W for Michael

So yes, that sounds strange.  Did it get your attention? 

The little boy's last name begins with a W...  now it should make a little more sense.

 I REALLY enjoy making these letters with the cars!  Granted, this W wasn't as large as the G.  Hobby Lobby just didn't have that large of a letter.  I would have preferred a larger W. Turns out I had too many cars!

It's meant to be  placed on the wall in his room.  Thankfully the letters come with the area for nails already made (Whew)! 

Now I need to find out what is on his Christmas list! :)  That might be the next project... or pick-up at WM since we aren't close to where they live.

Baptism Gift for my Great Nephew

Over the past few years I've made many of these.  MANY.  This was a Stamp Camp project 3 or 4 years ago from my upline Kathy.  I made one of these for family members...  I even sent one to Panama with my husband for his Dad, so they've gone international! 

I went through my Lutheran Hymnal and found a great baptismal hymn to use as the background.  The Canvas backing is painted with acrylic paint as are the edges of the two wood crosses.

They are both covered in some retired Stampin' Up! DSP.  The pattern on the larger cross in the back has some flocking on it to give some texture.

I tea-stained the hymn, and used Mod Podge to adhere it to the backing, and cover it to protect it.  If you haven't heard of E6000 (E six thousand)... take a look at it - it's some SERIOUS adhesive! 

My husband also helped me pick out the cross embellishment.  There were probably 6 to choose from, and this was by far the best choice.

Nursery/Playroom Decor Matchbox Cars

I saw this idea on Pinterest as so many ideas I've found lately.

If this doesn't fit well in the nursery, I figure my nephew and his wife can hang this in Felix's eventual playroom.

I have plans to make another one of these as a Christmas gift for another baby boy in the family.  It will be a W... we'll definitely need more cars!!

 My husband isn't always a big fan of my craft work, BUT when I told him I needed matchbox cars, he thought I'd dip into his collection.  I think that scared him pretty good!  BUT I wanted new ones.  He was really helpful in finding some great cars, and also had input on the placement of each car.

This letter is MUCH bigger than the F I posted previously.  This G is probably 2 feet tall.  It's BIG! As I was taking the pictures, my little black curious kitty decided he had to see what was going on.  He likes to be in the center of things for sure!  Silly Poopie!!

NOT a Pinterest Idea, but My Own! Nursery Decor

A little over a month ago, my great nephew (my FIRST great nephew) was born!  I'm now a Great Aunt.  Can't quite get my head around it yet, but I will soon enough.

The theme of his nursery is "Under the Sea".  An earlier blog post shows the shower invitations I made for the Baby Shower my sister hostessed.  It was a great success, and I heard there were great comments about the invitations. :)

 SO... with all the time I spend surfing Pinterest... and it's lots of time on Pinterest....  I came up with this idea.
The big F is from Hobby Lobby. It's about a foot and a half tall.  I used acrylic paint in Harbor Bay Blue, and swirled some white into it while it was still wet.

I used the Best of Pixar Cart to make these characters...  I cut Nemo and Squirt at 3 inches, and Dory at 4 inches.
I did some marker work on the figures to give them dimension.
You can see the F (for Felix) hanging on the wall of my craft room.  I'll try to get a picture of it in its spot in the nursery.

Lots of Baby Items!

It seems like I've been Missing In Action for awhile, but I've really been crafting!

It's just that Counted Cross Stitch takes so much longer than card making.... and I believe the piece becomes a keepsake, so the time invested is always worth it.  I never do anything half way, so it turned out to be quite a big piece!

I made something like this at Stamp Camp last October - memory trays all of a sudden are very popular, and I thought this would be a nice way for my cousin to show some pictures of his son.

I also made one for my principal with a few modifications.  :)

Here's the Cross Stitch.  I took it for professional framing and tried not to let the glass glare too much in the photo.

Here's the picture closer.  I used to hate doing the backstitching, but now it seemed to go so quickly - and it MUST be done for definition!  

Crayon Wreath

I ALWAYS wanted one of these!!!  So, I made a Special Order for Me!

