The Best Gift Ever July 1, 2008

Yesterday was our (Yarbs - the sister, and I) second installment of Craft Monday - and we made tag books!  They came out great - ’twas a lot of work, but do-able in 1 day - just need to make sure you do a little prep work and at least have all the photos printed out that you want to use.

My tag book is a year and a half late bday gift for a friend in Richmond.  I would love to get this as a gift (am tempted to keep it, but I won’t) so I hope she loves it as much as I do!  I doubt that she even remembers that I told her that I was making her something 1 and a half years ago, but that will make the surprise that much better!  And who doesn’t love getting packages in the mail?!

I really love the faux bois paper (Martha Stewart, of course) that I used for the cover and back.  And all the fun ribbons on the ring!

I would have never gotten this done so quickly and so well without Yarbs.  She also brought a bunch of embellishments that were fun to use!  We are trying to use up the supplies that we have, since we both have way too much stuff!

Yarbs made a tag book of the Austin Marathon / Half Marathon that Boom and Josephine ran.  I loved how it turned out!  I was trying to get her to give it to me, but she did not.  Oh well, I will just have to make my own.

Next Craft Monday (not this coming Monday but the next one) we will be doing some fabric crafts.  We are alternating between scrapping and fabric crafts, as Yarbs is the SME (subject matter expert) on scrapping and I am the SME on fabric crafts.  We’ll be making coasters and napkins.  Fun times!

“Craft Monday… June 25, 2008

… makes us tired!”  but was totally awesome!  As part of the new regime of being down here, Craft Monday finally got fully realized for the first time this past Monday.  It was great - we ran errands in the morning and organized my photos, had lunch, then crafted - hardcore - for the rest of the day!  Yarbs did 3 (!!!!!) scrap layouts for me (yay!) in 4 hours - that is really amazing.

Here she is with one of the layouts.  The theme was before and after or really, old photo and now…  Very cute - she did one of us (Yarbs and I), one of Boom and I and one of my first cruise (back in 2001) and my last cruise (this year!).

I was working hard on a birthday gift for a great friend back in RIC.  Which I finished yesterday and will be sending in the mail today (and who doesn’t love to get snail mail?!) - I won’t post any photos for a few days, just in case she may be popping over to this blog and I don’t want to kill the surprise.

This year, I am really goingto try to only make gifts for people, esp. people that are important to me.  I need to use up all the supplies I have collected through the years - paper crafting, fabric stuff, etc.  I have lots of materials to use, just need to execute!

Here we are at the close of our first ever Craft Monday.  Next Monday we are doing Tag Books!  I love spending time with Yarbs - and being creative at the same time.  ‘Tis a very good thing.

Tingaling Homemaker June 20, 2008

I haven’t been crafting much - with the move and all, I’ve had my hands full. Anyway, whilst unpacking, I came across Marm’s old, ratty yoga mat she gave to me many years ago as I was just started up practicing yoga. I used it for some time, but soon started finding bits and pieces of the blue mat stuck to my hands and feet. I got a new mat, but never threw away the old one - the thought of it in a landfill made me feel too guilty and literally kept me chucking it. I kept thinking I could come up with a new use for the old mat - and volia…

I cut up the mat and added some scallops…

..and created a lovely and durable under garbage can mat! (Our simplehuman butterlyfly trashcan, that I love, really hacked up the floor beneath it in the Richmond house, so I knew I needed to either put felt pads on the bottom of it or come up with another solution.) I love it! I kept opening the door to our pantry (where this all lives) a few days ago after I had made it so I could see it and bask in its cuteness!

Since that only took about 1/4th or less of the mat, I used the rest of the mat to line the under part of the kitchen sink:

Not too shabby, and then I only had an tiny little strip to throw away - so no guilt there. I actually wish I had more old, no-longer-in-use yoga mats so I could line all the under parts of all my sinks. I don’t have anymore, but I do have EE looking to see if they have one hanging around.

As with crafting, my baking has taken a back seat. Now that everything is here, I have all the tools I need. And my hand was forced - for some reason this week Boom and I were not that good about eating up our bananas. So I had 5 old, soft bananas to deal with yesterday. I had one with peanut butter toast for breakfast, and that was when I decided I need to bake up the remaining 4.

