Happy Wedding Lizzle!

This past Saturday our darling Liz got married to a wonderful man named Eric! Hooray, Liz, you're a Sadie Sadie married lady!

That is one good looking newly married cake eating couple.

Before even making it to the wedding, Sam, Erica, and Erica's husband Kevin had quite a day of adventures.

 First, they stopped to take pictures where Erica and Kevin got married just last November since it was just down the road from where Liz and Eric were getting married. But surprise, surprise, there was a Pet Palooza going on!

A big fat bunny?!

We will pet it!

There were also sheep and goats. The sheep were cute, but the goats...well...

 That goat on the left is saying, "Lady, don't mess!" and the goat on the right is biting Eric's hand.

Ouch! Goat jerk!

Erica was a trooper, even when Sam kept telling people, "Hey, Erica got bitten by a goat!" But that's ok because Sam accidentally offended a disabled parrot and his/her owner. Big birds are scary, ok?! And she didn't know s/he was disabled!

Anyway, after the petting zoo fandago, Sam, Erica, and Kevin met up with their friend Jason and witnessed Liz and Eric exchange beautiful, meaningful vows.

Yay, Eric and Liz!!

 Then? Well then we partied down.

Hooray, marriage!

Jason and Sam trying to quietly discuss their plans for some wicked dancing.

LSC crafts!

What a great day and wonderful, wonderful night. Congratulations, Liz, we couldn't love you more if we tried!

Word on the Street, July 26th edition

Sam was dedicated to getting some catnip mice done to sell on consignment. The goal was 50. She lost count of how many she's done, but a few days ago it was this many: 

After a few more days of mice mice mice, the need suddenly arose for an afghan, as such needs do. A quick Ravelry search pattern produced this pattern (can we take a minute to love on Ravelry? Ravelry, you are the coolest and we love you) which is exactly what she needed: something cozy, pretty, and will knit up fast. The weather even cooperated: it's been cool enough in the evening to knit an afghan in the summer without wanting to rip your skin off from the heat. 

Harper photobomber!

Exactly as the pattern promised, it's going quickly! Although Sam did run out of the first color of yarn she bought, which left only one option: ombre stripes. Oh yeah.

Ombre not pictured, thanks to poor picture taking skills.

Sam can't wait to share pictures when it's done, which will hopefully be by Monday (if her hands don't fall off.

Liz has been so socially active lately with birthdays, showers, and wedding planning that the only crafts she's been doing have been for the wedding - and, for shame, she hasn't been taking pictures.



Luckily, here's some evidence of social engagements - Rachael's bridal shower!  Rachael is getting married 4 weeks after Liz and they are both bridesmaids in each other's weddings. 

Erica is finally settled in her new place--the cats are loving it, and she has started working on a baby blanket for a friend's little one who is scheduled to make an appearance next month.

A sneak peak: Chevrons are so in right now!

The cats are loving the new place as well--lots of room to run around, the litter box in a quieter location, and lots of nature outside to look out the windows (which we like to call "cat TV").

Creeping on Her Royal Highness, the Beezy

Oh... and she also tried something new: ROLLER DERBY! Erica practiced with Mountain Town Mayhem last Thursday and had a blast. She decided that the best way to end her 20's was with a huge bruise on her butt.

What are your plans for the weekend? Baking? Creeping on cats? Wedding festivities? Derby? Crafting? We want to know! Enjoy it, whatever you do!

(Editor's note (from Sam): Soooo..... if you read our blog through a reader, you might have noticed a weirdo post earlier this week. Yeah, I have too many blogs and accidentally put a draft in this blog that should have gone in my personal blog  . I deleted it, but it still came through my feedly, and Liz's, so maybe yours too. Anyway, so sorry for the confusion!)

Word on the Street, July 8th edition

Liz has been busying herself these days with wedding crafts - flowers for now, mostly.  She has a whole bin of felt flowers and has all the pieces cut to make ombre tissue paper flowers.  Check it:

There are close to 150 handmade flowers in there!

Liz would like to report that Lola has been no help in the flower-making process.  She stole a strand of raffia then ran behind the couch to try and eat it, but Liz managed to get it from Lola before that could happen.

Sam got that i-cord edge and handle done!

Hooray! With that project done, Samantha has been cleaning out various knitting bags and organizing her stash. There was a tough moment last night where she realized her stash space is officially full so be looking for some stash busting projects! She might even make herself a bag like this for beach purposes. And for modeling purposes.

SMILE with your EYES

Erica has not been crafting a lot--besides working on the same dish cloth, a row here and there, for the past couple of weeks. She finally finished that, and she and her husband got the house 99% organized and unpacked! And her trusty computer desk (which is currently computer-less) became her craft corner!!! And she would show you a picture of that if her computer would cooperate and let her rotate the picture...

Instead she will post a picture of some long lost friends of Kevin's. 

Gotta love a man in uniform.

She also finally got around to paining the Bob Ross Paint-By-Number kit that Liz got her last year. It turned out awesome, and Erica can't wait to hang it up in her craft corner!

Happy little trees. 

That's what we've been up to this week! What have you been crafting?

Word on the Street - June 21, 2013

Guess what?  Liz isn't the only crafty girl in her family, her sister Amy is pretty creative too!  Check out this card box Amy made for Liz and Eric's wedding shower:

How fancy!  Liz especially loves how shiny it is, and the heart inside the door.

