JLynne Creations

Easy "Stamping"

2012-02-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

The other day we did an easy 'stamping' activity.

Instead of using my stamps I pulled out the cookie cutters (which we usually use for play-doh) and stamped with them.

I just put some pink paint on paper plates and the kids dipped the cookie cutters (heart shaped cutters for Valentine's day) into the paint and stamped it onto their papers.

Box Coloring

2012-02-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

We love to play with boxes.

Most often they are made into cars and trains, or used to stash a big pile of toys and given to mommy or daddy as a 'present'!

We got an extra big box one day and kept it around.

It was prefect for hide and seek, but they also loved when I puled out the crayons, markers and pencils and let them go to it.

An easy (and FREE!) activity that re purposes something that could otherwise just be trash.

Plus I love art activities that are a little outside the box (no pun intended)... why just color on paper when you can color on a big box?

Wind Lesson

2012-02-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

I'm planning on homeschooling my kids.

but since my oldest is four, we're only in preschool, so we're still pretty relaxed about it.

We were learning about wind one day so I blew up a couple of balloons and pulled out a portable fan.

My son watched it blow away. And we talked a little about wind and storms, and then just played with balloons.

Hiding in Boxes

2012-02-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

Whenever we get our hands on a good sized box we keep it around for a day or two.

I got a large box from an order off of amazon and the kids had fun.

They pretended it was a train for a little bit, but then used ti to hide in for round after round after round of hide and seek.

Shaving Cream Bath

2012-02-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

One of the favorite bath activities in our house is shaving cream.

That's it.

It's that simple--- just shaving cream.

I get the barbasol cans of shaving cream for 97c at Walmart and then just squirt in onto my kids hands during bath time. They LOVE it one can lasts for about 4 baths so it's cheap as well as easy

Plus clean-up is a snap!

My two year old prefers to smear it on herself

Or her baby sister, lol

While big brother (4 years) prefers to paint on the walls and the tub.

Sometimes for him, I'll just squirt a big pile of shaving cream onto the side of the tub, so he can grab it as needed.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it would be super fun with just a few drops of food dye also!

Recipes!

2012-02-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

I love to eat and cook, but sadly I tend to lack imagination in the kitchen.
So I LOVE that I have the internet right here at my fingertips to help me in the kitchen.
Since I don't have too many of my own unique recipes, I though I would review a few I've tried online, so here goes.

I made this super simple Pico de Gallo and it was fabulous

And this Butternut Squash Soup (Vegan)

This soup was a little spicy, maybe too heavy with the pepper? But we still loved it. My husband and I kept taking bites ans saying how spicy it was, but we couldn't stop eating it!

And I found a recipe that claims to be the best falafel recipe ever!

It was very, very good. Maybe not quite as good as trader Joe's amazing falafel, but still very, very yummy! Plus, aside from the fact that you need to plan ahead and soak the chickpeas, it was really very easy.

So there you go... three relatively healthy recipes that have been tried and tested and found worthy. Enjoy!

Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes!

2012-01-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

So My poor neglected little blog here is going to see some changes- It's going to be more of what I love.

Right now I'm behind on crafting- so almost the only things I've made lately are a few things for my etsy shop. So that's All I've had to post- I felt like I was running an online billboard rather than a blog-

Soooooo I'm going to include other things that keep me busy and make me happy-

Which include but are not limited to:

Playing with my kids

Teaching my kids

Healthy Eating

Cleaning

Cooking/Baking

Reading

and as always....Crafts!

Houndstooth for Christmas

2011-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

I love hounds tooth clothing/accessories- who doesn't?

Well I have some Christmas colored houndstooth scrapbook paper, so I decided to make some cute stuff with it.

First I made a box that I had wanted to make for a long time. It was modeled after a box that my mom had sitting around. She had purchased a Swarovski Christmas ornament and she let me steal the box it came in.

So I tried to remake the box and did it in red and white hounds tooth paper.

Here's the result

Then I saw an idea somewhere online for these little 'baskets' made from 12x12 sheets, so I pulled out some more hounds tooth; this time in green as well as red

Green and White Houndstooth Basket

Full of flowers:

Red and White Basket with ribbon:

With some pretty yellow flowers:

The box is for sale here in mt etsy shop.

The baskets, I'm not sure about- I might list them on etsy, Or I might just keep them for myself- I haven't decided!

And you wouldn't believe what I found- Houndstooth stamps! How fun is that?!?

Greeting Cards

2011-11-25T15:20:00.000-08:00

So I like to do crafts and I'm on a budget.
With Christmas around the corner you all know that means it's time to start hand making some Christmas gifts.
I've only just begun, but I plan on making a big pile of greeting cards for my mom and my mother-in-law. They have previously received these for Christmas and loved them.

I want to do a few intricate cards and a bunch of cards that are a little simpler. I started with simple. I've made two or three copies of 4 different cards so far.

Many Thanks:

Then I used the circle I cut out of that paper, cut it in half and made

Congratulations!:

A simple

Thank You:

Again I used the cut out for another card, this time,

Happy Birthday:

I'm planning on making more cards, as well as making lots of other gifts this year, so stay posted- hopefully I'll have lots to share!

Christmas Boxes

2011-11-06T22:07:00.000-08:00

One day i was sitting around, about to make another exploding box, but I decided this paper wasn't right for it.

So then I thought- What if I make a simple box that has 4 flaps on the top that fold over each other the way a standard moving box does?

I had never tried one before or seen how to make one but it was really very simple.

I made 8!

4 red and 4 green.

Each color has two each of a 4"x4"x4" and 3"x3"x3" box

Here are the finished products:

For sale in my etsy shop: JLynneCreationshttp://www.etsy.com/shop/JLynneCreations

Small Origami Boxes

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

I made 12 small boxes in Christmas colors.

I actually used an origami technique that I learned in 6th grade art class. I learned how to make a box and lid like this and have been making these boxes ever since.

I have them for sale HERE in etsy store in sets of six.

These boxes are surprisingly easy to make. I'm thinking about creating a pdf pattern and instructions for it- anyone could make these fun little boxes.

Otherwise you could contact me for custom box if you are interested in some of these little boxes with a different paper.

I'll keep you posted about the patterns!

Seat Covers

2011-10-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

With a couple little kids around I have to worry about messes- especially in the kitchen.

For long time my son was sitting on top of a towel and my daughter's booster seat was also resting on a kitchen towel.

It worked, but then we were short two towels for use in the kitchen and they just kept sliding off the chairs.

So when I got this sturdy Teflon-treated (Teflon treated=stain resistant) plaid fabric I knew at least one thing I wanted to use it for.

Seat covers!

They were simple.

1. I measured the seat and cut out 2 pieces of fabric slightly larger than the seat.

2. Sewed around 3-1/2 edges of the fabric with right sides together.

3. I clipped corners and turned it around.

Then the straps:

1. And measured the distance from one side to the other under the chair and around the back posts. I cut out three inch wide strips of fabric just slightly longer than those measurements

2. I folded the fabric in half lengthwise and sewed down the edge with the right sides together. then turned them right-side-out

3. I sewed velcro to the ends. (On the long straps that went under the chairs one strap got the hook side and the other got the soft/fuzzy side.)

4. I figured out where I wanted my straps to attach. and also sewed down the other side of the velcro for the straps that went around the back posts of the chairs.
5. Using a seam ripper, I removed the seam for about two inches in each location that I wanted a strap- then tucked the end of the strap into that newly created whole and pinned in pace.

Almost Done:

Lastly I top-stitched all the way around, this took care of...

-closing up the hole I left open to turn it after it was inside out,

-closing the holes used to place the straps in and

-attaching the straps.