I looked around on-line for a recipe, but I mainly like recipes that have a short list of ingredients and not too many steps to finish. All the ones I was finding were too fancy. So I turned to my lovely ART 180 cookbook and found a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins - easy and they were delish!

I did one batch with 1 c wheat flour and the rest white flour, and the other batch with 1/2 c wheat flour, 1/2 c spelt flour and the rest white flour. The cinnamon really added a lot to how yummy they tasted and I used dark chocolate mini chunks.

Get the adorable cookbook and you too can have the delicious recipe! And you’ll be helping to support a wonderful organization.

Yarb can attest to how yummy the muffins are - she had one yesterday after lunch and then I sent her back to work with 5 others. By this morning they were all gone! I hope that Josephine was able to get one, before she gobbled them all up - I know in their house it is very cutthroat for any sweets that might be around.

Good to see that my economics degree from arguably the best public university in the country is getting put to good use

Crafty April 10, 2008

I did the run option at Seals this morning, and ever since I got home from that (~7am) I have been tired - so tired that when I was eating my cereal I was wishing to take a nap. With all the stuff to do for the house, I didn’t get a chance to take a catnap, so by the time 7pm yogi class rolled around, I was really, really tired.

I expected to have a not so great practice at yogi, but it ended up being quite excellent! I was feeling flexible (no idea why) and just really had a good practice. Afterwards, I felt much more energetic and awake than I had nearly all day!

After dinner (~9pm), I finished a project thrust upon me by our house stagers - making a “slipcover” for my shelves. Now instead of being all a jumble, I have a blank canvas!

Here is what the shelves looked like before:

And here it is all covered:

(I still need to clear all the stuff off the very top shelf, per the stagers). If I end up using this cover in H-town, I may add some (plain & black) embellishments, but I really like how it turned out! Simple, just the way I like things. It wasn’t too hard, but working with fabric in such large pieces (for me) is always difficult. And I realized I made things a bit more complicated for myself than I needed to, so a good lesson learned for next time.

I kinda feel like a super dork for 1) being so excited to have finished my slipcover, and 2) actually being able to sew the slipcover. Oh well, I guess I am just crafty…

AND I am getting to bed before 11pm!  I am really quite please all around about how my night went!!!

Published Tutorial! (& other stuff…) March 21, 2008

My Yoga Mat Wrap tutorial was featured on the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog - I am so excited!

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We literally just landed an hour ago and I have been working my way through my emails… will post a re-cap of Beaver Creek  (hopefully with BoomBoom comments!) and also make public some very exciting news…

Yoga Mat Wrap March 8, 2008

I have been doing Ashtanga yoga off and on since we moved here, so for almost 5 years. The last few years it has been more off (since I had been concentrating on ultra marathons), but this past summer (after the tragedy) I really picked it back up in earnest. I have been going regularly 2 - 3 times a week for the past 7 months. And it is great - I am getting much more flexible and that is good! I can always tell when I need to do more yoga, as my IT band will begin to hurt and other little aches and pains pop up - they all go away with a good ashtanga yoga session.

Anyway, at the end of last year, I bought some fabric to make a yoga mat bag, being inspired by my Lotta Jandotter book that has a yoga mat tote pattern. I never made the tote, and today when I went to get my mat out of the trunk for class, it had unrolled, was unwieldy and unmanageable - highly irritating to me. Right then, I decided I would make myself a yoga mat wrap (something that goes around the yoga mat and keeps it rolled up) today. One of the ladies in my class has something similar, and I figured I could make one for myself!

Since I was going to be figuring this out, I thought I should document and try to make a tutorial for other people to use. I have been loving all the tutorials I’ve found in blogland, and figured I should contribute something!

So here goes, my first ever sewing tutorial!!

Yoga Mat Wrap Tutorial:

(These are 2 completed yoga mat wraps. This tutorial is for a yoga mat that rolls up to a circumference between 15.5″ - 18″ or so)

Seam allowance: 1/2″

Materials needed:

1. 2 types of fabric (6″ x 21″ rectangles)
2. light weight iron on interfacing (6″ x 21″)
3. ribbon (at least 1″ thick, at least 56″ long - continuous)
4. sewing machine / thread
5. masking tape (optional)
6. fabric pencil

Time Commitment: 2 - 3 hours (I made 2 of ‘em in less than 3 hours, and that included taking photos and figuring things out as I went along)

Directions and Commentary (click on the photos to enlarge):

1) Select your complimentary fabrics and ribbon.

