Baby in Blue...Shower Ideas

Oh Boy!

I recently hosted a baby shower for a good friend's daughter. Here are the invitations I made for the event. I used a baby photo of the Daddy "to be."

I was inspired by all of the gorgeous vintage creams, browns, and blues in my collection of goodies.

 

 

 

I covered a scrapbook with upholstery fabric and a handmade rolled flower out of burlap. I also used my free motion foot on my sewing machine to write the baby's name.

A towel was transformed into a whymsical free motion stitched piece for the baby's room.

   What's a party without favors? Mason jars are filled with pampering salt scrub.      

 

 

Everyone had a special note for Julie, the mom-to-be. After putting the notes in this jar, she read each one.

Free Motion Stitching

A few more minutes with my sweet Project Runway Brother machine is all I need...well maybe a few more. I can't stop playing with free motion!

I'm not embarrassed to say I bought my machine a, because it was very inexpensive and light weight, and because it said "Project Runway," which was ultra cool!!

I've been playing around with "free motion" stitching for about a year now. I thought I'd pass along some tips tht might help other beginners.

1. Look online to find a quilting foot for your specific machine.  Although my machine's handbook mentioned that there was a quilting foot for the machine, it of course wasn't included.  I looked it up on Amazon and bought it for about $8.

2. Pencil in your words first. It will help you with the motion.

3. I think using felt sheets (from craft stores) make great backgrounds for practicing free motion. Try bright red thread on a grey felt sheet. SO pretty!

4. If your muslin or fabric is too thin, you will need to use a hoop. I don't want to bother with this, so I make sure my fabric has some substance.

5. Use the thickest thread you can find on a spool. My favorite is Gutermann 100mm strong thread. It makes a huge difference in your final outcome.

6. Be sure to use a shorter thread stitch and tighter tension

7. Try adding a few curls at the end of your word or name, and a heart where you would put a dot.

8. Practice, Practice, Practice!!

New Life for a Very Tattered Book

I started saving the torn and tattered books from my classroom to use in art projects. This book was about to be thrown away. Just a little paint, stencils, paper, and imagaination gave it new life!

I ripped out all of the pages and then used a few as accents for the covers. Inside are new pockets for keepsakes.

One of My Favorite Swaps...

I was just admiring my lovely collection of glass soldered houses that were part of an incredible swap way back in 2009. The swap was headed by my sweet talented friend, Tina. She sadly passed away. The houses were a challenge for me because I had really just started soldering and I had to make quite a few "perfect" looking houses!

Seems like yesterday when I sent out all of my glass houses!
They were so much fun to make. I really enjoyed working with triangles for the first time. I had a lot of support from Tina...and will always be thankful.
Here is my display of all of the Cute little Soldered Houses.  This was one of my very favorite swaps of all time!
Glass houses created by:
Tina, Cheryl, Jeanie, Heather, Phyllis Ann

Dale, Shannon, Cindy, me, Sherri,

Thanks to everyone for sending me a house! I am still admiring their beauty!!

Summer "Traveling" Postcard Swap

I've been "traveling" with my Paper Cowgirl friends different places around the world...

Well, I'm not actually going to these exotic places, I'm just inspired by places for a fun summer swap.

Here are the postcards I've made so far...

Beautiful Asia:

Australia:

My Fourth Annual Art Camp for Girls

I just finished my art camp for girls...a regular part of my summer vacation! We had a whirlwind of projects and parties each day for one week. More photos of our week are on the art camp blog Art Camp For Girls 2012

Shown are just a portion of the fun projects we did together. Our week included a day of Rodeo Cowgirl Fun.

A week of friendship and fun for everyone!