Doctor Who Giveaway - Winner!

I would like to thank everyone who participating in this giveaway! It has been the first of what I hope will be many fun things to come! I am already planning something really special for October, so If you like to read Neil Gaiman stay tuned! 

Now let's get down to business!

The 10th comment was from Ingrid! Congrats! E-mail me in order to claim your prize!

Thank you to everyone that entered! I'm glad to have met some cool new people! If you did not win and are super bummed, don't worry because all of these items will be available on my etsy shop soon!

I also want to know, what do you Whovian's think of the new season thus far?

I am loving it and I must say that, although I will always have a special place in my heart for David Tennent, Matt Smith is my Doctor! He's just so naturally goofy that I don't actually think thank he's acting, I love the quirk and whimsy he brings to the character. I will be very sad to transition into the 12th Doctor.

I hope you all enjoy tonight's episode! Let me know what you think!

Bow-ties and Black Dynamite

I am in the middle of the most suckiest things ever, working 12 days in a row. I am trying my hardest to keep up with everything and I am doing ok. I am working on some bow-tie bracelet cuffs. I also came across some pin backs so there will also be some bow-tie pins!

I also finally got to break out the serger! It was a graduation present from my pops. I haven't been able to use it because of our move. With my making space up in order I have some room for it. When I first got it out I was scared because this thing is super intimidating! However, after I got it threaded (which is quite the ordeal) it was pretty simple. I used it to take care of the raw edges on my bowties and it looks great. After I am caught up with everything I plan on taking a Craftsy class on how to use this bad boy.

I have been planning some Halloween decorations, and my partner in craft, Michele and I will have some fun tutorials through out the season. We are just working out some of the kinks now. They involve MJ masks and fabulous safety glasses, yeah thats how we do!

total hotness

On our last craft night, Tim was around and he mentioned Black Dynamite. One of the funniest films of the last 10 years. She said she hasn't seen it. So I told her she had homework, she had to watch it! If you haven't seen it, and you appreciate ridiculous comedy go check it out! Despite it looking super fly and being filmed in cinema phonic, it was actually made in 2009.

Since I gave Michele 'homework' I insisted that she give me an assignment. She told me to re-listen to Srgt. Pepper's with no interruptions. This experience deserves its own separate post.

Burlap Bunting

I made this bunting during a Friday Night Sew In. I created a tutorial to go along with it. Even though I used this to create some Halloween decor this project is versatile and can be used for other holidays or even weddings. Here is how to make your own burlap bunting!

Materials & Tools

Freezer paper
Exacto Knife
Ruler
Burlap fabric
Iron
Paint
Foam brush
Bias tape

Instructions

• First pick a font and make a font sheet with all of the letters that you will need for your bunting. Print out a sheet (save for later to trace)
• Size up your flags. My flags measured in as 7 x 9 inches. I cut out a bunch from the freezer paper
• Once all of your freezer paper flags are cut, trace out all of your letters. (shiny side down!)

• Break out your exacto knife and carve out all of your letters. For letters such as A (pictured below) be sure to save the little bits inside of the letter. I also recommend that you cut out the small bits first.(those will be used to iron on to the burlap)

• Iron all of your letters to some burlap, then cut out each flag on the burlap

• Once all of your flags are cut out, it's time to break out the paint! 
• Grab a spounce brush and dip it in some paint and paint over the letters

• Once the paint is dry, go a head and peel off the freezer paper and toss it
• Iron the flags in order to heat set the paint

• Now its time to string those letters, so grab that biased tape! 
• Pin one side of the biased tape to each letter. Make sure you are going in the right order depending on what you saying is. 

• Once the one side is stitched, fold over and pin the biased tape and sew again

• Hang it up and TA-DA! 
• Congrats you made something lovely 

Modern Freaks (Meme for Monday)

I'm sorry it's mundane Monday, here is a little silly comic from the interwebs that hopefully will help you start your day off with a laugh. 

It is from the creative mind of Shannon Wheeler featuring the character Too Much Coffee Man. Check out Shannon's website for more silly.

Catching up ....

To everyone who has entered the Doctor Who Giveaway, THANK YOU ! 

If you are interested there is still plenty of time to enter! Click here for more info.

