Cardmaking - card donations for IWIN - printed backgrounds papers, butterfly stickers and stamped and die cut ones

Another three cards for donation to IWIN.  Used a turquoise sheet of cardstock and some from my stash to make the card bases.  Colour printed background papers, embossed cardstock and butterfly stickers. Again, Thinking of You greetings -  laser printed, punched and layered with the large oval scallop punch (SU).  

Another set of cards featuring butterfly stickers, coordinating colour printed backgrounds (Morgue File), bits of embossed and layered embellishments along with the layered "Thinkin of You" greetings.

More paper donated by my sister! I found 5 coordinating butterfly die cuts in my stash which I layered with pearlescent circles and scalloped circles (Nestibilities).  I layered silver butterfly sequins over the butterfly die cut and added a silver brad to hold them together.  A variety of colours and arrangements to provide a bit of variety.  For the botton one I punched a 1.75" hole int the paper and turn it over and glued it back in the hole using tape on the back.  The top right was the last one and I used three little sequins on an embossed strip, a pearlescent circle cut in half and mounted to the back of the strip along with a layered greeting.  Totally fun and so great to be as creative as I want to be.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - more cards for donation to IWIN

I have made a few more cards for donation to IWIN Initiative. I have dug out papers from my stash that were fun and interesting!!  All of these are colour printed and I do not have sources for all of them.  

I used this beautiful rose image which I cut out of a full 8.5" x 11" sheet.  I mounted it to a dark green card base and added a layered butterfly (die cut and sequin secured with a brad) and also a layered greeting ( scallop oval and a oval punched laser printed greeting.  

The next batch was a set of twelve cards using all the same image of these beautiful butterflies.  I chose cardstock in the colours in the image to make the card bases.  I added layered greetings tha coordinated as well 

Another four cards with great backgrounds with excellent colours.  For the top two I found these butterflies in my stash.  They worked so well with the backgrounds.  For the bottom two I layered butterflies - punchies (SU) with a small blue one (MS) and for the last one I used a green sequin with a brad.  I  added coordinating layered greetings to all of them.  Fun to work with different papers. 

One 8.5" x 11" sheet of printed paper which I trimmed into four quarter sheets and layered onto coordinating card bases.  The first has a layered butterfly - stamped punchie (SU) with a sequin added with a brad.  The other three have coordinating colours of butterfly diecuts with butterfly sequins added with a brad.  The greetings were punched and layered onto a coordinating scalloped oval punchie (SU).  

For the bottom three I used sheet music on quarter sheets and added a sticker butterfly on the first, an embossed green strip with a stamped and sequin butterfly and on the third I layered a butterfly punchie (MS) with a green sequin with a brad and added them to the card front over a dark brown 1.75" circle.  I added a dashed line around the circle with a dark brown gel pen.  I added dots to the layered greeting as well.  All the others got coordinating layered greetings.   I have 60 cards in all so they are ready to go to IWIN this week for their backpack assembly in March or so.  Glad to have them ready in good time.  Therese

All occasion card featuring a great brick background and some serendipity hearts mounted to mesh

What a fun card to make!!!  I started with the brick background (Morgue File) and mounted it to a blue card after trimming.   I found the serendipity hearts and the embellished mesh in my stash.  They seemed so perfect for this background.  I hand stitched the hearts to the mesh with yellow floss and then mounted them to my card front.  Love it!!!  Therese
 

Cardmaking - a few more cards for IWIN with paper donated by my sister

I took the time to make a few more cards for donation to IWIN!!  It will soon be time to get them in for the next session of filling backpacks.  

