Sharing this again

Found on Pinterest, this little tip has changed my life.  I'm finishing up three Valentine ATC's and (with pride) plunked a tiny silk bow on each of them. 

I've always had trouble making the perfect bow.  For me this is the best new thing in my crafting world!

Just had to share

Ice Painting

 Wishing I had some liquitex paint today as I'm stuck inside with the AC going full blast.  Climate change has struck the Pacific Northwest!

I found the most amazing tutorial on Aunt Peaches blog this morning.

If you need further inspiration, here are a few more examples I found on Yahoo Images . . .

Four Pin Friday

Creative Writing!

I am not a writer but I found these lists to be fascinating and would like to be able to embed them in my personal computer (brain).  Instead of using the same words to describe the same actions all the time, conversation would be so much more interesting if a person could substitute them with these . . .

 

My DIL teaches third and fourth grade students and has a list of "dead" words (you know . . . the ones we all use over and over again).  She teaches them to come up with new words that have the same meaning and they actually bury the dead words.

Dawn ~ this one's for you!

gifts for my gardening buds

Repost from a few Springs ago . . .

Spent most of the day making bookmarks from the little flower information tags that are poked in the nursery pots to let you know how, where and what to plan for.

Hot Pink Jazz confetti combo

Sunshine 2011 confetti combo

Calamint Herb

and Calypso 2011 confetti combo

Jazzed them up with ribbon, key charms, beads, etc. and had some fun in the process. 

Spring is finally arriving here.  Noticed the hyacinths blooming today, and I have one lonely daffodil compliments of a flyover??

Beanbags for the Grands

Just recently bean bags were brought to my attention while at the lake cabin.  My friend Judy keeps one there for her grandkids to play with.

  Simply picking it up brought back memories of playing with them as a kid.  Kim tossed it around a bit, made up some games it could be used for and thought maybe her grandkids might have some fun with them.

Hence my latest project . . .

Using some soft corduroy from my stash, I cut 2 each at 6" x 4 1/2", pinned them front sides together and sewed them thusly . . .

 turned them right side out and filled them lightly with these small plastic pellets I had on hand (you want them to be squishy) . . .

 then pinned the opening and hand sewed it closed . . .

 We'll see if two 4~year~olds will find some joy in toys that are not high~tech, totally "hands on" 

I made four of these (different colors for the other set) so each could have two to play with.

And such a fast and easy craft . . . less than two hours to make four (no bean) beanbags!

A Blast from two Years Past

We laid out the tarps, dug out lots of small print cottons and opened jars of decoupage.  After that, it was a free~for~all, messy, fun crafting project for my friend Andra and Grandgirls Selah and Glory and myself.  Truth be told, I was the  sloppiest crafter that day with more goop on my fingers than on the plastic eggs that we decorated. 

Here are my simple offerings (along with some of my small basket collection) .  .  .

Of course, the younger "chicks" couldn't stop there.  They continued with bedazzling, beribboning, berickracking until we had a basketful of sparkling colorful Easter egg spectaculars!

My most popular post

is this tutorial.  So here it is again . . .

I have been honored with a request to post a tutorial of my ruched flower pins and am happy to do so.

I happen to like using batik for these pins, but any good quality cotton fabric would work just fine.

1 ~

Cut a strip 33 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide, turn in and press 1/4 inch on both long sides

2~ 

Mark one inch increments down one long edge

flip over and mark one inch increments again only stagger them this time

3 ~ 

Connect your markings with small basting stitches. It helps to
"ruche" (pull up) every 6 or 7 inches as you go along.

4 ~

Now for the tricky part! You want layers of petals which require lots of stitches on the backside. I don't mean to abandon you now, but you will have to work the ruched strip and sew as you go to make it look just right

5 ~

When you get it to the point where it looks like an actual flower, you can plop a big button in the center 

or, as pictured below, place a button over a yo~yo 

I'm not going to insult your intelligence by teaching how to make a yo~yo.  The one I made for this pin measured 2 1/4 inches across the circle I cut out for the yo.

6 ~

All that's left is to affix a pinback (as you can see . . .  the backside is not pretty, but nobody will see it, right?!)

Never been known for my teaching skills so, if I left something out or didn't explain the process well, please message me.

Leaf Impressions

October is coming to an end, but while the leaves are still on the ground and pliable, I would like to offer this tutorial.  I posted it a few years ago and thought it was relevant for today.  So much fun and instantly gratifying! 

I made a watercolor leaf impression, added a Hallmark pin, a quote and let the papers do the work for me!

Leaf impressions are so simple and fun to do.  First you pick a leaf shape that you like.  I know you can find a leaf laying around somewhere.

Best if it isn't so dry that it would be brittle when pressed down.  I picked these redbud leaves (which were turning yellow) right from the tree

Then I got out my paints ... you absolutely do not need artist grade watercolors.  A child's pallette will work just fine.

Daub on the paint.  Don't forget the stem!  Again any old brush will do.  The more colors you use the better . . . just make sure it isn't too wet.  You'll get the feel of it after you make one or two impressions.

Flip it over onto your selected paper and press every area.  I find it helpful to lay a piece of paper over the leaf (in other words sandwich the leaf between your "chosen" paper and any other paper) and rubbing it good to wring out every bit of detail possible.

Voila!

and Voila!!

This impression was taken from a leaf I had in my flower press.  It took a few attempts before the paint stuck very well but I think it was well worth it.

Four Pin Friday

Cool Fall days ahead and I'm inspired by these cutter quilt ideas. With the few pieces of olde in my stash, I think I'll dig into them and produce some of these pincushions . . .

 

 Here is the tutorial for these sweet pinkeeps

or maybe frame one or two . . . 

or make some gift tags . . .

 These would be quick, easy and impressive, don't you think?

Thanks again Pinterest for stirring my creative juices!

Disclaimer: No intact vintage quilts were harmed to create these crafts!

Fresh Lavender Wands

I thought that this repost may be interesting to all you gardeners who have an overabundance of lavender this summer.  I look for any excuse to make some fresh~from~my~garden lavender wands for friends . . .

simply

s

q

u

e

e

z

e

and

sniff

So fun and simple to create I could spend all day making them! 
Here is the tutorial I used . . .

Enjoy!

Four Pin Friday

This post not only includes four fabulous Pinterest finds but a "Word of the Day" as well.

My SIL introduced me to a new (to me) word on Facebook yesterday . . . "Fibonacci".  Where have I been all my life?  I've been using these geometric spirals in my quilts, artwork and musings forever and had never known the word for them.  Pinterest has a ton of examples and I was so excited to dip into them all!

So without further ado . . . four fabulous Fibonacci finds:

 in the home

 in artwork

in nature

  in architecture

How to Draw a Fibonacci Spiral