Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants On December - 2 - 2008   ShareThis

I’ve been a whirling dervish of craftiness lately. It’s Bazaar Bizarre season once again and this year, I’m splitting a table with Miss Splityarn! I couldn’t be more delighted to be in such good company. She’s really going to class up my act, I think. Make me look good, y’know? Last year, my table was a little . . . over the top? I covered the table with a crazy piece of bright red “kittens knocking over Christmas ornaments” fabric, a bright blue metallic tree, and had all manner of random wares to sell. Keychains, baby dresses, photo albums. And probably a bunch of stuff I’ve totally forgotten about. (The keychains are staying.)

But this year, I’ve edited a lot out and am pretty happy with the results. I just love making things. I can’t help it. And I can’t stop. The last thing I labored lovingly over were these fabric-covered magnets. I’m still testing the hold of the adhesive magnet backings. They’re hanging on a magnetic board and once in a while I pull them on and off and slide them around to test the stickability. So far, so good!


These are my new favorites! The backings are clay poker chips from the 1940s or 50s (maybe earlier). They’re actually breakable if you drop them from high enough. Ask me how I know. And the images are from a bunch of insane romance comics from the 50s and 60s.


Yes. I cut them up. All of the magnets, buttons and keychains I make using vintage images actually use the vintage images. I try my best to use damaged books and magazines and trust me when I tell you that society is actually better off without these particular comic books. They make the Lifetime Channel look like The Ayn Rand/Gloria Steinem Memorial Theater Company. The men are strong and often heartless cads. The women go between gazing lovingly at them, weeping about them, and snarling at one another for stealing them away. Occasionally they smile at the thought of one of them before he did her wrong because she was being inattentive. Yeah. But darn if they don’t make amazing magnets!

And here is the packaging I came up with for this year. Last year, none of my products looked very cohesive or put together, but I think these really make it look like a “line” rather than a bunch of odds and ends. These are some of my favorites. The illustrated food is from an old cookbook and amazingly, the doll bits came from a variety of sources. The tweetheart bird fabric is from a vintage remnant.

I dug deep into my fabric stash and pulled out some of my favorite vintage pieces to make pouches and wristlets. As it turns out, I have a lot of prancing deer fabric. I only used two styles, so there will be more to come once the Bazaar is over. I’ll tell you about my new online shop further on down in this post.

This little project bag is also making me very happy. It’s made from an unfinished 1940s quilt top. I think that whoever started it would be happy to know it’s going to be used and loved by (hopefully) a number of people. All of them are a little different and they’re all lined with vintage fabric, as well.

And finally, something I’ve designed and redesigned countless times is finally ready for it’s closeup. I call them Wallflower Pendants. They’re made from vintage Bakelite poker chips and mid-century wallpaper samples. The bails and clasps are sterling silver. I looove the clasp, no pinchy thing, just an elegant, curvy hook.

I’ve been wearing mine a lot. Here’s what they look like on. Do you know how hard it is to look casual when taking a picture of yourself? But I eventually managed. Sort of. My head looks rather giant, eh?

So hopefully my paranoid fear that no one will buy a single thing will not come true. Someone is going to have to want those cupie doll pins, at least . . .

And finally, I have been slowly weaning myself off Etsy and started my own little shop on Big Cartel. I have a number of reasons for leaving Etsy and I’m excited to start anew. You can find it here, if you’d care to. I just added something extra special a few minutes ago, too. Ok, scratch that, I’m back at Etsy and dumped my Big Cartel shop. Heh. Bags made by my mom! Hers are the ones with her name, Stella, in the title. She’s my crafty inspiration, I spent my entire childhood watching her make all kinds of amazing things and at the moment, she and I are both on a big sewing kick. Here are a couple of my favorites. I think these would be great holiday gifts. How about something from my mom to yours?

9 Responses

  1. Marnie says:

    Wow, I’m feeling a serious amount of love for your line of awesomeness. The necklaces and magnets make my heart go pitter pat.

    I think this stuff is going to sell great.

  2. grumperina says:

    Thanks for the preview! All these things look great, I especially like the cloth-covered magnets.

  3. Martha says:

    Your stuff looks great! I hate the Lifetime Channel. Just in case you were wondering.

  4. elisa says:

    Everything looks AMAZING, and I really love how the Wallflower Pendants have evolved. Super duper awesome.

    You are going to get CLEANED OUT at the BazBiz! Go Team!

  5. Kim says:

    Good luck at the Bizarre! I am especially loving those 50s romance comic magnets and the 40s quilt top project bags. I’ll have to chekc out your new shop.

  6. Kat says:

    I am so glad I bought one of the early bird tickets. You have to change the paranoid fear to “no one other than Kat will buy a single thing”.

  7. maryse says:

    dude! i love the packaging! you’ve been holding out! and the necklaces look great. it all looks great. although you know how i feel about the quilt top bag. i can’t believe you cut it up.

  8. melanie says:

    you are so adorable – so nice to see yer pretty face!! This stuff is AWESOME. Bring some to dinner next week, will ya? Want to touch.

  9. yay. you did a great job. i’m sad i’m going to miss you guys this year. good luck…leave some leftovers for the etsy site. 😉

Leave a Reply