January Blog Hop - Papertrey Style

Hi and Welcome to my blog!! I am so excited to be a participant in this month's Papertrey "Blog Hop."

A dear friend of mine recently purchased a new car and, once I heard the news, I knew exactly what stamp set I wanted to use to help her celebrate.

I went to my Papertrey stamp collection and got to work using the "Enjoy the Ride" stamp set. I've loved this set since the moment I saw it released, but have actually waited quite a while before using it. Why? I am not sure, because it is so much fun! It was also a perfect match for this month's theme which is to use a stamp set that has seen little or no ink.

Here's the card I created using lots of Papertrey goodies:

I began with Papertrey's white and kraft cardstock, along with a Spellbinders die cut using Hawaiin Shores cardstock which I embossed with a QuicKutz embossing folder. I also found this really cute patterned paper in my stash, and sorry....I don't know who the manufacturer is....it is something I found on clearance at my local scrapbook store.  I paired the patterned paper with Papertrey's Distressed Dots paper and Dotty Biscotti paper.

Other dies I used include the Enjoy the Ride car die, along with the double-ended banner die which I love!! Inks I used include Papertrey's Dark Chocolate and Pure Poppy. Other ink colors include Stampin Up's Gable Green and a Marvy turquoise.

I also paired this card with a scented air freshener for her car from Bath & Body Works.

I hope you enjoyed your visit and be sure to come back soon!!

So stinkin' cute!!

I found this fantastic download last week and nearly jumped out of my chair!!! I was looking for something fun for my 3rd grader to share with her class for Valentine's Day and this was IT!!

Aren't these iphone candy covers just the cutest thing??? After I got permission from my 3rd grader to proceed, I ran and hopped in the car to Target to buy the Brach's candy boxes. I chose the tart & tangy variety.

Here they are all covered and wrapped in their cozy covers:

A big shout out to Amy Locurto for her amazing talent and most of all, for sharing this fun download with all of her blog viewers!!

Upcycling Fun

How many times have you seen a project, decided to make the project, bought the materials for the project and then everything just s-i-t-s for a while? a long while? Maybe because you have other crafty things to do, maybe because you enjoy just staring at it everyday? Or maybe because you slowly start talking yourself out of beginning another project that you are not sure about. That's what happened with this project.

I saw a tutorial (somewhere out there in blog land) for an upcycled t-shirt scarf and fell in love with the design, not to mention the easiness of it (at least that was my first impression). But after I made the trip to the Salvation Army store to get the t-shirts, I talked myself out of sitting down at my sewing machine for fear that they wouldn't turn out because this technique was something I had never tried before.

Well, for some reason, yesterday afternoon I was feeling ambitious and decided to just go for it!! I am so glad I did because they were so easy, so quick and really fun to make. Let me show you just what I'm talking about.

Take a trip to your t-shirt drawer, or in my case, the nearest Salvation Army store (on half-price day) and get a large or extra-large sized t-shirt, plain with no design. Next, lay out your shirt and cut two large strips off of the bottom (get rid of the original hem first). I made mine 6 inches wide.

Once this is done, cut your strips open (this red shirt had inside seams, but the other one I used did not). If your shirt has an inside seam or serged line, be sure to cut those off.

Here are my strips once I cut them open:

The next step is to match up your strips (on the short ends), pin and sew them together to make one continuous long piece of t-shirt material. Remember we are making a scarf so this will actually be your scarf. Use the regular straight stitch setting on your sewing machine. (I don't have a picture of this.)

Now this is where it gets really fun!! And you will be able to see how excited I got because I didn't take a picture mid-way through, but on the finishing end....sorry.

Once you have your t-shirt strips all sewn together (check that all your front sides match and that you didn't get one strip facing backwards) -- I wouldn't know anything about that of course -- you are going to change the settings on your sewing machine. You may need to get your machine's manual for this or not, I needed to.  (1)Set your straight stitch setting to its highest (or longest)  number, mine was set at "5.0" and (2)Set your tension level to its highest number, mine was set at "9". And now you are ready to finish your scarf.

Measure the width of your t-shirt strip and decide where you want your gathers to be. I just eyeballed mine and spaced the stitch lines one inch apart.

Begin sewing and sew a straight line all the way down the length of your scarf. Your machine should automatically gather your material to create the prettiest ruffled look.

