~~rEVistInG a PAst YeAr~~

For a while my mother would give me a calendar for Christmas each year. And she would really find some uber cute ones that I would love to hang up and gander at as the year passed by. But when it was time to take it down I was just a little sad that the pretty artwork was going away and went into pack-rat mode and tucked it away in some obscure spot. I had that "I-know-I can-use-this-for-something-in-the-future" anxiety attack and my house was one more item closer to being on the tv show "Hoarders".

BUT... I was recently blessed with a new ScrapBox and while transferring all my cra(p)ft items over I came across this cute calendar again! My mission: to find a crafty something to do with this item to justify keeping it five years.

I took this...

And turned it into this...

This is two sets of four cards with matching envelopes and holder. You need a pretty calendar that is at least 12x12, some coordinating card stock, embellishments and some creative mojo (even if you have to borrow the mojo).

First, take the staples out and cut it in half. Take two of the full sheets and make the holders:

Fold it in half to make a triangle. Score at 5 1/4" on each end.

Then score down the folded edge at 3/4". My calendar paper was pretty thick so I had to open it up and make about four turns/passes before it was sufficient enough to fold neatly.

Now, with the middle score line horizontal, bring in the left and right sides and set the folds.

Then bring the bottom up and set the center fold line with your bone folder. It's starting to have so many layers that this tool will really be a huge help. It should be the solid paper side of the holder facing outward.

You technically have an inside-out holder at this point so all you do is set the two score lines that are along side the center fold by bringing each side right-side-out. I hope the pictures will make some sense if my description is lacking.

Now you can put a little adhesive on the tip to make it easier to embellish.

I used a 1 1/4" circle punch to make the handle. I've done it a little different in the past where I just simply used a brad or a grommet. It's really up to you and what you have on hand so be confident in choosing your own method.

I embellished with a scalloped circle and a piece of ribbon.

So on with the envelopes...

Start out with a 8 1/2" square. Then my Martha Stewart scoring template told me what to do.

Score two sides (opposite each other) at 3" and then the remaining two sides at 3 5/8". Use your bone folder to make nice, neat, crisp folds. Decide which is the top of the envelope and snip those little triangles off. This picture should adequately describe it:

I looked at my envelopes that I had in my supplies and based my folds according to that. But I don't think it really matters *that* much.

I chose to take that notch off so I used my scoring tool and ruler and folded it under.

Then put the adhesive on the edges...

A pretty legit envelope, wouldn't you say?

I put a white label on the front of the envelope and tape without removing the backing on the flap. This way there is no need for random supplies if I give it away or if I use it myself - ready to go. I did use my corner rounder to trim the tip of the flap just to give it a detail of intention.

Cards always take me a loooong time to design. But once I have my layout it's pretty quick. My method was to use a 1 1/2" circle punch to choose little scenes from my calendar scraps and then mounted them on scallop circle mats with dimentionals. I gave the scallops a little sponging on the edges to get some depth.

Paper piercing is a nice way to add more texture/interest/detail to cards.

I cut 3x4 1/2" more plain scene rectangles for a back ground. I embossed the card and then set off to put them all together.  I like to use more than one texture for cards to keep them interesting so I added some ribbon pieces to the front and just a couple little pearls to that.

Again, here's the cuteness in finished form...

~cHalK up A HymN~

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (emphasis mine)

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I like to use this as the foundation of decorating my home. Scripture is so rich and beautiful that it makes my home so lovely, peaceful, so... ahhhhhhhh to me. I was mulling around the idea to put something up in my dining area to kind of update the room and it wouldn't hurt to see something new after the past year.

I have been watching the blogs and Pinterest posts these past weeks and noticed a trend of chalkboard art. So I got a few new font ideas from here, a free chalkboard background here, and chose a hymn to chalk up!

My family has a tradition where we sing the Doxology as we gather around the dinner table in lieu of a dinner bell or, well, my hollering, "Come eat!".

I noticed that the lyrics were patterned in such a way that I could make four pieces of art that had "praise God/Him" as the repeating theme but that each one could stand on it's own.  But, oh, as a set... lovely.  

Here is what I came up with...

I am pleased with how the layout looks. Now I need to send them off to have some prints made. I am going to look for some interesting framing/mounting ideas. I have been seeing frames, wood, canvas, fabric/burlap... soooooooo many ideas. 

I will get to that and get back with you as I make progress. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them.

~nINjaGo bAG~

Number four boy is getting ready to turn six this weekend and so he was tasked to make his "birthday list". With his older brother transcribing his wants, it came out like this:

my b-day list

mandalorion battle pack
pharoh's qest flamer runner
scooter ("good" says sam)
spider-man pajamas
Spider-man fuit snack
nerf knife
grow-fish
Star wars figure (anakin and JJ)
ninjago carring bag
star-wars sticker book

breakfast
pancakes
nutella
powderd sugar
white milk
cinomin toast

lunch
the whistle stop

dinner
rice and chicken (SOY Sause)
refried beans
boston butt

dessert
pie
ice cream
brownies
cake

Really?! I picked from the "options" and augmented the "suggestions" and came up with this...

Mama's B-Day List for Sam

Ninjago Bag
Ninjago Sticker Book
Spiderman Pajamas - tell Grandma Settles
Ninjago Figures - Grandma Collins

Breakfast
Pancakes (Nutella or powdered sugar toppings)
Bacon (believe it or not this is a HUGE treat around here...)
Blueberries

Lunch
Here, I'm drawing a blank...

