Quilting Time – Baby on the Way!

I made a quilt using Rachel Denbow‘s instructions in her Red Velvet Baby on the Way E-Course! Check it out!

If YOU have a baby on the way (or a friend does) and are a crafty lady, I definitely recommend this E-Course. There are 12 stunning and useful tutorials included – I plan to make a few bibs and changing pads pretty soon and I might even tackle some of the more complicated stuff too!

The Herringbone Quilt tutorial is definitely the stunner though. I have been planning to make a quilt since the day I discovered I was pregnant and it was awesome to have this handy guide to follow.

I used mostly vintage sheets for the fabrics in this quilt, along with all natural cotton batting. The Vera (green ferns) sheets are ones that I had on my own bed as a child, so it’s very special to me to include them in this quilt. It makes me smile every time I look at it! I may make a fitted sheet out of hte extra pink floral fabric to use in the crib as well – and yes of course Rachel has included a tutorial for fitted crib sheets as well! Lucky me!

-Graceface

My First Camera – Gilman Show Photo Dump

Last night was my first attempt at using my new Canon Rebel XS camera! I’m a serious novice when it comes to photography so please bear with me. I took a TON of photos last night, playing around with all the different settings. Just trying to learn and get the feel of how to use the darn thing. It was really fun! Take a look at some of my favorite pics from last night!

The bands above are Swann Danger, Loto Ball and Victims Family.

I can’t wait to learn more and take more photos!

-Graceface

Workspace Pic & A Fun Surprise!

Well hello there! I did a little cleaning and organizing of my workspace tonight and took a photo to add to my Shape What’s to Come profile and I figure I would share the photo with you guys here! This space is where I do pretty much everything: sewing, crafting, letter writing, computering, drawing and zine making. Though most of the time I’m blogging in bed, NOT sitting at a desk.

As you can see, I like clutter! I feel the most creative when I’m surrounded by objects I love and paper/fabric scraps. I picked up a little though, so that you wouldn’t think I was a slob!

The vintage typewriter was a gift from an old friend and I love it so much! I try to use it as often as possible but it needs new ribbon. I’ll have to get on that! This is the entirety of my CD collection. I really DO NOT like CD’s at all and most of these are the remnants of what I collected while I worked at the Virgin Megastore in Columbus, OH before it closed. They are mostly promo copies. I sold the majority of what I had about 2 years ago to make room for all my albums! Yes, vinyl. I am a vinyl lover and collector – one day I will share my vinyl collection with you! (oh do I feel the spark of a new blog feature idea coming on?)

You probably can’t tell from this image but I have all sorts of photos and fortunes and cards and such tacked up all over the place. I love collecting ephemera! It’s definitely a passion of mine. Which brings me to another reason for this post – I have FINALLY started my Etsy store – Wild Weeds & Dirty Hair! I spent my evening compiling and photographing (poorly – but to the best of my ability) hand assembled Vintage Ephemera Packets. They can be used for ATC’s or scrapbooking or if you’re like me, you could use them for collage art or zine making. I spent a lot of time really curating what would go into these small packets so please take a look at what I came up with!

I had a lot of fun putting these together and it finally gave me a reason to pick up my workspace. It’s pretty much been a disaster since my working on my Heidi Braid Headband. Yay for productivity! Yay for new adventures!

-Graceface

Heidi Braid Headband – Project ReStyle #1

Well well well…I finally got off my tushy and did a little Project ReStyling! I’ve been coveting the Heidi braids that everyone is wearing. Just when my hair got long enough to put it up into Heidi braids (Feb 1, 2011 ) I cut off several inches! Durr! I’ve been waiting impatiently ever since for my hair to get long enough to put braids back up on top of my head. I’m sooooo close to reaching that goal but since I am the impatient lady that I am, I figure I should just fake it for a while. See the result below…

I love my little DIY project and first attempt at Project ReStyle! It started out as a tortured tee shirt I had laying around for quite some time. I cut it into thin strips – pulling them tight so that they curled up. I then sewed the ends to a piece of extra jersey left over from the sleeves. I braided the strips and sewed up the other end with another sleeve. Then I put my hair up in a loose bun and tied the headband below the bun and tucked the ends under. I’m pretty proud of how it turned out but I think I will keep experimenting until I perfect it. Maybe next time I’ll use a hot pink shirt!

I’m pretty proud of how it turned out but I definitely want to keep experimenting with different techniques. I might add a piece of elastic to the bottom next time instead of a tie.  Also, sorry I didn’t get any before photos. It was a simply black tee shirt with holes and bleach stains. I think we all know what those look like!

Have you been participating in Project ReStyle? I would love to see what sort of DIY up-cycling you’ve been doing! Please posts links in the comments section so I can check out your projects too!

-Graceface

What’s New For December – And Beyond!

Hello! I know I know, I’ve been gone from blogging for six looong days! I’m so so sorry! Our trip to LA was so action packed and fun I simply didn’t sit down in front of a computer even once!

Here’s a little sneak peek at what I’ve been up to since I last posted.

Ruling at Yahtzee

And warming up with some puppy love!

I’ve thought a lot about what sort of direction I want to see this blog take. There are many factors for me to consider but the most important ones are “what inspires me?” and “how much time to do I have available to put into blogging?”. I’ve come up with a workable list that really delves into what I want to see happening here in Motley Stew land.

Firstly, I want to see myself focus more on music and the DIY/Punk community I am a part of – so there will be more music reviews and news, band /label/venue/zine features, DIY/Craft/Zine making tutorials and Bay Area event listings.

Secondly, I will be opening my own Etsy.com shop in the coming weeks (more info about that later!) and want to use Motley Stew as a source of inspiration for that and as a place to share ideas.

Lastly, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been keeping up with my 30 for 30 challenge very well. I’m simply not very good at getting my picture taken. I’d like to see myself become more comfortable in front of the camera and putting more energy into style blogging. HOWEVER, I don’t plan to post daily outfits, just ones that I feel really represent my personality and inspire me creatively. I would also like to really promote aesthetics that I find inspiring – such as punk, metal, DIY, 70′s, vintage, Japanese street style, Victorian and sustainable/thrifted.

Here are some things I have planned for December:

• Holiday gift guides – starting Wednesday 12/1 – seven days of inspiration – each day with a new exciting theme!
• Hey! Thank You! feature with sculptor Derek Weisberg
• New Etsy.com store with vintage and handmade
• Thanksgiving weekend holiday/road-trip photos
• Weekly personal style posts
• Inspirations, wish-list and covetables
• Bay Area event listings
• Vegan Omnivore food posts – Holiday baking!
• Craft tutorials – mini zines, felt stuffies, paper goods and more!
• Monthly mix-tape feature that highlights music that I love and want to share with you.
• Tattoosday – where I feature tattooists, artists, shops and tattooed people that I find beautiful and inspiring.
• Fashion inspiration through the ages
• Thrift Score features – my thrift store finds!

These are just a few of the ideas I have planned for the month of December. I hope its piqued your interest a little because I’m rather excited to gear up and share some awesome things with all of you!

-Graceface