Special Projects

Merry Christmas!  Are you busy creating special gifts for your family and friends?  I think I've undertaken a lot more than I should have, but it's time to just get it all done.

One of the gifts I'm making for little girls in the family is a drawing set.  I've seen many versions of the crayon roll-ups and caddies.  This design puts it all together and allows the kids to carry their drawing pad with them, along with the crayons or markers.

I had to make a prototype, right??  This one was made with my daughter in mind.  She LOVES John Deere.

This one is made so that it folds up to close and has a velcro closure strap.  The handles are made of ribbon. The ribbon wasn't double-sided, so I sewed two pieces together for each handle.  Her 'a' in the embroidery didn't turn out quite right - and if I was giving this as a gift, I would fix that - but she doesn't care.  It was just meant as a prototype, anyway.

Opened up, you can see the pockets for crayons, pencils or markers.  On the next ones I make, I will add velcro closures to keep the items in the pockets.  The drawing pad is easy to slip out.  So if the child uses up all of her blank pages - but not all of her creativity! - you can slide another one in.  The hole for the pad was made like a giant, custom buttonhole.  

I did put some 'header' material inside the fabric to give the drawing set more structure and stability.  Next time, I plan to use chipboard, if I can find it in a big enough piece for each set.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how the set turned out.  Honestly, I'm amazed that the first one turned out this well.  I guess, for once, I did a fair job of thinking through all of the steps!

I need to make 3 more of these, a car caddy - with an included track, and a fort kit.  Lots to do on my day at home tomorrow! :) 

Have a wonderful Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

~*Shell*~

Cruise Crafts

Each time we take a cruise, we get involved in the cruise thread on the DIS boards (www.disboards.com).  This thread is composed by those who have reservations for that same cruise.  Within that group, some people form an "FE (fish extender) exchange."  This is an exchange of small gifts, and a "FE" hangs outside the stateroom door on a hook that is shaped like a fish (thus, the *fish* extender), and throughout the cruise, others on the list deliver the small gifts to the other staterooms by placing the gifts in the FE outside the door. On my first cruise, I quickly made an FE, and it worked fine for our last cruise.  However, this year, our family will be in 2 rooms, so we needed 2 FE hangers.  I am NOT a seamstress, nor would I *ever* claim to be.  There are a lot of things that I would change about this one, but in general, I thought they turned out ok.

This one is my mom's and my son's FE.  

The symbol at the top is the Disney Cruise Line logo.  I embroidered it on the top using a pattern I created.

I put our favorite characters on our pockets.  Jonah's character is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

My mom's character is the fairy godmother from Cinderella.

This one is the FE for my husband, daughter, and me.

Same basic style, but with 3 pockets.

This pocket turned out the best.  His character is Grumpy.

  

Jaydin's pocket features Bullseye from Toy Story 2 and 3.

My pocket has Figment .... that's my favorite.  

Each embroidery file was created by me and is in no way for sale.   The font used is Waltgraph, and you can find it free with a Google search.

I'm working on a few things in the Haven, and I've recently gotten a new toy ... uh, I MEAN tool. :)  As much as I have always loved my Cricut, the time has come to drop my support for ProvoCraft.  They lost my loyalty when they attacked SCAL and MTC and forced those companies to stop making software that worked through the Cricut machines.  

Last Wednesday, my Silhouette Cameo arrived.  This machine comes with it's own software and runs through your computer .... no cartridges to buy.  You can buy designs and projects through the Silhouette site or simply create your own by importing many different file formats (including .jpg and .svg) and using the trace feature.  You can even PRINT something using your printer .... and then the Cameo will cut out the printed item!  I will give more details on this machine in the coming weeks ... I hope. :)  

I should also have a dress to share, as well, in a few days.  

Have a wonderful Monday evening and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!

~*Shell*~

Miss Me?

Sooooo .... have you missed me?! I've sure missed being here. I'm sorry. I really thought that I would have an easy, quiet summer, but it did not work out that way. Bummer!!! I had a lot that I wanted to accomplish in the Haven.

Our cruise is coming soon, so I have been working on an autograph book for my (almost) 7 year old. We do one for each cruise or vacation (we love Disney ... ), and I chose to do this one a little differently. Instead of using paper for the cover, I used fabric.

The design on the front was embroidered using my Brother embroidery machine. I added the ribbon on the side because it didn't look quite complete without it. The hanging ribbon is for holding our marker that will accompany us on our trip. It helps keep it handy for the wonderful characters that will be signing her book and helping to make magical memories for our family.

That's what I've done recently in the Haven. I will share more later. :) I made a new FE hanger (will explain that later), too, and I'd love to share it with you.

Hope you have a beautiful Tuesday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow! :)

~*Shell*~

Cupcake, anyone?

Wow ... it's been a while.  I'm sorry about that. I've been doing a bit of crafting, but very little has been paper crafting.  


I do have a card to share today, though. :) 




A good friend of mine has a birthday this week.  I wanted to use this image because I find it so freakin' cute. :) 

Want a cupcake??

I don't think you can tell it very well in the picture at all, but the cherry and the white layer on the cupcake has a glaze on it, the sprinkles sparkle, and her wings are all glittery.  I totally love the birthday cake embossing folder as the background, too.  Super fun, I think.  The flowers are metal, and the pearl in the middle was a brad.  I put it on too late, but just cut the metal prongs off and used a glue dot to adhere to the page.  Baker's twine is used on the side (it's limeade, I believe).  The card base is black, and a white mat is on the inside for my message.


The image is by Penny Black - one of the Mimi images.  


I hope you're having a fantastic summer. 


Have a beautiful Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. 




~*Shell*~

Perfect Sentiment Challenge #34 - Anything Goes!!!

What a super fun way to end my stint as a guest designer with Perfect Sentiments Challenges. An Anything Goes challenge. :) :)  It really has been a great time.  I'm so thankful that I was allowed to be a part of the team for a little while :)

Here are the juicy details -

The Challenge: create anything you like as long as it has a sentiment on the front...card, tags, ATC's, altered art.

The Twist: no scrapbook pages, please

Limited Runs is sponsoring this challenge, and I used one of their images on my card.


Yeah ... that adorable frog is from Limited Runs. He's SO cute. I couldn't resist giving him a little something extra, though. Behind him, as well as the sentiment, is a little spring. That allows him to bounce around a bit when the card moves.



Behind him, as well as the sentiment, is a little spring. That allows him to bounce around a bit when the card moves. LOVE the effect it gives this adorable image.

This card has gone to a very special graduate in my life. She's like one of my own, and I love her very much.

Card Recipe -

Stamps - Big Frog (Limited Runs digi), Sentiment (computer generated)

Paper - black, celery, rust, dp, computer paper

Ink - computer

Copics - YG03, YG06, R22, YR07

Accessories - Crystal Effects, embossing folders, Spellbinders' dies, wire, Prima flowers, gold dots, baker's twine (cream soda), pop dots

Head on over to the Perfect Sentiments Challenge blog and join in the fun. You can do it ... ANYTHING (except a scrapbook page) goes! :)

Have a wonderful day and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. :)


~*Shell*~