Sara vs. Sarah

The Thrift Store Crafter

2013-07-08T14:27:00.002-07:00

Though Sara vs. Sarah is no longer an active blog, you can now find Sarah posting at The Thrift Store Crafter. Thank you everyone for your continued support!!

Fused Plastic - A Tutorial

2012-04-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

For my first So You Think You're Crafty challenge, I decided to try my hand at fused plastic. Since the theme was dollar store crafts, I used plastics you could find at the dollar store: Tootsie Pop bags, a plastic tablecloth and trash bags. I also used some cellophane (the pink polka dots), but that did not work very well so I don't recommend it.

Any-who, The first thing you need to do is cut your plastics down to a usable size. Since the smallest piece I had to work with was my Tootsie Pop bag, I cut the tablecloth and the garbage bag to that size.

I carefully cut open my Tootsie Pop bags.

I cut rectangles of the tablecloth that were approximately the same size as the Tootsie Pop bag.

I cut more rectangles of the garbage bags.

In all, you need about 6 layers to make one piece of fused plastic "fabric." You don't really need to use a plastic tablecloth; I did because I wanted the yellow to show through the clear parts of my Tootsie Pop bag. You don't even have to buy garbage bags--you can use bags from the grocery store. I bought my materials because I was going for a certain look.

Next, line up your layers. I used four layers of garbage bags, one layer of tablecloth and my Tootsie Pop bag.

Line up your layers.

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!! You want to put paper underneath and on top of your layers of plastic. If you don't, your plastic is going to melt all over everything. I'm going to say it again. Sandwich your plastic layers between paper so the plastic doesn't melt all over everything.

The next step is to iron your layers together. Remember, everything is protected between the layers of paper (sorry, I just had to say it again). Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the ironing because I don't have four arms or someone else around to take the photo. You want to use a hot iron (wool or linen setting). You need to keep the iron moving constantly. Make sure you iron over the entire area of your plastic. I worked in a circular motion. Once you've covered the entire piece, peel off the top layer of paper and see how you did. If you need to go back and fuse some more, you can do that. Just don't over-do it for the plastic will melt completely.

The fused plastic

You're now ready to cut this down and start sewing with it. This stuff stands up to being sewn great. I was afraid that it would tear easily, but it is strong as can be. It also has great body so it's ideal for bags as it holds it shape.

I've been using my tote bag for my daily lunch bag at work for a month and it is showing no wear whatsoever. So give this technique a shot.

SYTYC Week One - I'm Through

2012-04-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

So I made it through Dollar Store week at So You Think You're Crafty. Woo-hoo! My project, if you didn't guess it, was the Tootsie Pop tote bag.

This was a cool technique and I'm going to do up a tutorial on it when I have a little more time.

This week at SYTYC is Thrift Store Crafts. Time to vote again! The poll is in the sidebar on the right side. Maybe you'll vote for me.

So You Think You're Crafty - Dollar Store Week

2012-04-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! The voting is live at So You Think You're Crafty! The theme this week is Dollar Store Crafts. Be sure to go vote for you favorite--maybe it will be mine.

Also, don't forget that we have a giveaway going on. You can win three cans of Simply Spray Upholstery Fabric Paint--it's a great prize! Just leave a comment on this post by Friday April 13, 2012.

Simply Spray Upholstery Spray Coffee Table Bench Project and Giveaway

2012-04-09T06:39:00.004-07:00

Good morning! Welcome to Monday. I'm sure, like me, you're delighted to be here {eyes rolling}.

Well, even if Monday is not my favorite day, I've got a good post for you today. I was contacted by Randi at Simply Spray who sent me some of their Upholstery Fabric Paint to try out.** Have you heard of this stuff? You can spray paint upholstery! I didn't really believe it either, but I'm here to tell you this stuff works. Check out the Simply Spray Facebook page or their website for all sorts of stuff you can do with it.

Before we get into the tutorial, I'm going to tell you about the giveaway. Simply Spray is going to send three (3) cans of Upholstery Fabric Paint in the color of your choice to one lucky winner. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post letting me know what you want to paint. That's it. I'm not going to make you do things like tweet and facebook, etc., etc. Just leave a comment. You can enter once through Friday, April 13, 2012 at midnight, MST. A winner will be chosen on Saturday, April 14, 2012 and contacted via email so be sure to leave me contact information!

When Randi first contacted me, I have to say that I didn't have any furniture in need of painting. However, I did have this coffee table I was thinking of getting rid of.

It occurred to me that it was the perfect size to fit at the end of my bed and it was sturdy enough to be converted into a bench. Instead of covering up some old upholstery, I thought, why not use the paint to create an upholstery design of my own?

I started with a plain piece of duck cloth. Duck cloth is like canvas, but a bit lighter weight. I laid it out on an old sheet and sprayed away. I actually think the spraying would have worked better if I could have hung the fabric and held the can upright, but all-in-all, I got by okay. I took two cans of paint to get the coverage and the depth of color I wanted on this piece of cloth that measured about 60 x 30. That seemed like a lot of paint to me, but the paint does soak into the fabric.

