Penny Black Cow

I haven't done any stamping in so long I almost forgot how. My sister in law just had a medical procedure done and will be recovering for a bit, so I made this card for her. She and her husband used to have a dairy farm, so that's why I used the cow. Plus she prefers funny or cute cards rather than the mushy type. I used an older sketch from Taylored Expressions AND I used my copic airbrush thing for the first time. It's definitely uneven and splotchy but I suppose it takes a lot of practice. I also paper pieced the balloon plus I shaded it with copics and I colored over it all with a clear spica glitter pen.

Oh and I completely forgot to take pictures of the markers I used.

stamp: Penny Black Stamps
Copic markers and airbrush kit
Spica glitter pen
Sakura Gelly Roll pen (white for shine on the balloon)
Stampin' Up cardstock, patterned paper and hardware
Sewing machine
Nestabilities

Happy Meal Toy

My kids love McDonald's-probably more for the toys than the food. Right now the toys are iCarly and Star Wars. My 12 year old LOVES iCarly so we've been to McD's a lot, where she has collected several of these little laptop notepad holders. I noticed that the size is perfect for holding a 3 x 3 post it pad so I took one and decided to fix it up a little. Here is the before and after:

before, closed


before, opened


after, closed


after, opened (I would probably find a better color post it pad-this is one pretty bright). Also the color is a little off in this-probably due to that post it pad (and my lack of skill with custom white balance).


Papers and flowers from Stampin' Up plus I used liquid pearls, a labels 1 Nestabilities die, and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen.

And here's a sneak peek of the quilt I am working on right now. I'll post it when it's all done.

Maiden Voyage

I finally finished it-my first *real* quilt. The first one I've finished that isn't just a wallhanging or a stocking or a pot holder (ok I've never made a potholder-but I've made other small things). I pieced this top last year-or maybe it was the year before-in just one day. And then I sandwiched it and then it just sat in my fabric cabinet, neglected. I suddenly got back into sewing recently so I decided to just go for it and get it done. I took these before I washed it-it's in the washer right now so it's still a mystery how it'll be when it's all shrunk up.

the top


the top and part of the backing


the binding-I decided to machine stitch it to see how it turned out. I've always hand stitched it on the wall hangings I've done but I wanted this to be quicker and stronger. I used a zigzag stitch and I really like how it turned out.


I'm going to keep this one for us but now I am working on another one that will be a gift plus I'm going to be making some Downy Quilts for Kids soon. I'm planning to use up as much of my stash as possible making gift lap quilts and more quilts for kids so I can buy NEW stuff.

iLove Jelly Beans

My 12 year old has a few dance classmates that she wanted to give valentines to so we made these rock candy valentines from Family Fun. Instead of conversation hearts (which seem to be made in China now) we got small boxes of Jelly Belly jelly beans and instead of the peanut butter cups we used chocolate kisses. Also we taped the cord to the bottom because that's where the headphone jack on my iPod touch is.


cardstock is from Stampin Up and the labels are from the Family Fun website.

Another pincushion

So I'm in a sewing mood lately. I go through these moods. For a while I'll be in a mood to make cards or scrapbook and right now the mood is sewing. To celebrate I went and spent way too much money at the local quilt shop today...but they were having a sale. So that makes it okay. So anyway my new cupcake pincushion got filled up with pins pretty quickly and I realized I may need more than one. Before this I just put all my pins in an empty butter tub and would poke my fingers getting them out. It is convenient to just throw the pins in, but like I said, getting them out is another story. I liked using a real pincushion so well I decided I better make another. I saw this one in a Quilts and More magazine a couple of years ago. It's also online now-you can see it here. Very easy to make the actual fabric part but the ribbon was a little bit of a bear because I didn't have a proper doll needle and the buttons were tricky because they're so tight against the fabric. But it came out pretty darn cute, I think. And it holds pins, which is what's really important.

