Slow Stitching - one of a kind vest at the Ujaama Grandmas sale

 I bought this heavyweight vest at the "One of Kind Weareable Art" Ujamaa Grandmas sale last weekend.  This organization supports grandmothers in African who are raising their grandchildren because their children died of AIDS.  They are sponsored through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  They had a wonderful selection of very unique garments and good amount of people interested in making purchases.  I love the colours and the hand stitching in French and English referring to the blue planet, blue skies and blue sea.  It has an inside pocket large enough for a phone and keys!!  I found two buttons in my daughter's button stash that remind me of sky and clouds and are the kinds of buttons we used to have when were were kids.  I will use them to create a unique tie in the front to keep the two sides together which will work well when the weather is a bit cooler.  

I am pondering creating a yellow brooch which will reference the yellow sun, the yellow canola and grain fields and the yellow fall leaves.  It will need a bit of green which would represent the tree lines which intersect the fields.  It is what I love most about living on the prairies and really says "HOME" to me.  Therese

Slow Stitching - last two apples

I have finally finished slow stitching the apples I started a while back.  I love how they look and am anxious to get them into a quilt though as of yet I do not have a plan of how that will happen or picked the fabric to put between them.  For the most part I had my stitching reflect the design in the fabric as to not provide too much distraction from the apples.  Stitching the stems in brown went well and I see that I have three leaves going in one direction and three in the other!!  A happy accident!!  

Therese

 

Slow Stitching - a little sewing kit in a case

This idea came to me a while back and after a bit of internet research I found that it is not a new idea!  Turning eye glass cases into sewing kits is such a good idea.  This small kit is best suited to small projects like I have been doing - 6" square or so.  It is easy to fold up the project and include the skeins of thread you are going to need.  The two buttons hold a rare earth magnet so there is always a safe place to put your needle. It includes a needle threader as well.   There is a wool layer on the bottom which easily keeps your pins and needles in place.  The little leather sheath covers a regular sized single edged razor blade and the little hole in the fold allows you to cut your thread safely in a jiffy!! All you need in a very portable and enclosed space!!  Perfect!!  Therese

Slow Stitching - little butterflies coloured with Inktense colours.

I worked on this project a few weeks ago and am just getting it blogged.  My daughter decided to experiment with Inktense pencils for adding colour to her embroidery designs.  After she ordered them we played with them for a bit at the lake while we were camping and again a bit more than past weekend while visiting for her birthday!!  

I had found this video by Helen Godden where she was using Inktense pencils on sized muslin fabric with very good success - no bleeding of the colour into the fabric.  Wanting to use fabric already in my stash I decided to see if I could replicate her results with homemade sizing.  I used a tablespoon of cornstarch to 3 cups of water which is a recipe I found on line.  I applied it to my fabric with a brush and let it air dry before ironing it smooth.  I did several pieces while I was at it.  

It ironed out very nicely and I used a gray Micon 01 marker (.25mm) to trace my butterflies (clipart laser printed on paper) onto my little strip of cotton fabric.  I had originally thought I should buy the lightest colour of gray marker (Michaels) but at the last minute changed my mind.  I should have kept to my first choice as this one was a bit dark.  In the end, I was able to add colour to the butterflies and with some care not have the colour run.  You can see below that the blue (#2) and the last one had the colour run a bit so the amount of starch/sizing was not enough to prevent the running of the inks.  I will keep at it and see if there is any level that will work.  After they were dry I used two strands of embroidery floss to stitch all the way around the butterflies and was able to cover the dark gray line with thread.  In the following photo only the red one at the top has been stitched but the last one has them all finished.  The ink becomes permanent on fabric after drying and/or being heat set.   Not sure where this little piece will end up but I expect there will be a few more experiments as time goes on.    Therese

Large sympathy card featuring a large red poppy, lace, ribbon and a layered greeting

This large card features a large poppy (Calico Collage) which I just love!!  It is coloure printed trimmed with a white edge and mounted onto a gray decorative paper.  I created a soft green card and added the soft background to it after adding a length of lace and a black ribbon.  I mounted the poppy using 3D foam tape and then added the layered greeting - printed greeting, large oval (SU) and a black scalloped oval (SU) - with it as well.  

