The Art of Card Making, simplified.

To those of you that have decided to tackle making your christmas cards this year, and now you are why didi I get myself into this. Take a deep breathe and I will take you on a smooth ride to card making perfection.

The first order in card making 101 is a small trip to the store:)
~you will need blank cards and envelopes. I buy cream no matter what the season because I always have some left.
~search your craft stores for papers that reflect your style, right now the craft stores are stuffed with great lines! they will have a line of papers and embellishments you will love using.
~ remember size matters, if you are going to simply make cards, you don't need every piece of paper in their collection, pick about 4 favorite and a solid to enhance your pattern's. You may want to invest in a few of the coordinating embellishments, but before you do, go to the rhinestone section, buy at least a package of sticky flat back rhinestones you adore. They are a cheap add on! So is a coordinating ribbon, or buttons!
~ I want you to get the most for your money, so I would suggest you get a all purpose adhesive.
~ One other way to save is watch your store adds for off season, clearance stamps, and papers embellishments. Just because it isn't thanksgiving doesn't mean your the paper is not pretty! It is just much less!


*I will show you mine and maybe you will get a few ideas! I hope you enjoy card making. Remember we are all our worst critic! The reason home made cards are wonderful is that you made them from your creative heart. That is a blissful beginning to Christmas!

Once you do cards expand to gift tags! They have all different sizes- it adds such a personality to a gift!

Enjoy the season. I may be back on here soon to teach you a few tricks on those gift tags!

Thanksgiving with my kids.

Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying the holiday season! I hope you are getting the bug to create! I know I am. Although the first thing I did was make place cards with my kids for thanksgiving dinner. They had a blast and it really let that mini artist out.  Look at the pictures and see how we did!

It feels like home.

To all of you out in blog land who have enjoyed my blog, I am so sorry I have been gone for so long! I must admit being here feels like I walked into my home on a chilly day to a fireplace and a cup of tea. This is such a part of me now, my little blog page. Popular or not, I love sharing the things that have helped me through my journey of the pain RA brings and fibromyalgia. It may sound silly but it is a outlet, for pain, for a broken heart, or a desire to make something with you own two hands. Although I really don't have a excuse for being gone so long, other then life has been so busy and stressful.  I hope that you all have been up to something fun that brings that bliss to your soul. I was able to finish (finally) my daughters quilt. I am now onto Christmas stockings. Not to mention I have been really trying to use couponing more and the coupon strategies that save you so much at the grocery.  Sometimes I ask myself as a mother with two young children should I put my love for creating to the side, just until I am not called for 20 times in 20 min.? Then I ask myself, does this bring me joy &bliss and something of my own, a way to describe me. To answer my question it's yes. I absolutely find a mental break when I dive in to all the pretty mediums to make a card, or the stack of pretty fabrics, I am in love all over again!

Also this time of year I usually go a bit high gear to make certain things to give as gifts. Which brings me great joy, something I made with my own hands, is now owned by someone I care deeply for. It is like giving them a piece of my soul and what I stand for.

I will post sooner next time! I promise!

Little Girl's big style by:Mary Abreu

  Every time I go into this charming boutique here in town I get so inspired by the detail put into these little people clothes. Surely any little girl would feel fancy dressed in something from my friends shop. It just has that feel to it- you walk in and she uses antique drawers to store extras in, she has gorgeous fabric banners hanging from the walls. It is a happy place, you are greeted with a smile and she will taylor anything to your child's needs. Then there is the wall of hair flowers and bows and everything in between! It is little girl heaven.

  I came across this book that has similar styles to the style that is my friends trademark. I know I will never be the pro that my friend is, but I thought even if I could make a dress or two- a shirt with ruffles. How thrilled my little girl would be. I already make almost all her hair flowers, which saves me money, but if I could make a portion of her wardrobe too- how fun this could be.

   This book is filled with tips and pointers, they have a section for skirts, shirts and dresses. They really do give you advice that you can follow. This book is boosting 23 projects from size 2 through 6! So if you have a little one around size 2 or 3 you will get the bang for your buck!  I always go to the fabric sales and at Jo-Ann's I can't let a coupon go to waste! So my fabric drawers are full I need to get to it, before my little one grows out of this glorious book!

Hope you enjoy!

Still quilting

I am still enjoying my time on my sturdy sewing machine. It makes me especially happy now to know when I picked a machine with the quilting ability that I chose well.  At the time I ordered it I was afraid I may not enjoy the beauty of quilt making, so the bit extra I paid would be wasted. Now, I couldn't be happier with my Janome sewing machine.

