a Bed for Stripes

Good Morning.   

an unfinished sleeping bag for Stripes

I wanted to just pop-in real quick, to share a little sewing project I started.  I was spending time on Pinterest, earlier this week.  And I stumbled on this cute sewing project: The Three Bears' Sleeping Bag, by flossieteacakes.  What is that? you ask.  Well, they are quilted sleeping bags for your child's stuffed animals.  How cute is that, right?  Well, after some grumbling, I purchased the PDF instructions, and I'm supper happy I did!  While I was at the fabric store on Tuesday, I purchased some quilting fabric that I wanted to use, to make my oldest granddaughter a sleeping bag for her stuffed zebra, Stripes.  Here are some photos.  (I'm not finished with this project, yet.)

top of the mattress

bottom of the mattress

the quilted top

As you can see, I can't sew a straight line, and I need to cut a few more threads.  But, this was my first ever attempt at quilting.  So, I'm not too hard on myself.  All I have left, is the pillow, and the trim.  I'm pretty sure Haley, will love it.  

I'm fairly new at sewing.  I've made a few rag quilt lap blankets, and a few clutches, some fabric coasters, altered one-sies, and now this.  So, when I say that you can easily whip one (or more) of these together in a weekend, I'm not kidding.  The hardest, but funnest part, is selecting the fabric.  There are so many, many different patterns to choose from, I suggest that you have an idea of what you're looking for, before you start looking.  As with any project from the heart, the hardest part is starting.  But, I'm pretty sure, that once you start, you'll enjoy the process as I have.  I'm not sure if it's the hum of the sewing machine, no distractions, or the fact that I am creating, but I truly love the process.  So, I guess this little sleeping bag has enriched two lives: Haley's and mine.  {smile}.

I hope you get to craft today.  I'll post more photos once I finish.  Thank you for stopping by.  

Bunny Applique

Welcome.  As I have stated before, I'm a crafter at heart.  I love roughly all forms of crafting. Yes, even sewing.  There is something about the process.  Just like paper crafting.  Ironing seams and the hum of the machine are actually quite calming.  

I wanted to sew something, but I really didn't have a whole day.  I had an hour or two, and then I needed to tackle some chores.  So, I set out to make a few altered onesies.  

The first one is a bunny.

The second one is a giraffe.

I machine stitched everything, except the button eye.  I'm pretty happy with how these turned out.  I hope you get a chance to create this week.  I try to craft everyday.  I don't say that I am addicted, I say that I am keeping my sanity.  I'm going to make a sleeping bag for my granddaughters stuffed zebra this week, hopefully.  

I will have these two onesies for sale in my Etsy shop.  Bunny.  Giraffe.    Thanks for stopping by!  

Afternoon Daydream

This week, is underway, and I hope you get a chance to sit and craft.  Paper craft is my main crafting medium.  But, I do love to sew.   And baking is my other passion.  Today, I hope to inspire you to play along with us @ Nacho Average Challenge.  This week, there is a sketch to play with.  I hope you get a chance to play along and create something beautiful.

this week's sketch: NAC #39

what I created:

The card base is basic grey card stock.  I added a pattern paper from the Afternoon Daydream scrappin' kit.  I matted the pattern paper onto pool party cardstock.  I just love this shade of blue.  Its so pretty, warm, and easy on the eye.  The scallop trim piece is actually a sticker for the scrappin kit.  I adhered the scallop trim piece to the pattern paper, then wrapped some crinkled pool party seam binding around the card front.  I tied a simple bow to the left.  

The sentiment piece is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set.  I stamped it in basic grey classic ink, onto whisper white card stock.  I fussy cut it out.  Adhered the sentiment banner to the seam binding with foam tape.

The paper blossom was quite fun to create.  I stamped the floral image from Mixed Bunch stamp set three times with versa mark, onto whisper white cardstock.  I used pool party embossing powder on two stamped blossoms, and white embossing powder on the third.  I used the blossom punch to punch out the shapes.  I used my heat tool, to set the embossing powder.  I then distressed the ends of the petals with my 2-way glue pen and dazzling diamond glitter.  I then used a wooden stick to create the bends in the petals, and help give the layers of blossoms some dimension.   I layed the blossoms: pool party, white, and pool party.  I used foam tape in between the layers.  I tied a simple bow with pool party bakers twine through the vintage faucet button and added a pearl to help keep the look soft, and feminine.

I hope we have inspired you to play along with us @ NAC.  We would love to see what you create with our sketch.  And who knows, maybe you will be our next Top Nacho {smile}.

love this card? you can purchase it here, at my Etsy shop.

new Little Man

wow, this weeekend is going by too fast.  Yesterday, was the big party: our daughter's surprise baby reveal shower.  The party was scheduled to start @ 2p.  Most folks were there by 245p.  So, that in itself was a good thing.  The 'surprise' was for our daughter and her husband.  They didn't know they are having a boy.  The rest of us did {smile}.  I was running late yesterday morning, getting everything set up, and so when I got done, my attention was distracted.  And I didn't get 'alot' of photos like I wanted.  But, I did manage to take one of the cake!

