52 CHRISTMAS CARD THROWDOWN

Our challenge for this round...

I had a card base of Very Vanilla already embossed with the Cable Knit embossing folder.

From the Be Merry DSP I pulled patterns that looked stitched. The stamp set is from Merry Mistletoe. The sentiment is stamped on a piece of Very Vanilla and die cut with the Stitched Framelit Oval

I liked how the card turned out. I might make four more to add to my stash. If you need a quick Christmas card come November, this is one you can count on. 

I'm also posting this on the Stampin' UP! blog tomorrow so I needed to stick with products we still have - at least through the end of May. The colors used were Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.

There won't be any cards this weekend. Bob's time home is coming to an end so I'll be spending most of my time with him. Thank you for your understanding!

Merry Christmas Blessings!

THURSDAY THREADS - Traveler's Notebook - Graphics loaded

 Earlier this month I joined not one but two creative challenges. Camp Reset and One Book July

One is Camp Reset - the brainchild of planner/ crafter/ encourager - Cori Spieker aka The Reset Girl. If you've even glanced at planner stuff in the craft stores you've probably seen some of her product designs distributed through Carpe Diem by Simple Stories.

Our first task was to create an Essentials bag/ basket of things we would use on our Self-Care journey throughout the month of July in the Camp Reset Challenge. Here's my Essentials basket. I'll be explaining more about the contents tomorrow.

The other challenge is One Book July.  THIS video is by one of the three creators of One Book July with a fun take on how the challenge works.  I am using ONE book - ONE pen - ONE 'Go Big Or Stay Home' 

Now, we can interpret the three points however we wish. I am using ONE BOOK - the one I'm about to show you. ONE PEN - one brand but in several colors.  ONE PROJECT - Trying to organize this studio - even if it's just to clear the mixed media pile from in front of my altar. 

But since this is about Threads, I'm going to show you my planner that I am using for both challenges.

I had planned on using a regular planner but in the waking hours after watching several One Book videos, I had a vision of a Traveler's Notebook made from recycled denim jeans. So here's what I came up with:

The notebook is made from a faded/ soft denim with a piece of poster board sandwiched between for a bit of sturdiness. Mine might be a bit off from size but it's 8.5 x 5.25.

Since I'm using more than one pen, a single pen loop on the side wasn't going to work.

I stitched a length of elastic on the inside front cover. The pencil marks I used to designate where the pen divisions needed to be stitched would not erase so I colored the whole strip with an alcohol marker.

I used eyelets to run my elastic bands through. The bands were made from soft-stretch braided elastic. I secured the ends together with a crimp closure used in jewelry making. There are 4 elastic bands holding the four signatures. I want to add at least one more signature to this. But this is what I have so far.

I've never made a Traveler's Notebook before but I want to make another at some point. You'll notice in the first picture I have a side closure rather than the elastic closure that comes out from the center of the side and loops over the entire book. Not sure I'm describing that well so I'm including a YouTube video below for you to check out. I really wanted the vintage button. I used a Tim Holtz elastic closure from the back so that I could loop over the button. 

Here are the inside layouts of my Traveler's Notebook:

The Welcome Page

The Packing List

Camp Itinerary

Badge Tracker. We R Memory Keepers pocket holds badges

Game Day - Wordsearch - All planner related

Right side is cover of the Self-Care signature

From popsugar.com

Check out my  #TRGCampReset on Pinterest

Habit Tracker

I've added my challenge cards inspiration cards since taking this photo. Ideas for:

Physical Time/ Tech Break/ Creative Time

Self Care/ Routine ideas to implement.

Just put these pages together while we were on vacation last week.

 Didn't get them filled in before I took photos

Camp Calendar

This lets us keep track of chats and things Cori has scheduled.

Notes piece taken from the tracker print out (Left)

Inside cover of the Weekly TN Insert (Right) from Michaels new TN line

Inside spread from the Weekly TN

I've added a monthly calendar sticker from Cori's line.

That's it for the journal. Curious as to what's inside my Essentials basket  Check back tomorrow for an update!

Creative Blessings!

Kelly

Recycle Wednesday - Needle Book

Okay, this isn't necessarily a recycle project as it is a repurposing.

