i’ll be at CAM on saturday morning, will you?

this is a great indie craft event in downtown lancaster featuring many of handmade in pa’s favorites! see you there!

and check out this ridiculously simple little tutorial I posted over at scoutie girl. i’m decorating on the theme “brown paper packages tied up with string” and made this little garland to add some punch to my walls!

This Father’s Day was my husband’s second. For Mother’s Day we took our daughter to a paint your own pottery studio to make gifts for her Grandmothers. She painted two pieces, then at the end put her hand prints over her masterpieces. My husband loved it! So, when Father’s Day came around, I wanted to do something similar. I remembered that my mom had come across a little blurb in a magazine about embroidering your child’s hand as a gift idea. There it was, the perfect gift for him! (oh and Grandfather got one too!)

Read on…by visiting Jody at thePoint on Handmade in PA!

Welcome to the HiP blog challenge! This is the first part in a four part series – with a new post every Saturday in April. I want to thank ETSYmarketing.org for cross-posting this series – and give a special welcome to any of you joining the challenge from there!

While this blog may be geared towards Pennsylvania crafters and handmade lovers, this challenge is open to anyone interested in improving the effectiveness of their blog!

blogging your brand
and branding your blog

Knowing your brand is central to the way others perceive your work. Strong branding can make good work look great – and make a potential customer much more likely to return to your shop to make a purchase. [Read more →]

I’m going to keep this Friday Favorites quite short as I’ve been working on new & exciting things this week at HiP HQ!

I know many of you are interested in learning how to take better pictures. Etsy’s currented featured seller, Yasha Butler – from Philly – just wrote a quick & easy tutorial on building a light box. Give it a try & then come back and share your results!

Don’t forget to let me know if you’re interested in the HiP Etsy team! There are no dues – just lots of chances for FREE participation & opportunities for pooling our resources to meet our goals. Email me if you’re interested – tara@handmadeinpa.net.

And just a little over a week until our first get-together! On March 1, we’ll be meeting up in West Reading and swapping supplies & spring crafts. $5 at the door covers refreshments & a donation to the facility. Check out this post for more info!

Congratulations to the winners of Monday’s giveaway – Margaret from Nutmeg Designs & Erin from Ruju! Shoot me an email (tara AT handmadeinpa DOT net) and I’ll let you know how to claim your prize!

Are you looking for a way to recycle greeting cards, create a Valentine’s Day decoration with some meaning, or use up some supplies you have lying around the house?

Try this quick & easy afternoon craft: Greeting Card Garland!

I’ve had my wedding cards sitting around since September 2007 but only looked through them when I packed them up to move this summer. I decided that their whimsical designs and heavy paper would make an excellent garland to make the house a bit more romantic for Valentine’s Day.

For supplies, all I used was 10 of my wedding cards with similar color schemes, some scrapbooking paper I had around (scrap fabric would work well also!), and some scrap yarn or string.

First, I cut the cards down the fold.

Next, I cut hearts from the front of each card. In order to achieve a random look (and avoid the inevitable imperfection), I cut each heart free-form. You could certainly use stencils, cookie cutters, or other patterns to create the shapes.

Using an acid-free glue stick, I affixed the hearts to the BACK of the scrapbook paper. After giving it some time to dry, I carefully cut along the outside of the heart leaving the right side of the paper on the back side of the card.

When all the hearts were cut, I used a small hole punch to make a hole in the bumps of each heart. I used a piece of yarn about 4 feet long to string the hearts together and create the garland. I alternated which side of the card faced up…but you could have them all face the same way. My version creates a similar look from both sides, the other way creates two completely different looks.

If you create a project like this, please send me a picture (tara AT handmadeinpa DOT net)!

If you’re interested in sharing a project you’ve created in a tutorial, please contact me! I’d love to post it here and link back to your shop/blog/site.

…Still looking for your favorite brick & mortar places to buy handmade goods in the Keystone State.

Here’s this week’s Friday Roll Call:

• Tax tips for artisans. What does your organizing system look like?
• Craft Tutorials. I would love to publish some simple tutorials on different kinds of crafts. Perhaps a pattern you’d like to share? Or some photos of your creative process?
• Spring Crafts Fairs. What shows are you participating in? What shows are you organizing? Visit this topic on the forums to let us all know and I’ll post them on the main page as you report them!

Tomorrow I’ll be posting the Handmade in PA.net Valentine’s Day Gift Guide. Be ready to buy because these great gift ideas won’t be around long!