Rusty Apple Truck card

I've not played along with any challenges for months

since my craft rooms became catchalls for items

to be stored during the flood.

Now that things are nearly back to normal, 

I decided to start following some of my 

favorite challenge sites again.

When I saw the color challenge at Retro Rubber today,

I just knew I had to make a card!

It is very hot and humid outside today,

so I was dreaming of cooler fall weather as I worked on it.

I know I really should have been trying to finish up

some decluttering and cleaning instead knowing that 

people are coming over on Thursday,

but I have tomorrow to work on that ;)

Long neglected craft supplies were calling!

Here is the inspiration photo for RRCB119

Obviously fall leaves, mums and pumpkins come to mind

as soon as you see the inspiration photo.

I knew right away I was going to do something

slightly different and what it would be. 
I have another card in mind, too,
with a different theme and perfect for these colors.

The image is from Stampin' Up!, Countryside (2013).

I water colored it with ink from my 

classic SU! ink pads and an aqua painter.
Tangerine Tango, Dusty Durango, Real Red, Smoky Slate,
Basic Gray, Creamy Caramel, Always Artichoke, Bliss Blue

It is mounted onto Chocolate Chip textured card stock

then Real Red card stock that I distressed the edges on. 

A few dimensionals are underneath the image panel

to adhere it over the Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon

that is on top of Crumb Cake card stock for the base.

I sponged Crumb Cake ink along the edges of the card front, too.

Pretty simple card, really ! 

Thanks for looking, have a great day =) 

EDITED TO ADD 9/23/2019
Honored to have my card chosen as a Top Pick!

I never did get that second card made as I had hoped.
It would have been images of wild horses running out West. 

Sweet Thank You - Inspiration

I recently sent a couple of cards to a blog buddy and she sent back a simply sweet thank you card.
It inspired the card I am sharing today, above.

All supplies used were from Stampin'Up!
Stamps:
Forever Lovely
Express Yourself
Decorative Dot background

Colors:
Groovy Guava
Certainly Celery
Smoky Slate

Groovy Guava stitched ribbon

Textured embossing folder

dimensionals
small scissors for carefully cutting around the stamped flowers


Here is the inspiration card

Thank you, Margaret!

I made several cards over the course of a week recently, the fist time I've made anything in several months. I'll be sharing them soon.

Thanks for looking, have a great day =)

Buffalo Check Fabric Frame - tutorial

Today I'm sharing this fabric frame I made
as my design team project for

Love To Craft.

We are a month long anything crafty goes challenge

(so long as it family friendly).

Won't you share what you have created with us ? 

If you'd like to know how I made my project, read on !




Supplies:
thick mat board or chipboard
batting
fabric
heavy duty adhesive
scissors
embellishments
heavy duty utility knife

Cut your frame from the mat board/chipboard.
You may need to adhere two layers together
to make it sturdier. You don't want it too lightweight
otherwise it will more than likely flex a bit from the
pulling of the fabric. If you use liquid glues and the
card board is too thin, it could cause it to warp, too.
My project uses an old leftover pre-cut set I bought
oh so long ago, back when padded frames and albums
were a popular craft. Yes, I'm aging myself by admitting that!
Here is a photo of the kit project ideas,
good for a giggle :)

Apply adhesive to the frame front and lay it on top of the batting.
I would normally use a spray adhesive for this step, but my old can
no longer works. Heavy duty double stick tape will work just fine.

Trim the batting out even with the edges.

Lay this on top of your fabric, batting side down.
trim out leaving about an inch of fabric around all edges.
This extra fabric is what will wrap around to the back side
(seen above),
so you need enough to wrap and glue in place.
I use heavy duty double stick tape to adhere the
fabric to the chipboard.


I start by folding the fabric over the four corners
(I did not do that in these photos).
I then go to the middle of one side to glue it in place,
finishing that entire side
before working on the opposite side.
Don't pull it too tight to cause the chipboard to bend!
You may also want to flip it over from time to time
to make sure your fabric isn't puckering and if it has
a design like this plaid, that you like the way it is
lining up along the edges. I'd recommend not using
anything with lines/plaid because it doesn't always work well.
Just takes more time and patience to line it up.

