Sewing - finished the mushroom bags and added embellisments

I have been working on these bags off and on for quite a while.  I finished them this week.  I finished the seams and added ties and buttons so the handle could be shortened for carrying at the end of the arm instead of over the shoulder.  You simply tie the twill tape to one of buttons to shorten the handle and it easily can be changed whenever you need.  I chose heart buttons and a flower one for my daughter in law who is such a wonderful gardener.  

I added a mushroom embellishment on the one for my youngest grand daughter so she could easily be able to see which one was hers.  I am sure they will get lots of use as they use the library services often.  It is so fun to create gifts for family!!

Therese

 

Crafting - shrink plastic embellishment for a bag featuring a cute mushroom image

I wanted a little embellishment for my youngest granddaughter's bag so I decided to create a fun mushroom embellishment with shrink plastic.  I found the mushrooms image (Pixabay), sized it and then printed it about 6" or so.  I laid a sheet of transparent rough textured shrink plastic over it and traced the outline with a fine tipped black permanent marker and then added colour using pencil crayons with various levels of pressure to provide different values of the colours.  It does not require too much colour to really get a very good result with pencil crayons.  Once I was finished colouring I cut the circle out with scissors and punched a 1.4" hole at the top so I could add a  hanger.  I heat it with my heat gun until it was flat though it did go through quite the convulsions getting there.  It finished up just over 2" around.  I am very happy with the finished piece!! She will be able to use it any way she wishes as she grows up.  Therese

 

Sewing - mushrooms sewn into book bags with an inside zippered pocket

 

I started by cutting strips of red fabric to frame the mushrooms which will finish at 16".  I created a square with an enclosed zipper the same size as the embroidery which will be sewn in at the same time as I sew the bag and create a zippered pocket on the inside of the bag.  I stitched on the two sides, pressed the seam allowance towards the red fabric and then top stitched the seam at about 1/8" to secure the seam allowance and protect the seam.  Next I stitched on the top and bottom pieces.  The bottom section and the back are one large piece with a fold at the bottom. I top stitched those two seams as well after pressing them towards the red.  This securely creates the pocket with a zipper.   I stitched the two sides and top stitched both of those seams as close as I could to the bottom corner.  I cut a handle  - 25"x 4.5" - folded a seam allowance on both sides to the middle and pressed them.  I then folded the two edge to each other and top stitched both edges at about 1/8".  I created inside facings, pinned my handles into place and stitched the top edge.  After pressing it down I top stitched this seam twice - 1/4" and then again at 1/2" which captures the handle twice.  I then folded and pressed another seam allowance and stitched the bottom edge of the facing to the bag.  Gives a neat finish inside the bag.  My next blog post will show the finishing touches!!  Therese

Sewing - Gramma Link Africa Fabulous Fabric Sale at Gaetz United in Red Deer

 You are all invited to come and enjoy a great shopping experience at our Fabric Sale. 

We have fabric  - quilting cotton $4/m, all other fabric is $2m.  

There are $1 rolls and you can stuff a bag for $5.

You can stuff a bag of scraps for $1 - two bins - cottons and everything else!!

There is a whole room dedicated to sewing, crafts & knitting supplies and notions!!!

Admission is $2 and come early to get the best selection!!

Therese

Sewing - jar openers with fabric scraps and shelf liner

I brought home some shelf liner from our sorting session for the fabric sale last week.  I cut the piece of liner into 9 pieces and then dug into my scraps to find some fun fabrics to make up some jar openers.  I enclosed the shelf liner on the edges just like I do potholders - fold over the edge and then fold over onto the liner and stitched it in place.  I added two lines of stitching in the middle to keep the layers together when it is being used.  I used a piece of scrap paper on top of the shelf liner so that my presser foot would travel well when sewing.  It is easy to remove the paper because it has been pierced by the needle.  Just simply press a finger near the seam and pull on the paper on the other side and it separates easily.  These will be dropped off to be added to our inventory of merchandise for our next event.  

Therese

 

Cardmaking - birthday card featuring a cute cake with lots of Chinese greeting stickers

A fun birthday card for a little girl who will enjoy it!!!  I adhered the red polka dot layer to a red card and then added the watercoloured birthday cake (Melonheadz) layer using 3D foam tape.  I added some paper piercing around the cake, some glitter to the flames and then mounted it all to a yellow rectangle which I distressed around the edges.  Finally, I added some fun stickers!!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - all occasion card featuring floral doodle, gold foil layer and sanded and embossed background

Cards for family!!!  I started this one with an embossed background which I sanded to reveal the white core.  I rounded the corners and mounted it to a large white card.  The flowers are one of my doodles which I watercoloured to coordinate, paper pierced four lines with my pattern tracing wheel and then mounted onto gold foil.  I added this layer to my card front and added some fibers with a fun sticker.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - anniversary card featuring fussy cut hearts and a hand decorated background

Working on cards for family  and made up this fun card with hearts (Melondheadz).  I modified a hand decorated piece of paper using an embossing folder and then inked it to create highlights.  I printed the hearts, fussy cut them and then tied on coloured raffia.  I mounted them to the background with 3D foam tape, folded the raffia to the back and secured the end and then mounted this large element to a blue card!!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - all occasion card featuring a decorative background paper embossed with cattails and a duck with fussy cutting

