Photo © Terri Mauro

School is back in session - yippee! Time to cover those precious books. Here’s an easy, step by step template for paper or paper bags from About.com. If you’re crafty with glue or sewing machine, you can also use this as a basic fabric pattern - a fabric with some spandex in it would be perfect! But don’t stop there - match the fabric or paper to your personality!

If the fear of knitting needles and learning intricate jargon such as, “Knit one, pearl two,” kept you from hooking up with the latest knitting craze, The Butterfly Loom has the perfect, no-fail, you-can-do-it product: The Magic Board. The Magic Board is a hand held, easy-as-pie weaver, made of rigid wood to produce different knitting and crocheting results without a lick of traditional knitting or crocheting involved.

Using The Butterfly Loom’s unique Wrap & Knot”© technique, The Magic Board can be used to create afghans, throws, rugs, jackets, bags, scarves, ponchos, purses and much more, with a variety of yarns – everything from Kid Mohair to Wooltops – with no knitting or crocheting experience. Available in five sizes from small to large and even rectangle shapes, the design of the board allows even the sight impaired and those with handicaps or arthritis to easily create fabulous knitted crafts with minimal effort and zero frustration.

“The Magic Board is truly addictive and just plain fun,” said owner and inventor Carolyn Jenner. “It’s unbelievable how quickly you can produce an actual knitted piece. And absolutely anyone – from children to grandparents of any age, any skill level – can use the product with great success.” Available for purchase online at www.thebutterflyloom.com, The Butterfly Loom’s web site also offers how-to demonstrations and inspirational “we-did-it” images from crafters around the world. About: Created in 2001, The Magic Board has appeared on DIY TV and on the hit show Big Brother in which 960 squares were created in 3 days and joined together to make a 9ft square Afghan.

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Posted by the Crafty Folks at Anna Bella Fine Stationery.

Peter Callesen is on of the most talented cut paper artists I’ve seen. His work is simply amazing, intricate and clever. You can see more of Peter’s inspiring work on his web site at http://www.petercallesen.com.

Give it a try yourself, too! There aren’t really any rules to follow. You’ll just need some paper, an Xacto knife or scissors, and an idea. If you give it a try, upload your image to your own blog and post the URL here

Yeah, potatoes! Remember making potato prints when you were a kid? It was a pretty cool way to make art. It still is. And now that you’re all grown up, you can make grown up potato prints, which are even better!

Potato prints are stamped art made from a carving you created on a cut-up potato.

You’ll need just a few simple supplies like potatoes, of course - the bigger, the better. Paint of your choice…tempera or acrylic for papers, fabric-friendly paint for cloth, latex or oil for walls, wood. Experiment! Stains and inks work well too, but result in a completely different way. You’ll need a sharp knife, possibly carving tools if you plan on getting fancy with your design. Cookie cutters make great templates, too. You’ll also need something to stamp your design onto to…paper, wood, etc. Oh, and the obvious miscellaneous things needed when painting - water, brushes, sponges.

 To begin, cut your potato in half either horizontally or vertically, exposing the flesh. Then, trace a design, similar to how you would trace a design on a pumpkin - use the pin prick method, a tool, a pencil, anything that works so that you can see your tracing. Then, carefully cut away the negative sections of the design, leaving a relief of your art. Or, you can also cut away the positive sections so that you have an outline of you art.

Dry the potato as much as possible and apply your paint with a brush or sponge. Then, you’re ready to stamp, stamp, stamp!

And sure, your potato won’t last more than a day, but you can preserve your stamp forever by stamping the design on a white piece of paper with black ink. Once it dries, you can then scan the art into your computer and use it again and again.

If you’re loving the idea of potato prints, but the thought of making them isn’t exactly spudtacular, you can hop on over to Sweet Potato Prints and purchase some of their cute-as-a-button potato print clothing for your tots! Here’s some of their fun products:

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Posted by the Crafty Folks at Anna Bella Fine Stationery.

Collage art is one of those crazy, anything goes crafts that I personally love because it can involve absoultely everything and anything - there are no rules on style, materials, or subject matter. And really, the more you include, the better it gets - I love it!

