Front porch project

Happy New Year friends! Today I am popping in with another quick sewing project. 

 
 
Despite my love for sewing and creating projects, I don't consider myself and expert seamstress. When Andy and I bought this chair and table set for the front porch years ago, I was NEVER a fan of the print. I mean, NEVER. But I put up with it for several years. Last week I decided to finally recover them. Since I wanted a quick project, I decided to skip including a zipper in the final project and slip stitch it close.

I am no expert in slip stitching, and to be honest, I kind of make it up as I go along. And that is exactly what I did for this project. I measured my cushions and trimmed out the pieces. I pinned some pieces together to figure out how I could create and box pillow to leave myself an opening in the back to slip stitch it close.

After turning it right side out, I had a moment of panic when I realized I had to squeeze the larger front end through the smaller back opening. But the cushion was forgiving as I almost folded it in half and pushed and pushed and squeezed it in. Whew!

 

So for less than $12, I recovered these cushions and I can happily enjoy my front porch.



 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Pretty Ditty apron

Hello friends! I am so excited to finally be able to share with you my latest fabric project. I created it several weeks ago, but since it was a Christmas gift, I wasn't able to share it until now.

 

 

I used The Pretty Ditty Apron pattern that my sister let me borrow. I picked up the fabrics at my local Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, I do not remember the designer. I love the ruffle hem detail. Making the ruffle was probably the most time consuming part of the project, although it didn't require a ton of time anyway. I gifted this to my mother-in-law who is nothing short of AWESOME! Enjoy Marsha!

These photos were taken by Leah. So of course, I had to snap a photo of my photographer while she took a bow for her hard work.

 



 

And what 9 year old doesn't like to strike a pose?

Thanks for stopping by!

 



Merry Christmas

In true CAS style, this is the most minimalist Christmas card I have ever created. It warms my heart! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

To create this card, I used the cut file Design ID #103669 from the Silhouette Design Store. Super simple and easy to mass produce. Gotta love that!

Joy to the World

Hello friends! Today I am popping in to share a little gift bag that I created using my Silhouette Cameo and a few stamps and dies. To make this a quick project, I made an almost duplicate of a previous project found here. 

 

This little gift bag holds an ornament for a gift exchange at work. I used the cut file Design ID #45733 from the Silhouette store. Then I inked up Casual Fridays Christmas Carols stamp set. I used the Funky Round tag die to die cut the tag. The green cardstock was embossed with diagonal lines from DeNami design to add a bit of texture. And it was all tied together using some New Leaf stitched ribbon from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Leah's apron

Hello my friends!

 

This post is definitely long overdue. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen this project already. But I am sharing it here on the blog, finally. On the home front, Leah has been a huge helper to me in the kitchen, from baking to mixing spices, you name it. So she needed a new apron. The one she was previously wearing was a bit too small. So I purchased a pattern, Simplicity 2555. I gave her a few fabric selections that I saw at my local sewing studio and let her pick. She helped me cut out a lot of the pieces and probably sewed about half of the entire apron, including the pockets. This was her first time ever sitting at my machine and I am so proud of her.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait to share with you my next sewing project. It's complete and nicely wrapped for it's recipient. Since it is a Christmas present, I cannot share it until after the holidays. Have a great week!



 

 



Happy Birthday, Skyler!

Hello friends! I am popping in today to share a quick CAS card I created using my Silhouette Cameo. The only stamps used were for the sentiment on the inside of the card. Lucky for me, this sweet little boy had the perfect number of letters in his name to keep it RYOGBV. The font I used was Market Deco. I also added a few scores lines to the bottom of the card.

 

 

Since I have been on the journey of minimalism, we try our best to not gift stuff, but experiences. So we tucked his gift card inside the bag. The ice cream store gave it to us in a cute little cup. I attached a twine bow to the clothespin using a glue dot.

 

 

I'll be back to share a few more holiday crafts along with some sewing projects. Have a happy Friday!

 



Joshua's School album

Hello friends! I am back as promised. Today I am sharing the first two page layout for Joshua's school album. Just as with Leah's album, I am limited by the pictures that his teachers were able to take. So unfortunately, for his infant class, we only had 3 photos!

The products I used are from the Becky Higgins School expansion kit.

His teachers took the photo of him in the bouncy seat and hung it on the door of his classroom at Christmas time along with the personalized stockings. I know that they were made with construction paper and are not archival safe, but I wanted to keep it real. The small photo to the right we took of him just before we headed out the door on his first day of daycare. I created the subtitles using Angled Labels from Papertrey Ink. I bought this stamp set with scrapbooking in mind and I have used it quite a bit for that reason.

