Baby Shower Cake

I made this cake for my friend Jamie's baby shower. She is having a little boy. Her colors in his nursery are blue and brown. I waited to put the border on until after I got there because I put it on a nice silver cake plater. I didn't bring my camera so I didn't get a picture of it with a border on.

Baby Quilt

Wondering why I haven't posted for a month. This was a bigger project then I anticipated. I think it always works out like that. I love how this baby quilt turned out. I didn't use a pattern but I got the idea from http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/ I machine quilted it. I just followed the zig zag pattern that the blocks make. I am pleased with how it turned out. I wasn't sure about not putting a border on but I love how it turned out. I think the binding frames it nicely.

Hanging Drawer

After we made the shelf out of the old dresser we had 5 drawers just laying around. I decided to put them to good use. I would love to hang them in a cluster on the wall and maybe add some wood inside to make it have two shelves per drawer but for right now this works out nice. One is hanging in our bathroom and one will go in my bedroom. The rest will go under our bed for storage and maybe someday we will have enough wall space to hang more of them together.

The picture was taken the day my husband and I got engaged. The red wooden tool is an old ice pick I got at a garage sale but I like the way it looks and I use it for making books and cards sometimes. The handkerchief is from a yard sale. I got it for 15 cents. The basket is a Longenburger and my Mom got it for me.

And here is a picture of my sweet two year old with a milk mustache. I just couldn't resist.

Rags to Riches

My husband and I found this beauty by the side of the road. So after much debating about what to do with it we decided to give it a face lift. We cleaned it. Then we gutted it. My handy husband added the wood shelves and we sanded and painted it (dark granite). Then I found some awesome paper at Hobby Lobby. I attached it with Elmers spray adhesive. And There you go. I am so happy with how it turned out.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

CLOSE UP...

Feel Better Soon

I tried to make this Get Well card a little more masculine. And it was looking very handsome until I added the big silky white bow. I'm a girl....I'm feminine.... I guess I just couldn't help myself.

Sky Sailing - Brielle

New Layout

I think I may have found my new favorite layout. I don't know if I made this up or not but I didn't get the idea from another blog or magazine or book so I'm claiming it as my own. I made this card for my husband's cousin's wife. You got that? Yes we are related but I consider her my good friend.

Ok back to the card. The dimensions are 4 1/4 x 4 1/4. The green paper is from a 12 x 12 paper stack I bought years ago. The dimensions for the green paper are 3 3/4 x 3 3/4. I used my cuttlebug to make the letters. I also use my circular punches for the circles. I inked the edges of the circles with blue ink. To finish it off I added some organza ribbon with white polka dots. There you have it.

Let me know what you think.

Thank You Dots

I couldn't think of a good title for this post so there you have it...Thank You Dots. I love this paper. I am down to using scraps. I saved every little piece I can and I've used it in a lot of different cards and even some pages of my scrapbooks. I think it is really cute and I love the purple and green color combo. I'm always drawn to those colors. Maybe it's because my Mom decorated my room in those colors when I was a girl. Who knows...anyway...this was really easy to put together. I just used the two complementing papers and then tied a ribbon around it and then attached a tag that I made. I used my 1" punch and my 1 1/4" punch. I used to have to cut all my circles and tags by hand but now I have upgraded to punches. I think I've earned them. Wow this is a long post about a card. Let me know what you think or if anyone is there.

Just Saying Hi

This card looks a lot better in person. In case you can't read the sentiment it says Just saying hi. I distressed all the edges. All I used was cardstock and ribbon and then of course the stamp. To distress my edges I took scissors and rubbed the blade along the edge of the paper and then I rubbed my ink pad on it.

Delicious Simplicity

This card was inspired by my friend Kadee. I made her five cards for a white elephant gift exchange. I'm not sure what her favorite colors are but I think this card suits her. I didn't use any decorate paper. I took light blue cardstock and put it through my embossing machine. Then I cut some yellow paper with my scalloped scissors. I stamped my image and cut it out with another pair of scissors. Then I inked the edges with black and wrapped a ribbon around the base. It didn't take me very long but I love it. I think it is adorable...just like Kadee.

Thankful

I got a surprise in the mail a few weeks back. My Mom found some awesome chipboard embellishments at Ross and picked them up for me. I love them. I think they are great to use on cards. This card was really easy and really fast. I just put the cardstock through my cuttlebug embossing folder and then glued it to my card base. Then I glued the thankful chipboard embellishment piece on. Then I found out the chipboard are self adhesive and I felt silly but oh well I know for next time.

Flower punch II

I made a card like these two a few months ago for my favorite SIL's baby shower. She had a baby girl about 4 weeks ago. I love the butterflies on the paper. I got to use my flower punch too!

Flower Punch

I got a flower punch on clearance at Joanns. I love it. I've made a bunch of different cards with it. You'd be surprised how versatile it is. I really like to punch the flower and then put the flower pieces through my cuttlebug in an embossing folder. Then I crumble the pieces up. It gives it more depth.

thank you

I got this stamp along with a lot of other stamps for really cheap at a garage sale. I also got some fabric for $5 a pound. There will be some quilts and many cards soon to come.

Awesome Giveaway

I am not hosting this give-away. I am just informing you of an awesome opportunity to win a silhouette digital cutting machine. Just go here for more details.

Suspenders

I made these suspenders for Austin. He is really small for his age and his pants and shorts are always falling down. They didn't take me very long. I got the idea from the blog makeitandloveit.

