The Impatient Crafter : margot potter the impatient crafter

Showing posts with label margot potter the impatient crafter. Show all posts

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Tres Chic Cupcake Toppers

Avalon and I decided to throw an intimate soiree for #TeamPotter on last night's Craft Wars episode. Friends and family all live far away, so we just made our own little party with Avalon's best friend and the three of us. Av had a project due today for iLoveToCreate and I've been playing with my logo and we decided that cupcakes and decorations were in order. So we made these super cute, super simple cupcake toppers. You can make your own using permission free fashion images or photos or anything you like! Aleene's dry adhesives made it easy and fun and we love how these turned out. I think I may have to make some jewelry out of these! Tune in next Monday and I'll share how I made the cupcake stand topper with the ruffled lace technique and talk about quick and easy ways to personalize your parties.

Materials
Toile/Damask scrapbook papers in coordinating prints
Black and white fashion image printed to fit in a 2" punch
Large wooden or plastic party picks
Flat back plastic rhinestones
Aleene's Tacky Tape Runner
Aleene's Tacky Dot Roll 1/2"

Tools
Fiskars shape cutter and circle templates (2/5" circle)
Fiskars 2" circle punch

My Fourth and Final DIY Project for National Craft Month for Fiskars! Mais oui!

L'Invitation by Margot Potter for Fiskars

Here's my fourth and final DIY project for National Craft Month for Fiskars! You can get the instructions for all of my projects for Fiskars here. It's a party invitation featuring a vintage French language card. I really LOVE this edge punch with the daisies. Just silly good stuff. It was a true honor being a Guest Designer for the fine folks from Fiskars.

Avalon has a SUPER CUTE project for iLoveToCreate tomorrow, so do stop back!

xoxo
Madge

Springtime Scarflet by Vickie Howell

Howdy Campers!

Busy week ahead! Exciting stuff I can't talk about.

Yay!

This is a scarflet I managed to finish...finally...designed by the lovely and talented Ms. Vickie Howell. She hosted a Crochet-along on Facebook and Ravelry. It ends today, but you can still join the fun any time!

I am really quite happy with how this turned out. I'm also quite happy with all of the stitches I've learned so far. I had to work and rework this, even got half way through one and realized I'd done the stitch wrong, but I like that version too and will share when it's finished.

Not so bad for a newbie!

Tune in tomorrow for my final project for National Craft Month for the fine folks from Fiskars.

Until then...craft on with your bad self!

Cheers,
Madge

Chop Wood, Carry Water

"Verily, Margot, the more understanding one possesses, the less there is to say, and the more there is to do." The Universe

Well heck and howdy doody, I really kicked off a firestorm yesterday! Do forgive. As the title said, I was just thinking out loud. I am not running away to join the circus or giving up my craft career, I'm just taking stock of the things that are and are not working. The bottom line is, as of late, aspects of what I do are not working. I need to adjust them and integrate some of the things I love that are missing back into the mix. I'm not going away and things won't really be very different around here. We're building a new site, I'm working on some new professional directions, opportunities are unfolding...there is all kinds of good stuff happening at Studio Madge.

I am going to take the pressure off of myself. I'm going to get back to being who I am and doing what I feel. There may be a project, there may be a rant, there may be a post like this where I am just sharing my journey. There may be a kooky video with me singing in it because...I can. There may be a few days or a week when I don't post at all. I am going to do what makes me happy and if folks dig it, fabulous and if not, screw it. They can read another blog.

There is a Zen saying that is apropos at times like this. The crux of it is that we are in this physical world and we have to do the physical things. We have to eat, work, sleep, pay the bills, take out the trash, walk the dog...and no matter how enlightened we become, the dog will not learn to walk itself. And these mundane things we do each day are part of the deal. We can even find grace and joy in the doing of them if we look hard enough.

So, I leave you with this.

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

I'm off to chop the wood and carry the water. Thank each of you for your kind words yesterday, I am deeply blessed.

Love
Madge

Something Starfishy Around Here...

Happy Spring! Flowers are popping up all over the Smokies and the trees are starting to sprout leaves, this is my favorite time of year. I LOVE SPRING! Alas and alack, spring does not love me.

Snerg.

I made this jewelry with the plastique beads I bought in Tucson from The Beadin' Path and I've added a judicious smattering of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. I adore working with plastic. It's big and bold and light weight, you can pile it on and it won't weight you down. Try making a necklace with bubble gum sized gemstones, far too heavy!

