Valentine Card

Today I have a Valentine card and tag duo to share with you. We still have a very wintry landscape outside, thanks to the buckets of snow that have been pummeling us lately, so the winter wreath seemed appropriate for a Valentine card.

I also wanted to make some very simple tags to go on Valentine treats that I have in mind (chocolate truffles anyone?). For the tags, I wanted something that would be very easy to make in numbers, and I don't know if it gets easier than using 3 punches and calling it good. (Tag supplies: Tag and heart punches, whisper white, perfect plum, and crumb cake cardstock all by Stampin' Up!)
The card is equally simple in design and I fancied it up a bit by dotting the wreath with some liquid pearls in White Opal and painting the heart with the sparkly champagne ink shown above. The stamps are from one of my favorite stamp companies, Memory Box. I purchased the stamps and liquid pearls at Ink About It and the cardstock, heart punch, and champagne ink from Stampin' Up! (Colors: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake, ink is Basic Brown also by Stampin' Up!)

Now to go check the spinach-artichoke dip and potato skins in progress for our Superbowl viewing pleasure. Hope you're having a fun and craft-filled day.

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Felt Heart Magnets

I finished the felt heart magnets! The stitching is horribly imperfect but I can live with it. It adds character, or something like that.

This project was ridiculously easy to pull together. The felt and thread are from the Paris Flea Market collection at Prairie Point Junction. I made a small heart shape on paper and then traced it onto the felt. I cut out two felt hearts to make each magnet. I blanket-stitched the hearts together (getting the blanket-stitch down is always the hardest part for me. By heart #2 I had it and it really is easy) leaving a small opening for stuffing, stuffed them with a small amount of batting, and stitched them closed.

I couldn't find my E6000 adhesive, so I turned to my Beacon Adhesives craft glue. I used it to glue small magnets onto the back of each heart.

Here they are gracing my fridge. You can see I'm down to 3 from the original set of 6. The kids each comandeered one and I put one on my vision board because I just like how warm and cozy they look. A perfect little Valentine project. I hope you like it!

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Hearts in Progress

Shovel. Make coffee. Stitch (or sew or bake or watch a movie on the couch with the kids). Repeat. That's my life right now in the Northeast, where we have been getting pummeled with snow almost daily since December 26. But hey, that's New England weather and we're a hearty bunch so we're making the most of it.

Pictured are my hearts-in-progress. I realize it's February and therefore time to turn my attention to Valentine-y crafting. In general I don't go hog wild over Valentine's day, though I do enjoy it, but I thought it would be nice to make a few heart-themed projects to honor the occasion. Do you remember the pictures like this with the felt houses? They are still in progress and are currently my favorite project, so it was a natural leap from there to make some simple felt hearts. I am really enjoying using felt as a medium because it's so forgiving and easy to work with, plus it's a great way to practice my stitching.

The stupid blanket stitch confounds me every time and it's embarrassing because it's such an easy stitch. You can't really tell from the photo, but the dark pink heart is one big stiched mistake. I did the whole thing wrong! I managed to tie little knots all the way around instead of making a nice stitch. So, back to Jenny Hart's Embroidered Effects for the instructions once again and then success on the second heart.

Many more in progress. I'm thinking magnets for these guys...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Coffee and a Card

I love snow. I really do. I will grant that it's starting to border on the ridiculous that we have so very much of it right now and that we got another 10 or so inches last night and that the kids are home for their fourth snow day this month. But, all that said, snow days inspire me to pop in a movie, make some coffee, and get my craft on.

Today I decided to give the sewing machine a much-deserved break and bust out some of my card-making supplies that have been sitting idle. The coffee and snow combination really warms my heart so I pulled out this old favorite stamp set by MFT and this softly colored snowflake paper, appropriately titled Snow Day, from the Wassail collection by Basic Gray. To jazz up the card a bit, I punched some snowflakes with a Martha Stewart punch (and while I like the shape of the snowflake, the punch is a big pain in the rump on the heavy cardstock that I favor because it's always getting jammed) and painted them in some shimmery gold paint that I got from Stampin' Up. I used Stampin' Up! cardstock in Whisper White and Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft). I also threw in some Martha Stewart twill tape ribbon, crochet ribbon from Wright's, a pearl sticker that I picked up at Michael's.