2) Cut your fabrics into 6″x21″ rectangles. If you have enough fabric for a couple, it is quite easy to make them all at the same time.

Now you will have 2 pieces of fabric.

3) Cut the fusible interfacing to fit your outer rectangle (in this case, the brown with large blue flowers on it).

And iron the interfacing onto your fabric. After I ironed the fabric a bit, I turned the piece over and put some parchment paper over the back side of the interfacing and ironed it that way as well.

4) Pin the right sides of your inner and outer fabric together.

5) Get sewing machine ready for 1/2″ seam allowance. I do this by putting a piece of masking tape at the 4/8″ mark - that way I know where I need to keep my fabric next to for the 1/2″ seam allowance. Makes things easier for me. This step is optional, however.

6) Sew the rectangles together with a 1/2″ seam allowance (so butt your fabric up to your masking tape line), leaving an inch or 2 opening in the middle of one of the short sides (this way, the ribbon will cover this area) to pull the wrap through.

7) Snip the corners (don’t cut the thread) and trim down the edges closer to the stitches.

8 ) Turn inside out (no photo here, sorry). Poke out corners carefully with the end of a paint brush or bone folder.

9) Iron flat - making sure your opening has both fabrics folded in (this will likely happen without you doing anything).

10) Top stitch all the way around your outer fabric, making sure that the opening gets stitched up. I start and stop right near the opening, and it is a good idea to reverse your stitches at the beginning and end to lock the stitch.

(Can you see the brown top stitching? Maybe not, but it is there! and not exactly straight - oh well)

11) Mark 7.5″ from one end of your outer fabric (I mark from the end that did not have the opening). You will only sew the ribbon from the other end to this mark.

12) Pin the ribbon, leaving an 18″ ribbon tail off each end. Put the ribbon in the middle of your outer fabric - and pin it at your 7.5″ mark (see #11) - you will not sew past this. (You can use fray check to keep the ends of the ribbon from fraying. I actually melt the very edges of the ribbon with a grill lighter [like a regular lighter, but longer and easier to use. I think I got mine at the dollar store.] - if you just barely get the edges into the flame, they will not turn black and they melt just enough to prevent future fraying.)

13) Top stitch around the ribbon and from one end to your 7.5″ mark - so you are making a long rectangle. After that, I also reinforced both short ends with a zig zag stitch. So after your 7.5″ mark you will have 7.5″ of wrap that does not have ribbon sewn onto it.

14) You are done with construction! Lay the wrap outer side (with ribbon) down and put your yoga mat on top of it.

15) Wrap in the side that the ribbon does not go to the end.

16) Wrap the other side over the first wrapped side. So the end with the ribbon that goes all the way to the end will be overlapping on some of the fabric that does not have ribbon on it.

17) Tie and you are set to go to yogity class! No more unraveled and unruly mats!

Here are the 2 wraps I made this afternoon! I hope this tutorial was clear. If not, please feel free to ask questions in the comments section - I will respond in the comment section.

Whew - writing out the directions nearly took as long as making them!

Creation March 6, 2008

One of the things I am trying to do with my silk screening is print on fabric. So, with my coral, here is one of my textile prints:

There are 2 prints of my coral on the purple fabric - the reddish orange is beneath the gold. I thought this was ok, but that it needed something more…

So I combo’ed my love of needlework (I sound like I am 100 yrs old!) & silk screen printing and embroidered around the reddish coral:

I really love it now! The off-white embroidery gives the reddish coral some definition and makes it pop. It also gives more depth to the entire piece. It took me a few nights in front of the TV, so not too bad.

I may make a pillow out of it, or not - I am not sure. If I make a pillow, I’ll need to add fabric around the edges to make it large enough to fit a standard pillow form. And when I was thinking about that last night, I realized the edge fabric would have to be selected very carefully - can’t be too bright / light or else it will take away from the design. Can’t be too dark or the entire pillow will be a goth-like pillow. So we’ll see… for now, I am just enjoying my multi-media creation.

Luggage Tags February 29, 2008

Today I’ve been working with my fused plastic bag “fabric” to make luggage tags.  They turned out pretty cute, but I am not sure how sturdy they are.

