Thursday, January 10, 2008

Valentine's Day

I've been seeing a bunch of Valentine's Day cards on Splitcoast and various blogs I frequent. I just love the 3x3 inch card size for valentines, and was inspired by Kristina Werner's blog recently to make one.


This card is made from Real Red cardstock, cut at 3 inches by 6 inches and scored at the 3 inch mark on my Scor-Pal (love that tool) and folded to make a 3x3 card. I then punched a Giga scallop square in Whisper White. The embossed red layer (1 and 7/8 inches square) was done by using my Cuttlebug with the heart texture plate from Fiskars. It turned out so cute! I then stamped the For You With Love stamp from the Riveting set by Stampin' Up! in Real Red classic ink and punched it out with the 1 and 1/4 inch circle punch. The three layers were adhered together with adhesive, and the whole thing was attached to the card base with dimensionals. Finally, I tied a piece of red gingham ribbon from American Crafts around the card front using Kristina's method. Simple and cute, and QUICK! Thanks for peeking in...

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Tissue Holders - Complete!

As I spoke about in my last post, I have joined the 25 Weeks of Christmas Yahoo! group. Our project goal for this month is to make at least six travel tissue covers. Well, we have several patterns to choose from, all different dimensions. I picked one last week which turned out to be too big, because the pocket tissues I bought were a different brand that what the pattern designer used, and the tissues were SWIMMING inside...and I made THREE before I learned this lesson. Sigh. Here are the tissues I bought:


Well, this week I ripped apart the tissue holders I made because I really liked the fabric I used and since I was downsizing I could still use it. I am not going to post how I did it because there are numerous directions out there on the web. The pattern directions I followed were from Tracy at sewthankful.com, but I started with a rectangle six inches by seven and a half inches, and next time I make these will start with a six by seven inch rectangle, because my resulting cover is still a bit loose. Here is a finished tissue cover:


These were very fun and easy to make. I made six very quickly this evening, in under a couple of hours. I love assembly line sewing. It seems to make things go faster. I probably will make more someday, they are quick and easy gifts to make. Two fat quarters will make six covers and there are so many options with patchwork, embroidery, etc. Here are the six completed covers, with tissue packs inside. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

25 Weeks of Christmas

Happy New Year everyone! Hope that 2008 is a safe and happy one for all. As I said in my last post, I didn't make gifts for people this year, mostly because I procrastinated until it was just too late to start. Well this year I hope will be different. I recently signed up for a new Yahoo! group called 25 Weeks of Christmas, which a fellow Lazy Girl group member (Lish) created. It is a group designed to help support and encourage its members to get their gifts made and wrapped by December so that we can enjoy the holidays with less stress! Participation is required as there is a no lurking policy. We have small goals to meet each month (little projects etc), and by July we are ready to get our gifts we plan to give going. I'm excited because it will give me the little nudge I need to get my butt in gear.


I found a box in my sewing room that will hold the projects in it when completed (actually it is temporary because it is rather small, will upsize when the time comes). Dexter decided he would inspect the box to make sure it was appropriate. I guess he approves!


Well, wish me luck, as I have big plans to give lots of Lazy Girl bags this year! I spent five hours Friday night in my sewing room cleaning up and trying to organize, and found FOUR packages of Warm and White cotton batting (craft and baby size)...and I almost bought some last week! Just goes to show you "out of sight, out of mind" really is true. I also found lots of fabric I bought over the last year that I completely forgot about...sigh. It still looks pretty awful in there, I need CLEAN SWEEP to come in...oh wait, they make you throw out half of everything...never mind (lol)

I'm off today from work, and am getting ready to go back in the sewing room to attack the mess again. Again, Happy New Year!