Birthday card

Here’s a cute little birthday card I made using the Critter Sketch challenge of the week.

I decided to list the products just for fun and to show how many elements go into making a simple card.

Products used:
Card paper – Lily Bee Design “Jingle frost”
Oval paper – Glitz Design “uncharted water” line
Oval stamp (ends used on inside) – the girls’ paperie “jubilee”
Green ink – craft smart “Kelly green”
Brown ink – Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger) “walnut stain”
Green tape – my homemade fabric tape
Dot tape – Smash tape
Flower stamp & made for you stamp – Stampin’ Up “best of everything” set
“Today” Sentiment – Authentique notables “uncommon” collection
“Happy birthday” & “best wishes” stamps – Kaiser Craft
(Other tools: glue dot runner, circular cutter, self healing mat, ruler, scissors, dimensional foam stickers)

Joe for Jo

Because I did last week’s sketch last night, I scrapped a Thursday sketch from Elle’s Studio two days in a row! You can find this week’s sketch here.

This sketch was a lot of fun to work from, full of doilies and arrows. I cut my doilies from Glitz Design “Love You Madly” paper and ran with the theme of coffee. The title card and stripe paper are also Glitz Deisgn. The good stuff stamp is from Sn@p as well as the chevron arrows, which I cut from a journaling card.

We love coffee. It cracked me up when Jo grabbed my empty cup and tried to sample some. This was a while ago and now she’s big enough to call it mommy’s “cacky.”

Play Music

Playing along with Elle’s Studio Sketch Thursday using a photo of Benjamin playing the guitar

I was excited to make a layout from this sketch because it gave me a chance to use my new homemade washi tape in a layout similar to one Davida Stafford did for a Noel Mignon crop challenge.

DIY Washi Tape

Quick tutorial
1: stick masking tape strips on wax paper (I used parchment as I already had it)
2: cut strips of fabric wider than the width of the masking tape (I ironed my fabric first)
3: lightly (and carefully!) sand the masking tape
4: spread a light layer of mod podge on the masking tape
5: place fabric strips onto the tape
6: apply a layer of mod podge over the fabric (I did this to make sure mine stuck well, but obviously it changes the feel of the fabric. Decide if you want matte or gloss finish. I chose matte.)
7: let dry
8: flip the wax paper over so you can see where the tape is and cut out the fabric covered tape
Now you are ready to use the tape! Just cut off a piece and peel off the wax paper.

Recycling crayons

I HATE broken crayons. Drives me batty! Today I set out to take care of all our broken crayon bits.

First I (and dear husband) removed the papers and separated colors.

Then I broke them down into bits and put them in a sprayed mini muffin pan being sure not to overfill. I had to use a knife for some of them.

Then I baked them at 230 degrees for 15 minutes. Most of them were done, but a few were holding out unmelted. I got tired of waiting though!

Waiting for them to cool……
After they cooled to the touch I put them in the refrigerator and waited some more.
Then they popped right out!

I colored with them to show you the colors and to soften up the rough edges. They work very well, but do leave some shaving crumbs. Hopefully that will get better with time!

Battle of the Dollar Dyes

I purchased 3 Easter Egg Dyeing kits at Dollar Tree and decided to compare them for best coloring. Ideally I’d use natural dyes, but what can I say, I’m lazy.

First up, “Dunk an Egg” complete with silly face stickers. Offers 5 colors and only had to add water.

Next up, “Easter Bunny,” boasting 6 colors and a match game. Unfortunately, two colors were green and purple was absent. Required water in all and a tablespoon of vinegar in just yellow, blue, and green. It said to leave it out of red and purple (missing) and neglected to mention orange. I left it ourtof the orange since it also contains red.

Last a familiar brand, “Paas” with 5 colors and no extras really. Each bath required 3 tablespoons of vinegar for the ultra coloring.

RESULTS

I left the eggs in for 25 minutes.

As expected, water only didn’t do a great job creating vibrant colors and there were funny starbursts of color.

The Bunny colors were pretty good, except for the ones where no vinegar was added. The color was even and vibrant with less vinegar use.

