I Think I Have A Spray Paint Problem....

 I just went back to WalMart yesterday because I ran out of my 3rd can of

Krylon Metallic Gold Spray Paint...I think I have issues. LOL

I love the gritty graffiti feel of spray painting my projects, and using 

Mascils or Stencils with them, what can I say? 

For this Clear Scraps Word Frame I used the Love You Frame, Drangonfly Mascil,

and Metallic Gold + Krylon Turquoise spray paint, trust me my hands are covered and so

are my leather cuff bracelets LOL Oh and in the letters I used Kaiser Craft papers. 

I don't know honestly it was just art therapy for me, it's been a rough week! 

Happy Tuesday friends and GOODBYE (EFF YOU) 2014! hahahaha

How NOT To Make A Potholder Tutorial!

Hey friends, I know I have been slacking but with Christmas and sickness...Just Sayin!

So I had this fantastic idea before the holidays, as a single mom

with a not so huge income I decided to make my holidays handmade 

for my friends. I was going to make cutting boards using my Silhouette!! 

And Potholders using my mad sewing skills!!!

I mean I have been sewing for flippin 30 years, how hard can potholders be?

I mean I caught a very vague tutorial post on a blog, she made it sound like I 

could make fifty in a day without batting an eyelash then bake 3 cakes!

NO...Just NO....first of all she simply said "just cut an oval from an 

8.5X11 piece of paper and trim fabric accordingly"

All I can say to that is I DARE YOU to try one time to just cut an oval with scissors

from a piece of paper and BAM perfection happens....lie #1. 

So once I decided that I was going to use my Silhouette to cut a perfect

oval and the 1/3 ovals I thought I had it mastered. WRONG!

 The vague tutorial mentions that only using 1 layer of heat protective

Insul-Bright from Joanns wore off after a onto or so and you needed TWO layers!

So I thought I was ahead of the game, 2 layers it is baby!

What she didn't mention was...2 layers plus 2 layers of fabric, 

OH and 2 more layers, PLUS 2 more layers of fabric means like 

45 layers I did the math! Not so easy to wrap this EXTRA WIDE Binding

which by the way means 1/2"!!! Around 45 layers and stitch perfectly even. 

Now I admit it, I am not a pinner, I don't pin my patterns unless they are huge, 

I simply don't pin. I know that makes me slightly cooler then you right? (by cooler I mean dumber)

BUT I tried to pin this bitch since it was 8 layers deep....

did not work.

So I figured it out, cut the Insul-Bright slightly smaller and it makes 

stitching the binding much easier. So I made my cut files for
fabric and batting separately. 

So the things I learned making potholders?

TEST one on scrap fabric...You might think sewing an oval is cake...

trust me I keep it real...IT'S NOT!

DO not freehand cut an oval that's just stupid.

DO NOT freehand the 1/3 ovals onto the potholder...they WILL be crooked. 

LINE THEM UP and pin them. 

DRINK alcohol before starting, it eases the pain.

FIND your MOST non judgmental friend the one who thinks you are 

amazing even if you fall off the curb. Give her the first set of potholders you make. 

Just listen to me on this one. 

I am including cut files for your silhouette if you want to try these. 

For ONE Potholder:

1. Trim out 2 ovals from fabric. Then trim hand pieces also. 

2. Trim out 2 layers of Insul-Bright. Hand pieces and ovals. 

3. Iron fabric with steam. 

4. Sew edges of all 4 pieces. 

5. Sew Binding to top straight edge of hand pieces. 

6. Pin hand pieces to oval potholder in straight lines. 

7. Sew binding around edges and trim off.

Here are the Cut Files:

Gingerbread Fun With Deco Art And Clear Scraps

Merry Christmas friends, 

I have one last Christmas project to share for the year.

I have been slacking between sick kids and Christmas but this one is cute. 

 I created a Gingerbread card using a Clear Scraps acrylic banner piece and 

a Deco Art Snow Writer, isn;t it cute how much it looks like frosting?

Head over to Clear Scraps to see the tutorial and get an idea on making your own!

Merry Christmas from me and my two boys to you. 

Thanks for being a part of my life all year long. 

Handmade Gift Ideas

It's definitely that time of year, everyone gets busy and shops.

I love giving handmade gifts but finding the right handmade gift that will

be appreciated is not always easy. 

Sometimes it is nice to go simple and sweet. This gift was for my friends

little boy, I thought as he learned his letters and names that he would

enjoy a book that has his family names with photos. 

I made sure to use very strong adhesive and double checked every corner. 

You know Clear Scraps albums are not flimsy in any way so I knew with care

it would stand up to a 2 yr olds shenanigans. 

