Chaos Challenge

Going through my blog photos, I realized I'd never posted a card I made in March, for my new nephew :]
And it just so happens that it coordinates perfectly for this weeks CCCC hosted by Paula at More Than Favors.

I don't have the New Arrival cartridge, but I have Popurri, which has samples from many various cartridges, including New arrival. How perfect :]

The yellow paper is embossed with spots and dots
Sentiment- Stampin' Up
Cartridge-Popurri
Ribbon and buttons

And here's a pic of the cute little man

<3 Rae

Summer is ALMOST here!

Only 8 days of school left! The kids are so ready to be done, it makes teachers want it to be over even faster. Plus it's finally getting warm here! Acutally, it was absolutely disgustingly hot today... but I loved it :]
So warmer weather means...

BASEBALL! Which, unfortunately, as awesome as the Tribe is doing, every game I've been to we have lost. I'm convinced I'm the bad luck charm.



Grady is in here somewhere... :]

                                                                  




Downtown Cleveland


But I'm sure I'll still be going to many more. In other news- I've uploaded tons of projects to share on here! I decided to start with my fabric daisies. I've wanted to post these for months now. I'm such a procrastinator...

These flowers are simply and very versitile. The could be placed on a t shirt, headband, purse, etc.
I actually came across a youtube video that showed how to make these months ago, and finally gave it a try with my own spin on it.
Start by taking a 3 in circle (or smaller or bigger, depending on the size you'd like)
And cut about 5-6 out of fabric. Then, make a slit cut halfway up the center of each one:

Then, starting at the slit, fold the side up, making a triangle. Then, flip it over and fold again.
Continue folding the fabric into an acordion, back and forth and back and forth.

Until you go around the entire circle, and it looks like this:

This is the first petal. Take a needle and thread and tack it together at the tip. You will make the rest of the petals and sew them all together to make a circle of petals.

(I use one long piece of thread and slide each petal on the same continuous thread line, then pull it tight to make them form a circle)

Then add a button or piece of felt in the middle.

You can attach the flowers to basically anything imaginable. I put one on a headband

Hope you enjoy! Share your ideas on fabric flowers- there are soo many different ways to make them!

<3 Rae

I'm Still HERE! : ]

It's been a month since I've last posted- and I send out my appolgies :[
Sometimes life just grabs us and rips us apart from the computer... so, for all my faithful followers, I appreciate you still following, and I have LOTS of projects to share and comments to leave you all as well.

The good news is that I only have two more weeks of school/work and then it's summer time! What will I do with all my free time?

-oookay--Time for crafts! The first thing I want to share is a clock I made as a gift. It was simple, quick, fun, and a different change of pace from paper crafts. Plus, it's so simple that children can do it, or at least help out in making it :]

Here's my finished product: (sorry for the blurry picture)

I went to Joann's and found a wooden square with the back hollowed out, for like $3. And in the same isle, I found a clock kit, which was my insipiration, for $7. Then I grabbed a few wooded flat dowels for like 25 cents.

1st- sand, if necessary or desired, with sandpaper-then paint the dowels and wooden base. I sponge painted mine black and gray.

    



Paint the wooden dowels and attach them to the edges of a 4x6 piece of glass or plexi glass.

 This will be the frame for your picture and covering/protector. I then affixed that to the wooded base. ( Using Tacky glue, but I assume wood glue, elmers, or hot glue guns would work just as well)

Center where you would like to have the middle of your clock, making sure the hands of the clock will not go over the base ends. Drill a hole.

Flip the base over, and attach the clock fixture according to the box's directions.

Then, place your clock numbers on. They are sticky on one side, but you can glue them for extra support. I didn't, and mine haven't come loose yet.

You can add ribbon or other embelishments, engraving, etc.

It's easy, fairly simple, cheap, and I think it's a great DIY gift :]

Happy Crafting!

(...and many more posts to come! on fabric flowers, sewing maching covers, and many cards)

Nuts About You

It's been a busy week! I had to sneak on to post this card though! I kept thinking about it, and realized that almost 5 weeks later I still have not posted this card! It's that cute adorable squirrel we all love from Create a Critter. I used a few textured and styled papers. Super fast and easy. Here's the inside:

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter! ( I came straight to my Easter dinner from my bff's house 3.5 hrs away. Thus, a bit of a looong day. But a fantastic- totally worth it- weekend. We managed to make one card and one fabric flower. That's about all our men would let us do. They get jealous easily :] Pictures soon to come! Now, off to bed!)

Arrrgh!

A very special 5 year old had a birthday this past week. His party theme was Pirates, and it was perfect considering the location- at a community recreation center where there was an indoor pool area with a giant pirate ship!! The kids had a blast :) My nephew (the birthday boy) always comes over and asks to make something in my craft room. He loves using the cricut (he gets to push all the buttons) and he is a cuttlebug embossing maniac! I figure I should enjoy this while he's young before he grows out of it. But, because he loves making things with me, I had to think of a very special way to make him a card.

So this is it! I love the final outcome. It's hard to begin when you have so many different things to use. The pirate ship is from PPDU. I used Create a Critter for the water- (well, it was inspiration, I altered it a bit, but it gave me a nice wave outline for the top of the water) and the font is from that as well.

I added some pop dots to give it layers- like it is actually sailing through the water. He loved it! His exact reaction... "Woahhh cool!"  He also got two new leapster games. A starwars reading one, and an xmen geography one. :]

Here's to a short week! Four days to go and then I get to go back and visit my bff Jillian!

Pinwheel- An oldie but Goodie!

Here is a card I made a while back at a Stampin' Up! class. I LOOVE it! It a pinwheel!

So here's the deal: You take some sweet double sided paper, and punch it out with a tag punch, or cut from a cartridge that has a tag, allowing you to make it as big or small as you'd like.

Then, make one diagonal fold on each tag, followed by back folding the corner. (The picture above will hopefully be a good model as to the folding)

Then, arrange them in a circle like pictured, with a brad (or button!) in the center.

The bottom includes a simple dotted stamp, and a hole punch, with a stamped "Thanks So Much" (Stampin' Up!) stamp on the inside- so it's a window. Add some ribbon, and your are good to go! It's been a while since I've done this, and I WILL be making more of them. And feel free to show me some of your pinwheels! I think they are just adorable! And a little out-of-the box :]

Flower Ball!

So, as many of you are already followers of my favoritest friend Jill @Jillianbean Crafts, you may have seen this already. I'm a bit of a procrastinator, and she is WELL aware of this, after living with me for a year in a tiny tiny dorm room.
However, here it is. We made some flower balls! There really is no other way to describe them. A stytrofoam ball covered with paper flowers, held together with some sewing pins! So easy and versitile! They can be hung with string or fishing wire, used as floral decorations, or just some cool book shelf decor! I must say that this is not an orginal idea, I saw someone do this in my early blog- stalking days and can't remember where I first saw this idea. I just loved it, and couldn't wait to actually try it!

The flowers are cut from Create a Critter at 1", 11/2", and  13/4 inch. You can alter the sizes as you wish! Some of the purple background flowers are cuttlebug embossed with swiss dots. It's a simple project, great to do while watching tv or to pass some time!!