A Little Christmasy Project

Posted on | December 4, 2012 | 2 Comments

Last Sunday Emma and three of her girlie friends came over to do some arts and crafts. There were lots of talks, giggles, a bit of play and a lot of crafting. I was actually a bit surprised. I thought they’d do a bit of craft work and then spend the whole day playing. The girls had a great time but I think the highlight of their craft moment was when they got to use the Sizzix machine and WPlus9 die-cuts to create all sorts of goodness. They cut out some snow flakes, Christmas trees, tags, hearts, and more.

One often used die-cut was the the clear cut stackers: Heart Shapes. They then used the hearts on a black canvas grocery bag and on cards. I played a long a bit too with them and my creation was the above Christmas ornament.

I LOVE how the die-cut cut fabric like butter. I just ran everything through once and got the perfect cut. For the heart, I used a stiffer felt. I have two types, one is softer than the other, and I find that the stiffer one is a lot better for these types of projects.

So, this is my little bit of inspiration using the new die-cuts (Heart Shapes and Rounded Rectangle) from WPlus9. Die-cuts are fab. They’re my new most favorite craft gadget and while it’s still nice to do my own trimming now and then, die-cut tools sure make projects a lot more polished.

Do spend a bit of time to see what the other DTs did with this month’s release sets! I personally LOVE every single pieces that I received from Dawn and I cannot wait to do more craft projects with them besides paper crafting!

A Bit of Stitching

Posted on | February 8, 2012 | 1 Comment

Miss M turned 8 last Sunday. Being 8 is somewhat bitter sweet for her though. She loves that she can go into the pool’s changing room on her own or be able to participate in “better” art workshops at museums and such. But at the same time, she wishes she’s seven still so that she can be the same age as the other girls in the development program at her gymnastics club. It’s not a major issue and it’s one of the reason why we switched gymnastics club, so that she can move up quicker and be with other 8-yrs-old sometimes at the end of the year or even this summer.

For her birthday we didn’t splurge. We got her little bits of this and that with her favourite being things from Cath Kidston. We were suppose to go out too, with two of her best friends, but it snowed the night before with 5-6″ on the ground and so we had to reschedule. Hopefully this weekend will be nicer and three little girls can have a fun little get together.

I did get a little bit of time to make M a little handmade something. While she thought it was cute, she’s not so enthused about it. Ahhh… I could only hope, right? So, even though it’s just laying around somewhere (see, not even sure where) I will hang it up in her room. Maybe one day it’ll grow on her. Me personally, I love it!

Have a great one!! Our heat just came back on after being down for a good three hours. We’re so lucky to live in the era of central heating. I love wood fire places but in terms of comfort and convenience, central heating is the way to go. Laters!!

She Got Teary Eyed

Posted on | December 2, 2011 | 10 Comments

Because I made her the above. I’ve never seen Emma so happy to receive a handmade item from me and so all the work (up until 2 a.m. and spent a good two hours just cause I suck at sewing) was completely worth it!!! I left the book on top of her uniform yesterday morning and while not captured on camera, the excitement that I saw on her face was just like Christmas morning — probably better!

Card making’s fun, scrapbooking makes preserving memories prettier but the best part of crafting is making something that would make Emma smile (and Jovie too when she understands/appreciates more). Yesterday’s event is really making me want to (non-paper) craft more which basically means I need to toughen up a bit and learn how to sew and crochet better and take some knitting lessons. I’d love to make the girls a cute fabric play tent/house, a knit hat or arm warmers, and cute dresses with awesome (designer) fabric. I’d love to cross stitch more too and do some hand appliques on the girls’ clothing. Maybe I can make this as my 2012 goal! I hope!! {::SMILES}.

I’ve been wanting to make this for ages. Since school started. But obviously I never got to it until the other night. It’s not that I haven’t had the time but the sewing made me a terrible procrastinator. The cloth covered book idea came from Sarah Martina (and she did insist I could do it) but instead of all the way fabric, lace and buttons, I went paper, twine and a bit of ric-rac.

I used WPlus9′s VERY new Heartfelt Mix and matching dies + new dies for the older (but still awesome) Love Birds set. To adhere everything I used dimensionals and fabric glue. So far they seem to be holding up but we’ll see!

I LOVE the fabric. I know it’s a designer fabric but not sure who. I got a few different bits from an Etsy seller some while back. I made an apron for Emma with one piece and the rest are still untouched.

I hope you enjoy this little project. Don’t forget to visit the other DT’s page to see what they did with these new goodies from WPlus9.

Take care and more tomorrow!!

Party Hat

Posted on | August 2, 2011 | 2 Comments

Like? Hop on over to Pebbles’ blog to find out how to create this. It’s my day to share something for How To Tuesday. Laters!

Hubs Delusional

Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 5 Comments

The other night, over dinner, hubby and I were commenting on how slow Jovie’s hair is growing. The conversation went more less like this:

Me: Jovie’s back hair is growing but the front is still so short.
Hubby: They’ll grow.
Me: She’s still cute, but a bit more hair on the forehead would be good.
Hubby: Well, just be patient, good things come to those who waits.
Me: Hmmm, guess so.
Hubby: Like my hair for example. They’re just not here yet, still waiting for them to grow.
Me: {I stared, mouth opened… five seconds later…} HA HA HA HA HA {tears rolling down}. You’re delusional. You’d be waiting forever for your hair to grow.
Hubby: Hmpf

Here’s my little rotten brat and her hair… Looks just like daddy! Still a skinny little thing… taller but skinny!!

The book… I think it’s starting to be an M thing now these little books. I’ve made five now for different girls and they all loved their books. This was another gift I made for M’s friend, whose birthday party was last week. I love making these little booklets because not only are they easy they’re really fun too. The girls like them because they’re cute and personalized.

There are a bit of dimension on the cover which I think makes the front more interesting… it’s not so flat ya know.

For this particular one I used a little bit of Dear Lizzy stickers, American Craft dimensional stickers, My Little Shoe Box clouds, Sassafras owl stamps, Pebbles paper and some Cosmo little alphabets. I do need to get more of the 3/4″ wires. They are perfect for a 20 page booklet.

I wrapped the booklet with the door hanger with this handmade paper. I know the paper looks brown and serious but I dunno, I kind of like it because even though 7-yr-olds are still kids it’s nice here and there to get something that looks somewhat grown-up-ish. I remember as a kid it was always special when an adult thought that I was mature or grown up — even if it was for a minute. To sweeten it up I added the baker’s twine and flowers. I did though put this wrapped gift into a fun gift bag and the content are age appropriate {::SMILES}.