Mr. Bear ready for his journey...

I made another felt bear for a dear work friend of mine who is having a baby soon. Also, included in the gift is a set of homemade burp cloths.  Mr. Bear's bandanna matches the cloths (of course).

I have heard you can never have too many burp cloths when you have a baby, so that is my go-to handmade gift.

Here is Mr.Bear getting ready for his journey.  He looks a little sad and I am said to see him go!

Birthday Wings on a Cabinet Card

It is inevitable that I add wings to someone in my art.  I was looking around my house and I have birds, angels and butterflies worked into my decor everywhere.

Using a vintage cabinet card as a base, I made this collage for my niece.  The nice thing about old cabinet cards is that they stand up readily for display.

I added a hint of shine with some silvery chicken wire accents from Stampin Up and the background is collaged paper scraps and envelope pieces.

My husband says it is never wrong to tell someone you love them.  I think he is right...

Silva Rerum

Silva Rerum means a 'forest of things' and is traditionally a family chronicle or journal of sorts.  In this class, we made our own Silva Rerum by repurposing a vintage book cover and sewing in signatures made of interesting paper scraps.  I used a smallish book 'The World Beautiful' by Lillian Whiting (I saved the book pages for later projects) and sewed in 6 signatures of paper from my stash that I loved.  Included are vintage maps, ledger paper, wrapping paper, tissue paper, and some handmade paper.

Over time, this Silva Rerum will become a full art journal.  I have already been filling in some of the pages with collages and collage 'starts'. 

I think I am going to make more of these - I have so many beautiful vintage book covers to repurpose...

Washi Tape and a Hand Carve

Have you ever seen those tempting packs of coordinated washi tape?  I fell in love with a summery, fruit-themed pack and made a very quick card for my niece's birthday.  I also incorporated a new handcarved stamp (the lemon slice).  So quick and easy!  I even used the washi tape to wrap her gift.

A Beary Happy Birthday

This bear is a gift for my good friend J.P. who purchased a camper last year and enjoys it most weekends (weather and work permitting).  He wanted a bear to match the sheets in his camper and I found this great pattern on Etsy.  I like this pattern because it is not too cutesy and the kerchief allowed me to incorporate some of the sheet material.  I was lucky that the sheets came in a bag made out of the same fabric.  Very handy for matching the bear!

I also made this tag for the gift - continuing the bear theme.  I copied a Dover image of the bear and cut up a postcard that had some trees on it.  The background is a chipboard tag stamped with wood grain.  The balloons are from a Yellow Owl Workshop set.

Happy Birthday J.P.!!

Booties!

My goodness!  It has been a while since I posted, and, I am happy to be back!!

My dear husband blew out a disk in his back earlier this year and needed a lot of care.  The poor fella was in agony at first.  Opiates helped some, but, he was not wanting to get into that habit.  Eventually, with some exceptional care from his doctor and some back injections, he is just about back to normal.  I wanted to keep him company as much as possible because he was confined to the home so much.  So instead of spending time in the craft room, I would hand sew - which I can do just about anywhere.

I made these adorable baby booties using felted wool and some printed jersey for the laces.  At first I tried making them with contrasting thread (white thread against the pink wool), but, my stitches just did not look that great.  This is the result of my third attempt.  When you are making tiny items, every little detail needs to look just right.  Or maybe I just obsess a little... LOL

The pattern came from a Creative bug class with Kata Golda 

I am hoping to expand my baby booty skills with felt.  There are some really cute patterns out there!

We'll be Best Friends Forever

I hope everyone has a close friend like my dear friend Lisa.  We've been friends since 8th grade English, where we literally could not stop talking during class.  This resulted in all kinds of discipline efforts from our teacher which had zero effect on our discussions.  Lisa and I have had all kinds of adventures - some good and some bad.  However one thing remains constant, her brilliant presence in my life.  Truly one of life's gifts

So I made this card using the clock face decal over textured silver paper, representing the long tenure of our friendship.  The photos are from the Tim Holtz line.  And that background!  I was lucky enough to visit the famous Hatch Print gallery in Nashville a couple of years ago, and they had cut up remnants from printing errors that you could take home!  I just love the colors and have been looking for a chance to use this piece for a long time.  Chit Chat stickers provided the sentiment.  The inside of the card reads 'because you know all my secrets'.

Teeny Tiny Wishes

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is Miniature\Tiny Things and what better time to showcase my most used stamp set, 'Teeny Tiny Wishes' from Stampin up!  I use the 'happy birthday' stamp so much it has a permanent place on my craft table.  This birthday card is for a dear friend of mine who is having a significant birthday this month.  I will not reveal the number, but, she is an amazing woman who has seen a lot of life and still has a passion and lively nature that I greatly admire.

I have been getting back into Distress ink backgrounds.  This one in Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, and Vintage Photo.  I cut up an old card to make the heart and there are those flowers again!

The 'happy birthday' sentiment is from 'Teeny Tiny Wishes' and popped up with Dimensionals (as is the heart.

Vintage Inspired

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week was 'Vintage'.  I had all my vintage supplies out including Tim Holtz photos, some vintage ledger paper, and a actual cabinet card.  So here is my latest winged girl.  I think this is the last one I will do - at least for a little while.

I found these little flowers in my stash and inked them with a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  So happy I dug them up!

Make a Wish

On this sweet girl, I used vintage ledger paper for a background.  I also smudged some gesso on the stitching so that the threads took on the ink colors from the paper.  Also, I penciled in some definition on her bodice and added a collar.  One of the things I learned is that I really need better scissors for fussy cutting, so I ordered a new pair and can't wait to try them out on my next project.  This card is winging her way to a birthday girl I know.

It's a Wonderful Life

It IS a wonderful life!  I was inspired by Jennalee Anderson's lovely artwork in Somerset Studio's Mixed Media and Paper Arts magazine.  I just loved how she made alternate dress shapes for her vintage photos.  I did not do the gesso background, but, I hope to try that when I get a little more time.

P.S.  Also used some new paper from Stampin' Up to make the butterfly wings.