I am currently loving these saturated colors. Kelly green, bright yellow, orange...very citrusy. Light and summery and fun, yes? I added red to the bracelet which really gives it a vintage vibe. You may remember the bracelet from an earlier post when I mentioned wanting to add one more element, so after some thought I decided on some vintage gum ball machine charm scotty dogs. Let's face it, put a scotty dog on it and it's instant cute!

These are for me to wear to some upcoming events. I would love to make a line of jewelry like this...but I'm not sure who would buy it. Thoughts? Who do you see wearing this big, bold, playful jewelry, well...besides me?

And with that I am back to the grindstone at Studio Madge. Have a craftacular day! Be a Crazy Craft Lady! Hooray! "T'aint nobody's business if you do!"

xoxo

Madge

National Craft Month for Fiskars Tuesdays with Madge!

Margot Potter for Fiskars

This week's project is a clean and simple scrapbook page from our trip to Hoboken to the Cake Boss's Carlo's Bakery. Looking at this now, I wish I'd used three dimensional cupcakes instead of birds, but I had birds handy and a lot on my plate that week. Still, I love the colors and the whimsical look of this. It's only my second scrapbook page...ever. I know the trend at the moment is messy and funky in scrapbook pages, but you know I'm not one to follow the trends. Clean and simple design works for me!

For the instructions and materials list follow this link to Fiskars Guest Designers page!

Love
Madge

Tuesdays with Madge for Fiskars National Craft Month!

Three Ring Circus Jewelry Set Copyright Margot Potter for Fiskars 2012

The fine folks from Fiskars asked me to fabricate four projects featuring their fabulous tools for National Craft Month. Of course I jumped at the chance! The first project is the only jewelry design. I was so smitten with this circus font themed scrapbook paper, I simply had to turn it into jewelry.

And so I did.

And so can you if you follow this link to get the instructions on the Fiskars site! Stay tuned, I have a new Fiskars project for every Tuesday this month! Hooray!

Love
Madge

A Touch of Spring

Signs of spring are starting to appear in the Smokies. Daffodils, dandelions and other floral harbingers of warmer days to come have started blooming. From my studio window I can see the birds busily gathering bits and pieces to build nests. The spring peepers are in full voice in the ponds leading up to our mountain home. It's really quite exciting, this rebirth. I love this time of year, don't you?

I'm sharing a couple of designs I created for myself to wear. The things I make for me are a little larger than life and very whimsical. I've added some SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS to the mix with these vintage and vintage reproduction plastic flowers from The Beadin' Path. I am simply mad for the look of both of these. Adding the wired crystals to the edge of the filigrees reminds me of a very fancy cake and the red flowers dripping with giant crystals are divinely decadent. If I had a line of finished jewelry (and that might just happen one of these days), this is what I visualize. Big, bold, happy jewelry that makes the wearer and those whom they will meet along the way feel good.

Life is far too short to take it too seriously.

We are busily working on something new behind the scenes here at Casa de Potter! It's exciting stuff and much like spring, lots of things are happening beneath the soil preparing to peer through and unfurl. It's exciting and also just a little scary, which is the way of it when you take the leap, isn't it?

Storms are brewing in the Smokies, and the skies are changing minute to minute. It's fascinating living here. The other night a coyote howled right outside of our house, the dogs were none to happy about it. They're the only canines on this property, thank you very much. We snuggled on the couch together until that pesky coyote wandered away.

I will be back on Monday with a ''two for one" spring inspired project for iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts, so do stay tuned!

Until then, craft on with your bad selves.

Love
Madge

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts: Dazzling Dahlia Dimensional Canvas

Dazzling Dahlia Dimensional Canvas Copyright Margot Potter 2012

Pop Art Pillows from Christmas Helps 1966 Family Circle

Christmas Helps 1966 Family Circle

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts
Dimensional Dahlia Canvas
Margot Potter
"These are your grandmother's crafts. Ya gotta problem with that? I didn't think so."

The idea for this canvas came from a fabulous pillow project featured in this 1966 Christmas Helps magazine from Family Circle. I LOVED these pop art pillows and plan to make some of my own, but these Anna Griffin vintage patterned papers were so yummy, I thought why not make a canvas using the same idea? I am a huge fan of Lilly Pulitzer’s vintage fabrics and these papers have a very similar appeal. Think about making a series of two or three of these using the same color scheme but slightly different patterns (maybe a full flower, half flower and butterfly.) Use recycled paper or fabric remants if you like; this could be stunning using say Coca Cola can boxes or old book pages. This was super simple to create using Fiskars ShapeTemplate™ tools and the new Aleene’s Dry Adhesives! For a final touch of whimsy, I added some dimension using Tulip Beads in a Bottle. I am knee deep in the winter blahs, so this is a cheerful reminder that spring is on the way! (If you want more precision, mark and measure placement with a ruler before layering petals.)

