WAFA/Sarah Barnes

I stumbled upon the WAFA collective a little while ago and was super stoked and inspired. WAFA (We Are Fucking Awesome) is composed of artists all over the world and aims to bring people together to inspire and ignite each artists' work; WAFA (We Are Fucking Awesome) is a global artist collective dedicated to the support and development of emerging artists. We are an international network of working artists... Our hope is to bring together a community of artists, united by collaboration, to inspire one another. To have the sense of family and community restored, where we can belong and continue to give value to what we believe in. To have an open dialogue about everything we experience, and the free exchange of ideas, knowledge and tools. Our focus is on collaborative works and initiatives. All work documented on this website was created by two or more artists working together. We have found that collectively we are stronger than individually. Yeah, they are fucking awesome.

One of my faves is Sarah Barnes, a collage artist and embroiderer.

Lovely. Check out this interview with her. And don't miss her beautiful blog.

Tumblr Love

I semi-recently got a tumblr account and I must say, I'm pretty much addicted.

I love that, with one button, I can post any pretty lil picture I see. And it's pretty cool to have a place to file all my inspirations (ie: not load up my computer with it all). Right now I have about a billion different folders on my computer with all sorts of inspiration in em- art, DIY projects, tattoos, makeup, home, and on and on. It's rediculous. 

Do you have a tumblr?? Let me know, I'd love to follow you! Do you have any favorites you wanna share? Check mine out here!

Patchwork Pattern Maker

A little bit ago, I found this super neat Patchwork Pattern Maker from the Victoria and Albert Museum while browsing the blogosphere. You can upload a photo of anything and it creates a pattern for you. You can crop the photo, change the shape, decide how many different colors you would like to use, and determine the complexity of the piece. 

Here's a quilt made from a picture of precious little Humphrey.

Before

After

Here's one of me making a funny face.

Before

After

Cool huh?

Last Minute Gift Idea

I'm sure y'all are already stocked up on presents. I bet they are all wrapped up pretty and everything. This year's shopping has been so hard for me. I have acquired some really amazing friends this year and I reeeeaaally wanted to get each and every one of them some super special handmade or local present- something really well thought out that would show each of them how much I really appreciate them. But I've just drawn a blank all season. I literally can't think of anything at all- not even for my sister. Buying presents for people is pretty much my most favorite thing ever. What is going on here??

Well I settled on writing everyone heartfelt cards which, in hindsight, was actually quite hard. I'm not so great at openly expressing my feelings like that. But it was good practice and I hope my friends see how wonderful they are and how thankful I am for them. If I could do it over, I think I would make aaaaalllll of them super special Blurb books filled with pictures and memories and drawings and letters. Blurb is this really great site where you can make all sort of books. I made my cousin one about four years ago when her first baby was born. It was filled with all the pictures I had taken. I got to design everything from the layout to the color scheme. It's easy and affordable (I think the small soft cover book I made was $12 or something). Plus you can share the book you've made and buy books other people have made.

And if you need a last minute stocking stuffer, Blurb has gift cards! I want one : )

Crafty Christmas Club

I stumbled upon the Crafty Christmas Club via the super adorable blog Tilly and the Buttons.

It's a super cute blog where Tilly chronicles her adventures in sewing. Anyways, the Crafty Christmas Club is filled with ideas and inspiration for those of us who like to make our presents.

There is seriously so much to look at! I wanna make everything. Check it out. Which project do you want to make? Are you giving handmade this season?

Frances Crafeteria/Urban Beans

This weekend was so fun. First off I started by participating the 5th annual Crafeteria at Frances, Phoenix's best indie craft fair. It was so fun and I met so many cool people! I even had a few folks come up to my booth and tell me they read my blog!! (Hello Ladies!!) It was so so exciting!

I did not exactly have time to get some really good pictures, which is a total bummer cause there was some seriously cute stuff I know y'all would love. I sold upcycled/repurposed grandpy sweaters and fur collars, and doily bowls filled with vintage ornaments. I was honored to display some things Etsy sent us on my booth. It was fun being able to talk to people about Etsy and the handmade movement.

On Sunday we had a booth at Urban Beans, a really good coffee shop here is Phoenix (7th st just North of Osborn. My friends Andrea and Rebecca work there so be sure to say hello!) It was really fun to spend the day surrounded my all the pretty things in our shop, relaxing after a busy weekend. 