Again, it was fun to use the same background and make the cards different!!  I used scraps from my bins, printed "Thinking of you" greetings and punched them out with large oval punch (SU) and layered them with scalloped oval punchies (SU).  Mostly layered butterflies - some with brads to finish them off.  I will have to have several more sessions this month to get them all read to go.  Therese
 

Slow Stitching - card holders using a variety of fabrics with fun designs over CDs

I made a few card holders this past week.  I used different fabrics on each side which give so much more choice!!!  These are easy to make and there are lot of tutorials on how to make them.  I used CDs for the substructure of mine, a layer of thin batting and a circle of fabric about 6.5" round.  The batting is cut smaller and I found a place where she cuts the batting the same size as the CD.  I may try that next time.  Using strong thread you do running stitch all the way around the fabric circle, put the batting and CD inside and pull tight.  Tie off securely and then make another one. Match buttons to each fabric and then sew the buttons - one on each side  - through the middle of the CD with strong thread.  This time around I added glue to the threads as I went along which will strengthen the stitching.  Because the buttons had raised edges it was really difficult to get the needle to catch the thread loops and make a knot.  I did manage two knots on each side and I think the glue will help keep the stitches in place.  It is always fun to dig in the buttons to find that special one that will be perfect!!!  These will be fun for both young and old who need help keeping their cards sorted when playing fun games.  Therese

Cardmaking - a set of cards to be donated as part of a silent auction prize

I volunteered to provide a prize for a silent auction which will be happening at one of our events in March. I used some envelopes from my stash that are just a bit smaller than A2 and I had set aside some 8"x 5" index cards to use for making card bases for these envelopes.  For some cards I put the decorative paper right to the edge of the front of the folded card to maximize the look.  On some cards I felt I needed to leave a bit of the card showing so left about 1/16th of an inch all the way around the decorative paper.  I dug through my image stash and found enough to make the cards I needed.  It was fun to play with a different size of card!!  I used smaller images for the most part and made cards for a variety of occasion and the others are more all occasion. A used a variety of techniques and had fun!! 

Therese

(image credits:

dandelion - clker

ladybug - Melonheadz

light house - commercial card back,

bear - not sure

stitched rose - Birdie Brown

airplane - Melonheadz

baby rattle - Melonheadz

bride - Kisspng

cactus - Craftstarters

wedding cake - Salt Island Stamps

maple leaf -  Pixabay

light house - my photo

coffee cup - not sure

rose - my doodle

leaf - Clker
 

Unstitched a used quilt top for incorporating into other projects

I gained this quilt top last year at the sorting for Fabric Sale.  I washed it and put it away to create a quilt for Linus project.  Recently, I took a good look at it and found that there were many squares where the loose woven fabric had let go and created a gap in the quilt.  Several squares had holes in them as well.  When I considered what time and energy it would take to repair it was not worth the effort so I inside unstitched it.  I will use the squares as substrates for quilt as you go and to add padding for potholders.  It will not be wasted and will live again on the inside of new projects.  Therese

 

Slow Stitching - mushrooms embroidered and coloured with Inktense Watercolours and aloe vera gel

I have been working on these cute little mushroom embroideries for a while now.   I downloaded the pattern from The Art of Home by Jacquelynne Steves.  She has a lot of beautiful embroidery patterns and quite a few are free downloads.  Check them out!! I traced the pattern on two ivory cotton squares ( 7.5") using a Crayola Ultra Clean Washable marker in gray. I may have sized the image to suit the squares - don't remember for sure.  I worked the cap in red, the underneath in light beige, the stem in beige, the dots in variegated brown, the stems in green and the leaves in white.  After they were done I hand washed them with soap, rinsed them and dried them. The colour marker came completely out.  It has to be almost 6 months since I traced them so that is pretty good for these inexpensive markers.  I bought the set of 12 when they were on sale last year.  

After they were dry, I used my Derwent Inktense Watercolours to colour them in.  My sister gave me some aloe vera gel which works well with them and is less runny than water.  I found the gel a little thick so in a few places I used some water as well to get good coverage and I did have the red bleed some on the one on the right.  Once they were dry I ironed them to heat set the watercolour. I am glad I coloured them - it really makes a huge difference to how they look.  I should have taken a before photo.  Next time!!

