HELPERS!

A girl can never have too many helpers! Since I am on my own now I created myself a couple of helpers to both keep me company and help me with the many tasks that seem to be piling up around the house. There never seems to be an end to the sewing projects between getting ready for the FSQ quilt show and boutique and creating class models and projects for the quilt shop. So I created Augie....she really knows her way around the sewing machine.....well at least she thinks its a fun and comfortable place to hang out on. She does have a bit of a problem reaching the foot pedal. Oh well at least she is cute and brings a smile to my face. Another great trait of hers is she is a wonderful listener and doesn't talk back....

Lately it seems that when I am at home and not sewing I am here on the computer. There's always work to be done here: Blog entries, e-mails to read, finances to track, research to be done.....yada yada yada......oh and yes for relaxation a few moments on Facebook, Splitcoast Stampers or Stamp TV. I thought I could use some help on the computer as well. Augie was busy at the sewing machine and well she really doesn't have fingers appropriate for computer work; enter Octie. She has tentacles perfect for hitting those computer keys. Unfortunately Octie likes simply hanging out on my laptop as much as Augie likes sitting by the sewing machine.

Oh well. I guess I will just enjoy them for their cutenenss and continue working on my own. They will just have to put up with my talking to them and sharing the events of my day and plans for future projects and activity. Just having someone to talk to makes them worth their weight in gold.

TILE #2

Here is the second tile I made following GinaK's directions on StampTV.

I can not say how much I love these and how much I enjoy making them. So much so that today I purchased more colors of Stazon ink. I am ready to go and make more.

Unfortunately it is past my bed time and so I must head off to bed.

At the moment I do not remember the name of this stamp set I used for this tile. It is a retired Stampin' Up set. That I do know. Except for the leaves they I do know are from GinaK's Elegant Flowers set. The set I used on my other tile.

I'M BACK

Wow it's been a long time since I have updated this BLOG. I have been dealing with some health issues and though they are not yet all resolved I have resolved that I need to get back into life. I've missed posting here and also missed spending time in my craft room.

My fingers aren't yet pain free and still are pretty swollen and stiff, but I can't wait for that to change because it just may not ever do so. (For those who do not know, I have been diagnosed with active and severe Rheumatoid Arthritis.) So it is time to stop feeling sorry for myself and move on to my "new normal" life.

GinaK's new video on StampTV was just the exciting kick in the pants I needed today. IT was on stamping tile coasters and how to do so without having to do any extra work to make them waterproof. Wow....they are so easy when you know how....if you want to make wonderful coasters for gifts you MUST watch this video!

Here is my tile.


I'm not sure if it will be used as a coaster or as a home dec. accessory tile propped on an easel. The tiles I found in my stash are a bit large I think for coasters. But the are waterproof and so certainly could be.

I followed GinaK's instructions pretty closely. Except that since the stamp I used, which is from her set Elegant Flowers which is available in the Floral Frenzy kit, is a solid image and I wanted to use several colors I colored the stamp using ink picked up on ends of Q-tips. I had to work pretty fast so the ink didn't dry in the stamp before I could stamp the tile. I wasn't sure it would work but it did.

I made a second tile using a Stampin' Up stamp, but haven't photographed it yet. It was a outlined image so I colored it in using daubers like Gina did on the video. I will try to get a photo of it in the next day or so. I also like how it turned out.

Now I just need to get some more tiles and padded feet for the bottom as well as more colors of Stazon! I see Christmas presents for everyone.......give them a try.

BELLI BOOKMARK

Belli Challenge #60 was to make a bookmark. The Design Team Projects were awesome! So many good ideas and new bookmark styles and techniques.

I love to read and I love bookmarks so this was a fun challenge for me. In fact I made four of them so I have some for gifts. This is my favorite of the four.