I really like this fabric- I also made a couple of crayon rolls out of for a few little birthday gifts and a fun bag, for sale here in my etsy shop.

Dress Lengthening

2011-10-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

My mother found a dress that she liked, except that it was a bit too short for her taste.

So she asked me to lengthen it a bit.

We decided to cut the bottom 3" off the dress.

I sewed a 7" piece of black fabric (of a similar fabric and texture) onto the dress, then re-attached the three inches I had previously cut off of the bottom.

Hopefully, this way- it doesn't look like some afterthought or alteration. We think it looks more as if it were part of the original dress, than it would if we just stuck the black piece across the bottom

Etsy Finds

2011-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I might occasionally share few shops I find on etsy that stand out to me. Here are 3 that I love:

Art and word work:

clbdesign

Cute plush creatures:

moxyandtoots

and here's a shop for any Harry Potter fan (or anyone who has a Harry Potter fan on their holiday shopping list):

DiagonAlley

Stop by and enjoy the fabulous items they have to offer!

Glitter Box

2011-09-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

I made another Exploding Box. this one is a little bit smaller than the others have been, but this one also has GLITTER on it!

(on the outside of the box and top of the lid)

Fun sparkles on the outside;

And as always, fun layers on the inside!

Want it? Buy it here.

I like the glitter a lot- I'm making another one, and I think it's going to end up with some glitter also!

Christmas Boxes

2011-09-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

I made some more Christmas themed exploding boxes.

This first one already sold in my etsy shop:

And I decided to try something different. Instead of the traditional square box I made one shaped like a diamond.

With candy cane stripes!

This one is still for sale in my etsy shop: here!

Another Exploding Box

2011-09-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

I really like these exploding boxes, they're unique and fun.

I made two more with Christmas in mind, they're both the same-- Candy Cane Stripes with green accents.

Here's the finished product from the outside:

A nice, simple box...

But open it up...

And the box falls open to reveal these fun layers inside:

I think these would be great as a special and unique way to wrap a small Christmas gift or Holiday treats.

But, I've also seen these exploding boxes used a mini photo albums. Place a different photo or sentiment on each layer and it would make a creative way to preserve your memories.

And just for fun... here's a progress shot:

This is what the lids looked like after I attached the green trim around the edges. I though it looked funny, and was worth taking a picture.

Anyway, you can buy one or both of these boxes here, in my etsy shop. Or if you want an exploding box with a different twist leave a comment or convo me on etsy- I would love to create a custom box for you!

Snowman Ornament

2011-08-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

I have a confession... I'm a craft hoarder. Which means:

* I buy craft supplies at clearance/discount price- then store it until I have something to use it for

And it also means:

*I hate throwing scraps away if they seem 'usable'

So I had a few scraps after making my latest exploding box.

I decided to use them to make a Christmas tree ornament.

I'm selling it here in my etsy shop.

Snowman Exploding Box

2011-08-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

I've made another exploding box and it's for sale here in my etsy shop

This one is a winter theme and would be perfect for holding a Christmas/holiday gift

I love exploding boxes because they seem so nice and simple on the outside, but they're hiding some extra layers of fun on the inside.

Inside the box

All opened up

Children's Quilt

2011-08-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

I got the opportunity to make a custom order quilt.

I was asked to make it with large squares of various characters from children's movies and television.

She wanted the quilt to be random, and have no particular direction, so not all of the squares should face the same way.

So here's what I did:

The back of the quilt is just solid red, in the same fabric as the red on the front.

And After the quilt I had one extra pre-cut square of fabric-

So I made a bonus pillow, to throw in with the quilt:

I love making pillows and bedding, You can request a custom order in my etsy shop :JLynneCreations

Car Seat Tent

2011-08-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

Just before my last precious baby was born I made a reversible car seat cover.

I love it.

When I'm at the store it keeps people (complete strangers) from touching my baby

It keeps the bright Arizona sunlight out

And It's cute! Especially the brown ruffle around the edge.

Pink and brown on one side:

Solid brown on the other:

Double Sided Grocery Totes

2011-06-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

With the same fabrics I used for my set of 4 grocery totes, I made two more... these are reversible, so that on the outside of the bag you have one design and another on the inside.

Apples and Watermelon

But you can flip it either way you like.

Apples..... or... Watermelon

Whatever you like better

Or Jalapenos and Cherries

Or Cherries and Jalapenos

For sale here: 2 Reversible Totes

Reusable Grocery Bags

2011-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have a set of four re-usable grocery bags (or whatever you want to use them for) for sale now in my etsy shop.

I used four fun fresh produce prints for these eco-friendly bags.

Find them for sale here: 4 Yummy Totes!

Steering Wheel Cover

2011-05-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

My Husband's car recently became my car. And, scorched by the Arizona sun- the steering wheel had begun to crack and the top was actually beginning to crumble.

So- to prevent further damage and to protect my hands from the super-hot steering wheel (Seriously- if you live in Phoenix, AZ you know- it gets HOT inside cars)

Here's the finished product:

To help grip the steering wheel and to cover the weird texture where little tiny pieces of the steering wheel came off I used cabinet lining in the inside:

And, how it looks on the wheel:

An Attempt at Applique

2011-05-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to try my hand at applique for the first time- I thought I knew the general idea, so I didn't bother looking up any tips or tutorials- and somehow I survived.

These are messy, but I was happy with it for a learning experience.

They're coasters- we re-use cups for a day or two in our house, and sometimes (often) I can't remeber which cup was my daughters and which was my sons.

Not a huge problem, I'll admit-- except when one has croupe or the other had brocnhiolotis. We don't want cross contamination on those days.

So to help fix the problem I sewed up some little coasters with our initials on them- so we always remember who had the red cup and who had the yellow cup.

'Daddy'

'Mommy'

'Parker'

'Aria'

Kids Apron

2011-05-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the six children's sized aprons I made to go with the hot-pads and the oven mitts

Kids Oven Mitts

2011-05-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

The next step in my process of making kids kitchen stuff was the oven mitts (six of them)

I had not pattern, but I drew an oversized oven mitt onto tissue paper and used that as my pattern to cut out 12 pieces of white fabric, 12 pieces of batting and 12 of the red gingham that matched the other portions of the kitchen sets

I layered a set of white, batting and gingham, and 'quilted' through them by just sewing a few intersecting diagonal lines

I took two pieces that were opposites of each other (in regards to which way the thumb pointed)

And I stitched them right-sides together:

I trimmed the excess, and turned them right side out

Then used some edging I made (exactly the same as the edging I made for the hot-pads) and hand-stitched that around the bottom edge:

Kids Pot-Holders

2011-03-31T23:12:00.000-07:00

A "customer" (my mother) is paying me to make a set of six kids "play kitchen sets"

Meaning: six children's aprons, six pot-holders, six oven mitts and maybe six chef hats.

The pot-holders were the easiest so I started with them.

I cut approx 4" squares- 2 of fabric, and one of batting.

I sandwiched the batting in the middle and then stitched all four sides:

I 'quilted' the piece by just sewing a few lines diagonally across the piece:

Then I trimmed the edges very close to my stitch lines.

Then I made my edging

I stared by cutting a strip about 1.5" wide (left), then I folded it in half and pressed (middle), then I folded the raw edges into the center and pressed again (right)

This is similar to bias tape, except I didn't cut it on a bias.

Then I placed the edge of the hot pat in the fold of the edging I had created and pinned it in place

I left some extra at the end to make the 'loop' that you see on all potholders and oven mitts.

That extra piece hanging off is actually where I started my stitches. I started on the tail end and then sewed around three and a half sides. Once I was an inch or two from completing the square, I would fold the end of the 'tail' back and then loop it around. Then I would stitch to the corner and do some back-stitching back and forth and at an angle to reinforce that corner and the loop.