Therese 

 

All occasion card featuring a vibrant background, some ribbon and a cute daisy

I have been working on cards for the special occasions that I want to celebate!!  This one started with a white card which fit inside one of the large envelopes from my stash.  I added this vibrant background (Morgue File) which was colour printed and trimmed to size.  I watercoloured this daisy (one of my doodles) in coordinating colours, added paper piercing and a ribbon.  I mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Therese
 

All occasion card featuring rose topiary with ribbon flags on a soft floral background

Another card for special occasions for family members!! This one started with a large envelope from my stash and I created a dark green card to fit inside.  I trimmed the decorative paper (Free Pretty Things for You) leaving as much of the roses as possible.  I watercoloured the laser printed rose topiary (Digital Two for Tuesday), added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel, added coordinating little ribbon flags with double sided tape and adhered this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I added a bit of a border with a coordinating gel pen.  Ready to go when the special day comes!!

Therese
 

Cardmaking - hand decorated paper, a fussy cut bird and some bright chevrons

This card is the one that is going to be late as yesterday was her birthday!!! I started with a warm red card and added a section of hand decorated paper (inkjet ink).  I added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel before adhering it to my card.  The bird (colouring page) was laser printed and fussy cut close to the edge.  I watercoloured it to coordinate with the paper but I see that I forgot the eye and the beak!!  I added some bright yellow chevrons to create a bit of motion and to give the branch a place to sit.  She is very artistic and I am sure she will appreciate it even though it is late!!  Therese
 

Cardmaking - layered & collaged napkin on hand decorated paper & hand stitching

I worked on the special cards I needed for the new year a few days ago and managed to get them off to the post office but time will tell when they will arrive.  One is already late due to my inattention to the deadlines!!

This card is for my brother.  I started with a hand decorated piece of paper to which I adhered  swatch of napkin with sailboats on it.  Once it was dry I added orange stab stitches at the top and the bottom to provide some texture.  I added some gold metallic dots on both the left and right edges.  I used a tiny brush but another medium might have worked better for consistency of the mark but the colour was perfect!!! I adhered this large element to yellow card front.  Therese
 

Sewing - another set of potholders for Christmas

I made up this set of potholders for my sister for Christmas.  Her kitchen had navy and yellow as a theme so I found these precuts in my stash and they made the perfect size nine patch for the fronts of these potholders.  The blue is a Christmas patterned fabric but I thought they went so well together I just decided they could live all year round in her kitchen.  The backs were pieced from wide strips of this fan patterned navy and gray fabric.  Therese

 

Sewing - a little pouch with a zipper

I made this little zippered pouch as a back up gift for the crossword game I organized at our GA December social because sometimes there are three in one of the groups.  As it was there was a group of three but they did not win so I was glad I was prepared.  I will use it to package a gift card for my grandson for Christmas!!  Win - Win!!  Therese

Sewing - another set of potholders for Christmas

My oldest grand daughter will be going to university in the fall so I thought it might be good to start a little kit for her for when she is on her own.  I made this set of potholders from stitched squares which I acquired along the way.  They were the ones that coordinated the best with a set of diagonal red squares.  I chose this checkered fabric for the fronts.  Therese

 

Sewing - another set of potholders for Christmas

I made this set of potholders for my daughter to coordinate with this table topper.  I used the same fabric on the back of the potholders and chose the cherry fabric for the middles of the fronts (precuts not the same size).  To find greens to frame them I went digging into the stashes.  So fun as you always discover things you have forgotten about!!!  I have a leftover piece of the fall fabric which I will include.  She has a technique for creating towels for the kitchen which will allow her to make a coordinating set.  Therese

 

Sewing - another set of hourglass potholders

 Another set??  We have a large family!!!  More is better and it leaves lots of choice!!  The triangles for these were precut so I found the brown in my stash - it was a piece that was two pieces with batting in between and then stitched all the way around with two seams.  I unstitched the seams and then proceeded to make the hourglass blocks.  Quick and easy when you have some of the pieces already cut.  I backed one in brown and the other in blue (two triangles sewn together into a square).  I have decided to try to make the loops simply stitched into the corner instead of being under a triangle.  This way the loop is better available for hanging.  I sewed the loop to just the front and batting.  And then the binding process sews it again on both sides so I think it will be secure enough.  It also allows the loop lay flat which I liked about the other process!!  I will get feedback for next time around!!  I love the colour combination - little pussy willows!!!  Therese

