News! My new fabric line has just arrived at The Needle Shop and is available for purchase retail and wholesale. The bolts are eagerly standing by, holding their breath in hopes that some kind and discerning people like yourselves will give them a good home.
Guys, I'm in love with these. I can't even decide which is my favorite. I'm leaning toward the Wildflower print in Dawn, above, just because it contains maximum orange. But I think they're all delicious and one should not discriminate amongst one's children.
The set of six Dawn designs are printed on natural canvas, so the backgrounds are sort of a cream color and contain cool little cotton flecks. The Dusk designs are printed on crisp white.
Why is this collection named Outside Oslo, you ask? These prints have a bit of a mid-century vibe and look somewhat Scandinavian to me. Relatives on my mom's side of the family came from Norway. The prints are all named after things you might see on a nature walk somewhere outside a city, and I always adore alliteration. Thus, Outside Oslo.
Above is the complete Dawn colorway.
And above is the complete Dusk colorway.
You can now buy these from The Needle Shop online right here or in the store if you're in Chicago. For a list of stockists around the country, plus a few international shops, click here. And if you know of a store or manufacturer who might be interested in a wholesale order, send them here. I can't wait to see what people make with these!
Update: For some peeks at the fabric in action, see here.
Ages ago I bought a package of crepe paper (like this—the folded sheets, not streamers). An impulse purchase simply because... it was orange? The other day I finally made some flowers with it while watching way too much HGTV. These will be nice gift toppers, or maybe I'll do more and make a wreath.
Materials:
Sheet of crepe paper
Small piece of cardstock
Scissors
Glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue)
Toothpick
Cut 12 circles from a sheet of crepe paper, any size you like depending on how big you want the final flower to be. I accordion-folded a strip of paper and cut multiple circles at once. No need to be too precise; freehand circles will do.
Orient each petal so the grain in the paper runs vertically. Apply a bit of glue at the bottom of the petal and pinch it to create small gathers. When the glue has dried, press both thumbs into the center of each petal and stretch the paper to curl the edges inward, forming a bowl shape. 
Cut out a small circle of cardstock (about the same size as the petals before you shaped them.) Glue five petals around the outside edge. Then stagger four petals inside that ring, followed by three petals in the middle.
To make a center for the flower, cut a small strip of crepe paper and fold it in half. Cut notches along one long edge of the doubled paper to make fringe. Roll the fringed paper around a toothpick and secure with glue. Finally, glue this piece into the center of the flower. 
I spotted this printable baby shower stationery set at Creature Comforts and had to share it; the cuteness is overwhelming. Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. has illustrated a set of book-themed baby shower pieces available as a free download at Martha Stewart. Check out the whole slide show: that book garland is a sweet idea.
If you like typefaces that can fit into a pair of skinny jeans, Steelfish will make you very happy. Designed by Ray Larabie, half the weights in the family are available for free right here.
For brides on a budget, this cute, customizable wedding stationery can be downloaded from The Wedding Chicks. Choose colors and type information into an online form, and a free bunting-themed set will be generated for you. Get the invitation, RSVP card, table number, and escort card right here. Or find more printable options in the Freebie section.
Links to instructions for making these lovely items are below. Go nuts!
Pleated pillow at Presser Foot
Butcher paper wreath by Alisa Burke
Asterisk clock from Curbly
Webbed chair seat repair at Martha Stewart
Tiny polaroid magnets from Ambrosia Girl, inspired by my Pantone magnets!
Sunburst pillows at Versus by Anna of Noodlehead
You know I have a weakness for 3D paper anything, so when I saw an instructional video for origami rabbit cups by Jacky Chan at Origami Spirit, I had to try it. The video moves along briskly so I had to rewind repeatedly, but I prevailed. Hey, now that nobody uses tape anymore, is it still called rewinding? What's it called? But I digress. Go fold some Easter bunnies. If you use 6" origami paper, an egg will fit nicely inside.
Speaking of parties, I keep hearing rumors that two people called William and Kate are getting married in England sometime soon. I don't know much about it, but I suppose it will be the typical wedding seen on all the blogs nowadays with one of those photo booths where guests hold up mustaches on sticks in front of their faces.
If you'd like to watch this wedding on TV and make a party of it (or you're just nuts about British themes), download this set of printables from Design Editor.
Back in January, Hostess with the Mostess posted this photo from Anders Ruff. The hanging polyhedrons caught my eye, so I added this idea to my DIY decoration toolbox. The balls are just paper plates stapled together, made from this tutorial at Family Fun. Nifty! You could use colored plates or spray paint white plates orange. (Or some other color, if you must.) A nice idea for parties or shop windows.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned Bobby Solomon's The Desktop Wallpaper Project many moons ago. Probably. Maybe. Anyhow, some of the latest artwork might make you smile. Charlie Sheen wallpaper, anyone? 
