NEPA Arts & Crafts – September 2012

How’s it going, arts-and-craftsters? Summer may be winding down here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find tons of events filled with local artisans and handicrafters! There’s still time to grab some handmade goodness before it’s time to start knitting those warm, Wintery crafts! As always, I’ve included links to each event listed with its own website or homepage, as well as links to their locations’ websites, if applicable. Please note that some of these events may require fees for admission or parking.

8/26 — 9/01 West End Fair @ Fairgrounds – Rt. 209, Gilbert, PA
8/28 — 9/03 Greene Dreher Sterling Fair @ Fairgrounds – Rts. 191 & 507, Newfoundland, PA
8/29 — 9/03 Sullivan County Fair @ Fairgrounds – Rt. 154, Forksville, PA
9/01 —            Labor Day Market @ Eagles Mere Green, Eagles Mere, PA
9/01 —            StroudFest @ Main St., Stroudsburg, PA
9/01 — 9/02 Country Arts & Crafts Show @ Dushore Railroad Station, Dushore, PA
9/01 — 9/02 Pocono Garlic Festival @ Shawnee Mountain Ski Area, East Stroudsburg, PA
9/05 — 9/09 Luzerne County Fair @ Fairgrounds – Rt. 118, Dallas, PA
9/07 — 9/09 Palmerton Festival @ Borough Park, Palmerton, PA
9/07 — 9/16 Milton Harvest Festival @ Downtown Milton, PA
9/08 —           Cowanesque Valley Outdoors Festival @ Rt. 49, Knoxville, PA
9/08 —           Fall Arts & Crafts Fair @ Mill St., Danville, PA
9/08 —           Hawley Arts & Crafts Fair @ Bingham Park, Hawley, PA
9/08 —           Schuylkill Haven Farmer’s Market @ 1 E. Main St., Schuylkill Haven, PA
9/08 — 9/09 Art & Craft-itivity @ Tom Quick Inn, Milford, PA
9/08 — 9/09 Concourse Club Art & Photography Show @ Sacred Heart Church, Palmerton, PA
9/08 — 9/09 Harford Fiber Festival @ Fairgrounds – Rt. 2063, Harford, PA
9/08 — 9/09 Hazleton FunFest @ Downtown Hazleton, PA
9/09 —            Hometown Fall Craft Show @ 125 Mahanoy Ave., Towanda, PA
9/14 — 9/16 Victorian Heritage Festival @ Jim Thorpe, PA
9/15 —            Fall Craft Show @ Nesquehoning Rec Center, Nesquehoning, PA
9/15 —            Hegins Valley Arts & Crafts Faire @ Hegins Park, Hegins, PA
9/15 —            Luzerne Fall Pumpkin Festival @ Main St., Luzerne, PA
9/15 —            Scranton Cultural Crossroads Festival @ Anthracite Museum, Scranton, PA
9/15 —            Wayne County Wine & Cheese Festival @ Fairgrounds – Rt. 191, Honesdale, PA
9/15 — 9/16 Apple Valley Arts & Crafts Festival @ 108 Rt. 6, Milford, PA
9/15 — 9/16 Ross Township Community Day @ Van Buskirk-Haney Park, Saylorsburg, PA
9/16 —            Bark in the Park @ Nay Aug Park, Scranton, PA
9/21 — 9/23 Fall Frolic Autumnal Equinox Festival @ Camp Netimus for Girls, Milford, PA
9/22 —           Fall Craft & Vendor Fair @ Wyoming United Methodist Church, Wyoming, PA
9/22 —           12th Annual Craft Fair @ 312 Davis St., Scranton
9/22 — 9/29 Bloomsburg Fair @ Fairgrounds – 620 West Third St., Bloomsburg, PA
9/23 —            Holy Rosary Holiday Marketplace @ Holy Rosary School, Duryea, PA
9/29 —            Fall Craft & Vendor Show @ The Oblates of St. Joseph, Pittston, PA
9/29 —            Schuylkill Haven Borough Day @ Downtown Schuylkill Haven, PA

On-going events:
Wed — Sun The Marketplace @ 10th St. Plaza, Bloomsburg, PA
Merchant’s Village Indoor Market @ The old Wal-Mart, Pittston, PA

Resources:
http://www.pavendors.com/events
http://www.artscraftsshowbusiness.com/shows.aspx?state=PA
http://www.fairsandfestivals.net

Hey! If you’ve found an event that I’ve overlooked that contains arts & crafts activities or vendors of handmade goods, feel free to send me an email at Shubette.etsy(at)gmail(dot)com and let me know! Thanks for reading, internet!

