The Leather Factory continues its annual leather competition--but to them, annual means anything but traditional. This year's leather challenge medium was HATS! Third place winner Maria Filosa created a 1920s-style bathing cap with rosettes titled "In Grandma's Garden." Second place winner Ann Mitchell crafted the suede, two-layer "Sun Hat," and her sister Karen Mitchell won first place with a leather and suede extravaganza "Hat Rack" with four embellished leather hats. None of the artists in the challenge were leather crafters by nature but stretched their creative wings and made this Leather Challenge an event to remember. Website: www.LeatherFactory.com
John Kennedy has designed easy-to-make puppets for kidsof all ages. One favorite is his Banana Buddy. Kennedy offers instructions on crafting a banana buddy, plus patterns and performance secrets in his book Puppet Mania: The World's Most Incredible Puppet Making Book Ever from North Light Books. The book will give you step-by-step puppet-building techniques that come from Kennedy's lifetime of being a puppeteer.Website: www.PuppetKit.com
Mrs. Grossman's fabric and metal stickers and stuffed stickers add texture and dimension to scrapbooks and cards, but their uses don't stop there! Sandi Genovese covers a small box with the fabric stickers and adds a stuffed sticker elephant to the top to make a cute circus gift box.Website: http://www.MrsGrossmans.com/
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