TA-DA!

Then I just did that 5 more times.

Disclaimer:

This is a project for kids, so they can pretend to cook- don't use this tutorial for real hot pads/potholders- I doubt this is safe to use on hot dishes, the general idea would be the same, but you would need to get material and lining that is more effective against heat.

My First Wedding Cake!!!!

2011-03-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a big one for me!

I go to make my first ever wedding cake--and believe it or not, it was a success!

It's a basic design, which is great, so I didn't have to have a major heart attack over it. I was happy with it and so were the bride and groom.
I can't believe I made a wedding cake, just a few years ago- I could barely scrape frosting from a can onto cake from a box without totally messing it up- I can't wait to see where I'll be in 3 more years.

Crayon Roll

2011-03-10T19:32:00.000-08:00

So, this is nothing new... you've probably seen them a few times before, but I decided to make a couple of crayon rolls.

Here's a look at the full item:

Back of Crayon Roll

Front of empty crayon roll

Roll it up, to keep your crayons neatly in place while in your diaper bag (or whatever)

And all wrapped up:

These are great for allowing you kids easy access to their crayons, but keeping them in place so they don't get dropped/lost while at church, in the car, or even at home.

I have one in my diaper bag, and the other one is going for sale in my etsy shop.

Book Cover

2011-03-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

I had an order for custom book cover on my etsy.

She needed a cover to protect her books from dust and cat/dog hair. I got some plastic from the upholstery section at Joann's and made it the size she needed... 7'x4.5"x7"

Here are a few pictures of it filled with books after I finished it:

I cut vertical slits every ten inches to allow easy access to the books.

I'm also in the process of making a similar cover for a couple of strollers, to keep them clean while they are stored in the garage.

Cowboy Cake

2011-03-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

My BFF's son turned one- so I made a cake for the occasion!

His birthday party was a "cowboy" theme so that's where I decided to go with the cake:

Almost everything is fondant. the cow print, the hat, the number one, the borders and the red bandanna.

I just used icing to pipe on the decorations for the bandanna

Onesie Dresses

2011-02-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

So, like every other novice sewer/mother of a young girl, I had to try my hand at onesie dresses.

These are relatively simple, plus they are an entire (cute) outfit in one piece.

Here's what I made:

Black and white polka-dotted double gathered skirt, and a once gathered purple paisley.

I purposely made the purple one shorter, thinking it would be cute to see those chubby baby legs:

I also love that you see the little bit of the white onesie-bum sticking out.

And I made a little yo-yo hair clip to match.

Cake!

2011-02-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

I made another little cake this month. One of the girls that I work with a church had a birthday and she is a violin player and quite the little singer so I went with a music theme for the cake:

Cute, right? Nothing amazing, but still cute.

That picture is actually upside down, though.

The notes actually play the beginning of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (if you add B-flat and E-flat to the key signature)

So this is what's it's supposed to look like:

Up-side-right Cake

I just thought it looked better upside-down.

More Pillows

2011-01-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

Do you know how hard it is to find a plain orange pillow? I'll save you the trouble- and tell you it's impossible.

However, a plain pillows are just what we wanted in our living room. Our living room is a bit modern, we like clean lines, neutral colors as the background (couches, carpet, big furniture) with big bright pops of color.

Orange and red went with the art in the room, as well as our rug- and contrasted nicely with our light couch and all-black furniture.

But Like I said- it was impossible to find them- So I made them. This was a few years ago when I was a very novice sewer, but they turned out and they've hung around on our couches ever since.

This is just another example of the custom pillows I can make, order through my etsy shop!

Clutch

2011-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

So after I made my larger bag from my Chinese fabric, I still had some material left over. So I made a small clutch and/or carry-all and/or whatever you want it to be :)

When it's closed, it measures about 7.5"x5"
It has a magnetic snap closure, so it's easy to open but stays firmly closed when you need it.
The inside is lined with the reverse of the fabric, so you get the same design, but with the colors reversed.

Available now in my etsy!

Another Bag!

2011-01-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

This bag was made from repurposed fabric. My mother is the queen of buying unique/unnecessary items. On one trip to China she bought me a robe.

A Chinese Silk robe with dragons and such on it.

Believe it or not, I have very little use for a silky Chinese robe in my life. But it was unique and kinda cool looking so I held onto it-- even if I never wore it.

Well, a couple years later I was about to throw it out when I realized that I could use this cool fabric, just not in the form of a robe

TA-DA!

I made a bag from the fabric. It's another over the shoulder tote.

I didn't line this bag on purpose, so that you could get the negative color affect on the inside of the bag.

So, where there is red on the outside it is gold/orange on the inside. And where there is gold on the outside, you get red on the inside.

Of course, I added pockets. What good is a bag without pockets?

The outside pocket

The inside pocket.

This bag measure about 12"x15" and it's available in my etsy shop

Pillows

2011-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

For my church I currently do work with the youth. So I deal with a pile of silly girls between the ages of 12 and 18. I personally spend most of my time with just the 12 and 13 year old girls.
We recently decided to make pillows for a project- unfortunately not one of them knew how to sew... or had even attempted it before.
So I had my work cut out for me, but I helped design and sew a bunch of 14" pillows.

Here's the silliest pillow first:

Ducky Pillow

A pink pillow, with little yellow duckies, and yellow ric-rac for trim. I warned you... silly.

Blue Paisley Pillow

You see those two little pearls in the middle of the pillow? That girl insisted upon putting buttons in the middles of the pillow... I'm not sure why, but it made her happy.

Hawaiian Print and Blue 'envelope' Pillow

We added a grey button on the bottom of the triangle flap on the blue 'envelope' pillow (So named because she wanted to have it look like it had a top that folded over like an envelope)

Zebra Print

This one I liked a lot- I'm happy that I was able to talk her into using the red thread to accent the black-and-white.
We even used a honeycomb stitch to make it a little bolder.

Red Honeycomb Stitch on Zebra Pillow

And finally, the twin pillows.

Because 13 year olds aren't always logical- this girl says she wants a set of boy-girl twins when she's older, so we made pillows for just such an occasion.

The reason behind them may be silly, but I loved these pillows. And her Uncle (who is apparently very 'into' home design and decor) swore that these were designer pillows- he couldn't believe they were home made.

I was very proud, I helped design these pillows, guided a novice sewer (and corrected many mistakes) well enough to create something that appears to be made by a top name designer.

Here they are in more detail:

Boy Pillow, front

Girl Pillow, Front

Are those pockets cute or what?

Girl Pillow, back

Of course, the boy pillow was backed with the brown and blue stripes, I just don't have a picture of it.
Here's what you see on the side:

Both Pillows, back

So there is the pile of hand made pillows that I made with my young girls.

I really loved making the pillows so if you want some customized hand-made pillows you can leave a comment for me or request an item via my etsy shop

A Big Thank You- with a quick card!

2011-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited- I made my first sale in my etsy shop!

It was fun to get the order, but before I shipped it off, I made a small gift from the extra fabric I used to make the item (I made a hair clip), and I also whipped up a quick Thank You card.

This really was a two minute project, so I know it's not much, but I think it's still pretty.

And I love it, since it represents my first success at something that I really want to do.

More Baby Stuff

2011-01-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

I managed to get some organic AZO dye free cotton for cheap.. I mean super cheap. I'm not into super organic stuff, but since it was cheaper than 'regular' fabric I went for it.

I used it to make some more baby bibs and burp cloths.

Cute, right? And the bib isn't too bad either.

And it's reversible, green on one side, brown flower print (with green accents) on the other side.

