Future Momo Jewelry

Stencil 101 Book Review and Giveaway

I'm having a giveaway!  I received a copy of the fun and crafty Stencil 101 to review on CraftGossip and will be giving one copy away to a lucky reader.

 

Stencil 101: Make Your Mark with 25 Reusable Stencils and Step-by-Step Instructions
Author: Ed Roth
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Chronicle Books has published another wonderful craft title with Stencil 101.  The author, Ed Roth, is a graphic designer based in Brooklyn, where he founded the graffiti art-inspired Stencil1 design company.  Stencil 101 is a collection of Roth’s favorite designs, from urban to delicate and feminine.

The book contains a brief history of stenciling, tips on how to stencil, and suggestions for materials based on the project you would like to make.  Projects inside include a wall, t-shirts, a dresser, a lamp shade, sneakers, a pillowcase, and a window.  The wall project is one of the best for beginners, as it is a large, flat surface, but all of the projects are easy enough even for those new to the craft.  My favorite project is a cake, using cocoa powder or sugar to “paint” with!  I also like the greeting card project, easily created using store bought blank cards.  Both are great ways to personalize a birthday, holiday, or any other celebration!  The pillowcase project is also a fun one, which can be a fun weekend DIY project to liven up your bedroom décor.

The twenty-five reusable stencils come in a wide range of designs, from swallows to an owl with a moon to a poodle and even a sumo wrestler!  After using the stencils, simply clean them off and store them in the handy pocket at the end of the book, ready for your next project.  The stencils are mostly large and would be best for bigger canvas projects, but there are a handful of smaller stencils.

To see the full review and to enter, visit here before May 4th!

Happy Earth Day

April 22nd is Earth Day.  Here's some of my favorite EPA tips for helping the environment - and your health!  As an added bonus, reducing waste will also help reduce your bills!  Many of these tips can be easily incorporated into your life.

Saving Energy
-Find Energy Star products for your home - Choosing energy-efficient products can save families about 30% ($400 a year) while reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases.
-Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
-Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
-Insulate your home, water heater and pipes.

Reducing Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
-Use compact florescent lights with energy-efficiency lighting and other energy-efficient appliances
-Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard and aluminum cans.
-Reuse materials like paper bags and boxes when you can.
-Properly dispose of household paints, solvents and pesticides. Store these materials in airtight containers.
-Turn thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer.

Conserving Water
-Choose water-efficient products.  A family of four uses 400 gallons of water every day.
-Don't let the water run while shaving or brushing teeth.
-Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool.
-Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
-Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine.
-Repair all leaks (a leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons a day).
-Water the lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day (early morning is best).
-Sweep outside instead of using a hose.

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling Materials
Practice the three R's: first reduce how much you use, then reuse what you can, and then recycle the rest. Then, dispose of what's left in the most environmentally friendly way.
* Reduce:
          o Buy permanent items instead of disposables.
          o Buy and use only what you need.
          o Buy products with less packaging.
          o Buy products that use less toxic chemicals.
* Reuse:
          o Repair items as much as possible.
          o Use durable coffee mugs.
          o Use cloth napkins or towels.
          o Clean out juice bottles and use them for water.
          o Use empty jars to hold leftover food.
          o Reuse boxes.
          o Purchase refillable pens and pencils.
          o Participate in a paint collection and reuse program.
          o Donate extras to people you know or to charity instead of throwing them away.
* Recycle:
          o Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans.
          o Recycle electronics.
          o Recycle used motor oil.
          o Compost food scraps, grass and other yard clippings, and dead plants.
          o Close the loop - buy recycled products and products that use recycled packaging.

For more tips and to find recycling centers near you, visit the EPA website.

Sakura

Over the weekend, I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown.  Cherry blossom season is known as sakura in Japan and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen is sakura in Tokyo several years ago.  I've been meaning to go back every April since then, but have never made it.  Instead, I will have to make do with the local festival!  I met up with my friend Michael and we strolled around and shopped the arts and crafts fair and through the shops.  Unfortunately, I forgot I even had my camera until the very end, but I did finally remember to take one, lone picture

of little girls dancing.  Yeah, I know it's not great, so sorry!  But, in my defense, it was absolutely packed and I couldn't get any closer and my zoom lens just isn't that, um, zoomy. 

My favorite stores in Japantown are the stationery store, Kinokuniya Stationery, and the dollar store, Ichiban Kan, which is actually filled with really high quality stuff and I just can't figure out why some of it is in a dollar store when the same items are in the regular priced stores in the rest of the mall.

Because I cannot pass up the chance to buy adorable things, I did some shopping

*cute stationery and deco tape

*lots of origami paper

* A Moomin bath bomb and the Little Prince in Japanese!  Moomins are actually Finnish, so I was really surprised when I saw the bath bombs in the bookstore, of all places, so I snagged one.  I think there's a toy inside, but I'll just have to try it out and see! 

I have been mildly obsessed with the Little Prince the last month or so, so I snagged one of the Japanese copies at the bookstore for only $7! 

And I also got some lovely paper doll books that I will try to do some crafting with

And just for the sake of it, here's a picture of sakura when I was in Tokyo, way back in 2001.

It was not the best camera, but you can get the idea- cherry blossom trees all down the river.  It's very common for people to picnic and just enjoy the lovely weather under the trees and many people sit among all the fallen petals.  It was soooo pretty!  I've gotta put another trip to Japan on my to do list now....

I'm in a treasury!

I got a message from The Loud Lion saying that she had put my prickly pear soap in her new treasury!  Yay!

  Check out the treasury here.

Happy Easter!

Hope you are having a wonderful Easter!

Pretty paper garland!

Yay!  I finally finished my paper garland that Pam Garrison taught at the La Petite Maison Blanc event a couple of weeks ago.  Well, I really finished last week, but I had to wait for a nice sunshiney day to take pictures.

Lots of vintage ledger paper, vintage book pages, doilies, cupcake lines and other papers!

I couldn't quite decide where to hang it up, so I tried in the living room first.

 

I know my pictures are hung unevenly, but it's okay because sometime this month, I'm taking everything down and having my place painted and then will hang everything up from scratch - evenly!  I guess I should pay more attention to the old saying, "Measure twice, cut once", but in my case, measure twice and hammer once!

Then I decided to try hanging it on a wall, dangling down to the floor, which is one way that it was displayed during the workshop and I liked the way it looked.

I'm not quite sure where it will end up, or maybe I'll just keep moving it around!  It's nice and easy to move from room to room, depending where I need a bit of cheeriness!  I'll just fluff it up a bit more where I can, as some of the papers are delicate and tear with too much fluffing.

Next project - finish Teresa McFayden's milagro!