In the hands of guerrilla street artists, yarn graffiti snakes around telephone posts, through barbed wire fences, and over abandoned cars. Originally created by a crew in Texas, knit graffiti has become an international movement embraced by crafters of all ages and nationalities. Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti is a book about the history of yarn graffiti in urban spaces and future plans for world yarn domination, and will teach knitters how they can join the revolution.

Are you a knitter or crochetier? Do you design (or want to design) unusual pieces of street art out of yarn?

If so, you should design a pattern for Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti, to be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in fall 2009.

A DIY guide to the art of yarn graffiti and a history of hand-crafted textile street art, Yarn-Bombing will feature patterns such as street-smart disguises, useful wearable tools like gloves and tool belts, street art such as knit car cozies, bike covers and headlight toques, and outdoor installations such as crochet shawls for leafy trees. The sky’s the limit as long as it’s knit or crocheted! Projects should be fun, colorful and a little bit wacky.

Designers are asked to submit a sketch and detailed description of their project, along with a brief bio, by the submission deadline of May 15, 2008.

There is no entry fee, and you are encouraged to submit multiple designs. Please include your complete contact information (email and mailing addresses) with your submission. Hard-copy submissions will not be returned unless an SASE or International Mailing Coupon is provided.

Digital sketches (under 2MB) can be emailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com, or hard copy sketches can be mailed to:

Leanne Prain
203-884 Bute Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 1Y5

You will be notified via email if your design has been selected for publication. Selected designs will need to be knit or crocheted by their designers over the months of June-August, and mailed to the publisher for photography and editing by August 30, 2008. Patterns and any accompanying diagrams must be mailed to mandy@yarnbombing.com by the same date. Designers who are chosen to participate will receive the yarn necessary to complete their project, an honorarium, a free copy of the book, and credit for taking part in the book.

For more information, please visit Arsenal Pulp Press (arsenalpulp.com) or the Yarn Bombing Blog (yarnbombing.com).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding submissions, please contact Leanne (leanne@yarnbombing.com) or Mandy (mandy@yarnbombing.com)

The Authors

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design, Mandy Moore now lives in Vancouver, BC with her small family of husband and cat. She is the technical editrix of popular online knitting magazine Knitty.com, and of various other knitting and crochet books and publications. She is a hardcore making-things evangelist, and will probably try to convince you that you should try (knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting) too! You can find her online at yarnageddon.com.

Upon learning to knit, Leanne Prain co-founded a stitch and bitch called Knitting and Beer in order to expand her skills while knitting at the pub. While the group has disbanded, she continues to be amazed at what can be created with two needles and a bit of yarn. A professional graphic designer, Leanne holds degrees in creative writing, art history and publishing. She lives and knits in Vancouver, BC.

The 100 Picture Challenge is a Flickr group hosted by Craft Revolution. Like a scavenger hunt through your own creativity, the challenge is simply to take a picture that represents each of 100 various themes. The themes range from emotions to characters common in movies, such as vampires.

Artists and crafters, feel free to create a piece of artwork or an item you have crafted that matches the theme and upload a picture of it!

Here are the challenge rules:

1.) Take 100 pictures, each picture having one of the themes listed on the group website. Each picture should have ONE and only ONE theme to it.

2.) There is no time limit on the challenge, so have fun

Once you have a picture ready for the challenge, simply submit it to the group. When you’ve completed all 100, start a discussion and show off your challenge set!

We look forward to seeing everyone’s interpretations of the themes!

Here’s an inspirational picture to get you started:

Theme: #34, Patriotism

Since we launched in March 2005, the one thing we’ve heard over and over from crafters is that they need help running their businesses but they just don’t have the time to take a class or sit down and read a book. That’s why we’re launching the Craft Revolution Cast- The brand new podcast all about starting, running and growing a successful crafts business. Every episode will feature advice from experts, other professional crafters, and feedback from you, our listeners. The best part? All you have to do is listen.

Starting in August, we’ll bring you a new episode each month that focuses on a specific aspect of running a crafts business. We do have some great topics lined up, but this show is for you. If there’s something you’d like us to talk about, send us an email or leave us a voice mail. We’ll do our best to find the answers you need.

In fact, you can start giving your input now by filing out a simple survey for us.  Just click here and you’ll be off and running! 

Thanks for listening. We’ll see you in August!

 

 Craft Revolution Cast Promo [1:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With autumn being officially in session, I’m on my annual pumpkin kick. Pumpkin candles, pumpkin recipes, pumpkin ice cream, even pumpkin chapstick. You name it, I’d probably swoon at the thought of a pumpkin version. There is one craftster that appeals strongly to my pumpky-senses. Her name is Sarah and she owns Love Your Bag Designs and she made a baby pumpkin needle-felted pin cushion/sculpture/decoration especially for this season.

There’s something unique about the fiber artist from Sidney, NE:
She does all her work as she goes. She doesn’t use any patterns! That takes talent and practice and I have no doubt that she has both.

