I decided to make a cover for my Bible to match my new purse. Thanks Tracy for the idea and the link!

http://www.fiber-images.com/Free_Things/Projects_Patterns/free_patterns_sewing.html#BookCover

These instructions were pretty easy to follow and I made it in less than 2 hours. The next one will probably take a lot less time, but I had to take the handles out and put them on again because I incorrectly put them in when stacking the pieces for sewing.

I made the handles from strips of fabric that I sewed into a tube, turned inside out and pressed flat. I think the cover looks great, if I may say so myself!

New Die Cuts and Stickers

For Valentine's Day my mom gave me some fun new things that inspired me on these four cards. I decided to post them all together, since they're all kinda similar and I didn't think they needed a whole lot of explaination. She gave me some of those glossy, raised stickers in different shapes with different words on them, and she gave me a set of die cuts that cut these great little shapes for you to put a ribbon through. I put the two of them together and made these great cards! Aren't they fun?! The last two, I used a piece or two of cardstock instead of ribbon because I didn't have the right color ribbon.

Second Hobo and Skirt

This is the purse I ended up making. The fabric wasn't my favorite, but I wanted something that would work with brown or black - because I am not the type to be changing my purse with every outfit - but do think it's important not to wear black shoes with and a brown purse. I put a couple pockets into this one and added a middle layer of some black-out fabric I had left over from the sunroom curtains for stability (only because I didn't have interfacing, and refused to wait to go to the store another day). I made the straps a lot longer so I can wear it across my chest because my purses tend to fall off my shoulder when holding the toddler hands and walking across the parking lot! Now, I think it needs a snap in the center to hold all the stuff in that I'll be stuffing into this large bag!

I also have reconstructed a skirt - another result of playing "What Not To Wear" in my closet. I had this jumper/mini-dress from at least 10-15 years ago and have always loved the feel of the material. Since I was just not totally willing to give the thing up, I decided it might work as a skirt. So I cut off the top of the jumper and folded down and sewed a waistband. Easy as that.

Here I am wearing both!

Galloping Horse

I needed a fun and special card for my niece's 5th birthday, and also wanted to play with some of my new toys, so I got out my Big Shot and set to it. I stamped the purple cardstock (her fav color) with 5's in VersaMark ink. She is very into horses, so I decided to use this fun little kids sticker on the die cut and put it on a piece of ribbon. That way she can 'gallop' across the card with the little horse! I used the star shaped dies in a teal color to match the horse and placed them randomly on the front. The inside says something like "Happy Birthday - from our herd." I hope she has fun with it!

Practice Purse

I have been wanting to make a hobo purse for ages. Bought the pattern a year or two ago. Never have done it because I'm intimidated by the thought that I'll have to completely decipher the pattern myself! (My sister is the sew-er, not me!)
I decided to look for an easy and well explained pattern on craftster, and found a purse that I thought I could do. Then, since I was still not sure of myself, I decided to cut up a skirt that was in the trash heap in my room. (I played What Not To Wear last weekend with a friend and cleared out my closet!) This was the result:



I used an old bedsheet for the liner and the floral print is the old skirt fabric. Both were very flexible/flowing fabrics, so I ended up with a purse that is quite floppy. I decided to tie the handle, instead of sewing the top together, like the pattern suggests. Maybe it's not quite my style with the big florals, but I think I'll start to look for a different fabric and try this again. I will plan to make the strap longer though....

Jewelery Frame

I admit it. I am a ripper. I love to rip pages out of magazines to save for ideas. I have folders of garden ideas, folders of holiday ideas, folders of ideas for certain rooms of the house. I have been looking through the ideas for some fun projects to do, and this one caught my eye this week.

I took an old frame someone handed down to me (Yes, I admit to being a pack-rat too!) and spray painted it this hammered silver color. Then got some little screw eyes from my husband's shop and put 6 of them (3 on each side) on the inside of the frame at equal distances from the top. Then I strung a wire between the screw eyes and twisted the ends.