I was very scared to get to the point I am at now, the actual quilting part:) To put the back material the batting and front together and actually sew them together with a design! I quickly got over it after going back through my wonderful book and seeing line quilting. I was no longer overwhelmed- a bit nervous because I didn't want to do a bad job on the last part! So, this morning I pulled my sleeves up- it was time to tackle this quilting business. So, here I am, my quilting is partially finished. (A girl needs a break once in a while, to blog of course) But- what I wanted to tell you was don't be scared, the line quilting is pretty easy, I just rolled up the side of the quilt I wasn't working on, moved my machine to the far right of the table (I am working on the right side of the quilt) so that I could put the extra fabric both on my lap as I work and resting on the table. It has made it work out pretty well. Although, I have little mistakes, I guess what I was afraid of happened a bit here or there, but what I realized the joy of making this quilt is far more important then perfection and my daughter loves it! She will not know there are a few mishaps here or there. Oh, and people that may stop by, that I just might give the "home tour to" I highly doubt they will be investigating my quilt. So, I guess what I wanted to tell you was don't be anxious, take it easy on yourself, especially for your first one, and just enjoy creating. It really has been a perfectly blissful experience for me!

TIP: to any of you planning on making a quilt, find out the amount of batting you need and head to Jo-Ann's they have the soft and natural brand on sale! Which is what I was recommended in my simplify book. It has been a dream to work with and- it's on sale so well that for a twin size quilt I only paid 13.75! That is a lot of batting. So check before you go make sure it wasn't the last day for the sale when I went. Hopefully you can manage to take advantage of this price!

Have fun quilting, and most importantly be blissful and enjoy the little things.

A new found passion for quilting

I have always loved the way a quilt felt covering my lap on a crisp fall day. I have always admired women who were able to do it so well. My Great Grandma is one of those people, I couldn't begin to know how many she must have made. You see my Maw Maw is unable at this point to continue to make them. They are so much work!

Then one day I was in my local craft store looking over all the pretty fabric, and found a book simplify, quilts for the modern home, by Camille Roskelley.  I flipped through the pages at the store, I was amazed the gorgeous fabrics she used. You see that was one thing about quilts, I was never very found of the fabric choices or how they looked old, but I loved them - how they made me feel inside all cozy and warm.  Yet this book made a quilt look so pretty with her mix of fabrics and her modern patterns, I loved it. I thought I will buy this read it and see from there. I would not allow the thought of making a quilt overwhelm me.

So, I decided after reading this book which I loved to go to my local quilt shop in search of these gorgeous fabrics she spoke of in the book, she also makes fabric lines with her mother Bonnie Olaveson for Moda. The fabrics she has made are gorgeous. In the book she explains how to "simplify" fabric selection. So I gazed at all of these modernly beautiful fabrics, and decided I would make my little girl a twin quilt for when she got into "a big girl bed".  I found these soft tones and sort of a shabby chic style line I adored. I wasn't sure though which quilt to try to tackle first, so I asked the nice lady that worked there, that was when I ended up buying the pattern hopscotch. She told me it was perfect for beginners. Although I had wished to use one of the quilt designs in my book, I thought next time.

I got home with a bunch of fabric and a lot of ambition. I put all the squares together first. Then put the project away for a few months. I needed a break.  Then I picked it back up two weeks ago, I now have the entire top done, I am off today to buy the batting and material for the back! I am so excited and a bit scared this is such a new adventure.

I urge you to take a look around at Camille's blog you will fall in love instantly. One of the things she is hoping by doing what she does is that she will encourage young mother's like herself to start quilting. She sure got me hooked! Quilting has been such a calming experience. Also a very fun one!

I just ordered two patterns from her store which you can get to from her blog, one called BLISS imagine that! I promise it wasn't the name that got it me, it was so very pretty! I also ordered her pattern for quilted stockings!

Check it out at www.camilleroskelley.com it is a gorgeous blog! Wait until you see her red polka dot chair - I adore it! I hope you enjoy!

Hair Flowers

If any of you have been waiting on this post I am sorry for the delay! I expect you have your supplies ready to make your little ones precious flower. First of all these are suggestions, not the only way of making them. Use your creativity, add glitter, don't. Use tulle, don't or maybe use a tad extra!

First you need to take the flower apart. Rip the middle piece out, I sometimes have to cut it out. Once this is done you can lay your layers on the your workspace. Grab your tulle, cut out of it a few circles (as many as you may want to use, you could cut different sizes for different layers or simply A few larger pieces for the bottom, your choice. Once this is done, use a lighter to burn the edges of tulle, to prevent fraying. Now either by sewing or a glue gun (I suggest low heat!!!) Add layer by layer your flower. Then once layered add your center- usually I glue this section.  Then turn it over take the claw clip you bought, now you can either line it with a matching ribbon or glue it on without a ribbon, just make sure you glue the back side of the claw clip on, so the top of the clip is facing you if it is turned over.

Let it dry. Give it a check, make sure that you have secured all sections enough, and there you go your little ballerina has a brand new flower for her bun! I hope you enjoy making it for her!  I also hope this was informative and helped. Not everyones will look the same, remember at every craft show I have graced there has always been another booth with flowers- they are always different in their own way.

Enjoy! I hope your little ballerina does too!