Speaking of the Doctor, what did you Whovians think of the season premiere? That Steven Moffat sure knows how to tell a story. I am looking forward to next weeks episode featuring dinosaurs! I am also looking forward to watching it and enjoying some coffee in my new travel TARDIS!

In non Doctor Who related news, the house has been coming along great. Of course I have been spending most of my time in the basement in my craftin' space, I like to call it my craft dungeon. I have had time to go through that big ol' pile of scraps and I am making a dent! I have been cutting up scraps into pieces that will become a few regular items, such as coin purses, zipper pouches and pockets for my bags! (i know you are all very excited over pockets)

Here are some things that I have been working on lately.... 

 

 I originally made this for my friend Kim's birthday, about almost a year ago. I used a different technique, a reverse applique. However it got ripped up! So I painted on the deer and it turned out well.

I have a whole bunch of 3 inch zippers I bought from Zip it... the essential place for all of your zipper needs. They also have a great selection of supplies!  I figured they would be good to make little coin purses. Thoughts?

If you really like any of these items and wondering where you can get your hands on them, be sure to check back they will be posted on my Etsy shop soon!

Meme for Monday

I am starting a new little segment here at Nerd Craft Librarian. It's called a Meme for Monday and will feature a wonderful nugget of silly from the internet (also known as a meme). The goal is to help you start your week a with a little laugh, because Monday's aren't usually the most favorite day of the week.

I stumbled across this meme and thought it would be perfect. Not only is it funny but it features crafting a paper doll Bill Murray! (and seriously who doesn't love Bill Murray?)



I also wanted to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has commented on the Doctor Who Giveaway! There is still plenty of time if anyone else wants to go for it! The winner will be announced on Saturday, September 15th!

Owl T-Shirt (Freezer Paper Stencil)

The moment has finally arrived the freezer paper stencil tutorial! A freezer paper stencil is a handy little technique for quick easy projects. It involves cutting out a design from freezer paper, ironing to the fabric then painting. This is also the same technique I showed Michele (Short Girl, Long Island).

When my brother was up here we were looking up ideas for t-shirts. That's when I came across this book on the interwebs. I first came across Russian Criminal Tattoos when I was in High School. I was always fascinated by them perhaps it was how tattoos ranged from the quirky to the extremely bizarre. I had completely forgotten about them until we came across this cool looking owl.

So after coming across this picture I was a bit inspired and after a bit of doodling I came up with my own version of this neato russian owl. Here is what I came up with:

To make the final design of the shirt work, I had to scale back a few of the details. Even so I think the final product came out great.

Here is how you can make your own t-shirt using a freezer paper stencil

Materials & Tools:

• Freezer Paper 
• Pencil
• Design*
• Exacto Knife
• Iron
• T-Shirt 
• Paint
• Foam Brush
• Piece of cardboard

* Creating the design can be one of the most challenger steps! Browse around get an idea but make sure it is something that isn't too complicated.

Instructions: 

• Map out your design. It is important to think in terms of negative space, a concept that is hard to grasp. So if you are a beginner at this I recommend silhouettes.

• Once you have your design figured out, trace it out on a piece of freezer paper. Make sure you trace SHINY SIDE DOWN! That is the side that sticks to the fabric

• After your design is cut out, I colored in all of the areas that were not going to be used. (You will noticed that some areas, like the eyes and bow-tie, are not colored in)

• Take your exacto knife and start cutting out your owl! I recommend starting with the small pieces that you need to save. Its both easier to cutting on these first and it also gives you the chance to put them aside in a safe place.

• When you pieces are all cut out, iron them to the shirt. (shiny side down!)

• Prepare your shirt and iron it out. Then place a piece of card board in the shirt. (so the paint won't bleed through the other side)

• Next is the fun messy part, painting! Grab your foam spounce brush and start painting over the stencil. Be careful with some of your smaller pieces. Paint those areas first incase the stencils come off, like my owl eyes. 

• When the paint is dry, peel the paper off of the shirt. 

• Heat set the paint and go over the design with an iron

• Be proud you made something awesome! 

Go ahead and make your own freezer paper stencil designs, I would love to see them when they are done! 

-Sarina