Monday, November 30, 2009

And the season begins...

Well Turkey Day is over….

I got a chance to spend my holiday with my children, my parents, my sister and my brother-in-law. Third Child decided to head to his parents this holiday since his brother and sister-in-law were coming in for a visit (and only informed us of this plan about 10 days prior – hence why we separated for the holiday)

I have a lot to be thankful for – I have a roof over my head, a good job surrounded by some great people, my daughters are happy and healthy and flourishing in school, the puppy has stopped chewing everything she can get close to her mouth and at the end of the month the bills are paid and lo and behold there is even a bit left over…so for that in this day and age I am thankful.

Every holiday season we get a ton of mail from all sorts of charities – now I will say we are decent givers – I do like to sponsor friends and family when they do various fundraisers, walks, etc… and during the holiday season we pick a few names from our churches Angel Tree and {hopefully} bring a little joy for a little while to those children who make do with so much less.

This year I have decided to pick a different Charity each week of December that means something to me and hope that my gift this holiday season might make a small bit of difference.

This week I am donating to the VCU Massey Cancer Center . I have dealt with family and friends who have fought battles with cancer – Pancreatic, Breast, Colon, among others…some have won their battles…my parents among them – other family and friends were not as lucky as my parents. There are a variety of cancer charities out there – some deal directly with research, others deal with clinical trials, while others assist people living with cancer. I choose Massey because they do all the above and then some…the center is also right in my town – so the money I choose to donate may just help people I know and love.

OK on to CRAFTING

A while ago I cam across a website that had a fantastic tutorial for making a half apron from one simple dish/tea towel…I thought I saved the link, but alas I did not…when I went back to try and GOOGLE it – well there are A LOT of different variations of a dish/tea towel apron…and I have yet to find it again (but on the upside I did find some more FABULOUS crafty sites…more to come on that later….)

So here I started with my raw materials…I failed to take step by step picture thinking I would be able to find that darn tutorial…when I do find it I will be sure to post it….



1 tea towel bought at Homegoods for about $4 (2 per pack)
20 inches of red gingham fabric (Four 5" strips)

Because I failed to find the Apron tutorial again after I first found it I had to wing it…
UPDATE - I found the blog again - here is the Tutorial from V and Co.

First thing I did was cut the red gingham fabric into 4 strips 5” wide (ok I didn’t cut this when I was at the fabric store I asked them to cut them into 5” strips for me…this worked out well since they have the nice big tables used for cutting – all the better to get straight lines) – I sewed 2 strips together to make one long strip….and then sewed the other 2 together to make another long strip – then placed then together (one good thing about the gigham fabric I used – no wrong side) and sewed at a 1/4 inch all the way around – leaving one end open…turn inside out – iron it and sew up the end…now you have your tie.

Next I took the tea towel – laid it out and folded it in half with the good sides facing each other – I then brought down one side so it was touching the fold and pinned and ironed it flat so the folds were nice and crisp.

Since my tea towel had red accents I choose to use red thread – starting at the top I sewed down each side and across the bottom – this left me with one big pocket on the front – I then used the fold lines in the towel and starting at the bottom sewed up to the fold to create 3 pockets out of the one big pocket.

Then I laid my tie out and placed the top edge of my towel in the middle of the tie and folded it over the top, pinned and then sewed the tie to the towel – I did sew both the bottom and the top of the tie…

And then I was done…

Here is PWG modeling the finished product – I will say the ties are long enough for a more slender woman than my pleasantly plump self to cross around back and tie in the front. You can also see TW holding up the basic tea towel before all the craftyness ensued.


Next project is inspired by the posts at Somewhat Simple on Sunday – I found a tutorial for a very simple wreath on another site (to be named when I show my completed project) – but for now I give you just a small taste…

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

and the angels sang...

When I got home yesterday there was a big package on my porch....

MY SILHOUETTE HAS ARRIVED....

I could not wait to open it up and begin playing...it was super simple to load up the software - plug it into my computer and begin playing...

