heart patches

While shopping the other day, I was eying up some cute menswear-style cardigans with elbow patches at H&M. But the next thing you know, I had a handful of adorable clothes for my 14-month-old daughter, and like all new mommies, I chose buying her clothes over shopping for myself.

Enter Pinterest. (Come on, you know the awesome-ness of Pinterst, right?) I found this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess and thought, I can do that! So I dug an old, boring cardigan out of my closet and made my own.

I did modify it just a bit and cut my patches out of an old T-shirt and used the iron-on paper to keep my hearts still while I stitched and make it a little more sturdy. I think it turned out super-cute!

This is Angie for Keyluxe.

Holiday Crafting

It has been quite a while since I have let you all know what I have been up to! First of all I am working on growing a child-that consumes quite a bit of time but I have still managed to craft up some things thanks to the inspiration of Pinterest!

Today I am sharing the deer shirt that I crafted up for the sister-in-law (I just couldn't picture a giant bleached deer stretched across my giant belly!)

Here's the quick tutorial for a Bleached Deer Shirt

Materials:

Old (or new) shirt-prewashed

white chalk

template or design to trace (optional)

gel bleach pen

wash machine

old magazine or newspaper

1. Take prewashed shirt, lay out on work space and decide where the design will be (front, shoulder, back, etc) and then place magazine or newspaper between layers of the shirt so that the bleach will not bleed through to the other side (unless you want this effect).

2. Trace template or design onto shirt with the chalk first so that you can correct any imperfections.

For this project I used this deer template from this pillow tutorial (and thank you to Sew Homegrown) :

http://www.sewhomegrown.com/2010/11/diy-anthropologie-inspired-blooming.html

3. Trace over chalk with gel bleach pen working top to bottom so that you don't smear your hand through the bleach (I am talking from experience!)

4. Leave the shirt sit from a few hours or overnight. The longer you leave the bleach on the stronger the effect will be.

5. Carefully place shirt in wash and launder with cold water and then dry in dryer as usual.

6. Viola- a beautiful shirt!

If you are interested the picture is of my beautiful sister-in-law and her Iphone cover is a DIY cross-stitch one! Isn't she super crafty?!

This is Emily for KeyLuxe

Oh, baby!

I've taken a break from blogging, but not from crafting. Since the last time I posted, I got a brand new craft room and a brand new baby! Here is my little cutie, all wrapped up in a swaddle blanket that I made, of course.

Right now I am working on a bird mobile to hang above the crib, and I just got a new batch of keys waiting to be put on necklaces, so stay tuned.

This is Angie for Keyluxe.

market totes

After our disappointment with our first attempt to sell our creations, I felt discouraged and took a little break from crafting. Besides, as excited as I am about becoming pregnant, it left me pretty drained and unmotivated. But after going to a craft show this weekend and seeing what other people were making and realizing that would be a way better forum to try again, I got back in the creating mood. I want to really work on making more stuff so we can get into this show next year.

Awhile ago I made this simple tote bag to carry all my produce in when I go to market. It's perfect for storing in my purse, but holds a ton of stuff . I thought other people would love them too, so I bought a bunch of fabric so I could really whip up a bunch of them. I pre-washed it, and was very disappointed to find some of it shrunk! Major fail!


Never wanting to waste anything, I held on to the fabric, knowing someday I would find the perfect use for it. Since I found out I'm going to be a mom, I've been itching to start making stuff for my baby. So I bought a book on baby patterns and decided this shrunken fabric would make an adorable changing pad. I also had some extra yellow fabric laying around that coordinated, so I whipped it up and I'm very happy with the results. Yay, my first hand-made item for baby!

Hopefully this creating-streak will stick with me, and I'll have lots more to post soon.

This is Angie for Keyluxe.

Our first show-Failure or not?

Our first chance to sell all of our beautiful creations was on Saturday. We diligently arrived early to set up our display to show everyone what we had worked on with such passion, hoping that they would love the pieces as much as we did and decide to take something home with them. Our hopes became dim as the morning waned on. We got many positive comments and lots of compliments, but not a single sale. People loved what we made but cringed at the price, as if we were to be giving them away for free. As the day came to a close we found not a single thing had sold. Our display remained as we placed it that morning-untouched and full of potential.

We were not sure whether to be angry or sad or dismayed or indifferent. Did we do something wrong? Who is to blame for our inability to sell these pieces that we so lovingly created to share with others? Were the prices to high? No, we need to be compensated for all the hard work we put into the pieces! Was the display unattractive? We thought it looked pretty good (with the exception of a few things that could be improved). It must have been the weather-the skies were a bit overcast. And it must have been the customers-we just didn't have the right audience, for these folks were looking for a bargain and not a piece of handmade art.

We came to the determination that it was out of our control. We were simply artists, creators, crafters doing what we love and trying to share these amazing pieces with others. Next time we will try an actual craft show and see if that brings more success. We will hold our heads up high, keep on crafting, and give it another try. Next craft show, here we come!

This is Emily for Keyluxe.

Inspiration

The day is drawing nearer when Keyluxe will present itself in public for the first time! Therefore the sewing must hasten in an effort to finish up some of those started-but-never-quite-finished projects lying around (and you all know what I'm talking about!) So I fly to the sewing machine and sit. And just sit. the machine laughs at me. The inspiration to sew has just left me! Aggghh now is the time to be sewing! So many pieces to finish or start and so little time until we need to display them for all to see and purchase!



The lack of inspiration on this day was easily cured by some alone time with a cup of chai tea and a few minutes of reading (The Swan Thieves By Elizabeth Kostova), however this is not always the case. Sometimes the thrill of creating just doesn't want to show itself. But this day it was back to the cutting table and a new project is born and nearly completed in record time. The ideas just seem to flow from my head to the cloth. This is how it's supposed to work!





Some days the pressure to create is so great that the inspiration seems to escape, replaced by the urge to make something to sell and make money. The inspiration seems to return when I start to sew and create for me and no one else. AAhhh the key to being inspired is not to think of others but to look within yourself.





This is Emily for Keyluxe.





Look for KEYLUXE at the Spring Fling Flea Market and Craft Show on Saturday May 22nd at St.John's UMC along rt. 30 in Paradise, Pa. Show starts at 8 am. We look forward to meeting you there!

Sisters + sewing machines + beads + lots of inspiration = KEYLUXE

From trendy to useful, jewelry to bags, these sisters will craft up anything.

We're Angie and Emily, two sisters who love to sew and create. What started out as just creating projects turned into Keyluxe. Our current repertoire includes (but may change without notice!): Necklaces made from keys, pearls, and vintage buttons, handcrafted bags, pot holders, plus whatever strikes our fancy.

We find our inspiration on the pages of magazines, checking out other craft blogs, and whatever jumps out at us at the craft store. (We can spend hours there!)

We're just getting started on this journey that could lead us anywhere. The sewing machines are fired up, the fabric has been cut, the buttons have been sorted, and the ideas are flowing. We don't know exactly where this is headed, but we promise this won't be boring.

Stay tuned to see and read about our latest and greatest creations!

This is Angie and Emily for Keyluxe.