On to Christmas! With Pretty Poinsettia

During the month of October I was really busy with things including a much-needed trip to Disney.  Because of that, I didn't get a chance to really work on any fall projects (and I had so many) and now the season is over - LOL.  

So today I'm posting the first of my Christmas cards using the stamp set called Pretty Poinsettia.  It's an online set with dies that makes really pretty cards.  

For my first card, I used some papers from last year called Season of Green and Gold.  I stamped a saying onto a scalloped focal point and then added some cut out poinsettias in Basic Beige and Mossy Meadow.  The accents on the card are cut from gold paper.  I got the idea from Pamela Dinunzio.  

The second card features a pretty embossed background with a focal panel of striped paper from Magnolia Lane dsp that I had laying around.  I cut out the poinsettia and some gold leaves.  The dies both cut and emboss the paper, giving you a most beautiful cut out shape.  

I used the saying Christmas Joy from the set and stamped it onto a circle for the saying.  Under the saying is some fine gold thread and lastly, a gold bow to complete the card.  My original card also has some bling on it, but I must have taken this photo before I added it.  

Here is what the inside of the card looks like.  I love the idea of making a Christmas card using pinks and golds.  The idea is from Melissa Faust.

For my final card, I used Cinnamon Cider for the background color and embossed a piece of the same color for the card front.  I added a strip of velvet paper that I had from a previous year, a white poinsettia and a saying in a stitched circle with a darker scalloped edge.  There's a couple of fussy cut snowflakes and some Basic Beige sprigs to compete the look.

What a great class and fun way to kick off the Christmas crafting season!  

 

Second Patriotic Quilt

 

I finally finished the second Patriotic quilt that I've been working on since the middle of summer!  If you remember, I started with a big star Patriotic quilt that came out great, and had a lot of fabric left over.  It looks like I've forgotten to get some pics of the finished quilt at home when it was completed.  

This is the photo someone took at my guild meeting when I was showing my quilt.  It's 5 1/2 inch squares with a 2" sashing.  I staggered the rows and added a half-square on the edge of each row, either at the beginning or at the end of the row.  

It was quick and easy to make and I think it looks so nice.  You don't even have to line up any seams!  I would definitely make another quilt in this same pattern.  

Here is a pic of me quilting it on my longarm.  I was eager to finish it up so I just did a simple meandering stitch for quilting.  I'm happy with how it turned out.

The fabrics are from the Old Glory line by Lella Boutique.  I just love how bright they are and they work up so nicely for Patriotic projects.  

Here's my problem - there's still enough fabric left over to make another quilt!  Maybe for next summer's sewing!  I'm ready to move on to the next season.  

Cute Christmas Bird and Deer Pillows for Decor

I've been working on some fall decor these days for my home, but I realize that I need to start getting things ready for Christmas selling.  I stitched up some adorable little pillows from a panel that I had bought on one of the Shop Hops.  

I added some large red, green and gold buttons to embellish them.  You can put them in a basket or on a shelf for Christmas decorating.  They're about 7" tall.  Look how cute the little animals are!

This cardinal is so festive perched on a green branch.  I love the colors and images on these panels.  They're called Christmas Spirit by Mia Charrow.  

Which one do you like the best?  Bird, tree or deer?  I still have more panels and fabric to make something else.  Hmm, what should it be?

 

Sweater Kitties

I've been wanting to make little kitties from my sweater collection for a while.  Finally this summer I drew up a pattern and starting cutting out these cuties.  

I cut and sewed the kitties in assembly line style, then added buttons for the eyes.  Using pink and brown felt I stitched little hearts on them.  Finally, I added the embroidery for the nose and mouth.  This really made them "come alive."

It took a while to pick out each sweater, then match up the buttons, so they are bit time consuming. The sweaters that are made from wool are much easier to work with because they don't unravel after you've washed them in hot water.  

I had so much fun making these little guys.  Seriously, aren't they adorable?

Fourth of July Party

At the end of summer, I had some friends over from my church Bible study group for a 4th of July party.  I set out my patriotic quilted items and hung some banners in the house for the festivities.