Dinner
Boston Butt - because it on the eMeals menu (SCORE!)

Dessert
Ice Cream Cone Cup Cakes (with Spiderman Flags)

I have never heard him mention a "Ninjago Bag" before but I was kinda excited because I had been thinking of making the boys some shirts with their favorite ninja and figured I could probably do something similar with a bag. And I bought a drop cloth that I made my table runner out of (started out considering making window treatments but caved and just bought some). I had leftover (a lot) and figured I could whip up something pretty basic. And it really didn't take that long! After all the bags and purses that I made this came together pretty quick and easy

Drop Cloth Material:
4.5" x 27.5" for the bag
27.5x3" for the strap

Blue Cotton Fabric:
12.5" x 14.5"

Yellow Cotton Fabric
Black Felt
White Felt

Hem the short side of the big DC material by folding over half and inch and then another one inch and iron. Give it a stitch on the ol' sewing machine. Repeat on the other short side.

Take the blue fabric and iron a 1/4" hem around all four sides.

I went to the Google site for images and typed in in Ninjago Jay and found this image, printed it off and cut it out for a pattern.

I used Wonder Under for the yellow fabric and black felt to make it more stable/durable for each piece (they are small and squirrelly to work with otherwise), ironed them in place and stitched around the edges.

Fold the bag in half to determine where to place the "face" in the middle. Pin and sew a single stitch close to the edge

I considered just leaving it at that but the little white reflections in the eyes really made it seem "finished" so I found this decorative stitch on my machine that did a great job. The other reason was that the blue fabric had a lot of space in the middle that wasn't attached to the bag and I thought it needed to be tacked down somehow (maybe should have used the Wonder Under for this too?) and since the eye reflections were close to the middle it would serve a legitimate purpose as well. Anal? Let's move on...

Now with right sides together match up the hemmed top pin and sew up sides.

When I made this purse I was so jazzed to learn how to make a gusset so I thought it would be fun to do it again for this project. Super easy and looks so "tailored"!

Take the bottom corners and create a triangle by having the seam go down the middle of the triangle from the top apex. Mark two inches down each side, connect the dots and sew along that line. Then trim to about 1/4" - DONE! Cool, huh?

Now iron that seam flat to prepare for the strap.

I folded the strap fabric in half and made a tube by sewing along the long sides and turned it right side out. Put the seam on the edge and iron. I sewed a straight stitch down each side close to the edges along the long sides and ends (closing the tube).

Now, I centered the end of the strap with the seam and sewed a square with an "x" in the center. At this point in the project my attention was waning and I was willing to put up with several "oh, well" mutterings. Yeah, that's why my projects are small... instant gratification is a major character flaw of mine.

To keep his now loot safer I added some velcro to the top. If I would have planned for this project I thought it would be cool to made the blue face a flap to make it a cool, trendy messenger bag... maybe next time. 

I was marveling over the fact that I had all the supplies to do this - not one time did I have to jet off to the store to get that elusive "one thing". Just goes to show that I have *a lot* of stuff in my cra(p)ft closet. I'm thinking it would be cool to get a blue shirt and put the same "face" on it as well as a pillow case? Overkill? Yeah. 

~~a "tOiLE" oRDer~~

Remember this post just a little while ago? Well, again, I was going through my blogs and discovered another "gotta try" project and I used the same pretty toile as the cover up for this one...

The blog post was from Annie Get Your Glue Gun and she posted the links to this FREE (yes, F-R-E-E) pattern with instructions. Once I printed the pattern I had to figure out how the pattern-puzzle-pages (say that several times fast...) went together, taped them together, cut them out and then I was off and running.

Last night I got all my fabric out that I needed - my toile and fleece (this is the first time I've sewn with fleece). It feels so soft and snuggly... surely this will be inviting to my new babe in August!! And so this morning I put it together.

I poured over the instructions before I really began and everything seemed pretty straight forward. The only suggestion I would make would be to *not* draw all the locations of the hook and loop pieces but to wait until the snuggler is completed and then line up the pattern (using the finished edge for alignment) and tweak it accordingly. Not a big deal, really. I was fretting over drawing all the lines on the fabrics and it just wound up to make more sense to me this way.

There was only one small spot to slip stitch. I'm not a huge fan of the hand work stuff - I just wanna let the machine do all the work!! So this was not bad at all!

And as I was going to my desk to post this... I couldn't help but snap this comical grin as she ate her chicken and rice soup...

That's gotta make you giggle... a little??

~~you'VE bEEn FramEd!!~~

About four years ago I found some reclaimed window panes for $5 each and went ahead and bought them without a specific idea in mind. I pulled one out last year and set it in the middle of my table with a lovely Thanksgiving themed centerpiece. Without much enthusiasm I hung it (slightly crooked) on the wall until this Thanksgiving when I took it down from the wall for the table centerpiece again.

I finally saw so many ideas for reclaimed windows that I decided on one project because there were just enough panes for my pains... er, children. I used the clear photo corners that I had from Creative Memories.  Now I can update the frame whenever I'd like without much trouble. I made these photos 4 inches square, in black and white, printed on card stock. I love it when a plan comes together...