Then just put two nails in the wall over my jewelery box, and hung on some of my dangle earrings. I love it because it's functional, and it shows off the baubles that usually sit in a drawer. I also think it will inspire me to wear them more....and I definitely think I look better with earrings on!

RibbonBoards

My sister requested ribbon bulletin boards for her girl's rooms for Christmas. I am planning to make one for our daughter as well, but lost steam today after doing these two and will do it another day. I decided to take pictures of the process, in case anyone was interested in seeing how it was done. First, I got a piece of 1/4 inch particle board from Lowes, and had them cut it in thirds before leaving the store.

I placed the boards on batting and cut it a little larger. This gives a little padding under your fabric. I thought it was optional, but now that I have it made, I think it is necessary! You'd feel every particle in the board and it gives a little cushion to the ribbon later on.

Then I put the fabric around the board, on top of the batting, and stapled it all around the edges, making the corners crisp.

Then wrap the ribbon (I bought some cotton-ish white strip at the fabric store. Don't know what it was called, but it was 10 cents a yard, and I liked the look of it. )around the board on a diagonal. I placed mine 6 inches apart. Put all the ribbons on one direction first. When you add the ribbons the other direction, weave them over/under the first ribbons to give everything more stability and help hold the papers in. I would probably do less than 6 inches if I had it to do over....I didn't realize that the smaller papers will sometimes fall out.

This is the finished product. These are really big, and I think they will hold a lot of their artwork safely and easily. Fabric is their favorite colors - so I hope they match their rooms for years to come!

Christmas Card Ribbon

I have been wanting to do a little greenery in our house. For one, I love the look of live greenery. For two, we use an artificial tree, so I wanted a little green-smell. For three, the rosemary grows like a weed, and we have a bunch of it.

So I pulled out these ribbons that we used in the church when we got married, wired together a little trimmings and put them on either end of a ribbon that I'm using to fill an empty wall and to display the Christmas cards this year. I like it! The greenery really adds a lot to it.

You will see in the bottom of this photo that we have a fun recent purchase! Anyone want to come over for a game of shuffleboard!?

Recycled Ornament IV

Another envelope craft! This was red & white. I thought it was perfect for Christmas! I did every other scalloped circle red and added the ribbon. See two posts below for the other sample!

Quilled Invitation

Here's a wedding invitation I framed with my quilling for the gift at shower we're going to tonight! I hope they like it! The invitation was printed in the exact color of Elegant Eggplant, so I mounted the invitation on the cardstock, quilled flowers and vine and added them. I had a hard time finding the right frame, I didn't really want black. It is an 8x12. Not many of those around, but it grew on me.

Recycled Envelope Ornament III

Another ornament from recycled envelopes. I am really enjoying these! 10 punches from the scalloped circle punch, folded into triangles, glued the edges together. There are lots of samples of these out there, but mine are almost FREE!

Angel Ornament

My mom sent me this idea. Fun, and didn't require much time or any stamping. It was meant to be a tag, but I made it an ornament instead. The dress is just a section of the scalloped circle punch. The wings are vellum and the head a simple, 1/2 inch, circle punch.

Tags

I was in the mood today, inspired by the upcoming Christmas holiday, conversations with friends, and a few paper magazines. These are the ones I created....

I need to get a "to/from" stamp or two from the store this week!

Recycled Envelope Ornament II

My second ornament made from recycled envelopes. I have kept these envelopes aside because I love the rich mustard color of the pattern, and thought they would be a great ornament. I punched 5 scalloped circles from the envelope, folded them in half and glued them together. Before gluing the last one on, I put the wire on the inside of the middle. Then added the beads to the bottom of the wire and made a little loop on the top. Easy, simple ornament...made almost for free!

Recycled Envelope Ornaments

I saw an ornament in a magazine that gave me this idea....



I cut strips of an envelope in about 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch lengths, then folded them in half twice to get crisp creases. Then I unfolded them only once and glued the bottom half of each side to the next strip. Then glued the strips all together in the center with a 1/2 inch circle on the front. You can see (I hope!) that the difference between the two is the pattern in on the inside of one and on the outside of the other.

What do you think? Cool, or cheesy?