All New York State Shop Hop

What is a Shop Hop?  It's a set of specific days when you can visit quilt shops and quality for prizes and other handouts.  This year New York State is doing it's first all NY Shop Hop.  The whole state is included and there are 59 shops to visit!  

They divided the state into different regions and there are 13 shops in the Northern region, where I live.  While I didn't get to go to all 59 (maybe someday), I did visit all of the ones in my region.  It took me 5 days to get to them all.  And best of all, I did it with my crafty friends!

The Shop Hop is going on for the months of May and June.  During May, we shopped in the rain!  We certainly didn't let that stop us.  I love this pic with us in our bright spring rain coats.  

Riley Blake, a fabric designer, has put out a whole line of fabrics with panels that feature places in New York state  One of my friends bought the panels to make a quilt.  Each shop has their own 4" patch that they give out.  I want to make a tote bag out of mine for next year's Hop.

The fun part about the Shop Hop is getting inspired to make some new projects and see what's new in each of the stores.  Each shop is very different and it's fun to meet the owners and other hoppers who are out and about.  I ran into a lot of ladies from my quilt guild.  

Once you go to the ones that are closest to you, it's a lot of driving to get to the shops that a bit further away.  But so worth it.  :)

Most of the time we made a day of it with lunch included and some other fun stops along the way.  

Here I am waiting for my food at a street-side cafe.  It wasn't raining that day.  

Each shop has a little stuffed animal that is hidden somewhere inside of the shop.  If you find it, you can enter weekly drawings for prizes.  Once you have completed the hop, or one of the regions, you can send in your "Passport" to be entered into drawings to win larger prizes.  

I got the pattern to make a quilted jacket.  I've been wanting to make one for a while.  Now I just have to sit down to do it!  

It's fun to see the pretty quilts and projects that each store has displayed.  I would take some classes that have to offer if the shops were closer.  Maybe I can have some friends over and we can make some projects on our own.  

Would I go again?  Yes, I can't wait 'til next year!  More shops in other regions.  With my tote bag and quilt jacket, if it's cold out.  :)

Have you ever been on a Shop Hop?  It's lots of fun.  

 

Beach Day

For this week's Stamp Class, I took out the set Beach Day to give the cards a summer beachy kind of feel.  I paired it with the dies from Paradise Palms.  

For the first card, I used Cloud Cover cardstock and embossed the white with a dotted folder.  Then I cut out a circle from Celebratory Sips designer papers for the focal point.  I added some palm tree and grass dies, and 3 cut-out surfboards.   I cut  out the sun in Pale Papaya and added some seagulls and the saying.  (One card has two palm trees and the second card only has one.)  

I got the idea from Narelle Farrugia.  This card reminds me of the beach on a hazy warm day.  :)

The second card is a little scene along the beach with two chairs and an umbrella.  I didn't buy the dies for this set, so we cut them out.  I used a Blend marker in Crumb Cake for the sand and then some sponging in Pool Party to create the sea.  

The designer papers are from Country Woods designer papers.  I got the idea for this card from Heidi Collins.  I love the rustic beach look of this card.  

For this final card, I used Stampin Up watercolor crayons (remember them?) to make the beach and ocean waves.  I just love how this turned out; it looks like the foam from the top of waves crashing onto the beach!  I could be sitting right there.  Wait - do I hear the sound of the waves and the seagull?  

I thought the card needed a bow to look complete.  I had fun making this card and want to make more.  It was fun painting the ocean.  All of the ladies who come to class loved painting the ocean, too.  

 

Layers of Beauty Cards

Layers of Beauty stamps and masks came out last year but I finally decided to get them.  I am so glad that I did!  The masking templates work so well and the flowers turn out looking very professional.

I always say that I am not a purple girl, and I'm surprised at how many times that I do use purples.  I used Fresh Fresia for the cardstock, added a strip of Soft Succulent designer paper from an old pack, and embossed the white background for this card.

I stamped the purple flower on a white piece of cardstock, used the masking templates and then cut it out with the die.  For my masking colors, I only used one color for the purples and one color for the greens.  It's the shading that makes them turn out so well.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite cards that I have ever made.  It goes well for birthday, thinking of you and even sympathy cards.  

The matching dies that go with this set are awesome, too.  I like the look of the textured leaves. Here is another one that I did make for a sympathy card.

Card #2 uses papers from Country Woods designer papers.  I love the rustic look of this card.  For this technique I stamped the flowers and gently outlined the flowers and leaves,  It gives it a nice subtle look to the card.  I got the idea from Lori Pinto.  This is also one of my favorites.  

Here is another look at that pretty card.  :)

For this third card, I embossed the flowers with gold powders.  Then I added gold cut out leaves.  I did a little outlining in the flowers with yellow just to make them stand out more.  Gold cards are hard to photograph and this card looks to much better in person.

I decided not to put a saying on these.  They can be used for a wedding, anniversary, birthday or other special day.  I wish you could see them in person.

Which one do you like the best?  

