Sun mandala to print and color

The reason I haven't been updating a lot this month, or part of it, is because I've been working with a rubber stamping company on a line of stamps. It's pretty exciting.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this mandala to print and color.

Click the images below for larger versions.

Small jpg version:

Larger transparent PNG version:

Printable Sheriff Star Boxes

2 printable boxes with sheriff stars. They were inspired by the movie Blazing Saddles. We were watching it together this morning, and TG said "It would be a good idea for a printable box!"
I chose the herringbone because it was used in a lot of vests and clothing in the 1800s, woolen herringbone weaves. I'm thinking about using the same patterns to make printable decorative paper.

Click on the boxes for the larger versions, print on card stock, cut, score, fold, glue!

Spoonflower Swatch Toys

Swatch toys! When I finished out my sampler, I made a few toys that fit on a swatch. A swatch is a sample of Spoonflower printing that is an 8x8 square and costs 5.00, these are best made with hand sewing on the quilting weight fabric.

The fox ornament includes two ornaments, one with a fox, the other with a deer. You can order it here.

The little onigiri toys fit two to a swatch. To sew them, you match up the nori strip and start sewing in the middle bottom with right sides facing, sew all the way to the top, then repeat on the other side. Flip it over and sew the back the same way leaving a gap for turning and stuffing.  I made the side piece a little long, so that will have to be trimmed after it's sewn.

The little moon mobile is a star and moon on a printed background. I used a little bit of that background to make the strips to hang it.

The cute little Illuminati pyramids are easier than they look. Start by sewing the two triangle sides together, then work around the bottom connecting the square base to the sides (right sides facing), leave the last side undone for turning and stuffing, then slip stitch it closed. Pink and blue on one swatch, and purple and green on another.

All the above designs are for sale from Spoonflower.

Swatch toys are fun! I think I'm going to wind up designing a set that will print on 2 swatches for juggling balls for my husband.

Printable Paper Star Tree Topper

This is paper intensive, requiring 5 sheets of card stock! However, since I didn't mark the cut lines on the stars, you could just print 2 stars and glue them to the outside of the base on opposite sides.
To make this paper star tree top, you'll need to print and cut out 4 stars and glue 2 together back to back, then repeat with the other two. Cut 1 star from the top to the center dot, and the other from the bottom to the center dot.

Then you'll slide the stars together interlocking them. Print and cut out the base, glue along the the tab to form a cylinder, then cut on the guide lines to make slits. Slide the star into the base slits.

Click on the images for larger versions. There is the colored version as shown, and a version that you can color in. Print each image to fit pages. They are set up at 8x10 inches.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all the nice comments and emails that I've gotten in the last year and appreciate every one of you.

Western style Red, White and Blue Printable Gift Box

I hope you enjoy this gift box!

Click on the image for the full sized version, 300 dpi, jpg.

Also posted recently at Beadwork at BellaOnline, click the links under the images.

Printable graph paper booklets for beaders

Peacock Herl Earring Tutorial

Curve stitching templates

Curve stitching was created by Mary Boole as a method to teach children visually how angles and spaces worked in geometry. She considered herself a mathematical psychologist and was very interested in how children learned math. She made cards with holes punched in them that students could stitch.

Skip forward all the way to the 70s and curve stitching using thread around nails in boards was super popular. String art was trendy, with the lines of stitching making up lovely intricate geometric designs and abstract representations of birds, boats and other popular decorating themes.

There are so many shapes that can be made using this nifty technique and these templates are fairly limited. But they can be used for simple designs. They are 100 dpi with evenly spaced dots. Click on the images for the full sized versions.

Using these is fairly easy. When you're working a round design, the spacing of your first line will determine how wide the mesh of the curve stitched circle will be. These two designs have a line marked in red so you can see how long each of the lines is and how it shapes the design. The first one, the spacing is a lot closer, which makes for a nice frame effect.

 

Using the square grids, you can do corners, diamonds and other shapes on a right angle. Making the spacing of one axis farther apart than the others creates extended curves for lovely tall thin diamond shapes.

As you can see, with this one the inner star is spaced so it's every 4th dot marked and the lines are made so they intersect fairly close to the middle to make a star shape. The crescent moon is done by only doing part of the circle. The spacing is wide and open.

I hope you enjoy the templates and come up with lots of your own designs!