And the burp rags:

I love these. For my son (my firstborn) I was given lots of burp rags and such one of them was made with one of these cloth diapers. It was by far my favorite burp rag. It was cute and it absorbed so much spit up. With my daughter I got three more as a gift- I love, love, loved them.

That's when I decided to make some myself- the world needs more of these fabulous burp cloths.

Here's a whole set of burp rags and bibs that can be found in my etsy shop.

Or you can get just a set of the burp cloths.

Small Tote

2011-01-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

A woman at church asked me to make up a pattern so the girls (age 12-18) at our church could make some bags.

I was flattered that she thought of me as crafty enough to not only sew a bag , but to create my own pattern! I must be moving up in the world! And, I happy to report that it was a total success.

Along with the pattern I created for the girls, I also made a bag as a sample- But I do not need another bag- SO it's going for sale in my etsy shop

Do you love it? It's small for a tote, (because sometimes they are TOO big) but a little big for a normal purse... if you've been looking for a medium sized shoulder bag then you are in luck.

This shoulder bag is about 11"x12" (not counting the straps, of course)

If you look inside you can see the pockets:

The pockets are side by side, and one is thin so that it ideally holds pens/pencils etc. while the other pocket is larger to hold... you know... keys, phone, whatever!

Or if you don't like the pocket on the inside, simply flip it inside out:

The bag is reversible, so you can have your pockets on the outside if you wish.

The fabric is a little stretchy and has a fun striped texture to it. I hope someone finds this bag a good home, because I love it, but I just don't need it :)

Exploding Box

2011-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Have you all seen what scrapbookers call an exploding box?

When you see it, it seems so simple, and so innocent:

But when you pull off the lid...

It explodes!

I think these boxes are adorable! They are great for housing small gifts, and are often used as a photo album. You could make an 'album' of a senior year in high school, of a vacation or something similar to keep or to give as a gift.

I made this box with Valentine's Day in mind

You can buy it in my etsy shop for that special someone.

Christmas Cake

2010-12-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

I volunteered to make a cake for a Christmas party at my church. It was simple and quick and cute.

All butter cream:

And my favorite part, the border, I love rope borders, and I really love the two colors being braided.

Simple Christmas Card

2010-12-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

I made this very simple card so that I could stamp out a fairly large group of them in a pretty short amount of time (I may have procrastinated a bit this year)

I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday!

More Halloween

2010-11-29T21:22:00.000-08:00

So my first born is obsessed with Peter Pan.

No, really, I mean obsessed. And it's adorable.

So this year it was a no-brainer to make a darling little Peter Pan costume for Halloween.

My sweet-and-well-intentioned mother said she would buy tights for the costume, and forgot that Peter Pan wears green not brown.
So- it's a bit Robin Hood-ish--- but do you think my munchkin cared?
Certainly not! He was so happy to be Peter Pan.
I actually had to convince him to go get candy- he kept saying "The real Peter (the 'real' one is the one in the movie, of course) doesn't get candy"

Halloween

2010-11-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

Why, yes-- I am aware that I am really behind on my little blog here.

If I told you I had two kids with another on the way, a busy semester of online classes, and plenty of volunteer time spent at church would you forgive me??

Anyway, I am now going to show you the darn-cutest little Tinker Bell I have ever seen.

It's my little girl (at Halloween) I made this little Tinker Bell dress this last year and thought my little one was super cute in this fluffy fairy get up.

I absolutely L-O-V-E making Halloween costumes- if I went to buy a Tinker Bell costume it would NOT be this adorable.

I had fun making this- and I'm already jazzed for new costumes in 2011.

Nursing Covers!

2010-10-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try making nursing covers for forever now.

I finally got around to it, and I don't know what stopped me for so long- they were easy and fun to make.

Here are the two that I made:

My own nursing cover (that I got as a gift) is not easy to adjust- which means I never adjusted it. So when I made these I used a D-ring on the neck strap to make it super easy to adjust.

And do you ever have to try to discretely look for your missing nursing pad after you're finished feeding? No- That's just me? Well in case you ever do find it difficult to keep track or nursing pads during a feeding, I made some handy little pockets on the bottom corner.

And, of course, I added boning to the neck to make it easy to peak in and see baby.

For sale now- in my esty shop: JLynneCreations

New Cakes

2010-08-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few cakes I've made lately- I left the sides completely undecorated, I call the 'open-side' cakes.

Selling Stuff

2010-07-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

All hair clips come with a 'no slip' grip inside to help keep it comfortably in your child's hair.

Small flower clips .75 cents each (plus shipping if outside Phoenix Area)

Large flower clips: $1.50

Hand-sewn 'yo-yo' flower clips $2.00 each

This next picture is just to give you an idea of some of the kids of clips I've made. But I can also make the ribbon hangers for you, in any colors of your choosing.

Hair Clip display ribbon: $2.00 each

These are just some of the hair clips I can make!

Inspired by Dana Pt. 4

2010-05-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Another post about a craft inspired by the Fabulous Dana at MADE.

A little while ago, she MADE some adorable ruffle cards. It combined my great love of card making with my newer hobby of sewing!

LOVE!

So I decided to make a few of my own.

I used some pink and brown fabric I had left over from making all of the bedding in my baby girl's room, and I used a tan card stock for the card.

Inspired By Dana Pt 3.

2010-05-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, one last post about re-purposing fabric.

Again, I thank Dana from MADE for giving me the idea that I don't have to go to the fabric store to buy fabric, sometimes- it could just be lying around.

This time I used a pajama shirt that I NEVER wore, and a pair of pajama pants that had been worn a few times, but they had a hole in one knee.

This time I didn't make a skirt.

I made a bib

Double sided

And not one,

But two matching burp cloths.

Here's the whole set. I actually had enough fabric to make 4 of these sets.

I've already given two away as gifts. Should I keep the others as gifts as well, or sell them when I *someday* get my Etsy store going?

Inspired by Dana Pt.2

2010-05-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

I love Dana from MADE.

She is so talented, she has two adorable kids, and she has inspired me.

Among other things she makes an awesome shirt dress. I love that she can re-use fabric and make something so cute.

Here I found this pretty silky scarf for 99 cents.

I cut it up, and layered it with a slightly heavier fabric to give it some weight and voila! I have a skirt:

Cute Right?

I hope you all think it's cute- I think I want to sell this on Etsy. If I ever get around to setting up my Etsy shop that is

Inspired by Dana Pt.1

2010-05-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Dana from MADE has changed the way I look at fabric.
She is always re-purposing fabric on her site and it has made me think about doing the same thing.
This may not look like much but I found a skirt on sale for $1. and it was on sale for a reason

The cut was awful- it wouldn't look flattering on anyone- I mean it. Normally I would have walked away- but after reading Dana's blog I knew it had potential.
I turned it into a two-layered gathered little-girls skirt. I made this in about a 2T size.
So I got a CUTE little girls skirt for just a dollar

Cardswap

2010-04-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

I found a sketch online for a card. I liked the sketch a lot, so I made twenty cards based on the sketch for my card swap- well I forgot to post my card for the sketch challenge, but here it is now that card swap is this week.
Mostly I'm proud of myself for using two patterned papers in one card. I have a small dot pattern in the background, and then I made two versions of the card with two different patterned papers-
I struggle to use patterns, I tend to prefer solid colors- so this was tough for me to use two patterns in one card- and bonus I did it twice- TWO different versions!

