Screen printing diy exposure units?

[sporadicity.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm just starting to get into screen printing/silk screening and I was wondering if any of you have built your own exposure unit (light table)? I've been looking online and the only instructions I've found for building one is this one.

Can anyone point me to other places on how to make an exposure unit or clear instructions on how to make one?

Thanks!

stuffed animal hammock

[macabre-grrl.livejournal.com]

Does anyone own a stuffed animal hammock? It was this thing that you hung in the corner of the ceiling and you put your stuffed toys in it, like a mini cargo net.

I need one, since I have a fondness for stuffed toys and my mother keeps bringing me my old toys. Can it be made? Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make one? I've never seen one in real life, and buying one would cost $12 and UP! Crazy!

Durr. A bit of brainstorming caused me to think of the right google words and voila:

How to Knit a Hammock. It's PERFECT! Hopefully someone else will find this useful too. All I need now is to find a secure way to hang the thing. Ideas appreciated!

(no subject)

[chickbrarian.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine got one of those "Household Tips" books from the fifties. I was flipping through it and found a really neat idea: bookends from stuffed animals. You just take out the stuffing and fill them with rocks or sand.

Madonna Halloween Costume Help

[loopaygirl.livejournal.com]

Sooo! I want to be Madonna for Halloween. Not just Madonna, but 80s Madonna- think the Lucky Star video. So I'm googling around for stuff and heres what I've found:

*white tank top with lots of colorful mardi gras necklaces, colorful tutu(ripped), high wrinkled socks with red pantyhose and red high heels.

*Black lace gloves, lots of bangles on each arm, big hoop earings, a black headband and hair clipped back and teased ( perferably blonde), black tanktop and an off the shoulder black sweater. Black leggings, or a black short skirt. Black ankle boots. Black eye liner, and lots of mascara.

*Think "Like a Virgin" with lots of lace, a bare midriff and crosses for jewelry. Probably the most 80s look of hers that is memorable (I recommend against those pointy bra things she did near the end of the decade).

I really like the second one but does anyone have any other suggestions for how I can do a CHEAP Madonna costume? Thanks! :)

(no subject)

[grammardog]

I made these for my boyfriend to mark our first year together. They are Hershey caramel Kisses doubled up (for the rosebuds) and Werther's candies for the leaves, all wrapped with tissue paper, floral tape, and wire. Yummy!

(no subject)

[heartfeltdesign.livejournal.com]

a while ago i posted some pictures of a pre-dress homecoming thing i had thrown together on my mannequin, i said i would keep you guys updated on its progress, BUT the dress died, and it had a hard time fitting my sister so i had to re-do quite a bit of it, and now it looks like this!
she got lots of complements on it at the dance : ) made me happy

(no subject)

[renai.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to re-teach myself how to crochet, and I'm having the hardest time. I had a teacher in 5th grade who taught the entire class how to crochet a basic chain. We never learned anything more advanced than that, although at one point I taught myself how to crochet a hat. Too bad it was small enough to fit on one of my dolls heads...

I've tried reading crochet patterns, and I get completely lost every time. I'd like to be able to make a hat using just a basic chain, and nothing fancy or complicated. I'd like to make a basic beanie that would fit on an adults head, and I'd really just like some simple pointers as to how I could do this.

How long of a chain should I start with?
How do I make it circular?
How do I make sure that it will fit an adult sized head?

I'm at work right now I have a 9mm hook, and 1 skein of super soft and fluffy yarn (I don't have the label, so I'm not positive what exactly it is). Help help help help help!

Cross posted to diy_tutorials, craftgrrl, and crochet.

Sewing machine + cat hair = project

[bertha79.livejournal.com]

Problem: Sewing machine getting encrusted with cat fur
Solution: Sew a cute dust cover out of fabric!

Problem: Fabric attracts 1000 times more cat hair than naked machine.
Solution: Buy one of those pre-made vinyl dust covers

Problem: Those are not particularly attractive
Solution: Find some kitchy vinyl and make your own dust cover!

Pics behind cut:
( Read more... )

Ruby Slippers

[delia-ann.livejournal.com]

I am sure many of us are busy working on our Halloween costumes this week, and with that being said:

I am going for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz this year (creative, I know). I need to make my Ruby Slippers this week, so of course I turn to the oh-so-knowledgeable members of this community! I have a pair of ( plain black pumps )

that I need to turn into ( these )

.

After browsing the memories [and keeping in mind these only need to make it through one night], I figure I can spray paint them red, then apply a very thin layer of glue and coat them with red glitter [no time this week to do sequins :(]. This sounds a bit too simple to me, so I need so reassurance and/or suggestions about how this can work better.

Thanks in advance!

