Tissue Paper Art

I completed this piece a few years ago and I have received many complements.  It is an art canvas covered with tissue paper and photocopied images.  One of my favorite words is whimsy, it just makes me feel good.  So this piece is a little of how I feel when I think of whimsical things.

 I photocopied a bunch of definitions of whimsy and whimsical, then I made them into all sizes.  I glued the photocopied images first, then I glued tissue paper over it. 

 I used the matte finish Mod Podge.

Tie Rack to Card Holder

This is one of my favorite projects.  I had this tie rack that I once used to hang my necklaces and bracelets, but I never had a good place to hang it, so I decided to turn it into something new. 

 I needed a base and then I found this!!  A total dumpster dive and I mean that literally, I found it in the trash outside my daughter's swim class, Little E thought I was stealing-so after explaining the concept of Freeganism she reluctantly accepted it, but I knew it would be perfect, so after a bleach bath...

 I especially liked the pointy thing that the candle goes into.  I cut the ball part of the tie rack off with my scroll saw and I found that there was a hole in the base of the tie rack that fit perfectly over the candle holder!

 I got some little clips from OTC, and I was so happy to see that the round loop fit perfectly over the loops of the tie rack-oh my everything was coming together so perfectly!  After a fresh coat of paint I adorned it with an old fence post that I've had for 20 yrs and there you go- a card holder that spins!

Now I have a way to show off all my wacky cards from my husband and friends!

IPod Cozy

After my sweater to purse project, I had a bit of leftover sweater and I wanted to see if I could create something else.  

 Since my ipod touch was feeling lonely and chilly, it seemed a natural choice to make a cozy.

 The problem with these sweater remnants was that there were a lot of holes in the material,  and I couldn't find two even sides, so I had to get creative.  In order to have the finished end at the top, I ended up with the fibers going in two different directions.  Not to worry...

 I joined the first side and applied some bright pink yarn.

 A hot mess, but I like it.  I finished sewing the sides and serged them so the sweater would not unravel.

Oh, so warm and cozy! 

Trash to Treasure-Clock

Every so often my husband brings me little treasures from his day and today was my lucky day!  Occasionally he is given tokens from companies and clocks seem to be in abundance.  With so many clocks and so little time, this little thing was too cute to trash.  I was sure I could take the time to come up with something creative. 

Uninspiring before pic- no offense to Freddie Mac!

Not to worry, time heals what reason cannot!  ~Seneca

With the help of Aleene's Laminate IT and my favorite stash of K&Company paper the transformation began...

 I ran the paper through the computer and printed a little quote "Life is all about timing."

And while we are awaiting the big reveal, let's ponder what my favorite writer says of time...The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. ~C.S. Lewis (he probably realized that coming out of a wardrobe).

In no time, I was done!  It sits at the base of my charm tree right above my sewing machine, now I will never be late to pick-up the kids again!

The time has come to end this post, but I think it is fitting that it is above my sewing machine, so I will end with this...Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations. ~Faith Baldwin
Thanks for spending time with me!

Paper Village

 Last year I found this packet of papers on clearance for $2.00.  Since I love K&Company papers, I snatched it up immediately, but didn't do anything with it. Recently my son has been into making 3-D art out of paper so I thought it was the perfect time to introduce my lovely packet.

The papers are two sided to have a choice of a winter scene or not, my son chose the more colorful side.  With a few glue dots, he created this cute little village!

How to turn a sweater into a purse

I have a friend who is a knitter and wanted a new project bag.  She had spied a purse that I made for my daughter out of a sweater and and presented me with this sweater the next day!

 Cute sweater to hold yarn!!

 The problem was, it had a bunch of holes in it!  The only requests she had were to make it as big as possible and have an over the shoulder strap.

 So I cut out two rectangles, cutting around the holes.

 I added stabilizer to give the purse some strength and make it easier to sew, then I serged the sides.

 I thought a liner would be nice with a pocket for needles or scissors.  Since this was a recycling project, I used material from an old skirt!  See the tag.

 Be sure to leave an opening at the bottom of the lining for turning!

 I used one of the sleeves to make the shoulder strap.  I just used the width of my ruler and used my rotary cutter.  Then I added stabilizer.

 I cut 3, but I only needed 2.

 I sewed them together and the unravelling edge and saved the finished end for attaching to the body of the bag.

 Since I had a little extra material, I decided to make a flap.  This pic doesn't show that I have two sides that I sewed together.  I again used stabilizer and I made the finished edge the outside edge of the bag.

 I joined the unravelling edge to the body of the bag.

 Attached my strap to the outside of the bag.

Then, I sewed the lining to the bag.  I am sorry I don't have a pic of this, but it goes like this...put your bag right side out, then put it inside the lining that has the wrong side out (so right sides are together).  Sew all around the outside edges.  Turn the bag out of the lining and sew up your turning hole. 

Top stitch the lining so it will lay flat.  I added some velcro to keep the flap closed.  Things were looking good, but one problem was just bugging me, there was a hole right on the top flap.  I had tried to mend it, but I could still see it.

My solution was to add a few fabric flowers.  I liked it and I hope my friend does to!

Here is the finished bag with the inspiration piece!

http://whimsyspace.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-turn-sweater-into-purse.html

How to make a fabric flower

There are a ton of fabric flowers tutorials out there, I like the following links: http://www.tipjunkie.com/how-to-make-fabric-flowers-patterns-tutorials/ and http://tipnut.com/fabric-flowers/, but of course I had to add my own spin on things.

I used a scrap of bias tape and ruffled it.  Then I used my favorite round tip pinking shears and trimmed the non-ruffled edge.

 

 Then I gathered and sewed, creating a little circle.

 Until it was a cute little round flower.

Then I cut each petal with the round pinking shears to make a little carnation.

How to make a Gift Bag

Since I made my friend a little wallet, I needed to wrap it in something cute.   I decided a little gift bag would be just the thing.   I cut a strip of fabric about 7 x 20, this will be enough for two bags.

 I folded the material in half so the bottom of the fold will be the bottom of the bag.  I then serged the sides. Regular straight stitch would works well too, but I wanted this to be quick and clean.

 I folded over the top to make a hem and straight stitched.

 I placed a ribbon about a 1/3 from the top and folded it in 1/2 to find the center and sewed it on with a straight stitch.

And now my gifts are ready to be delivered.  I love making bags, they can be reused and they are so cute.  This year for Christmas I made about two dozen bags in all shapes and sizes for our gifts.  My family loved it and we look forward to using them again next year.