On Custom Work- Mission Accepted

by Sharon of Stray Notions

I do a fair amount of custom work and I do love it. From a business (and ego) standpoint it's nice to work on something that is already spoken for -- commissioned by someone who has faith in you to translate their vision into a reality. It also can be, given the right customer, an opportunity to stretch into areas I may not have ventured in the past. It can also feel like a huge responsibility to end up with a "product" that matches expectations and I know from talking to other creatives that it is not for everyone - for that reason and for the boundaries it puts on personal expression. It's also, as I've learned and learned to adapt to, quite difficult to estimate the time you'll need to invest in the project up front in order to be able to provide an accurate price quote.

At the moment I'm working on a large project to create a set of embroidered table linens in the mission or craftsman style. It's a period style I'm fond of and have dabbled in, which is how the project arose. In fact I'm thinking that in addition to traveling the world through embroidery I might also take a few trips through time.

We Create Jewelry

by Jessica Burko of Reclaimed To You

We are so lucky here at Boston Handmade to have some very talented jewelery artists in our midst! Two members of Boston Handmade are full-time jewelers, and we have several other group members who create jewelry as part of their design and accessories collections. Get to know these wonderful local artists...

Nancy MacCallum of Nancyrosetta

Cristina Hurley of Cristina Hurley Jewelry

Kerry Hawkins of K. Hawkins Photography

Danielle Spurge of The Merriweather Council

Sharon Fischer of Stray Notions

Georges Island, Boston Harbor

by Lucie of Lucie Wicker Photography

A few weekends ago I braved the 33 degree temp outside (lots of layers is the key) and went on a special winter cruise to Georges Island in Boston Harbor. It had snowed a bit the day before and the sun was out which made for excellent shooting conditions.

Georges Island home to Fort Warren which takes up most of the 39 acres. The fort dates back to 1833 and was first used as a training camp and then to house Confederate soldier prisoners during the Civil War.

I had such a great time taking photos of not only the natural landscape but also the inside and outside of the fort (such great texture!). Here are a few shots:

The ferries will start going to Georges regularly in May and I'm already looking forward to another visit. For a complete schedule of future winter cruises, visit Boston's Best Cruises.

How to Make Felt Fortune Cookies

by Allison of Fraske Designs

A simple, fun craft that I enjoy, and that I have written about before, is making felt fortune cookies. I made a batch recently around New Year's for my coworkers. It's a fun gift for New Year's, in keeping with the good fortunes theme, but also great for party favors, wedding favors, or to use as a decoration around the house.

This craft is also easy to do on-the-go, like on an airplane, in a car ride, or while you are waiting around, because it is small and you can transport the materials easily.

Here is how I make my felt fortune cookies, adapted from CraftSanity's tutorial which is where I found the original directions. Mine is a bit more freeform than CraftSanity's, as they use a printed template and measurements. I have found that it's easy enough to keep track of sewing without using a template.

How to Make Felt Fortune Cookies

What you will need:

- Felt, 2 identical sized sheets, any color. I used a tan to start but
you can get creative.

- Thread. Consider a matching or complementary thread. I used metallic
copper for these to offset the tan a bit.

- Sharp scissors

- Sewing needle

- Pin needles

- Large mug (or something circular with about a 4" diameter that you
can trace)

- Pencil

Visualization of the tutorial's steps

1. Start by tracing the circumference of your mug onto one sheet of
felt. You can do one circle at a time, but if you are making
multiples, fit as many circles on

2. Layer your template over your other sheet of felt. Use pin needles
to secure felt layers together.

3. Carefully cut out the circles. Cut them as the two layers of felt
are pinned to each other. You will end up with 2 identical circles
which will create one felt fortune cookie. *Don't worry too much about
cutting a perfect circle yet. You will be able to trim jagged edges at
the end. Just don't cut inside the circle if you can help it.

4. Take your pinned circled felt layers and sew opposing sides
together around the circumference, leaving about 1 inch open on
either side. You can try using a sewing machine, but I had an easier
time controlling it by hand-sewing.

5. Fold in half so that the middle of the sewn sides are on the fold,
and the open sides are now on the "half moon"

6. Sew open layers together. You will now be sewing through 4 layers
of felt instead of 2 layers. Ultimately, it will look like a
continuation of your first sewing step. You will end up with two open
edges, one on each side.