I hung the Stardust quilt on the wall in the family room.  I tried to get it a little higher, but didn't want to get a ladder.  That was as high as I could reach!

I asked the ladies to dress in red, white and blue and we had a fun time together.  I'm the girl on the left side of the pic.  

 

Quilted Pumpkin Name Tage and Bowl Fillers

Every month at my quilt group meeting, we have a name tag drawing.  If you are wearing a hand-sewn name tag, you can put your name in for the drawing.  It's usually a gift certificate to a local quilt shop.

In a perfect world, I would like to have a name tag that will coordinate with my outfits or with each season.  So last week I made the time to whip up a new tag with pumpkins on it for the October meeting.  The orange strips are 1.25" wide and I added a corner square to make the strips into a pumpkin.  I embroidered my name using my sewing machine and added the bow and buttons when it was done.  

At my quilt group, everyone commented on my tag.  I just love it and now I want to make a different one for next month's meeting.  Maybe a patchwork acorn for November?

After making my new name tag, I made three more pumpkins from the strips that I had sewn together.  I turned them into bowl fillers for fall.  You can set them on a shelf or put them in a basket or bowl for decor.  

After I finished the pumpkins, I made some key fobs to match for fall.  Don't you just love them?  I do.  

Glow of Harvest

Last month's exclusive product from Stampin Up was the pretty Glow of Harvest designer papers.  At first I didn't think that they had enough color in the papers, but after playing around with them, I decided that I liked them.

My first card has some pumpkins cut from the paper.  I added some gold leaves to spruce it up along with a strip of the golden glow paper.  I put a half circle of vellum behind the pumpkins to help them stand out.  I'm very pleased with how this card came out.  

My second card has some of the flower sprigs cut from the papers.  Again I added a vellum circle and some gold leaves.  The designer paper on the left is from Nature's Sweetness.  The base of the card is Pecan Pie.

The third card is my version of one of Stampin Up sample cards.  Although you can't see it in the photos, the paper has a nice shine to it, making the cards look more elegant.  I've got a couple of banner cut outs for the focal point along with embossed cardstock underneath them.  I cut out the pumpkins from the paper.  

Even though I only had one package of the papers because that is all that SU allows for the exclusive products, we made 18 cards from one paper pack.  And the colors remind me of fall!

Painted Pumpkins

This week I had a lot of fun using the Painted Patch suite.  I like the colors in the designer papers; it's something a bit different.  For this card, I added the gate that opens on the front of the card.  Inside the gate is a saying and another pumpkin.  I stamped these pumpkins onto colored papers using the Painted Pumpkin stamp set.  

These two cards are both the same card, only I used different colors for the cardstock.  I like how they coordinate with each other.  The pumpkins are cut out from the designer papers, which cut out three pumpkins at a time.  A couple of the crows from the Fun for Fall stamp set flew onto my cards.  

For my third card, I put the little mouse from Christmas Mice into the pumpkin patch!  The dies cut slits into his little arms so that he can hold things.  He has picked a gourd out for you and is saying, Hello Gourd-geous.  :)

I need more time to make more of these whimsical cards.  Which one do you like best?

 

Yes, More Sunflowers

After making the sunflower stamp class, I wanted to do more projects using the pretty papers.  So I made some decor blocks and put Bible verses on them.  First I painted the blocks and then decorated them with my stamping supplies.  Pretty, right?

These blocks make nice gifts or something cute to sit on a shelf in your home.  

Here are a couple of smaller ones.  I found the Scripture stamps at Hobby Lobby but I need to look for a few new ones.  Maybe I will look online for some.

This pic shows all three of them along with some yellow washcloths that I crocheted.  I usually pair them together in groups of 3 or 4 - they make nice gifts along with a pretty bar of soap.

You can even pair the wooden blocks with a matching card for a gift.  I just loved working with these pretty sunflower papers.  :)

Look how cute they look together!

In my sewing room, I whipped up some sunflower bookmarks to go along with the projects.  I just want to make more.  

