Saturday, December 31

Grand Re-Launch Giveaway


I'm so excited that January 2012 is finally here because now I can officially relaunch my blog and host this amazing giveaway!!

Here's a recap of the 3 prize packages being given away in this BIG Grand Re-Launch Giveaway...

1st PRIZE PACKAGE
Large Flat Rate Box (12"x12"x5.5") of crafty goodies valued at over $100.00
(Click HERE for content list)

2nd PRIZE PACKAGE
8"x10" envelope of crafty goodies valued at over $40.00
(Click HERE for content list)

3rd PRIZE PACKAGE
8"x10" envelope of crafty goodies valued at over $35.00
(Click HERE for content list) 

If you have never used Rafflecopter for entering a giveaway before, don't panic!! It's super easy to use, just follow the instructions in the widget and you'll receive your entries.  The widget does require you to log in, but that's just so I'll be able to contact you if you win.  If you have any questions or problems though, feel free to contact me!!

Have fun and good luck!!

Real Quick...

I just wanted to post a little note to everyone to mention a few little things.

First of all, please have a safe and Happy New Year's celebration tonight!!  As for me, I'm having a homemade Cajun feast with friends followed by a night of crafting!!  I can't wait for this evening to get here!!

I also want to let you know that I'll be publishing the other hand-carved stamp tutorial and the Framed Lace Pendant tutorial tomorrow.  I'm sorry that they're going to be a bit late, but crafts and craft shopping kind of took over my past few days.

Last but not least, I just want to remind everyone that you'll be able to enter to win the Grand Re-Launch Giveaway at 12:01AM tonight!!  Good luck to everyone!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Friday, December 30

Grand Re-Launch Fact Friday

Welcome to the last edition of Fact Friday!!

I think you're going to be really excited to see today's fact and bonus photos, so let's get right to it!!

The 1st Prize Package will be a Large Flat-Rate (12"x12"x5") box full of crafty goodies valued at over $100!!

The package will contain the following items:
* $20 gift card to Jo-Ann’s
* Handmade Tree of Life Ornament valued at over $30
* Handmade Charm valued at over $5
* 3 New small acrylic stamps with block
* 1 New small stamp pad
* Vintage ephemera
* 15 1-foot sections of lace
* 2 New spools of ribbon
* 1 New 4.5”x6.5” scrapbook paper pad
* Assorted papers from my stash
* 3"x3" bag of assorted beads from my stash
* 4"x4" bag of assorted charms & findings from my stash
* 3 Metal bookmark findings
* 1 Gallon-size zip lock bag of fabric pieces ranging from 3”x3” up to a ¼ yard or more
* 15 ATC Blanks
* 2 Small paper punches
* 1 Small bag of unfinished wood pieces
* 1 Small bag of plastic gems
* 1 New decorative skeleton key
* 1 Small Bag of Buttons
* 1 Quart-size bag of felt

* 3"x3" bag of assorted trim, cord and specialty ribbon
* 3 Organza necklace cords
* 3 Braided leather necklace cords


Pretty amazing prize package, huh?!?  

Now that you know exactly what each prize contains, I figured I'd show you a collage of each of the prize packages so you can see just how awesome they are!!

1st Prize Package

2nd Prize Package

3rd Prize Package

Remember that you can start obtaining your entries at 12:01AM on Sunday, January 1st!!  You'll have until 12:01AM on January 31st to enter!!  Don't miss this great giveaway!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Wednesday, December 28

A Big Thank You & A Felt Storage Tip


I want to take a moment and say a big "Thank You" to...

My readers and followers...
Without you, there would be no Lisa's Craft Blog!!  It's because of my readers that I take the time and put in the effort to write the posts and tutorials.  I appreciate each and every one of you that take time out of your day to visit my little corner of the blogosphere.  It really means the world to me!!

Those that comment on my posts...
Each comment I receive brightens my day more than I can express.  Your compliments are so encouraging to read and the ideas you add to my projects are so very inspiring!!  I truly love getting each and every comment!!

Bloggers that feature my projects & blog...
I definitely need to thank the blogs that have featured my projects since November.  I get so (ridiculously) excited each time one of my tutorials is featured on another blog...it's actually kinda funny how happy it makes me!! hehehe

Here are all of the blogs that featured my projects over the past 2 months!!  Please check each of them out because they totally rock!!

Today, Terri from A Creative Princess was kind enough to publish an entire post totally dedicated to my little craft blog!!  She is so sweet for saying all of the super nice things about my blog in her post today!!  Please take a moment to visit A Creative Princess!!