Once dry, I laid on my a stencil and used Simply Spray Stencil Paint (this was also provided to me by the folks at Simply Spray) to add on the design . This product is quite thick and comes out fast. I wish I had practiced with it first. I'm not great with stencils to begin with so I should have known better than to dive right in. So the product worked great, but there was some operator error.

I'll spare you a lesson on upholstering the cushion. You can find dozens of them out there in blogland. What I think is important for you to know and what I was really interested about with this product is that the fabric stays soft and supple AFTER it is sprayed. It does not get hard and crunchy like it would if you used a normal paint. The hand of the fabric does not feel plastic-y or coated in any way. I was impressed with that.

So, what are the cons of this product? I think if you were spraying a sofa, it would be a bit spendy as you would need a lot of paint. Otherwise, Simply Spray Upholstery Fabric Paint does exactly what it is advertised to do and it does it well. So, before you donate that perfectly good footstool or side chair, give this product a shot.

And don't forget to leave a comment to try to win three (3) cans of the color of your choice. You can't beat that with a stick!

**In other words, if I'm not making this abundantly clear, this is a sponsored post!

Craft Fail? Art Gallery Tote Bag

2012-04-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm just not sure that this project worked out. I had these amateur paintings that I had bought at thrift stores. I had the idea of making a tote bag out of them. This is side A:

One side of my Art Gallery Tote Bag turned out fine.

Not too bad. But this is side B:

The other side, not so much.

There's the problem. Apparently, the older the canvas, the more likely the paint is to crack and flake off. Or, perhaps, it was the type of paint. I'm no expert on these things. Anyhow, it all happened when I inside-outed the bag at the very end.

Still, I think the idea is a sound one and I'm not giving up on the concept just yet. In a nutshell, here's what I did. I started with a thrift store painting that was on a stretched canvas.

I loved this canvas when I saw it at Goodwill. I thought it would be great on a tote bag.

I pulled the canvas off the stretcher and squared it up, I then sewed it to my tote bag fabric. I used a plain duck cloth.

At this point, things are still going pretty smoothly.

When you are sewing through this, you want to use an appropriate needle. I used a Jeans Needle because, essentially, I was sewing through two layers of canvas so I needed something heavy duty.

Use an appropriate needle.

I sewed around the painting using one of the decorative stitches on my machine. A zigzag stitch would work just as well.

Sewing the canvas to the tote bag fabric.

I do still like the idea of this project so I might give it another chance. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Any ideas what I could do differently to prevent the cracking?

My Favorite Project in a Long Time

2012-03-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

My new kitschy centerpiece.

I cannot tell you how long I have had the idea to turn these doll heads into flowers for use in this cheapo vase. I've wanted to do it for-EVER.

I thought I would make the flowers out of fabric, but couldn't find a way to do it that I was happy with. Believe me, I tried several different ways. I also tried yarn, ribbon and paper. It wasn't until I saw this post on the Auntie Peaches blog about deconstructing dollar store flowers to make new flowers that knew I had my solution. Genius, Peaches!

This is my favorite dolly flower.

I found the bag of vintage doll heads at a thrift store about three years ago. I already had the vase. It was fate that brought us all together, I'm sure of it.


Vintage wired doll head--a great thrift store find.

This is exactly how I imagined it in my mind's eye. I'm so pleased! Who wouldn't be? It's a kitsch masterpiece perfect for my dining room table!

My "So You Think You're Crafty" Audition

2012-03-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I let you know that I was auditioning for So You Think You’re Crafty. This is a fun online competition where one crafter is eliminated each week until one winner is left. I couldn’t tell you which of the projects was mine last week because the voting is done anonymously, but the voting is over and it can be revealed that my project was The Spring Garden Bracelet:

My Spring Garden Bracelet got me through the audition round of SYTYC.

I’m also happy to report that I made it safely through the audition round and will be ready to compete in the first round of the “real” competition come the second week of April.

Let me tell you a little bit more about my bracelet. A lot of people I’ve talked to thought that those flowers were beads that I bought somewhere. They were actually individually made by me with Shrinky Dinks. I do love my shrink plastic!

Individually made Shrinky Dink flowers

I used a craft punch to cut out the flower shapes then colored them with permanent markers. If you try this at home, make sure you punch a hole for the wire before you shrink them!

This is what I started with.

Above shows the size before shrinking, below shows the size after shrinking.

Once out of the oven, I immediately shaped the flower around the eraser end of a pencil to give it a rounded shape. I didn’t worry about them being perfectly symmetrical. I’m just not that fussy. Besides, I liked that no two flowers were quite the same. It’s more realistic.

The calla lilies were circles that were curled as soon as they came out of the oven. You have to do this as soon as you pull the shrinky dinks out of the oven and they will be hot. Be careful!

A circle pinched to form a calla lily.

I used a leaf punch and a heart punch to make leaves. Okay, hearts don’t really look like leaves, but you work with what you got.

The rest was just a matter of adding some beads, some headpins, jump rings, a length of chain and a clasp. ‘tweren’t nothing, really.

My homemade beads.

I hope you’ll follow So You Think You’re Crafty now and once my “season” of the competition gets underway. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date with what’s going on.

Fancy Crochet Edged Hankie - A Tutorial

2012-03-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Do you know how you can pass yourself off as a refined lady? Carry a hankie with a lacy edging. Where do you get such a thing in this day and age? Well, your old friend Sarah is here to help with this tutorial! All you need is a square of fabric, some crochet cotton and a little know-how.