Finally, the Paas colors while quite vibrant were splotchy. The yellow and orange were nicer than the Bunny brand, but I liked the blue and green of the bunny brand.

I decided to add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the baths that didn’t have any and see what they looked like.

Turns out these are my favorite! Vibrant colors with minimal speckling. Plus they came with face stickers. My vote is dunk an egg, but add vinegar! Vinegar is key here, but excessive amounts are not necessary as the Paas ones with 3 Tbs weren’t any better than the brands with 1 Tbs.

Here comes the sun *Free Pattern*

Here Comes the Sun Amigurumi

Tools:
E (3.5mm) crochet hook, or desired hook size
Yarn needle

Materials:
Small amount Worsted weight cotton yarn
Small amount embroidery thread
Set of safety eyes
Polyester fiberfill

Special instructions:

How to start with a magic ring
Sun is worked in two parts with spiral rounds (unjoined rounds). The border around the sun joins the two halves.
Sc = single crochet
St = stitch
Sc inc = 2 single crochet in same stitch
Sl st = slip stitch
Dc= double crochet
Tr = treble crochet

Pattern:

Body
MAKE 2
Begin with magic ring
Round 1: 6sc in ring, do not join, do not turn, place marker and move up at the end of each round (6sc)
Round 2: sc inc around (12sc)
Round 3: (sc, sc inc) around (18sc)
Round 4: (sc in next 2 st, sc inc) around (24sc)
Round 5: (sc in next 3 st, sc inc) around (30sc)
Round 6: sc in each st around (30sc)
Fasten off, weave in ends.
Affix safety eyes and embroider mouth to the right side of one body piece.

Edging
Round 1: With wrong sides of body held together and face facing you, join yarn with sc through both loops of both pieces. Continue sc all the way around being careful to go through both thicknesses. Stuff piece when you have 5 or 6 stitches left. Join with sl st to first sc. (30sc)
Round 2: *sk 1 st, (2 dc, tr, 2 sc) all in next st, sk 1 st, sl st in next st two rows below* repeat from * to * 6 more times, sk 1 st, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) all in next st, sl st in st two rows below join for this round, join with sl st to first dc. (8 points)
Fasten off and weave in ends.

I have not tested this pattern so please let me know if you have trouble or find errors! Thanks.
This pattern was influenced by Amigurumi Sun by Imaginary Wardrobe ; however, the construction of each pattern and the borders are different.

Po-Tay-Toe Po-Tah-Toe

Potato stamp fun today. To cut back on the insanity, I cut out the stamps before the kids got up from their nap. I’m not sure about how to format on the device I’m using, so I apologize for just a straight line of pictures!

Lighten your load

Dusting off the ol’ blog here to post about my new self-imposed challenge.

Lighten your load challenge: I plan to rid our home of 500 pounds of STUFF over the next 30 days.

This is coming on the tail end of a decent size yard sale so we have already gotten rid of quite of bit. I’m so tired of all the extra stuff weighing us down — it’s hard to keep it clean too!

Day 1

Pretty successful day worth 20 pounds. (yes I am weighing it!)
500 – 20= 480 to go.

Morning Cup of Joe

“There’s nothing sweeter than a cup of bitter coffee.” ~ Rian Aditia

I got a little excited after making my first coffee cozie for a mug. My husband had a great idea for me to get mugs at the thrift store and dress them up! I have a set of four of the blue stripe flower mug (#1), a set of four of the pink flower mug (#3), just one of the pink heart (#2), and then an orange (#4) and a brown (#5) that kind of match. The first three are Corning mugs. I started with the heart mug since he’s a singleton.

I still need to add buttons to this one. I think I want to find interesting old mismatched buttons for these instead of the yarn buttons I have been making. I also made another cozie for the big mug I use almost every day.

 

I love my mug cozie! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It also helps keep my coffee warm and I can hold the sides of the mug without burning my fingers.

 

 

 

I put three buttons on the side of the big one just to keep it all closed nicer, but I also changed my increases a little so I think this one would have looked better than my first without the middle button.

 

A word to the wise: put the cozie on before pouring the coffee!!