Thanksgiving Greetings

I know it is a week early - but you have to get those cards in the mail if you want them to arrive on time!

Sorry for the poor photo quality - I need to check my images better before I send off the finished product.

Silhouette images, leaf craft punch, rubber stamps from my Mom's collection

Hoping your Turkey Day is stress free and full of gratitude and love.

A card to go with that gift -

I love my Silhouette!

Earlier I shared a rag quilt that I made for a new mama expecting a baby girl.  Here is the card I made to go along with it...

I buy all of my paper either from Michaels or Joann Fabric and Craft.  The flannel used in the rag quilt also came from Joann's.  I know it isn't very "out of the box", but I love putting together different textures and patterns for a more unique look.

My Silhouette SD has been AMAZING for me.  I would replace it in a heartbeat if anything were to happen to it.

Sweet Baby Girl

Rag quilts are my favorite gift to make for expectant mothers these days.  I have been able to find flannel on sale at Joann's and it only takes a day to put together.  Since they are machine washable, you don't have to worry about getting them dirty and they are warm enough for crisp autumn days!

Front view 

Reverse side

 I use a rotary cutter to make the pieces.  The finished quilt measures approximately 35"x54"

And the really great thing is that there is usually enough fabric left over to make these adorable burp cloths too!

Front side

Reverse side - scrap flannel attached to basic cloth diapers from Gerber

Orange has become my color of choice, so you know it has to appear in the patterns someplace!

Happy Halloween!

A treat for my little tricksters - 

Here is the progression, with a couple of lessons learned:

I used Wilton decorative icing for the face and binder on the "bones".  The brownie recipe is "Nutella Pretzel" from  Chef-in-Training.  The brownies are great, but next time I will use an unfrosted version as they were difficult to put in the bags cleanly.

My trusty Silhouette for the tags.

Had some extra skulls, so I just dropped them in along with the secured bodies.  Using skewers was essential to keep everything in line.

Have a wonderful time tonight, and may many Twix bars be in your future!

Halloween - My favorite time of year

It begins with lots of spooky fun and ends with a candy coma - not to mention my card making season.

Here is what I sent out this year.  I ran out of the "halloween" background paper, so there were two versions - which do you like best?

Option 1

Option 2 - inside

Option 2 - front

Chalkboard Paint

Oh how I love Chalkboard Paint!

Here is an example of upcycling a mirror from the Goodwill into a chalkboard.

I simply took the mirror out of the cheap plastic frame, painted the backside with chalkboard paint and spray painted the frame a fun color.  If you ever decide not to use the chalkboard, you can always turn it around and have a very "Snow White/Evil Queen" mirror instead!

Valentine's Day Card

I am so loving my Silhouette SD!  I know the Cameo version has come out, but I still seem to be able to do everything I want to with this early version.

Here is the progression of pieces I put together.

And the detail for the base card.

Hope you have fun putting together you Valentine's Day cards!  Send me a photo and I'll post them here to share with everyone!

Happy Crafting!

DIY Kids Gift

I saw some amazing home accent pieces by Ryan McElhinney and was inspired to make a fun lamp for my nephew Finn.

I started with a basic lamp from IKEA and some castoffs from my kids as well as some things I picked up at a local thrift store. 

I roughed up the lamp so the contact cement would work better, and after I got everything attached, I was tempted to leave it as it was.

Since the contact cement, and the sanding on the lamp were so obvious, I went ahead and spray painted it - and LOVE the way it turned out. 

My sister was thrilled, she had just painted the desk in his room red, so the new lamp should fit in perfectly!

Thank You Card

In the spirit of giving - and therefore receiving - I made a Thank-you card to send out to my family.

I am having so much fun with my Silhouette SD!  In the spirit of trying to use up what I have before going out to get more, the flowers turned out a bit "spring-y", but cute none the less.

Below are the materials that I used for the card.  I have to say, once I started putting them together, it was so much fun!  I even have flowers leftover for some other time - Perhaps to put on a package?

Holiday Card and Tags

I love making my own holiday cards every year.  This time around I was able to use my Silhouette SD to make a really fun - kind of retro looking card.

I was also able to use leftover cuts to make gift tags - also very fun I think!

Send me copies of your creations and I'll post them here for inspiration!

Christmas Ornament... again

I wasn't really happy with the original ornament I made, so I saw something similar to this and thought it might be cute.

I used the cork from a bottle of wine we had at Thanksgiving, and I'm going to send it to my dad who was there, and is in desperate need of ornaments!

Christmas Ornament

Every year I do a homemade Christmas ornament for my parents, grandparents and close family friends.  Here is my offering this year - not my best, but I still think it turned out OK.  I think the message here is - "Go ahead and give it a try!" It really helps you get into the Spirit of Giving!

The finished product

The items I used to create it - I used things already in my collection of crafting goodies, but I did buy the paper ornaments (made in the Philippines) and the napkins (made in the USA).