Materials
10x10 mini canvas
Anna Griffin Carmen Collection scrapbook paper pack
Saturated pink and yellow cardstock
Aleene’s Tacky Dot runner
Tulip Beads in a Bottle sparkly pink and pale yellow

Tools
Fiskars ShapeTemplate™ Circles
Fiskars ShapeCutter™ and Mat

1. Cut out 22 patterned yellow and pink floral paper 2” circles and 11 yellow and 12 pink 2.5” paper circles using the Fiskars template, cutter and mat. You could also use circle punches or trace and cut by hand. I am impatient, so anything that makes it easier works for me!

2. Layer the patterned circles in the center of the solid color circles and adhere using Aleene’s Tacky Glue dots runner.

3. Begin on the outside, I found it helped to lay this out first and then reassemble just to get a sense of the layout before I committed to it permanently. The flowers overlap slightly and work around in a circle and repeat on the inner layer overlapping slightly.

4. Tape just the right side of your petal and start making a circle overlapping on the outside. Continue this process until you reach the final circle, which will get full tape runner coverage. Repeat for the inside layer. There are 14 petals on the outside and 8 on the inside. Finish with a large pink petal in the center.

5. Use Beads in a Bottle on the solid color edges of the petals in a color that coordinates. I used sparkly pink and pale yellow and found that the sparkly beads were a skootch less puffy than the solid color, I like the slight variation. You can take great care and put the exactly same amount of dots on each petal, but as I mentioned earlier I am impatient and simply thrilled I made it around every petal without a craftastrophe. It’s the little things.

6. Allow to dry overnight before touching or hanging!

Mandala Flower Copyright Margot Potter 2012

(PS: I love this flower so much, I am going to use it on some other projects as an image! Too fun!)

Brown Eyed Susan Necklace

Yup, one more design! There are more, but the lighting and focus gods were not with me. I shall share pics after the shows. This is a fun, simple design featuring FAB vintage reproduction German plastic components from The Beadin' Path. I used those and the bright orange faceted plastic beads as my jump off point for this simple, but striking, design. It's a mix of gemstones, plastic and Beadalon antique brass components. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

xoxo
Madge

Cheers Necklace!

Bubbly Necklace Copyright Margot Potter 2012

This is another necklace set I created to wear to the shows. Technically, I re-created it by adding more stuff to my original design. I used vintage faux pearls, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and Beadalon's fab polyester chain. The pearls are absurdly huge, which makes this a very fun design to wear.

xoxo
Madge

Evolution of a Design

I created this necklace for one of my design clients. I began with 10 gauge tinned copper wire, hammering and forming it into a simple choker, then added a sprinkling of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS sew on stones attached with a thinner gauge of wire. (This is the design I'm wearing in the Create Your Style video.) I was really going for something simple, striking and primitive here with a big nod to Alexander Calder's wire jewelry work. Unfortunately the client didn't like the first version and asked me to cover up the wire wraps and the exposed hammered wire at the front of the design. I had to work and rework and rework the piece because it's all secured with tension and has to be wearable or it's pointless. Yes, I can be patient, though it usually involves a smattering of juicy expletives. The two arms of the thicker wire actually create the tension that secures the necklace around the neck, so the smaller stones had to be out of the way of that action. The large stone had to go, unfortunately, but that gave the design a more curvilinear feel. Honestly, I like both versions, but they're very different. Alas, after the rework and though the client genuinely liked it, they asked me to scrap this one and start over using different techniques and materials. So...I'll be wearing this at some upcoming events. This is part of the deal of being a freelance designer, not my favorite part, but one that can't be avoided I'm afraid.

What do you think, the first version, the second version or neither?! What do you think about editing your work? How do your designs evolve?

That's a prompt for you to converse with me! Be not afraid. Oh and, Tune in tomorrow, I've got a giveaway!

Cheers,
Madge

Beadalon's Wire Mesh

This is a design I created recently for Beadalon to showcase their fabulous new Artistic Wire mesh and their stunning antique brass finish chain. Oversized SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS polygon beads gave it a little sparkle to reflect the understated metallic color palette. It was a very intuitive design born from play. Some of my best work comes from not having an agenda. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, very bold, simple and striking. These mesh poppies would work nicely on accessories: headbands, shoes, hats or purses. I used felt to back them and give them a little stability. (I'd sew around the edges with a 26 or 28 gauge matching wire to keep them from fraying if using them on a bag or shoes.)