 

Scripture Blocks and Cards

 

One of the things that I love to make to put in my little shop are blocks with sayings or Scriptures.  For these two blocks I used To Market designer papers and flower stamps from Regency Park stamp set.  I like using these flowers because there is a coordinating punch that makes cutting them out a lot faster than just fussy cutting.  

Here are a couple more house blocks made using Countryside Inn designer papers.  When I am out and about at craft store, I always look for stamps with Scriptures on them.  I have a whole bin full and love using them on my projects.  

I buy my blocks at various stores, mostly from the clearance section.  Then I paint them and decorate them with papers and sayings.  Here is a long block and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  But I had a long horizontal Scripture that fit just perfectly.  I sectioned off the block and added some cut outs from To Market papers.  It matched the card set and I was happy with how it turned out.

One of the cards from To Market class.  I ordered more of these papers; they work up so nicely with Crumb Cake and other tan papers.  

Here is a cute card that I made using Celebratory Sips designer papers and the cut-out heart from Friends for Life.  

Scripture blocks and cards make nice gifts and can be an encouragement to someone.  

Florals in Bloom

 This month I took out the pretty papers and stamp set from the new SU catalog called Florals in Bloom suite of products.  I just love the new Secret Sea color.  It's like a deep dark ocean color, not quite black that makes a nice contrast to the brighter colors.

For this card, I used Fresh Fresia for the cardstock and added a piece of the designer papers to the front.  I stamped the saying onto a rectangular cut out and added some flowers that I fussy cut from the designer paper.  I usually use a little Wink of Stella to brighter up the paper, some sparkling embellishments and a bow to finish it off.  I also like to add splatters using a stamp to the white spaces.  I think this ties all of the colors together in your projects.  The idea for this card is from Judy May.

For this card, I tried to copy the card on the front of the new catalog.  While I didn't have the new banner set, I used another banner cut out and added some framing to the designer paper.  I would never have used these colors together but I love how it turned out!

These next two cards are tuck-in cards; the side panel tucks under the saying and closes the card.  I wanted to show how the same image and papers can look different by changing up just the cardstock color and the focal point color.  I love how they turned out.  They're like a two-for-one card set!

I got the idea for these from Karin Sommer Braxton on Pinterest.

There is so much more that I want to make with this set.  The colors of the paper are bright and happy and the stamp set has cute flowers in it.  

Have you used this set yet?

Pin Cushions with Dogs

Yesterday I was fooling around in my sewing room, trying to decide what to make for my upcoming quilt group meeting.  Every month I raffle off an item that I have made.  This time I decided to make a collection of pin cushions.

It all started with the little dog panel that I found at one of the stops on my NY Shop Hop last week.  I framed them with some new fabric that I had bought that matches them just perfectly!  Honestly, they are just so cute!

The theme for this month's raffle is Blue.  So next I cut some 1 1/2" strips from some blue fabrics and sewed them into rows for the blue patchwork pin cushions.  The squares and strips finish at 1".  

For the half-square triangle cushion, I cut 1 1/2" squares and then sewed on the diagonal, removing the extra fabric.  The squares also finished up at 1".  There are 16 blocks in this little pin cushion.

And lastly, I wanted a different shape, so I chose to make the half-square triangle circle cushion.  I cut the fabric squares 3" and then drew a line down the diagonal of the top square.  I sewed 1/4" on both sides of the triangles, cut them down through the center and sewed them into a four-patch block.  Instead of making it square, I just drew a circle and sewed on that to create a circular cushion.

Each cushion is layered with a piece of batting and then quilted.  After I turned and stuffed them, I added some buttons to embellish them.  What do you think?  Which one do you like the best?

Have you ever made pin cushions just for fun?  I could make them every day. Oh, wait, but then I wouldn't get anything else done!

Cheers and Sips

Honestly, I had so much fun making these cards last week!  The colors from Celebratory Sips are so vibrant and happy.  And the papers have cute, colorful drinks on them that you can cut out.  :)

For my first card, I cut some green designer papers into strips and mounted them onto the card.  I offset them to give them some visual appeal.  I added a piece of the beautiful Celebratory Sips paper as the focal point.  Then I cut out a couple of "drinks" to add to the card.  

This set does not have to be alcoholic, they can just be lemonade and grape juice drinks.  Here is another version:

For this card, I used a darker colored purple for the background.  I think it makes the images stand out better.  I got the idea for this card online but don't remember where.  (Let me know if it's your card so I can give you credit.)  I love how it came out.  :)

For the second card, I made a couple of slits in the middle of the front of the cardstock so that it opens only in the middle.  The top and bottom layers are glued down.  The papers are so pretty and bright.  What a fun card to make.  :)

This card has a pink lemonade with a little umbrella - how cute is that?  I got the idea for this card from Karen Titus on Pinterest.

The third card is a side fold card, so when you open it you only have room on half of the card to write your sentiment.  The pretty pinks on this card make it a happy card for someone, no matter what their special day may be.

Or just make it a Happy Birthday card to celebrate someone you know.  I stamped the orange and strawberry for the right side of the card and also for the inside.  

The papers are so nice in this set that you don't have to really any drink images.  I ordered more papers so that I can make some more bright cards.  Which card do you like best?