Wednesday Extra: Altered Embroidery Hoop by Tessa

Hello! Are you into embroidery? I failed miserably at it as a young teenager, and gave up with little hope of ever successfully taking it up again.  However, I love the look of an embroidery hoop and the texture of embroidery floss.  I decided to take my own approach to a hoop with my scrapbooking supplies, including embellishments and stamps.

My supplies:
Embroidery Hoop
Embroidery Floss
Muslin
Ribbon (My Mind's Eye)
Flowers (Studio Calico)
Birdcage Stamp (My Mind's Eye)
Doily Banner Stamp (Maya Road)
Small Alpha Stamps (Personal Stamp Exchange)
Large Alpha Stamps (Inkadinkado)
Cursive Alpha Stamps (Studio Calico)
Staz-on Ink in Black
Acrylic Block
Mist (Tattered Angels, Studio Calico)
Stick Pins (Maya Road)
Leaves (coming soon to my Etsy shop)
Buttons (Jenni Bowlin)
Doily (SEI)

First, I added my muslin fabric to the hoop.  In the future I would like to try something a little bit thicker (you can see my black thread showing through from the back in the right light), but I love the look of muslin. I sprayed mist in a few different colors to add some depth to my background and let it dry.

Next, I laid out my embellishments so that I would know where to stamp.  Happy with my design, I cleared the hoop and got to stamping.  I placed a small book (Goodnight Moon - one of my little man's favorites!) under the hoop for a hard stamping surface. As you can see, I wasn't too fussy about lining up my text, but you could use a ruler and pencil to draw guidelines if you'd like.

I used a hot glue gun to adhere my embellishments and added a few little "birds" here and there with embroidery floss. I also added punctuation to my text with the thread.

I love the idea of the embroidery hoop acting like a small, round canvas.  I'm sure I'll be making many more of these! Have you tried one? Link me up in the comments - I'd love to take a look.  Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

26th July - Layout Challenge

Hi Everyone, hope this finds you well and ready to get creating for this layout challenge!

This weeks challenge is to 'Create a page about something you dislike about your job. Whether you're a full-time mother or employed by somebody else, what is the thing that drives you nuts?  Come on, everyone has something!'

Unfortunately I've had flu this week and I've been really poorly so I haven't managed to make a layout for this week so I will leave you with the other lovely DT members takes on this challenge.

Heather

This week's challenge was just that - a BIG challenge for me.  I could have chosen to do a layout about my job as VP of Marketing for a small business but I really didn't want to do a lot focusing on what I hate about that job.  I thought about doing it on Mt. Laundry and how it seems impossible to reach the top of that mountain. I could have chosen my absolute detest for cleaning bathrooms but to tell you the truth my hubby steps in and does all the things I hate to do around the house (he's such a great man!). Instead I chose to focus on my job as mommy because it's the most important one to me.  I can't say there is anything I hate about it so I am focusing on the demands of it being a 24/7 job and how I would typically complain about it if it were any other job.

Lisa

I have a love/hate relationship with running my business. I love working for myself and from home but the hours are very tiring. I can never close the door on work. There's always something that needs to be done.

Nadia

This layout is based on the tough decisions I had to make when trying to decide whether to go back to work or stay at home with the kids. I was indeed at a crossroads, because I love my work, I had studied for so many years and of course the financial factor weighed in as well. Ultimately, the need and desire to stay with the kids won over and even when I went back to work recently I only work 2 days. I could not see my self as a career woman any more..not without sacrificing my emotional attachment with my children. I wanted this more than anything. I did not want to be a stranger to my kids or for someone else to raise my children. So this in the end, made the choice easy. I have included some hidden journalling at the top right about my feelings.

 

Hope these layouts have inspired you to get you feelings down on a page for this challenge, if you do create something we would love to see it so please link it up.

Wednesday Extra: Pinned by Nic Booth

I spent last weekend in York - a city which has lots of gorgeous little crafty shops, quite a few of which were selling hand made pin cushions.  My collection of pins is ever growing and I thought one of these cushions would do a great job of storing them safely.  Although the pin cushions in the shops were really cute and I was very tempted to buy one, my crafty brain wouldn't let me and was thinking to itself, I could make something similar at a fraction of the cost!  So instead, I purchased an offcut of material and got my needle out of it's case to make my own pin cushion:

The supplies I used were:

offcut of material

green felt

Scalloped nestability die

Sizzix flower and alpha dies

Big shot die cutting machine

white and green thread

bazzill sewing template

button

I began by cutting out my material for the base using a scalloped nestability die.  I also cut a slightly smaller scallop frame from felt.  I used the same material to die cut the flowers, rolled them up and stitched to secure their shape.

I attached the felt scallop by stitching a running stitch around it to the front of my cushion and also stitched on the flowers.  I used a bazill stitching template to hand sew the swirls in white thread.  I used an alpha die to cut my letters and again stitched them on to the front using running stitch.

I then handstitched around the outside, leaving a small gap so I could stuff the inside of the cushion.  I used a mixture of small felt scraps and cotton wool for my stuffing.  I then sewed the remainder of the border and my pin cushion was finished.  

Quick and simple to make but also an effective (and pretty) way to store my pins :-)

Thanks for looking

Nic :-)

Sunday Card Challenge

Hi Everyone! This week at The Studio we've got a fun card challenge - with a sketch from our very own Fabi:

Here's what our design team came up with for this challenge...

Valerie

These letters were cut from a patterned paper to make the word 'summer'. Since the sentiment was very wide I decided to let it dictate the shape of the card - a long, narrow rectangle.

Fabi

I love to make cards in advance and keep them for special ocasions, friends, bdays, etc. So the sketch just came as a perfect mojo to create one more for my "any occasion" card stash. I have used some paper scraps to create the flowers.