Various and sundry:

[queencallipygos.livejournal.com]

1. First: thanks for the ideas on the dark green vase. The beads sounded like a GREAT idea (no chance to try that yet, but soon).

2. People keep referring to a store called "Michael's". What is that? I'm in NYC, if that helps (i.e., if this is a chain that exists only in the Midwest or something).

3. Although, people in the NYC area, I can say nothing but good things about the Pearl Paint craft supplies store.

4. Okay. I had an idea for gifts for people this year -- I have a membership in a service that lets you get things like movie tickets, play tickets, etc. for discounts. One of the things you can order from them is gift certificates to Blockbuster, or movie theaters, or such. You can only get them in packs of ten.

What I was thinking of doing, though, was: I have a few people on my Christmas list that I never know what to get them, including a whole family of aunt/uncle/cousins/cousin's husband/cousin's daughter. I was thinking of ordering a couple ten-packs of movie gift certificates or Blockbuster certificates, splitting them up into pairs, and then giving each couple a pair of certificates (the family would get four or something). But, because they're just, well, gift certificates, I wanted to throw in a little something more.

I was thinking some kind of "movie night" gift basket -- sending along a package of popcorn and Jujubees or something. But I was looking for ideas to jazz up the popcorn. I've found spice mixes that you can mix with butter to drizzle over the popcorn; any other ideas? Or, even non-popcorn ideas?

(no subject)

[piratecore.livejournal.com]

( more monster pictures )

i hope this is related!

[exitwounds.livejournal.com]

(yet another)question:

i make silkscreens like this:


on fabric panels that i usually embellish afterwards (note the embroidery on it). in a critique, a professor started suggesting other things for playing around besides just printing, such as using glitter, paint pens, etc. one of the things she suggested was to look for flocking, saying it could look either chintzy or neat, she wasn't certain. i like the idea of this quite a lot, so i tried searching for some. only trouble is, i can't find a lot on it.

has anyone ever used flocking? is there a way to dye it (i.e, i buy a lot of white and then dye to match/maybe silkscreen over it? does anyone know where to get it? can one make it? i was tempted to shave pipe cleaners but i'm pretty certain that won't work. :)

i figured if anyone knew how to do this, you crafty ones would. thanks for your help!
-meg

my sp00ky little mummy !!

[dropkickjessie.livejournal.com]

get into it!



**a cowgirl will be coming soon!

help me keep my belly & lower-back warm!

[sugarmommaless.livejournal.com]

Hi craftgrrls!
I have a funny fashion dilemma that needs a crafty touch.
With the popularity of low-rise pants, I've ended up buying some not-too-smart pants for my office. Specifically, I have pants that fit me really well except that they are too low for me to be able to tuck my shirt into them except maybe 1" of the hem.

As a result, my lower back gets really cold and sometimes I get a bit of a plumber effect... if you know what I mean. (*blush*) My girl-belly also seems to poke out of the shirts even though I’m pretty slim. It would probably look cute on a teenager, but I’m pushing 30 and I work in an office with a dress code.

( Read more... )

So... what I was thinking is: Can I sew my button-down office shirts to my underwear (I'd make sure that they were the same colour) so that the shirts will stay tucked in? Or maybe I could put snaps on the shirt and snaps on the inside of the pants's waistband(s)?
( Read more... )

Unravelled

[faegoddess.livejournal.com]

So I unravelled one of my sweaters and I did it slightly wrong, so now I have pieces of yarn instead of one big piece -- what can I do with this? Can I make felt from it? I did use some of it in a scarf, I just tied ends together...but that's not going to work for all of it.

Any suggestions?

ladies and gents

[melena.livejournal.com]

today i went to party city to stock up on some last-minute decorations for my last-minute halloween party. i came home with plenty of those, and four foam heads, $4 each.

where i am, those heads are usually around $3 each, and don't come with faces. these came with detachable faces! you can choose between a woman face or a man face...

from what i could tell, the heads had been used to display wigs and/or masks that had already been bought. they were all in decent shape, and if you dug aroun dyou could find some pretty nice ones (i'd say there were 50 available where i was)/


anyways for you crocheters and knitters and maybe wig/synth dread makers (i am not too familiar on what all the right terminology for all those various hair products is, sorry), this could be a good opportunity to stock up on a bunch of heads for a pretty low price. plus FACES! come on!



i don't know if this is at ALL party city locations, or if any other costume-y stores might be running a similar deal, but i figured it was worth putting out there.



xposted crochet and craftgrrl

(no subject)

[shwiggles.livejournal.com]

( Newest creation! )

(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_redcrayon/]

I'm sorry if this has been posted or if someones posted about it, etc.