The base of the bookmark is a double sided designer paper from a marvelous pack I found at Costco a month ago. My Costco rebate check bought it for me (along with a whole basket of groceries). It is a gray background with brown collage design printed on it. I finally used some marvelous vintage style stamps I got from Clear Stamps about 3 years ago and never used.......oops! I stamped some images with Rose Red craft ink and embossed them with detail clear powder. I used the detail powder because I wanted some shine, but didn't want a lot of height to the embossing. Then I attached three Prima flowers in various pale pink shades. (The back of the book mark is a dusty rose color.)

I like my bookmarks to be laminated. They last longer this way and I don't need to worry so much if I get them wet with spilled coffee or tea or water. I don't have a machine that laminates but I use the self laminating pouches. this is actually why I made 4 bookmarks. That's how many I can fit on a page so everything seals well and I don't waste a lot of the laminating material. The laminate was trimmed down to 1/4. WARNING: If you laminate your bookmarks don't trim them right to the edge! The laminate sticks to itself NOT to the card stock so if you don't leave a edge of laminate everything falls apart!!!!!!!!!!

The final step was to use my Crop-i-dile and place a jumbo brad at the top of the bookmark and then loops a burgundy tassel through it. Normally tassels this full and nice can be pricey, but I found a bunch of them at a yard sale for less than 10 cents each. I think they finish off the bookmark nicely!

So that's my Belli Challenge for this week. I still have my Copic Colour Challenge card to do, but was waiting for my new Copic order from Korin it arrive and it came today!!!!!! I now have pretty new colors to play with and one of them I needed for the challenge. Tonight I am still dealing with my tooth ache so maybe tomorrow. IT'S SATURDAY!!!!!!!!

SIMPLE NOTE CARDS

This weekend I finished up another projects of cards. This will be a set of 8 note cards. Once again I used my Lockhart quilt block. (I really need to find out if they have any other quilt block stamps besides this one.)

As far as stamping goes these cards were very very simple. Memento Tuxedo Black ink and two rubber stamps; one the quilt block the other from Stampin' Ups set Elegant Notes (a retired set). The coloring of the blocks didn't take a long time. I did it with my Copic markers. The thing that took the longest was choosing the color combos to use for each block. I guess that is appropriate though since when making a quilt often it is the choosing of the fabrics to use that takes the longest.

You cans see an up close picture of one of the cards and then get an idea of all eight. Each card has a different coloring scheme. This makes each card look different even though the stamp is the same on each. That's one thing I really like about quilting. Even if you use the same block and even the same colors you can make the blocks look totally different just by placing the colors in different places on the individual blocks.

I have some neat plastic boxes I purchased from Papertrey a year ago or so. They hold 8 cards and envelopes and have a silver elastic cord that goes around them. That is what the cards will be packaged in.

Another quilt boutique item completed. What will be next? One of these days I really really should sew.

ALTERED JOURNALS WITH A TWIST

Another couple of projects made in preparation for the boutique at our Quilt Show in April. On the outside these look like quilt jjournals I have made before by altering composition books. But inside these are different. They are actually comp books with quarter inch graph paper rather than regular lined paper.

Why is this important you might ask.....well for quilters this is the type of book that can be easily used to sketch out quilt blocks or quilts. The usual scale would be 1/4 inch equals 1 inch when sketching a block. Using this scale you can sketch a 12 inch block using only 3 inches on the page.

Altering the first comp book went well. The second book not so well. I had a problem with this one that I often have....small sliver size gaps that let some of the comp book show through. I can't reposition the paper since I use either sticky strip or adhesive from my xyron to adhere the paper and those adhesives are not forgiving.....one they are down they are down for good! Can you see my solution???? Ribbon! Though I used it in four places it actually only covers up two oops spots. I just thought it would less like a oops cover up if I made it into a design element.

Other than the alphabet set which is of an undetermined origin all the stamps I used for both of these books are from Papertrey Ink. They are part of the Quilter's Sampler series with the exception of the images embossed in white on the Brilliant Blue. It is from the new set Background Basics: Retro.

I think composition books of all types are one of my favorite alterable items. Do you have a favorite thing you like to alter??? Do you even like to alter items?

BACK TO QUILT RELATED PROJECTS!

