobe. Which ones are your favorite? I love the [...]
French Cafes in Paris
Share Many people in North America have a notion of ‘French Bistro’-style that actually does not really exist. The real-life version is less manicured. Instead of gentle and refined, French cafes in reality are more ‘edgy’. Come have a look. The famous cafe “Les Deux Magots” on Place Saint Germain des Pres, had once the [...]
French Patisserie
Share May you find inspiration in the art of Paris’ world-famous patisserie house, Laduree, who creates refined chocolates, macarons and patisserie which taste exquisite and look like beautiful jewels, and which make glamorous gifts. Artists & artisans throughout time have been inspired by the colors and shapes of food. While renaissance painters may have preferred [...]
What is a Fat Quarter
Share I just answered an online question, what’s a Fat Quarter, and thought I should respond to it on the blog instead, as you all might be interested also. Fat Quarters are typically used for quilting and patchwork. They are bundles of fabric that are pre-cut to size. ‘What size?’ you might ask? And this [...]
Art & Creativity :: Linky Party
Share Doing anything creative? Show us: it’s Linky Party-time. My contribution to the linky party is today’s Jewelry Repair Workshop. Please do link up your contributions below. Jewelry Repair Workshop – Lessons From Day 1 Today was Day #1 of the “jewelry repair workshop’” that has been desperately needed in our home. I repaired [...]
Every Creative Girl’s Dream
Share This guy just has to be every creative girl’s dream: tall and good looking, organized, and best of all: he helps you find stuff as he remembers where you’ve put your things…!! May I introduce you to: … … Mr. ‘Craftbox’ ! This wonderful guy (.. ahem, Craft Storage Furniture) may perhaps be [...]
Hip European Fashion :: 4 You
Share PARIS FASHION Remember how last summer I promised to give you more pictures from Lafayette and other great designer warehouses in the big capital of Europe, i.e.. Paris??? ROME – ITALIAN FASHION Well, my fashion pictures did not turn out ‘that great’ so I didn’t post them. However, times goes on and new [...]
Native American Art Residence :: Call for Artists
Share I get a lot of artist opportunities in my mailbox, but only from time to time share them with you all on the blog. This is a unique opportunity to reside on a Haida North American reservation, to be inspired by this great and ancient culture and to contribute to the local community there [...]
Craft Calendars 2011
Share It’s Monday Morning, 9 am, January 3: Time for a new beginning and a new calendar. While I’m all for recycling old calendars and creating your own calendar (In fact, I have an article on how to make your own desk calendar, and will soon post some new scrapbooking page layouts for this [...]
Italian Bag Fashion in Rome
Share Walking begin December in the late afternoon through the always romantic streets of Rome, as everything is so ancient and so laden with the energy of things that have endured the passage of time. You know how handmade things have that feel about them, of extensive handling and care in the making… How it [...]
Recycled Sock Pumpkin, for a Happy Halloween or Thanksgiving
Share You have lots to be grateful for… Love to you all! Enjoy my 10-minute-recycled sock craft! It’s so easy, you don’t need a craft tutorial. Just look at the pumpkin picture. A bit of twine and a rolled-up orange sock will do!
Face Painting Designs, Ideas & Examples
Share Make-Up That Makes A Masterpiece The key to making a master face painting and a perfect disguise is in the preparation. Besides designing the face painting to suit the Halloween costume, the theme character, plus the shape of the face, there are other considerations ~ not in the least is deciding which face painting [...]
Celebrate World Peace Day, or How to Make Your Own Peace Pole
Share I love World Peace Day. It’s September 21, and hopefully every day hereafter. While the UN initiated a world peace day as ‘early’ as 1981, it was not until 2001 that the date was set: The International Day of Peace is September 21. The UN "declares that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth [...]
Instructions for Beautiful Wreaths
Share Christmas in July? Well, it’s really hard for me to get excited about the cold season while I am relishing the warm weather, beautiful scenery and lovely food feasts here in Italy. However, for those of you who love ‘Christmas in July’, today I’m featuring a ‘How to Make a Cute Wreath in Less [...]
Kids Furniture
Share Pin It I did something new. I made a HOUZZ idea book. This idea book focuses on kids furniture & creative kids bedroom ideas, as that appears to be a key topic of discussion in our wider family these days. I guess, summer is not just for lazing around at the beach or doing [...]
Recycled Sock :: Fine Art
inspiration to great and artsy ways you can recycle socks, …. beyond making a sock monkey… (although we’re including a free tutorial to make such a sock monster as well.)
Recycled Pop Can Art Portrait Michael Jackson
Recycling Inspiration: Homage to Michael Jackson, 1 year after, with artwork “A Tribute to the King of Pop” by artist Seaton Brown. This is a Michael Jackson 144-square-foot pop art portrait, made from 1,680 empty soda pop cans (20% recycled).
Crafting World Peace
Want to Craft Peace at Home, in School, on the Beach and in the Office? OK. Here are lots of creative tips and craft ideas to create a personal World Peace Day. The official World Peace day is September 21, but feel free to celebrate peace any other day as well.
Peace Symbols, Pictures of Peace and More: These free craft patterns and designs include Peace Symbols and Pictures of Peace, and offer ideas to make your own versions.
Give-Away :: $50 Gift Certificate :: Contemporary Jewelry
Share Introducing Lisa Leonard. Do you know her jewelry yet? Well, you’d be delighted to, because she and her jewels are gorgeous. Very hip, very simple, very now, very easy to wear. And Lisa? Lisa is one of those people who you could find creating necklaces in the back of her high school class. [...]
Re-Usable Shopping Bags
Share Using reusable shopping bags should be ‘normal’ now, and yes, I know a good tutorial for a basic shopping bag is truly overdue on FineCraftGuild.com. We all need a whole bundle of them. Good and sturdy reusable shopping bags were always normal in the European family where I come from. However in my [...]
Italian Birth Announcements: Creative Splendor
Share I have to say, the Italians do some things really right, and ‘How to Do Birth Announcements’ is one of them. On the day of the birth, the whole front of the house gets decked out, like this: And these birth announcement decorations (or at least the bow) stay up for [...]
Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Ideas from Italy
Share I just did a whirlwind tour of 3 cities and am showing you a couple of my creative, artistic and fashion craft finds today. I’ll make a free tutorial for the top necklace, if anyone requests it, as I intend to make it. And perhaps also the silk rose handbag… Let’s see what I [...]
Call for Artists – Art Residency in Banff Centre, Canada
Share Now that Vancouver has been so in the news lately for the Olympics, I thought to share with you another art opportunity that is open to us all. This Call for Interests is at one of Canada’s most beautiful places, Banff. In winter it is like Vail, the ultimate sky resort. In summer, it [...]