Sewing - pennant for hanging with paper clips to accommodate art

I made up this pennant for my youngest grand daughter for Christmas.  She will be receiving OWL magazine (once postal workers are back to work) but I always have a small gift under the tree to open.  I started with triangles (6" wide - 7" tall)  of the pink/green fabric and cut coordinating green ones and made up the pennants.  I cut the green strip and captured the tops of the pennants in the seam.  I hand stitched paper clips (airplanes and hearts) to each side so art work can be displayed on either side of depending on which side she prefers.  She loves to draw - lots of mushrooms lately - and so there is always art to put up.  It was a fun project sewn up from my stash fabric.  Therese

 

Gifts - brownie mix in a jar

I have made up several of these brownie mix in a jar for a few of the guys in our family.  With the directions attached they can make up their own snacks or dessert for a family meal any day of the week!!  It would be nice to have a few of these gifts on hand for any last minute occasion.   I have packaged them in peanut butter jars that I have saved over the year.  Therese

 

Sewing - another set of potholders for Christmas

Here is another set of potholders I made for Christmas!!  The triangles were precuts I acquired along the way and I decided to combine them with two different blue fabrics to make up this unique set of potholders.  I will have a good selection of potholders for my family to choose from when we get together!!  I am really enjoying making them and being creative with the fronts.  Therese

Sewing - a few new ways of storing pins, clips, blades and needles

I have been contemplating how to best store my pins so they can be available and easily accessible when I need them.  I have purchased a new set - the glass headed ones on the left.  The ones on the right I have had a few years and I have had quite a few lose their plastic flower "heads" and I have found no real good way of getting the heads back on once they have fallen off.  They are also susceptible to heat though I have only two who have been deformed because of running them over with the iron.  I am now storing them in little shot glasses.  There is enough weight in the glass that they should stay upright and I like that the heads are all at the top and easily accessible.  Because they are not too full there is room to reach in with a finger and pull out one or a few depending on what I need.  My sister has suggested using silicone wine bottle caps to keep them contained when I am not using them.  I had planned to make them little caps so that should work well.  

My sister gifted me some clips last year for Christmas and they store very nicely in their little bin!!  I have a few more glass headed pins that I have collected along the way in the first blue bottle and little short applique pins in the second blue bottle.  

These two boxes hold my straight pins.  The long ones fit perfectly in this little box in which a little craft punch was purchased.  I created a little pin cushion in the lid which keeps them all arranged when the box is closed and a place to keep them available when I am using them.  The shorter ones fit in a small plastic box so I created a small pin cushion for that box as well to keep them easily available when I am using them.  I have cut a little piece of mat board to keep the pins arranged once I close the lid.  I have used clear cellophane tape to create a hinge on the back side of these boxes which keeps all "the things" together so they can be found and stored away properly.  Below is how they look closed.

I have also used a pill bottle to store a variety of needles so they are close at hand and available when I need them.  

Below, I have sorted my pins on my sewing machine pin cushion as well.  I have a few needles, some long pins and two sewing machine needles which keeps them all handy!!

This pincushion sits on the extra thread pin I have on my sewing machine which is really handy.  It is a wooden spool with a cushioned wrap all the way around.  I had planned to make a more beautiful one if this concept worked well.  So far, I have not made a new one.

I store my blades for unstitching in a little plastic tin in which embellishments were sold.  It works really well and they are always safe and handy.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - cards for donation to IWIN

I have committed to making cards for IWIN Initiative - an organization involved in helping victims of human trafficking.  The only requirement for the cards is to have "Thinking of you" and a butterfly on them - otherwise I can be creative!!  My sister, Sylvia, was here this week and she is going to help me meet the number of cards needed on a quarterly basis.  We had a wonderful afternoon of cardmaking using the paper and tools she brought along.  I repurposed a few cards that I found in my stash as well with beautiful pink daisies on them!!!  I need a few more for the new year but we can work on them again after Christmas.  Therese

 

Quilting - small quilt in autumn colours from left over pieces

I found a variety of pieces of coordinating fabrics in my stash that were easily stitched up into some squares with a few additions where needed.  I started with the large square and added the little square and the two rectangles on the sides.  Wanting the squares to be larger I added another set of pieces - one small square and two larger rectangles.  I dug through my stash to find all I needed to finish off 16 squares.  I laid them out and then stitched them together.  I added a light yellow border all the way around to frame it which worked very well.  Not something I have done before!!  

