Fancy Pillows-- Envelop style

I watched this tutorial and followed her instructions to the letter. It was easy. The results were fantastic.

So I started with the fabric I had purchased for the very special draw string bags I made this fall. Even thought I bought a remnant, it was nearly a yard! I had more than enough for the bag and two pillows.

 It is no secret. I am horrible at cutting fabric. So I made a pattern. I followed the instructions in the video and I used an old atlas to make a pattern. It worked like a charm.

 After cutting the fabric using my pattern, I hemmed the edges of the fold as instructed and then pinned the back to the front, right sides facing. Then you simply sew the square together. This is so easy.

 And they are simply beautiful.

 I used a simple silk on the back. So elegant.

 I made these for the almost staged living room. The chairs are a great peacock blue velvet. I love them, but wanted a throw pillow. The pillows really have a touch of every color we have going in the living room, which ties it all together very nicely.

This project required no materials, as I had the fabric and the pillow inserts. I would estimate it took me maybe an hour or so, from start to finish.

Is it a scarf or a necklace?

For the last few weeks I have been very busy with DIY projects. Some smaller than others in scope, nonetheless the creativity has been flowing in full force. Pinterest is the place I go when I am looking for a tutorial lately. There are so many wonderful DIY/craft bloggers out there... Pinterest makes it so easy to find them.

I have been experimenting with fabric necklaces/scarves on and off for a year. I had an old t-shirt I thought would make an interesting necklace/scarf. I found two tutorials for making one with braided lengths of fabric. I was drawn to this, because it creates a more scarf like weight to the necklace. It makes it more of an infinity like scarf.

The first tutorial was on this old dress and I liked it, but I was seeking more weight so I when I found this tutorial on tip junkie via nette, I broke out my scissors.

Since I was using cotton t-shirts, mixed with one poly blend tee, my braids have a very different feel to them. What appealed to me about nette's version is it has a weight and body to it. After my Pinterest post, a friend and I were tweeting back and forth and he accused me, in jest, of being a magpie.

I don't deny it. Sometimes I am inspired to try something and even verbatim based on a tutorial. More often than not, I like to use a variety of tutorials to shape my thinking. It is creative inspiration. I have accepted that for knowledge, I can read from a book or listen to a lecture. That works for me. If however, I am physically creating something, well then I learn best by doing. I don't seem to be able to translate something that should be in 3D form from a flat page.

But if I can walk through the steps or as in the case of french seams last year, if I can watch a video, I seem to pick up the new skill very quickly. (After watching the video like a million times.)

So after the back story, I know you are all wondering what I came up with.

So here it is... 

After this photo, I have tweaked it a bit and cleaned up the edged just a touch.

My process:

First I cut the t-shirt strips. I used three shirts. The stripped one was a cotton long sleeved shirt from Old Navy and was over 6 years old. It was way stretched out. The purple, was a tank top, size 1X from my mom's closet. It was faded and had very little stretch left in it. The grey is a poly/cotton blend from my mom's closet. It was newish, but had a stain in the middle. I love the feel of this shirt and it curled beautifully when I cut my strips, something the other two did not do.

After I had the strips, I gathered them in a variety of groups, so I could braid them. I knotted then on one end and then using a pin, pinned them to the office chair, so that I could make nice tight braids. In total, I braided three ropes. (I did this the other night when the kids were having a sleep over. The girls jumped in and "helped." I let them make bracelets using scraps of fabric, similarly braiding the strips together. L even made a key chain with some of her braids for her backpack.)

I also used two wider strips of the grey shirt as a base.

Building the scarf was a bigger challenge than I thought. I tried a few methods and settled on making one rope out of the three braided sections. Then I used the two wider grey strips as my base and attached the rope using a smaller braid to wrap.

The result is a long infinite type scarf that I can them double over and arrange to suit myself.

While it is not as neat as Nette's version, it does have the weightiness I was hoping for and it fits nicely. I have a few more t-shirts on the pile, so I may try it again. I think L would like one too...

Pinterest... not the problem or the answer

So, I have a new playground and it is called Pinterest. For those of you who don't know about Pinterest, you should maybe check it out or not, it is what I like to call visual crack. Luckily for me the iPhone app has some issues and I unistalled it, otherwise I might well be in trouble.

Pinterest is the Internet equivalent of my stacks and stacks of notebooks, full of clippings and pictures and notes. I have killed a fair number of glue sticks, creating these notebooks full of pictures I liked, looks I enjoyed, pictures I found breathtaking. I even have one for my still half written novel.