The minute I found this duck in my stash I knew exactly which paper it needed for a background!  I love how it worked out!!  I embossed a blackbird with cattails (CB) to create interest and texture in the paper and highlighted the raised areas with a green stamp pad.  I watercoloured the bird to give it more definition.  I fussy cut around the duck and left a bit of "ground" to give him a place to stand and tore away the extra to create an organic line.  I watercoloured the ground and stamped on a bit of texture.  I adhered it over the background with double sided tape on the bottom and 3D foam behind the duck.  I added some dashes and lines around the background and the ground using a fine tip black marker.   Totally  fun!!!!  Therese
 

January Card Club - Card #3 - quick and easy card featuring an embossed background, embossed layers and a framed postage stamp

Postage stamps are wonderful little pieces of art and I really like using them in my cards.  These ones are from a series which featured one for each province and territory of Canada.  I have my collection sorted so I was able to just take the envelope and sort through the stamps.  I chose the ones with the least obtrusive cancellation marks and soaked them in warm water to get them to release.  It only took a few minutes and I laid them flat with the image down for them to dry.  Once they were dry I cut little black cardstock rectangles to provide them a firm base and frame them nicely.  The backgrounds were embossed and highlighted gently with light coloured ink pads (top - Linen Distress ink, bottom - Memories dye ink - Gauze).  I provided a variety of cardstock scraps to provide some elements to create a design along with a variety of embossing folders to give them interesting texture.  I added paper piercing and distressing along with a torn edge on one of them.  Lots of options!!   With our elements created it was just a matter of creating an interesting layout - so many possibilities!!  The lobster is for Nova Scotia and the buffalo is for Manitoba.  I do not have a full set but there were about eight to choose from.  Nice to have versatile cards appropriate to more than one occasion in your card stash and I like to provide a variety of options in the design elements as well.  Therese
 

January Card Club - Card #2 - a layered card that features a fun bookmark

 For our second card I designed a card whose focal accent is a bookmark!!!  We adhered our backgrounds to our cards and then moved on to making the bookmark.  The top layer of the bookmark is pieced and then stamped with an image and embossed with embossing powder before being adhered to a coordinating cardstock rectangle.  We punched a hole at the top and added coordinating fiber.  The bookmark is held in place by a strip of cardstock applied across the card and only adhered on each side of the bookmark which allows for flexibility.  After adding paper piercing to my strips and tying on a piece of fiber, I positioned the strip upside down on the card front, positioned the bookmark and then applied double sided tape to each side avoiding the area where the bookmark will slide under.  After adhering the strip to the card front the bookmark slides nicely into place.  Therese

January Card Club - Card #1 - a few giggly bits on a panel over fun backgrounds

 So great to be back to cardmaking and sharing it with friends!!  We were a small group and we had a good time making the cards our own!!!  

This card features a giggly or wobbly accent which is created by adhering shapes to a thread with tape and then threading both ends to holes in the layer and then fastening the ends to the back with tape as well.  How much movement you get depends on how much slack you leave in the thread - the stars are less wiggly than the buttons!!  The buttons are wonderfully wiggly!!!  I tied crochet thread in the holes of the buttons to give them some texture.  The stars are double layered - silver metallic on gray!!  I mounted my elements to an embossed layer which I added to a card to which the background had already been added.  I did add some paper piercing as well with my pattern tracing wheel!  

It was so good to have like minded people in for a creative evening and even the new person had a good time.  Therese

Cardmaking - wax resist backgrounds coloured with watercolour and some fun little birds

I am finally getting to making my Christmas thank you cards!!!  I fussy cut the birds (TH) and was looking for something cool and interesting to layer them onto and found a small stack of backgrounds I made a while back using wax resist and watercolour.  I used texture sheets and embossing folders under my cardstock to create the wax resist layer and then had fun adding colour!!  You can see that I used several different ones on each background just for fun and variety!!  These so belong together!!!  I did not cut out the space between the legs  - instead I coloured it to coordinate with the background. It was fiddly enough as it was to get the little feathers and the bulgy eyes cut out well.  I treated the tops and bottoms with different techniques - layered on embossed and paper pierced strips, little multi coloured hearts, gold sticky dots, border punched and added little holes and dots made with clear glitter gel pen!!!  I did highlight the edges of their eyes and pupils with a bit of clear glitter gel pen which adds just a bit of dimension - perfect!!!  Love them!!!!  Therese

 

Cardmaking - more cards for my donation to IWIN

I cut another sheet of 12" x 12" decorative paper into six pieces and then trimmed the coordinating cardstock sheets to make the card bases.  Again,  fun time with embossing, layered greetings and butterflies.  For three of them I punched a 1.75" hole in the paper.  For two of them, I flipped the paper and put it back in the hole adding tape to the back so secure it in place.  For the other I let the card front show through.  All the butterflies are layered - sequins, punchies, stickers, die cuts, etc.  A very enjoyable time!!  A few more cards in the box!!

Therese

 

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