Its now the time of year when I am picking up speed in order to get ready for our annual Friendship Star Quilters quilt show.

Sadly I have not done any actually quilting, well at least haven't finished any quilting projects to display in the show this year. Happily that's because I have been focusing on my papercrafting this year and learning and perfecting new techniques and skills. I will get back to quilting, I promise, I enjoy it too much to totally give it up, but fabric has gotten so expensive papercrafting is just more affordable at the moment.

Even though I haven't made any actually quilts to hang in the show and don't have time to do so at this point (registration for items to be hung was Monday night) I do have time to get things together to display and sell in the boutique. Those items don't need to be completed till the show itself which is April 24-26. (Hint: if you live in the Gaithersburg are come and visit I'd love to meet you and I am pretty much there the entire show! We are at the Montgomery County Fair Grounds.)

I am working on quilt related craft items; some fabric some not. Here is a sample of my current creations. Post- it-Note memo holders with a matching pen. I received this idea from a FLYBaby Stamper on Splitcoaststampers and love mine she gave me. I've made a variation before using 4x6 acrylic picture frames, but didn't like them as well because the frame is thicker and the pen doesn't fit on as well, but this Christmas I found the metal 4x6 frames at AC Moore and purchased a whole bunch of them so I am ready to go!

I love how the Papertrey Inks Quilter's Sampler set blocks can be used for these holders. Just another use for them other than cards. Here is a picture of all three designs I have made so far. On the green and the blue ones I also used Papertrey's 2008 Bitty Dots Basics patterned paper. I love it! Its such a wonderful weight paper. The pink is a patterned paper from a set I purchased at Costco. Lots of lovely paper for a ridiculously cheap price. It is a double sided paper but a much lighter weight. Still the price was right and the colors and designs are beautiful.

I used my Copics to color the quilt blocks. They give such nice vibrant colors.

I also get my Post-it-Notes at Costco as they are much less expensive in bulk quantities than at the office supply stores. Right now my main problem is finding the RSVP Pens that I usually use for these.......

That's it for now. I will also make some of these in non-quilt related designs, but those are for another day.... Today is Wednesday and that means its 'Belli challenge day so I am off to see what today's challenge is about. Then off to work and hopefully back in time this afternoon to do the 'Belli Challenge.

BELLI CHALLENGE TIMES TWO part 2

So as late as I was in getting up the card I made for last weeks Belli Challenge with inchies I will make up for it this week. You might remember my inchie card is going to a friend for here birthday today. Well last night I decided I needed a birthday present for here as well. It had to be REALLY REALLY simple to make (life is still out of control here in my world)! But of course I wanted something useful and nice as well. No one needs clutter (unusable items) or yukky looking stuff in there lives! So.........my friend is a teacher of 2 year olds (God bless her!), the Children's Ministry Director at our church and the Mother of the Bride for a June wedding (God double bless her!). You know how I purchased those inchies and never used them.......well at the same time I purchased a Monogram stamp set from Just Rite and......you're right never used it!
Note cards I thought. She is also writing nice thank you note to people who help her in her work. AND as the mother of the bride I figure nice note cards, elegant even maybe would work. So I dug out my monogram stamp set and set to work. After the prototype card was designed the other 7 to make a set of 8 were quick and easy.

Now this morning I get up and eagerly head to Chrissy's Blog to see what fun she has for us with the Belli Challenge this week (even though I don't think I will be able to take part as there is no more free time in this week for stamping. and what to my wondering eyes does appear.......Belli Challenge #56 Monograms or Alphabet sets!!!!!! I have a card! I have 8 of them....I don't have to miss a week of the Belli Challenge. Okay so maybe this is cheating......but a gal has got to do what she has got to do and I choose to think of it as a "God thing" Did you know there are no such things a coincidences they are all "Godincidences! Well this is one of those events. Here is my card for the #56 Belli Challenge.


