Sewing Stitched Card

Here is a card I made for my cousin who is very crafty, and has her own Folksy shop selling her wonderful felt creations, so for her birthday a sewing card seemed very appropriate. I have been meaning to get my sewing machine out for ages, and finally did!

I started by stamping the background in Antique Linen and Tea Dye distress ink and the stamps are from a set I've had for ages called Vintage Elements from See D's

I layered up these images on some card I'd sponged with forest Moss.

The main image is a digital stamp from Cherie Mask, called Dress it up.

Missed challenges and exciting news

Recently I have been taking part in challenges, only to miss the submission deadline, which is highly frustrating. Its not that I don't get the cards made on time, but getting them onto the computer and blogged can take me a week, by which time the challenge is over!

So I'm posting here a couple of cards I made for challenges which I've missed.

The first was a 10 minute craft dash challenge. When I saw this new challenge on Pretty Pink Posh I knew it was something I wanted to have a try at, as it normally takes me hours putting a card together, so the challenge of making one in 10 minutes seemed a great idea.

I only just managed to make it in 10 minutes, and I have to admit this was my second attempt, as the first one I masked the words but it didn't look good, so second time round I just stamped the sentiment separately and cut it out and layered it on. The sentiment is Papersmooches, and the stamps are Minds Eye Bloom and grow.

The next card was made for the Less is More sketch challenge

I made two cards for this, one was with Waltzingmouse mini star (Teeny trees set), and Stampendous sentiment (Ribbon maker set). In the background is some gorgeous rainbow ribbon.

The second card was made with some bigger stars I have in a Stamperdous step and a WMS sentiment from Teeny trees.

I think I prefer the bigger stars.

I cut out the squares on my cuttlebug with some square dies.

Ok, so onto the EXCITING NEWS!

I have been super busy recently with my little boys, I feel like I never have a minute spare, plus we've been really busy at church, but I have also been sorting out...

...

...

wait for it...

...

...

...

 a book deal!

Indeed, it may seem a little random, and its not craft related, but I have written a short story based on the parable of the lost sheep which my super talented friend has illustrated. To be fair, without her this would never have happened, as I only agreed to write it to showcase her. But this week we signed our contract with the publisher, and its due out in April! I'll let you know when its out though, as I'm sure you'll all want to run out and buy a copy!!!

Welcome Emily

So last week my little Niece Emily was born, she is my 2nd niece and she is just gorgeous!
Here's the card I made for her.

Stamps: Plaid background stamp on the labels 1 shape is Waltzingmouse Offbeat backgrounds

The butterfly is stamped with polka dots from Waltzingmouse Offbeat backgrounds too. 

The Welcome baby and date stamps are from Papertrey Ink Postmarks set.

Ink: Main images are inked with Memento Dew Drop Angel Pink

Small date circle was too pale in angel pink so I used Colourbox Lilac ink.

Die cuts/Punches: Butterfly is Tonic Studios

Stacked nesties are Spellbinders Label 1 and label 4 - label 4 is embossed with polka dots.

Under the ribbon is a strip from some Bazzill basics die cut strips. 

Little circle is the spellbinders nestie smallest circle size.

The chipboard letters I've had for ages.

Cardstock: Background striped paper is from papermania, don't know which pack, sorry!

Ribbon: VV Rouloux

I also stitched her a personalised blanket. The rabbit is just cut from white fleece material and I embroidered the main features. I then cut out the letters from white fleece (using some chipboard letters as a template!) and then when I'd stitched them on in white I added some outline stitching to make it stand out a little. The blanket itself was from Sainsbury's (a supermarket) and has cute little hearts almost embossed on it.

Party Party!

Well yesterday was my 30th Birthday party (my actual birthday was in December, but planning a party before Christmas is a nightmare!). My Honey was also 30 just before me, and my dad was 60 between our birthdays, so we had a joint party.
As no one felt able to make me a birthday cake for my birthday I decided to make myself one, and I have had my eye on some Beehive cakes I saw online, so this is what I was able to create.

Close up of a little bee, sprung on florists wire.

I can tell you that getting the icing onto the beehive shape is harder than it looks!!!My layers of beehive kept sliding out of places, and I had a struggle on my hands stopping the icing from creasing! But eventually I succeeded.

Not one to go with the normal buffet and disco, we hired a band and had a barn dance, which is maximum interaction for everyone!!!

Having chosen a nice top for the occasion I realised I needed some flat shoes to match which I could dance in, and nothing within my budget (cheap!) caught my eye, so I figured I would just customise some! I bought a pair of plain black ballet pumps and a necklace that was reduced in the sale. I chopped the necklace up and sewed them around the edge, and then in a kind of triangle at the front.

 Here's the finished pair. I felt like Dorothy with my magic slippers!

And finally here's an action shot of me and Honey dancing!

Quilted Cushion

For my sister in law I wanted to make something special this Christmas, and as she and her boyfriend are currently doing up a house - complete with craft room - I decided to make something for the new house. I found out the colour scheme of the craft room and decided to make a quilted cushion. I got a few books out of the library, made my own design - based around a very popular star shape- and set about making it. I found it very satisfying doing this, it was much quicker than the advent calender to put together!

The front has a panel of stars with buttons, a strip of plain fabric, then stripes of varying widths in colour.

The colours remind me of sherbet!

I made the back to be an overlap fastening, and used two odd buttons to close it. I decided on this rather than a zip as it looked a little more classic. I made a small label to put inside with a beehive stamped on it!

I'm really pleased with how the cushion looked, and am quite confident on doing more quilting in the future!

Quilted Advent Calender Progress

Well today was the day when I was finally able to quilt my advent calender. Its been a long time coming. I actually bought the fabric for this project over 2 years ago, but never got round to doing it. I decided about two months ago that I was determined to get it made this year and cut out all the squares of fabric for the pockets. It then took me another month to get round to starting to hand stitch the pockets on, and now I'm at the stage of doing the quilting. I was a little apprehensive about this, as although I'm good at basic sewing (curtains, cushions etc) I had never done any quilting. The quilting part has gone reasonably well, as I just machine stitched around the main shapes. I'm now worrying about the finishing of the piece, as the quilting book I have from the library isn't that clear about the binding part. I think I may have to google that part or look on youtube for a video!

Anyway, here's a photo so you can see how its looking so far.
Each of the squares is a small pocket for advent gifts. Although the monkey is too young for chocolate in the advent calender this year we've been researching little trinkets to use for each day which tell the Christmas story. I found one set of items listed in Disciplines of a Godly Parent which starts at Creation and goes through to Christ, so I may use those.
Anyway, I'd better be off. Bye!