The great thing about Pinterest is you can easily share these notebooks, I mean pin boards with your friends and heck anyone who shares your interests. You can create a group board and you and all your friends, your wedding party, your BFF, or your writing group - just to name a few options here - can pin and pin and pin. Sharing effortlessly. I really wish Pinterest had been around while I was in MBA school. It would have made collaborating a bit easier. During my kitchen remodel, what a great way to keep track of my wishlist, ideas, things I liked, things I didn't like. I actually currently have a board, where I am collecting ideas for the living room project. (which may or may not ever happen.)

In all fairness, I think Pinterest is simply a better organized version of what many Tumblr blogs are at present. People are visual creatures. A picture is worth at least a 1000 words and in our fast paced culture, we see so much of our lives in images.

I have been online, in a writing capacity for about 6 years, maybe 7 if we count my very early and now deleted MySpace blog. I have had my work taken, reposted by someone, who made it out to be her own original work. It made me hopping mad. I made her take it down and I made it clear she had taken it. It was uncool.

To me this is a clear violation of the trust we all place in our fellow bloggers and writers. Write your own words or PAY someone to do it for you. I have ghost written blog posts and been paid for it. I am happy to write for pay and let someone else post it on a blog under their name, provided the check clears.

That said, I have been 17 kinds of flattered when someone has liked my work so much, that they have willingly reposted and credited me or quoted me and credited me, with a link back. This is the right way to share. The Internet was designed, I think, as a way we could share and share quickly. Since I have been beating the letter writing horse, let's think about how we shared things in the past. Through the mail. You had to tear a picture out of a magazine or an article, and this meant you lost your copy or you had to make a copy or buy a second copy, and mail it. Turn around time of this sharing event - like 5 days, give or take.

Now I can share instantly.

I spy with my little eye something shiny and I can post a link here on the Edge, on my FB, my twitter, my Tumblr (I don't really have a Tumblr, but I could...) and Pinterest in about 10 seconds. I can send a link via email.

Over the last month, I have read dozens of opinions on copyright and Pinterest and who owns what and how Pinterest is evil. I don't really think Pinterest is the problem, just as Tumblr isn't the problem and Facebook isn't the problem.

The problem is as a community, as a creative community we have been lazy about copyright issues and we have stuck with an old model, which frankly does not serve to protect us, the artists, exactly, but those who have paid for our content. When the content is free and we willingly post it to our own blogs or Flickr or website, sometimes that is one and the same, but sometimes not. I also think, that in the early days, we got sloppy. This new medium, this information superhighway offered us a direct link to readers and buyers and fans. We are now able to self publish our books, produce content and make it available in the blink of an eye. Publishers were our watch dogs, not because they liked us but because they were going to protect and hopefully recoup their investment, a few times over.

What we all failed to do, is to come up with a convention, which would make it easy to identify online - what was content which was protected and what is content, which is not. Some people watermark and some don't. Some artist watermark items for sale and have it act as an online business card, some remove the watermark after they have been paid. Without a solid convention, who is to know? For those of us who produce text, there is no way to know. Perhaps we should have picked a font as the deliminator or agreed that text with a double underline meant something had not been paid for.

Being in the drivers seat was exciting and heady stuff. Too bad, we did not think 10-15 years down the road. Broader reach means the old model is outdated. Our lack of foresight has also meant we are starring into a muddy pool of our own making.

Also as Internet users and consumers, we don't like to pay for things. We want to read quality material for free. We want to look at pretty pictures, for free. We want to look at pictures of our best friends new baby or puppy or dress or handbag, for free.

And just as magazines depend heavily on advertisers to stay in print, the Internet is powered through ad dollars as well. Someone pays to host the site, where the pretty pictures live.

I also am not unconvinced that Pinterest is a reflection of a larger issue facing social media and the Internet right now. I am not sure Pinterest ever thought that its platform would be a place where brands went to build their brand image. Maybe I am just naive. This uncomfortable balance of sharing and selling is just getting more and more complicated with each passing second.

I also think that Pinterest Users should be honest and share their sources. Link back to the creator of the photo or the publisher of photo they are reposting. It is proper blogger etiquette and it is how the net is supposed to work.