Crochet edged hankies for the refined crafter.

I recently made my Auntie Carol some white pillowcases with a frilly edge for her birthday. I had a bit of the 100% cotton fabric left over from that project and I decided it would be perfect for handkerchiefs. In other words, this is a great scrap buster project.

These will make an inexpensive, yet fancy-pants gift for someone in my life.

The supplies you'll need.

Materials Needed:

· Large scrap of fabric that can be cut down to 10 x 10 inches

· Crochet Cotton

· US 1 Crochet Hook

· Sharp Chenille Needle with Large Eye

You start by cutting a 10 x 10 inch square of fabric and finishing the edge. Make sure you are cutting on the grain of your fabric or your hankie will stretch all over the place. Now, depending on how you finish the edge, you may want to cut your square slightly larger. I serged my edges which means I didn’t lose any of the size of my original piece. If you don’t have a serger, you may want to finish your edges with a narrow hem in which case, you may want to start with a 10.5 x 10.5 inch square. Once your edge is finished, you have your plain hankie.

Serged edge; you could also do a narrow hem.

The next step is to blanket stitch around the edge of your plain hankie. You will need a sharp chenille needle with a large enough eye for the crochet cotton you are using. You want to use a doubled length of yarn to make your stitches (the doubled yarn gives it some strength). I like to cut my yarn long enough that I can blanket stitch all the way around without have to knot off and add more yarn on. That can be a bit of a pain as it tangles, but it’s my preference.

Blanket stitch around the edge to create a base for the crochet stitches.

A couple other things about the blanket stitching. I like to cover the entire hem with the stitch rather than put the stitch through the hem. This is a personal preference thing. I think it looks tidier this way. The second thing is that I use the hem stitches to gauge how far apart I need to put my blanket stitches. That's why they are so even! I would count every third stitch and insert my needle.

Next I crochet the edge. I made two simple rounds for this edging:

Round 1: *3 sc in each blanket stitch space,* join to beginning sc with sl st

Round 2: Ch 4, sc, *sc, ch 3, sc,* join to beginning ch with sl st. End off.

You can see how the first round of crochet stitches is worked onto the base of blanket stitches.

You’ll want to work in the ends of your yarn to hide them and you’re done with the edging.

It's pretty, but it needs something more.

Now, one more added detail. The cherry on top, as it were. I decided to add an embroidered motif to my handkerchief because I’m extra refined. Since I had the red and pink edges going, I thought a cherry would be the perfect embroidered accent. I used a running stitching with two strands of floss. I was extra careful to make sure my work looked good on the back since it would show.

I transferred the motif with a fabric pencil and light box to get a nice, clean, fine line.

Using two strands of floss keeps the embroidery in scale with the rest of the project.

You are now completely prepared to faint onto the nearest sofa, whip out your hankie, daintily dab your brow, and weakly mutter, "Oh dear, I must be having one of my spells!"

So You Think You're Crafty - I'm Auditioning!

2012-03-13T04:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of So You Think You’re Crafty? This is a craft competition blog that pits 10 crafters against one another. Each week there is a new theme and the crafter with the lowest number of votes gets eliminated.

It’s audition week at SYTYC and, you guessed it, I’m auditioning! I won’t tell you which project is mine until the voting is closed. Still, I do hope you’ll hop on over to So You Think You’re Crafty and vote for your favorite project. Maybe it will be mine!

I’ll let you know which of the projects is mine and the voting outcome next week. The real competition begins in April.

A String Quilt - Another UFO to Be

2012-03-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I started another quilt project. Just what I need! Another UFO! Lately, I can't finish a quilt top to save my life, but I'm very good at starting things.

This one is a string quilt. What's a string quilt, you ask? It's a scrap quilt made up of all those leftover strips of fabric you end up with over the years.

My bin of "strings" or strips of leftover fabric.

I decided to randomly sew together strips. Some people sew their strings to a muslin base. I don't do this; I just sew them together, then starch them really well so they hold their shape.

An example of a bunch of strips sewn together.

Once the strips are sewn together, I used a 6.5 inch square ruler to cut out my blocks.

A 6.5 inch block I cut on the diagonal.

When you cut on the diagonal like I did, you end up with these big triangles between the blocks.

You end up with big triangles between the blocks.

Don't throw them away! All you have to do is sew the long edges together and you can usually eke out another block. Sometimes, you may need to add another short strip between the two long edges. Waste not want not!

Sew together on the long edge and you can get another block out of it.

I have no final vision for this quilt and can't even say if it will ever get finished. For now, I'm just going to have fun making the blocks and emptying my box of strings.

One possible layout for my blocks.

My Wall of Paint by Numbers

2012-03-09T05:51:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you doing on this fine Friday?

I've done nothing crafty this week so I thought I'd show you something in my house that is a bit unique. It's my wall of paint by numbers!

The Paint by Number wall in my TV room.

Yes, I "wallpapered" a wall in my TV room with old "PBNs" I found at thrift stores. It is, by far, the best wall in my house and I have to say, I have some pretty interesting walls.

My favorite PBN--I love the colors and the subject matter. My friend Tina found it for me at a swap meet.

