Decorative Safety Pins Journal Tabs

 Here is something fun I made using fabric

scraps, and beads. These are tabs that can

be glued onto the sides of pages in a journal. 

Closer view. I think this is my favorite one. 

I first threaded beads, and bits of fabric onto a large

safety pin then closed the pin back up. 

Next I took torn strips of fabric cut to fit the width of the

pin. The strip was then folded over the bottom piece of the pin. 

For this one I also added two pieces of lace. They were just

layered over the fabric. 

Next step was to take to the sewing machine and sew along the fold. Trick

here is to get close the bottom of the pin, but not sew over it. Lesson learned! 

You can see this one after it was stitched. The 

folded fabric opens up, and you can put this over a journal

page to use as a book tab. 

                                                                          

  These remind me so much of the little things we made to be 

traded in Sarah's Girl Scout troop. WOW that is a blast from the 

past thinking about that! 

After the sewing was done I added some embellishments

to them. Resin, and fabric flowers. It just adds

a little something. 

If you didn't have a sewing machine you could hand stitch them, or glue the folded

edge to seal. 

Love them! I need to get some more silver safety pins. All I have

in the larger pins was the gold. 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Pin Cushions using Frames

 I've been making more pin cushions. Found some

pretty silver frames in one of my many drawers, and decided it

was time to use them. These frames were purchased at Michael's a few years ago in their

dollar section. I got two square ones, and this one pictured above. 

Found some pretty Paris theme fabric that I bought at Wal-Mart, and

here you have it. Oh yes I did add a bow, and button to the top. 

Stuck some pretty pins in it. Will look great on a craft desk. 

And here is the square one. Also made using the same fabric. 

Added some ribbon, and button. This one also

has black and silver trim going around the base of the cushion. 

Side view to show the trim. 

I still have that one frame left. Thinking of making that as a gift. 

Have to find some more pretty fabric to use. 

Raining today. Think I'll be crafting most of the day. There are 

plenty of leftovers in the house so I'm not even going to cook today! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Vintage Singer Sewing Machine Pin Cushion

 This little vintage Singer tin box I've had in my collection for 

a very long time. It use to hold buttons, but I never used them because

they were not close at hand. Recently I moved the buttons in with the rest of the

"group" which left me with an empty tin. What to do? 

Since I signed up for yet another swap (this one requires you to make a pin cushion)

the tin found a new purpose. 

To make it I used a large handful of poly-fil. Wrapped it with natural batting. 

Last step was to wrap the entire thing with a vintage doily. 

That vintage doily was hand crocheted by me 38 years ago. Glad it 

also found a new purpose! 

Last step was to add the ruffled lace border, and the vintage

looking necklace piece to the front. 

What is a pin cushion without some fancy pins to go in it? 

Raided my bead box, and used glossy accents to glue the 

beads in place on the pin. 

Which brings me to the last part of this project. 

That vintage tin has a very pretty lid that I also wanted to use. 

I got a piece of magnet sheet, and cut it to fit on the inside part of the lid.

Perfect place to hold needles! Used the crop-a-dile to round off the corners of the magnet sheet. 

I'm so please with how this project came out that I really don't want to swap this piece. 

Love to keep it for myself! But that wouldn't be right. Would it? 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Fabric Snippits

 On Sunday I joined an online class to make fabric snippits. 

What are snippits? Well you just use bits, and pieces of 

fabric, and lace to layer onto a piece of cardstock. 

After it is all glued down you can add some embellishments. 

On this piece I added the resin blue flower, and string of pearls. 

Not bad for my first attempt. I have made snippit rolls before 

using different pattern paper scraps. So this concept wasn't completely 

new to me. 

I also made a fabric cluster. 

This was done over a cardstock circle base, then the layers were added. 

I put a lace flower on top and sewed the button in the center

through all layers to secure. 

There are two more layers under the blue one. I'm 

wishing now I would have cut graduated circles so they

would all show. Next time for sure! 

Nice to work with fabric for a change of pace. 