Aprons and Eye Candy

Today I’ve been working on some aprons for the Christian Academy. It’s funny how I can put off making inventory for my shop for so long, but when I know someone’s relying on me I tend to work a little harder, at the very least.

This reminds me a bit of Marie Forleo’s “catch a flight” technique. If you can wake up at 4:00 AM to catch a flight because you know it’s leaving with or without you, you can wake up at 7 AM to work at home. Yeah, it works the same for me. If I can work this diligently on something for someone else, I can surely work up the gumption to do it for me, for my business. I’ve gotta remember this feeling and try to be just as motivated every day, and with future projects. Anyway, let’s get back on track here…

I’ve had quite a few snags with this project. First, I only had universal and leather needles on hand, so I opted for a leather needle, assuming the universal ones wouldn’t hold up. That was a terrible idea. Leather needles are made to cut thicker, non-woven materials, and therefore have to be able to cut as they sew. This makes my straight stitches look really wavy on the underside of the material. Now I’m using denim needles, which are suited for sewing through layers of woven fabrics without cutting and damaging them so much. Problem solved!

Then this happened:

What you’re seeing here was after a little bit of panicking and tugging and a lot of pounding my head against my sewing machine. My needle came right out and was jammed down into the throat plate. The hard part was getting it out of my fabric without making the hole bigger. This is why you need to tighten the screw fully when switching needles! I’m glad the damage wasn’t noticeable, because it certainly wouldn’t have been reparable if it had gone in just a little further. But, a disheartening mistake like this is one of the many reasons I keep this guy close by whenever I’m sewing, just when I need a little pick-me-up.

I made this pincushion forever ago, but recently acquired the eye-pins in a big bag of old buttons I got this summer! Now he’s got a customizable face!

All in all, I’m glad I made the progress that I did. It took me two days, but I finally finished the first apron today. Once I had done this, I figured the next 7 would be a breeze. I was still in the process of cutting out the rest of my pieces when I had to call it a day, but I’m excited and ready for tomorrow!

Afterwards I enjoyed an early dinner with my two favorite people, Brad and Katie. As we were heading out of Burger King, I realized I wanted a picture of Brad in his spiffy new work clothes before we got on the road. I even had the pleasure of snapping a shot of him without a goofy face on. Even Katie made a special appearance in an accidental photobomb.

I don’t know if she’s giving us a wave goodbye or trying to cover her face to avoid the picture. Either way, I’m pretty happy with this shot. My guy can be pretty darn handsome when he wants to be.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that I’m less than 50 page-views from hitting 1000! I’m so excited! I hope you’ve enjoyed my sewing anecdotes! Thanks for reading, internet!

Happy Birthday, H. P. Lovecraft!

Tombstone of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, taken by William Hart, Cthulhuwho1 on flickr

H. P. Lovecraft has authored many American classics, but none of which you’d find in a high school curriculum. He has written not only some truly great short stories, but many, many poems, essays, and formal letters. He has haunted us with many wonderfully terrifying stories including a few of my favorites: “The Call of Cthulhu”, “Herbert West–Reanimator”, and “A Shadow Over Innsmouth.”

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was greatly inspired by his own night terrors, dreams, and fears. In his essay, “Notes on Writing Weird Fiction”, Lovecraft notes yet another of his inspirations: time:

“The reason why time plays a great part in so many of my tales is that this element looms up in my mind as the most profoundly dramatic and grimly terrible thing in the universe. Conflict with time seems to me the most potent and fruitful theme in all human expression.”