I love to sew. I don't know a lot about some things as much as I should. One of those is the proper sewing machine needle to use for specific fabrics. The other thing is I have a needles for different fabrics but they're all kept in one ziploc bag. While watching Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting, I saw a tips segment where a gal kept her needles in separate jewelry bags and then all of the bags in a plastic hard case index card holder.
Not bad... at least they're not all piled together to be sifted through like a deck of cards.

Then last year while in Paducah KY I found an issue of Simply Homemade - a crafting magazine from the UK. I love their magazine because you always get more than just a magazine. This issue came with the cutest set of stamps from NitWit Collections. They also had a beautiful collection of papers and cut-out embellishments from their Thimbles and Threads line.

So this is what I started with:

If you look in the right of the brag book, you'll see a glimpse of the project they had in the magazine made from a chip board album. I needed pockets to put my needles in so I picked up a generic brag book for $1 at Dollar General. I'll use the first couple of pages to put a chart showing which needle # works best for which fabrics. Then the rest of the photo pockets will hold the different needle sizes. I also plan, once the needles are in place, to use scraps from the papers to label the pages with the coordinating needle size so I can put them back in the right spot when I am finished with them.

I didn't use the clear stamps you see in the bottom left corner - just the papers/ cut-outs they provided.

I photocopied some of the cut-outs to white CS so they'd be a bit stronger and I'd retain my originals for now.

Here's what I came up with:

The tape measure, the mouse, the base paper and the mat are all from the magazine packet. I added the buttons and stamped NEEDLES using Hampton ART stamps. The sewing machine is from Jesse James Buttons.

Now to get the needles put away. :-)

It's in the Bag!

Last week I was able to surprise my secret sister at Splitcoast with a selection of goodies based on the Banishing the Winter Blues theme. Remember, one of the categories was to include 'Blue Jeans'. My husband and I came up with the same idea... to create a bag for Maggie.

I used a pair of my Old Navy jeans, cutting them off right at the top of the legs and putting a 3" gusset in the bottom. I didn't gusset the sides so it wasn't 'too' full. I lined the bag with the same bandana sytled fabric you see for the waist belt. To finish it off I removed the waistband and belt loops from a matching pair of jeans to create the handle. I added 2 belt loops on the sides - one on either side of the side seam and attached a D ring to run the waistband/ handle through. It had been awhile since I'd sat down to the sewing machine and the first time using the extension table Bob made for me last month before he left for the boat.

Next week I'll be showing off new kitchen and bathroom curtains... with a story to share :0)

Creative Blessings

Kelly

Handy Manny Headboard

My granddaughter is a Handy Manny fan. If you don't know who Handy Manny is, check out the DisneyChannel. This is an animated daily show on Disney. Manny is a handy man in the little town of SheetRock Hills. His 'talking' tools - Phillipe (phillips head screwdriver), Turner (flat head screwdriver), Dusty (hand saw), Pat (hammer), Rusty (pipe wrench), Squeeze (pliers), Stretch (tape measure), Flicker (flashlight), and Fix It (robotic dog made from various parts around the shop). The show has a Latin American flavor teaching basic words in Spanish as well as life lessons. If you watch, you can see traits in each of the tools that will remind you of kids you probably went to school with. Some of the voice-overs are provided by characters from our own past. Remember Mrs. Cunningham? (Richie Cunningham's mom on Happy Days)She provides the voice for Mrs. Lopard (her son owns the candy store).

As my granddaughter prepares to leave the nest she's occupied for the past 16 months, she'll be leaving her crib behind for a 'big girl' toddler bed at her mommy's. The bed is a white wrought iron with open grilling. I decided it needed a little comfort. So with nothing except a full size comforter for Handy Manny bedding to be found, I created a headboard and side rail covers.

My initial intent was to use the center panel from the comfortor for the headboard but Manny's head wouldn't even fit, let alone all the tools. So I bought a coloring book at WM and inlarged one of the pages to fit. Using a light box and a quilter's iron-on pencil, I transfered the image to white broadcloth. Then I colored it with Crayola crayons, and heat set it with an iron. Once the front panel was complete, I quilted it a backing fabric sandwiched with 4 layers of cotton batting. After creating a band and a back panel, I handed it off to my husband to place 5 sturdy gold flathead snaps to the bottom edge. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.