Therese
 

Large all occasion cards with collage backgrounds, embossed vellum and little candles

 These cards are off to my Card exchange partners for the month of September!  They are large cards with collage backgrounds created right on the front of my cards - yellow and light aqua!!  I just used scraps from my stash and cut what I needed to make the collage happen.  Good scrap buster!! I don't usually create the background right on the card but it worked really well.  I watercoloured the candles to coordinate.  They are handmade paper focal elements which I made a quite a while back.  I used white bond paper scraps for the handmade paper base and added the images -  stamped on white tissue paper with black permanent ink -  before I couched the sheet which embeds the images perfectly and they do not show once the paper is dry.  I added white eyelets in the corners and then mounted these layers onto a light aqua scrap which I embossed (CB), scored a line using my Scoring tool, trimmed across the bottom with scallop decorative scissors and then used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  I found the three strips of paper in my scraps - two blues and a yellow.  I taped them to each other and then trimmed them into four, flagged one end and then mounted them on the back of the candle focal element.  Next, I embossed two strips of vellum (SU) and mounted them to the back of my large element and then mounted each of these to my card fronts!!!  Love how they turned out!!

Therese

Large all occasion card featuring a collage background, a bit of lace and a layered butterfly

I made this card for a specific person and love the way it turned out.  She will appreciate it!!

The background has several layers - old card base, serendipity collage in blues, a piece of deli paper adhered with white a glue over that then a few pieces of a white doily collaged over that and the whole thing left to dry.  I added paper piercing to it with my pattern tracing wheel and then the length of beautiful lace before adhering it to my large blue card.  The butterf ly (SU) I found in my stash and layered it with a piece of hand decorrated paper and then a soft green cardstock with a distressed edge which I touched lightly with a bit of blue watercolour to help it coordinate.  I added this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  

Therese

 

Plastic bookmarks - paper clip die cuts

I was looking for a way to make some cool bookmarks and after a failed attempt at making a hand stitched one I went looking for other ideas.  I eventually settled on making some from some plastic I have on hand in a great turquoise colour (Ikea lamp) and a paper clip die (SX).  They work really well and simply clip on a page and are stiff enough to hold themselves in place.  They will never wear out or become rough looking so will last a long time.  

A wonderful solution that took only a few minutes and look and work great!!  I can see that this die could be used for making bookmarks with some fun and funky plastic such as covers of notebooks, binder or report covers, etc.  

Therese

 

A large card featuing an embossed dragonfly on handmade paper, paper pierced vellum and a hand decorated background

This is my last card using the large pieces of hand decorated backgrounds I made a while back which feature sanding and wax resist.   I trimmed the vellum with silver hearts, added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and then laid it over my background and folded the ends over and secured them with tape.  I mounted this to my large gray card.  I trimmed a scrap of purple cardstock, flagged both ends.added several lines of paper piercing and then two eyelets.  I mounted this over my vellum and then mounted my dragonfly image over it using 3D foam tape.  The dragonfly image is silver embossed onto white tissue paper and encorporated into handmade paper during the process of making the paper.  It is a fun technique and gives the look of them being all one piece.  This one comes from my stash as I have not made handmade paper lately.  Therese

 

Large card featuring a collage background, a colourful tag with a heart and greeting

Another card for special occasion in my family!!  I started with a red card and added several scraps of the sanded and wax resist backgrounds I made a while back.  I die cut a large red tag and added  scrap of blue inkjet printed background which I spritzed with some water to give it a bit of a mottled effect.  I trimmed it to the size of my tag minus a bit of a margin all the way around.  I found the heart in my stash (Digital Graphic Cafe) already fuzzy cut so I just watercoloured it and added it to the tag using 3D foam tape.  I layered a stamped tag (SU) with scraps of die cut labels and then added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  
 

