Standing Mini Album

If you are a crafter, than you know that youtube and ustream have changed the crafting world in a big way.  At your finger tips you have videos of every new product that comes out and where you can buy it with a click of a "paypal" button.  Each paper company not only releases 5/6 new paper lines every 6 months, but each one has it's own flowers, stickers and embellishments that match that line.

Each company also has design team members that make a project a week out of the new products, which entices us to want to buy the "showcased products." Then, if that wasn't enough, there are classes on every night of the week on ustream by designers, showing you how to make the projects and just in case you haven't spent enough money already, they just reinforce the thought- " we need more!"

It doesn't take long before you have more product coming in than projects going out.  This creates an abundant overflow in your craft room.  I predict in not so long future, there will be rehab for crafters.

When I found that I had no more places for any more supplies and couldn't remember what I had bought, it was time for a plan of action.   I was given a wonderful gift for Mother's day- a professional organizer.  The best gift I have ever received. ( In case you are interested- Amy at simplicty4u.net is who I am using.)

Amy is a woman with a label making machine, and not afraid to use it!!  She has organized, helped me purge, rearranged my supplies for better access and has labeled all my supplies.  It is such a good feeling to know where everything is, opening a closet door without bracing yourself for an avalanche, and having space to craft!  It is life changing- I highly recommend it.

So, with all that said, I have been very motivated to create.   This album I created this week is from a wonderful designer-Stephanie Miller (withinagrin.blogspot.net)   I love everything she makes.  I used the same paper line and embellishments she used because I fell so in love with her project.

This album is made out of paper bags and chipboard and is designed to stand up.  A ribbon with a magnetized flower attaches the front to the back to helps keep it closed and standing.

Each page has a pocket to hold a tag.

I love all the rich colors that are in this paper line.  They make a great back ground for any photo.

I used a bottle cap to attach to the front , glued it to a flower petal and pink glass beads were placed around the bottle cap.

I'm on to another mini album- trying to keep the ratio of more supplies going out than coming in.:)

Next generation quilters

I remember the first time I learned to sew.  I was 8 years old.  I just sewed random pieces of scrap material together , and even though it didn't make anything useful, the satisfaction it gave me that I created something out of scraps was the best feeling in the world!!!!    My mom then would give me felt shapes and I sewed sequins and tiny beads until they were covered.   We placed them on a Christmas table cloth all around the edge and I thought I was an expert sewer by then.

Back in the day, Home ec. was still a required in junior high.  I took half a semester of sewing and the other half was cooking.   Part of my grade was having to wear to school a garment I made in class.  I prayed it would stay together just long enough to get me through my classes, and it did.   I knew sewing was something I would do the rest of my life.   I made most of my clothes during my high school years.

About 20 years ago, about 5 of our family members took quilting lessons at Francis Tuttle Vo tech.
That was so much fun and I fell in love with quilting.  I went on to take more lessons at Oklahoma Quilt works (okquiltworks.com) in Casady Square.  If you have not ever been there, I really encourage you to go check it out.  It is a sea of fabrics, thread, patterns and home made quilts hung on every wall.
They offer classes for  the very beginner, to the very advanced.

In the summer, they offer kid's camps and offer a variety of projects to make.  You have to be at least 8 years old to take their classes.

So many of the arts are slowly dying or not being offered to our young adults.  There is a whole other world for our young people to experience, if we only make them available to them and encourage them.

All of my grand daughters are very talented and crafty and show interest in crafting, painting and sewing.

This past week, Alessondra, my oldest grand daughter, took a 5 day class to learn how to quilt.  When I saw the size of the quilt they would be making, I must say, I had my doubts.  12 rows with 7 blocks to each row.  For a beginner, that is quite a big project.

Each day, I was pleasantly surprised with what she got accomplished in a 3 hour period.  Now 3 hours to sit at one project is challenging for me, much less, a social butterfly like Alessondra.  The teacher said she stayed very focused and hardly talked. (Hmmmmmm- I re-verified we were both talking about the same child here!


The class came with a kit with the pre-cut blocks, but each girl was able to shop in the fabric store for the backing they wanted for their quilt.  This was one of Alessondra's favorite part- to choose her own fabric.

On Wednesday, she had successfully sewn all her blocks and rows together and was ready for the next step, quilting the front to the back fabric.   It won't shock many of you to know that she picked out a fabric with "owls" for her backing.