FELT STORAGE TIP


I've actually been storing my felt this way for quite some time and today I finally realized that you would probably want to see this nifty little idea too!!

I started by stacking my sheets of felt in color order.  Once my stack got to be about 8" tall, I grabbed a $1 reusable grocery bag that I had on hand and turned it on it's side.  I put the stack of felt inside the bag in the stack and then started on my next 8" stack.  When I had that stack ready I added it to the pile in the bag.  I did this until all of my felt was stacked inside the bag and then turned the back right-side up.

Ta-Da!!  Portable and organized felt storage!!


Thanks for reading!! Until next time!!

Tutorial: Big Zakka Owl Stuffie


Back in May I posted a tutorial on how to make the little Zakka Owls, and today I'll show you how to make a BIG, 1-foot Zakka Owl stuffie like the giant one above!!  How fun!!

SUPPLIES
1/2 yard - Soft fabric for body
1/3 yard - Coordinating soft fabric for belly
1 sheet - White felt
2 sheets - Felt for eye patches and bottom
2 - 1"+ Black buttons
Embroidery floss
Large-hole sewing needle

Step 1: CUT FABRIC
This is the trickiest part of this project because you're going to have to free-hand this pattern onto your fabric.  Then again, you could take the pattern to a professional printer to have it enlarged if you really wanted to. 
The pattern can be downloaded HERE.
Free-hand the patterns onto your fabrics.
The Owl Body should be about 18" tall and the Owl Belly should be about 10"-12"" tall.
Note: When free-handing the pattern, it doesn't have to be exactly like the pattern.  The most important thing to is that Owl Belly piece is about 2/3 as tall as the Owl Body piece.

 Step 2: BEGIN TO SEW BODY
I like to use 3 of the 6 threads in embroidery floss and I use a back-stitch for this step, but you’re welcome to use a sewing machine instead.
With the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, sew the edge of the Owl Belly (B) to the right edge of the Owl Body (A) starting at the bottom corner.  
Tie a knot when you reach the upper point of the Owl Belly (B) and cut your string. 


Step 3: CONTINUE TO SEW BODY
Repeat Step 2 on the left side of the Owl Body (A), just as you did on the right side, but do not tie a knot or cut your string.
Fold your fabric down the center as in the image above and continue sewing up to the top of the Owl Body (A).
Tie a knot and cut your string.
When finished with this step, unfold your piece and it should look similar to the second sketch in the image above
. 
Step 3: CREATE HEAD
Turn fabric right side out.
Fold just below the red line and stitch the top point (red dot) to the owl’s belly. 
Note: When sewing the point to the belly, make sure it is centered, left-to-right, otherwise your owl will have a crooked beak!

Step 4: ADD EYES
EYE PATCHES
Prior to sewing on the eye patches, pin them in place so they will be level and equally apart.
Use 6 threads of coordinating embroidery floss and sew a blanket stitch around the eye patches. 
EYE WHITES
Pin the whites of the eyes close to the inside edge of the eye patches, but don’t cover your nifty blanket stitch.
Use 6 threads of white embroidery floss and sew a blanket stitch around the eye whites, just as you did the eye patches.
EYE PUPILS
Sew the black buttons in the center of the eye whites (for a wide-eyed look).
You can also sew the buttons toward the inside (for a bit of a cross-eyed or confused look), or even out to the sides (for a crazy look).

Step 5: ADD BEAK
Cut a piece of orange/brown felt to cover the folded down point.
Pin it in place and blanket stitch around the entire beak using 6 strands of coordinating embroidery floss.
Note: I rounded the top of the beak for this owl, but you could always experiment with different looks too.

Step 6: SEW BOTTOM
Sew a running stitch around the base of the owl, about 1/4"-1/2" away from the bottom edge. 
Pull the thread in order to create a hole that's about 4"-5" in diameter. 
Tie a knot, but don’t cut the thread.
Stuff with PolyFill.

Using a running stitch, sew the Owl Bottom to the base of the owl making sure to cover the cinched stitches.

FINISHED!!  

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...


I've submitted this tutorial to the...

Tuesday, December 27

Tutorial: Basic Hand-Carved Eraser Stamps


This tutorial actually contains instructions for all 3 of these stamps so it's going to be a really long post, but it'll be super informative!!