After you get to the bottom of your scarf you are going to begin again at the top, move your scarf over (I had about an inch of space between my stitch lines) and repeat using the same settings on your sewing machine.

To finish, I returned my machine back to its original straight stitch settings and sewed a small hem on the two short ends of my scarf.

I had so much fun with the first scarf I grabbed another shirt and made a second one.

I literally had these two made in less than 30 minutes. They were, by far, the easiest sewing project I've ever tried.  So glad I finally jumped in and gave it a go!!

Working on a few things...

Spending some time this morning working on a few upcoming projects for the next holiday...always thinking ahead although one of my goals for this year is to "live" in the moment....here's what I put together for my 5th grader to take to school:

Have you seen the sour cream containers you can make with a piece of paper cut to 4.25 x 5.5 inches? I'm not ready to fill mine, but here's a great tutorial. They make the cutest little packages to hide yummy treats.

Also gathering a few of these for an upcoming project:

Actually, we have a few girls getting together for a fun afternoon of crafting Valentine Sundae Cup Centerpieces.  I need to get busy finding all the pretty candy to fill the glasses for my sweeties. This is going to be fun! And, I'm having the best time hunting through my local thrift stores to find the glasses for everyone.  There's nothing like a good hunt!   

Take care and stay safe!

Sculpey Bug

My youngest daughter, Abby, has caught the crafting/Sculpey bug. I don't know how she got started on it, but she has had the best time this holiday season making all kinds of different food items with Sculpey clay. She's made a variety of things and has also filmed a few of her tutorial sessions using her new video camera.  Here's a shot from a session this morning:

Some of the items she has made include this hamburger and waffle which are this morning's projects:

She's also made ice cream cones, pop tarts, pizza slices, hot chocolate drinks, rainbow cakes, donuts and popsicles.

A few have been turned into pendants and put on strands of ribbon to make necklaces. I told her with a little time we might actually invest in a few purchases from etsy of actual ribbon necklaces so that she can give them away to friends.

I'm working on getting my Valentine inspiration basket put together as well as organizing a few projects for the future.  See you in a little bit!

Christmas Thank You Cards

A few days ago I sat down and had the best time making a big ole' batch of Christmas Thank You cards. I began with an inspirational card sketch and I also knew I wanted to use my new Papertrey felt and Christmas tree die...I fell in love with that thing the minute I saw it.

Here's what I came up with, a few different designs:

Lots of Papertrey and Stampin' Up cardstock, a Fiskars border punch, a Cuttlebug embossing folder, a Spellbinders tag die, Papertrey stamps and as I mentioned, Papertrey felt and their fabulous tree die. I made two variations of this card, one with red buttons and one with blue buttons....a certain friend of mine has a fondness for blue and green.

And, to round the bunch out, I reached into my "felt goodies" basket and found these snowflakes from a few years back. They were the perfect touch to finish these cards. Same supplies, I just added a different felt embellishment.

I still needed a few more cards, but decided to go with something a little easier and something that would take less time to make in a large quantity....after looking at the latest CARDS magazine, I borrowed this design from the featured designer, Amy Heller.  Amy's card design can be found on page 117 of this month's issue.  Here's my interpretation:

The die cut sentiment is from Stampin' Up, the patterned paper from DCWV and the stamped stitches are from Sandylion (I've had this set for years).

Now I need to get busy writing my messages and letting everyone know just how much we enjoyed our holiday! Take care until next time!!

A Look at My Tuesday

Here's what I've been looking at today....pretty stuff for this time of year.

First up is a picture of the prettiest ice crystal my oldest found on the ground this morning. I was glad this brought a smile to her face after a disappointing trip to the bird bath revealed a leak in our miniature ice skating pond.

Next is a package that came in the mail from a Scrapbook Trends giveaway I won last week. I opened the box to find this fabulous nested tower of treats with a gorgeous red and green felted bow. 

And last is a picture of one of my krafty wrapped gifts that I am giving away this year. When I am doing something in multiples I like to keep things simple but I also like to add a few touches of sparkle.  I thought this color combo of brown, gold and green was just what I was looking for.  The ribbon is from Michael's and the glittered snowflake tag is from Target.

I hope you are having a fun Tuesday!