Actually, making it was much easier than I expected.  I used a little less than 88 crayons (a 64 box, and most of a 24 box...  some lettering I found online, and the chalkboard (with Cricut-cut lettering) and ribbon.

You need:
12 inch embroidery hoop
8 inch embroidery hoop
64 and 24 box of crayons
decorations (anything school related!)

You can find the letters HERE.  I copied to a word document, resized, and colored them with markers, and added black Glaze pen accents.

Pinterest WIN! No Solicitors Sign

This is the original sign of the very MANY "No Soliciting" signs I saw on Pinterest...  I thought it was hilarious, and decided I just had to make one of my own!  We don't have many solicitors in our neighborhood, but around election time, and people trying to sell us windows, it gets annoying.

This is my version.  I found "Outdoor" Mod Podge, and tried it here.  Should last through wind, and rain, and dark of night... I hope!  Ice and snow here as well!

I used larger sized letters than the original, so I stopped by Hobby Lobby one afternoon for just a small piece of wood for the last 2 words.  I decided they didn't need a "Please".

I still think it's hilarious!  Now I just need to call my neighbor and tell her it's really OK to stop by for flour, or sugar, or milk!  :D

Teacher and Support Employees of the Year 2013-2014

Little did I know this past October I would start working with wood!  Again, a big THANKS to my upline Kathy who always gives us new projects and challenges at Stamp Camp!  Since working on the monogrammed letters and wooden crosses, I'm no longer afraid of crafting with it... well, not afraid exactly - it's just a new medium.

Our team leader approached me once the school voted on our TOY and Support Employee of the year and asked if I would make a plaque or something we could present to them.

This is what I came up with.

I used the Team Spirit cartridge to cut out the Huskies, and Plantin Schoolbook to cut the letters.

In hindsight, I should have Mod Podged AFTER I took the pictures, but that will have to be for next time. :)

One thing I will say is that after they had more time to dry, some of those still wet looking areas cleared up nicely, and weren't fuzzy looking at all.

Commissioned Crosses

The cross project for Christmas gifts went over quite well!  One of my high school classmates asked if I'd make one for her, and then I had a request for a 2nd.

These are the crosses I came up with.  They are almost identical.  I haven't found a reason to work with any other paper stacks yet.  The Modern Medley DSP (black and vanilla)  and Mocha Morning DSP (ret.) make them look so elegant in my opinion.

It's rather a long process, but so much faster when I had only 2 to make!
Paint the canvas backing, tea stain the hymnal page (after the decision on which hymn), paint the edges of both crosses and cover with DSP.  Sand the edges and then ink to finish the look.  Adhere the hymnal page to the canvas, and adhere both crosses.  Finish with a center medallion.


They turn out so beautifully - it's definitely worth the amount of work.

Family's Christmas Gifts ~ Part 3

This is one of those projects I really LOVE doing!  This again was one of our Stamp Camp projects from early October.  I was able to order a bunch of the wooden crosses from my up-line Kathy and when Mom and I were done with the calendars I settled in to get these crosses done and sent for gifts.

The background canvas came from Michael's and I bought a used Lutheran Hymnal to use for the backgrounds.

I only used 2 paper stacks for covering all the crosses - Mocha Morning, and the Modern Medley for the black and vanilla crosses.

Some of the crosses went to close friends, though most of them went to family members.

 

Family's Christmas Gifts ~ Part 2

Part 2 of 3 of the Christmas gifts I made this year for the family.

I made 9 of these note card holders and card sets for family and friends this year.  The idea came from my up-line Kathy who always has such AWESOME projects for us!  I made a few changes, and sent them to family members and some friends I reconnected with this year.

These wall letters also came from Kathy during our Stamp Camp in early October this year.    They are customized for each family.

This W went to my cousin and his wife in Texas.  

This W is for my Aunt and Uncle.

This S is for another Aunt and Uncle.

This G is for my nephew and his wife.  He was pretty puzzled why I asked about the colors in their house.  Guess he figured out why now. :)

This G is for my sister and her husband.  They have a log home, and I know the colors will work GREAT in their place.

This is for my nephew.  He's single, so no flowers for him!  :)