Anomaly Con 2011

This weekend marked the inaugural Anomaly Con, a steampunk convention here in the Mile High City. The venue happens to be on the campus I attend classes at, which happens to be a 150 year old brewery. This makes an amazing backdrop for a genre rooted in the Victorian time period and celebrating industrial aesthetics.

I am primarily interested in the look, and naturally the costuming. I've been building a collection of clothing suitable for the neo-victorian look, and relishing the return to gentler interactions. That is, it is very nice for a gentleman to remove his hat in greeting...

I was constantly awed at the creativity and interesting materials that went into outfits and accessories. It was hard to stop roaming with my camera and actually sit down to enjoy a panel discussion. From steampunk self-defense to writer's block there was even musical performances!

It is however rather saddening to sit in an old brewery and not be able to buy a decent beer... (this is a problem about a dry campus I suppose). All in all, it was an thrilling weekend and worth every moment, I'm already looking forward to next year, and may even produce a collection of spats and cuffs to vend! More on that to come...

Treasury Feature - Recycled Frogs

Sknymnie says it best - even frogs like recycling! Check out these sweet eco-friendly finds!

Steampunk - The Inventor!

This weekend is the first ever AnomalyCon here in Denver. A lovely weekend of anachronism, creativity, and neat costumes! To shake up my outfit I made a selection of tools and drew up blueprints for steampunk inventions I've been scouring estate sales and my garage for interesting and unusual old tools. Paired with some Victorian flair I intend to spend the day seeking out collaborators for my biomotive arial transport project...

Vintage Skirts

From a time when women were smaller.... I went to a crazy estate sale, and picked up sewing notions, cool fabric, and a pile of nice vintage pleated wool skirts. They appear to be homemade, and thus have no tags - and are about 24 inches around -.-

Fortunately since they are pleated there is plenty of fabric to make them big enough. I'll be posting a tutorial next week showing how I open up the waistband and give them some more space! No fair to let the skinny girls have all the fun after all...

Finds - Sprouting

Family folklore says you should plant your peas on St. Patrick's Day (With snow forecast I waited a day or two). Every morning I go to my greenhouse and search impatiently for tomatoes and peppers to peek out. I'm in the mood for sprouts... and I don't mean on my sandwich.
Like this simple elegant necklace from TuckooandMoocow


Brighten your stash with some yarn from MagnoliaHandspun

If your walls are bare consider this sweet etching from MasGatos

Or a nice calm photo from Bareroots

For crafty people - perhaps try this set of embroidery patterns from SeptemberHouse


and this Adorable Flowerpot crochet pattern from SeaandLighthouse

More Vintage Buttons

It so happens that my pile of estate sale finds always runneth over. My mother and I are always picking up little bundles of notions and fabric scraps from the basements of old crafty ladies. I recently was going thru them and found this lovely bag of fabric covered buttons, all appear to be handmade. After some debate as to whether or not I wanted to use them I decided to put them on cards and stick them up in my Etsy shop! It's nice to share the vintage love right?

Tags for Bags

Ever have a moment, when you wish you could call yourself a few years in the past with time-traveler warnings or advice? I would tell myself to invest in sew-in labels for my bags! It's hard to believe I got this far with thinking about them, but when I noticed a tag on an item my Father had bought from local seller Kiwi and Company I realized the huge benefit to having a permanent link to an item.
I looked around on Etsy, and settled on printed tags from MommieMadeIt. She did the artwork (to my specs of course) and created them. Neat and well made they look good in my bags and will help people get a hold of me to enact the lifetime guarantee or to become a repeat customer (which is the best type). Now I have begun the long process of sewing them into all my bags, another reason I wish I had thought of this sooner ...

Treasury Feature - Aquamarine

I was featured in an awesome treasury called The Month of Aquamarine by Autumn2May. I love color themed collections...

Finds - Bag Ladies

This week I am putting the spotlight on some of my fellow CAB team members and their colorful, interesting and unique creations. Starting with ApolloHillsCrafts and this quilted and appliqued purse in some of my favorite colors - I with my mums were ever this bright!

A cute little clutch for a night on the town - CottageCarries has lots of little purses with cute embellishments many with a vintage charm that would make them perfect for carrying when out in old school evening wear. And of course they also fit nicely in a larger tote when you're running errands and wishing you were out on the town.

I never really tire of bright florals, They fit my wardrobe and are eye catching while carrying them around. And shouldn't we still be stunning when out grocery shopping? Hippopotamusgifts made this market bag sleek enough for urse duty, but big enough for food too.


What if you love to be really really organized? Hmmmbymel has modern totes with a plethora of pockets for separating all your stuff in to little compartments (and we all know, nothing is more annoying than digging through your purse after that ringing phone). One could even pick up coordinating pouches and glasses case, or a wine bag with a hunky man on it!

If color is your thing, tote a rainbow with you and make every outfit bright and cheerful! Stitchuation has many totes and pouches in bright prints, some are even reversible. Functional is after all more useful if it's also fun...

And of course an upcycled purse, it's tough for me to do a blog post without something recycled in it! A very interesting and distinctive reuse of an old men's suit from Bagsanew (who claims to live in Haven, but one look in her shop I'd say it's more like Heaven). Her shop has a variety of very different reused bags, sewn painted, felt and more!

Indoor Blooms

My paperwhites are blooming and making my whole house smell like a dream! It's nice to start these bulbs inside as a precursor to spring flowers, hopefully the crocus' will be peeking out soon, and tulips after that...

Moving Day Dumpster Diving

Neighbors were clearing out their house, and that meant an overflowing dumpster of goodies. What caught my eye first was a tabletop ironing board, I've been ironing directly on my cutting table which doesn't work all that well :p


There was some clothes too, wool sweaters to be felted (and one so nice I'm just going to wear it!), shirts and old jeans to be made into bags. I always chuckle a little when people ask if my materials come from the thrift store, there is no shortage of discarded cloth and clothing in this city for me to work with...

Finds - March-ing On

This time of year the garden is thawing, the wind makes the sky a pale tone, and little flowers are beginning to creep forth. Here's my Etsy finds for the week, in pale green with flowers - just like this awesome print from WinterBlues!


That light aqua tone of fine celadon ceramics reminds be of both the spring sky and the new growth. This cute little bowl from DarriellesClayArt with bird perched on the edge is both functional and sublime.



Here's some lovely work in an old craft, tatted lace jewelry from KrystleDawne in light green and chartreuse. Modern looking objects done with vintage methods, and folks will keep asking how they are made!


More goodness you can wear, this brooch has two of my favorite things - vintage buttons and felt! (Look at those crisp folds in the petals) DorothyDesigns has this flower pins to complement any outfit.



Crafty yummies... hand dyed shimmery tussah silk from NoTwoSnowflakes. Soft pale green and tan with a touch of light pink gives these a faded feel for a delicate project.




And for those who sew - this lovely little traditional style crocheted pincushion in pale sage is for you! Namolio hand crocheted this from linen thread and has adorable little pillows in many other colors too.

Infestation...

It's not a craft room... it's a zoo! More froggies are hot off the machine and coming to my shop soon.

New Sale Section in My Etsy Shop

Spring cleaning means going thru the inventory too! I've been enjoying haveing consolidated storage of my goods, but I also love making stuff... At the Holiday Handmade fair I tried a sale basket for the first time, and it was a win-win! People got a great deal on wonderful bags (and the lifetime promise is still good for sale pieces) and I got more space in my garage.

Check out the SALE section of my shop, I will be posting and moving more items into it so I will always have space for fun new items and designs!