the bean bag predicament

I've been slacking, I know. Here's one I started a while back.

Lawn games are tough on the equipment, to be sure, which leads me to the predicament of figuring out how to make durable, washable bean bags. The material is easy enough, upholstery fabric should do the trick. But the guts? Previously I used popcorn, but I was worried that they would rot or pop during washing. Beads? Beans could rot too? Tough. Store-bought bags are filled with sand, and aside from the "free sand" aspect, they leave something to be desired. So I went with Stensby's idea of varnishing the popcorn, hopefully sealing it. Any other suggestions are welcome...

My bean bag recipe:
6 inch squares upholstery fabric
Double stitched, 1/4" inseams
Just shy of 1 cup varnished beans per bag

A bean bag that has it figured out: Mean Bags. Embroidered with insults, you simply throw the Mean Bag at the offender. Brilliant.

faux vintage

I've been really jealous of Sarah and her old-timey camera (this one or something similar), so I decided how to learn how to make digital pictures look old. Turns out it's pretty easy. Assuming you have Photoshop, that is. You can mess around with the filters, softening the image and changing the hue/saturation OR you can download an action file, which I didn't know existed until yesterday. Someone else does all the work; all you have to do is press "Play." Then you can add layers of actual lenses- people take pictures of their dirty lenses so you can use them in Photoshop. Pretty rad.

craftstravaganza

St. Paul's Craftstravaganza was held this past Saturday, which myself and a carload of crafty friends attendend. I was somewhat underwhelmed, there were no useful wooden items afterall, but it was good to do some Uptown Market promotion. I finally met Adam Turman, who is designing a promotional poster for the market. Other highlights included: learning what a Chupacabra is, neat designs by Michelle Brusegaard, driving around the empty fairgrounds, stopping at Eden Pizza, and of course, Stensby's ensemble of bedazzled glasses, capuccino, and American Apparel Scarf.