My Craft Corner

Since moving in to this apartment, I've been fortunate enough to have a designated corner for my sewing and crafting. Having my own space really helps me focus and get my craft on in the most bitchin' of ways. Yesterday, I moved some furniture around and re-arranged my goodies and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with my craft corner:

Bright and sunny, right next to the window.

My dear friend Michael was gracious enough to let me hold on to a few of his sewing supplies since he's not using them. Among all my presents?! A dress stand, named Betty (below), and an EPIC pair of fabric scissors.

Pictured: The Katie Apron. On sale on Etsy!

Here's the decor above my sewing table. I bought the smaller frames for $1.00 each at target, sprayed them red and re-framed some pictures of pin-up girls that I had. The larger center frame I bought at Boomerangs for $1.50, but I've yet to find a picture for it. Any suggestions?

Fabric in it's new home (thrifted basket, $2.00)

So, guess what I'll be doing this weekend!!!!

Magnet Tutorial(ish)!

Oh, we're just SUCH a crafty bunch here at 18 Dolly.

A few days ago, Tori showed me how to make super cool, mini magnets out of old beer bottle caps. Being a fan of beer, all things small, AND magnets, I couldn't resist this fantastical craft-ical project!

Some of my favorites:

Fun fact: The "branch" in my new life magnet is actually a stem from my most recent pot purchase.
I'm so fucking clever I could puke!

You will need:

• beer bottle caps
• paint, glitter, magazines, beads or buttons (basically anything that will fit inside a bottle cap...)
• small, round magnets
  
• pour-on ultra gloss epoxy finish

Step one: Decorate your caps
Step two: Let them dry, pour ultra gloss into caps. Be very careful! Wear rubber gloves and use a cup with a spouted edge for precise pouring (not a solo cup like I used. Very messy!)
Step three: Let dry for 8-72 hours. My recommendation? Go make other crafts!
Step four: Once varnish completely dries, use a super strong glue to glue them to your magnets and then put that shit on your fridge!

Hope you had fun! Feel free to send me pictures of your creations at crascal1125@gmail.com and I'll feature them on Dog on Lap!

Happy crafting!

Road Trip!

This weekend my pandas and I took a road trip down to the great state of New York to visit the lovely Katie Williams and Raskin Family. We spent Friday/Saturday in Brooklyn and Saturday/Sunday in the ever-exciting Yorktown Heights.

To Do List (Brooklyn)

• Make out with Katie
• Get fresh
• Eat hummus
• Thrift

To Do With Lucy List (Yorktown):

• Play dress up
  
• Paint our nails
• Build a fort
• Picnic

I'm pretty sure we were able to check everything off our list. Don't believe me? Check the photos, hater! Also, I'm moving to Brooklyn. The reason? Beacon's Closet.

Enjoy!

Panda in the car.


Tandem Bar for Girlfriend's gig.


So telling of the Jenn-Shane dynamic.

.
Abby and I are very much in love.


Thrifted necklace: $8.00


Bagel breakfast from Bagelsmith.


Girlfriend bought me flowers. *swoon!*

Lastly, all things Lucy:



Don't forget your sleeping bag backpack when leaving the house.


Lucy was our nature walk leader; Laura was a flower; I was a princess.


One of many acorns found. Also, red hair!


Picnic included: strawberries, pretzels, goldfish.


Grandpa was even invited!

Apron Update: Lucy's apron didn't fit. HOWEVER, it did fit her baby doll perfectly, so suck it. Aside from that, I'd say this was a pretty bitchin' weekend. I literally cannot wait for the summer. Are classes over yet?

ELLEN, YOU CAN'T READ THIS POST.

...Because below is a picture of your birthday present!!!!! Tori and Emma got moderately frisky on Dini's couch last night. I had to tell them it wasn't that kind of blog and to keep it PG-13. The result? MegaFreshness:

I don't know about you, but I'm aroused.


Nice shot of Miss Ellen's bday present (right). Fully lined, half apron, two pockets. Ador.


Where's that hand going, Tor?


Detail of Ellen's Apron at the waist


I couldn't resist their sass! I mean, could you???

It boggles my mind how attractive my friends are.

Don't forget to place your Mother's Day apron order! Men's aprons coming soon... Shop my etsy store or email me at crascal1125@gmail.com to create your custom-made apron!

Terese's Apron!

Happy early Mother's Day to my girlfriend's mom, Terese. My Leah is going down to Miami next week to visit her mom and her dogs, Roxanne Shante and Maxwell Bentley Fiasco (pictured below).

Terese's favorite color is green... I tend to avoid green for some reason but I really do love the way this apron came out. I'm going to have to force myself to use new colors!

The pick....


....and the flick!


Pleats at the waist...


Detail at chest. I had extra fabric. I think I might add a button or two...

I'm very proud of this one. It's lined with ivory cotton. I hope Mama Terese likes it! But now, for the moment you've all been waiting for.... the dogs!