The second page of the layout includes some journaling cards from the kit. Andy was able to join him for Doughnuts with Dad. I cut out the information and header from the monthly newsletter for the journaling and title. And you have to love the notes that would come home with him. He was known for explosive diapers and vomiting. Sigh. I did some machine stitching along the border of the cardstock for a bit of interest. It's amazing that these infant years seem so distant. I can't believe he is in VPK!

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Jancy!

Hello my dear blog friends.

  

Today I am sharing a fun birthday card. I created my card by inking up Teeny Star Background using this technique that I shared on the DeNami Design blog back in February 2014. I just had to use this sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays WTF stamp set because my sweet friend Jancy turned 40 recently!

  

 

Her sweet husband, Adrian, planned a surprise party for her and pulled it off. It was so fun to see the look of surprise on her face. We had such a great time visiting her and her family. Since they are only an hour away, we definitely have to visit more often. The last time I saw her was 18 years ago!

 

Speaking of more often, I do hope to post more on my blog. Many of my sweet followers have been with me from the beginning. As many of you know, last summer I developed some heart problems which have almost completely resolved with medication and exercise. My cardiologist told me that it would help my symptoms, so I was eager to start. Since exercising, I have really developed a passion for fitness and eating healthy. I guess that's what happened when I stared 40 in the face. I realized that I better start taking better care of me and my family.

 

I have still been crafting, albeit a lot less than before. Whether, I am going in to work early or late, I am up at 4:30am to work or for working out. So that means little time is left in the evenings to craft since I value my sleep. I have been scrapbooking and working on Joshua's school album. I have completed 5 pages, so I will have to share them on the blog soon.

 

If you follow me on Instagram too, you might know that I have also embraced the minimalist lifestyle. Despite working full time, it has allowed me to have a cleaner house without the work, more time to spend with the kids and family, more time to exercise, time to craft and more time to spend doing the things that are important to me.

 

So for now, I am learning how to balance it all. Hugs to you all!

 



Hello friends!

I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to pop in today to share a few projects that I created this past month that I shared over at the DeNami Desigh blog. Even though the blog has been quiet, my craftroom has been busy. Busy crafting and decluttering!

 

Most of my projects had a Valentine's Day theme to them. To see the products I used, I will link each project to the DeNami Design post.

 

I created this card for Leah. My little girl loves animals, especially cats and dogs. When I first saw this image, I knew it was made for her.

 

 

My next project  shows how I used the same stamps, but different colors. By changing the colors you can easily make the card for a boy or girl.

 

 

 

Next up are the treats that I made for my kiddos to give to their classmates and teachers. For the ones that they actually gave to their classmates, I did not emboss them. That's because I made 40 of them!

 



The last set of cards I created using a sketch that I created. I love being able to use a sketch over and over again!

 

 

As tradition has it, I took photos of the kids for Valentine's Day. Those photos will be included my next crafty endeavor as I work on their traditional Valentine's Day albums. I am certain that you will see many images and sentiments from the latest DeNami release.

Thanks for stopping by!

2014 Year in Review

 Hello friends! Today I am sharing some of my favorite cards from the past year. Some months I had some difficulty choosing between two cards and towards the end of the year *gulp* I didn't have many to choose from!

This year, I did accomplish a major crafting goal before my son turned 3. I finished his baby album! I am a very slow crafter, especially when it comes to scrapbooking. It was really monumental. I had planned to start his school album next. But, if you follow my blog then you will know that I developed my heart issues in the middle of the summer. That forced me to take a good hard look at my health and start making better decisions for me and ultimately for my family. It has been a great change for all of us.

I hope you enjoy your trip down memory lane!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Thanks for stopping by!



Silent Night, Holy Night

Hello friends! I hope you are all well and not too busy preparing for the Christmas holiday. These past few weeks have been very busy, but I have made the time to take care of myself by exercising and getting plenty of sleep. So unfortunately, my crafty time has taken a hit. This past weekend we had no obligations other than using some movie tickets before they expired. You mean, the hubs and I were "forced" to go on a date. If we must. Lol! I spent the rest of my time wrapping gifts and getting crafty.

 

So today I have a super quick, one layer card to share with you. I used only two stamps: Silent Night, Holy Night and Baby Jesus using Kraft ink and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. It's perfect for mass production or to crank out a few cards if you have left card making to the last minute. Lol!

 

 

That's all that I have for you today. Take care and have a great week!