My Brest Friend

2010-03-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

When I had my son two years ago I got a boppy pillow, and I liked it. Then I heard some women say that a brest friend is much better so I got one when I had my little girl a few months ago.
I loved it- it was so much better than a boppy- the only problem was that I had to undo the Velcro when I was done feeding her and if she had fallen asleep it would wake her up.
So I decided to modify my slipcover.
I cut the strap:

Cut back some of the Velcro to leave room to sew more easily:

Then I just folded the fabric over some buckle closures that I got for a couple of bucks at Joann's and stitched a straight line. SO simple!

Now it is so easy to undo without making all the noise of undoing the Velcro

I found out that some of the new covers are already made this way, but if you get one that doesn't have the buckle, you can easily modify it.

Even my daughter likes it

Birthday Cake

2010-02-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a birthday cake I made for my son when he turned two
A toolbox cake, covered with fondant.
I made the tools out of rice krispie treats and covered them with fondant also. I used edible ink markers to write on the ruler.

Hair Clip Holders

2010-02-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

I needed to find a way to store all of the hair clips I've made for my daughter.
So, I went to Joann's and I bought two matching ribbons, both were brown with pink polka dots.
I got one 3/8" ribbon and one 1.5" ribbon.
I cut the 1.5" ribbon into 18" strips, I folded over the ends about 1/4 inch and just ran a straight stitch across to hold them in place.
I made small bows out of the 3/8" ribbon and stitched them down on to the top of the wider ribbon.
I used small nails to hang them on the wall.

Masculine 'Thank You's

2010-02-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

After being laid off a couple of weeks ago, my husband went on the job hunt (obviously).

Well he had an interview today, and he wanted a thank you card to send to them. NO problem! I have tons of thank you cards already made. But, since he interviewed with a couple of guys, I decided not to give him one of my cards covered in flowers or butterflies; instead, I made a couple of masculine Thank you cards, using a few sketches I found online.

First, I used this weeks Mojo Monday Sketch

Then, I made a card following the sketch from CPS

Here's what my card looks like when it's closed

The right hand triangle opens to reveal a 'thank you' as you go to open the card

And when it's completely open it looks like this:

DIY Dish

2010-02-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

So, have you guys heard of DIY Dish? Well go on over and check it out... they are giving away two sewing machines- Yes TWO!!! I hope I win the embroidery machine **fingers crossed**
Good Luck!

Baby Boy Shower

2010-02-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

I was asked to make the cake for my best friends baby shower. And since she always does my hair for free- she got her cake for free.
The shower colors were green and brown, and her theme was mama bear/baby bear

The cake:

A mama bear and baby bear (sculpted out of fondant) walking together.

I used chocolate buttercream for the paw prints, I used round tips of varying sizes, and then I dipped my finger in cornstarch and then gently tapped the paw prints to flatten them down.
Here are some cake balls:

Using the colors of green and brown.
After making the cake I had some extra batter, so I made 12 cupcakes.

I covered them with buttercream icing and then used chocolate icing to add bear paw prints. (I used the cornstarch again here)

The whole she-bang:

Christmas Wreath

2010-01-01T12:51:00.000-08:00

I purchased a wreath and some red and gold Christmas ribbon last year at Michaels. Since I bought it after Christmas it was 70% off.
I just took the ribbon and tucked it into the wreathin random spots. Whem I like dhow it looked I took a needle and thread and just tied the ribbon down, to keep it in place.

Then, I tied a big bow with the ribbon and stuck that on with the needle and thread also.

Lastly, I bought some bunches of berries from Michaels. I tore apart the bunches and then hot glued some of the 'berries' onto the wreath.

Merry Christmas!!

Cakes

2009-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

So here are two cakes that I made recently
They were both actually for church. The first was for an activity I had with some of the young women; the activity had to do with babies so I made a mock baby shower cake.

I made a lemon cake and used a lemon frosting, which I added food dye to in order to make it a brighter yellow. I formed the blocks out of fondant, and colored three colors of fondant. I rolled out the colors to about 1/16th inch and then folded them over the corner of a box while they dried for a little bit to give them a nice bend. I cut the pieces to size and stuck them on. Then I rolled out some fondant and shaped it into letters, the leftover colors were used to make balls to go for the border.

The next cake was also for the young women at church. The young women work with a program called personal progress, and they have 8 values that each have a color to represent them. So I made a three tier, (two layer each) cake covered with white fondant, and I colored fondant to make swags, and flowers in each value color. I also made balls for the border from each color to match.

Christmas Gift Tags

2009-12-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I found an idea for recycling grocery ads. When i saw it I thought it would be cute for a card, but ended up using the idea to make Christmas gift tags for my card swap.
So I cut up Walmart Grocery ads, since they were glossy, and had lots of red and green in them.

I made myself a stencil, and cut out a folded tag from white card stock and similar shaped tags from red and green card stock.

I drew Christmas trees onto the tags, and cut out the tree using a craft knife.

I glued the strips of the ads to the back of the trees, then secured the tress to the white tags.
Lastly, I punched a hole in the top of the tag and threaded a ribbon through each one.

Little Lion

2009-11-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

I made my sons Halloween Costume this year:
Isn't he cute? I bought a Simplicity pattern for this, I'm still too new at sewing to go without a pattern for stuff like this. I enjoyed making it, and it was good practice so that someday I could be great at sewing (maybe). Plus, I love that he looked different from all of the other kids in their store-bought costumes.

Copycat Halloween

2009-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

So I usually design all of my own cards... to me that's half the fun. This time I copied. A woman at my card swap made a Halloween card and I used her idea for some Halloween party invites I made. I of course changed many things from her idea, but it's still not really an original. I thought I would share it anyway, so that every one can see her wonderful idea.
I used a 4x6 brown card. I cut out 2" squares from orange paper, and 1.5" squares from black paper. I taped the little black square onto the little orange square and then taped those near the top of the card.

I used white ink to stamp a pumpkin onto the black square. Does everybody else have a problem having their white ink show up?? I had a friend use white acrylic paint to stamp, and it turned out much clearer than this, I'm going to try that next time.

Anyway, the white stamp ink shows really well on non-porous surfaces so I stamped Happy Halloween on a 4x6 inch transparency. (I bought transparencies at Office Max and then cut them down.)

Then I punched little holes in the transparencies and the cards, and attached the transparency with brads. All Done!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Baby Boy Shower

2009-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make cupcakes and cake pops for a girl from church for her baby shower.

Here's how I set it up. I bought a Wilton 4-Tier Dessert Stand, and a package of two circles of flower foam. I cut a small circle out of the center of one of the pieces of foam the size of the "bump" in the center of the top tier. I placed that piece of foam on the top tier and placed four toothpicks into the foam

Then I just put the second circle on top.

I used my KraftEdgers Scissors and cut two 4" strips from a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper.
I used sewing pins to hold the first piece of paper in place around the foam, then overlapped the edges with the second strip of paper and used glue to adhere the top paper to the bottom.

Then I randomly placed my cake pops into the foam.

I also made cupcakes, they were just classic yellow cupcakes, and I used tip 1M to pipe extra large stars into the center of the cupcake, after this picture was taken I also cut out very small stars from white fondant and placed the on the top of the icing.

Here's how it all turned out:

Daily Blog Candy Giveaway!!!

2009-09-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

Over at Crafts International there are daily, yes DAILY giveaways going on... stop on over and check it out!

Yo-yo Hair clips

2009-09-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

I've shown a couple different kinds of hair clips, but here's another variation. These are made using yo-yo's. I'm sure everyone knows how to make a yo-yo, but if you don't, you can buy them premade at Joann's (which since they are so easy would be a waste of money, I think), or there is a really easy tutorial here at Heather Bailey's Blog.

They're so fast and easy, and you can use these beauties for a million things!
Anyway, For the hair clips, I used the same clips, and covered them the same way I did before,
But instead of gluing silk flowers onto the hair clip, I just used my glue gun to glue the yo yo's to the clip. Of course, if you're sewing the button into the middle, you want to do that before you glue it down.

