Friendship Friday

This week has been full of deadlines and goals for me...and truth be told, I have been pretty much overwhelmed by my ever-growing Blue Ribbon Designs to-do list, household chores and yard work, and our two dogs. It seems my schedule is always full and I can't find the balance I so desperately need. Today, however, I took a break from the craziness and enjoyed "Friendship Friday"...a Friday where I meet two of my very dear girlfriends (Mary and Lorrie) for lunch and just relax for a couple hours...and today was made even more special, as we were celebrating Lorrie's birthday!  We met at one of our favorite restaurants "On The Border" for a little Mexican fiesta...we had fabulous food and spent some much needed time catching up  - conversing about our lives and families and everything in-between...and afterwards, Lorrie opened her birthday gifts.

I always have fun working on birthday gifts for my close friends...and although I usually sew and quilt many of my presents, this time I changed things up a bit. I decided to make Lorrie a little friendship photo album, with pictures from our recent road trips and outings. I used chipboard tags and covered them with pretty scrapbook papers and added the photos...using one of my favorite gadgets - a 5" Xyron Creative Station (OMG - I love this fancy little machine that makes pretty much anything adhesive)!  I also used a 1.5" Xyron Create-A-Sticker to adhere chipboard buttons, laces, trims, and rick rack. Yes, I adore these Xyron products...and wish I had more of their fabulous crafting supplies - do you hear me Xyron?? - I heart you (no affiliation, their stellar products just make my crafting life better)! It was so much fun printing out the photos and then working with my stash to decorate this fun friendship book...digging through ribbons, laces, trims, and buttons always brings me joy!

I also decided to stitch Lorrie a pendant. This from Milady's Needle, titled Quaker Pendants II - it is stitched over-one on 36-count fabric...and then I backed it with a piece of retired Blackbird Designs sampler fabric stabilized with fusible interfacing. This is the second one of these pendants I have made for a gift...I think I need to get an additional pendant, so I can finally make one for myself!

I also have to share this book with you - I purchased this book for Lorrie months ago, after we had a discussion on using vintage handkerchiefs in sewing projects. This lovely book has fabulous ideas for using those special antique hankies, laces, doilies, and ribbon you may be holding on to...

It was a lovely luncheon and we all commented on how we need to do it more often...in fact, I think every Friday should be "Friendship Friday"....

Tonight, after an evening walk, I am hoping to finish up the last set of needlework smalls for my upcoming new releases. I am getting ready to send out a large printing order and I am crossing my fingers I can get all the files and photography completed this weekend (or early next week). There are new designs on the way and I can't wait to share them with you!

Finally - I am truly touched by the AMAZING response I have received for "Red Rosies and Pink Posies" - the support, encouragement, and beautiful e-mails I have received are heartwarming. Your generosity is beyond compare - and I sincerely thank each and every beautiful soul who has made a donation and/or spread the word about this special design and my fundraising page for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day! I still have until November to meet and surpass my goal...and (for those of you who have asked) my special exclusive design for donors will be available until that time. Please continue to help me spread the word...and I will continue to train and work hard to make sure all my supporters proud!

Buttons and Bottle Caps

If you read my blog often, then you know I am addicted to buttons - I am constantly on the lookout for buttons - new or vintage or novelty...I don't discriminate! I have them in jars, tins, and boxes in my studio - and sometimes an entire project I work on is decided upon by a button that inspires me. So today's post should be no surprise to you - paperclips embellished with buttons...these work great as bookmarks - or for collecting papers - or attached to a card or tag - and you often see them in scrapbooking and altered art. They are beyond simple to make and can be embellished as much as you like - I did these rather simple, but you could add wool shapes or stack several buttons...even add ribbon or trim or small fabric yo-yos. I use a good, clear-drying glue and attach the paperclip to the button...then after it drys, I glue a small wool felt circle to the back to make it pretty and smooth - I have also been known to use a piece of white adhesive foam on the back. Most of the clips in the photo use buttons, but some are decorative brads I had in my embellishment box - I just removed the prongs and attached the paperclip and wool back (these are seen in the top right photo on the right side). Although I have various sizes and colors of paperclips on hand - the majority of these use a basic size #1 silver...and the three darker ones use a brass jumbo clip. I recently found some colorful BIG clips measuring about 3 3/4" - I picked up a couple packs thinking they will make great embellished bookmarks...I envision them with wool and fun ribbon tails.

I also made a couple more batches of my bottle cap magnets...I had found some wonderful adhesive tin pins at the scrapbook store that I fell in love with (aren't the bird and the goose adorable?!) - they fit perfectly in the bottle caps, so I attached them with Amazing GOOP craft adhesive and added a magnet to the back of each - super easy and super cute!

I've been running in a million different directions lately...trying to get new designs prepared, trying to make holiday gifts, along with managing my business and our household (and still nursing what is left of my cold/flu) - I have been a multitasking machine. The whole time I worked on the above projects, I had my sewing/embroidery machine working on embroidered snowflakes and had multiple household chores going on...it's been a little chaotic here trying to get my to-do list done...but each night, I have been stitching up a storm, working on new models for early 2012. "Friendship Blooms" is almost ready for a peek - it may be done tonight (if I work into the wee hours of the morning, like usual) - if not I hope to finish it up tomorrow...so be on the lookout for a sighting soon!