Love
Madge

New Year's Eve Jewelry Idea!

"You must remember this,

A kiss is just a kiss,

A sigh is just a sigh.

The fundamental things apply,

As time goes by."

As Time Goes By by Herman Hupfeld

I'm quasi-back to work today, we're shooting a new project video for New Year's Eve! It's a really cute one, so stay tuned! It would look perfect with this New Year's silhouette necklace I made for iLoveToCreate a few years back. I show it every year, but this piece is still a top holiday traffic driver on the blog, imagine that! You can find instructions for it here.

Avalon has a super fun paper crafted jewelry project for you tomorrow, until then...craft on with your bad selves!

Cheers
Madge

The 12 Retrofabulous Crafts of Christmas: When Vintage Crafts Go Terribly, Terribly Wrong.

Click on picture pop up to read text, just do it. Read it all, you will be glad you did.

Well at least they offered a caveat...

Well, whatever, McCalls.

Today's whimsical holiday craft illustrates the dark side of my stash of vintage craft magazines. Perhaps not so retrofabulous, this is what happens when good crafts go terribly, terribly wrong. McCalls, what were you thinking? If anyone makes these masks, I will do a happy dance. I have included the instructions for your edification and entertainment. I will even send you a set of my books and some studio swag and I will model it in a The Impatient Crafter video. That is if you make one for me. If you make one for you, well good luck with that.

Please take a moment to carefully read these pages as something is awry...or Madge has spent far too much time playing with fonts in Photoshop. Which is pretty much the same thing.

I am off to see the Hair Fairy and get the roots done. I am so, so feeling the red hair vibe...

I pull one last crafty trick out of my arse tomorrow, but I am taking Christmas off, people. I have seriously earned it!

Cheers,
Madge

The 12 Retrofabulous Crafts of Christmas: The Audacity of Audacity

Some of you will note that something is awry with the text in this photo...hmm...

The 12 Retrofabulous days of Christmas are marching on...and Madge is getting just a little silly. I mean, how many retrofabulous ideas can one woman be expected to whip out?!

I was asked to create three coordinating jewelry pieces for a runway event. There is nothing I love more than making ginormous Haute Couture creations! It's a matter of scale and proportion. Yes, that's it, scale and proportion. They're a skootch heavy and intentionally organic, but I love the bold simplicity of them. The set has a Calderesque appeal, if you've not seen Alexander Calder's wire jewelry, you simply have to check it out, stunning stuff that. His work was a huge source of inspiration in my new book New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry! I'm not sharing the set just yet...here is a teensy weensy sneak peek.

If you'd like to learn how to make similar earrings, I just happen to have New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry available for purchase for $17.00 on my Books Page AND if you order it from me, it comes SIGNED with a little piece of ephemera from my collection. Shipping is included, BTW (US only, sorry.) How cool is that? IKR? (That was for Avalon who thinks her mother painfully uncool.)

If you'd like a chance to WIN a FREE SIGNED copy of the book with a free piece of ephemera...just leave a comment here. Tell me something AUDACIOUS about you! Be bold! Be not afraid! Toot that horn 'cause ain't nobody gonna toot it like you, Louis Armstrong. I will pick a winner on New Year's DAY next Sunday! Make sure you leave an email contact with your comment so I can let you know if you win!

I was feeling a little frustrated and discouraged yesterday. I was also feeling a little melancholy, grumpy and bitchy, for good measure. I was even feeling a little freaked out and panicked. But in my defense, it's been a crazy ass roller coaster ride for the past few months. Sometimes a little audacity and cheeky good fun is just what the doctor ordered.

In fact, I'm going to be talking about audacity today at one of my other sites, Craft. You. Have you checked it out? Why not get on board for the new year? It's all about making your goals, plans, hopes and dreams into reality, it's all about lifecrafting. I am going to launch classes soon...I'm just sayin'...

Love
Madge

The 12 Retrofabulous Crafts of Christmas: Instant Ancester Victorian Style Frame

You will be SHOCKED to hear that I collect old black and white Victorian era photographs.

I know, right?!(Or IKR as my super texty kid says)

I love pondering on the people in the pictures, wondering where life took them. Fascinating stuff, that.

I would also like to state for the record that if they made those shoes in my size, I'd be all over them like glitter on a glue stick.