7. Bend cookie into fortune cookie shape and secure the middle with a
few stitches. This can be a little tricky, as you are maneuvering the
needle inside the cookie.

8. Write fortunes, place in cookies, and give to friends!

Writing fortunes is the fun part. You can be silly or insightful, or a
little of both. Some of my favorites are:

"The problems of today will soon be buried by the sand of time"

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?"

"Life is a garden - dig it!"

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Monday Mosaic - Shades of Blue

Curated by Lynne of Cozy Cottage Creations


1. Wool applique throw pillow - abstract waves, Stray Notions
2. 5x7 Fine Art Photo Print, Fraske Designs
3. Sterling Silver Temple Ring w/ Blue Topaz, Cristina Hurley
4. Purse Hook - Lucky Fishpond, MaJenta Designs
5. Rose Mini Clutch, Elizabeth Brennick Designs
6. Blue Dinner Plate, Arthur Halvorsen

Decorating the Walls with Photographs

By Jennifer T. of MaJenta Designs

Its been over half a year since moving in our new house, but we still have been wanting to find ways to turn the house into our own cozy home. The walls were very bare, so we decided that a fun way to bring color and personality to our walls is putting up some photos of our travels together.

We decided to take advantage of the sales at both Michaels and ACMoore and got several frames for 40% off.

Some of the frames required a bit of assembly.

We had several photos printed out, so it was helpful to rearrange them in various combinations before actually putting them into the frames.

The completed frames.

The finished frames all hung up! Looks like we'll still need to order some vertical prints, but this gives us something to look forward to on our next adventure together to make sure to take some more vertical pics! :)

Paper Quilts at the BCAE

by Jessica Burko of Reclaimed To You

On Monday night I taught my first class in the Boston Handmade series at the Boston Center for Adult Education. Partnering with the BCAE has been so great for our group; we've made new friends, shared our love of all things handmade, and had the opportunity to reach out to a segment of Boston that is new to us.

My experience on Monday was really wonderful. I didn't know what to expect since this was only the second time I have ever taught a Paper Quilts class, and it was my first experience teaching at the BCAE, plus I was nervous about the energy level that could be sustained late on a Monday night, but my worries were all put to rest as a very enthusiastic group began to arrive!

After introductions around the room, and finding out what interest everyone had in creating paper quilts, we dove right in, set up all the sewing machines, and began experimenting with different types of thread, stitches, and how it felt to put a needle through paper. I've always found something very satisfying about sewing paper, and I was glad to hear the students in this class quickly began to feel the same way.

I was delighted to see the students really take to the medium. Several of the students had extensive sewing experience (one was a fashion design graduate from MassArt, and one student is the costume designer for the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, and one a seasoned quilter), but just as many students had little to no sewing experience at all, and they did great!
There are indeed a few sewing techniques involved in creating this type of artwork, but a large portion of the effort is related to issues of composition, considering how each paper element relates to it's neighbor, and accessing levels of creativity that might not otherwise get enough daily exercise.

It was so inspiring to witness the creative process and the beautiful results being achieved by everyone in the class. I'm so glad to have had this opportunity, and I am really looking forward to my next Paper Quilt class at the BCAE, on March 21.

For more information on this next class, and to register online, please visit the BCAE website.

Social Networking Made Easy with dlvr.it

by Lucie of Lucie Wicker Photography

Social networking- a necessary success tool for businesses but who has the time? For those of you who would rather spend more time in the studio and less time on Twitter/Blogger/Linkedin/Facebook/etc, never fear! A new tool has arrived and it's called dlvr.it.

Though still in Beta, dlvr.it (as in "deliver it") will likely prove to be a valuable resource for social networkers. The concept is simple- choose a place to post something, like on your blog, and rather than signing into Twitter or LinkedIn to then post a link to your blog, dlvr.it does it for you automatically. Magic! You can create customized routes to your different social media outlets and it even tracks the click-thrus for you.

Don't have time to Twitter throughout the day? dlvr.it also let's you schedule tweets in advance. It will also automatically shorten your links using bit.ly. For more perks, visit their "why" section.

I was introduced to dlvr.it by Boston Handmade member Alison of Fraske Designs and I am so grateful since I recently went from being in front of a computer all day with plenty of time for social media to a completely opposite situation with little computer time. I've set up two feeds- one that goes from my blog to my Twitter feed, and another that goes from Twitter to LinkedIn. It's really helped me feel more organized, informed, and less of a slacker with my social networking!