Once all of the sides are done, do the inside opening.

If your frame has a rounded opening, clip curves every 1/2" or so .
Don't get too close to the opening though because you don't
want to see the cuts. The clipping helps in wrapping the fabric
around the curved sections.

After I am happy with how it looks, I will add a piece of card stock
cut to fit then glued in place over all of the fabric edges.
This helps cover any exposed double stick tape as well as making it
easier to slide photos in, not catching on the fabric bits.




Add lace or cording at this point if you wish.
You'll want to "sandwich" it between the front and back.


You can cover the back with fabric, too,
if you wish. It is not necessary to use batting.

Glue along three sides of the frame back piece.
Adhere this over the back of the front piece. 
I use hot melt glue for this step.

Be sure to leave one side open to insert photos in !

Embellish if you'd like and enjoy !


Thanks for looking, have a great day =)







Flood recovery update:
Thank goodness I made all of my design team projects
well in advance this year as I've still not made
anything new since earlier this year due to 
the record setting flood our area saw. 

We are plugging along on getting things back in shape.
Although it was a tough go for us trying to save 
what we could of our home and property,
we know we are lucky. Grateful to everyone that helped
and thankful that the flood wall held so damage 
and losses were far less than they could have been. 
We didn't lose everything like so many people did.

The interior of the house is basically done now, hooray!
The garage, yard and barn still need a lot of work.

Life is back to normal and we are once again healthy 
after becoming so sick during the flood (due to mold). 

I recently got my craft rooms all set back up, 
cleared out of the last of the clutter. 
I had to store things in them, carried up from 
the main floor of the house to protect them from damage.
Now that I can move around,
find my things and have room to work, 
I hope to start creating some new projects.
I certainly have a long to-do list that I keep adding to! 

Oui Book Page Bouquet - tutorial

Can you believe it is August,

which means it is back to school time for many.

With that in mind,

I was inspired to create this old book page bouquet

for the current anything crafty goes challenge at

Love To Craft .

I also repurposed a Oui yogurt jar,

thus the play on the word "wee" in my post title ;)

This is a fairly small arrangement,

just about 6" in height overall.

The roses themselves are about 1" in diameter.

We'd love to see what crafts you've made this month.

Anything goes, so long as it is family friendly.

Post a link to your project at Love To Craft

If you'd like to know more about my project, read on!

The roses are made with pages from an old dictionary.

I should have used thicker book pages

and not so old. They were getting quite brittle.

I managed to make several dozen roses successfully

to create this piece, but it was tricky. 

Using a spiral flower die makes the process

go faster, but you can hand cut simple spirals

with scissors. Simply roll them up then glue them

to a small circle - or cut a circle into the end of your spiral.

You can find oodles of ideas on how to do this online.

To create the faux mercury glass,

you need Looking Glass paint.

It must be sprayed on the inside of the glass container.

Once again, look online for how-to's.

You can simply layer the thin paint and

spritz it with vinegar water solution.

I've done projects this way, but I've also 

added a bit more worn effects details using paint.

I dabbed teeny bits of black glossy paint

as well as a clear varnish inside the jar using

a piece of sea sponge. I then spray painted

light layers of the Looking Glass paint over it.

I didn't have any large head corsage pins 

and there is no place local to buy them.

Rather than ordering some online,

 I decided to try to paint the heads of plastic

straight pins used for sewing. It worked well!

I simply dipped the heads into gold acrylic craft paint

then poked the pins into styrofoam to stay upright while drying.

I stitched a long running stitch along the edge of 

a scrap piece of lace then gathered it to create the ruffle.

It was hot glued into place on the top edge of the jar.

The styrofoam ball is hot glued in place on top of that.

I say hot glue, but I was actually using a low temp melt glue.

Pin or glue the flowers in place on the styrofoam ball.

I used pins only so they could be re-positioned if needed.

The finished size is approximately 6"tall

A closeup of the faux mercury glass jar

Wee book page roses with painted pin head centers.

I also added small squares of tulle pinned in place

scattered among the flowers. 

The rose on the left is made with one die cut spiral.

The rose on the right is made with two spirals.

I used just the single spiral size rose on this project.

That's about all there is to share regarding how I made this project.

It really isn't difficult, just time consuming. 

Aren't most crafts labors of love and time, though ? 

Thanks for looking =)

Have a great day !

NOTE:

This project and post were written much earlier in the year,

well before our area experienced historic flooding.

 We are recovering, slowly but surely getting back to normal.

Although it was a tough go for us trying to save 

what we could of our home and property,

we know we are lucky. Grateful to everyone that helped

and thankful that the flood wall held so damage 

and losses were far less than they could have been. 

We didn't lose everything like so many people did.

I still am not crafting anything, no time or desire.

This will be the last post from me again for a while.

Anni and Andi Spool Doll Decor

July 1st.

The year is half over already, wow. 

It's also time for our new

 monthly anything goes craft challenge at

Love To Craft.

Won't you share what family friendly craft 

you've made this month with us ? 

This month I am sharing a set of "dolls" I made with

a long ago purchased wooden kit.

I bought several kits and the coordinating patterns,

but never got around to making them. Shame on me. 

The kits are just the wooden pieces to create the dolls body

then the maker adds their own fabrics, etc.

I actually made the dolls in late winter (notice the bare trees),

trying to get all of my design team projects 

done well ahead of time, not knowing what the year would bring.

Good thing I did since we have been dealing with major flooding,

on top of too many other bad things, since March ! 

Also, I have been quite sick since about mid June. 

Living with a basement full of river water (treated with pool chemicals)

and stinky, moldy air/items all around outside is not good for the lungs :(

 I am not crafting anything at all.

No room to work, no time, no energy, just no desire 

right now to make anything.

I just want to get the house (and yard, road, etc) back to normal. 

It's going to take time..............

Currently the water is stagnant, not falling at all.

A very stinky pond out front still, blech,

and waiting for the main road to open again.

I shouldn't complain, we are lucky compared 

to many other people who lost everything. 

Moving on to a few details about my project:

The little wooden parts from the kit,

all wired together to form the bodies. 

The kits call for Rag Mop Ringlets Cotton Hair,

of course none of which is to be found now since the

kits are sooooo old. At first I tore and knotted lots of tiny

bows from red cotton fabric. While I was making those,

I was thinking about maybe sewing strips of red felt

into loops somehow then I remembered I had red fleece 

leftover from snowman crafts. I thought I'd cut thins strips of that,

then loop it and low temp hot glue it in place on the heads. 

A happy accident as I was

cutting the fleece into strips, I noticed it was kind of twisting

in parts of the strips (I'd guess about 1/4" wide, definitely no wider)

Hmmmmm....... a little tug and it indeed twisted on itself, curling ! 

No, I don't know if there is a particular type of fleece this will 

only work with or what direction exactly to cut it.

My fleece was actually a cheap $5 red fleece blanket.

The little strips of fleece I curled then glued on top

of the heads didn't turn out too badly !

Yes, those are teeny pieces of fabric cut and 

fused to the wooden shapes that I painted!

I was following the kit instructions ;)

It was tricky working with such wee pieces

and probably more time consuming than had 

I simply painted the shapes. 

It looks better with the matching fabric pieces.

The faces were preprinted black.

I painted the heart shapes red

and added blush to their cheeks,

but it doesn't show in the photos.

The clothes are made with torn pieces of cotton fabrics.

Thanks for looking =) 

Happy Fourth of July ! 

NOTE:
This will be the final post for a while
since I'm still dealing with the historic flood
and aftermath our area saw. 
My craft rooms are a wreck,
filled with stored items.
I have a long way to go to get 
the house clean and back in order.
Then there is the garage and yard and.....
I honestly don't have any desire 
or energy to make anything now :(