I used a black and white quarter flat for the fabric, And I made four yo yo's, in two different sizes. I layered the smaller yo yo on top of the lager one. I sewed the button through both of the yo yos, so they were all held together, and then glued them down. That's all I had to do, I think the yo yo clips might be my favorites!

My Girls Room- The Bumper

2009-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

I really disliked any of the patterned fabric I found in ink and brown, so when it was time to make the bumper for my little girls room, I decided to make my own little pattern.
Based on the height and length of the crib bumper I decided to make a pattern that measured about 7"x7".
Once I drew out the picture how I wanted it I traced over it with a marker.

Then I used a craft knife to cut out the pattern.

and I traced it onto my fabric.

I then used embroidery floss to fill in the pattern, pink for the flowers, and green for the stems.
I was a little bit overwhelmed by the idea of doing embroidery, but it turns out that it's not very hard at all, a little time consuming, but even that wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.

I filled in the flowers with solid pink, but when I made the stems with green I decided to just use dashes, so they were less prominent.
I added batting to the back of this fabric, sewed on the back, and then finished the top edge with pink bias tape. I used the same bias tape to make the ties for the bumper.

Here's the finished product along with the rest of the bedding I made:

My Girls Room- The Windows

2009-08-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

When I went to make window shades for my little girls room, I decided to, again, loosely follow the pattern I bought.

It was pretty easy.

They are a little bit too skinny for the window I think, but I still like it.

Here they are on both windows.

The hardest part may have actually been tying the pink bows nicely and evenly.

My Girls Room- The Quilt

2009-08-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

While working on my baby girls room- I decided to make a quilt to match the rest of the bedding.
I've never really quilted before, but I thought I could figure it out... Here's how I did it.
I cut out 2.5" squares from my pink and my brown fabric. (I used a 1/4" seam allowance so the squares ended up at 2".)
I started by sewing them in sets of two. So I had a bunch of rectangles that consisted of one pink square and one brown square. Then I ironed the seams open.
Next I took two rectangles and built a square, again pressing the seams open when I finished.
When I had a big pile of squares that were 4"x4" (consisting each of two brown squares and two pink squares) I sewed a row of five of these squares together so I had a long rectangle 4"x20".
I made seven of those rows, and sewed them together, and added one more single strips of squares, so the checkerboard part of the quilt measures 10 squares by 15 squares (20"x30")

I sewed a two inch border around the outside and attached batting to the back. I finished it by simply sewing a brown panel to the back.

Here it is, in my girls room:

My Girls Room- The Crib Skirt

2009-08-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

So the next part of my little girls room that I worked on was the crib skirt/dust ruffle.

I wanted to do pink and brown throughout the room, but while I was looking for fabric I didn't find any patterned pink and brown fabric that I liked. All I could find were small flower prints or patterns that too many other colors mixed in. I wanted a big bold pattern so I decided to make it myself. I used plain pink and brown fabric and cut it into strips.

I cut 42 strips in each color at 1 inch wide. Then I cut 38 strips in each color measuring 2.5" wide.

I alternated the colors and sizes of the strips and sewed them together vertically.

After leaving a 1/4" inch seam allowance the final stripes were 1/2" and 2" wide.

The pattern I had called for the two long sides of the crib skirt to be 52" and the short side to measure at 26". I wanted to have some 'ruffle' in my dust ruffle though so I made them longer. My long sides were 62 inches long and the short sides were 31 inches each.

I used pink double-fold bias tape to finish off the lower edge of the ruffle.

So after I cut out a base to go under the mattress in the crib (out of a plain white fabric) it was time to pin the ruffles to the base. Since I had purposely made them 'too wide', I had to work to evenly distribute that extra length throughout the piece.

I sewed the sides to the base with right sides together. Then I turned the ruffle over and top stitched right next to the original stitching line to help it lie flat.

Here's the finished ruffle.

And hanging in the crib: under the sheet.

My Girls Room- The Sheet

2009-08-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

So I am about a week away from having a little baby girl, and since my husband and I were not able to find bedding that we really liked I decided to make it myself. I am not a great sewer... but the best way to fix that is to practice right?

I bought a pattern set for some nursery accessories, and loosely based my stuff off of those patterns. Except the sheet, I cut the sheet exactly as the pattern said.

I will tell you that originally I was not planning on making the sheet, I was going to buy a plain sheet, and making accessories to match, I thought that the sheet would be really difficult for some reason, but I was WRONG. It was probably the easiest part of the whole room.

So in the end I made two.

My Girls Room- The Mobile

2009-08-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

So the last thing that I made for my little girls room was a mobile. The structure of the mobile was just the plastic pieces from my sons mobile, with the fabric removed.
For the hanging pieces of the mobile, I drew out a star and a heart on card stock, and then traced four of each shape onto my brown fabric and cut them out.
I used some of my leftover bias tape and sewed stripes across one side of two of the hearts and two of the stars. Then I sewed those, right sides together with the leftover shapes, leaving a whole a the bottom of the shape to turn it right side out and to stuff. Then I just hand stitched the last bit closed.

I took embroidery floss that I had leftover and hand stitched it through four points in the backs of the shapes. and tied them off.

For the top, I measured out the size of the triangle between the plastic points, and cut out four of them. I used bias tape and finished the two short edges of each triangle with the bias tape.
I then stitched all four triangles together to form the square, leaving a hole in the middle for the hook of the mobile to go through. Then I used more of the bias tape to finish the outside edge of the piece, and hung the stuffed hearts and stars from the top piece.

This mobile is the part of the room that I am least happy with. It was my first try with some of this stuff, and I struggled the outcome was okay but I'm not really happy with it.

Fabric Flower Hair Clips

2009-07-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

I found a tutorial here for making a five petal flower from fabric. You could use these in lots of different ways, So far I have just used mine for some hair clips.

I used the same clips, and covered them the same way as I did when I made Silk Flower Hair Clips.

Then I sewed the flowers according to the tutorial. Just so you know, the larger your stitches are, the smaller the hole will be in the center of the flower. Also your fabric will change the size of the hole in the center, thinner, lighter fabrics will create a smaller more closed in hole. If you choose to use smaller stitches closer together, then you will be left with a larger space to fill; so your will need a larger button to cover the center. Once I finished the flower, I just got out the glue gun and glued the flower onto the hair clip.

The tutorial says to use 6 squares, that are 3"x3"...You actually only need five squares. these last two flowers were made using smaller squares of fabric. Also, if you are using a button that has only two holes it may wiggle around a little bit more, if it does that and it shows some of the raw edges to your fabric, just use a little hot glue to keep the button in its place.

Thinking of You

2009-07-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

So here's another card that I designed for card swap.
First ---the cutting.
I cut white card stock into 5.5"x7.5" pieces to make a 3.75x"5.5" card.
I cut some of this pretty pink patterned paper into 3.5x"5.25" rectangles.
Next I cut strips from a black pinstripe paper at 1"x5.25"
I then cut strips from both a burgundy paper and vellum in strips that measure1/2"x5.25"
Then two rectangles, one from the same burgundy paper and one from vellum- these were 2"x3".
I taped the patterned paper down onto the card. taped the pinstriped paper across the card, in the bottom half.
In the center of the pinstriped strip I taped down the burgundy strip of paper, and glued the vellum strip on top of that.
I Stamped a flower and 'thinking of you' onto the vellum rectangle, and adhered that to the burgundy rectangle, then taped that to the card.
I finished it by taking two self adhesive metal dots and putting them on either end of the stamped vellum rectangle. You could probably stress the edges of the vellum to give it a little more depth. But there you have it.