I was inspired to do this by a restaurant in Minneapolis called the Hot Plate Diner which is decorated with paint by numbers. I thought that was a brilliant idea and knew I wanted a PBN theme somewhere in my house.

I like the dramatic movement in this one.

Amazingly, the thrift store gods smiled on me for months when I started this, providing me with lots of PBNs. It's been awhile since I've found anymore, but my wall is filled so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I love the colors in this one.

I'll collect any subject matter, though I'm partial to slightly odd color schemes. I simply bought what I found which is how I ended up with so many religious themed paintings. Maybe the cosmos was telling me something?

Ya gotta have a last supper!

I do have to say, the cornerstone of any PBN collection would be a Last Supper. Mine has an inscription on the back saying it was painted in 1968 by Mrs. B. Johnson and her daughter Lorraine for Pastor someone (I can't remember his name). Mrs. B Johnson and her daughter Lorraine did a great job, I must say.

A paint by number wall may not be for everyone, but no one ever seems shocked to come across it in my house. Sometimes, a decorating scheme just fits.

Since My Embroidery Floss was Out . . .

2012-03-05T05:52:00.000-08:00

I wrote a month ago about organizing my embroidery floss. I still think it looks pretty like a rainbow (geeky).

Since it was all out just staring me in the face, I decided I had better embroider something. I remembered that I once had this old tablecloth with embroidered dogs on it. It was on it's last legs, but the dogs on it were so I cute I wanted to preserve the patterns. I'd show you the tablecloth, but I'm not sure what became of it. I might be hiding around this house somewhere or it may have finally met its demise.

I had managed, before the tablecloth's untimely disappearance, to transfer the dogs to tea towels to be embroidered, but had never advanced the project any further. Well, the time was ripe to get this project done!

I have two towels with a dog at each end of the towel. Here are all four of the little Scotties:

How cute are they with their hats? I love the hillbilly dog!

I don't have a plan for these tea towels. They'll go in the gift drawer and I'm sure someone will be happy to get them. Do you ever make things just to make them, or do you always have a plan for what you're doing?

My new Brother PQ-1500S Sewing Machine

2012-03-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

Well here it is! My brand, spanking, new Brother PQ-1500S sewing machine. Sweet!

The new toy.

It arrived about two weeks ago and I've already put it to plenty of use. You may remember, I bought this as a bit of a splurge, then the a/c in my car died not two hours later. Believe me, that repair is not going to be cheap. But the machine was bought and paid for so there was no going back on the deal just because "life happened" if you know what I mean.

It's not bathed in light from the window, that's the holy glow emanating from within it.

This machine is not designed for everyday sewing. It only has one stitch: the straight stitch. It is perfect for quilting. It pieces with speed and is ideal for free motion quilting. That is why I wanted it for my quilting frame.

My first project is a small charity quilt quilted with a pantograph design.

The speed on this machine is phenomenal--1500 stitches per minute. It flies! Another feature I love is that it has a button that cuts your thread for you when you are done sewing. With the quilt on the frame, that is really convenient.

Another view.

Below you'll see my first attempt at using a pantograph. If you're not a quilter, I'll explain that a pantograph is a design drawn out on a long roll of paper that sits on the shelf above the quilt on the frame. You follow the design with a laser pointer and the machine sews it. It takes a bit of practice to get the movement nice and smooth, but for my first time, I think I did okay.

Close up of the finished quilting.

The next project on the frame is this quilt. I think this will be another charity quilt. I've had this quilt top in the closet for so long I don't even remember when I made it! This time, I'm going to practice all over stippling. I do love my new machine!


The next project on the frame.

Just Saying Hi!

2012-02-28T05:04:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I'm checking in. I haven't got anything crafty to share with you today, but I wanted you to know I was here.

My quilt rack topped with miscellaneous old sewing items. Hey, I had to show you pictures of something!

Even though I've got nothing to show you right now doesn't mean I haven't been busy. One thing I was working on was a birthday present. Since I know the birthday girl reads this blog, I can't very well post it until after she receives it. Well, the truth is, I can't post it at all because I forgot to take photos before I wrapped it all up and packaged it for the mail. That was dumb!

The other thing I've been working on is a surprise. Shh! I can't tell you about it now, but you will see it in a few weeks. Why the secrecy? You'll understand that soon enough, too.

Some of my old sewing baskets.

I have so much I want to do. It's driving me crazy that I don't have the time! Once again, I have to lament that working full time really gets in the way of my crafting.

I'll be back tomorrow or the next day to report about my new sewing machine.

Aunt Peaches Valentine Swap Part II

2012-02-16T05:25:00.000-08:00

My three Valentines from the Aunt Peaches Valentines Swap

Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Mine would have been uneventful (sigh . . .) if not for the Aunt Peaches Valentine swap. I wrote about that once before here, but that only covered the Valentines I sent. I also received three Valentines.

The first one I received was from Tya of Craft.Run.Wag. Isn’t it pretty and super professional looking? I opened it and thought, “Geez! Mine looks amateurish.” Well done, Tya!

The first Valentine to arrive.

The next to arrive was from Patty. How cute is this matchbox Valentine? You open it up to find this adorable little felt heart. Not only that, but the heart is a pin! So cute! Thank you, Patty! I love it.