Nesties once again....how did I ever live without my nesties???? I found the scalloped circle that would fit with my Just Rite monogram stamp and embossed the card front. I carefully stamped the monogram in gold encore ink in the center. Nice but definitely still boring. Next step scallop punch the bottom edge of the front of the card and paper pierce in each scallop. Better, but when card is closed you can't really see the scallop and the card is still boring.....place a strip of SU's Brushed Gold card stock at bottom edge of inside of the card....now we are getting somewhere, but the front of the card is still lacking something........AH HAH!...A little bow out of a lovely shiny very pale olive green ribbon I have that is edged in gold. I have just enough for the 8 note cards. Since I don't tie bows and I don't like the bulk of a tied bow on the front of a card I used my double slot punch on the top corner and thread the ribbon through is for a mock bow. Yep that's it! I like these cards and probably will be using this design again for other gift sets for birthdays and Christmas to come. Simple yet elegant and very easy to make.

Now I am sooooooo late for work I am glad that my boss (our minister is still sick and won't be there, but don't tell him that.....)

THANKSGIVING AND GRATITUDE

It's the time of year when our thoughts turn to things that we a thankful for. Studies have proven that when we look for the good in our lives and regularly focus on finding things to be thankful for our health is better and we live longer.

I find it helpful to have a place to record and keep a record of things that I am grateful for. This way when I go through a stretch of time when I am tempted to think nothing good ever happens I can look back through what I have written down and see that there is much to be thankful for on a daily basis. Big things as well as small. I know other people like to do the same type of recording and so one thing I love to make are Gratitude Journals. I enjoy making each one unique and I definitely try to make each one pretty.

A few weeks ago a friend asked me to make some of these for her to be used as gifts. I made six. Here are three of the designs I came up with. I've also made a few prayer journals and another friend has asked me to make a gardening journal that she can give as a gift.

These are very easy to do especially if you have a Xyron machine that can be used to put adhesive on the back of the various elements of the cover. The books I use to alter as the composition books that are found in most office supply stores. I stock up on them at the back to school sales in August and September when I can get them for 99 cents rather than the normal $1.99 or more. I personally like the college ruled ones, but that's a personal preference. I've made a few for children and then I use the wide ruled.

The backs are covered with the same papers as the front but with no embellishements. The inside if the front and back covers are covered but only in a coordinating solid card stock. If I have a supply of RSVP pens I will often make a matching pen to go with the book.

These make nice gifts to give as well as a wonderful tool to use to daily remind yourself to look for something to be thankful for. Each and everyday no matter how bad things may be going in our lives there will be at least one thing we can find to be greatful for. Even it it is only having woke up in the morning to see another day. I find that when I make a consious effort to look for the good in my life and the workd around me I find plenty. Its only when I forget to look for the good and focus on the bad that life becomed bleak and unbearable. So why don't you join me and make yourself a gratitude journal and make the first entry in it one of gratitude for the joy you had in creating your journal.........

All that said I hope each and everyone of you had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends.

Now it's on full speed ahead into the holiday season how ever you celebrate it.

JOURNAL FUN

Its getting to be that time of year again: craft shows and gift giving. So now is when I start looking for new ideas for gifts as well as items than might sell and redo items I have done in the past that have been popular and that I like to make.

Altered composition books are one of my favorite gift items to do and people seem to like them. So I made a few this weekend. Especially popular are prayer and gratitude journals so those are what I started with. I also like doing quilt journals and I will work on designs for some of them after I've been to the post office tomorrow morning.

Why the post office you might ask????? Because I have some new stamps waiting there for me. And they are quilty stamps! I've been eagerly waiting for these stamp sets from PaperTrey. They are Quilter's Sampler, Quilter's Sampler Additions, and Quilter's Sampler Sentiments. These are going to be so much fun to use!

Until these here are two of the altered books I have designed so far. It doesn't show up well in this photo of my gratitude journal, but I followed the advice of Susan and altered the black brad that is in the center of the flower in the top left corner of the journal. I used a white rub on flower and put a tiny rhinestone in the middle. Then I coated it all with clear nail polish. It took me three tries and three rub ons but I finally got it right! It is cute. For more detailed information on how to do this check out here fabulous and informative web site Paper Craft Central. Thanks Susan for the wonderful idea and instructions.