For the back I went looking in my backer stash to see if I could find something big enough.  I found a piece that was perfect in colour but too small in one direction so I added a piece that I had worked on earlier from scraps from the same stash I used for the front.  Beautiful fall coloured fabric!!  This is from a bag of quilter scraps I bought from my sister which she purchased from a quilter who was liquidating scraps from her quilting room.  Win - Win!!  Needing just a bit more width I kept looking through my boxes until I found this red piece that was just the width and length I needed.  I trimmed the yellow piece into three uneven pieces and stitched in the other two pieces to make the backer.  I added a piece of corduroy as a batting.  I laid them in order and stitched all the way around leaving a gap to turn it inside out.  I stitched all the way around to seal the opening and established a stable edge.  Wanting to experiment with more quilting lines I decided to add diagonal lines of stitching starting from one corner to the other adding guidelines where the distance was longer to try to keep my lines as straight as possible.  Not too bad for my first try!!  I can see the advantage of using a technique (pen, marker, chalk, etc) to draw a line where you need it then cover it with stitching.  

It was a fun project and could be used as a playmat, small quilt or even a table topper!!  I will add it to the finished items bucket for now.  

Therese

 

Sewing - potholders with a plummy colour scheme in a chevron design

 For this set I used Christmas fabric scraps that had more of a plum/purple colour scheme and I found enough to make a set of two.  I dug into my stash of purple cottons to find something for the backing.  This was the closest match  - I do not have a large supply of purple fabrics!!!  Again, three layers of flannel for the batting and I bound by wrapping the backing to the front and stitching it down.  A little different but still works for the holidays!!  Therese

Sewing - Christmas potholders made up from fabric strips in a chevron design

 These potholders have been such fun to make.  Playing in the stash of Christmas cottons to find just what I need for the next strip!!  Red and green with a funky backing fabric cut from a printed vest that I acquired along the way and had no idea what I would use it for came in handy for these.  BONUS: there are a set of moose on the back of these pair.  I just added some quilting lines along the chevron pattern to keep all the layers together.  Therese

Sewing - potholders and chocolate make a small Christmas gift

I volunteered to run a little Christmas activity at one of my groups at our December social meeting.  I will be printing a small Christmas crossword puzzle and we will be putting the ladies into groups of two and these little pyramids are the prizes for whoever gets it correct the fastest.  

They are constructed from Christmas potholders and house three little Lindor chocolates!!!  

I simply used a large needle and some cotton cording and made a stitch between two opposite corners and then brought up the other two corners and added another stitch.  I tightened the cording and arranged the corners nicely then tied a bow in the cording.  Two gifts in one and very little packaging!! Therese

 

Sewing - potholders pieced from scraps of Christmas fabric in a chevron design

 Another set of Christmas potholders for our family Christmas get together!!  It has been fun playing with fabric scraps and making up these chevron designs.  Three layers of flannel and then I start with the small triangle on the bottom and add strips to each side until I get to the other side.  I have bound these with the backing and included a flat hanger which makes it easily used as a trivet!!  The back is part of a green Christmas vest pattern that I had no idea how I would use the fabric and it worked perfectly here!!  Therese

Sewing - Christmas potholders using scrappy strips in a chevron pattern

I am working on more potholders!!  This set I will be using to package two little gifts for a social meeting I am going to on Monday.  

I cut three layers of flannel for batting and then added the little triangle in the middle one one side and added strips using the sew and flip method.  I used strips of Christmas fabrics in red and green.  It was very fun to play with Christmas fabric scraps.  I used a red and green plaid fabric for the backing and added the hanger using the little triangle in the corner to secure them like I have on these ones.  I like that the hanger then lays flat so it is more elegant when  you use it as a trivet.  I added several rows of quilting lines following the chevron pattern using red thread.  They are very festive looking and will make great packaging for the gifts.  

Therese