So, let me explain.  We through a mustache bash to celebrate the arrival of their new son.  So, the banner on the cake says. 'little man'.  So, we had decorated everything in blues and browns.  Two banners were hung, 'Oh, Boy' and 'Mustache Bash'.    We had 3 games to play.  All of which are not 'organized' games.  These are mingle games . . . games you can play when and if the feeling moves you.  1.  pay to play: pay $10, select a day on the calendar when you believe the baby will be born.  If you are correct, you get all the $ in the mustache stache jar.  How cute, huh?  2. how many diapers.  I rolled newborn diapers and placed them in a tall jar.  All you had to do, was guess how many diapers.  write your answer on a piece of paper with your name.  3.  name that famous 'stache.  I printed photos from 9 (I believe) famous men, and I covered the top half of thier faces.   All you had to do was name who wears the mustache.  There were 4 folks who answered the most correct, 7.  

We had 2 3-ft subs, 2 pizzas, a green chili lasgne, potatoe salad, pasta salad, a tossed green salad, green chili salsa and regular salsa, a fresh fruit tray and a fresh veg. tray.  Everyone pretty much ate all the food.  There was only a serving or two of left overs.

We had just as many desserts, too.  I made the cake and cupcakes.  I packaged a dozen cupcakes to go, that way, if you wanted to take one home, it would survive the ride.  There were dark chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate dipped fruit kabobs, wrapped hershey candy bars, blue bubblegum cigars, and cereal treats.  I provided blue polka dot food-safe bags, so you could take a sweet or two home.

I hope everyone had fun, I know the kids did!  And congratulations to Tara and Max on the announcement of their new bundle of joy!

and on that note . . .

I hope you are enjoying this weekend.  I also hope the weather cooperates with whatever you have planned.  Me? well, the surprise baby reveal shower is today, so I'm doing those last minutes items that couldn't have been done sooner: last minute food prep, decorating cakes and cupcakes, making the last few side dishes.  And then we load everything in the truck, drive into town and set it all up.  I just love the whole process.  and especially mingling with the guests.  LOVE IT! and I hope my daughter loves what we did.  I'll post photos tomorrow of our celebration.

Anyways, the lovely and talented Sue from Our Creative Corner has an interesting and very do-able challenge for us this week: kraft and music.  Any configuration of music and a kraft card.  How wonderfully creative and I'm sure the design team will inspire you to play along with us this week.

Here is what I did:

Here is my CAS (for me) card.  The card base is made from crumb cake card stock.  The polka dot pattern paper is from Christmas.  I can't remember the company or the line.  sorry.  But I love the worn look.  The music pattern paper is from my scrap box, so I can't say for certain who made it.  I added a delicate floral lace over the music paper.  The blossom is hand-crafted from card stock, two stamps and a die.  You stamp the floral image, then use a stamp positioner and stamp the veins of the blossom.  Use a template you created with the die, to line everything up, and die cut.  I painted the ends with some picket fence distress ink and then dunked the blossoms in dazzling diamond glitter, while the paint was still wet. I used a beautiful pearl brad from my minds eye to hold the three layers of blossoms together.  I also staggered them, to give the blossom some air.  I stamped the sentiment in basic black classic ink.  I used a hand-script stamp set from amuse studios.  I just love the font of these hand script sentiment stamps.

Well, I hope you found something useful here, and have decided to play along with us @ OCC.   Have a great weekend, and I'll post again, soon!

Happy Friday!  I hope all is well, with you.  Me, I'm putting the finishing touches of another party.  This one is for my daughter and her husband.  She is expecting thier fourth child, and we wanted to throw them a party.  So, this time, it's a Surprise Baby Reveal Shower.  We all know the sex of their baby, but they don't!  So, when they arrive to the shower, they will find out if they are having another boy or another girl.  How fun, huh?  And since it's a surprise, I don't have the help of my daughter.  So, I'm doing everything myself.  This shower is a typical 'Tara and Max' party . . . the whole family is invited.  So, these parties are 70/+ folks attending.  That translates to alot of fun to cook, cakes to bake, decorations to make, and numberous invitations, and thank you cards.

Even though I'm struggling with my time management, I did take a break, and change my focus to make a card.  A girlfriend is celebrating a birthday, so I wanted to make her something special.  Maria, from SKetch Frenzy Friday has a wonderfully creative sketch for you to try.  Here is her sketch:

Here is my card:

I used some of the new DSP from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.  I just love the look of Calypso Coral and Pool Party together.  And the bits of Island Indigo and Summer Starfruit, really make the pool party pop!

I cut my own tag, and did some collage stamping.   I then added some trinkets and a hand made flower.    I used the bloomin' marvelous stamp set to create the flower.  I also added a button from the sycamore street collection.  The mini bottle cap adds a metallic shine.

I hope you get a chance to play along with us @ SFF.  We would love to see what you create!