I can say something about Sarah that I can not say about other crafters I have blogged about, and that is that I have actually had a sample of her work in my very hands. Sarah sent me a few samples of what she has up for sale, and let me tell you, her Etsy shop doesn’t do her enough justice. Most of the items she sent me are not listed on Etsy, but I would buy them in a HEARTbeat if they were.

Sarah’s cellphone/ipod holder is so well-crafted, and quite original, too. One I experienced (yes, it’s a full-on EXPERIENCE) is blue and has orange buttons and is amazing in it’s own originality. Th eother is softer than soft and tightly knitted for a great quality. She also sent two wristbands made from the aforementioned softest wool that I have felt (no pun intended) in my short life. I got to see a bookmark she made with a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien and a memo book bound with gorgeous material and a unique closure. And with each passing moment after I opened the package these items came in, the more I contemplated not using these for the good cause we had agreed upon - but keeping them all for myself. And if I was one bit more morally corrupt than I am, I would most definitely keep these gems for myself.

Love Your Bags Designs

- Taylor (taylor@craftrevolution.com)

I love this original abstract painting… which was influenced by a summer artist Thaneeya McArdle spent in souther France, surrounded by lush views and nature.

At $75, the 6″x6″ wood panel acrylic painting would make a great Christmas gift…

“I have termed my new series of nature-based abstracts my Anicca series. Anicca is a Pali term meaning impermanence,” she says.

“These paintings depict the ever-changing quality of nature; its unpredictability, raw form, and constant flow. This painting depicts dense foliage - vines, leaves, flowers, bugs, raindrops, movement, and growth. The bright colors and fanciful designs suggest vitality and joy,” she says.

Thaneeya is a full-time artist who works in a variety of styles, ranging from photorealism to abstract. Her art centers on themes of spirituality, multiplicity, nature, and change.

You can find her website at http://www.thaneeya.com and her online store at http://thaneeya.etsy.com.

- posted by Victoria from www.OriginalJewels.com

I’m a sucker for all things that have faces. These cute stuffed dolls take the cake.
Each doll, according to Claire from Thistletown Studio is “named and no two will ever be alike!”

Special mention goes out to the illustrated 1 inch pins!

-Amanda

These gorgeous flowers are made from vintage kimono fabric by New Zealand-based http://Spangle.etsy.com.

The blooms can be attached to a hair clip - “tsumami kanzashi” - or put onto a brooch.

Kanzashi are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles worn by geisha and maiko, apprentice geisha. These ones are called “tsumami” (which means “pinch”) because they are made using a particular style of pinching and folding the fabric to form each petal.

Gorgeous! Prices range from $5 to $17.50…

- Posted by Victoria from www.OriginalJewels.com

For a bargain $1, Lisa of http://nerdbomber.etsy.com will create an improvised drawing inspired by any word you care to suggest to her.

Of course, we spent our buck asking for her interpretation of ‘Craft Revolution’ and this is what she came up with! Oooh, watch out for the scissors…

Nerdbomber is the creation of sisters Karen and Lisa, who are based in Dallas, Texas. (Apparently ‘nerdbomber’ is a word meaning one who has “excelled to the point of specialization at being a dork.”)

Check out their shop not only for the drawings but super cute clutches - like the $20 Bright Book Clutch below - as well as wristlets and more.

- Posted by Victoria from www.OriginalJewels.com

These wheelchair knobs are as individual as the people who use the chairs - and also make great gifts!

Dale from www.reddiamondknobs.com has handcrafted custom knobs including embedded objects from fishing hooks to family photos, coins to cigarette butts… with prices starting from just $5.

He started making the knobs when, during his work as a wheelchair shop employee, a customer told him she wished she had a pink joystick knob as it was her favorite color.

You can find out more about the knobs at www.reddiamondknobs.com or buy one from http://reddiamondknobs.etsy.com. Knobs can be used on manual or power chairs.

(Warning: the polyester resin knobs cannot be produced in cold weather so if you’d like a custom order as a Christmas gift, then you’d better act soon as Dale is in Minnesota!)

Posted by Victoria from www.OriginalJewels.com

Ah, yes. The delicate smell of liquid paper, ball point pen, and the guy who sits in front of you with the flatulence problem. The taste of bad cafeteria food and daydreams of summer nights past. To help you or a loved one get through it all, here’s some stationery that’ll definitely brighten up their day.

Nut and Bee rock. Where else will you find stickers depicting the various moods of egg ($2.75 for 24) and stationery ($5) showing fleeing marshmallows and puffy angora? Nowhere, my friend.

Special bonus: Bookplates ($3.75 for 12) to tag your exercise books.

And then, there’s the small object. The sheer cuteness of this stuff (as well as its creator, Sarah) is overwhelming.

Perhaps you’d like some stamps to make your notebooks and stuff all pretty ($24 for 4 Little Sweeties):

Or some iron-ons to make your shirts, school bag, hat, or shoes all cute
($6 for 3 disgruntled crafty kids iron ons).

Special mention goes out to Sarah’s amazing artwork (check out those cute prints!)

-As always,
Amanda