Cute matchbox Valentine.

With a surprise inside!

And it's a pin to boot.

Last, but not least, was this sweet Valentine from Puja. Can you imagine gluing on every single one of those tiny hearts? I’d have glue everywhere. I’m not a tidy gluer so I admire gluing that is well done and Puja did a great job of it. The caption inside reads “You are one in a million.”

The third and final Valentine.

I loved the spirit of this swap and feel lucky to have participated. Thank you to Tya, Patty and Puja for the Valentines I received. I love each of them. And thanks to Aunt Peaches for organizing the whole shebang!

Highs and Lows in the World of Finance

2012-02-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

Here’s my story. A few months back, I took a pretty darn hefty pay cut so I’ve been living a thriftier than usual life. I saved all my Christmas and birthday present money and got a good tax refund so I convinced myself that I could splurge a little. What did I want? Another sewing machine.

The Brother PQ-1500S - Object of My Desire

Never mind that I already have three sewing machines—my fancy-pants Bernina which I love, my perfectly serviceable serger, and my old faithful Kenmore—I wanted another one to be fully dedicated to use on my quilting frame. The Brother PQ-1500S; a nifty machine that my friend Denise has and that I covet.

So I hemmed and I hawed and I changed my mind at least forty-three times, then I ordered it. It was done. Irrevocable. That sewing machine was on its way.

Not an hour later I got into my car and the air conditioning died.

Life without A/C in Arizona is hot.

I live in Arizona. A/C is required. Sigh. I was being punished for my frivolousness.

Oh well, no use crying over it. I am going to have both a new sewing machine and new A/C in my car so I may as well be excited over it. Yay!

A sneak peek at a corner of my handkerchief quilt. You'll see the whole thing when it's done.

I wanted to be ready for the arrival of the Brother PQ-1500S so I spent some time on the weekend readying a couple of quilts for the frame. The first one you can only have a little peek at. It’s a handkerchief quilt that I made some time ago. To get that ready, I needed to piece the backing. This is a monster-sized quilt . . . well queen-sized plus a little extra. I sure am glad I have a frame to put this on. Gone are the days of trying to shove these big quilts through the tiny sewing machine. Oy! My neck hurts just thinking about it.

Second quilt ready for the frame and my new sewing machine.

The second one is a little gem I whipped together recently. The fabrics (except the border) came from my friend Sue M. I believe they were leftovers from some project she did as when they arrived they were all bundled together. Sue has exquisite taste so making something from her scraps is guaranteed to be pretty. I intend for this to be a charity quilt.

Closer look--pretty fabrics.

I bought the border, backing and binding fabric. Okay, it’s been a long time since I paid full price for fabric in a quilt shop. Holy mackerel, has it gotten expensive! $11.50 a yard?! Man, I used to think $8.95 was expensive. I know, I’m sounding like an old person. (Why, in my day, fabric only cost a dollar, but we had to walk 5 miles in the snow with no shoes to get it!) I guess I’m lucky that I inherit scraps from so many people. I don’t know that I could afford quilting if I didn’t.

Waiting impatiently.

Now, I have to wait impatiently for my new toy to arrive all the while sweating on the way home from work until my A/C gets fixed on my next day off. I'm not good at delayed gratifiction.

Blocks from the Past, Catching Up

2012-02-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I did some posts about a group of quilter friends with whom I was doing a block challenge. Each month we would make four blocks from the book Teach Yourself Blocks from the Past by Marie Henry. I stayed caught up for three months. Well, then things fell apart a little.

Everything I've done so far

I've been catching up. I may actually have shown you some of these blocks before now. My pile got a little messed up because the cat knocked it off the table when he decided he wanted to sleep where it was sitting. Darn cat. Any-who, I think these are the blocks since November.

Road to Fortune

I'm caught up with all the pieced blocks, but I'm still two months behind with the applique blocks. If I could just spend an hour prepping them, I'd have them done in a couple of evenings. But, there's just too much fun, creative stuff to do that I put that off.

Union

Jacob's Ladder

Twinkling Star

Friendship Album

Clay's Choice

Baby Bunting

The block above was a b*$&#! Paper pieced--which I hate--then appliqued to the background. Oy! Not fun.

Cake Stand

Gentleman's Fancy

It wasn't until I saw the photo that I realized what a bad job of pressing I had done on that Gentleman's Fancy block. I'm a little embarrassed to be posting it.

This and That

My goal is to catch up completely--applique blocks and all--by the end of next month. Wish me luck!

Workbench Clean-up

2012-02-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

The picture below is of one of the {many} embarassing spots in my house. It's the workbench in my sewing room. It's meant to be an extra work space for me, but really, it's a junk collector. I was up in the wee, wee hours of the morning today so I thought I would tackle cleaning it up. Since I wasn't sure what I would unearth, I thought I'd treat it like a treasure hunt and see what I found. Sorry if some of the photos aren't the greatest... it was a bit dark.

Right on top of the pile was this UFO. It's a circa 1980s Bucilla Christmas ornament kit. I started working on this about 6 months ago, then stopped.

Here are a few of the ornaments I finished. Some of them I gave away at Christmas time. I'm not worried that I didn't finish it. But I am happy that I finally put it away.