This project was published in a magazine a few years back. The idea is to buy a cheap metal filigree frame at a discount store, they have tons of these at Target, TJ Maxx or Home Goods. Then you use 20-24 gauge Artistic Wire (soft copper based wire works best for this) to attach SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystals and pearls and swags of chain. I grasp the wire ends, wrap and twist them tightly, cut off excess and tuck the tails under with chain nose pliers. If you can't find this style of crystal chain, any gun metal or aged brass chain will work, just add a few dangling crystals to give it some sparkle. If you have some actual old pics of your ancestors, use those! If not, make up a good story about your new ancestor to go with the gift.

My Great Grandfather was a well known Philadelphia area photographer who specialized in hand tinted photos. His work is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Unfortunately, I only have one of his pictures and it is not hand tinted. So I just took a pic from my ephemera collection, scanned and colored with cotton swabs and powdered pigments. The colors here are honestly a bit too heavy handed, I find eye shadows work well to give a more subtle look.

This project should take about an hour, so if you're looking for a last minute idea...here you go!

Cheers!
Madge

The Twelve Crafts of Christmas: Wine Bottle Gift Tag Wreath

Will the Retrofabulosity EVER stop?!

No. No it won't, galdangy!

You can get the step by step instructions for this kicky little wine bottle ornament right here, just click on the text! If you don't have any mini-wreath forms, just use 18 gauge wire and make one yourself. You can do it, don't fret, my pet.

If you'd like to know what Madge wants for Christmas, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc sounds FAB-U.

xoxo
Madge

The TWELVE (Retrofabulous) Crafts of Christmas! Day One!

Make Christmas Pretty...With Balls! (And Brini, Madge and MaryEllen)

Yup, I'm all over it like glitter on a glue stick! Welcome to the Twelve Crafts of Christmas here at The Impatient Crafter blog. Today's kick off is a video produced by my dear friend Brini Maxwell. We met up in her former Manhattan flat a couple of years back and had a blast playing with balls! Deck the halls...with balls! Huzzah! Brini's alter ego, Ben Sander, has launched a fascinating new site called The Obscurity Factor, if you love movies and kitsch...you have got to go check it out.

Stay tuned for more holiday retrofabulosity, Avalon has created a tiny masterpiece for tomorrow's post.

Cheers,
Madge

Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration: Suzy Snowflake Snowlady

Here comes Suzy Snowflake...

This is perhaps one of my favorite projects...ever. I spent three full days carefully working on this, waiting patiently for the layer upon layers of material to dry. There was one craftastrophic moment with her nose, which I fixed with a few new layers of faux snow and a bead...PHEW! She is a little kitschy crafterpiece inspired by a project in a 1966 Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas magazine and I am completely smitten. She was a labor of love. Not for a book or a magazine or a manufacturer, but just for the love of making. I know, she's funky, she's weird...she's...well...totally Madge.

I used a variety of materials including a generous sprinkling of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS (check out her tiny jewelries and her arms), fabric flowers, Aleene's Glitter Snow, Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue, pink and snowflake sequins, tinsel ball chain ribbon, pink bubble and glitter organza ribbon, head pins and eye pins, Aleene's Fabric Fusion tape, 20 gauge Beadalon German style wire...and Stickles glitter glue in Stardust from Ranger. I used Sharpee pens to color in her facial features. I scored these peppermint beads a few years back at my friend Stan's shop. I don't know if he has any left, but his url is www.greatcraftworks.com. I got the mini-flocked trees on close out a few years ago, just added glitter, sequins, ball chain and a peppermint bead tree topper. If you make something similar, be sure to use steel or hard tension armatures, she needs stability, regular craft wire will not work. There is an armiture wiring her body together and a second armiture wiring her to the styrofoam stand. She needs to be free from the stand during the embellishment process.When you glue headpins with embellishments into her or the stand, make sure you dab some Tacky Glue on the stem of the headpin. This keeps them from working themselves back out over time.

A crafty angel donated a HUGE plethora of vintage craft magazines to Studio Madge this weekend. There is so much inspiration inside my head is spinning! Huge thanks to Erin Holloway (and Ms. Phylma.) You are at least seventeen different kinds of awesome! (Check out Erin's tatting work, a ma zing!)

Stay tuned for more Retrofabulosity from Studio Madge for the Holidaze and beyond! And if you've not heard this lovely holiday song yet, below is a YouTube video with the incomparable Rosemary Clooney singing Suzy Snowflake. Divine.

Cheers,
Madge