Here is what I did:

1. Trace and cut the desired shape out of the fused material.

2. Do the same with some hard(ish) clear plastic.  I used transparency sheets I had, so nothing fancy.

3. Sew a ribbon in a loop onto the fused material.  This is what will attach the luggage tag to the luggage.  I put the side with the sewing on the outside of the tag, but may be better to have it on the inside (where the business card goes).

4.  Sew the clear plastic onto the fused material, leaving 1 short end open.  This is where you will be able to slip your business card into the luggage tag.

Voila!  Here is the tag on my old roller bag with a business card in it.

Here are some other ones I am working on.   The black and white “toile” print is from a bag I got in Austin.  I wonder if I can get Boom to test these tags out - he travels quite a bit, but I am not sure he will want a random, Target-symbol tag on his bag, which I can totally understand.

Frogs and Fortune Cookies… February 24, 2008

A month ago or so I got a pattern for a frog off blogland.  I made one for Al’s bachlorette party (since she collects frogs) and one for Gretty (since she loves animals).  I gave Gretty’s to her last night, so now I can post photos of it!  Turned out quite well, and is stuffed with lentils, so in case of emergency, she could cut him open and cook up the lentils (yummy!).

It was actually kinda hard to fill him with lentils, as I could not find a proper funnel.  And sewing him up after he was full of lentils was also not an easy task.  But I think he is super cute!

For his embroidered chest, I printed out the size letter I wanted and then used my light box to trace the letter on to the fabric.  (Clearly Al’s didn’t have a ‘G’ on it, but rather a ‘P’ for her new last name.)

Remember, ladies, be gentle with him - he’s homemade!

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In the February issue of Martha Stewart, there is a great craft tutorial for making felt fortune cookies.  I love working with felt, had all the needed supplies and this craft actually looked easy, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.  Now I am a little bit obsessed with making ‘em and giving ‘em (as bday cards, etc).  I just need to think of better “fortunes” to go inside…

And since it is all about the packaging, I’ve had these little cello bags since Boom and I got married and have been looking to put them to good use… Well, the fortune cookies fit perfectly in ‘em!  And I have lots of scrap paper, so for the “tag” I can just stamp whatever I want on the front and then put a little message on the back - staple it to the  cello bag and it looks nearly professional (not really, but I like to say it does).

I realize I am spoiling the surprise for a bunch of peeps (hehehe - or maybe not), as I think I have only given out 3 of ‘em, but plan to give out many more!  So if you haven’t gotten one, likely you will - just wait for it.  And act surprised.  Hopefully by then I will have some better fortunes (or maybe quotes?) to go inside of ‘em.

Other Fused Items February 21, 2008

A couple nights ago I was thinking of other things I could make with fused bags. Smaller, wallet-type items. My big hurdle was figuring out what to use to close the said smaller bags. I thought I had come up with the solution –> SNAPS! So I tried it, and realized, nope, snaps were not really gonna work. They require a lot of pulling to get apart, and the fused bags are not that strong, esp. since with the snaps you put tiny holes in the fused material. Then I thought of velcro! I think this might work, but I will need to reinforce the adhesive, as it takes quite a bit to pull the 2 sides of the velcro apart, and the velcro adhesive was pulling away from the fused material.

Here is my first little bag. The snap looks cute, but it is a faux snap. I then put the velcro on the underside, when I realized the snap was not gonna work.

Since the velcro was pulling away, I thought I could try using ribbon. But I don’t think that is the best to use - not exactly user friendly (I am thinking now that I should use a button and an elastic to go around the button - I need to get some elastic to try that). Here are the ribbon photos:

Looks like it should be holding a gift card or something.

After seeing this photo, I think maybe I can make luggage tags with a clear front out of this fused material! I remember seeing a tutorial on luggage tags out of fabric in blog land, just need to try to find it… (update - have found it!  From the blog - My Longest Year)

I am liking this fused plastic bag technique.  It is like working with felt - no stray threads to worry about!  So easy. I have a bunch of pink plastic from a bmaid gown cover, I will try that.

I also want to make some little blank books / matchbook pads that I have had in my mind to do for some time - using reclaimed paper. The only issue is I need a large cutting surface, and since I am a little cluttered, that is hard to come by…  maybe next week…