Bohemian Mermaid Palace

  Video: Where the F&@K are the Weird Crafty Youtube Channels??  (Right Here B*#ches!) Unique Crochet Tutorials  Where the F&@K are the Snarky Weird Craft Channels?? Continued from my previous post:   Where the F&*K are the Snarky Craft Youtube Channels?? That previous post was the moment when I realized youtube either... a) makes it really hard to find weird (ie cool) craft channels, or  b) maybe possibly there are not very many in existence. I still find that really hard to believe.     Video:  Where the F&@K are the Snarky Weird Craft Channels?? Finding My People | Unique Crochet Tutorials   A Weirdo Beacon to Summon my People Meanwhile, I decided to make a channel promo video asking the question , and showing off what I am doing here on my channel. Putting out a weirdo beacon to summon my people.   I am really seeking the group I know exists in fb groups and etsy world.  I want to meet the folks who: are crafty ...

 What Beer Can Hats Mean to Me - A Philosophy of Art & Craft Why I Love Beer Can Hats - My Art/Craft Philosophy The Queen of Beer Can Hats If you've been paying attention at all, you may have noticed I take beer can hats more seriously than most people. Haha I laughed just writing that. It's true!! After I put out my big 3 part series, it hit me. I am a huge dork about Beer Can Hats!  I finally took the time to really explore the beer can hat stuff out on the internet, and you know I am reinforced. There is almost literally nothing good, as far as patterns and tutorials go. So it also underscored the dork realization, I am probably the most enthusiastic Beer Can Hat maker out here, and definitely the most creative Beer Can Hat tutorial maker. So great for me! But also what a fucking nerd. Haha. Hey, here is the video I made of this post. I crochet a whole beer can hat while discussing these points: Video:  Why I 💜 Beer Can Hats | My Art/Craft Philosophy + Crochet Tim...

Craft Fairs Need Feedback! Your Fear is Killing Them Ok I'm feeling frustrated right now, so I guess I'll rant a little bit. Just Idk, about how powerless fear can make us! And it's so easy to get fearful sometimes. Ugh, ok start from the beginning.  A concern I see expressed often in many artist groups I'm in, is how they *must* keep out the show promoters from these groups, so we can freely speak about our experiences at shows. I get that, I do. In my own groups, I have that rule as well. *Unless* it's an artist who is also involved in running a show. I feel like we can trust our own people, artist to artist, and I don't think I could regulate that very easily anyway. I've gotten some flack for it too.  But honestly, even though I understand the desire to feel comfortable expressing opinions freely, I don't worry too much about who's listening. Even if the organizers walked into my booth in person, I would absolutel...

  Selling at Craft Shows Has Been Great for My Depression Here is something I've been thinking about lately, esp since I've been on craft show break now for about a year. Wow that's trippy to say out loud, but more on that another time. It's all great actually, just unexpected. Suddenly I felt like it was time for a break, didn't see it coming. And I'm not sure when I'll go back, so there's a lot of pondering the path of my life right now. I guess I should start with the fact that I've struggled with depression most of my life. I consider myself a functional depressive. Like I can mostly do everything I need to do in the grande scheme of things, but day to day I sometimes can barely function at all.  I use many coping techniques,  but mainly I set up everything in my life with strong boundaries. Those boundaries help me keep my life really mellow and drama free, and as much as possible stress free as well. Just a way to limit si...

The Judgement of Art vs Craft is Useless Ah, I have been wanting to write this for a long time. The discussion around Art vs Craft has been happening as long as I can remember. Especially in art school, I heard this talked about a million times. What is art? The conclusion I came to then was that this debate is futile, similar to talking religion. Everyone has a different view, and none of them are wrong. It's a debate you cannot win, and so has always frustrated me. I just don't participate, unless asked directly.  But recently I saw a thread in an artist group I'm in. It's a national group on Facebook called Art Fair Reviews. Many people in that group have very high regard for what they do, and lesser regard for those they consider to be... lesser. The discussion was so arrogant and gross, I had to leave. But I've seen it a so often. And in my own group, West Coast Artists and Artisans , I have struggled with this same tendency toward something I ...

(From my stash of little articles written about 10 yrs ago... I've not changed my mind. In fact the 70s styles are even more popular today. Woot.) Let's not forget those awesome days of yore...when crafting and needlework were having a real heyday.  No, not the Renaissance, nor the Victorian era, classic though they may be. I am referring to the colorful and creative 1970s.  I am a child of that period, and as such took part in nearly every creative whim of my parents...latch hook, crochet, needlepoint, crewel. And do I recall some of those cellophane dipped flowers and some sort of toxic resin plaques? Yes, those were the days. Funk was the norm and looking through my mom's craft book collection was so much rainy day fun.    "Granny Square Vest Family" painted from a 70s crochet pattern booklet I have now amassed my own impressive collection of craft books, also of the 70s variety.  Most of these (surprise) relate to working with fibers in so...

Pattern Abbreviations: Ch : chain Ch st : chain stitch Dc : double crochet Dec: decrease Dtr : double treble crochet Hdc : half double crochet Inc: increase Lp : loop Pat: pattern Prev: previous RS: right side Rep : repeat Rnd : round Sc : single crochet Sk : skip Sl st : slip stitch Sp: space St : stitch Tog : together Tr : treble crochet WS: wrong side Yo : yarn over hook Crochet Stitches: Slip Stitch : Insert hook into designated st, yo and draw a loop through work and through loop on hook. Chain Stitch : Make slip knot and place loop on hook. Yo and pull a loop through loop on hook. Single Crochet : Insert hook into designated st, yo and draw a loop (2loops on hook). Yo and draw a loop through both loops on hook. Half Double Crochet : Yo and insert hook into designated st, yo and draw a loop (3 loops on hook). Yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook. Double Crochet : Yo and insert hook into designated st, yo and draw a loop (3 loops on hook). Yo and draw th...