I only had a bit of time to play with it last night - but play I did

Up first a good friend of mine repurposes items...takes an old chair and paints it all up bright and colorful...turns an old wooden table and chair set into a wonderful activity table for little kids...she does great wall murals, etc... Well a new store has opened in our town that specializes in selling repurposed items and my friend will be selling some of her items in the store. She had a small book made of murals she has done along with items she has sold in the past and asked me if I could help her put something on the front...of course I can...




Fonts: Susie's Hand & Ravie

Forgive my horrible camera work - and the glare of the flash - the book measures about 6x4 - I used pink Oracle vinyl. Looking at it now I think I would have tried to space the "Creations" a little bit futher apart - but not bad for the first thing I did...

Next up was something for my work...I thought of this idea a few weeks ago and I am VERY HAPPY this worked...

Starting off - while Vinyl is an awesome material to work with - there are some drawbacks - first it can be expensive, depending on where and what you buy - It isn't as if Vinyl is available everywhere - the Cricut Vinyl you can buy in the store is about $10 for a roll...you can find it much cheaper on-line - but by the time you pay for S&H - well...

Furthermore - while you can use vinyl it is not renewable - meaning once you take it off you can't reuse it...fine if you are creating a piece of artwork or putting something on your walls where it will be for a period of time - but for short term...not a moneywise way to go...

BUT...BUT...contact paper...YES - CONTACT PAPER - but the good stuff - the "REAL" Contact paper and not the cheesy $1 store knockoff...I managed to score a nice big roll of white contact paper from Walmart for under $6...

I know you are asking but what can you use Contact paper for...well let me show you...

This is the window leading into my section at work -

I need to cut more snowflakes out tonight - but you see the basics of it


Fonts: Happy Days & WWFlakes

...isn't it Fabulous and in Jan (or Feb) when we take it down - it all gets thrown away...and my cost (other than my valuable time) is less than $1 worth of white contact paper...

This is a great use fo contact paper for holidays - the drawback to contact paper is the fact that you are severly limited in colors and it is for indoor use - on a flat, smooth surface only...

My plan for my house is to spell out Happy Holidays for the windows in my bedroom that look out to the street...easy enough to do on the Silhouette...just have to remember to flip the letters before cutting them so that when I adhere them to the inside of my windows people can actually read the letters...







Thursday, November 19, 2009

Oh Yeah - I'm Struttin' - Reindeer Style

So I have been putting together all these crafty projects – gearing up for craft sales and holiday gifts for family and friends…and all along I have been taking pictures…

Guess where those pictures are - still on my camera…

But I DO want to participate in the STRUT YOUR STUFF Thursdays (see the cute little button to the right I managed to post) hosted by Somewhat Simple - click on over and take a look at some of the wonderful things other stalkers crafty bloggers have done...

So I went to my photo archives and found this that I did last month for a Holiday Card Swap…


Isn’t it adorable…

All the supplies are from Stampin’ Up! (Contact me if you need a dealer )

Dasher Stamp in Chocolate...Old Olive Paper with shimmery white snowflakes stamped on it...BEAUTIFUL flocked paper...and of course it isn't a card without some form of extras - a little ribbon...a cute little punched flower and a small little brad....

I usually send out about 100 cards to friends and family and yes all of them are handmade. This is one of about 4 different designs I will be sending out this year.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Knitting - 1 Me - 0

So last night PWG pulls something from her backpack and asks all excited

"Can we do this?"

my first reaction was to say 'NO' without even seeing what it is...because saying 'NO' is a Mommies first reaction to anything...afterall if you eventually say yes - you can turn it around to your favor by explaining that you as a mommy are granting your children something special...I have learned never to say 'YES' to anything right away...and 'MAYBE' sometimes gets your ass in a sling...

Then I took a look - she was proudly holding up a book about beginning Knitting that she had taken out from the school library...what she really wanted to do was knit the Sassy Slippers that were featured in the book...

God I love that little girl...all cute and crafty like

But there was a problem - I have NEVER knitted before...I have bought and attempted those 'Knifty Knitter" plastic things...all that did was cause me to add a few new curse words to my vocabulary...