This is a box of 2 inch squares for a quilting project I'm working on. It's a Jewel Box quilt. Why this box of squares had wandered away from the rest of the project, I can't say. It's now back where it belongs.

These are fun. One set of new and one set of vintage flower looms. I've got to make up some flowers on these and do a post. For right now, they've been organized (which means I may never be able to find them again).

Another UFO! This is a string quilt that should have a Christmas-y look to it when finished. As a matter of fact, I should see if I can find any discounted Christmas fabric to finish it. For now, it's on the UFO shelf (yes, I have a UFO shelf and it's very crowded).

So, I got interested in making coin purses for about 5 minutes one day. That was enough time for me to order a bunch of purse frames and find a pattern. I did manage to finish a couple of them. The one is kind of big--I don't know what I was thinking there; it sure can hold a lot of coins!

Of course, what's a junk pile without a vintage bouillon cube container and an old Easter box full of marbles? You've got those laying around, too, right? I don't know why I have these, but I know I need them. They are going back on the workbench. How cute is the ox on the bouillon cube box?

What's below are three craft fails. I don't know why I was hanging on to them. Sometimes, I just can't let go. Today, they went in the garbage. Breath, Sarah, breath....

So that's where these cards were! I was looking for them not long ago. I whipped these up a few months back and promptly lost them. I guess they're found now.

Another thing I got interested in for 5 minutes was metal stamping. I actually found this cool set at Goodwill (and I did not pay full price for that... it' was 1/2 price Saturday). Anyway, my interest waned, but not enough that I actually put the stuff away.

Now these are cute. I don't even remember having these. I must have inherited them from someone. I definitely need to think of something clever to do with them. They are way too cute to waste.

We're getting to the bottom of the pile now. This is a collage project I started at least two years ago. It has potential, doesn't it? Maybe now that it's been unearthed, it'll get finished

An hour later and it's now conceivable that I could use the workbench to work! I am promising myself that I won't mess it up again. Ya, right...

Found Object Bracelet with Tutorial

2012-02-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

My friends Jan and Lisa came over this weekend to do a little crafting and a little--okay, a lot--of eating.

My finished found object bracelet.

Lisa was intrigued by a project she had seen in an old copy of Martha Stewart Living. Turns out, you can also find this project online. It’s called the Curios Cluster Necklace. We decided to use this as our inspiration and do our own found object bracelet. I thought I'd share with you how we went about it.

Another view.

Materials List

· Beads, buttons, charms, sequins, found objects, etc.

· Felt or other backing

· Nymo (beading thread), embroidery floss or other strong thread

· Beading needles

Jan and Lisa sorted through just some of my trinkets.

We met at my house at 10:30 am. I’m the girl with all the craft supplies so it was natural to work at my place. See, I keep telling you, you have to hoard supplies so when inspiration strikes, you are ready for it! We started by picking out buttons (I had left them on the table from my recent post about buttons). Then I brought out the charms, random found objects, old diodes, sequins, beads, rhinestones, old gumball machine toys . . . whatever we could think of to put on our bracelets. Lisa brought some stuff to share, too.

Jan's tin of goodies.

My trinkets.

Of course, all that is hungry work so we needed to break for lunch before we passed out. We’re such delicate, little flowers. I had made my famous To Die For Mac & Cheese. Sharp white cheddar, parmesan, and asiago cheeses with a béchamel sauce . . . You’re likely to gain ten pounds just thinking about it. Lisa brought a wonderful salad to accompany it.

Lunch.

A good long nap was called for after that meal, but time was a-wasting so we got right into the sewing. We started by cutting a base strip of felt for our bracelet slightly larger than what we wanted the finished size to be. We used a good quality felt, not the el cheapo felt squares you find at the craft stores. Then, using Nymo (a type of waxed beading thread), we started sewing our stuff to our bases. Could you use regular thread or embroidery floss? Absolutely, but the Nymo is strong and it's waxed so glides nicely through everything. It might be worth looking into. Tip: when you tie off on the back, leave a slightly longer tail than you normally would. This will help the waxed thread from working loose.

My bracelet at the beginning stages; adding the largest objects first.

I started with the largest items then began to fill in with smaller pieces. There is no technique to this, just sew the stuff down where you want it. There were a couple of pieces I glued down, as well as sewing them. They were dangly and annoying so a little dab of glue (I used E6000) on the back kept them in place. I sewed stuff right to the very edge of the felt backing.

My bracelet at the end of the day.

Lisa had a good idea. She used a tray with a towel in it to keep her trinkets organized. Nothing rolled around or got out of hand that way. It worked well.

Lisa's good idea: a tray with a towel on it kept everything tidy.

Did I mention dessert? Jan brought Arizona Sunshine Pie (lemon pie) for dessert which we ate while we sewed. Yum! She also brought Kahlua balls (like rum balls, only with Kahlua) for good measure, just in case we were still hungry.

You do need to make a closure for your bracelet. Sew a larger button on one end; this can be one of your embellishments. Using embroidery floss or ribbon, create a loop at the other end. There are several different ways you could do this. I used a loop of wide silk ribbon then sewed the ends down on the underside of the piece.

Here's the ribbon closure in process.

Here's the finished closure.

