Sewing - fabric tea cup coasters

Tea cup coasters!!  How fun!!  I have made this one as a sample to see if they would suit an occasion that is coming up!!!  More info to come!!

Therese

 

All occasion card featuring a gold embossed cup of coffee, brads, ribbon and hand decorated background

A special card for a special person!!!  This card features a beautiful cup (The Stamp Barn) which I gold embossed on ivory cardstock.  I watercoloured the cup, added three brads and green ribbon then tore the bottom edge.  Tied a bit of gold thread to the ribbon.  I layered it onto a piece of the same cardstock as the card and then tore the bottom of that layer as well.  Added my hand decorated background to my large card base and then mounted my layered image to it using 3D foam tape.  Glad to get started on the cards I will  need in the next little while.     Therese

 

Sewing - flip top fabric pouches in colourful combinations

I worked on a few flip top pouches on the weekend.  I needed one for my phone charger and cord and thought I would make a few for the Gramma Link Africa merchandise table.  They are quite easy to make. Great way to use up your fabric scraps. You can easily stitch a few scraps together to get the size you need and it then creates a colourful fun pattern on the pouch.  I found this tutorial on line at Paper & Glue.  I changed the dimensions for the fabric to 5.5" x 12" to get a square pouch which can double as a coaster when you need one.   I added a little twill tape loop on the inside and outside so it can be secured inside a bag or you can secure your keys to it.  They are very easy to open and close, but best not to stuff them too full!. 

What can you stuff them with????  Well, much more than I had imagined when I made the first one for my phone charger and cord.  The sky is the limit really!! You can change up the size to accommodate anything you would like to keep clean and secure!!

Any device cords that are being unruly at your house from ear buds to I Pods to chargers!!

Battery packs  - make custom ones to fit perfectly and keep them safe and clean.

Snacks - anything dry like Cheerios & crackers for the kiddos.  

Snacks  - dried fruit &  nuts for yourself!!!  

Medication such as pain and allergy meds or even your prescriptions.  Add a few bandaids, too.

Feminine & prevention products along with sun screen, lotion & sanitizer.  

Make up like lip gloss, lipsticks, wipes, cleanser, etc.

Accessories - scrunchies, barrettes, hair ties, etc.

Jewelry - bracelets, earrings, bangles, brooches, etc. 

Fold up a reusable bag and insert into the pouch so you always have one!!

Tea bags so you can have your favorite with any cup of hot water. Use the pouch as a coaster. 

Travel light with just a credit card, cash, bus pass and your keys.  

Put your business cards in one and always have some neat ones to hand out. 

Sticky notes are always handy and the pouch keeps them clean.  

You can always use them to wrap small gifts like jewelery, gift cards, tickets, etc.  

and you will be giving "A gift in a gift" with no waste!!! 

I am sure there are many more options but these are the suggestions I found online!!

Therese

 

Sewing - a tote bag with flying geese as an accent on both sides

Another tote bag for the merchandise table at our next Gramma Link Africa event in June.  Beautiful cotton fabric with a blended lining in burnt orange - coordinates beautifully!!!  I created the flying geese using quilting scraps in gray, yellow and orange (lining fabric).  I made one row for each side so they run into each other on the sides.  I added the burnt orange fabric to the inside of the handles to echo the lining colour.  Boxed the lining and the bag, inserted the handles in between the outer and lining and stitched them together leaving an opening so I could turn it inside out.  Worked really well!  It was only the second time I have made a bag this way.  The first time I stitched this wine bag.   There are two rows of top stitching at the top with double stitching over the handles area. I also added a row of stitching below each of the buttons which adds another bit of stitching to strengthen the handles. I added a little twill tape loop under one of them which gives a place to secure your keys.  I hand stitched the buttons in place to finish off the bag!!!  I love how it turned out!!    Therese

 

Sewing - wine bag in a fun fabric and fully lined

My sister visited a few days ago and we worked on a pattern for a wine bag.  She is hoping to make a few for sale at her sale later this year.  It was fun to play with fabric and sort out how to go about making the bag.  We had done some online research and also had a couple of bottles to use to test the pieces before we assembled them.  It worked out quite well.  We added one layer of flannel to the main fabric to give it a bit of stucture and cushion.  We stitched it to the fabric with decorative stitching in wavy lines.  We boxed the bottom of the outside and inside and then rotated the lining a quarter turn so it would not be sitting on top of the boxed corners of the main fabric.  Helps to keep the bottom even.  We topped stitched a couple of rows at the top of the bag and double stitched where the handles are for extra support there.  It stands on its own which is really nice!!  Soft enough to fold and store until the next time a person is bringing wine along to a meal with family or friends.  Special enough for you to bring home with you and use it again the next time around!!!  It measures 12" tall, 11.5" around, 3" square bottom a 10" handle.  Looking forward to making a few more with some sort of accent to help jazz them up a bit.  Therese
 

March Card Club - Card #3 - stamped images on book pages with ribbon and coordinating backgrounds

For our last card, I had stamped images on a rectangles of book pages.  We then embellished them with a bit of watercolour.  I added some to my edges as well.  Next, we tied on a coordinating satin ribbon with a double knot.  This element was adhered to a rectangle of coordinating cardstock which we trimmed on the bottom with punches or decorative scissors.  After adding our backgrounds to our cards we added our focal element with 3D foam tape.  It was fun to dig through my stamp collection and find stamps that fit the size I needed - some had never been stamped before.  I used black embossing powder on mine but they could easily have been stamped in any black permanent ink for the same effect.  A quick and easy card to finish off our creative evening!!  Therese