While Mr. Lovecraft did not live what many might consider to be a happy, prosperous life, at least in death he shall no longer fear the horrifying clenches of time. As a result of his lifetime perils and works thereof,  he has sealed his own immortality in a place without time. Today, on his birthday, let us celebrate him and his 75 years of peaceful rest, which he has rightfully earned.

Thank you for reading. Please click the image above to view its source.

My Break-Up with WordPress

“Graffiti on the Wall of Separation, Bethlehem” photo by David Masters on flickr

This week I came to a pretty big decision. For quite some time now, I’ve been working on what I originally pictured to be a great design for this blog. I’ve been slowly putting it together piece by piece and trying to work around some financial barriers that WordPress has presented.

To put things quite clearly, I’m pretty sad that I can’t truly design my own blog without paying for it, when I’m not actually making any money blogging in the first place. I’m really an open-source girl at heart, and I’m a little peeved that I have to pay someone to let me use my own code and graphics.

That being said, I’m in no way trying to trash talk WordPress. I’ve had lots of fun writing this blog, and I love many things about the WordPress interface, features, and community, and the WordPress blog is always full of fresh new content and ideas. This is just the path that I must take to be the best cheap-ass DIYer I can be. It’s the only way I know how.

I’m moving to Blogger.

Don’t worry! This transition isn’t immediate, and I’ll let you know when the move is official. First I’m working on perfecting my design, transferring my posts, writing new pages and content, and really just making everything more presentable than it is here and now. Down the road I may decide to come back to WordPress because of its various professional advantages and services, and I may someday decide to man-up and pay the custom design package fee. Until then, I’m confident in this decision, having used Blogger in the past.

I’m also happy to move to Blogger so that I can start to monetize. I hate ads that are really flashy, attention-grabby or irrelevant, so I’m definitely going to be careful in choosing some quality stuff to represent. Ooh, and I’ve been working on some buttons as well! I can’t wait for the big reveal! Are you ready for a little sneak peek?

If you’d like to get a better look at my progress(or subscribe, to be ready for the big switch, *wink wink*), you can check it out at shubettehandmade.blogspot.com.

If you have any advice on switching from WordPress to Blogger, have some input on my new design, or just want to say hello, I’d love to hear it, so leave me a comment below! Thanks for reading!

Fashion Friday #3: Bright & Blue

Outfit Details:
Shirt-dress: Thrifted
Belt: Mall
Leggings: Walmart
Shoes: Gifted

I was out thrifting with Bradley and Miss Kate when we spotted this brand new shirt-dress, bright as day with tags all a-hanging, sitting all alone at the very end of an aisle. I had considered and dismissed it, assuming its size to be a bit off, but my wonderful boyfriend knows when to encourage me to try something on. I was pretty darn pleased with the fit.

The only problem I’m encountering is, as you’ll see in the very last picture, that space between the buttons just above my belt keeps trying to give the world a peek inside. I’ve tried safety pinning this shut and I’ve considered glue dots, but I’m afraid the glue will stick there forever. Maybe I just need to fiddle with it a bit longer. Any ideas?

I gotta say I’m loving my silhouette here. I’ve thrifted another shirt-dress after being so inspired by this one, and I can’t wait until it’s outta the wash and into my closet. I’ve managed quite a few great finds since we’ve been shopping around to improve Brad’s wardrobe; I’m excited to share! These shoes were another great hand-me-down from Katie.

Thanks for stopping by for another Fashion Friday! Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday WINspiration: Handmade Gauges

Our second edition of Wednesday WINspiration is all about handmade earrings for people with stretched ears! So far the market is not very vast for this form of body jewelry, especially if you’re the type that would rather buy something a little more personal and a little more creative, so today I’d like to introduce you to 3 people selling their own handmade treasures especially for your ears.