On Friday, 9 little girls stood proudly with their finished quilts for a picture.  I could see the same look of accomplishment " I felt "so many years ago.   I hope as each one of my grand daughters turn 8, they will let me introduce them to the world of sewing and quilting.   And the extra bonus- a warm feeling on the outside to match their inside.  Nindy is so proud of you!

French Country wallet album

Normally, at any given time, I am working on 2 to 3 projects at a time.   There are so many tutorials and patterns to choose from, it's hard to stick to just one.  

Several months ago, I watched a tutorial (withagrin.blogspot.com).   She had made a wallet-like project by just slipping one paper bag within another one to create a fun, small paper bag album.  I chose this fun "French Country" paper because I loved the roosters.   I created a small faux window with curtains and a window box.

 Each page has a small pocket to slip little journals or tags into.

 This is a small gatefold card for added room for pictures or journaling.

I love the colors and country feel to this project.  Super easy, and only took 2 paper bags, paper and embellishments.

In between projects, I'm always making cards.  Unfortunately, the last couple of cards were Sympathy cards.   We lost a dear friend in our bible study to cancer.  She was so precious and so young.  She has 2 small children.   Our Women's bible study wanted to help her family in some way, so I made a card and our women contributed gift cards and cash to give to her husband and family.

Inside, I made a expandable pocket to hold the gift cards.

The only problem was, it wasn't big enough to hold all the donations!!!   Our women have such giving hearts and spirits.  What a wonderful blessing they are!  (withintheword.com)

Another dear friend lost her father recently.  I know how comforting each and every card were to me when I lost both parents last year, so each card I make is with love and one of a kind.

I have more projects coming.   I am also in the middle of re-vamping my craft room.   Cleaning, organizing and purging.   For mother's day, my kids got me a gc for a professional organizer to come in to try to help me get my craft room under control.   I am slowly seeing some progress ( and my floor) and hopefully will be able to keep it organized.  We'll see!!!!!
Until next time- "Make something!!"
Cindy

"Let Us Pray" Magnet board

I know it's been awhile since I have posted.  But I HAVE been crafting!   My latest project is not only fun to make,  but it's one of the easiest.

Start with any magnet board.  You can find these at Hobby Lobby or Michaels in the garden section.   They come in many sizes.  Mine is about 8x10.

Then start adding papers.   I broke up the design by adding 2 different papers, but still from the same paper line.    I used double sided tape instead of wet glue.  It seems to go on smoother without getting the paper wet.

I then started adding embellishments with flowers, lace , chipboard pieces and pearls.

This was a gift for our teacher in our women's bible study (withintheword.com), and we wanted to let her know how much the women in our bible study were praying for her.  Each woman filled out a card with their prayer for Kathy.   I made a pocket on the back of the board to hold the prayer cards.

 Each day, she can pull out a different prayer and place it on the front of the board.  The cards are held with different magnets I made by adding a magnet to different objects.

I finished it by adding a little clip on hanger from the "Melissa Frances" line.

We gave gift cards to other leaders in our group, so I made little tea cups to place them in.  I used a new Brenda Walton tea cup die to make each tea cup, then decorated each one, placed a gift card in them and covered them in plastic wrap.

I hope you give these projects a try- super easy, super fun.   Happy crafting- Cindy

Vintage Easter Tags

I've been playing around in the craft room, (and trying to clean out.)   I tend to hoard favorite flowers, lace, etc.. but I decided to share it. (That is why I bought it for in the first place, right?)

I found an etsy shop that sells vintage images (lovecreationgal).   She has some darling images and the quality, when your print them, is beautifully detailed.

Prima has a "tag pad" filled with sturdy tags, all with the same background.  It's easy to build on them.

All I did is cut each image out and placed it on a tag.  I then added laces, tags, jewels, etc..

I love this shabby vintage lace I found, and wish I had bought more.  I layered it on top of colored lace.

I found some jewelry pieces at Michaels.   They come in a string like form, so all you have to do is cut them apart.  They go pretty far, since there are on an average of 6 or more jewelry pieces.

I think the purple one is one of my favorites.  It's so "Springy" and makes me want to plant flowers!

Of course I would have a couple of pink tags- pink is my favorite color.

These images are so nostalgic to me.  I have several vintage postcards from my great aunt and mom.

I hope you all enjoy going back in "the olden days" as much as I do.   I'll be back soon with more posts of other projects I've been working on.

May all of you have a wonderful Easter, and know that on this day, Jesus died on the cross and rose on this day, so we may have "Eternal Life."