If a brush script might come in handy, check out Water Brush ROB, available for free right here.
Update: It looks like the free version has now been removed.
People with lots of stuff to carry might benefit from some tote bag sewing instructions. Lucky for us, nice people of the internet have come through. A few tutorials:
Mini tote by Hollabee
Pleated beach bag at Thimble
Organizing tote basket by 2 Little Hooligans
Market tote at Bijou Lovely
I've created a downloadable file for making compliment bunting. When you need to tell someone they're super, this might be just the thing. Use it for birthdays, promotions or when your friend is sad. Everybody likes compliments. By the way, your hair looks very nice today.
If you happen to have a Silhouette digital cutter and Adobe Illustrator, it's fun to cut out the letters. (You'll need the Cutting Master 2 Craft ROBO plug-in, available here for Mac and PC. Install it, then open the bunting PDF in Illustrator. Delete the extra pages, then go to File > Cutting Master and cut your triangle of choice.)
Or just print your favorite PDF pages on cardstock and cut them out. Punch small holes in the corners and string the bunting.
The PDF contains six pages—three designs in two colors each. Download the complimentary compliment bunting file right here.
The Curiosity Group comes out with a clever (and free!) printable 3D calendar each month. The April paper toy is a record player with a little cutout in the album that reveals the date. Grab it here.
Or build a calendar of stacking cubes by Pen Pencil Stencil. You'll be set for the year.
I like today for three reasons. One, it's Friday. Two, it's my birthday. Three, it's April Fool's Day. An unrelated note: while our neighbors were out of the country recently, we may have accidentally let ourselves into their house and applied self-adhesive googly eyes to their stuff. Some eyes might possibly have ended up in our house, too.
Mod Podge Amy, trouble-maker that she is, sent over this article about the color preferences of men and women. The excerpted graphic above shows the least favorite colors reported by men on the left and women on the right. Dear readers, this is a tragic state of affairs! Do I insist that orange be everyone's favorite color? No. But should it ever be one's least favorite color? Never! Lemon yellow is far worse. Results also revealed that the majority of people surveyed believe orange to be a "cheap" color. Blasphemy!
Download whimsical desktop wallpaper freebies compliments of Willem Pirquin, a freelance illustrator in Belgium. Choose from playing cards, alphabet letters, gnomes and other playful images.
Should you need icons for websites, presentations, or for replacing all the default icons on your computer desktop because you're crazy like that, Icon Finder is for you. Choose from bazillions of images, many of which are free for commercial use. Search by size, background color, and licensing options. (When viewing any icon, the license info is shown in the upper left corner.)
Remember last week's shiny Pantone magnet project? I'm on a shiny kick right now and decided to test another type of glaze. Hopefully the repetition isn't so dull that your eyes... ugh, it's too cheesy; I can't finish the sentence.
I glued pieces of a map to wooden disks with plain old garden-variety Mod Podge. Then I applied special Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the surface of the paper, let it dry, and stuck magnets on the back. No unicorns, leprechauns, or rabbits in hats materialized, but I can report that after the stuff was dry, the surfaces of the disks were super glossy. Probably not captured to full effect in this photo, I'd say the stuff gets shinier than Aleene's Paper Glaze, though it doesn't create quite as thick a coating since the liquid is thinner. It dries in about 3 hours as opposed to 24 like Aleene's, and because the directions say to shake it gently before using, it tends to get tiny, almost unnoticeable air bubbles in in. Which didn't bother me at all, but maybe next time I'll shake less. Here's what it looks like wet:
I like both products a lot and am making plans to glaze everything in my house.
Big news! I'm thrilled to announce my latest fabric collection—please meet Outside Oslo, a line of home décor fabrics in two colorways. This batch is brought to you by The Needle Shop, Chicago's delicious little fabric store and sewing school.
Look for Outside Oslo in stores in May. If you're a shop or manufacturer interested in wholesale purchasing, head over to The Needle Shop's page for information on ordering. While you're there, you can grab a PDF that shows all the prints, along with lots of ideas for fun things to make.
Now, allow me introduce the cast of characters. I'm sure it's no surprise there are some orangey guys in here. 
Stay tuned for an update when the collection is available to purchase retail. Hope you like it! And now I'm signing off for the week; I'm traveling and will meet you back here on Monday.
Update: The collection is now available online here.
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