A BREAK FROM CARDS

Back in early September good friend of mine got married. She asked me is I would be willing to make prayer and wish cards to her reception. This was not her first marriage and she knew from earlier experience that guest books never were looked at after the wedding. So instead of a book for guests to sign she wanted cards that they could fill out writing a prayer or wish for the future of the newly weds. I have never been so nervous making something, but when I showed the cards to her she loved them. Here is a picture of them in the basket waiting to be filled out and then hung on a dowel rod tree. Each one was different and I made great use of all my decorative scissors, prisma flowers and rhinestone brads.

They were a great success. People loved them and wrote very endearing sentiments that I am sure will be cherished by the bride and groom for years to come. My next task it to put them all into an album for them. This was my gift to them both.

Next "I have a "band aid" tin that has been altered to hold tiny treasures. Everything used in this project once again came from the Fall SCS Craft Kit. I never know what to do with these tins. They are such an odd shape for keeping or gifting things in (other than band aides that is). This is what I came up with. I will probably find some small goodies, probably chocolates to go into it and it will go into my craft show inventory. I have a show that I am a vendor in coming up on November 8 so the crunch is on to get things made for it. I am hoping I can offer inexpensive yet nice handmade items for sale as gifts for the upcoming Christmas season. With the state of the economy What it is I don't think people will have lots to spend on expensive gifts this year. At least I know I won't. So I will do what I can to provide nice things for them to gift friends and family with. I may try decorating a few of these tins to hold crayons for kids. I think they are tall enough for crayons to fit. We'll see.

Well that's it for today. See you all later and thanks for stopping by.

GREEN CRAFTING

So Just what is "green crafting"? I am reading about this more and more. I guess it goes along with the whole "green" life style which is growing in popularity.

Actually in crafting it really is nothing new. It's basically a form of altering items to use things that would normally be discarded. This goes along with the concept of recycle or reuse.

So what was my recycle/reuse craft this weekend. Well it revolved around these...........

I have mentioned in several posts quite a while back that I have stopped mounting my stamps and have unmounted others. This is being done to save space. I could just stop increasing my stamp collection, but that would be about as fun as not increasing my fabric stash is. Anyway this non and unmounting of stamp sets is causing quite a growing collection of wooden blocks. What to do?????? I could just throw them away, but that seems just plain wasteful. If we used our fireplace I could use them for fire wood, but we don't so I can't. I've thought of trying to sell them and may yet, but I am such a procrastinator about getting started on E-Bay. In the mean time I must do something with at least some of them. At least the ones sticky from unmounting sets.

Then I remebered in one of my BLOG hoping ventures I saw an idea for altering the blocks and creating photo and note holders. I wish I could link you back to the originator of this wonderful idea but I can't. I just don't remember which of the 50 or so BLOGs I visit the idea was on. If any one reading this knows please leave a comment for me.

The idea is to completely cover the block in designer paper, add some embellishments and them top it off with a binder clip set on its top. Here is what I came up with. They are very easy and quick to make. Especially since I run the paper strips through my xyron which complete covers the back of the paper with adhesive. The picture doesn't show it but the top and the bottom of the blocks are also covered with paper. I would think you could also paint the blocks, though since these were used ones with some sticky residue on them I'm not toaly sure they would paint evenly. I may just have to try that.

I attached the ribbon by first wrapping a strip of sticky strip around the very top of the block and then sticking the ribbon to it. I cover the seam with the embelishment.

For a nice coordinating touch I placed a little strip if paper on the clip and the clip is adhered to the top of the block with sticky strip tape.

