Handmade All Hallows’ Eve

Whether you’re warding off evil spirits, or simply marking the beginning of chillier weather, there is something magical about passing up store-bought treats and decorations and making them by hand.

This year we sampled two recommendations from A Year Between Friends, a month-by-month chronicle of the friendship between Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes, who live 3,191 miles apart in Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine. 

MAV’s autumn leaf-colored luminaries took less than 20 minutes to make and all of $3.98 in materials—probably even less for those of you with organized spice drawers. Which is all the better as once you’ve seen them glowing in your kitchen you will want to make dozens more and give them to all your friends (wrapped in twine, with tea lights, as MAV recommends). We hope you’ll find the book on November 8 for full instructions, but will hint that we had great results with turmeric. 

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SCB contributes a thoughtful take on Rice Krispies Treats using brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup-filled marshmallows. This recipe makes 28 small or 15 large squares.

Excerpted from A Year Between Friends:

Peanut–Crispy Rice Bars

•  2/3 cup (165 ml) brown rice syrup
•  2/3 cup (165 ml) natural peanut butter (or another nut butter like almond or cashew)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups (180 g) crispy rice cereal (I use Erewhon’s Rice Twice)
•  1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or other flake salt (optional)

Line an 11 x 7-inch (28 x 17-cm) baking pan with parchment so the parchment hangs over the short sides.

In a small saucepan, heat the rice syrup, peanut butter, and vanilla over low heat, stirring constantly, until blended and liquefied (a few minutes). Immediately combine the peanut butter mixture with the rice cereal in a large mixing bowl, then toss until the cereal is very well coated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out to create an even layer and pressing gently into all the corners. Sprinkle the top with the salt if desired. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes. When cool and firm, lift out of the pan by the parchment and slice with a serrated knife (I do small squares for sharing and larger ones for school lunches). Store in an airtight container in a cool place or in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Celebrate Fiber Arts this Fall

With summer coming to a close, we’re ready to break out our favorite yarns with our newest fall titles:

You Can Knit That

Making your own sweaters doesn’t have to be intimidating. When knitting superstar Amy Herzog gets complimented on her hand-knit sweaters, the compliments are often followed by “but I could never knit that.” Now, you can!

Amy Herzog’s signature patterns are back in her newest book, You Can Knit That. Her newest book provides clear instructions for beginners and experts looking to expand their skills in sweater making. 

This essential guide starts with basic sweater know-how and moves into instructions for knitting six must-have sweater styles—vests, all-in-one construction, drop shoulders, raglans, yokes, and set-in sleeves.

You can catch more of Amy’s easy-to-follow instructions in her first two books, Knit to Flatter and Knit Wear Love or learn from her in person at her fall events: 

September 22-25: Fall Sweater Retreat in Mid-Coast Maine

November 11-14, 2016: November Strung Along Retreat in Port Ludlow, OR.

Try your hand at one of the projects from the book! Get a free pattern for the Easygoing Sweatshirt Mini (above) here. 

Crochet Therapy

Betsan Corkhill is a pioneer in therapeutic knitting and crochet. Her new book, Crochet Therapy will inspire you to unwind with over 20 simple and soothing patterns. Mindfulness exercises accompany the patterns and complement the therapeutic effect of crocheting for achieving calm, stress relief, and becoming “effortlessly present” in your craft.

Crochet is a perfect portable means of stress management, easy to do on your commute or lunch break. Clinically trained in physiotherapy, Corkhill’s book is the perfect guide to relaxation with fiber arts.

We've included a fun (and free!) pattern from the book on the ABRAMS Books blog. Even better, you can team up with your crochet friends to create it. Get together to make the individual flowers then knot them together as a symbol of your friendship. It would make a unique gift from all of you to someone special. Get the pattern here. 

You can learn more about more information about crocheting for health and wellness, at her nonprofit support-network, Stitchlinks.

Enjoy!

-Abrams Craft Team

Entertain from your bookshelf with these simple, elegant projects

If you're like us, you're in the midst of hosting --or frantically preparing to host-- friends and family this time of year. If you're also like us, you can't help but add a few little flourishes along the way. Here are some quick and simple projects from our bookshelf to help you add a little something extra to your home or holiday table. These also double as great host gifts!