Krafty trails

Karen 

Slow Stitch Christmas Square

 This is a 6x6 fabric square. The technique used is called 

slow stitch. 

Slow stitch is just stitches you use to hold the fabric pieces

to a foundation piece. I used a white piece of felt for the base. 

Used different colored embroidery floss. The idea as I understand it is

to have the stitches show. Unlike a crazy quilt the stitches

can be sloppy. 

I added some buttons after the piece was stitched. Also used

some natural cheese cloth, and lace. 

The flower in the center I cut from the center of a embroidered doily. 

So what am I going to do with it? Made it for a swap of course. 

Some people frame the finished pieces, or use them in junk journals. 

The swap didn't have a theme, but I wanted to make a Christmas one seeing

how "tis the season"! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Paris Accent Pillow

I bought some Paris fabric at Wally world

the other day, and a 16x16 pillow form. 

Makes a cute little accent for my chair. 

This will be perfect for the new stamping studio. 

Hubby saw on a blog post that I was calling it my stamping studio, 

and he suggested a new name.....the room is now called my

Stamping Chateau. 

Works well as the room has the Paris theme going. 

I found these cute Paris nesting boxes at the dollar store. 

They will be perfect for extra storage, and with all the craft stuff

I have I'll need all the storage I can get! 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Thimble Case Gets a new Home

Since the kids are grown, and gone I have

two bedrooms to use. The smaller one is

going to be used for my sewing room. 

The thimble case use to set on my dresser, and

you can imagine how much space that took up! 

The case got moved yesterday. It now sits on 

top of a filing cabinet that I keep my fabric in. 

Another thing I have on top is this 18" doll kit. 

Love the little sewing machine, desk, and chair. 

As I get more organized in the sewing room I'll 

post more photos. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Infinity Scaf

I made my first infinity scarf. 

It is long, but perfect when it is doubled up. 

Here is another view of it draped on my kitchen table. 

I made two. The 1st photo is the longer one. The 

fabric was suppose to be cut 12 x 60, but at first I 

thought that wouldn't be long enough to be doubled. 

Of course I was wrong. 

I am so proud of my son John. He received his diploma yesterday. 

He earned an associate of applied science for surgical technology. 

I couldn't get him to attend his commencement, but he let me open his

 

diploma that he received in the mail. He has been working at the Cleveland 

 

Clinic for the past few weeks. 

 

Me and hubby went for a hike at Plum Creek yesterday afternoon. 

 

It was a great day for it as it was in the 90's, but much cooler walking through

 

the trees. Of course I didn't take my camera, and should have we saw fish, frogs, 

 

and snails. Oh well next time I'll remember. 

 

Going to be another hot one. What is with this weather? Not even 

 

Summer yet. Speaking of the Summer solstice it is right around the corner. 

Still looking for some stones to hurl myself through (Outlander fans will get this)

Stamping trails

Karen

Beautiful Red Ladies Quilt

A very special thank you to Kat's mom for giving me this

lovely red quilt. 

Just love red work! And the ladies are so pretty! 

Here are some close ups of some of the panels. 

So pretty, and all hand done right down to the quilting. 

 

 Thanks Kat for bringing it to me. 

 

 

I got to take my car out for a spin yesterday. Had to 

 

run to the post office and mail a package of cards to my friend

 

Melody. Then I went to Khol's to do some shopping. 

 

Glad the snow is over and my car is now out of the garage, and

 

ready to drive. But I think I may have spoke to soon as the weather

 

forecast is calling for snow this week. Good Grief! 

 

On the upside it won't hang around long. Spring is here that's my

 

story and I'm sticking to it! 

 

Stamping trails

Karen 

Prima Doll Mirror and Pouch

Look what I made!

Found several small hand mirrors in the drawer I keep 

metal things in....doesn't everyone have a drawer that holds

misc stuff that can be altered? I can't be the only one! 

Anyway....the mirrors are white. I stamped the doll

with Jet Black StazOn then added color with Sharpie markers. 

After everything was heat set with the heat tool I added

a sheet of red sticky adhesive. Next came the clear micro beads. 

