handmade cass

I've started a new craft!  I have always been interested in sewing but never felt like I was any good at it.  Now I have all the right supplies, including a great sewing machine and lots of help from experienced seamstresses.  I dove right into a baby quilt for one of my friends that is expecting in early 2010.  The first few steps went really quickly and I ended the day with laying out the pattern so I can start sewing the full blocks next weekend!

Just getting back into the swing of things after vacation, and happy to have had some time for crafting over the last few days.  This is the absolute quickest that I have ever had framed vacation photos up - less than two weeks!  These frames have been waiting to go up on the wall so I took the opportunity to frame some of our favorites from Crater Lake and Olympic National Park. And also whipped up a quick card for my cousin's wedding using a bunch of fun supplies.  I used the Tim Holtz c rackle paint in copper on some textured packaging  that I saved for a special project, along with tons of red to match their wedding theme.  The background stamp is from Heidi Swapp and I used Versamark champagne ink.  I also have some crepe paper from the party store on there and a page from a book I just got an estate sale (distressed with Tim Holtz ink in worn lipstick).  Hope it makes it through the mail okay!

I am always so happy to get emails from my local craft stores announcing sales...who doesn't love a sale?  I took a drive to one such event yesterday during my lunch break and was excited to find lots of great things on sale and a bunch of new goodies to try. I had been eyeing the Amuse stamp set for snail mail and decided that I couldn't wait any longer (it wasn't on sale).  And picked up a bunch of great paper from Hambly, American Crafts, and Luxe to try out a themed mini album - can you guess the theme?  Then I decided it was time to try out some different brands of pigment pens and adhesive.  I got a navy blue Pigment Pro fine line pen from American Crafts and the Glue Glider Pro (which was on sale).  We'll see if they can top my long running favorites. And when I got home yesterday I was shocked to see a package from American Crafts!  I had taken a look at their latest catalog online last week and was already making a wishlist.  But they sent me a hard copy WITH ...

The weekend always escapes too quickly!  But I did get a start on a tri-fold card that I think I'm going to send off to my mother-in-law in Hawaii.  The goal was to use up a bunch of extras I had cluttering up my craft space.  So it's a bit of a smorgasbord.  I love making these crepe paper flowers now so they'll be popping up on everything I send out.  And I had some extra Basic Grey letters that happened to be the right color.  I've been putting little white accents on them lately as a little something extra. On the inside, I used a new Hero Arts flourish stamp and colored in the bird with my Copic markers (love them!).  Also added some felt flowers and a little gem in the middle.  I'm planning to include a picture on the middle pane, and a note on the right one.  I also wanted to try out the Amuse beehive stamp that I just picked up to go along with the Memory Box bee stamp I have been using for years. And yesterday when I went to go see some family, my aunt had ...

What an inspiration to come home from work and see these beautiful flowers in our front yard. I'm lucky enough to live in a warm climate that keeps these hibiscus in bloom all year. And of course, Frank is always happy to see me when I get home. Today he thought we were going for a walk when I got out my camera. Wishful thinking.

It was one of the first hot days this summer.  And how did I spend it?  Inside working on crafts of course...for at least a couple hours.  We did just get back from an awesome Greek feast out on the restaurant's patio.  The weather is perfect for outdoor dinners.  But back to the important stuff. I took a class this week where I got to play with Copic markers again and it got me all excited to start another project with my improved techniques.  I have been dying to use this lotus flower stamp (from Savvy Stamps) that I found when exploring a new scrapbook store last month.  And also used some Papertrey card stock and ribbon for the first time.  You can also see the Copic color chart that I am slowly filling in.  The Sketch markers are really hard to find around me - everyone else is using the Ciao and Original versions. Products used : Papertrey Ink card stock and ribbon, Copic markers, Memento and Brilliance inks, Tim Holtz Distress In...

I love finishing a project!  Luckily I had all the pieces for this one and was able to finish in one afternoon.  Like I mentioned earlier , I went to visit my brother last month to see his senior exhibition of art work.  He just graduated and I wanted to put a mini book together for him.  He can show it off at his graduation party and then keep it as a little memento. I got to use some new EK punches that I was lucky enough to find on sale (the crab shape and the photo corners).  Also used some more Thickers from American Crafts and my DYMO label maker.  The mini album itself is also American Crafts and made the whole project so easy!