Wrapping paper placemats from p. 77 of Victoria Hudgins's Materially Crafted

Garden to Table Place Settings from p. 138 of Jacinda Boneau and Jaime Morrison Curtis's Pretty Prudent Home

Winter Garland from p. 155 of Livia Cetti's The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers

Vintage Ribbon Coasters from p. 62 of Rebecca Ringquist's Rebecca Ringquist's Embroidery Workshops

No-Sew Felt Tree Skirt from p. 214 of Boneau & Curtis's Pretty Prudent Home

From our bookshelf:

Are you planning to add a little handcrafted flair to your holiday table? Show off your work online and tag @stc_craft on twitter and instagram.

 

4 fabulous gift ideas straight from our bookshelf!

With the holiday season kicking into high gear, we're looking for inspiration for everyone on our list this year. 

These sweet and simple gifts (and the books they came from!) are some of our favorite picks for simple handmade gifts for everyone from your neighbor to your work wife.

• Dressing up your dishware has never been so easy. Try adding this personalized touch as a host gift at a holiday or dinner party—and top it with home-baked cookies!

Playful Ceramic Platters from p. 86 of Anna Joyce's Stamp Stencil Paint

• For the crafter who you can barely keep up with (also adaptable for other handmade projects: try a smaller version for knit sweaters, pouches, and other sewing projects!)

Hand-Drawn Quilt Labels from p. 128 of The Spoonflower Handbook

• A cute and simple way to make something special for someone special.

Traced Wildflower Hankie from p. 68 of Rebecca Ringquist's Embroidery Workshops

• We love this simple yoga (-or- ukulele -or- farmers market) bag—easy to customize for friends who are always on the go!    Cecilia Yoga Bag from p. 58 of Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style

Straight from our 2015 shelves:

Have you made anything inspired by STC Craft on your bookshelf this year? We want to see it! Show it off online and tag @stc_craft on twitter or instagram. 

Kick off NaNoJouMo with Dawn Sokol's Year of the Doodle

The fall is a time for reflection for many as we start to feel the effects of the changing seasons—moving clocks back, taking sweaters out of storage—and we begin to look forward to the holiday season and a new year. This November, we're giving ourselves a chance to sit back and take the time to explore those changes more mindfully through the process of art journaling. Available this week, Dawn "Doodle Queen" Sokol's latest book, The Year of the Doodle: 365 Drawing, Collaging, and Mark-Making Adventures, is the perfect way to get started.  

On the first of the month, Dawn kicked off her annual National November Journaling Month (or "NaNoJouMo") with daily prompts on her blog. We wanted to try our hand at art journaling as well, so we spent this past week trying out a few prompts from the book. Check out the results of our early November doodles from inside the Abrams office below. 

Feeling inspired? Head over to Dawn's blog where she's giving away a few copies of her book. Join us and start a daily journal challenge of your own!

We're Headed to the NY State Sheep & Wool Fest This Weekend!

If there's one thing that says "fall" around here, it's packing our books and heading up to Rhinebeck for the annual New York State Sheep & Wool Festival!

Please join us this weekend as we showcase some of our brand new needlearts books for the fall, bring back some STC Craft classics, and throw in a few goodies and giveaways. Stop by and meet celebrated knitting guru Clara Parkes on Saturday, 10/17, as she signs advance galleys of her newest travel memoir, Knitlandia, in advance of its spring 2016 publication. And stop by Saturday or Sunday (or both!) to meet and chat with dyeing expert and owner of STC Craft favorite A Verb for Keeping Warm Kristine Vejar, as she sells and signs copies of her first book, The Modern Natural Dyer, before it goes on sale next week!

Stop by and say hello in Building B, check out our books and sample projects, and sign up for the STC Craft newsletter for a chance to win a prize pack!

Stamp, Stencil, Paint Your Way to a Colorful Life!

Textile artist Anna Joyce believes that we should all live with color and pattern every day. Now, with the release of Stamp, Stencil, Paint, so can you!

In this beautiful and approachable new book, Anna Joyce shares her signature hand-printing techniques for adding color and pattern to ready-made surfaces like fabric, ceramics, paper, leather, furniture, walls, and more. Inspired by vintage fabric, folk art, shapes in nature, and exciting new color combinations, Anna’s distinctive projects showcase the beauty of the unexpected and the mark of the artist’s hand. Following beautiful step-by-step photography, you'll learn new, easy skills to stamp, stencil, and hand-paint wonderful projects for your homes, wardrobes, families, and friends.

