Amanda Hawkins

chairs for christmas

Two weeks ago I was in our alley and saw three chairs a couple houses down, waiting to be picked up by the dump truck. Sure, they were an awful warn out metallic gold but so solid and sturdy! I needed to get a present for my sister and brother ‘n law (who just got a new house and need chairs) and had been looking for an excuse to use the hand-me-down sander I got from my folks. Chair refinishing!!

First I sanded down the chairs, cleaned them and spray painted them white.

Then, I scuffed ‘em back up and painted the back red to match C and Z’s red and frosty blue kitchen.

I cut out a piece of cardboard the shape of the seat and very quickly (and roughly) made up some little chair cushions.

And here it is, my very first before and after! :)

ornaments @MADE //

Spent yesterday sitting at my sewing desk experimenting with piles of buttons, wire, pliers, embroidery floss and fabric scraps. I’ll probably try a few more times but am pretty happy with the above results. I’m donating the ornaments to the 5th Annual Artist-Made Ornament Exhibition at MADE art boutique!

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Crafty podcasts!

I’ve been really into crafty podcasts lately and decided to start a list of sources and episodes I love. If you’re thinking “oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-she-didn’t-mention-so-and-so!” – please let me know. I just threw this together quickly and am sure I’ll have additions soon!

Crafty Pod
• Designers in a Changing World, with Sarah Hodsdon
• Branding Your Crafty Business, with Margot Potter

Craftsanity
• A Conversation With Amy Butler
• Taking Flight with Soft Sculpture Artist Abby Glassenberg

Craftcast
• Talking with Timothy Adams

CRAFT Podcast Archives
Hello Craft
Crafty Chica Podcast
Thread Banger
Etsy :: The Storque

Freehand Sewing

Hello.

Since getting my new Viking sewing machine last fall I’ve been doing lots of ‘free-motion’ sewing… I saw a cute Valentine’s Tutorial a couple of weeks ago by Lucy Kate Crafts and learned about darning feet. I was amazed at the tiny detail she could get with the foot and decided to invest in my own! I’m so glad I did, it’s a million times easier! I was using the foot on the left, with the feed up even (it was too hard to control with the feed down) – now I’m using the darning foot on the right, feed down and it’s so easy.

I went a little crazy on the Gutterman threads at Jo-Ann’s the other day, 50% off though! They have such lovely colors, and I just really like the way the spools look. Perfect for a thread rainbow.

I made a few Monome Cozies (for sale here) too, cursive handwriting is so fun now…