In this post I'll show you...
- A list of the supplies you need for stamp carving
- Some stamp carving basics that apply to all hand-carved stamps
- Instructions for a "sliced" heart-shaped stamp that anyone (adult) can make
- How to carve an exclamation point (!) stamp for beginners
- A complete tutorial on making word stamps

Some tutorials you'll see online require either linoleum carving tools or wood carving tools.  This tutorial only requires a craft knife for carving and I know most of you have an X-acto knife already!!

Before I get into the tutorials, I need to apologize first.  The photos in this post are not good at all!!  I desperately need a new camera, because my little $99 camera is not cutting it.  Thanks for bearing with me until I get a new one.

One last thing before I start...
WARNING
This craft project is for adults only!!
Using a craft knife is very dangerous and you must be very careful!!


Now, let's get to the stamp carving!!


SUPPLIES
Eraser
Craft knife (Exacto Knife)
Pencil & Pen
Tracing Paper


STAMP CARVING BASICS

BUYING ERASERS
Before you go to the office supply store to buy your erasers, go to the dollar store instead!!  I was able to get six 1"x2" erasers plus 12 erasers that go on the end of a pencil for just $1!!  That's about 15-cents per large eraser!!  Super affordable!!

CARVING DIRECTION
Always carve away from your body and never towards a finger or body part!!

The sketch above is of a side view of a carved stamp.
Imagine the blue rectangle is the original eraser and the red lines on top are the parts of the stamp you want to show up on paper.
When carving your stamp you'll want to carve into the eraser at an angle going away from your image.  Try to not carve straight down and definitely don't carve under your image!!
Don't worry this will make more sense in the photos later on. hehehe

PREPARING THE ERASERS
Most erasers that people carve are shaped like a parallelogram.

When you get your erasers, you'll need to trim off those sizes so that it's a rectangle.
Don't throw away the pieces you cut off!!  You can make super tiny stamps with those!!


"SLICED" HEART TUTORIAL
If you're not quite ready to "carve" stamps yet, you can get used to cutting into erasers with this project!!
Just remember that for this stamp you'll cut straight down and in regular stamps, you will carve at an angle.

Note: In the sketches below, the blue lines are the current eraser piece and the red lines are the cuts you'll be making.

Step 1: MAKE A TRIANGLE
Start with a square piece of eraser.
Cut two lines all the way through the eraser from the top corners to the center of the bottom side.

Step 2: REMOVE TOP POINTS
Cut the tips off of the top 2 points of the triangle.

Step 3: ADD "V"
Cut a "V"-shaped piece out of the top center.

Step 4: ROUND EDGES
Cut the tips off the points at the top.
If there are any points remaining, cut them off until you have almost round edges.

FINISHED!!


THE BEGINNER'S STAMP
This is a great first project for someone that's never carved a stamp before, because it has both straight lines and a circle.  Plus, it's a very easy image to start with.

Step 1: SKETCH IMAGE
Using a pencil, hand sketch your exclamation point on your eraser.

Step 2: CARVE STRAIGHT EDGES 
Slice your blade down around the straight edges of the top of the exclamation point.
Carefully remove the eraser material you don't want in your stamp by cutting into the side of the eraser.
Be sure to not cut too far though!!

Step 3: CARVE ROUND EDGES 
Gently trace around the circle making sure to angle your blade away from the circle.
Carefully remove the excess eraser material.

FINISHED!!


MAKING WORD STAMPS
For the longest time, my stamps were turning out backwards!! Then I learned how to do the tracing paper transfer technique that I'll show you below!!  Now I can make all kinds of word stamps!!
You can also use this technique for any images that need to go in a particular direction.

Step 1: TRACE TEMPLATE
 Determine how big your image can be on a piece of tracing paper.
Using pencil, sketch or trace the word onto the tracing paper making sure there's a heavy layer of pencil on the paper.

Step 2: TRANSFER IMAGE
 Place the paper image-side-down on your eraser.
Rub the image with your finger, pushing the paper onto the eraser so the image transfers properly.

Step 3: TRACE WITH INK 
 To make sure the transferred image doesn't rub off while your working on the stamp, just trace the image with an ink pen.  Just make sure the pen won't damage the eraser and won't smear.

 Step 4: CARVE
 Gently trace around the letters making sure to angle your blade away from the image.
Carefully remove the eraser material you don't want in your stamp by cutting into the side of the eraser.
Be sure to not cut too far though!!


FINISHED!!


So now that you know how to carve stamps, just promise me you won't get addicted to this craft!!! hehehe
This really is a super fun craft and I constantly go back to it time and time again!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

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