Hey Craftershockers — big news! We’ve scored a special deal just for you. Today through Monday, August 31st, you can get a copy of both Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book and Making Stuff for Kids for 50% off!

Making Stuff features over 50 projects from such crafty superstars as Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, Rob Ryan, Made by Milla, Portland Super Crafty, The Texan Knitting Graffiti gang, and Knitta Please.

Projects include:
• Knit an i-Pod cover
• Fashion a purse from your old school-ties
• Stitch one piece of fabric into a stylish smock-dress
• Turn an old jumper into a cuddly toy
• Make a notebook out of record covers
• Fold beautiful origami fairy-lights
• Knit unwanted t-shirts into a bathmat or weave a placemat

“A treasure trove of tips for the industrious fashionista to customise and create unique clothing, accessories and home furnishings.” Glamour

Making Stuff for Kids features projects that crafty families can make including piñatas, felted puppets, mobiles, and a whole selection of Halloween costumes.

“Try this hip collection of ideas for all style conscious teens and tweenies. From pop art cards to knitted critters and cross-stitched door signs, the projects are fun and funky!” Quick & Crafty!

To order, simply send an email to our friend Jess at Black Dog Publishing with your delivery address and quoting ‘Craftershock Special’ as the subject of the email.

In honor of the great cosmic horror master H.P. Lovecraft’s 119th birthday (today), Urban Threads has released a very special embroidery design. It features a line from one of his stories, “searchers after
horror haunt strange, far places,” and curls around a stack of books and Cthulhu. The design, which is available in machine embroidery, hand embroidery, and digital stock art
formats, is free through Aug. 31.

Abigail Brown, a very talented soft sculpture artist and crafter, has a knack for taking scrap craft materials and turning them into whimsical little creatures. We love all of her critters — from foxes to monkeys — but our favorite might be the Matchbox Tweeter seriess pictured first below. How precious!

As any cat owner with modern taste knows, there is a lot of ugly cat furniture out there. Luckily, thanks to shops such as Like Kittysville, there’s also a lot of gorgeous modern cat furniture available. Looking at these customizable kitty beds, it’s hard to believe they’re handmade! But that’s the awesome quality you’d expect from a self-described “award-winning design graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.”

Ever wondered how to turn doodles in your sketchbook into huggable lovable softies? The Handmade Romance blog shows you how in a great four-part series. All you need is needle, thread, sewing machine, fabric, pattern paper… and the ability to draw really cute characters.

Part 1 discusses how to turn your sketch into a pattern.

Part 2 covers fabric selection and cutting the pieces from the pattern.

Part 3 details the hand sewn details and embroidery of the face.

Part 4 deals with the final construction.