Now to go make some more coffee and see what else is on that long, long list of projects...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Mug Mats

I hate it when my hot coffee gets cold before I get to drink it. And with freezing temperatures outside, and cold counters inside, that happens a lot in the winter (also that I rarely get an uninterrupted moment to enjoy a full cup of hot coffee). I've had my eye on these little coasters since last year when I saw this project by Joelle Hoverson on Martha Stewart's website and today seemed like the perfect day to test it out.

The project is fairly simple, even for someone who's quilting level would be considered "pre-beginner". Really, I don't even think "beginner" describes my skill set at quilting. But as you can see, I made my way through these and really enjoyed the process. I did, however, find another tutorial that I prefer to the one prepared by Joelle Hoverson (though it should be said that I'm a huge fan of Joelle's work). Check out this one at Adelaide Lemonade. I found her technique and instructions even easier to follow and she made me feel just fine about my inadequate quilting skills. I even enjoyed practicing making quilted concentric squares. What makes the method at Adelaide Lemonade easier is the use of fusible fleece, so you aren't fussing with trying to get your batting to fit just right. When I ran out of fusible fleece (I only had enough for 2 coasters on hand), I resorted to using the method described by Joelle. Finished measurements are 4x4 inches for all. (I started with 4.5x4.5 inch squares for all.) Overall, both were easy and I am happy with the imperfection that is my quilted coasters. Of course I used more Bliss fabric and had a great time mixing and matching the coaster tops and bottoms. The two pictures above show the two different sides of the coasters. I made each one different and I think I'll make a bunch more because it really was a fun project to make and they go together so quickly.

Aaahhhh, hot coffee...

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Craft Book Challenge - January

I have what some may call a bordering-on-the-ridiculous number of craft books. What can I say? I love craft books! I love to peruse the pages of a new craft book, soaking up all the gorgeous photographs, being inspired by the possibility of so many new projects, enjoying the artistry and style of each author. I'm a craft book junkie. So when I saw the Craft Book Challenge on Liesl Made I knew it was the perfect challenge for me to undertake this year.

To kick off the challenge, I used my current favorite fabric, Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda, to make Tone Finnanger's fabric basket in Sew Pretty Homestyle. I've been wanting to make some fabric baskets for the craft room so this seemed like the perfect first project for the challenge. In theory, it is both beautiful and practical. In reality, a fabric basket made this way is going to have some give, so I have to be realistic about what I'm going to use it to store. It's not exactly as practical as a plastic bin but it's a lot more attractive, despite my imperfect sewing, so I will make up a few more and use them for storing things that I like to look at, like my embroidery supplies, yarn, and favorite scraps of fabric.

I changed the dimensions slightly, from Tone's original instructions, only because I wanted to use this spotty red fabric and I didn't have quite enough. Overall the project was easy to complete, but I did find it a little bit fussier than it seems when you read through the instructions. I got some puckering in the fabric and batting, and I was slightly frustrated that I couldn't get the bottom exactly right. However, I suspect that if I try it again I will have a little more success, since I now know firsthand what are going to be my trouble spots. For now, I'm going to call it good and go make the kids a snack.

Happy Crafting!

Kate

Sunday Afternoon with Bliss

I spent today having a love affair with my new fabric and my red polka dot mug.
On my recent visit to Candlelite Quilts

I bought some of this, Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda, and now I'm in love. I first saw it in the shop near Christmas but at the time I was too focused on Christmas-y fabrics to fully appreciate it's sweetness. Now that I've turned my attention to things besides Christmas crafting, I have all kinds of projects in mind for this delightful line. Pictured here are the scaps from the gazillion squares I cut out of my stash of Bliss to make a quilt for a certain niece of mine (who still hasn't gotten a Christmas present from us - gasp!). The quilt is in process but today I couldn't stop thinking of other things I'd like to make with these prints. Unfortunately, as always happens to me, I have many more projects in mind than I have time to spend crafting. I promise to post any finished projects just as soon as I finish them. Don't hold your breath.