I was having such fun!  

Sunflower Fun

My last stamping class featured some sunflower cards using Radiant Sunflowers stamp set and Sunflower Fields designer papers.  Here is my first card.  We used sponge daubers to color in the sunflowers.  I love how they turned out.  

For my second card, we cut the designer paper into thirds and mounted it onto a brown piece of cardstock.  The little sunflowers are from the Pop Up Petals stamp set and the images int he set coordinate so nicely with the Radiant Sunflowers set.  

This card has some pretty green background paper from an older paper pack.  I added two sunflowers along with leaves, also colored with sponge daubers.  The saying is heat embossed with white powders.

I had so much fun playing around with sunflowers that I made a fourth card.  I folded down the top part of the designer paper for a different look.  I cut out some vases from Earthen Textures and added some sunflowers to them.  The ladies who came to the class enjoyed making the cards.

Here's a pic of me enjoying a sunflower maze at a local farm.  I love this time of year!

 

Sewing Book Sleeves and Bookmarks

Recently I had the idea of making some book sleeves to carry around any current book that I've been reading.  So I came up with up a pattern and made a couple to try it out!  

I really loved making them and will definitely make some more.  My sleeve is about 8x10 inches and has a pocket on the outside to hold your cell phone and some pens or a bookmark.  The sleeve can hold a book or a Kindle or anything else that is about the same size.

It will also hold a small sewing cutting mat or ruler and your rotary cutters or scissors will fit right into one of the pockets.  

The first few sleeves that I made were quilted but then I tried working on a couple that didn't have quilting and I still like the look of them.  Because they don't have the quilting on the top and bottom, they were faster to make.

While you can use any fabrics, I looked through my stash to see if I had any fabric with books on it.  I found some cute little house fabric that says Books on one of the houses.  Now I'm on the lookout for fabric with books on it.  

The bookmarks are fun and easy to make.  I ironed a stiff interfacing to the inside so that they wouldn't be flimsy and added a ribbon at the top of them.  I think they turned out so cute.

I will definitely be making more of these.  It's time to take out some whimsical fabrics and give it a go.  (In my spare time, of course!)

Art Gallery Cards

Last month I was browsing through my 6x6 designer papers and came across a package of Beautiful Gallery images.  They remind me of going to an Art Gallery, only you make the artwork!  For my card, I chose Stippled Roses for the main flower because I thought that it was kind of vintage looking.  This is one of the prettiest cards that I've ever made.  (I know I say that all the time.)

I cut a framed arch with the pretty papers, stamped on the inside piece with some words and then added the beautiful flower image.  The leaf cutouts are also from the Stippled roses set.  I love the colors and everything about this card.  :)

For this card, I copied the idea from Sandy Bennett on Pinterest.  I love the deep, moody colors.  I used an older embossing folder that has a sort of damask look to it, stamped words onto the light blue strip and added the printed image with a border.  It's even more beautiful in person.

My third card is a lovely landscape scene with some added sprigs, cut out in both vellum and in cardstock.  The saying is framed with a fancy circle die.  

I had so much fun making these pieces of "artwork" for my gallery card class.  The more I made, the more ideas that I got.  Someday I hope to make more.  

 

More Blocks

This block is made using Magnolia Lane designer papers (retired).  I added the pretty oval from Framed Florets to frame another Scripture saying.  The flower is fussy cut from the papers.  I cut out a couple of green sprigs and a green leaf banner to complete the project.

I try to always add some embellishments, buttons and ribbon to my items.  

For this project, I used an open frame that I found at the Goodwill shop.  I added some blue paper from Peaceful Garden and a cut out from Fragrant Layers.  I stamped some flowers and a butterfly from Extraordinary Life to add as embellishments.  Lastly I added the Scripture square as the saying.  

Here are couple of smaller blocks made with a pretty paper that has shiny copper leaves on it.  So I embossed some flowers in copper powders and added then to the blocks.  They're little (about 3.5 x 2 in) but make a sweet little encouragement.  

I had fun making these projects.