 

Merry Christmas

Hello friends! I hope you are all well and enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast. We certainly enjoyed ours. This last month has been busy for me. I started another per diem job. With two per diem jobs, I am now working full time. My new job has longer hours which means I don't get home until after dinner. That means I have been busy searching/making crock pot meals and frozen meals so my family can start dinner without me or my help. After a month of these new changes, we are slowly developing our new normal. Thanks so much to my in-laws who have been tremendously helpful in this process. Without them, we would not be able to adjust to this change.

Last weekend, Leah and I spent a little time in my craftroom. We managed to finish up our cards today to play along with the DeNami sketch challenge. There has been some technical difficulties with the challenge, so it is extended one more week. I am so excited to have made my first Christmas card for this season. Yay! Unfortunately, I have a long way to go until they are done. I kept it pretty CAS, just like I did for the last card that I made.

  

I inked up Elegant Holly (cling) and fussy cut the images and I used Merry Christmas for my sentiment. I used my Circle Interlock embossing folder on the center panel to add some texture.

 

Leah also made a Christmas card (for me). She used the same sentiment and inked up Hearts Stamp set. For her side panel, she wanted to create a candy cane feeling using score tap and some Ruby Red glitter. She laid down the adhesive, trimmed it up and added her glitter. So proud of her. The only thing I helped her with was cutting out her panels. She adhered everything down.

Here is the awesome sketch. It was so fun to work with.



Well, this is a short post since I've got to get back to meal prep for tomorrow. Have a great week!

 



Greetings from Batgirl and Spiderman

Hello friends! I am back today to share some pictures from our trick-or-treating festivities. The kids had a great time and so did we as we watched them run from house to house. We live in a very small gated community with only 88 houses. With zero lot lines, that means we can cover a lot of houses in a small amount of time. Since we live on the first street, that also meant the kids could dump their loot back at home before proceeding to the remaining streets. lol.

 

Before the sun set I took a few pictures of Leah and Josh in the front yard. Yes, it is just a few feet between the sidewalk and porch. If you have ever tried photographing little ones that are eager to hit the streets for trick-or-treating, then you know how hard it is to capture them not moving. I managed to get a few.

 

Joshua's costume was store bought. One of these days I will make him his costume. Sigh. I don't think he minded a bit though. When I brought it home from the store he was so excited.

 

 

I mentioned that I made Leah's costume. Again, it was nothing fancy. I found a template for the mask and adjusted it a bit to fit Leah's head. I used the same technique when I made the masks for the kids birthday party this summer. To make her skirt, I used this tutorial. I bought 4 yards of tulle and cut the length that I needed. I pieced together 8 yards and trimmed off the rest that I didn't need.

 

Originally I was just going to tie a simple yellow ribbon around her waist but then I came up with an idea to actually make her utility belt. I simply cut the ribbon to fit her waist, heat sealed the ends and added some Velcro for the closure. Then I trimmed pieces that were about 2 1/2 inches and slipped stitched the ends together to form 4 small loops. I pressed them flat and slipped them onto the ribbon.

 

For the buckle, I cut my oval and used the same technique for the mask. I used the small bat template that came with the mask and topstitched that on. Then I simply added Velcro again to attach it to the belt.

 

And yes, my girl is sporting flip flops. I ran out of time to figure out the footwear for her costume. Maybe next year I won't wait until the last minute. lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Leah once again made a sign for our candy bowl to let folks know that we weren't home, but to help themselves. She also decorated our pumpkins from the patch and added a speech bubble to it that read, "Take your candy and get out". Not quite the friendliest note, so I am glad she made up another one with some manners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because Leah is almost 4 years older than Josh, he was always one step behind. Poor boy. He very kindly told our neighbors when they opened the door, "No peanuts please." Mostly everybody had some peanut/nut free candy for our little guy.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this banner that says trick. One neighbor did not have any candy even though the young boy opened the door. We reminded Leah to ask him for a trick. The poor little guy couldn't think of anything on the spot. It sure made us all chuckle. I am sure he didn't think that anyone would actually ask him for some tricks.

 

 

This next picture showcases our best dressed house in the neighborhood. This family goes all out every year. I didn't capture the whole house, but you can see the chains and spiders in the windows. They have ghosts and ghouls hanging on the porch, bloody hand prints on their columns, lots of tombstones, webs and skeletons. Yes, the word "DEAD" is written in "blood" on the sidewalk with some splatters. And of course scary music playing in the background. It really is the haunted house of the neighborhood.

 

 

And lastly, you can see the loot. Leah's pumpkin is hiding most of hers, but she actually collected more than Josh and you can see just how much he managed to get. Quite a few people gave them full sized candy bars and one gentleman gave them each $5!!!

 

 

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Have a great weekend!