Kenny, one of my partners in the GROWop also runs the urban garden that surrounds our shop (I know, I know I seriously need to tell you all about the GROWop and show you pictures). He brought some veggies for us to package and sell. It was so good to be able to just hang out with Kenny and I am so so excited for where the GROWop is going. I think we've got a pretty special team and I am so thankful for my boys : )

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? Anyone celebrate Hanukkah (is that spelled right?)?

So pretty!

I wish I could have gone to the Little Winter Handmade Market- because Portland is super neat and this video from Clever Nettle is just so pretty! I love how simple and pretty the place is decorated. So inspiring!

Thankful Thursdays v9

Hello Hello! I hope you all are having a wonderful week. Mine has kinda been flying by. I can't believe it's already November! Do you think it's too soon to decorate for Christmas? Here's a confession- I looove Christmas and probably have more boxes of antique, vintage, and handmade Christmas stuff than anything else (I'm only slightly joking).  Aaanyways, here's what I am thankful for this week!

New babies. We welcomed my cousin's sweet little girl Kaylin into the world this Monday. Awe.





Twitter. I'm just getting the hang of it. But I'm kind of addicted! There are so many neat folks sharing the coolest, most inspiring things- my favorites are @go2publicschool, @Junkculture, and @Teenangster. If your on Twitter let's be friends (@mmhandmade).

Finding Shaun Kardinal's work (via @junkculture- told you they're good). I'm in love.




Smart friends. I am totally a type a person. That means I get super overwhelmed by everything because I want to be a hero- I wanna help everyone, do everything, and do it perfect. Of course, I can rationalize that perfect just doesn't exist but sometimes I get caught up in it all. Do you have these moments? I think we all do. They are sometimes hard to shake but its easier when you have smart friends to talk to and to support you.

What are you thankful for this week?

Your Pretty Little Ghosts!

Oh my I was so excited to get all your pictures of your pretty ghosts. I had such a fun time doing this little project and I am so happy you folks liked it! I hope we can continue this! Anyways, now that I have professed my love for you all and your mad crafty skills, here are pictures of all of the pretty ghosts people made!

Meghan over at Twisted Tree made these pretty ones- I love the glasses: )

Lisa at Good Knits made this cutie. I love the fabric so much!

Barbara from Mephaela made these- check out that lace! And the monocle!

Kara from Sunshine Cupcakes made these ghosties with the help of some friends. I loooove their faces!

Stephanie of Craft Inspiration made these cute ones with her daughter. The made small ones, put them on the top of pencils and are giving them to her daughter's teachers- brilliant!

Jessica from Chloe the Doxie Love made these pretty girls. Look at their cute little mouths!



Be sure to check out these ladies' lovely blogs and say hello!

Thanks again to everyone. I love you all to pieces! Have a fabulous Monday : )

Virtual Craft Night Part 1

I'm so so excited that y'all were down to do a virtual craft night! With the help of the amazing Kara of Sunshine Cupcakes, virtual craft night is just about here.

So here's how it will work. On Friday I will post the DIY on how to make these precious little ghosties. That way you'll have plenty of time to gather up supplies and start working. Monday evening (still working on the time- I'm thinking around 5pm AZ time) we will have a live twitter chat (using the hashtag #merrymay). It is easiest, I've found, to have one tab open with your personal twitter home page and another open to the #merrymay search page (if you have any suggestions please share). During this live chat we can get to know each other, discuss and questions or issues we might have, and share ideas and inspiration! Then you will have a week to finish up your little ghost friend and send pictures to me. Monday October 25th I will post all of our creations here on my blog! Grab a badge ( <---) and tell your friends!

Check out this super cute video my sister and I created! I am so excited.

Needle Felting 101 and Giveaway Winner!

I know you probably just want me to announce who was randomly chosen to win my lil' owly scarf buuuut I thought I should tell you how I made it. My mom, who is working on a super special giveaway for my super special blog buddies (that's you!) that'll be coming soon, got me this fancy little wool scarf. At the time she owned a small shop in downtown Glendale, AZ. She had a studio in the back where she held different classes like rug hooking and needle felting. This was one of my first attempts at needle felting (which should tell you how incredibly fun and easy it is). In order to needle felt you simply need wool roving (basically combed and dyed wool that is also used for spinning yarn)



a felting needle (it's like a long needle with tiny prongs on it that catches and compacts the fibers)

and finally a base (in this case the wool scarf. However you can easily create 3d figures by omitting the base and free form shaping the object with your needle). Both photos are from Peace Fleece.

Easy right? You just put the roving where you want it to be and punch the needle in. To find out more check out this funny lady's video.

So without further adieu.... the winner is Kim from Yellow Songbird! She'll need it for those snowy Colorado winters! Send me your contact info to merrymayhandmade(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send it right out!