Ohio Star

This is my first try at paper-piecing. I really liked it. I have to admit it was a little time consuming at first but then I got the hang of it and I was getting my blocks done in no time. The pattern I did was called the Ohio Star. My friend and teacher Marlene Seymour gave me that pattern.

It is from this book. I would like to get the book someday and try all the other patterns. I had some friends do the same pattern and all our blocks turned out so different because of the different colors we choose. I got my cream colored fabric from Marlene and my polka dot fabric from the Hobby Lobby remnant bin. I got the blue fabric from Joanns. Stay tuned for my next quilt project.

Fathers Day Tie Card

I remember making a card in elementary school with pieces of construction paper and scraps of wall paper. We used the construction paper for the card base and then cut out the wall paper in the shape of a tie. I took that same idea and spruced it up just a bit. I added a shirt collar and two brads. This makes a great card for the special man in your life.

Bookmaking Tutorial

Here is the tutorial you have all been waiting for. Hopefully I've made everything clear enough that you can follow the instructions and make a book on your own. If there are any steps that are confusing just leave me a message and I'll try to clear things up for you. ENJOY!

I tried to get a picture of everything you will need for this project in the picture. If you don't have a paper trimmer then you can use a ruler and exacto knife. Just make sure you have a mat or large piece of cardboard underneath when you are using it so you don't cut through your table.

The first think you are going to do is get your cover ready. You can use a piece of framing mat board or you can get a notebook with a thick cover on clearance at Walmart like I did. I just took the covers off the notebook and then put a coat of white acrylic paint on. Let it dry very well between coats.

The is what it will look like after two coats. You just need to be able to put your paper on the cardboard without the decal showing through your paper.

While your covers are drying you can cut your paper. It is a lot easier to cut the paper if you have a paper slicer. But if you don't you can use an exacto knife like I mentioned earlier. I used regular printer paper and cut each piece in half. You can cut the paper to whatever size you want. Sometimes it is fun to do an odd shaped book. I like this size.

I cut at 5 1/2in.

Here is my finished stack. I cut 75 pieces. You can make it as thick or thin as you would like.

Put one of the pieces of cut paper on your cardboard and trace it. This will help you know where you need to cut your cardboard. I add 1/4 in to two of the sides before cutting the cardboard. This will make the cover a bit bigger then your paper. Cut out your cardboard.

Then you will trace your cardboard on the piece of paper that will be your cover. I used a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper. Tracing it will help you know where to put the glue.

Put rubber cement in the scrapbook paper inside of your guidelines. LET IT DRY

Put rubber cement on your cardboard. Cover the entire thing. LET IT DRY. By letting the rubber cement dry on both materials you are creating a very sturdy bond called a dry bond.

Place the cardboard onto the scrapbook paper and press firmly.

Turn it over and make sure there aren't any air bubbles. I smooth it out with my hand.

Place a ruler flush up to your cardboard and use the other side to draw a straight line. Do this to all the sides.

Then you need to place the ruler at an angle at each corner. This will be your guide to cut the corners off so you can make a mitered corner later.

Cut off the extra paper. You will use your guidelines you drew earlier. Don't forget to cut off the corner pieces.

This is what the cover will look like after you've cut off the extra paper and the corner pieces.

Put rubber cement on the cardboard and on the piece of scrapbook paper. LET IT DRY.

Use the cardboard to get a nice clean fold. Then fold the paper up and stick it to the cardboard.

Do this to all four sides.

Take your other piece of cardboard and place it onto the other piece of scrapbook paper. Trace it. Then cut out a 1/4 in piece out of the cover. This will be the front cover so cutting the 1/4 in piece allows you to open the cover. Then you glue the cardboard to the scrapbook paper like you did before. MAKE SURE YOU USE YOUR TRACED AREA AS A GUIDE. LEAVE A 1/4 IN SPACE.

Then follow the same steps you did with the first piece of cardboard.

This is what your two covers will look like.

Cut two pieces of matching paper and glue them to the inside of the covers using the dry bond I described earlier.

Sandwich your paper stack between your two covers. I always keep the paper flush with the binding on the side where the cover will oven. This is where you will drill your holes and sew your binding. Make sure you don't do this on the wrong side otherwise your book won't open. You will be doing all these next steps on the side that has the 1 in piece. I hope that made sense. I always put a piece of white paper on the cover so I can draw my dots where I will drill and then add plenty of rubber bands to keep the paper in place.

I used a noble binding for this book. I don't know where I got this information from. My high school art teacher copied it from a book for me 6 years ago. I don't even know the name of the book. I hope you can see the diagram well enough to sew the binding.

Place your dots. There will be 6 dots total.

Now you will drill holes in your book through all the layers with a drill. If you have a drill press...good for you. I don't so I use my husband's hand drill. Just make sure you are drilling straight down. Sometimes it is easier to do if you are drilling the book on a board of wood so you aren't bending the book while you drill. Sorry I didn't get a picture of this. It is hard to take a picture while you drill. Then you sew the binding. I use a blunt needle and cording. You can also use ribbon or hemp. Make sure you leave a 2 in tail so you can finish sewing the binding at the end. I hope you can follow the picture.

This is what it looks like after it is all sewn. Then you take the piece of paper off and the rubber bands.

There you go. Books are fun because you can be creative and use different materials and try different things for the binding. A lot of it was just trial and error for me. I figured some things out on my own the hard way. Especially with the binding. Have fun and be sure to show me pictures of the books you create.