For this first set of holders I did not do any stamping they are all altered simply with paper, ribbon and flowers. I used brads for the flower centers and the flowers are attached with pop-up dots from SU. Here is a view of the three different ones I have done so far. I've tried to show some different thingsthat can beheld in them. Also this first set is made with 2 inch blocks and pretty small binder clips. When I get some medium sized clips I will try some of my larger blocks. I think these could be nice gives or great for a craft fair. However I still need to come up with more ideas for my blocks. I really don't want a house full of photo holders...........

SEWING NEWS!

It's county fair time and that means it's time to sew up some projects to be entered. I spent Tuesday doing the sewing and made a coordinating set of placemats and potholders. I can't tell you what patterns I used as I just began with an idea and built on that as I went along. This is what I ended up with.

The ideas came from the base fabric which is the print on the off white background. I can't even tell you how long I have had this fabric.....I'm thinking it has been about 10 years. I don't know for sure, but I think I may have purchased it for a project for the celebration of the 50th fair and this year os the celebration of the 60th fair!!!!!! Oh well at least I eventually use what I purchase. At least most of the time I do.

I have more idea about thing I would like to sew. Only time will tell if the get done. I always have more ideas than I have time. At least I have reached the point where when I make items to enter in the fair I do so using materials that I already have in my craft or sewing rooms. At one time fair prep was a very expensive time because I went out and purchased all sorts of stuff. No more...if I don't have the materials on hand the project won't get done. Of course I can do that because I have way too much STUFF already lying around in closets and on shelves.

I have a few other sewing ideas and I have also been stamping and doing some paper crafts. Of course I always have more ideas than I have time. All entries must be complete and ready to turn in by one week from today!!!!!!!

POCKET BOOK OF FUN!

Another project using supplies from my Summer Craft Kit.

One of the items included was a template to make a box. I didn't really have any idea when I first swa it what the heck I would do with it. I'm not a big box person. I never seem to know what to do with them when I finish them and then they become "clutter"! But the template came in the kit and so I challenged myself to use it.

First I traced and cut out the box from the card stock. I used Wild Wasabi....a color I will so miss when it retires in another two weeks. Well not really as I just bought a whole new package of it so I wouldn't run out so quickly. I scored the fold lines and with those two things the easy part was complete. Now I had to figure out how to decorate it???????

I still didn't have a clue what the box would be used for, but I knew I had lots of flowers and brads I could use in decorating so it was going to be something girly.....I also had a scrap of ribbon that would look good with the Wild Wasabi so I settled on a purse. I didn't realize when I took the picture that you can't see that the ribbon handle is held on by a brad and flower at each end. I wheeled the design using one of my jumbo wheels and Wild Wasabi ink. I still didn't have a clue as to what this was going to be used for when I spied a box of crayons.....the wheels began to turn....would they fit???? AND what could I add that would give an idea of what was inside???

Yea! The box of crayons fit. (And I'm thinking a deck of playing cards might also if I ever want to make another box.) I don't have a stamp that says anything about color or crayons and so I used my computer and played around till I came up with a nice looking sentiment "color your world" that would fit inside the small oval punch. Then I layered it over a large oval punch of Tempting Turquoise which coordinated with the flower and the ribbon. By the way I positioned the flower so it would look like a closure piece, but it is not. It's purely decorative.

In the picture of the little purse with the crayons I set them so you could see the crayon box, but it actually fits by laying on its side. So after all that what do you think?????

By the way this is pretty much how I design a lot of my projects. I just begin with a minimal idea of what I am going to do and it grows. It tends to take longer this way, but I have fun beginning and not really having any idea what I am going to end up with. I often sew this way also. I made a set of potholders today using this method. I will try and take of pic of them to post tomorrow.

WOODEN BLOCKS???

I have mentioned here on this BLOG that I am no longer mounting my red rubber on wooden blocks. Don't get me wrong I love my wooden mounted stamps....the problem is I have run out of space to store them! However now I am ending up with a very large supply of unused wooden blocks. I can't just toss them out. That is not in my nature and since my dear husband has terrible allergies we no longer use our fire place so I can't burn them. The question is now what do I do with them all????? They are multiplying faster than rabbits.