For this book I used the Clear Scraps Cassy Mixable Album.

Sturdy and easy to flip the pages. 

I used big bold letters and DCVW papers. 

I also used the Clear Scraps Mascils, with Gold Krylon spray paint. 

I love these mascils. 

I included the family dog of course. 

Hopefully it's a keepsake he can use years from now. 

Stay tuned this week for a sewing tutorial. Or maybe it's a what not to do tutorial?? LOL
Anyways happy Monday and Merry Christmas friends. 

Handmade Burlap Ornament Gift Set

Hello again friends, it's time for the monthly Samantha Walker

Creative Team Blog Hop and the theme this month is Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas.

I always love making ornaments as gifts, one year I created a full

set of cupcake ornaments, and I usually do an exchange as well. This year

I decided to make some vintage style burlap ornaments using the 

Samantha Walker 8 Piece Tag SVG Set. 

Take heavy duty overstock paper I used metallic paper. 

"Ungroup" tags and choose style you want with open area in the middle. 

Trim out 2 of each. 

 Using the middle cuts you will throw out or save, use as template

and cut burlap slightly larger to fit into frame. 

 Adhere both sides of tags to each other with burlap in the center. 

 Add snowflake or flowers, then add gemstones to each side. 

You can use leftover burlap strands to hang ornaments,

 I folded it over 4 times and tied it. 

I also hot glued a burlap bow to the bottom. 

They have a very soft vintage style perfect for any tree really. 

The nest stop on the blog hop is Diane:

Diana Fisher

This month the  hop the prize will be the $10 gift card to digiplayground.com.  

They will announce the Blog Hop Winner on Monday, 12/15 on Samantha's Facebook Page.

Snowflake Ornament

Hey friends, hello Monday....

I was included in an ornament exchange this weekend and I decided

to make mine, thankfully I had a friend who wanted it! hahaha

 It's similar to a style I created last year using a snowflake SVG from SW

with some heavy duty Cutcardstock and a crystal angel at the bottom

from Connie Crystal. 

 I also spritzed it with glitter...I mean DUH hahaha

It was a fun ornament to make. 

Set Of Clear Handmade Christmas Cards

 Hey friends, it's FINALLY FRIDAY!

Hope your holiday season is good as it begins. Today I have a set of three

Christmas cards I created from the December Kit.

You know sometimes cards don't have to be layered and fancy to be 

simply beautiful. Sometimes have an acrylic front or something really

unique just makes it gorgeous from the start. 

There was acrylic in the December Kit so I cut it down and created these cards. 

 Each one has a different image from the Simple Stories line in the kit. 

 I added ribbon and glitter from my stash but the rest was the kit. 

Can't wait to give these out this year, if I get around to mailing!

Happy Friday friends. 

Countdown To Christmas Dry Erase Calendar

Hey friends, it's almost the weekend!

Today I have this "Countdown To Christmas" dry erase calendar. 

Perfect for the kids to mark off and keep track of the days until Christmas. 

Everything on this is from the December Kit from Creating Made Easy.

The only thing I added was ribbon, burlap and a snowflake. 

Even the frosting was from the kit, it's called a Snow Writer. 

 I outlined the entire project with the Snow Writer then sprinkled with glitter. 

It had a snowy gingerbread effect that I love!

The alphabet was using my Silhouette and the Perfect Susan font from SW.

Happy Thursday friends, come back tomorrow for another holiday project!

JOY Gingerbread Banner

Hey there crafty peeps, this week I am in full craft mode-

sewing, crafting for CHA all that noise...and photography sessions mixed 

with work and archery. Today I have a banner to share the I created using 

the December Creating Made Easy Kit. 

 In fact this is the featured project so every kit will come with step by step instructions

to create your very own banner!

 I used the wood grain Simple Stories paper in the kit to create the Ginger People. 

 And the Snow Writer in the kit was perfect for the "frosting".

 I even made a little Gingerbread Girl in the middle 

Everything except the burlap, snowflakes, letters and ribbon were from the kit. 

https://www.clearscraps.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=December2014main

Happy Tuesday friends. :)

Merry Christmas Acrylic Bell Card

It's that time of year, time to have fun creating. 

I have so many projects to share this week!

I have been busy with holiday photo shoots as well, so stay tuned. 

But today I wanted to share a Clear Scraps Send It Clear Bell Card I 

created for Christmas. 

I used Krylon gold spray paint on the acrylic bell and added a Clear Scraps

frame to paint as well. 

I LOVE using glitter in the winter for snow I think I should have

been born in a snow state LOL

The clear card is so much fun, and they come pre-cut all you have to
to is decorate and assemble!

Merry Christmas friends....Love to all.