I'm just full of news lately, aren't I? The folks at JCaroline Creative have announced their biggest sale ever, now through July 10. Hundreds of fabrics, ribbons, and craft goodies are discounted. Including Kokka fabrics at nearly half off, and you can save a few dollars a yard on my prints, too.
While browsing on Etsy, I came across Mari Forssell's shop full of simple, modern bags in delicious fabrics. Mari is originally from Finland, now living in Nebraska. She's been sewing since she was a tiny girl and adores Marimekko fabrics. (Me too!)
We've arranged a little giveaway: leave a comment on this post before midnight CDT on Thursday (7/2/09), and a random winner will receive this hip red-orange shopping tote. Include a link or way of contacting you. The winner will be announced on Friday in this post.
I've been flipping through review copies of some nifty craft books. Take a look.
You can learn to knit crazy animals and, um... people? in The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch by Donna Wilson. They're so wacky that I think I love them.
The Perfect Apron by Rob Merrett features 35 apron projects that vary from simple to frou-frou. With so many to choose from, one of them probably is your perfect apron. The book has tear-out patterns and templates, too. Nice.
And so that men-folk don't feel neglected, I present to you ManCrafts, reprinted from WWII-era Popular Mechanics articles. Learn about leather tooling, block printing, braiding and knotting, and most essential: fly tying. Full of great wisdom, such as, "The true woodsman has great respect but no fear for his axe," and "Fly tying is one of the most interesting and useful of all the handicrafts." Really? Mentally noted.
Some buddies came over last night and we made magazine baskets. My paper weaving phase is getting out of control. In the spirit of spontaneous DIY experimentation, we decided to create a new drink, whereupon we mixed peach vodka, raspberry lemonade, and Venetian Carnival Pinot Grigio (purchased for its exciting label). Not good; don't do it. Since we didn't drink much of the stuff, our baskets turned out pretty well.
My latest after-dinner-while-watching-TV project: woven coasters made from magazine pages. To make a coaster like the green one above:
3. To start weaving, interlock two strips. This is the bottom left corner of your coaster.
4. Add another strip that wraps around the outside of the horizontal bottom strip.
5. Continue weaving. Some strips will wrap around the outside of the coaster when you start them; some will begin sandwiched between two existing strips. See above. Keep adding to your coaster one strip at a time, making sure to push the papers tightly together. Flip your coaster over and check the back frequently to make sure nothing's going haywire back there!
6. When the coaster has 6 horizontal and 6 vertical strips, it's time to finish the edges. Strips that emerge on the outsides of the "coaster sandwich" need to be secured. Trim off one end of the strip so it's even with the edge of the coaster. Bring the other end around the edge of the coaster and tuck it under the closest weave to hide the raw ends. You should have just enough length to reach.
7. Strips that emerge from the inside of the sandwich can simply be cut off. If you want to seal your coaster with something, you could try some spray acrylic sealer and see what happens. Personally, I don't care if mine gets a little wrinkly from being wet. Happy weaving.
I discovered Pingg, an online invitation, e-card and event management company, months ago. I see they're growing rapidly and have added several new artists to their Designer Series, above. So in case Evite's clunky invitations aren't stylish enough for you, try out Pingg's free service. You can post your announcements directly to Facebook and Twitter, too. 
Or if you like the look of formal cardstock invitations and the virtual experience of opening an envelope, check out Paperless Post, currently in Beta. You can create an account, design your invitation, and then purchase "stamps" to send them out. Stamps start at $5.00 for 60 invitations, a fraction of the cost of real postage. Invite your friends and get free stamps! In fact, I'm inviting you all. If you're interested, try out Paperless Post.
Are you a graphic designer? Or maybe you play one on TV. You might enjoy browsing through these design galleries.
Want to play a typography game that will make you crazy? Try kerning in space at Veer. "On earth you kern with the best of them. But how well do your skills hold up in a fraction of earth's gravity? Check the gauges, fire the boosters, and do your best to give 80-point type a 3-point landing." Good luck, earthlings. It's super hard.
More tutorials for when you're itching to create something handmade:
The girls at Kindred have released another batch of free wallpapers with a summertime theme. Enjoy!
We've started making Buttercup bags in a new, larger size for those who need more room for carrying your earthly belongings. A couple are listed in the shop, with more to come.
Helen Dardik, illustrator extraordinaire, is offering three different printable bookplates, free. Thanks, Helen!
G'morning, everybody. If you feel like a little shopping, Fabric.com is offering a $5 gift certificate to How About Orange readers. It's a one time use coupon valid from June 12th to June 19th. Enter the code blogorange when you check out to cash in your five bucks. 
I'm still on the newspaper kick. I picked out the parts with colored ads and made these flowers with instructions from the book Paper Flowers by Michael LaFosse. Found it at the library. These are made with two pages of newspaper glued together to make a thicker sheet. 
There they are, adorning the newspaper basket.
Last night's project, a basket made from old newspaper. After seeing this post at CraftStylish, I was inspired to try one. Maybe I'll keep books and remote controls in it.
1. I cut the folded edge off a couple sections of newspaper and then cut those pages in half lengthwise. I used about 20 pages for this basket (about 40 strips). My rotary cutter and cutting mat made short work of the cutting. Recommended if you have one.
Okay, guys, I've got it all figured out. My new life plan. I will buy this apartment in Stockholm and move to Sweden. (Photo from Apartment Therapy.)
Then I'll get a job in Madrid at the Selgas Cano architecture office. Look! It's in the woods! The commute might be killer, but everyone says European countries are small and close together, so it shouldn't be a problem. And never mind that I'm not an architect; maybe they'll let me make the cafe con leche and clean the windows or something. (Photos from ArchDaily.)
And then, when I'm exhausted from all that work, I'll vacation here at the Hollmann Beletage in Vienna. Be sure to mouse over all the "Tour" pictures on their site; it's fun! (Photos from Hollmann Beletage.)
I have a bit of a bowl fixation lately (at least making paper ones like this and this), so when I came across this reversible fabric model at Imagine Fabric, I was delighted. ('Course it doesn't hurt that it's orange, either.) Make your own with their instructions. 
Has anyone tried out Aviary, the online image editor yet? I haven't tested it, but it looks like a pared-down version of Adobe Photoshop (they call theirs Phoenix) and Adobe Illustrator (they call it Raven). Yep, you can edit vector images too. And it's free. Go take it for a spin.
Download this cute little printable PDF from Heirloom Paperie. Every Tuesday they post a free template; thanks, guys. Via iDiY, which is chock full of good stuff.
And so that we can stay connected and share our work with each other, here are two new Flickr pools:
