Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 3)

Out of all the different projects that I have posted from this swap, I think this altered composition book is my absolute favorite.





The papers are from Graphic 45 ( the vintage writing & floral diamond) and Tim Holtz (the red used as a matte). The stamp is from the TAC set Flower Collage Trio. I colored the flower with prismacolor and copic markers. I used a small bit of crackle accents on the little medallion at the bottom of the stamped image. I spelled her name out in chipboard letters that I painted with Making Memories paint.

Tunisian Crochet Washcloths

One of my favorite things to knit or crochet when I have the time is washcloths for my kitchen. I adore them. They scrub dishes clean like nothing else but also feel good in your hands. This is the first time I have used Tunisian Crochet to make them. It's kind of like a combination of knitting and crocheting and makes a really fabulous, thick material when you're done.





I only recently taught myself a couple of Tunisian Crochet stitches. You Tube has some excellent videos on it. The video below is probably one of my favorites because she goes slowly and you can clearly see what she is doing. :)

Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 2)

Here's part two of some of the goodies I put in Claudia's swap package.

I used the last of my stash of coveted Ipod boxes to decorate this one for her. I went away from the Valentine's theme on this one and simply chose bright colors since she has said she loves bright colors. I also used all scraps for this project. :)







I filled the box with all sorts of stamped images for her to make cards or tags out of. I also included a package of acrylic gems (dew drops) in assorted colors and a package of sassy strands that I had hanging around.

Q & A Time

I figured I should take a minute to answer a couple of questions that have been posed recently.

Gale, in answer to your question on the baby wipe background card, yes it is the one where you add the reinker to the baby wipe and then swipe it across glossy cardstock. :)

I've had multiple people ask me if I am selling the cabled neckwarmers and ribbed headbands I've been making. I typically do not sell the knit/crocheted items that I make. I've made a couple of exceptions when I had the time but in all reality I'm a somewhat slow knitter in my opinion and I just can't sell them at a high enough price to make up for the time spent on them.

For any of you who just might happen to live in the Idaho Falls area (such as Nancy), I would be more than happy anytime to teach you how to knit or crochet. :)

Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 1)

This week I am going to be sharing the goodies that I made for my swap partner (Claudia), in the Trash to Treasure Valentine's Swap on Ravelry. I was really nervous about what to make for her. I consider her to be a super talented woman....she knits, crochets, sews, makes cards and is just an all around creative woman. She said in her swap questionnaire that what she wanted most was whatever her swap partner was really good at making. Well that was settled then...what did I do? I went to my scrappin' space and got busy!

She mentioned in her swap questionnaire that for thematic elements she likes shoes, cupcakes, and flowers. One of the first things I found was this adorable bag to package all the swap items in.



The next thing I did was to make her a nugget box.





Then I made her a candy tube.





And decorated this adorable little bucket I found at the thrift store for 50 cents. It's filled with Werther's Original Candies, as is the candy tube above.



In keeping with the trash to treasure theme of recycling, reusing, repurposing, etc, I did my best to use as little new supplies as possible on these projects. I started with a new sheet of paper for the top of the nugget box and the candy tube, but had very little usable scraps by the time I was done. :) The bottom of the nugget box, and the hearts on the bucket were done out of scraps. The satin ribbon on the nugget box was saved from a bag of gluten free licorice my hubby gave me at Christmas. I thought it was too pretty to throw out and definitely long enough to use on something. :) I was actually kind of bummed when he bought some more gf licorice for Valentine's Day that the candy store didn't tie the bag with more pretty ribbon! LOL I used scraps when making the topper on the candy tube. The candy tube itself is a CTMH ribbon rounds container that I saved.

I'll be posting more swap pics this week. So please stay tuned.

Baby Blanket

I completed this blanket for LDS Humanitarian Aid. I was really worried when I started out because the yarn felt scratchier than normal. After a soak in warm water with vinegar and then putting through the washer and dryer with a load of towels, the finished blanket is softer than I ever thought it could be!

I didn't have a pattern for it, but instead modeled it after the twin & full size blankets that my grandma has made for me and each of our kids. She does the blankets in strips, edges each strip, then crochets them together in a zig-zag chain stitch kind of thing. Really the work she has done is quite amazing. Mine is not an exact replica since I'm not so good at reverse engineering knit/crocheted projects. I did however use the ones she made for inspiration. I love how it turned out and I love knowing that it will keep a baby nice and warm.

Headband & Neckwarmer Sets

I have now made quite a few of these sets since taking the classes on them in October and November at The Yarn Connection. The weight of the yarn does indeed do matter. The sets I made for my girls are made of a thicker yarn and while the girls love them, I think they are a little big. Of course it doesn't help that they like to wear the headbands forward more like a hat. LOL I do however absolutely LOVE the way the thicker yarn makes the cables really stand out on the neckwarmer. I used Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn for these.







I made this set for Siobhan otherwise known as The Mama Monkey. These are so quick & easy to make. I used Loops & Threads Charisma yarn for this set. The buttons are handcrafted by a local artisan and look so gorgeous on against the cream color of the neckwarmer.







This one was made for the wife of my one my hubby's coworkers. She wanted just the neckwarmer. I have also made a headband for my mom recently but forgot to take a pic of it before mailing it off. LOL I also used Loops & Threads Charisma for this one. The buttons are from Michael's. It's hard to tell in the pic, but they go perfectly with the color of yarn. The buttons are a lighter shade of purple with with lavender/pink flowers. The pic really doesn't do them justice.

February Card Club Cards

This month for card club I showed my ladies how to use the same piece of paper to make different cards. I chose one piece of CTMH Background & Texture (B&T) paper and based all three cards on that one paper.





The piece of Olive cardstock behind the main image has been scored every 1/8" and then ink rubbed over the raised score lines. It adds a nice texture to it and is so easy and quick to do.



I used a border punch to edge the piece of the card base itself. The Smoothie cardstock piece that shows underneath has also been punched and then adhered to the bottom of the inside of the card base.



The flower was stamped on the Colonial White cardstock and then stamped again on a piece of scrap cardstock, cut out, and pop dotted over the flat stamped image. It adds a nice depth.



And here's the shocker. Yes, that is the same piece of B&T as the other two cards. One of the things that CTMH does is that their paper is double sided. The back of the paper is a monochromatic color of the same print as the front. So for this particular piece of B&T the front used the colors Smoothie & Olive and the backside was a monochromatic version in Olive. Isn't it interesting to see how the cards look so different?

Supplies Used:
Papers: CTMH Mayberry Level 2 Paper Pack, Colonial White, Olive, Cocoa, and Smoothie Cardstocks
Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Olive, and Smoothie
Stamps: CTMH Say It In Style, A Wonderful Friend, Piece Of Cake, Happy Birthday, One Of A Kind, and Thank You
Misc: scoring tool & stylus, flower gem, foam squares, Fiskars border punch

Baby Wipe Background Card

As I've mentioned before, I am part of a Stampin' Up hostess club. I can't take credit for the cute design of this card but I did get to make it at our last hostess club meeting in January. One of the things I love about being part of the SU hostess club is that I'm not the one teaching. I get to go, play, and enjoy myself without having to worry about a thing. And, more often than not, Meranda seems to share techniques that I know about but have yet to get around to actually doing. So it also gets me doing something new. :)

Striped Wipe Tutorial

Valentine Nugget Boxes

Wow, three posts in one day!!! Don't you feel lucky? Well like I said previously I'm playing catch-up and I've been meaning to post this since before I went out of town. I've been back for a week now, so it's about dang time I got it posted. Besides, with the previous two posts, one wasn't paper related and the other didn't involve a whole lot of creativity. ;)

We made these nugget boxes for card club last month. My ladies really enjoyed making them. One of the things I really enjoy about making these is that you can make do with scraps more often than not. They really are a great scrap stash buster. I'll be giving the 3 that I made to my girls for Valentine's Day. :)

You can find the templates for this nugget box and many other sizes as well on SCS in this discussion thread.

Trash to Treasure Gift Box

Do you ever find yourself saving things because "well, they might be useful at some point"? Or how about going to the thrift store and finding little boxes, tins, etc and thinking that they could easily be repurposed into something else? Yep, that's me. I do that more often than not. LOL

My grandma likes to write letters. She has friends she keeps in touch with as well as her kids & grandkids of course. :) Needless to say she goes through a LOT of notecards. Each year for Christmas for the past couple of years I have been going through my stash of cards that I have made over the previous year and putting together a bundle of them for her (complete with envelopes). And of course, me being me, I want them to look pretty.

A while back I found a very sturdy box for 50 cents at the thrift store. It had obviously held a kid's stationary or coloring set. It had Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmations on it. That didn't bother me too much because I figure if it's sturdy enough, it will hold up to paper, paint, and whatever else I throw at it. LOL

I forgot to get a before pic, but you can see a little of the original plum color print on the bottom lip of the box if you look closely. I tried to choose a paper pack that would coordinate with that so I wouldn't have to paint the box since I was in time crunch mode. Sorry the pics aren't better. The colors look way better in real life and the glitter in the middle of the flower stands out better too.

Crocheted Shawls

I made these shawls before Christmas. The blue & brown one was a gift for my mother-in-law. They went to France & Belgium over the Christmas holiday and knowing that she gets cold easily I thought a shawl would be the perfect gift to help her stay warm on the long flight. I made it using Loops & Threads Charisma yarn in the Lakeside colorway.

The cream & burgundy shawl was made for the wife of the couple that my in-laws went to France to visit. I used the same pattern as the other but used Lion Brand Chenille yarn. You can find the pattern here.

My lovely daughters were kind enough to model for me. :)