Amy also saved the ribbons and bows from presents that the happy couple received, to make a practice bouquet for Liz:

Liz loves being part of a crafty family, and felt lots of love at the shower recently.  Only 7 weeks until the wedding!  Needless to say, Liz hasn't been crafting much herself except for wedding decorations - pictures to come.

Erica has been neglecting crafting, and instead has been packing and moving. When did she get so much stuff??? And when did her husband get even more stuff????? And why are there never enough boxes?

An artists interpretation of the great Smithnarski migration across town.

Luckily, in her free time, she's been able to knit a couple of simple dish rags, which have come in handy for cleaning during the transition from the itty bitty apartment to the much bigger duplex.

Sam has been working on a bag that a lovely LSC supporter custom ordered. She thought she was almost done, thinking the i-chord border and handle would be quick going. They are not.

Looks great, takes FOREVER

So Sam is going to dedicate her weekend to that whole thing. In her spare time, she makes fun of helpless animals. This is how her parents' dog Sgt. Pepper looks at Sam's mom whenever she's speaking.

Two can play at this game, dog!

 And that is what we've been up to, along with surviving the summer heat and humidity. What have you been doing?

Flashback Friday!

The ladies of Locust Street Crafts haven't lived together in five years! (holy crap, has it been that long???) So this week, we wanted to take some time to look back at the good times we had in the oddly designed half-a-house that was the Locust Street apartment.

We shared the house with two adorable furry roomates, Henry and Harper

We had a "fight to the death" in the kitchen (it was a draw)

Sam made ginger snaps, and Pat reaped the benefits

Sam moved on to greener pastures and we celebrated her last day at CRDL

We had to paint the room back to "boring apartment white" before we moved out

And let us not forget: the Dolly Shrine.

We're older now and don't live together anymore. Sam and Erica can't remember the last time they kung fu fought anywhere let alone a kitchen, Erica's married, and Liz is almost married. But somethings never change: Harper and Henry, friendship, crafting, Sam's gingersnaps, and good times are still had by all!

Word on the Street- June 7 edition

JUNE?! Who said it could be June?! It's June!

Sam has been working on this (soon to be) bag for a person who commissioned it at the Flint Handmade sale.

She's also been making any number of headbands, mice, and cotton puffs to sell on consignment. Additionally, this cute little (big) guy has been lighting up craft night now that he learned how to smile and laugh.

Also, because you missed Sam last week, you will be happy to know she has, in fact, had some LaCroix in her life.

The LaCroix is bigger than me! Eeek!

Liz has been a busy bee with wedding crafts.  She's almost done making felt flowers but has moved on to wrist corsages and boutonnieres.  Here are the corsages:

Alike, yet unique.

Liz is also trying new techniques in rug-making, which she'll share in the future.

Erica has been working on crafts for Liz's wedding as well: boxes for said corsages. She also discovered Vine, a social media app that lets you post 6 second videos. This app makes it really easy to make short stop-animation style videos, which is exactly what Erica did. Check it out!

Having planned a wedding just last year, Erica was happy to help Liz out and make boxes. Wedding planning is stressful, guys!

And that's what we've been up to! What crafty adventures have you been up to in the new month?

Word on the Street - May 28, 2013

May, where have you gone?  We've been busy bees this month, and this past holiday weekend was no exception!

Liz has a follow-up from her rug dyeing experiment - a picture of the final result! 

Bonus: This item was sold to a lovely lady we met at the Flint Handmade sale!

Well, this rug was a trip.  In a classic move of trial-and-error, Liz learned a lot from her rug-making experience.  Here are Liz's tips for making a big crochet rug:

• Dye your fabric before cutting it, especially if using a fabric that tends to get stringy when cut.
• Crocheting something like this rug, which has several strands of fabric strips instead of one long piece, followed by dyeing and washing will result in lots of holes and strings and it will end up looking shabby - not very functional.
• Adding an additional string of yarn along with the fabric may help the rug be more durable and add a little visual flair.

So, needless to say, this project was a bit of a hot mess.  The new color was a great success, but the process took a toll on the structural integrity of the rug.  After dyeing and washing, Liz laid out the rug to dry on a drying rack, then painstakingly took it all apart.  This involved lots of time, cutting, detangling, and swearing.  Once unraveled, Liz attached pieces of fabric by stitching small bits of embroidery floss on the ends of two pieces, then wound the whole long strand of fabric into one big ball.  Then, along with some white yarn, she crocheted the rug all over again. 

Liz is hoping to make more fabric rugs soon, but now has a better idea of how to go about the whole process.  Order of operations, people.

Erica has found time in her busy schedule to start another quilt--this time for her cousin Chelsea. Instead of finding fabrics to put together, she found a great pack of flannel receiving blankets that were on sale, and coordinated so well they couldn't be passed up! Erica hasn't started sewing yet, but the most time consuming part--the cutting--is finished.

Chevrons are SO fetch right now.

But cutting is the second step in any quilting project. Planning WHAT to cut is the first! Here is the method to Erica's madness (the third draft):

One day, Erica will buy graph paper...

In Erica's opinion, the best part of any craft project is the happiness it brings to others. Her first quilt for Baby Claire was a success! And her brother Tom loves it too!



Samantha is too busy altogether these days, but you can bet that she's been crafting up a storm as well.  More updates on Samantha's crafts, La Croix, and everything else next time.

That's what we've been up to this week!