So she and I glanced through the book - the first half of the book showed step by step directions with illustrations on how to begin to knit...all dumb down well, since after all it was designed for 8 year olds...

I figured Ok I can do this - I have a book...I have illustrations - how hard could it be...

So off to Walmart I went to pick up some knitting needles...came home got the girls in bed and told PWG I would try to figure it out and then we could do it together....

Then spent the next hour contorting my hands into positions they have never been in...and dredging up those long forgotten curse words...

knitting kicked my arse...I threw up my hands in defeat...I couldn't even get a chain on the needle to even begin to knit...

This is not the first time a craft genre has won...and it probably won't be the last...

Monday, November 16, 2009

One down...One to go...

Craft Fairs that is...

In an attempt to actually support my crafting habit I am participating in 2 craft fairs this holiday season.

The first one was this past Saturday and I did OK...I ended up pricing some of my items on the lower end of what I would normally sell at...my thinking is I would rather sell it and make at least a few bucks...then bring it home and be out a few bucks - KWIM...

The thing about craft fairs is you have to know how to price your product - to high and people are going to bypass you - to low - while you sell all your stuff - by the time you minus out your costs (raw material, table rental/admission fee, standing around for most of a Saturday) in the end it just isn't worth it...

You may be asking...but what did you sell...oh my dears you will have to wait - I did take pictures of all the items I made...but if I show you it all now...what will I have to blog about in the coming weeks...

My plan - at least once per week I will be showing an item I made along with simple instructions on how you can do it at home. All my items are perfect for gift giving...some are fairly easy to buy the supplies and do it at home...others, well...

In the meantime - I am going to be doing a little housekeeping around the blog...going through the links there on right - making sure all of them work...I will also be adding more crafty sites to my blog roll - I have found some amazing craft bloggers (and my staker list gets a little bit longer every day...) over the past few weeks...If you would like to be added to my stalker blog list just leave me a message in the comments and I will add you on in...


Bonus Kid Comment

this weekend PWG went to the bathroom but for some reason she left the door open - personally I believe she has a bit of an exhibitionist in her - well TW decided to keep walking in front of the bathroom, which in turned made PWG girl mad...after telling TW to "STOP" a few times she finally belted out

"Close the door before I get my attitude on..."

but the way she said it...her attitude was already on and ready to go

Monday, November 09, 2009

As if my Craft ADD wasn’t bad enough…

Most thing I take my time with – I research – I hem I haw, especially if it is going to cost me money.

For me crafting is like a sucking black hole..it sucks money from my pocket…I have reams and reams of printouts of ideas and projects I would like to do “One Day”. I will say over the past year or two I have been better about actually completing one project before moving onto the next.

But I find myself delving further and further into all things crafty…it has morphed from scrapbooking to cardmaking to sewing to home décor…there doesn’t seem to be an end in site.

So what did I do today…I bought yet ANOTHER crafting machine…TC is going to kill me…I think I might have to buy something Camo to dangle in front of him when I tell him about my newest purchase…Camo should calm him down…hopefully…

So what did I buy?? Because I already have the Big Shot and the Cricut…what more could I need…

The SILHOUETTE

sweet, sweet silhouette…this will enable me to cut any True Type Font in a variety of materials…paper, cardstock and my newest favorite VINYL….

I could have bought a program for my Cricut that will do the same thing – Sure Cuts A Lot…but from what I have read there are pros and cons for both…While the footprint of the Silhouette is a bit different (8.5x11) than the Cricut (6X12 or 12x12 or 12x 24 – depending on the machine) I was enamored by the ability to save projects on an SD card and use the machine independent of a computer if need be. I also like the idea that you can download images and templates as single units directly from the company.

I do enjoy my Cricut – but I find I am using it a lot more to create home décor and gifts using vinyl and felt for some projects I would like to do the 6” is limiting…I know 8.5” doesn’t give me a whole lot of extra room…but it is a least a little more.

I can’t wait to get my newest toy and start playing…now to go buy something in Camo…