Mr. Maxwell Bentley Fiasco


Miss Roxanne Shante

I'm SUCH a jellyfish because girlfriend gets to go play with those puppies! I bet they'd be best friends with Scoobie...

Matt Rosadini, An American Hero.

My dear friend Matt was gracious enough to again photograph my aprons in exchange for my love, affection and a turkey meatloaf dinner. Yum!

Here's whats new and soon to be on sale on etsy!

The Victoria Apron:

I really love this one. The back is fully lined with brown cotton fabric. It complimented the floral pattern so nicely! Isn't my Emma just stunning?

Next we have the Julia Apron:

This one isnt lined because I ran out of cotton. I'll probably sell it for a little less. I love how Tori's shirt picks up the green in the pattern. This one's a fairly long half apron, pleated at the waist, one pocket.

The Jennifer Apron:

You've seen this one. Emma modeled it for me before but Matt's pictures are just SO much better than mine. I bought this pattern with Jenn's apron in mind but ended up drafting a more interesting pattern. This one isn't lined either but i just LOVE the patterns!

If you're interested in buying an apron for oh, I don't know.... Mother's day!... please check out my etsy page!

As always, thanks again to Matt, Emma and Tori!

My Sister's Having Baby No. 2!

Big news for GOODELLA!! Somebody's gonna be a big sister! Congratulations to the whole Holland Family!

Check the fresh kicks...

My sister just officially announced she's pregnant with her and her husband's second child! Oh, just think of all the things I'm gonna sew that baby....Since I have to wait eight more moths to spoil spawn deux (I'm rooting for a boy this time, by the way), I decided that it's only proper to shower my LUCY with "soon-to-be-big-sister" presents. First up, her very own apron....

...I just pray it fits. I totally made it up as I went along! Oh well, if not, Lucy has a new outfit for her dolls. Better pictures on their way as Mr. Rosadini has agreed to photograph my stuff once more in exchange for a turkey meatloaf dinner. Yum. And of course glamour shots of Lucy in her apron!

Mozel to the Hollands once more!

Those Who Can't Do, Teach....

Who's that hooker at my sewing table?! Miss Dana (pronounced Dah-Na, as in "uh, dah na na naaaaa!") came over last night and made her very first apron. She was a natural! I've never seen someone take to a sewing machine so quickly! I only helped a little with the lace detail and pockets; everything else was Miss D'na. Someone's found their niche....

Lacework can be quite the bitch...


D'na hard at work!


The finished apron, a gift for her sister.


Pocket detail with lace. I'm totally doing this on my next apron, by the way.


Top lace detail and shoulder strap. Sigh, how fucking adorable!

So proud of my D'na! Next time, I'll need two sewing machines, though. I'm too impatient! Also, I need a dress form badly. Scoobie says hi! See you at the next post!

Dog On Lap On Etsy!

Like what you see here on Dog on Lap? Now you can have your very own Cara Raskin Original Apron in your kitchen!

Dog On Lap Concepts is officially up and ready for business! Click here to view our Etsy Page!

There are only two aprons for sale currently, but hopefully soon I'll get some great shots of my work put it up for the world to buy!

Apron Fever

I am an apron-making MACHINE. In the past few days, I've made three or four aprons and today Emma and I are off to the fabric store for more more more more fabric. Stay tuned for new, fabulous aprons!

Here is Scoobie enjoying the perks of being a pup.

If God is a DJ, Then I'm Dating God...

*swoon*

That's my girlfriend. Isn't she delicious? She's a DJ and she was just featured on On a Friday. Check it out here. There's also a link to download her mixtape. You should download it because its really good.

Also, on an AWESOME note, girlfriend and I both recently got jobs. PAYING jobs. Mozel tov to us!

THE GREATEST THING EVER*

My friend Ryan showed me this and it is GLORIOUS. Enjoy!



*I say this about a lot of things.

Daily Dose of Dog

Emma Panda snapped some fantastical shots of me playing with my pupperchino this morning. Scoobie's very protective of her mallard.

This is fairly normal for us.

My favorite is when she lets me drag her around the room by the MALLARD!

How obvious is it that I'm avoiding homework? I have SENIORITIS. Also, two weeks ago, my professor printed out Pablo Neruda's wikipedia page, handed it out in class, and proceeded to use it as material for his lecture. What's my tuition for, again?

Sigh, maybe I'll make another apron...

A Hump Day Apron

Yesterday marked the first time in my apron-making career that I actually followed a pattern. I think it came out pretty good!

Emma offered to model topless. I told her this wasn't that kind of blog.


Gathered detail at waist.


Pocket! Perfect for cell phones...

The only thing I don't like about this one is that it's not lined. I'm not good at hemming so lining all my aprons is how I avoid such a daunting task. And this pattern called for a lot of hemming... Lined work is also so much nicer and it looks much more polished. I really think my gathering came out lovely at the waist, though! This patter used a different technique than I normally do and it's much easier and looks perfect.

Hope you enjoyed! I'm off to watch Pete & Pete!