neonfoxtongue

Renewing my pledge

While I do love to plan, I'm not the sort to be thinking of Christmas in August.  I will admit to occasionally brainstorming gifts ideas for the past couple of months, but only in the loosest of thoughts on public transport and before I fall asleep.  But now that it's November, the planning can begin in earnest!  I'm hoping to make several gifts this year, but I know I will be buying some as well.  That's why I decided to renew my pledge to buy handmade.  I made the pledge a year or two ago, but never publicized it.  Well here it is for the whole world to see!  I might even put a fancy button on my blog. :)

My goal for this pledge is to give handmade gifts as much as possible.  The only exception that The Leopard and I will likely be making will be with his family, who have decided to only give books and music (CDs, records, etc.) for Christmas.  I think we can work with that though, seeing as books and music are definitely creative endeavors and sometimes even linked to the handmade, indie & DIY movements.

So now is the time for lists and supply shopping. And for a planner like me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

New Feature: Planet Craft!

I was speaking with a good friend about blogging recently, and I realized that I haven't been very clear about what I'm trying to achieve with this blog of mine.  And that's probably because I'm not exactly sure myself. I definitely have some ideas (quite a few actually), but I haven't been able to synthesize those ideas into an easy explanation or description of where I'm going with this 'crafty' blog.  Is this blog about my creative goals or about the handmade things I love?  Can it be both?  And more?  I think it can, but I do think I need to work on my elevator pitch for neonfoxtongue.  I've been giving it some thought as part of the blog design I've been doing and one idea/theme that keeps coming up over and over again for me is the idea of crafting as an eco-friendly activity.

I know that a lot of crafts and DIY activities can be pretty unfriendly (if not downright harmful) to the planet, but I've also found that almost all of them can be the exact opposite.  Many crafters, makers and artisans re-use materials that would have otherwise been tossed out and upcycling has become de rigeur in the craft community.  In addition, makers seem to love finding ways to make things that will help them (and others) be a little nicer to the environment.  I truly believe that in many ways, my efforts to be more creative and to make more things myself is also making me a better eco-citizen and I wanted to find a way to highlight that in this blog.

So I'm introducing a new feature - Planet Craft.  This feature will be all about the great craft/handmade/DIY products, projects and activities that take the health of the planet into consideration. I will aim to feature items and projects re-use materials and/or help minimize the purchasing of new and/or disposable items. And if you have products, projects or tips of your own or that you've found, feel free to let me know about them.  I'd love to get your input and feedback!

I had a couple of ideas of what I'd feature on the first Planet Craft post, but yesterday I saw each penny pretty's post about food jar glasses and I knew they were the perfect thing to kick-off this feature.

These cool glasses were made by Melissa, creator of the equally cool blog IS-LY.  They're pretty easy to make (though you'll need a drill) and are a simple way to ensure you have enough glasses for your backyard bbq without resorting to disposable plastic!  You could also decorate the lids or keep a dry-erase marker handy so people can write their names on the lids to keep track of their glasses.  And might I suggest some reusable or biodegradable straws?  Perfect! Now, where's my mojito? :)

(Planet Craft font is green piloww by Billy Argel)

Friday I'm in Love: Button Coasters

  It's incredible how quickly time can fly when you're not working - I can't believe it's Friday already!  It's a beautiful day in Toronto today - it's supposed to get up to 19C (66F for you in the States)!  This is pretty great for April so The Leopard and I are going to take advantage by meeting up with a friend in High Park.  We're also going to treat ourselves to dinner at Smoke's Poutinerie!  I haven't had poutine (mmm...cheese curds) in ages so I'm really looking forward to it.  And for those of you thinking, "ew, gross!" - I say, do not knock until you've tried it! :)

 So in order to ensure I get what I need to get done today so we can go out and play, this Friday I'm in Love feature is going to be short and sweet. 

 I know I've only been blogging about finished products in FIIL, but that wasn't actually my intention when I came up with the concept. I also want to feature crafty and creative projects that I love, so when I saw these, I knew I had to post them. 

Behold - the button coaster!

Isn't it cool?  I found the tutorial on how to make these coasters at Craft Stylish via leethal's blog do stuff!. I've read Craft Stylish before, but don't check it out regularly.  But leethal put together a great post about crafting with buttons (check out her cool projects too!), which contained a link to this project.

I think they're really great and one day, when I'm feeling really, really patient, I want to try my hand at making some.  It might just be the sort of project for a sunny day at the park!

Hope you have a great weekend!  If the weather is nice in your part of the world, be sure to get out there and enjoy it!