Natalie

My son started Kindergarten this year and that means CONSTANT birthday parties!! I have had to spread my wings in the cardmaking department and try my hand at cards that will appeal to five year old boys...not middle aged women :). This is an awesome sketch that can be interpreted any way!!!

Now it's your turn! We'd love to see what you could do with the sketch too - so link up your projects on the sidebar.

Have a great week!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Canvases with Julie

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a fun project I made recently with some canvasses that I picked up at the Dollar Store :):):)

Here are the canvasses I picked up... they all ready had paintings on them of some birds... pretty, but doesn't match my decor :):):)

First, I gesso'd them :)

Then I chose my paints and painted them in two different tones to add some texture :)

Then I chose some stamps for my word that I chose for my canvasses and I used the white paint on the stamps themselves :)

Then I chose some embellishments to decorate my canvasses :)

And to protect my project once everything was adhered down, I used some liquid laminate paint to seal it :)

And here are is my finished project :)

I always love going through the Dollar Store and finding things that I can alter :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

~~Julie TW~~

Layout Challenge- 12th June

This weeks layout challenge is to Use up some of your die cuts. You can use ready made die cuts or cut your own with a cutting machine.
I'm sure most of us have an old packet of die cuts that are waited to be used or a die cutting machine that is gathering dust from lack of use, well now the time to use them!

Anna

This was quite a challenge to me as I don't usually use die cuts on my layouts, I don't really buy them and I don't even own a die cutting machine!! I had to dig out the couple of sheets of die cut shapes that I do own out, (one of the sheets came free in a kit!) and clustered them in the corners of my layout.

Heather

Lisa

I do use my dies quite often still. More or often enough for masking purposes these days like how I've misted over my butterfly die cut on this LO.
I also decided this was the perfect opportunity to get out a couple of dies that haven't been used for a while. So I dusted off my large circle and the scalloped circle.

Tessa from the Project Team joined in this week:

This is one of the first pages I have created for my Summer Smash Book.  All of the accents are die-cuts except for the two original illustrations on the page (the flowers in the top left and the calendar in the bottom right).



We would love to see what you do with your die cuts so please link them up!

Wednesday Extra: Craft Room Decor with Jules

We've recently moved to a bigger house, with space for a craft room for me. The house is quite old and needs a lot of tlc, so we're busy stripping wallpaper which means my craft room won't be ready for a while. In the meantime I thought I'd create a hanging plaque to go on the door, as a reminder of what the room will be for! This idea could be adapted for any theme, so I thought I'd share it with you today.

First I took a piece of thick chipboard (8"x8") and some patterned paper. I also decided what I wanted the plaque to say,  and chose this wooden word from Hobbycraft, and the quilted word from Prima.

I covered the chipboard with the patterned paper and punched holes in the top using my Bind it All. If you wanted less holes then a Crop a Dile (or similar hole punch) would work just as well.

I painted the wooden word white, making sure I gave it a nice thick coat. Finally I embellished the plaque. I threaded ribbon through the holes at the top of the chipboard, and tied in a bow to create a hanger. I then added pleated ribbon around the edge, and embellished the centre. Now whenever I enter the room there will be a sign on the door reminding me why I'm in there! 

You could adapt this for lots of different themes, but I think it would look great as a nameplate on a child's bedroom door. I hope this has inspired you to have a go at your own - don't forget to link us up if you do!

Sunday Card Challenge

Hi, there! It's time for another card challenge at The Studio and we hope you will play along with us. This week, Amanda is challenging us to sew or weave on a card. Here's a little design team inspiration to get the creative wheels turning....

Val

I sew quite a bit on my projects so I thought I'd try the weaving for this challenge. For the circle accents I made panels of woven paper strips then ran the sheets through a die cutting machine. To secure the strips once the circles were cut, I machine stitched around edges. Since the woven patterns are complicated, I kept the rest of the card very simple.

Brenda
Brenda added some hand-stitching to her card:

Rossella
Rossella stitched on her card., as well. The image is from the site Vintage Papergoods.

...and we are also joined this week the very talented Lisa of our layout team...

Lisa
I've been playing with the new 'Baby Mine' collection from Fancy Pants.
I've hand stitched quite a lot on this card and weaved the embroidery floss along the holes of the doily too.
I've also hand stitched this inside the card.
Are you inspired to stitch or weave on your card? I know I am! We'd love to see what you come up with - so link up on the side for your chance to win this month's prize.

It's Video Friday!!

Learn how to make cool charms and jewelry out of Tim Holtz fragments and your scraps!

Wednesday Extra: Ink Foam Pad Storage

We all know that foam applicators are the perfect tools for giving our paper crafts an "inked" touch.  But what do you do with all of your foam pads when you're done? Throw them out? Toss them in a drawer?  Irini has a fabulous idea for storing your foam applicators in a beautiful and organized way.

This is my new storage box for

my ink foam pads!!!!

You need 2 pieces of chipboard 8 inches x 9inches

and a strip for the backbone of the box

measuring 2cm x 23cm

.78"x 9"

add a layer of gesso then decorate...

collect 20 match boxes

adhere then to a strip of chipboard

and if you want colour them...

I misted them with

Maya Road Tangerine Metallic mist

adhere strip of chipboard

to a piece of paper...

I misted the paper and used a punch to

decorate the edges...

Start assembling...

I named each box...

I do not have many distress ink pads

so I only stuck match boxes to one side of the box

If you have many ink pads you can adhere match boxes

to the other side of the box too.......

this is how it will look inside with the ink pads in place

The inspiration came from this link

here

 

Thanks Irini!  If you give this idea a try, we'd love to see your box.  Have any other creative storage ideas? We'd love to hear them!  Just leave us a link in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by!