Large card featuring a tulip photo, hand decorated background and white ribbon

I started with a large gray card and added the background which I made a while back.  I used a black strip from my scraps and added a piece of white gros grain ribbon to it.  I added the piece leftover the tulip image (Sylvia).  I punched the left hand edge with my punch and threaded the ribbon through securing the ends on the back using double sided tape.  I layered on a coordinating piece of purple cardstock and then used 3D foam tape to adhere it to my card front.  I love using my sister's photos in my cards!!  This one was trimmed from a calendar page which is always part of my Christmas gift every year.    Therese
 

Large card featuring hearts and roses, hand decorate background and a seam binding bow -

I started with a large green card and added four rectangles of hand decorated paper (sanding and wax resist) which I made a while back.  The hearts and roses (Clipartix) were laser printed, trimmed out and then had some lines of paper piercing added with a pattern tracing wheel.  I layered on a soft flocked pink paper and then added a black border to the bottom.  The border's edge was cut with scallop decorative scissors and was embossed with a line using my score tool.  I mounted this large focal element to my card using 3D foam tape and added a pink seam binding bow using a glue dot to finish off my card.  

Therese

 

Large card featuring a cute flower, hand decorated background, a layered strip and flagged seam binding

 Still working through the stack of decorated papers I made a while back.  For this card I started with a dark green card and added the background which had been stamped with flowers, leaves and script.  I created a layered strip using orange scraps and added it to my card front.  The cute flower (Clipartlibrary) was watercoloured to coordinate and then had some paper piercing added using a pattern tracing wheel.  I layered it with a brown layer and added a folded piece of green seam binding using a gold staple.  I mounted the flower to my card using 3D foam tape.  It was fun to use scraps of decorated paper to embellish my card!!  Therese

Large card featuring handmade background paper and a fun little flowers and a bit of lace

This large card features a cute floral image which I printed last week from Clipartix.com.  After trimming the background from the large sheet I stamped it with flowers (pink) and stems (green) (SU).  I added double sided tape to a the back of a black strip and added a strip of white lace to each side.  I mounted this to my background paper and secured the ends of the lace to the back using double sided tape.  I glued my background to my card front and then after adding dots to the border of the image using a fine tipped Sharpie I added it to my card using 3D foam tape.  Therese

 

Slow Stitching - visible mending

DH is working on a landscape project in the back yard and in the process we had to use these forearm forklifts to move the blocks which form the two steps of the project.  The block edges were quite sharp in some places and so they made several cuts in the fabric of the forklifts.  I did visible mending to get them back to rights for the next time these come in handy.  Several hours of slow stitching!!!  

I am joining Kathy at Kathy Quilts for her Sunday Slow Stitching.  Always lots of fun projects to check out on Sunday on her site. 

 Therese

 

Slow Stitching - red apples

I have been working on these for the last two months off and on and managed to finish off the fourth one today!!  I really like how they look!!!  I have two more to finish and then they will be ready to be added to a project - bags or a quilt!!

I am joining Kathy at Kathy Quilts for her Sunday Slow Stitching.  Always lots of fun projects to check out on Sunday on her site. 

I stitched a gray strip of cotton to a piece printed white for each of these.  I drew a pattern by hand and cut it out.  I cut six of them from different red fabrics from my scraps.  I have slow stitched them with running/stab stitches in various colours of red for the first three.  The last on the right/bottom was stitched in yellow along the gold printing on the fabric which gives it a cool look.  I drew the stems in and then stitched them.  I made them all a bit different as I was experimenting with using several different kinds of stitching to fill them in.  The leaves were hand cut and stitched into place next to the stems.  Therese

 

Packaged fire starters

Here is what they looked like all packaged and ready to go!!

Therese

 

Banana bags painted to house fire starters

Worked on fire starters this weekend and these are the bags I prepped

to package them in.

