(Oh my, pardon my referencing of a Color Me Badd lyric. *shudder*)

Maybe a cool clock will make up for bad lyrics?

This wickedly cool clock is courtesy of Haworth Handmade, a Sacramento Craft Mafia member who actually hails from Davis. (Said clock was actually displayed at Bazaar Bizarre.)

Melissa is the gal who turns these vintage books into actual working clocks. And a lot of those books are straight out of childhood if you happen to be in your mid-20s or older. She even had some Childcraft books turned into clocks. Remember Childcraft? They had some crafty books in that set!

There is only one other clock in Melissa’s Etsy shop at the moment, but if you drop her a message, she has many more that are not listed online. She might have a book clock that is right up your alley!

In keeping with the vintage/recycling theme, Haworth Handmade also offers Zip Quilt Kits. That’s right, I said Zip. As in Zip disk. I kid you not:

These quilt kits — this one happens to feature some cute elephants — are great for those who are new to quilting and want to try their hand at a mini quilt. It makes something that your kids’ doll can use, or a really cool looking single placemat. All instructions and materials are included, and again, in a stroke of genius recycling, everything fits neatly into a Zip disk case. Never thought a good use could be found for those, but apparently, I was wrong.

Quick! When you think of porcelain, what do you think of? Really, really old china? A wedding gift you need to give someone? Pale white figurines in a curio cabinet (or your parents’ shelf)?

Now, would you think of this?

This is a lovely pendant from Chinook Jewelry. High fired porcelain. It’s only one of a myriad (and fun!) collection of ceramic pendants that are all handmade. Pendants are in several categories, from Modern Art (which is where the heart pendant was found) to a Seashore collection to a Things With Wings collection (which has some very nice bees, by the way). There are a wide range of styles and all colorful and pretty indeed.

There is even a bead section, filled with porcelain beads … it’s a veritable flower garden, too!

No boring bone-colored ceramic here!

And just when you thought the pendants were cool enough, there’s also some awesome finished jewelry pieces as well. Like this:

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That above is the Fallen Leaves necklace. The leaf is in gold plated with copper. Still a long ways from fall, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

It’s rare that a pincushion could evoke some feeling of hunger or general want of something, but then again, not every pincushion in the world could look like this:

This sweet-looking cup o’ joe is from Betz White and can be purchased from her Etsy shop.

In case you didn’t think the coffee cup was cute enough, there are a wide variety of cupcakes available as well:

All these creations are made from recycled sweaters! Just another reason they are awesome … because recycling is always a good thing.

These are almost too nice to use as pincushions, but they do make nice decorations even if you do use them for their intended purpose.

Aprons are useful things, but they certainly don’t have to be boring. Sometimes they can even offer humorous advice:

This is the “How to Get a Husband” crafty tool belt from Dayna of The Crafty Scientist. Good for a laugh, and handy too.

Dayna’s crafty tool belts are available in many colorful, fun prints. I actually own one in a cheery floral/kitchen print. It is seriously indispensable at every craft show I do. It is a money-holder/tape holder/notepad holder/scissors holder/pen holder/business card holder/place for me to nervously put my hands in. Fantastic stuff.

The Crafty Scientist also carries other sewed goodness, including cat mats and toys, lunch bags, totes, pillows and even the wicked cool disc golf bags that are made of repurposed plastic bags.

Cool experimenting, indeed.

In honor of the May flowers that April showers are supposed to bring …

These needle cases are from Textile Fetish, where you can find some pretty awesome aprons, bags and clothing in fun prints.

The black floral case is the deluxe knitting needle case — this particular one has 28 pockets for straight needles, though some of the deluxe cases are configured differently with fewer but bigger pockets. The white print is a double-pointed needle/crochet hook case, which usually has between 20-28 pockets.

They’re nice cases indeed, and pretty sturdy. And it’s amazing what you can fit in one of those rolls. I bought one a couple of years ago (it has a pear print). It’s is fat with needles, DPNs, circulars and a billion other things and seems like it would burst at the seams, yet doesn’t. It’s a vertiable salami of needles and crochet hooks. And it’s nice having all my DPN sets together because pre-case, I inevitably was one of those people who would start knitting a hat and then wonder, “where’s my fourth US 13 DPN?”

If you’re a knitter and/or crocheter, it’s the perfect time for some spring cleaning … give your needles and notions and hooks a nice home. A pretty-looking home at that.

Admittedly, I’m a fiber freak. I love handspun yarn. When I have time, I like to spin.

There are lots of places I get handpainted roving to spin — many of whom I’ll probably write about in the future — but Mary Jane’s Attic is one of my absolute favorites.

Based in San Francisco, Jamie churns out a lot of really pretty (and soft!) and colorful roving, like this:

Unfortunately, that particular roving (called Hippie Dippie) is sold out. But there’s still plenty to see in both the regular shop and in the Mary Jane’s Attic Etsy shop.

Go see.

Keeping with an animal theme today, I guess ….

Like this cat:

This lovely critter (and more) can be found at Crafty Alien. The shop sells patterns and kits for making animals such as squirrels, raccoons, hedgehogs, rabbits and even a skunk. It’s a pretty ecletic collection!

The siamese plush in the picture is the only animal available in its ready-made form. You’ve got to make the others.

There are also some cute notecards, magnets and pushpins featuring all the above critters.

Anyway, go and make some cute little animals. All the kits/patterns are very reasonably priced … at those rates, you could afford your own little menagerie.

The tagline at Roxycraft is “patterns that don’t suck.”

Well, these turtles definitely don’t suck:

They’re quite adorable. And so are the many other patterns you’ll find at the Roxycraft shop, which include monkeys, giraffes, bees, owls and people.

I actually bought Cedrich the Monkey a little while ago, and sadly, he is no longer available as a standalone pattern. But he is bundled with Radley the Giraffe and Winston the White Lion, for you know, if you want your own menagerie at home or something.

I haven’t attempted Cedrich yet, but I’ll have to post a picture once I do.

Meanwhile, do check out the patterns. The prices are reasonable, and they’re pretty easy to read and follow. Good stuff.