Love it! But wait.....if I'm going to be carrying this mirror in my 

purse I want to make sure its protected. 

I made a little case to keep it in. Quick and easy

stitching on the sewing machine. I used pinking shears around

the edges so I wouldn't have to mess with turning the raw

edges to the inside. Along the strip that I attached to hold

the flap closed I added some fabric rose trim. 

LOVE it! 

So yesterday I though the house was going to blow away.

It was warm, but so windy out. Went out for coffee with Skip, and

I had trouble getting out of car because the wind was so strong

it was pushing car door.

I got a letter from the Board of Elections yesterday. 

They want me to be a manager again for a special election being

held in May. So I'm going work the polls again. Class will be held this

month. So I'll need to attend that. Which I'm happy about. The first time I 

worked the polls it was an last minute class and I didn't get to work

with the polling machines. So this time I'll feel more prepared.

Stamping trails

Karen

New Doll Dress made with Generation Doll Sewing Kit

Well I put together the little dress that came with

the sewing machine, and kit that Sarah got me for Mother's Day. 

Here is the link to the post in case you missed it.

I added some lace to the hem line. You might remember this was 

trim I got at Pat Catan's not to long ago. 

And I also added some yellow buttons to the bodice. 

Since the dress is sleeveless I wanted to add something to it, so I made 

a poncho from one sheet of white felt. Its no sew, and fringed completely around it. 

The button embellishment is actually a clear button that I added designer paper

to the underside using crystal effects. I wanted to have the button match a sewing theme. 

I started out by making the poncho in dark blue, but I didn't think it matched 

the dress. (yes my doll when I get one has to have a outfit that matches!)

I'll keep the blue one and pair it with another outfit at some point. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Chevron Fleece Blanket

Just a quick post today. I wanted to show you 

the fleece throw I made for Sarah's birthday. 

Its no sew just like the wine one I did for my living room. 

Sarah likes yellow and gray, so I did the bottom in a dark grey, and 

the top using a yellow chevron pattern. Hope she likes it. 

I'm cleaning the downstairs craft room. I really want to move

back into it as I don't have enough space in the upstairs room. 

Stamping trails

Karen

Wine Fabric Bag Lady

I made a new "bag" lady with a little help from my friends. 

Connie made me one years ago using pansy fabric because

back in the day I decorated the kitchen with pansys and ivy. 

So I asked Connie if she still had the pattern as I wanted to make a new

one using wine fabric that Kat had brought me. 

Now Connie I'm really surprised you still had the pattern as it

was in a magazine dated in 1994! Thanks for

sending it to me so quickly! 

Here is a close up view of the bag lady's shopping list. 

I wrote it on a strip of cardstock that I curled. 

Close up view of her face. Love the little glasses! I thought 

now that I'm older that my bag lady should reflect that. 

Since I didn't have a blog back in the day I wanted to post 

a photo of the one Connie made me. The bag lady has done a great job

over the years holding all those plastic bags.

Stamping trails

Karen

Fleece Blanket

My friend Kat brought me this 1 1/2 yard of fleece when she 

visited in September. 

While watching Home and Family on the Hallmark channel I 

saw where they made no sew baby blankets using fleece. 

So I went out to Joann's over the weekend and bought a 1 1/2 yard of

fleece for the backing which by the way was on sale for half off. 

After the 5 dollar coupon I had the piece ended up costing me 2.50. 

What a deal. 

Another view so you can see the backing. 

I actually cut and tie this while I was handing out Halloween candy on Saturday. 

Took me about an hour. I'm thinking about

going back to Joann's and getting more fleece to make one for Sarah for

her birthday. Its so warm and cuddly! 

Thanks for the fleece Kat! 

Stamping trails

Karen

Wine Bottle Fabric

This is fabric I purchased from Nancy's Notions. 

Since my kitchen has a wine/grape theme going I thought

I could maybe make a table runner or hot pads using this fun fabric. 

With getting ready for the wedding, and the knee surgery right behind

it I don't think I'll get to much sewing till later in the year, but I can dream! 

Stamping trails

Karen