Cute Creative Embellishments

Back in July, my dear friend Kimber did a review/tutorial on her blog (Heirlooms by Ashton House) of the Imaginisce "i-top tool"...and I just had to get my hands on one and play with it for myself! This slick tool easily creates buttons, brads, magnets, pins, and badges...even bobby pins, rings, and headbands...it is WAY COOL!! The i-top tool is pink handled with rubber and metal heads...and although it may look confusing, it works easily and makes much more sense when you have one in your hand - it even comes with a Demo DVD to help you get started. You decide what type of item you want to make and the size, then purchase the hardware separately (these pieces are called "daddies" - button daddies, brad daddies, magnet daddies, etc.). The daddies come in three sizes: small (16mm), medium (22mm), and large (28mm) - the large size requires a large head set (purchased separately) to accommodate the size of the hardware. I played with making buttons, brads, magnets, and pins - all with fabric (you know I like to find fun ways to use my scraps)! If you use paper, Imaginisce has punches for all three sizes to easily cut the shape needed...there are also templates you can purchase to help you easily cut fabric and other materials to the correct size. In the top photo, you can see an array of the fabric covered daddies I made - then below, a photo of the backs. If you are into crafting gadgets, I found this to be quite a useful tool and easy to operate - but beware, it is addicting - I couldn't make just one button!...and how cute is my little owl pin??! For those of you on the lookout for this creative gadget, I found the i-top tool and several styles of daddies at my local Archiver's store....I also saw them the other day at my local Michaels store...no affiliation, no incentives - just sharing what I feel is a fun product/gadget with you! I have already looked through my scrap box of fabrics and picked out a bunch of pieces I want to fussy cut for buttons and pins...you will definitely see me using more of these creative embellishments in the future!

My First Word Book

Wanting to try something new for my mother-in-law's Mother's Day gift, I decided to use my new Cricut Expression machine to make a word book. I used the Cricut DesignStudio Software to create the M-O-M letter pages - which actually worked really slick! After getting the pages designed, I hooked my Cricut Expression to my laptop and was able to cut my designs...and it actually worked...I was so proud of myself...I picked a rather large project for a new Cricut user, but that is me, I just jump in! After cutting the pages, I cut an assortment of cardstock and pretty paper shapes, frames, and letters...then got out the glue stick and went to work...I added photographs of Travis, Simba, and myself...rick rack, buttons, and a couple epoxy stickers. The back page was done using a color ink, instead of a cutting blade in my Cricut Expression - it actually draws the shapes instead of cutting them...it was my first time trying this and it amazed me! I punched holes in each of the pages, then used book rings tied with pretty ribbons and trims to bind the pages. It took a little longer than expected (and it looked like a bomb exploded in my studio), but I was thrilled with the results! Travis and I will sign the back page to commemorate the occasion. Shown below are each of the pages as you work through the book...

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day...and find a little creative time for yourself...

A New Toy - A New Creative Spark!

A brand new toy arrived on my doorstep this week, courtesy of My Crafter Corner! My Craft Corner is an online community for all types of crafters and artisans - this community with over 1,500 members has all sorts of groups, forums, and member pages, all full of creativity and inspiration. Each year they have a "Meet & Greet" contest where the grand prize is a Cricut Expression cutting machine...and this year, I happened to be the big winner (I can't believe it - I am still in awe)! I never expected to receive such a generous prize simply for meeting other creative people. I actually received two prize packages - one containing two Cricut cartridges and one containing the Cricut Expressions machine (and it had two additional cartridges!). I am not a big scrapbooker, so I wasn't as familiar with this personal cutting system as I probably should have been...but once I watched the enclosed DVD and saw what it's capabilities were, I was blown away by this amazing prize! If you read my blog often, then you know I am a huge stationery fan and love to send notes in the mail - when I found out I could make my own cards and gift tags, I was over-the moon!

After looking at the manual and viewing the enclosed DVD, I jumped in and loaded a piece of white card stock - I just started cutting/trying different shapes and sizes, getting used to how the machine worked...oh my goodness, was I ever impressed...all of a sudden my mind was working overtime thinking of all the creative aspects and how to incorporate this machine into my already overflowing studio...I was inspired more than I ever imagined! After understanding how the machine worked and trying a couple different cartridges, I decided to jump in and make my first card - I opted for a thank you note - cutting a dark brown card and beige envelope...then cutting the letters for THANKS and a couple flowers and a heart - WOW, I made one on my first try - it is not the most exciting and it is far from perfect, but I am learning!

Okay - so now I have another new crafting addiction...I know, just what I needed...I have already purchased some beautiful papers and cardstock...and I have a couple more cartridges on the way. If you have one of these fancy schmancy machines and have any tips or tricks for me, please pass them along...and if you have favorite cartridges, I would love to know what they are, as well...

Thank you to My Craft Corner for such a phenomenal contest prize...and for sparking my creativity...