Ahhh the weekend

<3 Found here <3

Even though there is surely tons I should be doing, I'm spending this weekend relaxing, estate sale-ing, hanging with my sister, and going to see a movie. What are you doing this weekend?

GIVEAWAY time.

I made this wooly scarf a while back and thought it would the perfect Fall-y gift for one of my lovely friends. I embellished the scarf by needle felting a cute little owl girl on it and adding felted flowers. And I'm sure I'll find some more extra special fallish goodies to go along with it!

All you have to do to win is follow my blog (if you don't already) and tell your friends too- facebook it, tweet it (@mmhandmade), blog it. Leave a comment with your email address and the link to your post, tweet, etc. For extra entries, follow me on twitter and on facebook! The winner will be chosen in a week.

Easy Peasy Fall Wreath DIY

I found this awesome DIY last year around this time. I liked it because its super easy and made with empty toilet paper rolls- I love making treasures out of trash!

The DIY is to make wall art but, as I was making mine, I thought it would be cute to make a leafy little wreath.

So here's what you need:
Empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls
Scissors
Glue
Paper clips, laundry pins, or bobby pins
(optional: paint, glitter, fake flowers, ribbons, or other decorative items)

Now all I did was squeeze the towel roll so it looked a little leafy and cut it into about one inch pieces. You can measure and mark where you want to cut if you want it to be precise but I cut mine all different widths to add dimension.

Then I randomly glued them all together piece by piece. I created the inner circle shape first, gluing each piece and holding them together with pins. Then I added additional pieces to  fill out my wreath and create an interesting shape (I swear, the hardest part was deciding which configuration I liked best!).

After the glue dries you get to decorate it! You can paint it, add glitter, maybe glue on some creepy Halloween bugs. I added some orange and yellow flowers and a big bow made from black rick rack, orange textured ribbon, and my favorite polka dot ribbon.

Four Simple Goals Revisited

We have decided to do craft night more often and I am so excited. Craft night will now be every other Wednesday (the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month) from 5-8pm at 908 N. 6th Street (at Butter Toast Boutique).

That means A) more time to hang with my favorite crafty folks, and B) built in time for working on my four simple goals.

Goal three was to spend more time being creative. I've been doing pretty good with this goal. In fact, today I printed out a weekly craft journal to make crafting appointments each day.  So, while I spend a lot of time holed up at home creating, its gonna be great to share and be inspired by others.

Goal four was to bake more. Having craft night every other week gives me a reason to make delicious treats. And since my dear friend is vegan, I am really excited to challenge myself to master vegan baking.  Yahoo!

OOOOH Idea! How do you feel about a blog craft night? If your interested let me know by comment or email and I'll work out the logistics : )

I also wanted to extend a warm welcome to new followers. I've gotten quite a few more followers of the past week or so and I'm so excited! Thanks so much for your support. I can't wait to get to know you!

100 Abandoned Houses

I came across this website earlier today and had to share it with you. The artist began the project as a hobby, documenting his decaying neighborhood. The photos are gorgeous, sad, nostalgic, haunting, and peaceful- all at the same time.

Beautiful Losers

When we went to Los Angeles for FYF Fest I promised myself that, outside of food and the like, I would not buy anything else. I had almost made it until our last minute, on our way out of town trip to Amoeba Records in Hollywood. (Okay, so in retrospect it is almost unbelievable that I didn't blow big bucks at the huge and wonderful place, especially after my Saturday filled with amazing music.) Anyways, I ended up picking up the movie Beautiful Losers, which I watched only a small part of (after wanting to see it for ages!) but was sooo inspired. But, hey, they were having a Labor Day sale so I saved a good dollar or so : )

Check it out.

Giveaway Winner!!

I'm a tad late at choosing the winner for the embroidery giveaway. I really love embroidery so I wish I could make each and every one of you winners! But don't worry cause there will be another awesome giveaway soon enough : ) Using a random number generator, the winner is...

Ashley!

Congrats Ashley. I'll email you asap.

Tattoos

I've been itching for a new tattoo lately.

Maybe its because my friend Jasmine and I keep talking about going or maybe it's the amazing Tattoo Tuesday series over at Sometimes Sweet, which I am obsessed with. I know I want the words "Make Do and Mend" on the inside of my bicep- but that's all I have come up with so far. Any crafty little ideas?

(All of the photos I collected over time and do not know where I got them from. If you know where I found it or who the photo belongs to please let me know so I can give credit where it is due : )