Anna's joy for making things by hand is truly infectious, and if you're in Portland this weekend or New York the week after, you can see for yourself at one of her exciting tour stops:

Portland, Oregon Events

• September 12th, 1-4pm  West Elm, Portland - book signing and trunk show.
• September 13th, 2-4pm, Collage on SE Division - official book release party for Stamp Stencil Paint! book signing and hand stamping DIY project.
• October 2nd, 8-5pm, WeMake PDX Maker Market at The Armory - Book signing and trunk show.
• October 3rd, 4pm, Powell's Books - book signing and hand printing demonstration

New York City Book Tour

• September 17th, 6-8pm, Etsy HQ, Brooklyn - free a hand painted tea towel workshop and trunk show! Sign up here
• September 18th, 7:30-9:30pm Textile Arts Center, Manhattan- book signing and workshop Click here to reserve your spot!
• September 19th, 3-5pm,  powerHouse Arena , Brooklyn - book signing and hand stamped tote bag make and take
• September 20th, 12-2pm, Brooklyn Book Festival - book signing and hand stamped notebook DIY at the Abrams booth
• September 21st, 7-9pm, Makeshift Society Brooklyn - Book signing and workshop! Sign up here

Can't make it to one of the events above (or can't get enough of Anna)? You can still get involved and learn from her with this fabulous giveaway from our friends over at Creativebug, going on now! .

It's time to create your own Pretty Prudent Home!

Jacinda Boneau and Jaime Morrison Curtis, the creative and fashionable ladies behind the leading design and lifestyle site PrettyPrudent.com, are back with more of their inspiring advice for making beautiful things, food, and experiences for family and friends. We are in love with all of the charming yet modern projects, ideas, and recipes featured in their new book on sale this week, Pretty Prudent Home: Your Ultimate Guide for Creating a Beautiful Family Home.

Part design book, part DIY guide, Pretty Prudent Home offers us projects both simple and sophisticated, plus decorating ideas, party plans, and more, to inspire us to create a home both stylish and liveable, all interspersed with charming banter from these two long-distance BFFs. 

 

 

We've been crushing on so many of Jaime and Jacinda's adorable projects on these pages, and we're excited that we finally get to share to share them with you! Check out our image gallery for more sneak peeks from inside the book, read about their Pretty Prudent-inspired sale (and how you can win a $250 credit at Zulily!), and watch their adorable book trailer below!

Drawing Is Magic: Grab Your Pen and Discover!

Have you ever been stuck with the problem of not knowing what to draw? Do you  feel a longing to create "something" that is yours alone? "Something" that you can explore and own?

In Drawing is Magic: Discovering Yourself in a Sketchbook, John Hendrix, professional illustrator (maybe you've seen his work in Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, or the New Yorker) and associate art professor at Washington University in St. Louis, takes you on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery and challenge. Pick up a pen and follow his prompts and you are on the path to finding your visual muse.

"Outfitted with your trusty sketchbook as a new lens, you're going to see your everyday life in a new way."

"This sketchbook is a shiny new set of playground equipment. And you are a kind who can't play the wrong way."

So . . . 

Check out more pages from Drawing is Magic here. And head over to John's Tumblr to see doodles and drawings from his students, illustrator friends, and maybe even a guest post or two from us!

There's still time to add a touch of handmade this holiday season

Whether you're headed to visit family, planning a dish for a friend's New Year's Eve party, or staying home with the kids, here are some ideas for last-minute gifts to add a little handmade element to your gifting this year.

Last minute stocking stuffers (or gifts for the people you definitely didn't forget):

Textile Bookends from Novel Living by Lisa Occhipinti

Wool Rose Fascinator from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

Pencil Holder Heads from Playful by Merrilee Liddiard

Patterned Stationery Set from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

For the gracious host or hostess:

Denim Apron from Cloth by Cassandra Ellis

Wool Felt Oven Gloves from Cloth by Cassandra Ellis

Garlic Braid from Handmade for the Garden by Susan Guagliumi

Antiquarian Animal Votive Holders from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

Gift toppers to add a little flair to your wrapping:

Christmas Corsages from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

Gift Topper from The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowersby Livia Cetti

Arts and Crafts Ex Libris Set from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

Pocket Notecards from Novel Living by Lisa Occhipinti

Needle-Felted Snowman from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

Lavender Wand Sachets from Handmade for the Garden by Susan Guagliumi

Don't see what you're looking for? Try our posts from recent holiday seasons: 6 Quick & Easy Gifts to Complete in an Evening and 5 Handmade Gift-Packaging Ideas. 

