Tag Archives: crafting

Art on the Go

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Ah, my first project inspired by “The Creative Family” by Amanda Blake Soule (www.soulemama.com): An art-on-the-go bag complete with felt pencil case/roll and other fun things that sort of follow the book, but I bought what was in our budget. I thought it would make a good gift. Abby’s classmate invited her to his birthday party, and not that I don’t know much about toys for 7-year-old boys, but I had a feeling he’d like this little bag of goodies and he probably already has a bunch of action figures, cars, etc.

So, I brought out the sewing machine and had some red canvas, cording, felt and ribbon on hand (Abby picked out the canvas color). For the drawstring bag, I didn’t really measure out the canvas, I just eyeballed it with the goodies and hoped everything would fit. That probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it worked out. Instead of a flat drawstring bag, I thought I’d give it a gusseted corner (I think that’s what it’s called, right?), too. The felt pencil case was straight out of Amanda’s book.

Now that my “test” project is done (I know, “testing” on a gift is not my usual thing), the next drawstring bags I make will be for Abby and Ollie… might do the “shoebag” backpack that a lot of kids use. Sort of looks like a nylon backpack with the string going through the grommets on the bottom of the bag. Perhaps a tutorial will be in the works soon.

The Craft Social

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It might be intimidating to some to go all by yourself, not knowing anyone except for maybe through blogging, to a gathering of over 100 women (and one man) to craft for two hours.

Craft Social

It was FABULOUS!  Really, it was. This pic was at the beginning of the evening.  Attendees either brought a donation or food, and a craft project to do on her own.  There were also crafting stations where you could learn how to do a new project: duct tape wallets, decoupage bowls, paper-decorated clothespins, poloroid slide transfers, beading, and other various crafts.

One of many craft tablesFellow crafters

My magnetic bookmarkPom-pom flowers

I brought a cross-stitch project to work on, but really, I socialized, made a magnetic bookmark, little paper adornments and a pom-pom flower.

Meeting so many talented people and watching them create these beautiful pieces, made me want to try more things!  Hello to Toni at the refreshment area, Margaret, who was working on her applique, Kathy, who writes Merriment Design, Cindy, an event planner and crafter, Alexandra, who brought a scrumptious tart, Debbie and Rosemary, the stampin’ up ladies, Tripp Hudgins, the nicest husband and only man in the group (so enjoyed talking about paper and ink), Beth Engelman, blogger/writer, and Jess Jones, the social coordinator and blogger.

I can’t wait for the next one!

Teacher Appreciation Gift idea

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Last week was National Teacher Appreciation Week.  I’m one of the room parents, so I went out and bought a simple flowering plant (kids are studying plants next week) and printed up this card.

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The little faces were stamped with my pinky and ring finger.  Used washable markers to color them up.  My stamp pads are stored right now since I haven’t been  stamping too much lately, and I didn’t feel like dragging them out.

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Just a cute, simple, heartfelt card.  You can find poems all over the web, but this one was from here.

Hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day!

Completed Baby Burp Cloths

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Here are the finished burp cloths that I wrote about late last month.  There’s a great tutorial here at A Chelsea Morning.

Finished Baby Burp cloths

More burp cloths and baby blankets to make… friends have had or are having babies this Spring.  But first, I want to finish that wine cork bulletin board!

Cup of Tea While I Sew?

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My little pincushions that resemble strawberries are starting to look a little frazzled. When I was sewing my Easter project, I had to turn the cushions upside down, and the things looked like porcupines.  Actually, when I was younger, I thought they were tomatoes, with the green one looking like a not-so-ripe tomato. And then I thought, what is that dangling thing for?

Pin cushions out of control

I’ve bought and collected more pins over the last year as I’ve cultivated my sewing habit. The vintage Sucrets box and Brass Silk Pins box are from an estate sale across the street, and are filled with more pins.  So… I thought I’d make more homes for the pins and borrowed a little book from the library, “Pretty Pincushions”.  There is an easy project that marries tea with sewing, and it happened to be designed by Amy Karol (author and blogger, see her blog here).  Basically, it’s a teacup, stuffing, scrap piece of fabric and glue.

Orphaned Fine China Teacups

I went to a local Salvation Army store (There is a lot of stuff there! Holy cow!) and rummaged through the house goods and found these cuties (65 cents and 45 cents each for the pair).  No saucers, at least none that I could find.  They were all separated.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the manufacturer of the all-white teacup which has a delicate, lacey pattern that goes around the cup.

Norleans White Lace Teacup

A cup and saucer on a site similar to eBay was selling for $8.00, surprise!  So, now, I’m not sure… do I try to resell these little teacups? Is it worth it? Or do I just make my pincushions?

Martha Stewart in Chicago

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Holy cow!! I met Martha Stewart!!!! *whew* I have to get the rest of this excitement over Martha out of my system.

Our Martha Stewart autographed books

I took Ollie on a little trip last Friday to Macy’s on State Street… totally last minute decision. Left the house at 10:15 a.m. for her 1 pm book signing.

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Got in line at about 12:00 pm where we were greeted by Macy’s staff with bottled water and cookies. The staff was so nice.

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We made friends with people in line… thanks to the lady from Scottsdale, AZ for taking our picture. We liked talking with the well-dressed-newspaper-reading guy, too. The Asian lady behind us in the picture had her dog, Emma, in her purse. And we talked about making homemade dog treats.

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The line started moving a bit past 1:00 pm. A voice came from beyond a corner, then applause. None of us in line could hear a thing, but oh well, we thought, they’re probably just introducing Martha. Realistically, I figured if we were still in line by 2:00, we would bail because I had to pick up our daughter at school. However, the line was moving at a good pace, and then the skies opened up… a Macy’s staff person approached me and said, “Martha asked that mothers with young children in or with strollers, and disabled people get consideration and be ushered to the head of the line. I already brought up two moms. So, go ahead, go up there and talk to the women at the head of the line, and they’ll get you in the queue.” We love Martha, don’t we? The lady in the bright yellow green sweater was apparently a main coordinator (or Martha staff) and she got us right in.

Getting ready to meet Martha

I’ve been telling people that Martha Stewart is really stunning in person. She’s a beautiful lady… she’s also a powerful woman. I wonder if I admire her more for her lifestyle-crafting-cooking inspirations or her empire building skills? She was very nice, cordial, talked with Ollie a little bit (funny pic in the gallery), asked who the crafter was in our house, what crafts I do (I could have said, “Everything!”, but only told her that I papercraft and sew). For all the things I could have said to her, I basically came up with, “Ms. Stewart, it is such a pleasure to meet you.” She said, “Why, thank you.” Then she said, “Oh, he lets you craft? You have time?” I said, “Well, I sneak in time… but really, I don’t sleep too much,” and she grinned, “Yes, we know about that.” She said, “Very nice to meet you.” to my brother.

There was an older lady whom we met after the signing who was quite upset that Martha was 12 minutes late. She said, “I gave her one demerit for every minute she was late, so that makes 12 demerits…” Wow. Okay, lady, I don’t know how you give demerits, or what they’re going to do for Martha, but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t too concerned about you.

The rest of our short visit with the lifestyle maven is captured in pictures…Ha, ha, thanks for the pictures, Patrick! Don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t there!

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