I was reading some of the BLOGs I subscribe to and Sweet & Sassy had a wonderful idea. I have been thinking they could be used in some sort of a project and now I have an project to start with. If you would like to see it you can click here. As soon as I get some of my own made I will be sure to show you.

I know that I will not be able to use all that I have for projects like this as I have way too many, but at least it is a start. Anyone else have any ideas? If so please leave a comment here to let me know. Mt guest room is being over taken by wooden blocks!

BACK ON TRACK!

At least for the moment I seem to be back on track with my crafting MOJO! It feels so good.

I am currently continuing to work with the items from the Summer Craft Kit. Part of it was a nice wooden box to alter. I have worked with these before and love turning them into decorated containers to hold a pen and scrap paper for notes. They come in handy on a desk or by the phone.

This is what I did in altering this plain holder. Before I painted the box with acrylic paint I did need to do a bit of repair work on it. A portion of the handle was splitting apart. I find this often happens with these holders. (After all you can often find them for only a dollar a piece.) I used some crystal effects squeezed down into the crack that was pulling apart and then held the glued part together with a large binder clip while the CE dried. It worked like a charm. I used the CE because of the narrow tip of the applicator. It was easy to squeeze just what I needed in.

I used a foam applicator brush to paint the box and to give it a nicely finished look I painted the inside as well. It took two coats to get it nice. Then the holder was decorated with the paper and the letter stickers. I used a decoupage coating to give everything a nice shiny finish to it. After that was dry I tied some ribbon from the kit around the handle and placed the three flowers with brad in there centers on using the pop up glue dots from SU. (The big ones that I never seem to know what to do with. They worked really well here.)

Inside the holder is a stack of paper I cut down to size and an RSVP pen with a roll of the patterned paper in the barrel so the set is coordinating.

I really enjoy making these and think I may just need to check out Michael's and AC Moore to see if I can find some more to alter and decorated for Christmas gifts.......Christmas is coming sooner than you think!

PLACEMAT SETS 3 AND 4

The final sets of placemats are complete! The whole process...designed, cut out, sewn, quilted and even labeled. They are now ready to go to the museum gift shop. There is only one slight problem...it's not open tomorrow!

So I guess that means I will get up early on Saturday and make a trip up there before the Strawberry festival begins at 10. There is one good side to delivering them then....I can get some fresh strawberries! I sure hope that the severe storms and very very heavy rains yesterday didn't wash them all away or pulverize them while still in the fields.....

Tomorrow I will return to posting cards. Sewing is done for a while.

DINING IN STYLE?

The placemats are complete. At least these two sets are. I hope to get one more set done before they are due at the gift shop. I have the design for that set done and the fabric picked out but have not done any cutting let alone sewing on them. But I am very happy to have these done and also am very happy with how they turned out. The third set will be a rust red basic fabric with small sunflowers and then accent fabrics that are gold and green.

If the time for sewing is more abundant than I expect it will be I might even try and put together a fourth set which would be in blues. No design in mind for them though and it will only happen if I can manage to schedule and use my time over the next few days very wisely! The chances of this happening is probably very slim to nil, but miracles do happen.


If there is an abundance of sewing time, which means if I can schedule and use the next few day

THANKS & AN ALTERED FRAME

Thank you to all for the advice on whether to put more covered coasters or doubled up card stock for the interior pages of my little album. I think what I am going to do is take Susan's advice and make a set of pages using the card stock and load it with my photos and embellies and see if I like how it holds up. If it works to my satisfaction I will have more coasters for more albums.....if I judge it to flimsy to hold the embellies nicely I will redo it on a coaster.
Thanks Susan for this suggestion.

Now on to my next altered project using items from the spring craft kit. A while back I purchased a bunch of 4 x 6 inch molded plastic acrylic frames from JoAnn's for fifty cents each. Also even longer ago I received a gift from a FLYBaby Stamping friend a cute little post it note holder stand with a pen. I love it. It sits on my stamping table so I have a pad of paper always handy and the pen doesn't get lost since it clips right to the stand. The frames I purchased aren't exacly like the one I was gifted with but very similar and so I made my self a post it note holder stand and pen that I can now gift someone with.

