Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

While prepping for Maker Faire Detroit, Lisa found this awesome site that will make your artwork into rubber stamps. How cool! The ever-most-awesome Shawn Amberger, who created our excellent AnneArchy logo, made us a version that would translate to two colors (well, ink and lack of ink) and voila! We have stamps!

Aren’t these totally sweet? I got one 3×3″ one 1×1″, figuring that this will give me the flexibility to do larger things but also stamp small packages that I ship out. (Note: Susan also got one of each, so all of our AnneArchy goodies will have the opportunity to be stamped.)

I tried out the big stamp on some paper bags that I purchased for Maker Faire and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I can definitely learn a bit about properly inking the stamps and pressing evenly, but even without much practice I’m quite happy with the results.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

One of the things I miss about the place I grew up is spending time in the forest. There’s just something about being in a forest of which you can’t see the boundaries.

Thanks to Fred for CC licensing this photo.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

Guess what rules? As you may have gathered from the many crafting posts of late that have referred to Maker Faire Detroit, AnneArchy is going to be part of the Team Librarian booth there this weekend! We’ll be there, inside The Henry Ford, Saturday and Sunday all day, so come check it totally out.

Team Librarian is also having a mega awesome sale to celebrate! Saturday through Monday, you can use the coupon code MAKERFAIRE to save 15% off all orders from participating Team Librarian shops!

Please Note: You will need to use the coupon code for each vendor you visit as Etsy does not allow you to stack the cart with items from various vendors.

Here is the current list of sellers who will be selling their wares at the Team Librarian table at Maker Faire:

Redwoodse
Excessively Diverting
AnneArchy
Teenage Pasteland
Shiny Information Productions
Suzie’s Armoire
Sovereign Sea
Crafts by Quyen
Alice Still Contemoporary Jewellery
Mimi & Boo

If you’re wishing that you were among those listed, you can always join Team Librarian! (One of us! One of us!)

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

We finally finished the guest room for real! K picked up a frame for the poster we’d purchased ages ago and we got it up on the wall.

Hooray for finally finishing this! We’re hoping to work on our bedroom next week while we’re both on vacation.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

A week or so ago I woke up with the idea to knit some finger puppets. I gave it a shot and they turned out pretty well!

These are some of the first ones I made, including a Brown Bear, a Bee, a Panda, and a Kitty. I’ve got more ideas for others which will hopefully turn out well, too. I’ll be selling these as well as DIY kits to make your own at Maker Faire Detroit with Team Librarian. Woot!

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

Sweet treats and savory snacks are some of my favorite things.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

Maker Faire Detroit is only a few short days away! Lisa and I have been prepping in a number of ways, one of which is planning our booth. I decided that we needed a Team Librarian bunting. I hadn’t made one before but I didn’t think I needed a pattern – it seemed straightforward enough that I could play it by ear.

I printed out patterns for the letters in a really basic sans font. A lot of the buntings I saw on flickr used fonts that I thought were too frilly so I went with something very bold and legible. I also wanted the letters to show up clearly, because a lot of the buntings I saw used fabrics that were pretty but didn’t contrast enough to be read from a distance. I used a light purple cotton for the letters and black for the background. I also ironed on fusible web before I cut out the letters.

I also made a pattern for the background – and even remembered to include seam allowance! Yay forethought.

Then I ironed on the letters after carefully measuring the placement of each one.

I was pleased with how it looked at this point, so much so that I considered not stitching around the letters, but decided to go with my original plan. I think the stitching adds an extra element that gives a finished look.

Stitching around. The purple thread is more accurate in this photo (in some of the others it looks too blue).

Pleased! I haven’t done much of this kind of stitching and it’s not perfectionist-level perfect, but I am very happy with the finished product.

I thought that lining the triangles would give the bunting more heft and also make it look more professional. I cut out triangles from the same light purple fabric (of which I had conveniently bought too much).

The pieces looked good! Using two layers of fabric like this is one of my favorite ways to finish a piece so that all the seams are hidden.

Then I pieced it together with the bias tape I’d purchased to act as string.

The placement worked out well, so I stitched it all together and voila! A bunting!

The garden is looking not super awesome (I really need to deadhead those daylilies, which will be moving since they weren’t intended to be there in the first place but migrated), but the bunting looks great! I really think it’s going to add an element of awesome to our table.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

One of the ways we’ve been keeping Coraline occupied during her extended crate time while her spay sutures heal is to give her stuffed, frozen Kongs.

We stuff them with a combination of banana, peanut butter, kibble, and/or greek yogurt.

She absolutely LOVES them! One small stuffed Kong will keep her busy for up to an hour, which is terrific given that she’s supposed to be kept “calm and quiet” for 14 days until her sutures are removed.

We also have been giving Brodie the occasional stuffed Kong, too, so he doesn’t feel left out. He loves them too, and he’s much better than Coraline is at using his paws to hang on to the toy while he’s playing with it. She sometimes manages to use one paw to hold on to it, but more often than not she pushes it up against the edge of the crate instead.

Regardless of how she does it, stuffed Kongs are definitely the new hit in our house.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

Doesn’t this look magical?

Thanks to ZedZAP for CC licensing this photo.

Originally published at LibrariAnne. Please leave any comments there.

Where all the cows say MOO. As in Moo cards! Which we now have for AnneArchy!

They turned out AWESOME! I’m really happy with them and I’m really happy to have them in time for Maker Faire Detroit. Where we will be! And you should totally come see us.