vintage craft workshop

April 28, 2011 //

This book is delightfully different. It is unavoidably motivating for mums with a retro inspired crafty itch.

While there are many gorgeous crafty books that I find generally inspiring, Vintage Craft Projects has really whipped that inspiration into something far more focussed and intentional. As in the title, this is a true workshop.

The projects are not lightly crafty….they are simple, though often require specific materials and skills that achieve brilliant results. Ican’t wait to get started, but I need a few particular tools I don’t have in the kids’ craft cupboard…but when I do get started…whoaa! stand back!

Cathy Callahan is a talented woman inspired by crafts from the 60s and 70s. She gives them a fresh approach…from macramé, appliqué, decoupagé, and more!

With an eye toward style, not kitsch, superstar contributors including Diane Gilleland, Jill Bliss, and Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith offer their unique interpretations on 24 vintage projects.

Brimming with inspiration shots straight from Callahan’s vintage craft books, colour photographs of the finished projects, profiles of the original crafters, and tidbits about this unforgettable era, this spirited book makes vintage crafts perfectly stylish for today.
Plus, it’s easy to get started with step-by-step instructions, how-to illustrations, perforated template pages, and a handy back pocket.

Vintage Craft Workshop has just been released and is @ tribe RRP $27.95

Tags cathy callahan, cathy of california, vintagr craft workshop

of pirates and mermaids….

April 7, 2011 //

i’m mildly obsessed by pirates, mermaids and robots at the moment, and in my wanderings have a little collection of treasures inspired by the high seas to share with you…

wall art by love mae

handmade pirate girl blocks by stack

pirate sock toy by supersockmonkeys

mermaid doll by tadpole creations

mermaid sisters paintig by rkdsign88

sea creature alphabet at sea urchin studios (divine!)

and @ tribe, this delightful pop-up book that started it all!

next post we’ll talk about ROBOTS!

Tags etsy finds, mermaid doll, mermaid theme, mermaids, pirate theme, pirate wall art, pirates

Categories etsy finds, tribe, tribe trends, Uncategorized

easter lovelies…..

April 5, 2011 //

We’re definitely starting to feel the lead up to Easter holidays! The kids have an Easter bonnet parade coming up at school so mum’s unrequited childish crafty streak gets another airing! Our orders are in for the School’s Hot Cross Bun Drive and I’m busy filling the shop with unique + inspiring Easter goodness…

5 little Easter thoughts, onto the tribe shop floor…Bec chose the first one, then there were four.

Four little Easter gifts, two and two, you see;

Renee took a carload of the next one, then there were three.

Three little Easter ideas, before we knew,
Natasha swooped that one up for her little ones…. then there were two.

Two little Easter gifts; oh, what fun,

One little Easter bunny; see me run!

if I keep on eating these! soon there’ll be none.

easter chic at tribe

Tags Easter bunny, Easter craft, Easter gifts, Easter ideas, Easter papercraft, giant freckle bunny, Mibo yolk folk, non-chocolate Easter ideas

Categories Easter gift ideas, just for fun, new releases at the tribe store, tribe

hopping mad with easter goodness…

March 22, 2011 //

Poppy and I spent some of the weekend experimenting with crafty Easter ideas. We experimented with the silk dye Easter egg kits we have at tribe at the moment. As an obsessive Virgo perfectionist (in my own little way), I was reasonably happy with the results.

Take a peek…

If you do decide to venture down the silk dyeing Easter egg path, i’ve got just a couple of extra tips…

1. it is recommended in the package that you hard boil your eggs. My friend Kim has successfully blown and dyed her eggs, so you could make an Easter egg tree display.

2. wet the silk as you wrap it around the eggs to get a nice close fit so that the patterns transfers brightly.

3. don’t overlap your silk pattern on the egg-only wrap once

4. buy nice small eggs..we bought “first lay “eggs which were very sweet and tiny. and buy them as light in colour as you can..ideally…

our next crafty idea was recycled wax crayons…

mmm….they look a bit yummy don’t they?

especially the chocolate ones…

how to make your own easter crayons…

you will need-

recycled crayons
glass jug
stirrer
microwave or oven
cheap easter shaped molds from the $2 store

we simply gathered up all the stubs of old crayons in the house, peeled off the wrappers (mildly therapeutic), made little piles of like colours and broke the bits into small pieces.

take a pyrex glass jug or similar and pop your first batch of colours in the jug and into the microwave. i’d read somewhere to put a little glass of water in the microwave too, for some safety reason. we did that, just in case. i set the timer to 10 minutes and stopped and stirred with a chop stick every 2 minutes. I learned along the way that you don’t want the wax to boil and bubble over..the little air holes are quite disturbing for a smooth chocolatey finish

let the mix cool a little (careful, as its super hot!!)…and when cooled a tad, pour into molds. The shapes will set at room temperature or are accelerated by cooling in the freezer. When cool, ease out of mold into soft hands, not hard bench. I think that if you have any trouble with the shapes not coming out of the mold, you could use a non-stick spray.

we are going to wrap ours in cellophane with a ribbon anda little bit of that paper Eastery grass….