TV Tray-repurposed

I saw this post at the Oh Fransson website the other day and I just knew I had to do this. My room is so full that I can't fit a real ironing board in there (which is a shame because I have a cool antique one) so I have always had to go through two rooms to get to the room with my ironing board in it. This was such a pain for when I just needed to quickly press a seam or two on a small piece. So I made this to keep next to my desk and I can just fold it up when I'm not using it. I will still use my big board for big stuff but for the times I just need to iron seams in a single block this should be perfect. The only things I did differently: I used two layers of insul-bright thermal batting (which I had leftover from when I covered my big ironing board), no batting, and a layer of canvas under the fabric. Also instead of stapling the top fabric on, I stitched a casing and put elastic in so that I can take it off to wash or change it. I made sure it was pretty tight but I'm not worried that it's not super tight since it'll only be for little things. I did get the same exact tv tray-it was still $9.99 at Walgreen's. I apologize for the weird reflections (I used flash) and the hideous carpet (someday...).

Last storage post...for now

Here is how I store some of my goodies.

First, my Twinkling H2Os. I have a LOT of these and don't use most of them. I may get rid of them someday but for now they fit nicely into these containers. I got these at Joann's. I keep them in two stacks because one tall stack is too tall to fit where I have them.


This is where I keep my stickles, liquid pearls and glitter. First of all, I have an L shaped desk. The part where I sit and work is lower and the other part which is to my left is taller. There is a space right next to me where I keep a few things. On the wall of that space, I hung these little drawer organizer basket things to hold my stickles and liquid pearls (on top) and glitter (middle and bottom).


This is my ribbon box which is also kept in that space where my glitter and stuff is. I also have my sewing machine in behind there (it's so small I can lift it out easily when I want to use it) and to the left are the containers where I keep my twinkling H2Os and my zig pens (which I never use but my kids do, so I kept them). This is but a small portion of my ribbon. I have a lot of SU ribbon which, as you might know, is on huge rolls and too long to put on this type of storage. That iris cart to the right is underneath the corner of the desk and it holds stuff I rarely use plus my wood mounted Christmas stamps. The blue thing is my trash can. As you can see I stuff envelopes, plastic bags (those giant ones that paper comes in) and cardboard in next to the trash can.


This is the side of a metal cabinet that I use to store fabric. It's right up against the end of my desk. I put these magnetic hooks on it and have a few goodies hanging from them. Stuff that should go somewhere else but I haven't decided where yet. Also my long rectangle nestabilities are here because they don't fit in the drawer where I keep the rest of them. This, to me, is an eyesore so I would like to do something different with these. But they are handy here.


This is a shelf that is at the end of my sewing desk. It is right near my big shot so I keep my big shot stuff in it. This pic shows the baskets plus my cute HK clipboard which, by the way, is hanging from a cute HK hook that Siobhan sent me.


And the baskets showing my stuff. Yes almost every one of those is a Hello Kitty die. I have about 4 or 5 regular dies which don't fit in here so they're in an iris cart drawer. The other basket has a little tupperware keeper which holds my sizzlit dies and embosslits and behind it are my extra cutting pads and the various shims and other cutting pads that I have.



I keep my cuttlebug folders in these two tins. Also there are buckets from the Target dollar spot where I keep some pens, sharpies, and other little stuff. Below that you can see the top part of my pegboard which holds a couple of tins plus my crop a dile and you can't see them but my brayers (three of them-I'm sick I tell ya) are hanging there as well. To the left you can see my Hello Kitty pez dispenser and eraser.


This is actually a makeup case. I keep some small post it notepads plus some of those little spiral bound $1 walmart scrapbooks in it. I mostly keep it there because it's cute.


My SU inkpads. There is an area on top for refills and I put hooks in each side to hang things. The only real useful things hanging are my SU cardstock rings and my USB drive. I took those markers from my kids-they were leaving them all over the place. They're scented. (the markers)


And last of all my Making Memories wall storage thing. I keep my MM paint, some prima flowers, my background stamp wood mounts, small pieces of ribbon, some spools of ribbon I don't really use (my kids use them), embossing paste, big containers of UTEE, my bazzill swatches, some tins to alter and a few other goodies. Just whatever fit I guess.