Craft: Shoe Time
I just received my new issue of Craft magazine, which is the print companion to the Craftzine website and blog. Their feature this issue is shoes and I don't mean just adding some ribbons to your loafers like I have done. No, they have some features on making your own ribbon tie sandals-- wood soles and all. The shoes shown on the cover are Converse soles with knitted tops and ribbon laces. Another feature explains how to add new leather or fabric uppers to a pair of existing heels. And of course, a feature on shoes would not be complete without a time line of shoe history from 15000 B.C. to present day.
Do I plan to make my own shoes? Heck no. But I love looking at and reading Craft magazine. I also read their blog, but sometimes find myself in overload over there as they post a dozen times a day, easily. Besides, the magazine has articles and features you won't find on the website. Are some of the projects weird? Yes. Are some of the projects a little too earthy, organic, artsy for my tastes? Yes. (I would not wear a jacket embellished with safety pins. And I'm sure that artist wouldn't be caught dead with ribbons on her shoes either.) But their projects are always unique and they feature a variety of crafts- sewing, knitting, sculpture, beading, jewelry making, furniture re-dos, paper art, dying fabric. It's truly a magazine about creating art from all sort of materials. And even projects that I'm quick to dismiss as "not my thing" often contain a little nugget of information or a process or a material that I can translate into a project that is "more my thing". So if you feel like you keep seeing the same ideas over and over, read Craft, because trust me, their ideas are fresh.
PS. Interesting side note, I just noticed that they have the four issues from the first year of Craft available in a boxed set.
Better Homes and Garden's Quilts & More is out for Spring 2008 and it has a nice write-up on 