This card was actually made for this month when it was my turn to host- so of course I made treats too.

I made a three layer single tier red velvet cake, and I wanted to have it match with the card that we all made together.

I took the stamps that I used for the card and stamped them on a sheet of white paper, scanned it into the computer, enlarged the images, and printed it up. I transferred the pattern onto the cake using parchment paper and piping gel.

On the sides, I didn't want to try to copy the pattern off of the pink paper exactly, but I did something swirly and pink to give the same idea.

Then I made Bakerella cake balls with the scraps from the cake.

Mojo 94

2009-07-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have made another Card for Mojo Monday.
Here is this weeks Sketch:

There is a lot of stuff on this card- so at first I was going to do something sort of monochromatic, like mostly black and white, with just one accent color in a few places, but I was looking through my pile of scrap that I save and decided to put these papers together and so I ended up with something more colorful.

I used matching Gel Pens to trace over parts of the stamps and draw "stitches" around the edge of the card.

CPS 122

2009-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a card for this weeks sketch on CPS

Here's the Sketch for this week:
It's a pretty basic sketch, so I could do almost anything with it, But here's what I came up with:

Late CPS

2009-06-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

This card is based on a Sketch from CPS, but I missed the deadline, but I am entering it for the blog Adriennes Sentiments
Anyway, here is the sketch:

Here's the stamp that I used- It has a flower in the middle and say many thanks around it, I stamped it once on the green paper, and twice on pink, then I cut the center flowers out of the pink paper and folded them slightly so the flower would have three layers to it.

And now here is the finished project:

Window Card

2009-06-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another card that I made for my cardswap.

First the cutting:
I cut pink card stock into pieces that were 5.5"x3.75" I folded it in half, and cut a 2.5" circle out of the center of one half of the card.
I cut a dotted patterned paper into 3.75" squares and cut a 2.5" circle out of the center.
I had a paper that had a grid pattern of squares and cupcakes on it, I cut it into strips, and cut the strips down so they had four squares each.
Last, I cut transparencies into squares that were about 3.5" (I just bought a box of overhead transparencies from OfficeMax

I stamped happy Birthday on the transparency with my Staz-on white ink, and then glued that down onto the front of the pink card.

I then taped down the dotted paper, lining up the circles. I also taped down the strips with squares and cupcakes along the edges of the card. Last thing, I just had to trim the extra paper around the edges.

Here's the final product, with the back half of the pink card showing through.

Free Stuff

2009-06-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

There is a fun blogger who is giving away blog candy this month-- Check her out: Creative Card Corner

Go Check it out!

Midnight Madness 7

2009-06-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

While I was making the card for MMSC6- I went ahead and followed the next sketch on Midnight Madness
Here is the sketch for challenge number 7

I rotated this one also, but the best part is that the little butterflies are multi-layered, so the top layer is 3D and popping off the card.

Midnight Madness 6

2009-06-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

I made a card for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge again this week.

Here is the Sketch for week 6:

And here is what I made:

I rotated it obviously, but I really liked this sketch--the overlapping ribbons is very pretty

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

So today during my sons nap I decided to make two cards for Fathers Day. I used two sketches from two different challenges for the inspiration.
The First was a Card I made for my Husband, it was based on the Sketch from Stamps and Smiles

Here's my card:

The next card I made was "from" my husband to my Father-in-law, I used the Sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp for this one:

My Stamps-- I was really limited, I need more stamps that are masculine, or at least neutral, rather than all the flowers and butterflies I have.

And the finished project.

Tip Junkie

2009-06-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's a birthday bash at Tip junkie!

More give-aways everyday!!!!

Tie-Up Card

2009-06-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a pretty, but basic little double fold tie up card
First off, I'll go with all of my cutting...
1- I cut Blue card stock into pieces that were 4"x8"
2- I cut some lightweight white paper into 3x3" squares.
3- I cut some textured white card stock into 3"x1.5" rectangles
4- I used the same blue Card stock and cut 1" squares.
5- I cut 9" lengths of a silky white ribbon, the ribbon is about 3/4" wide.

Instead of folding the card in half, I measured two inches in from each side of the blue card stock and folded each end in.
Then I taped the white square of paper into the center of the card.

I glued one end of a ribbon to the back of each of the textured 1.5"x3" rectangles, and then adhered them to the front of the card.

I then stuck 1" squares onto each side of the opening of the card.
Then, I tied the ribbon into a bow. This card was pretty easy to make and is nice and simple, but still pretty, and just a little bit different than the norm, since it opens in the middle instead of off to the side.

Did You Hear???

2009-06-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

It's a Party!!!
One of my blogs that I follow (and love) is having a party to celebrate going to "dot-com"

Speaking of parties you have to check out the Tip Junkie blog if you haven't yet, lading up to her big bash she has posted SO MANY adorable ideas for party ideas and decor

flower hair clips

2009-06-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

I've spent some time recently making hair clips for my little girl that should soon be making her debut in the world. I don't think people realize how easy and inexpensive it is to make hair clips and how versatile they can be, so I'm going to show how I made them.

I have several different kinds of clips that I have made, but right now I'm only going to show the clips I made using silk flowers.

Just go to your local craft store and find stems of flowers that you like and any ribbon to match; when you get home, you pull all of the flowers off of the stems, and remove any of the plastic "centers".

The clips I use are Conair, perfect shape and size for what I want

And the secret ingredient: cabinet lining. You can buy this in large amounts at any place like Bed Bath & Beyond.

See, you cut it into thin little 1" strips, and when you glue that inside the clip it will help "grip" the hair with out being uncomfortable

Once you've picked your ribbon and flower, you start by using your hot glue gun to glue the ribbon onto the hair clip.

Then take your flower(s) and glue them down one by one

I recommend always using more than one single flower, layering the flowers is just much prettier.

When You've got the flowers on, add something to the center, most often I use small jewels, but buttons, brads, beads, etc... will work
Then also glue the strip of lining inside the clip to finish it off.

Based on the size of your flowers, you may or may not see the ribbon that you use... so if you're using a small flower, be more careful matching the ribbon since it will be very visible:

Larger flowers cover the ribbon so you don't need to get as picky (there are a few very large flowers that I used no ribbon at all)

Midnight Madness #4

2009-06-08T21:39:00.001-07:00

Another Challenge card this one is for Midnight Madness #4.
Here is the Sketch that they provided:

And here is what I came up with:

I know it's pretty basic, but I love, love, love pink and brown together, so for me it doesn't get much better than this!

Doubling Up

2009-06-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a card that I made to do double duty.

I Used the challenge from Truly Scrumptious which was to include more than one fold in your card.

And I followed this weeks sketch for Stamps and Smiles Sketch Challenge #18.

Here is the sketch that they provided:

And here is my creation:

A view from the front

And showing the double fold in the card.

Quilt Card

2009-06-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Folks over at ABC challenge have weekly themes based on letters of the alphabet... this week is Q for Quilt, I like the cards they designed... but mine is a slightly different interpretation... I thought it would be fun to make a card that simply looked like a quilt pattern; so here we go:

Here's how I did it:

First I cut regular white paper with my Kraft Edgers scissors

(KE-26, the name of this pattern of scissors is 'bounces')

I then flipped my scissors over and cut very close to the first cut to get this chain effect.

Then I cut some medium blue and some dark blue paper into 3/4" squares. (Lots and lots of .75" squares). I could have cut strips and 'weaved' the paper together, but I liked the slightly messy look that I got from the individual squares. It looks very homemade.
Since I wanted the quilt on the front to by 5 squares by 7 squares, I made the card 3.75"x5.25"
I used plain white card stock for the card.

