September 29, 2008

EtsyGreetings Blog Giveaway

I'll be sponsoring a giveaway on Wednesday, October 8 over at the EtsyGreetings Blog. Stop by the blog, and you can win this lovely birthday card--

Just leave a comment about my Etsy shop--your favorite item in my shop or any comment. I'm open to constructive criticism, too! Thanks for playing!

September 12, 2008

2 Sketches 4 You--Laura's Sketch 8

This week has been so busy, I didn't think I'd get a card done in time! Instead of cleaning the house this morning, I decided my time would be better spent making my card based on Laura's sketch--I made this cute little baby card--
The patterned paper is from a Provo Craft Slab I've had at least four or five years. I made the elephant out of gray felt using a foam stamp for the pattern. I sewed around the edge with a zig zag stitch (had some problems on the tail) and also did some zig zag stitching on the paper. The "congratulations" stamp is a $1 Michael's stamp. The picture isn't very good because it's so cloudy today, but I wanted to get my card posted before I head off to work. Thanks for looking!

September 10, 2008

Crochet Trivet

Because I don't have enough projects lined up and spend too much time "researching" on the internet, I decided to try making a potholder/trivet out of thrifted sheets. I found several examples and instructions for crocheted fabric rag rugs on the internet and thought the idea would work well on a smaller scale. I bought a flat queen and twin sheet at Goodwill. They're kind of ugly, but I figured the colors would work in my kitchen.


I tried crocheting a strip, but I hated the way it looked with all the exposed raw edges, threads, and wrong side of the fabric showing. So with what should have been a fairly simple project, I decided to make it a major production by cutting wider strips, sewing all my strips together with a bias seam, using my Clover bias tape maker to make double fold fabric tape, and rolling it into a huge ball of fabric.



I started out ironing the folded fabric. It took way too long, but would probably work pretty well with a crafting buddy to help. I decided to just roll the folded fabric into a ball as I pulled it through the tape maker. That worked well unless I pulled too much fabric through at once. The pin held the fabric in place. Otherwise, the whole ball started unraveling. At this point, my husband thought I was completely nuts having spent much of my day off working on this. He really thought I was nuts when I told him my plans for my huge fabric ball. But like any good husband, he just walked away from the crafting madness.

Now I could finally begin crocheting! The first two rows were a pain in the butt, but after I got going it wasn't too bad. I wanted a trivet bigger than the typical potholder--something that would work well under a cookie sheet or baking pan. Currently we use up most of our potholder supply making one big potholder for these larger items. It crocheted up pretty fast. I was able to make this trivet during the first half of last Saturday's Nebraska game. My husband is pretty supportive of the things I make and often has suggestions to make my projects better. This is one item that he was truly impressed with and was very excited when he got to keep it since much of my crafting ends up as gifts for somebody else. I think I'll try this again and make some for my sister in law and mother in law for Christmas. The next projects will be made of fabric I like since there's too much time invested in the prep using fabric that's just okay. Thanks for looking and any comments/suggestions are always appreciated!















September 5, 2008

2S4Y--Kazan's Sketch 8 & Christine's Bonus Sketch

I have today off, and it's finally naptime for the little one (after getting up at 6am!) so I quickly made two cards based on this week's sketches over at 2 Sketches 4 You. Here is Kazan's sketch:

Here's my Christmas card:


I used leftover paper (daisy d's) and cardstock from last year's Christmas cards. The lights are a Sizzix die cut with a little gold ink, and the sentiment (Stampendous) is stamped in red Stazon ink and highlighted with a little yellow chalk.

There was also a bonus sketch by Christine:
And another Christmas card based on her sketch:


I didn't set out to make a Christmas card, but that's what it turned into. I used Making Memories red cardstock, ribbon from my stash, $1 Michael's "Merry Christmas" sentiment stamped in red Stazon ink, Plaid All Night Media snowflake stamped in sky blue Tsukineko ink (which doesn't show up so well in the photo), and snowflakes embossed with Fiskars texture plates. The patterned "paper" is actually from a package of Carter's onesies that was too pretty to throw out. It was also really thick cardboard and didn't cut so well, so some of the edges are a little marred.

It sounds like the little guy is up from his nap so craft time is over. It's time for lunch then off for shoe shopping because he's outgrown yet another pair of shoes. Thanks for stopping by!

September 2, 2008

Hand Carved Stamp

Last Friday, I attended a meeting of the Omaha Etsy Street Team. I hadn't been in about four or five months due to my work schedule, a crazy storm in June, and a new computer system at work in July. This month we made Shrinky Dinks and carved stamps. I loved making my own hand-carved stamp and have found another hobby I don't have enough free time for. I made this pretty stamp (traced from a book--I could NEVER draw that).


I love how the stamp itself looks like a piece of art. I've already purchased more materials to start carving more stamps because it's so much fun.