Holiday Decorating with STC Craft

While some people rush to pick out their tree and pin up their stockings as soon as stores open their doors for Black Friday sales, some of us need a bit more time to get into the holiday spirit. With a potentially calm weekend ahead and only a few weeks left to the holidays, here at STC Craft we are looking to take a load off, cozy up, and get crafting--this time, for our homes!

Won't you enjoy these projects with us?!

Pinecone Wreath from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

Secret Message Snowflakes from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

Tabletop Tree from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

Winter Garland from The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers by Livia Cetti

Candy Stripe Christmas Stocking from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

Chenille Poinsettia Garland from Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner

For more holiday (and every day!) decorating ideas, check out these books:

Happy Weekend and Happy Crafting from your friends at STC Craft!

Holiday Crafting: 1 Month to Go!

The lingering smell of firewood in the air and the ever-earlier holiday decor in storefronts can mean only one thing: the holidays are quickly approaching, and we're sticking with last year's vows to not wait until the last minute this time! To provide some inspiration from our own crafting wishlists, here are four really beautiful projects from Cloth by Cassandra Ellis that a bunch of us in the office have our hearts set on making:

Leather Journal fromCloth by Cassandra Ellis

Natural Leather Purses fromCloth by Cassandra Ellis

Wool Overnight Bag from Cloth by Cassandra Ellis

Linen Slippers from Cloth by Cassandra Ellis

Still looking for more inspiration? Check our post from last week: 5 weeks out, and our tips for decorating your Thanksgiving table. Looking for even more? How about our ideas from last year: 8 Quick and Easy Personalized Gifts to Make (and Finish!) This Weekend.

This Thanksgiving, perfect your table alongside your menu

When we're planning the holidays, the meal often gets the spotlight and everything else is on the backburner (literally!)

With only a few weeks until Thanksgiving, we have some crafting ideas from our 2014 releases that won't take too much of your attention away from the turkey, but will have your home looking as effortlessly festive as your main course. Take a look for some weekend inspiration:

Moveable Feast Table Runner & Napkins from Novel Living by Lisa Occhipinti

Vibrant Party Centerpiece from The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers by Livia Cetti

Wreath from The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers by Livia Cetti

 

Japanese Heraldry Coasters from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

Paper Towns from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

 Cuts of Meat Table Runner from BiblioCraft by Jessica Pigza

'Tis the Season—For Sock Knitting!

Bonsai Socks from Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner

Make sure to follow our Ready for Fall board on Pinterest for more warm and cozy images. Have a happy, crafty weekend!

Wishing You a Warm and Cozy Weekend

Plaid Loafers and Inside-Out Slipper Socks from The Knitted Slipper Book by Katie Startzman (photos by Mika Nakanishi)

More Modern Top-Down Knitting is on sale today!

We may have gained an hour, but it's starting to feel a bit chilly around here…

...For some fall inspiration (and more ideas for staying warm!), Kristy McGowan's More Modern Top-Down Knitting is out today. Check out a selection of the projects in our image gallery and on Ravelry.

Weekend Inspiration

Once a week, we share some of our favorite inspiration to get your creative juices flowing for a weekend of creating. Today's offering comes from Kaffe Fassett, from the foreword to Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

Weekend Inspiration

Once a week, we share some of our favorite inspiration to get your creative juices flowing for a weekend of creating. Today's offering comes from St. Francis of Assisi, as featured in Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick.

Have a happy, crafty weekend!

Weekend Inspiration

Once a week, we share some of our favorite inspiration to get your creative juices flowing for a weekend of creating. Today's simple offering comes from Weekend Handmade by Kelly Wilkinson.

Have a happy, crafty weekend!

Weekend Inspiration

Once a week, we share some of our favorite inspiration to get creative juices flowing for a weekend of creating. Today's offering comes from Weekend Sewing (now also in paperback) by Heather Ross.

Have a happy, crafty weekend!