1. Our first set is handmade by Andreanna of an awesome shop called Glamasaurus! While Glamasaurus is chock full of kawaii jewelry and accessories, you will find the items featured here in her alternative shop, Glam². Glamsquared specializes in unisex jewelry such as plugs and cufflinks, and it is full of imaginative cameos, elegant details, and a little bit of geek chic.
Glamsquared / Glamasaurus / Facebook / Blog

2. This beautiful set is handmade from spent copper casings by Curtis of Curtis Copper Concepts! I’ve always been able to appreciate how beautiful yet deadly a single round can be. These plugs are especially edgy and also masculine. I love that he’s recycling something used into something gorgeous, and I’m definitely loving them with the added glitz of Swarovski crystals. Did I mention those are reversible? At Curtis’ shop you’ll also find a great selection of handmade copper bird-feeders and art.
Curtis Copper Concepts

3. The third shop in this collection was made by Sasha of Pierced & Belligerent! These were especially hard to choose from because there were just so many options! If you’re into clay spirals & plugs, steel tunnels with pictures, fakes, or just something really fierce, you should give this shop a look-through. She does tons of custom creations, and I’ve also found that Sasha has a knack for crochet!
Pierced & Belligerent  / SashmoCo / Facebook / Tumblr

I’d like to thank these three folks for allowing me to show off their awesome designs!

These shops feature some very special handmade creations for folks with alternatively-sized ear-piercings. I hope they’ve awed and inspired you this Wednesday! Thanks for reading!

Featured Project: Croc Clutch

Yeah, that’s right. I’m starting another Featured Project. Something about knowing when to fold ’em and whatnot. Truth is, I’ve put my dress off for way too long, and with Fall right around the corner, I’ve no more reason to pursue any more pretty Summer dresses. For now.

No, now I’m getting on track with this clutch that’s been giving me all sorts of trouble. I’m making it out of some thick polyvinyl-like croc material, and my sewing machine hasn’t taken to it very well. So far I’ve read that I can combat this issue in two ways.

1. Use a sewing machine needle meant for leather while sewing with the exterior material.
2. Use interfacing to help the material slide during machine-sewing.

I found these tips on this very helpful post by Christine  of Chris W. Designs, which has helped me learn more about sewing with thick materials such as faux-leather and vinyl.

So this week I’ll be cranking out my croc clutch version 2. This time I’ll be using the same materials from my first draft, but with the newly acquired knowledge from the aforementioned post, and basically make a little crocodile muslin. Also, my machine has been cleaned and oiled very recently, so hopefully version 2 will be a very informative rough draft with version 3 being Shubette Handmade-quality.

Tomorrow, however, my mom is taking Brad and me back to Ohio to pick up our Jeep! I’m glad it’s finally fixed. We had our little accident over a month ago now, and I’m excited to finally get our wings back. Thanks for reading, internet!

Fashion Friday #2: One with Nature

Hey there! It’s been a few weeks since I last posted an outfit of mine, so today I’d like to welcome you back to Fashion Friday #2! You may have seen this outfit around before, as I wore it on my birthday, at my family reunion, and even on the very first day that I met Brad. I truly cannot get enough of this dress.

Pictures today are by the handsome Mr. Bradley, but the last one is by the lovely Miss KT.

Outfit Details:
Dress: thrifted
Necklace: handmade by Miss KT
Belt: thrifted
Shoes: thrifted

The best part of this outfit? It probably cost me all of $15. I almost feel naughty wearing it in public.

In all seriousness, this outfit would not be complete without this stunning birthday necklace from KT. She has this impeccable taste for picking out stones, and I’m very lucky to be a recipient of her creative endeavors. Every necklace she has made for me has been nothing short of beautiful. Thanks, Katie!

Oh, and remember when I promised to add a picture to my new about page? Well, my image is finally uploaded, so check it out for yourself! Thanks for reading, and have a fashionable Friday, folks!

My Updated “About” Page!

Hey, folks! Today I’ve updated my About page! I thought my previous one was a tad bit drab, so I thought I’d pop in and make it a little more me and a lot more descriptive. Now it includes a brief rundown on what my blog is about and goes into a little more depth on, well, me.

As of yet, I haven’t added any pictures of me to this page, but that will be happening in the near future, I promise. I know you’re dying to see me. Anywho, thanks for stopping in today, and be sure to check out my recently updated About page. You’re the best.