 

March Card Club - Card #2 - flowers, balloons and butterflies with banners

For our second card we had fun drawing as well.  We drew a stalk and stem for the flowers, a string for the balloons and a flight path for the butterflies (no sample of that one).  We drew a pencil line and then went over it with a fine tip Sharpie and then embossed our strip.  After adding our focal element we wrapped a length of bakers twine around and tied it off in a bow or double knots.  We adhered these to our card using 3D foam tape for dimension.  Next, we created our banners!!  Added a strip of double sided tape to the back of the strip and then placed our little strips of decorative paper onto it until we completely filled it.  Add another strip of double sided tape and adhered it to our card.  We trimmed the ends of our papers  - banner ends where we removed a triangle or flagged ends where we cut diagonal lines.  Then, added a little bit of glue to keep our banners in place!!  This a great way to use up scraps and really create interest and texture on your card.

Therese

March Card Club - Card #1 - squiggles and watercolour art piece with a coordinating background

It was so great to be back with friends making cards!!!  Our first card featured this neurographic art technique.  I had printed a central image on a 3" square or white cardstock and we added squiggly lines all around and through with fine tip Sharpie marker just going from one side to another and some all the way to the opposite side.  We then softened all the intersections with curvy lines and filled in them in.  I added a black border around mine as well.  Next, we watercoloured our line drawing using a single colour in our image and other colours all they way around.  I should have considered my background before getting started.  I had added pink areas which did not really work with my holly background paper.  I changed them to red and that was better.  After they were dry we mounted our art to a larger square and then mounted it over the background which was already glued to our coordinating card front.  I added three little circle punchies to mine but not everyone did which still worked very well.  It was fun to create art.  You can check out the tutorial I followed here (MIX576)  on Splitcoast Stampers.

  Therese 

Slow Stitching - a Christmas stocking with embroidery and a buttonhole stitch all the way around

 One of my grandson's came to me at Christmas time and asked if I could make him a Christmas stocking like his cousin's.  It had to have his name and be gingerbread in colour.  I found some brown felted wool in the stash my daughter sent my way a while back.  There was enough but I had to piece the front by adding a few inches at the top.  I decided to incorporate that joint in my design.  The original design of the stocking was my sister's about 40 years ago when she had made some for DH and I with our names and hand stitched details.  Over the course of the years between us we added three more for our children.  My daughter has kept the tradition alive and made some for her children using felted wool.  I drew the pine branch and ornament with inspiration from online.  It was hard to get any lines to stay on the wool as handling the wool removed the lines.  I eventually resorted to basting the elements I needed in white thread and then doing the embroidery over the thread.  That worked very well and the basting was easily removed afterwards.  I added a dark brown lining to the back and the front and then stitched the tops.  Next, I laid them both with right sides out and pinned the edges really well and did button hole stitch all the way around using a very heavy weight thread in dark brown.  That worked well.  It was several weeks of slow stitching to get it all done.  It was good to get it finished.  It will get dropped off when we visit next and be ready for next Christmas!!  

I will be joining the creatives at Kathy's Quilts for their Slow Sunday Stitching.  Therese

All occasion cards featuring embossed backgrounds, glittered elements and tied banners

I have been working on card kits for my class on Tuesday and these cards were made up as I was working out how to make a card design work for my class.  I started with the little glittered flower and wanted to add a banner to this card.  This card was created with this element from a rejected design.  I positioned the flower on the embossed layer and then added the stem, leaves and ground with a black fine tipped Sharpie marker. I added one of the banners I had already created by folding short strips of decorative paper over a length of bakers twine.  I secured the strips using double sided tape on the back and folding them over the twine.  I secured the end of the twine to the back of my layer using double sided tape as well.  I tied separate lengths to the banner - one on each end.  That worked well.  I had cut off the edges to get rid of the holes I had made so  I added a punched border with a clear glitter line next to it which I glued to the back of the panel.  I added this large element to a pink card front. 

These next few cards are the next iteration of my design where I used an embossed layer of white cardstock (4" x 5.25"), added a coordinating banner over the focal element.  With these I drew the details before embossing which made it easier to get nice smooth lines on the smooth surface.  I embossed the panel and then added the focal element and the banner in the same way as above - adding little bows on the sides and securing the banner ends to the back of the panel with double sided tape.  The trouble with this design was that I was having difficulty in consistently getting the banners properly secured to the twine. If it was difficult for me, it was going to be harder for the class participants so I opted for a different design.  These were fun cards and I love how light and bright they are - very spring like!!  Therese

 

Sewing - zippered pouches with Japanese cat fabric and coordinating colours

 

I made up a couple of zippered pouches while I was at it.  I used upcycled zippers and coordinating fabric.  I made the red one first and found that the end pieces were too bulky looking especially with the contrasting thread.  The other one looks neater.  Again I  put the zippers in first and then bound the edges in seam binding to finish them off neatly.  I did add a seam all the way around to help give the pouch a bit of structure.   On the red pouch you can see that there is a cat being caught up by an octopus tentacle in the upper left hand corner.  I hope there will be some people who will like this fabric as much as I do!!!  Therese