I started with bags from bananas, added a an insert to the inside front section to protect the rest of the bag and painted the front with acrylic paint.  I have several that were fairly old and with just bits of paint left in them so it was a good use of what was left in the bottles.  It was a very fun to just paint with no expectation of perfection or any particular look.  They look pretty cool!!  

Therese

 

More fire starters!!

I worked on fire starters this weekend!!!  It was so fun to play with paper and wax again!!  I made these to give to family when we camp together later this summer!! You can check out the process here.  These papers were mostly leftover from the prayer flag project I worked on a while back where I ironed the waxed flags between two pieces of paper to remove some wax and soften them so they would flap in the breeze.  Therese

 

Large card with hand decorated background, colour printed floral element and vintage seam binding

 This large card also features some of the hand decorated paper I made a while back.  I trimmed out a piece from the 12 x 12 and added some stamped flowers in pink and leaves in green which worked really well.  It coordinated perfectly with a floral digital (clipartix.com) I printed out last week.  I added a slot (SU) on each side of the floral image and added green vintage seam binding on each side.  I trimmed a piece of yellow cardstock to fit in between folding down the ends into the slots.  I added some decorative cabachons in pink and 2 clear flowers embellishments with glue dots.  I mounted this element to my decorative paper with 3D foam and then mounted the ends to theh back using double sided tape.  To finish it off I added little black dots to the edge of the focal element with a fine tip black Sharpie.  

Theres

All Occasion card with watercoloured daisies in a jar

 For this large card I created a blue card and added a piece of the decorative paper I made a while back.  I watercoloured the daisies in the jar (clipartimage.com) to coordinate with my card front and then added two decorative side panels (TH).  I added paper piercing to the image with a pattern tracing wheel and used a push pin and mat to add some to the side accents.  I adhered three strips of blue cardstock to each other, paper pierced the middle section and added three eyelets then glued it to my card front.  I mounted the focal accent to my card with 3D foam tape. Another all occasion card ready for sending!!  Therese

Large card with a flourish, butterflies and a fun decorative accent

 I am still working with the fun decorative paper I made a while back.  I mounted a piece of my hand decorated paper to a royal blue card front and added a blue flourish (TH).  I played with it for a while before deciding to add 1.75" circles to highlight three butterflies (SU).  Once decided, I added the circles, glued the flourish in place and added silver dots with a Sharpie.  The area to the right seemed unbalanced so I created an accent piece for it. using decorative paper scraps and eyelets.  I tucked it under the wing of the butterfly which worked well.  Lastly, I added silver dots (Sharpie) around the three other edges of the card.  Have been having fun creating!!  Therese

Large card with hand decorated paper (sanding & wax resist), wllderness cabin and fiber

I created a large dark green and added a fun background I made a while back involving sold decorative paper, sanding, wax resist and watercolour.   I added a strip of decorative paper mounted between two strips of dark green cardstock which was paper pierced with a pattern tracing wheel.  After watercolouring I layered the laser printed digital of a cabin in the woods (publicdomainvector.org) with a black decorative piece of paper and then added three pewter eyelets to which I tied fiber - brown jute and black ribbon.  I mounted the image to my card using 3D foam tape.  Has been fun to make large cards again!!

Therese

 

Large card with decorative paper (sanding and wax resist), flagged strips and a waterfall

For this card, I used the second half of the red sheet and cut a piece which I tore twice to leave a gap with no white edges through which you can see the black card.  I cut two strips - one embossed red and a thin black one - flagged the ends and glued them over the background.  The waterfall (public domain vectors org) was watercoloured and had two torn strips of blue mounted to the back before being mounted to the card front over the gap using 3D foam tape.  