I never knew much about the world of collage until I met Claudine Hellmuth a while back - and what a world she has created! Claudine’s style of collage is fun and whimsical, yes. But, the best part is that she uses pictures of her clients as the “main characters” for her work.

Better yet, Claudine is a pay-it-forward type of gal, who offers workshops in collage, teaching you her most favorite collage techniques. And if you can’t make it to one of her classes taught across the country, you can pick up one of her many books or videos.

Save your ribbon and paper scraps and any old photos. You’ve got some collages to make! Or, if you’re not feeling all that crafty, you can commission Claudine to create an original piece of art, just for you!

Visit Claudine Hellmuth online at www.collageartist.com to purchase her books, videos, greeting cards and to order your own personal collage.

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Posted by the Crafty Folks at Anna Bella Fine Stationery.

Remember making those paper bead necklaces in grammar school? Yeah, me too! And remember the first time you didn’t quite do it right and your twirl of paper came off the tooth pick? Me too! It looked pretty cool, but you weren’t sure what to do with it. You probably didn’t realize it at the time, but what you just did there was paper quilling.

Quilling is easy, fun, and a pretty quick craft for those looking for craft-instant-gratification (like me). In a nutshell, quilling is the art of wrapping long strips of paper around any cylindrical object such as a tooth pick, pencil, etc., resulting in a curled piece of paper. The curls can be bent and shaped and added together to make unlimited patterns and images. It’s pretty neat and definitely puts you in the same wonderful Zen-like state that knitting and similar crafts can do.

Quilling has quite a following, with special tools and papers and books galore. If you’re serious about the craft or want to turn the hobby into a business, by all means, get yourself a paper quilling makeover. But, if you’re in it just for the thrill, Klutz has the perfect starter-kit for the beginner-quiller in you for only $16.95! The kit offers thirty projects with step-by-step instructions and over 100 brightly colored paper strips, a twirling wand, googly eyes and glue.

If you need me, I’ll be over here twirling some paper…drop me a reply and let me know how you like quilling and what you’ve created

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Posted by the Crafty Folks at Anna Bella Fine Stationery.

Hi to all you Crafty Divas out there! I’m Dawn, from Anna Bella Stationery. I’m super excited to be filling in as your crafty guest blogger throughout the summer. I’ll be posting lots of neat, crafty goodness each week, but wanted to get things started with something near and dear to me: turning your craft hobby into a business.

Like me, many of you have also turned your favorite craft into a viable buisness. We want to know about you, your craft, your business, and a few other juicy details. Reply to this post with answers to the following. We’ll pick the coolest of the cool, set up a time to have a chat with some formality, and post your interview right here at a later date.

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1. What’s the name of your biz + your URL?

2. What craft or hobby did you turn into a business?

2. What stage are you in? (just thinking; just starting; in the thick of it and loving it; in the thick of it and wondering what I got myself into)

3. If you weren’t doing crafts for living, what would you be doing?

4. What do you know now, that you didn’t know when your craft was just a hobby?

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Thanks! Can’t wait to read your stories

-Dawn

One of the inspirations for my own arts and crafts work are molas made by the Kuna of Panama and Colombia. Molas are the traditional costume of the Kuna women and are created using an intricate reverse appliqué technique—the more intricate the better as that raises the status of the wearer. The designs are brightly colored and often inspired by images from the modern world including advertisements, posters, and labels. You will also find geometric designs as well as designs based on Kuna culture and life.

I have several molas from when my grandparents were stationed in Panama during the 1950s. My molas are all traditional in theme, but my grandmother had some more modern ones, including my favorite of a torpedo.  My grandmother’s walls were just covered with molas and I loved visiting her, sitting and looking at her molas together, and listening to her stories about Panama, being an Air Force wife, living in the 1950s, and traveling the world. My grandmother could sure tell a story and I think that’s why I love Molas—it’s the stories they depict that capture me and inspire me.

The picture above is by photographer Betty LaDuke.