Once you have everything sewn in place, add a backing to your bracelet. Cut a piece of felt the same size as the front. Using a matching thread or floss, whip stitch around all four edges.

It was fun to do this in a group to see the different results we got. None of our bracelets were remotely similar, yet each was very cool. Another good reason to do it in a group would be to share/swap supplies (in case you’re not like me and don’t have enough junk yourself to make about a million of these things).

Jan's bracelet at the end of the night... not quite finished.

Lisa's bracelet at the end of the night... also not quite finished. Lisa used a piece of ribbon behind her trinkets so she doesn't have to fill in with beads. Another smart idea.

The time just flew by as we talked and laughed and sewed. Before we knew it, it was 8pm! None of us finished that day. This is not a project you can do in a hurry. In all, I would say I put in about 15 hours. But the results are so worth the effort!

One last look... I just love it!

Do you craft with your friends? Do you get together and work on a single project like we did, or do you all do your own thing? I find it inspiring to work when there are other creative people around me. Do you?

I'm linking at http://todayscreativeblog.net/

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

Aunt Peaches Valentine Swap

2012-02-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Do you read the Aunt Peaches blog? You should because it is hi-lar-i-ous! Her posts often make me laugh out loud and her craft projects are like no one else’s.

I recently signed up to be part of the Aunt Peaches Valentines Swap. It’s a fairly simple concept. You sign up, you get the addresses of three fellow swap-ees to whom you send a Valentine and in return, you get three Valentines from three different swap-ees. No prizes, no reposting on Twitter and Facebook to increase your chances of winning; just the chance to send some random kindness into the world via a Valentine, and get a little something in return.

I recently wrote about going to a Valentine making get together, but I decided not to use those Valentines. I wasn’t 100% happy with them. I needed to make more so more I would make. Then I had a great idea! I was going to make a pendant that could be detached from the cards and worn on Valentine’s Day!

I went online and found some Valentine graphics I could use on printable Shrinky Dinks. I love my Shrinky Dinks. If you don’t believe me, just check out this jewelry and these dog tags. I kept the card fairly simple so the earrings would stand out. I couldn’t resist a pun. I wrote, “I'm de-pendant-- on you being my Valentine.” Groan . . .

These are hitting the mail today. I have a couple of overseas people so I hope they arrive by February 14^th. I can’t wait to get my Valentines!

Embroidery Floss Organization - My Perfect Solution At Last!

2012-02-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

I was in dire need of a way to organize all my embroidery floss. I had tons of floss and no good way to store it.

This is how I was storing my embroidery floss. Not too convenient; definitely not attractive.

I had some of it divided out by number, but this really did me no good as I'm more interested in the color than I am in matching the number to a chart. Most of it was just thrown in the basket. It was, frankly a mess.

Then last week, I was walking through Target minding my own business when I came across these boxes.

Great stacking boxes found at my local Target.

Bingo! Guess what they are sized perfectly to hold? And they stack to boot!

Exactly the right size for a skein of embroidery floss.

I couldn't wait to get home and start sorting out my collection. I did hit one snag. I have such a vast collection of floss that it didn't all fit in the four boxes I bought. Where did I get it all? Goodwill, of course! It's where I get most everything.

Oops! My floss collections won't fit in the four boxes I bought. I'll need one more. By the way, you can see the blanket on the floor. I don't usually throw the blanket on the floor. The cat had pulled it down there to sleep on... you just can't see him. I swear it's true.

Oh well, I'd have to make another trip to Target to pick up a fifth box. I can deal with it! Look at how beautiful it looks:

I redistributed the overflowing colors with the greens waiting for me to purchase a fifth box. Doesn't it look pretty? Am I a dork for thinking that?

I stacked the boxes one on top of the other and they hardly take up any room on the shelf at all. I love it when storage can be vertical and not horizontal, know what I mean? Neat, orderly, and easy to get at.

I'm still in my "it's New Year's so I need to organize" mood. Do you have any storage tips for craft supplies?

My Button Collection

2012-01-30T05:43:00.000-08:00

I don’t know why I’m doing this. It’s not like I relish admitting my hoarder-like tendencies. But, for some reason, I’m compelled to show you all my buttons.

I have so many buttons I could open a button store.

It actually has taken some time for me to gather them all up from the many different corners of my house in which I stash them. Because I’m lazy, I’ll probably leave them here on the table for weeks rather than put them away. I’m not very good at cleaning up after myself.

I have so many buttons that I can never find the right button when I need one. I think about organizing them by color or size or both, but I never get around to it. Man, can you imagine how long that would take? Instead, I use random containers to store them. I think I have buttons in every room of my house. Yes, even the bathrooms!

To be honest, I think there's one tin missing. . . like I need more!

When my nephew was little, we would use buttons as the payload for his Tonka trucks. That was an awesome use of buttons. My brother always thought I was nuts to do this because it made such a mess. I figure what’s a cool auntie for if not doing fun, messy stuff with?

Just a couple days ago, I wrote briefly about going to a Valentine making party (check that out here). I pulled out a bunch of red, white and pink buttons to use for embellishment. I even had some heart-shaped buttons. Of course I did! How could I have this many buttons and not have heart shaped ones? The law of averages is against it.

