Just a little sewing...

I want to step up sewing a little bit this year. And, it just so happens that Craftsy.com put out several FREE mini classes last week. One is on making bags. I watched the first drawstring bag being made and knew I could do it! These are lined drawstring bags.  Here's my first one.

I have been holding on to this chevron material for quite a while. It wasn't too bad to make, but I'm a new sewer and it took me a little longer to complete than my regular paper crafts. Maybe that's why I like paper crafting so much because you can finish a craft project in a reasonably short amount of time.

Here's the second one.

I used Stamping' Up's Designer Fabrics Essentials for this one. I love all the fabrics in that set, and can't wait to use more.

My daughter wanted to try one, so we sat down today, and I walked her through it. She made her bag a little smaller. I think she did excellent!

We are going to look for more fabric soon!

After I finished and showed them to my son, he asked why a made a Redskins bag (the crimson and yellow one)!  All he sees is football!  Which brings me to one last thing. I wish the best to my alma mater, the University of Alabama, as they play for their 15th National Championship tomorrow night! Roll Tide!!! (A houndstooth bag is in the works!)

New Challenges

After a looooong break from posting any projects, I've decided to make it a goal to post more of the things we are working on around here.  To help with that, I am going to participate in some of the online crafting challenges.  Here is the first.  This is for the challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  The challenge is to use Primrose Petals, Pool Party, and Basic Black.  I love those first 2 colors together, but usually don't do much more with black than use as ink, so this was a great challenge. 

Recipe:

• Card Stock: Primrose Petals, Pool Party, and Basic Black
• Ink: Primrose Petals and Whisper White
• Stamps: P.S. I Love You and Delightful Dozen
• Accessories: Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Chevron Embossing Folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, and Scallop Oval

(All products are Stampin' Up.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Silhoutte Jewelry

Here's another Pinterest inspired project. 

I have had my Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio square punch, bubble caps, and metal charms for a little while.  Up until now, I have made a few charms and embellishments using pretty paper.  When I came upon children silhouttes in a Pinterest project, I wanted to try!  The original post I looked at suggested playing with the printer settings to get a dark profile picture.  What I ended up doing was getting the profile size that would fit in my charm.  Then, using a very sharp pair of scissors, I cut the profile out.  Next, I used a black Sharpie and colored the entire profile.  I attached this to a background paper, and then used my Epiphany Crafts tools to create the charm. 

I am very pleased with these, and plan to make a bracelet next.  This is a fun technique that is a great memory saver!

Project Embellishment or Hair Pin

With this project, you get a two-for-one.  The original packaging on these say "Hair Pin with Bezel".  That's all well and good, and one of the finished projects looks like this.

I got these hair clips at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 for a pack of 10.  The bezel is empty, so lots of space for imagination!  For this particular one, I added a round rhinestone.  This is the same clip design that I used for one that I placed on the edge of my calendar from my previous post.  That's the two-for-one part.  You can use these clips in the traditional way...in your hair...or as embellishments on your craft projects. 

Here are all the clips I have made thus far.

Besides adding rhinestones, another way to decorate your bezel is to add decorative paper.  Using my 1/2" circle punch, I chose a few to try out.  I love the little pumpkin paper!  Then, to top it off, I added some Glossy Accents to make a nice cover.  I plan to use these alot on projects, as hair pieces, and even as bookmarks!

Picture Frame Calendar

The best part of a homemade calendar is that you can start it whenever you want...not just the first of the year!  I came upon this awesome FREE calendar download from Heidi Swapp.  I decided to try making a flip calendar from a regular picture frame.

I picked up a 4x6 pic frame at the Dollar Tree.  I covered the frame's chipboard backing piece with a piece of decorative paper (from Heidi's Sugar Chic line).  I removed the glass from the frame.  Next, I lined up where I wanted my holes for the rings and used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the frame backing and the calendar sheets. 

After labeling, stamping, and adding a few tabs and washi tape to each month, I lined the pages up and attached on the rings.  All set to start October! 

Plus, I can add pictures and journaling between the months and later form a nice little memory book for the year.  This was very easy, and you can add as many embellishments to fit your own style.

P.S. Do you like the rhinestone clip on the front page?  I'll share that with you in an upcoming post.

Halloween Crafting

It's time I started posting the craft projects that we have been/are doing.  Summer has come and gone, and now that school has started back, we are beginning to get back in a regular routine.  Thus, more crafting time! 

Halloween crafting is always so much fun.  I hope to be doing several different projects and will share with you along the way.

This is a Halloween tag that I prepared for my monthly stamp club.  We each made tags and swapped with each other.  It was fun, and I love to see everyone else's ideas!  I have been getting in the Halloween mood, so I wanted to do this Halloween tag.  My original inspiration came from Pinterest.  It was from a Stampin Up Connections post, so unless you are a SU demonstrator, you can't get to it. But, check out my Halloween Board on Pinterest if you are interested in seeing the difference in our tags.

Supplies: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, and Basic Black Cardstock, Basic Black Ink, Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set, Big Shot: Spider Web Folder and Two Tags Bigz, Basic Black 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and Pumpkin Pie 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon
(all from SU)

Here's the first candy holder of the year for me!  This was really fun because I actually pulled out the sewing machine to complete this.  My inspiration came from the September issue of SU's Stampin Success magazine. The combinations and embellishments for this candy holder are endless!

Supplies: Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Tangerine Tango and Very Vanilla Cardstock, Black Staz-On Ink, Scallop Punch, Googly Ghouls stamp set, Basic Black 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Googlies
(all from SU)

More projects to come!

Simple Birthday Card

It has been way too long since I have had a post, but I have been doing many craft projects.  I'll try to get them all posted soon.  I have been being inspired by Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp lately.  They have been sharing lots of cute books and projects.

This is just a simple, but pretty card that I made for my mom's birthday.  This was inspired by Teresa Collins.  From her last MyCraftChannel.com video, she gave away some phrases on her website.  I used a piece of paper from her Carolina Breeze line.  I added a little bling to the card as well.  Very simple and quick.

One other project I have been working on the last few weeks is a bulletin board announcement for a play that my daughter will be in in May.  Pulled out a few scrapbooking items for this project.

Posting again soon...