Here is the image of the untrimmed card with the background of the quilt pattern.

I started attaching the small chains of white ovals, I had the easiest time keeping the angles and such how I wanted, if I cut it into sections of two ovals per piece.

I continued laying down the oval chains, but did not continue the pattern into the outer rows of the 'quilt'.

I then cut white paper into strips about 1/4" wide and glued them around the center section of the 'quilt'.

I had intended to stop there, but it was not enough , so I punched out 1/8" punches from some yellow paper, and glue them into the center of each square that contained a pattern.

And of course, I trimmed down the edges of the card.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge

2009-06-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

So C.R.A.F.T. Challenge posted a challenge to create a brown-and-blue themed Fathers Day Card.
Here is what I cam up with:
I used a 4x6 Dark brown card stock for the card.
I cut a 2.5"x3.5" rectangle and a strip of paper that is 6"x about 1.5"
I then used the same dark brown card stock and cut a 2x3" rectangle and a 1x6" strip.
The last paper I used was a tan color, and I cut a rectangle that was about1.75"x2.75" and another at .75"x4".
I Stamped Dad on the rectangles with Blue ink, and then hand wrote Happy Fathers Day across the strips on the bottom. I added three blue brads, and two smaller brown brads between the to sections of the card.

Sunday Sketch #4

2009-06-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a card that I made for Sunday Sketch and Stamp

Here is the image that I used to create my card:

I have previously changed little things about the card when I've done sketch challenges, but I LOVED this layout- so I changed nothing!
First I got out two little cupcake stamps I had and stamp them on squares of white paper that were about 1-3/8".

After I stamped the images I colored them in with colored pencils.

I cut slightly larger squares from a pink card stock and layered those behind the cupcakes, I attached each of these pink squares to the front of my card, where I had stamped 'Happy Birthday' and attached a matching pink ribbon.

There is my finished product

CardPatterns Card

2009-06-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that I absolutely LOVE doing the challenges where a website gives a sketch or a theme, and you create a card based on that. I originally thought it would be such a waste of time to sit around and design a card, and then only have one card to show for it. But it is nice to be able to use whatever stuff I want for the cards.... I don't need to make sure that I have enough ribbon for 20 cards to take to card swap. I still like card swap, but this is fun too!

Anyway, here is a card that I made for CardPatterns.
Here is the sketch I was supposed to follow:
Here's what I made:
I decided to keep the color scheme simple. I used a white card, placed black card stock on top of that, and then I used two different black and white patterns.
Then I used red for my color, I put a red ribbon across the card, stamped the 'swirly' and missing you, and traced over the swirly with a thin red marker. And then three red buttons in the corner to finish it off.

MIdnight Madness 3

2009-06-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Two days in a row!!! My son has gotten to an age where he can play on his own for long stretches of time, which means I have more time for crafting during the day... at least for the next 10 weeks until baby number 2 gets here.

So here we are; the card I made today for the Midnight Madness sketch challenge.

I cut a 4x6" card out of a burgundy card stock, and cut 4.5"x3.5" rectangles out of dark green and very pale green card stocks. I adhered the dark green piece to the light green piece just slightly offset, down and to the right.

Then I taped that down to the front of the card.

I used the same burgundy card stock and cut a 2.5" inch square and cut another 2.5"square from a mellow green color. I stamped 'Thank You' on the green square, stuck the two squares together at a slight angle, and taped that to the card.

With all of the paper pieces in place, I punched holes along the left hand side, where I placed my flowers, and fastened them with brads.

I then used a "paper ribbon" to go across the bottom.

My Mojo

2009-06-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

So I often want to make a card for the blog Monday Mojo, but I have yet to get around to it.

This week I decided to do it and do it early, so here it is.

I used a 4x5.5" card.

The top is a patterned Vellum, and I found a paper to match to go across the bottom.

I cut a 2.25" square out of light yellow cardstock, and then found a slightly darker shade of yellow and cut a larger square to border the first square.

I stamped 'Thinking of You' and a daisy stamp that I had in Blue ink, and then also stamped the daisy in the bottom corners of the card.

I found a matching dark yellow ribbon and glued that across the seam between the two papers, then glued a yellow embellishiment ribbon across the bottom of the first ribbon, I used the same embellishment ribbon to thread through the bottun.

Purple Birthday

2009-05-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little bit torn on this card... it feels a little TOO purple, but here it is anyway.
First, the cutting:
I cut 4x6 cards from white card stock.
Next I cut some purple paper into 3x5 rectangles.
Then I cut 2x3" rectangles from a paper that used lighter shades of purple and had a diamond pattern on it.
Then I cut some of my scraps of white card stock into rectangles that measured about 1"x2.5".
Lastly, I cut a purple ribbon that said 'happy birthday' on it into to strips about 4 inches long.

I stuck the ribbon onto the 3x5 card (with the edges of the ribbon folded over the back.)

Then I Stuck that piece onto the actual card.

I stamped "Happy Birthday" onto the small white rectangle with black ink and taped that onto the diamond patterned paper. Then I pierced holes right along the edges of the white "happy birthday" piece and placed silver brads into those holes.

I then taped that entire piece onto the card.

I thought it needed something more, so I got out a mini stamp that I have of dots, and stamped the little dot pattern on each corner with purple ink.

Baby Shower Cards

2009-05-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

So I made two versions of this card...Baby Girl and Baby Boy.
I'll just tell you how I made the Baby Girl Card.
First I took an 8.5"x11" sheet of pink cardstock and used some texturing plates to create the pattern of the little feet and hands. I then took a purple colored stamp pad and lightly swiped the ink over the paper to give color to the raised portions of the paper. I cut the paper into 1"x4" strips.
I took some pink patterned paper, which I traced my pattern of a dress onto and cut out the dress shape. I used a black pen to draw "stitches" around the outline of the dress, and drew pockets onto the dress.
Then I took sheets of cardstock that I had cut into 4"x12" strips, and folded them to make a vertically opening 4x6 card.
I glued pieces of twine (that I bought in the jewelry making section) onto the top corners of the card. I glued one strip of the textured paper onto the top and bottom of each card.
Next, I clipped these adorable little clothespins I got at Joanns (made by Jolee's.) onto the string.
I clipped my little dress into the clips and then stuck some foam squares under the bottom corners of the dress, to keep it in place and to help it to stand out off of the card.

Of course for the boy card, I did the same thing but with blue paper, and overalls instead of a dress.

Thank You Card

2009-05-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Surprise! It's another card.
This one was one of my easier cards to make.
I made a 4x6 White card.
I cut a rectangle out of violet paper at 3.5"x5.5" and stuck it to the front of the card.
I cut a smaller rectangle out of white paper, it was 3.25 inches wide and about 4 inches tall.
Then I pulled out my handy Kraft Edgers scissors and cut the top and bottom edge of the white rectangle. I used a 1/4 inch hole punch to punch holes above (and below) every 3rd point in the scallop pattern.
I used a purple ink to "stress" the edges of the paper and used the same ink to stamp on the words "Thank You" and a pretty swirly thing. All that was left to do then was tape the stamped white paper down on top of the violet paper.

Flower Cake

2009-05-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

I know that it seems like I'm only capable of making cards, but it's just not true. I can make cake too!

I made a single tier, three layer 9" round cake, and covered it in chocolate icing. Then I took a cookie cutter in the shape of a flower and stamped the flower outline into the chocolate icing. I took some butter cream icing that I colored with Wiltons awesome vibrant coloring.

I put a ruffle border around the bottom and then piped over the outline of the flowers. I used a paintbrush to drag some of the icing inwards, to give it an embroidered effect. and then piped a little dot into the center of the flowers.