Valentine buttons

A few months ago, I made this great necklace out of buttons. There’s a tutorial for it here.

Button necklace

I know, deep in my heart, that one day, inspiration is going to strike and I’m going to have an idea for a project that is going to require hundreds of buttons. Thank goodness, I’m ready. When you’re a crafter, you have to plan for these things.

That's a whole lot of buttons

How do you craft with buttons?

Lentil Soup, Anyone?

2012-01-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

I’ve been bored with my lunches lately. I feel like make the same things over and over. Then I don’t want to eat what I pack for lunch so I end up going out. That, of course, is expensive and not exactly healthy, because I am not buying salads. So the other day, I spent some time online searching for something new. I came across this soup recipe: Spiced Coconut Lentil Soup. I gave it a shot and I have to say, it was quite good. Now, with that said, let’s talk about some of these ingredients.

First of all, what is “pink Himalayan salt?” Salt is salt, people. I’m on a budget here and I’m not going to go fork over $12 for some fancy-schmancy salt that tastes just like regular ol’ table salt. I substituted kosher salt as I felt that was gourmet-ish enough. Pink Himalayan salt, give me a break . . .

Next, let’s address the issue of the “red chili.” This is a bit vague. There are many types of chilies that are red, but none that I know of called a “red chili.” As it happens, there was not a single chili that was red in color at my grocery store so I used a green jalapeno chili and it worked just fine. If you use a jalapeno, I would recommend getting one that is on the larger side. For the record, I did seed mine, though if you really like some heat, you could leave those puppies in there.

Finally, my last substitution was for the coconut oil. This is one of those things that I would never use for anything else so I didn’t see the point in buying it. I went ahead and used olive oil and it tasted just fine to me—about 2-3 teaspoons. I imagine canola oil or regular vegetable oil would work just as well.

Once cooked, I gave mine a going over with the immersion blender so it had a thick, potage-like consistency. The coriander, cumin, paprika, garlic and ginger all work to give it a wonderful spicy tang which is followed up by a nice kick from the chili. When I make it again—and I’m pretty darn sure I will—I think I might up the cumin a bit. I loves me some cumin.

What makes this soup is the coconut milk. It’s creamy and rich. Unfortunately, that also makes this soup less that low-cal. I thought about using lite coconut milk, but I think the texture would be too watery. I’m sticking with the real stuff and cutting out those extra calories elsewhere. This is a substantial soup that if you eat it at lunch, will keep you full through to dinnertime. That’s good for something, right?

I’ve been looking for a good lentil soup recipe for years and I think I may have found it. Does anyone else have some good lunch ideas?

I'm Back!

2012-01-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

It’s been over a month since you’ve seen a post from Sara or me. We’ve been on a sabbatical—holidays and busy lives just got in the way. But things are settling down for me so I’m stepping back into the ring. For now, there will be no challenges, but I hope that I can keep up with the crafty posting.

With that said, I am digging deep to find some craftiness to put in this post. Frankly, there’s not a lot I’ve done in the last month. It’s shameful! Does anyone else feel like the long winter days make them less inclined to want to do anything creative? That’s where I’ve been. I get home from work, park my butt on the sofa and watch mindless hours of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I love Dr. Quinn. I own the complete series on DVD and watch the whole thing every winter around this time. I’ve just learned to accept this and I hope you can accept it, too.

Back to crafting . . . thank goodness, the days are slowly getting longer and my maker-mojo seems to be reemerging.

So here’s a brief recap of what I’ve been up to in the last month, working backwards. Recently, I’ve made the acquaintance of Felicity of the Crafty Modern blog (you should check it out, if you haven’t already). Well, Felicity invited me to join her and her friends for a Valentine making party. Paper crafting isn’t my forte, but here’s what I came up with:

You can read more about it on Crafty Modern right here.

Check out my new-used fancy-pants quilting frame:

Nice, huh? I assembled it the week after Christmas, which I had off from work which was awesome. This set-up is sweet for quilting. Here’s the first quilt I quilted on it:

I finished the quilt top last summer. Now, let’s see how long it takes me to bind it! These things don’t happen quickly around here.

I knitted this pair of socks (I had to do something watching all those hours of Dr. Quinn):

I bought the skein of grey wool, but the colored stripes were leftovers from projects handed down to me from Denise, the very same Denise who is always giving me her scraps. In other words, it only cost me about $6 to make these socks. Excellent! I love wearing my wooly socks in the winter even though I live in Arizona and it’s not cold.

When Sara and I left you hanging back in December, we were supposed to post our glitter crafts for our last challenge. I did manage to finish mine.

It was a Christmas-y project—again, obviously—in aqua and pink like all my Christmas stuff was this year. It’s made on these mini-canvases that you can get on sale at the craft store for about a buck. When I saw them, I had to buy them because they were so cute. I had no idea at the time they would become this Christmas decoration.

In between all that, I managed to make some new flannel pajama pants and a shower curtain, neither of which I can adequately photograph. You’ll just have to take my word for it. The flannel jammie bottoms are what I wore while watching Dr. Quinn and knitting. I think cozy pajamas are a requirement for watching bad TV.

It’s dawning on me that I really haven’t been resting on my laurels as much as I thought I have been.

What have you guys been up to?