I think splitting hairs about the TOS and what constitutes ownership in this day an age of click and share and not going to bear any fruit. The playing field is different now. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and the like, have changed how we communicate with our families, our friends, our work groups and with each other, even when we don't actually know each other.

Like this article says - "Pinterest is in someways just like Xerox and a VCR."

As a creative person, believe me I am concerned about the use of my work for profit, without me being compensated or credited properly. I also want my work seen and read and talked about and frankly shared. I love when my DIY pics get re-pinned on Pinterest.

Our current copyright laws do not balance this well. The intersection of commerce and creativity have always had an uneasy marriage. As artists and as publishers - we have limited control over what happens with our products. Is selling a used book a copyright violation? What about those magazines found in the garbage and resold by the someone who found them.

The Internet has only made this intersection all the more complex and confusing.

I don't think Pinterest is the problem or the answer. Just like I think SOPA and PIPA weren't the answer either. I think it is time to figure out a crediting convention that we can all live with and I think it is time to come to terms with the fact that we no longer share information the same way we did even five minute ago. We cannot quibble with whose server has the content and the storage resolution, because in two years it is all going to be bigger capacity and more storage. We cannot quibble with whether posting a link on FB or Twitter or even Pinterest is claiming ownership, it is sharing and if the reposting or sharing mechanism are engineered correctly, platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter are a means to spread the word and share one's creative output.

If someone takes a picture or some writing or something and says it is their creative work product, when it isn't that is not only a possible copyright issue, it is plagiarism.  That is off the charts wrong. If someone shares something on a board titled "Rocking cool photos" - on Pinterest -- and properly credits his/her source(s),  that is a compliment. Be happy your picture is now highlighted by someone with 1000 followers.

Being adequately compensated for ones creative output is a wholly separate issue. I am not sure many famous artists or writers would say they feel adequately compensated. Pinterest et al, is not the problem with that paradox, nor is it exactly the answer, either.

rockibot - Nerd Herder Gadget Wallet

No one answered my Facebook poll, so I guess that means people either like what I post, don't particularly care or dislike polls. Anyway, too bad, ship has sailed and I will write about what I want to write about. I have decided to write more posts, which deal with cool things I discover and like and use all the time.

A few years back, at the urging of my good friend and college roomie, SS, I joined Facebook. Reluctantly, I might add. I was not sold on social media, at all. I hardly used my cell phone, couldn't text a word. Fast forward to 2012 and I have embraced social media, love my Iphone, rarely talk on the phone but text like there is no tomorrow. Now I hang out regularly on Twitter, update my Facebook, tried google+ and decided it was for the birds. Then along came Pinterest. At first I ignored the rumbles and praise of the online bulletin board. Then I joined, thanks to an invite from a Twitter pal and I have been pinning ever since.

I think most guys don't get Pinterest. In fact it was a topic at my NYE party and the men close to me, just look at me when I have spoken about it. "You pin stuff",  "it is like a bulletin board you share?"

"Can you buy stuff?" Well yes and no!

My new nerd herder gadget wallet is an example of something someone pinned, I followed the link to the rockibot etsy site and I ordered it, along with the wristet. I loved the concept. A wallet, which controls your smart phone, ear buds, has a place to tuck a few bucks, your flash memory and off you go. Easy to keep track of in my purse and makes for an easy transfer from purse, to writing bag, less to carry when I run out to pick the kiddos, perfect for trips to the park.

Also as L pointed out, I will hopefully now, stop yelling in exasperation, "Where IS MY PHONE." as I root through my purse, bag or coat pockets. I have been using it all week and I love it. I even carry it up to my room in the evening, effectively keeping the ear buds and audio playing device always together. No more frantically searching for ear buds when I want to listen to my audio book or music after the kiddos have gone to bed.

I also have to give kudos to rockibot, not only do they make a great little gadget herder, they have exceptional customer service. First of all I got an email letting me know my item had shipped, shipping was quick, and my nerd herder came all wrapped up in this pretty package.

I loved the little present. It felt decadent to unwrap it, even though I knew what I was opening. I also thought the little card and pencil were very cute.

On Twitter the other day I chimed in on a Twitter conversation about buying local and American made. That is my goal for 2012, to support local artisans and shop owners but to also put more energy into searching out and supporting small artisans, hand making beautiful items in the United States and around the world. Corporations have lost touch with their customers and perhaps it is time to show those corporations we just don't need then as much as they think we do. Also as a creative person, I enjoy supporting other creative people.