Here is a picture of it. I used some of the patterned paper as a base and punched out two 5 petal flowers from two scraps of card stock using a retired SU punch. To give the flowers a little more texture I sponged them both with So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie inks and layered them together with a brad. The n-o-t-e-s was punched out from letters stamped using one of the stamps from Alpha Bits using a quarter inch hole punch and attached with glue dots. I did attach the post it notes pad with a piece of red sticky strip so it would stay put. When used up it can be replaced with a new one. The pen is a Pentel RSVP Pen with a piece of the background patterned paper rolled up and placed in the barrel. I love these pens. Staples and Office Depot used to carry them, but at least ours here in MD don't seem to any more so when I run out of my supply I guess I will have to resort to ordering them on line.

That's it for today. I hope everyone is having a restful Sunday and will be ready to take on a new workweek starting Monday morning! Thanks for stopping by.

COASTER ALBUM

This is my first Coaster Album and I have to say so far it has been fun to make. Once again it is made with items from the SCS Flybabies Spring Craft Kit as part of the challenge. The chip board coasters are 4 inch square and I purchased them in bulk on E-bay for a stamp camp project.

It was a very easy project, but so far it is only the front and back covers. There are no pages inside. This is partly because I don't quite know what kind of pages to put inside and I am hoping to get some advice here and on Splitcoast. Should I cover and embellish more coasters for the pages for strength? Or would card stock pages be strong enough since the pages are relatively small and so the photos will also be small? Especially if I use two sheets of card stock adhered together back to back. All advice welcome. I also plan to eventually put ribbons on the rings for decoration, but I am totally out of ribbon from the craft kit so have to wait till challenge is complete for that.

So is anyone wondering how I did this? It really was very simple. The only piece of special equipment that I would deem necessary to keep it easy is a crop-a-dile. They make punching the holes for the rings a breeze! Like punching through a single sheet of card stock. Here are the steps I followed in creating this.

1. Cut two pieces of patterended paper slightly larger than 4" square
2. Cut two pieces of solid colored card stock slightly larger than 4" square
3. Run all four squares through xyron to adhere adhesive to their backs. (If you don't have xyron use favorite strong adhesive like sticky tape or mono-multi glue)
4. Carefully adhere patterned papers to one side of each of the two coasters
5. Carefully adhere card stock to other side of each of the coasters
6. Trim the papers as close as possible to the edges of the coasters. There shouldn't be much to trim, but don't forget to round the corners.
7. Use sanding block to smooth the edges of the covered coasters
8. I sponged a coordinating ink around edge of coaster. (In my case I used So Saffron) This colors the white edge of coaster so it blends into the papers and I also sponged a bit onto the patterned paper sp it softened the edge
9. Embellish the front of album as desired. I used letter stickers that I outline with black gel pen to spell out "Mom Pics" I wanted mom's but didn't have room. I also punched out little circles with pictures from a coordinating paper (the lady bugs) and after they were attached I circled them each with a ring of Star Dust Stickles for some added bling. You may wonder why the button with flowers on in at the top of the "c"....don't tell anyone, but it's a creative boo-boo cover. (The pen slipped while I was outlining and left a nasty black line which is hidden by the button) If you want to use brads as a embellishment I would probably place them on if possible BEFORE I adhered the patterned paper to the front.
   
10. Punch your holes for the rings using the large punch on the crop-a-dile. Make sure the holes line up on the back cover.
    
11. Insert rings and decorate with ribbons as desired.
    
12. Don't forget pages on the inside for the photos.
13. It's done......wasn't that easy?

So now you know how to make these and they are so easy. Why not give it a try. If you don't have coasters head out to your favorite restaurant or bar and order a drink. They often serve them to you on a nice little square coaster. (Except at Red Robin they are round, but you could then make a round album!) Oh, don't forget to take a friend who also needs to get a drink becasue you need TWO COASTERS...........