But does anyone have ideas on how to make fairy wings. I have this really great sheering fabric I'd like to use, but how would I go about doing it? Any suggestions will help! <33

cheesecloth ghosts

[welovegaloshes.livejournal.com]

This ghost is freestanding, made out of starched cheesecloth. Just in case you are interested, I made a quick tutorial too.
( how to )

(no subject)

[slitmythroatred.livejournal.com]

Noone kill me...Can anyone give me an idea on a costume I could make or buy?
I wanted to wear black and white fake eyelashes and I'm doing making cobwebs with eyeliner on my eyes. I don't know what I could make to go with that. I didn't want to be a spider or anything to do with that..so suggestions?


I'll delete this is it isn't appropriate or if people are just sick of hearing these posts =P

this is halloween, halloween, halloween (any nightmare before christmas fans out there?)

[spunkyartsyvibe.livejournal.com]

So, every year there's a great big competition between classes as to which grade has the most people dress up on Halloween. This year, our theme is Peter Pan. Therefore you have Peter, Wendy & the kids, Captain Hook, all the pirates, the Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, etc, to choose from. I know that all the girls are going to be slutty Tinkerbells. I, myself, however, wanted to be something completely original, although I would make a damn cute Tinkerbell. I was thinking it would be kind of funny to be Tinkerbell that ran into a wall, with sprawling hair, running eye makeup, battered clothing, and smashed up wings. Put a little edge on Tinkerbell, or any other character for that matter. So, does anyone have any creative ideas for a Peter Pan inspired Halloween costume? Thanks in advance.

 

excessive jingle bells

[ilovehounds.livejournal.com]

i just finished making a doggie doorbell and now i have several dozen jingle bells left. ideas?

(i don't really decorate my house for christmas since i live alone.)

EDIT: perhaps something for my three year old nephew? it's the first year he'll really "get" christmas.

(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/beetlejuice_/]

Hello everyone. I have been in this community for a while but this is my first post.
First Id like to say I love you all you guys are the most creative and craft people Ive even seen<33

Yay. So yea.. I only have one thing to show you.
( Mr. Tampon )

A metal press + pennies =

[winter83.livejournal.com]

( Fun Times!  )

Supplies question

[nezchan.livejournal.com]

I've got a problem and I was hoping that someone here might be able to help. I live in Ottawa, and I'm trying to track down an 8mm crochet hook for a project, but I can't find one anywhere. I've looked at Michael's (in South Keys), Wal-Mart and Zellers, with no luck at all. They all seem to carry up to 6.5 or 7 mm, then jump all the way up to 10 mm.

If anyone knows where I can find hooks around the 7.5 - 9 mm range in Ottawa, please let me know. Failing that, if anyone knows an online shop that ships to Canada, I'd appreciate it. Thanks, girls!

It's Halloweenie time!

[ordinarymeghan.livejournal.com]

Hey kids, I'm new in this community and this is my first post, so don't be too harsh! :-P

This is the first Halloween costume I've made, so I was a little nervous... but I'm pretty happy with the results!

It still have to be taken in a little bit in the back, so it looks a bit frumpy... but you get the general idea!

( All that jazz. )

♥

(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_sea_ghost/]

For Halloween, I want to be 2 things (Ed from Cowboy Bebop, for school, and a female Alex from A Clockwork Orange for parties).. I have the first costume all figured out, but I'm having some trouble being Alex.
Basically, I need to be able to make a skirt using something thick (not like a t-shirt or pillowcase, etc). I've searched thrift stores for something I could use, but no luck. Any ideas as to what I can use to make a skirt? It's going to be a mini, like the ones they sell at Hollister, 'cept white.
Here's what I'm planning on wearing for the costume:
`bowler hat
`white mini
`white button-down shirt
`white suspenders
`black boots or high-top chucks, whichever i can find
`possibly fishnets
`i'm not taking a cane.
Am i missing anything?
Thanks in advance for any help :]

(no subject)

[jesamine.livejournal.com]

hmm, does anyone know how i'd go about making a cummerbund? i suppose it's pretty easy...but i've never seen a real one, lol...

help!?

(no subject)

[lemonglitz.livejournal.com]

I decided to try something new today and I made a few patches. I had plans to put them on bags, but I only did one and half because I noticed a problem. The ink smudges!
Is there any way to seal an image on suede. I haven’t heard of anything, so if you know of a special technique or solution, please tell me. I’d hate for this to get damaged anymore than it already has. Maybe I could go over it with fabric paint?

I may have to throw this patch in with my stash of reject projects, but if I do I think might use it on a pillow or frame it, so I can't touch it.

Lucky for me, the first one is still in pretty good condition.

This patch is about 7.5 x 8 inches.
( Here's the one I finished )