Therese

 

Large card featuring a flower with a swirly background, hand decorated background and a border punched layer

I started with a large black card and added a hand decorated background which I made a while back which I cut diagonally to create a bit of interest.  The flower with all its swirls (Clipartix) was watercoloured and then I used my pattern tracing wheel to add four lines of paper piercing to the edges.  I layered it onto a piece of coordinating cardstock which I border punched (SU - Eyelet).  I added an embossed line with my score tool and a line of paper piercing to each side of it to add some texture.  After adhering them to each other I added this large element to my card using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

Large card featuring a pink dahlia, a layered strip with eyelets and paper piercing

 I love using my sister's photos when I make cards.  I am fortunate to get a photo calendar from her every year as part of my Christmas gift so I have constant supply!!  I started with a large dark green card and added a hand decorated background (sanding and wax resist) which I made a while back.  I dug through my scraps and put together a layered strip using green, white and pink.  I added three eyelets to the right hand side, flagged the end and mounted it over my background.  The dahlia photo was treated with some paper piercing and mounted to a white cardstock layer before being added to my card front using 3D foam tape.   Therese

Large card with sanded and wax resist decorative paper, vintage seam binding, brads and sunflower

 This is my second card with my fun papers!!  I started with a large green card and added a piece of my orange decorated paper.  I stamped on yellow flowers and green leaves (SU) after it was dry.  I remembered to add my seam binding and brads before gluing it to my card front.  I added layers of decorative papers to my sunflower image ( Wikiclipart @ Clipartix )which was watercoloured.  I mounted it with 3D foam tape over the seam binding and then tied on a small length to simulate a bow!!  Therese

Large card featuring wax/sanded decorative paper, a train over some ribbon and flagged strips

 Here is the first card I made with my fun papers.  I started with a large blue green card and added a piece of my hand decorated paper in red from the other day.  I added an embossed strip of red cardstock to the front edge and added some marks to the edge with a black fine tip Sharpie to add interest.    I added three little strips of blue green cardstock which had texture and marks made with the Sharpie.  I decided to add ribbon and therefore captured the ends below to half circle of black cardstock on each side which worked very well.  I added my paper pierced (pattern tracing tool) and layered train image (Clipartix) which has a scalloped edge on the bottom cut with decorative scissors which were also paper pierced.  I added an embossed line which I create with my scoring tool.    I added it to my card using 3D foam tape and then tied on a paper button which was sitting on my desk with a short length of ribbon.  Worked perfectly with my design.  Leaving off a greeting so it will be suitable for a variety of occasions.  Therese

Sanding and wax resist on plain solid coloured paper

Wanting a bit of a challenge and to do something hands on I decided to decorate some of my solid coloured sheets of scrapbook paper to give them a bit of a face lift.  I fount 7 sheets and played with those.  I waxed the first one with clear wax rubbed on the raised half of an embossing folder.  I sanded it next but that was not a good idea - all sorts of wax stuck in the sand paper.  I did it in reverse for the next sheets.  Laid the paper on the embossing folder (raised side) and sanded until I could see the pattern then laid this piece on the raised side of a different embossing folder and then rubbed on the clear wax.  Much better.  I then applied watercolour in a variety of colours which worked really well.  I left them to dry but being bit impatient I ended finishing them off with the heat gun which melted the wax and gave the papers a bit of a different look.  All in all a fun afternoon with some unique papers to play with.  I will be doing this again - maybe on decorated paper next time.   Therese
 

Large all occasion card with a floral heart and rose paper background

 I am working on card for my family's special occasions.  I started with a brown card which fits in a large envelope from my stash.  I had decided to use this rose paper which came in a paper pack quite a while back and I chose two identical sheets, stacked them to keep the flowers and make a piece that would fit on my card then made a diagonal cut.  Worked really well with the diagonal cut not too distracting.  I added a pink strip backed with a green strip to which I added brushed nickel eyelets and some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel to add texture.  The floral heart image (Simon Says) was stamped on another sheet in the pack of the rose papers in black and then die cut.  I layered it onto another more pink section and fussy cut it.  I added some watercolour to help define the flowers and leaves.  Love this stamp set and look forward to using it more often.  Therese