Handmade vacation-esq goodies for a worthy cause

One of my favourite things to do while on vacation is to browse through local shops and take a peek at what the local artisans are creating. And since I may not have a chance to escape the dreariness that is Canada’s winter season, I’ll just trick myself into thinking I’m on holidays with a spray tan and couple purchases from buildanest.com.

Nest provides women in third-world countries with interest-free loans to start their own craft-based businesses and become self sufficient. With their loans the women can buy supplies, gain training, or rent space. Instead of repaying their Nest loans with cash, the women are asked to provide a few of their handmade products to be sold on the site - a term Nest calls ‘microbartering’.

I’m a sucker for bags, so I’ll be adding this pretty little patchwork sac made by a loan recipient to my bday wish list ;)

Take a gander through the ‘e-market’ for your own one-of-a-kind find!

Mmm Helvetia cookies

I’m going through a bit of a cookie-cutter obsession right now. It all started with the Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters I bought at Williams Sonoma last month, which I used to make personalized dog biscuts for my lucky puppy ;)

And the obsession now extends to these Helvetia cutters, the perfect kitchen accessory for any graphic designer who enjoys baking - such as myself. Although I rarely use Helvetica in any of my designs (i’ve always been more of a Franklin Gothic Demi Cond kind of girl), i’d be willing to put aside my personal design tastes to incorporate this font into my baking. I want these!!

Handmade paper beads

kail - please take note, this might be a great way for you to earn some extra cords!

Last time I was in Nicaragua I was lucky enough to nab an over-priced paper bead necklace from a local gift shop (unfortunately for my wallet the San Juan Rasta’s have yet to tap into this segment of the handmade jewellery market). Although 200 cords was way more than I had ever expected to spend on nica jewelry, I’m always prepared to splurge on something unique. Made from old magazines, no two paper beads are exactly the same and when strung together they create an interesting one-of-a-kind piece.

You can attempt to make your own paper beads by following these steps or you can help support a group of women in Uganda by purchasing a package of handmade beads (both options are equally satisfying).

Needless to say, I’ve found my next rainy afternoon project.

Pop bottle decor

Kind of amazing, and somewhat trendy. Obviously these are chandeliers, but what’s not so obvious is that they’re made out of the bottoms of plastic pop/water bottles. My boss just blogged about something similar to this that’s being done in the windows at Anthropologie. Pop bottle decorations were pretty popular in Nicaragua too - but displayed in a completely different way. Who knew plastic bottles were such a versatile accessory?

I want to try this, but I have a feeling mine would look a little different…

Click here for the full article

knit knack

My first craft related post (second actual post) is dedicated to my dear friend Amy! She’s a seasoned pro when it comes to knitted scarves, and I thought this might be of interest to her since she also enjoys labels. Kidddding.

The knitPro is a web application that lets you upload an image, then it magically provides you with a knittable pattern! I don’t knit - nor do I have any idea if this program actually works. All I know is that Amy knits, and I enjoy afghans, the colour black, Micheal Jackson’s silhouette, and March 25th….take from that what you will.

Surprise!

Surprise! I have a blog.

And unless you enjoy crafty Martha Stewart-esq projects, 'Surprised Kitty' is about as interesting as it's going to get for you...

Enjoy :)