Hurry Up Spring! Plus a Tag Tutorial on the Art Studio!

Hello everybody!  How are you all today?  Hopefully doing well.

I am experiencing a bit of cabin fever lately.  I just want Spring to get here and stay here!  I know it isn't even officially time for Spring, but I am totally ready to be done with winter. I think my kids feel the same way.  They played touch football after Hollyn's second birthday party.  It was sunny, but there was snow on the ground ~

Speaking of Hollyn's second birthday party, it happened a few weeks ago.  This cutie had a Chipwreaked birthday party because she loves the Chipettes (and the Chipmunks).  Her favorite is Jeanette, so I made her a birthday shirt with Jeanette.  Here is the front ~

Here is the back ~ 

Wow, it is tough to get a picture of a 2 year old at her birthday party!  :)  Here are a few more pics.  First is the limbo photo,  they loved that game ~ 

Then it was time for cake (of course Cooper and Kaya were ready to help blow out their little cousin Hollyn's candles if need be) ~ 

Then present time, how fun!  

 Last weekend we celebrated my beautiful daughter's 30th birthday.  Love you Sweets!

Besides dinner, for her main present I made her a family necklace with the kids, Dut and her birthstones and some other items.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out, and she loved it too.   ~

It was all fluffy and pouffy in the package (I will be doing a tutorial on how to make this style tag at The Art Studio too) ~

Coop and Kaya spent the night with us after dinner.  The next morning we made super yummy cupcakes.  Here they are still in jammies, making cupcakes for Mumma ~

Here are the finished cupcakes.  

 I have a Tag Tutorial on the Art Studio Blog, check it out here.

Well, that is it for me today.  I hope you all have a joyful and creative week, and come on Spring!!!  ;)  ~ Pam

Valentine Day Card Tutorial, My Bead Soup, and Handmade Fabric Mini Albums

Hello everybody!!!  How are you?  Doing well I hope!  I have been under the weather and it was NO fun.  No fun at all.  Woo, I must say, camping out in the bathroom for eons is no fun.  I was so tired too, it seems like it took forever to get my energy back.  Soooooooooooo glad I am feeling better.  It seems like everyone has been sick this year, and with a variety of things.  I had a flu shot too, my word.  OK, enough about that yuck stuff.  On to fun topics.  First, I want to show you several Valentine Day cards I made, and tell you how I did so with a little tutorial.  As you know, I love to upcycle things and repurpose things.

First, let's talk about the cards I made for my cutie grandbabies.  I ended up making one extra, I was on a roll.  :)  I have some old valentines that I picked up at an antique store a few years ago.  I made copies on white cardstock.  I love taking old images and using them in projects, or finding free clipart online.  

After I selected a few images I thought would make cute valentines, I pulled out some cardstock bases, and cut some felt to fit, using my pinking shears.  I then pinned the felt to the cardstock base.

 I did the remaining cards, and stitched the felt to the bases.  

Next I laid out my supplies to see if I still liked how things looked.  

So far so good.  I stitched my crepe and lace down, and then stitched my cardstock images on top.  I inked the cardstock with chalkboard ink before I stitched things down.

Last, I stickled a bit of accent on each card ~

Little bow for good measure ~

Done!

Now it is time to make some felted heart cards.  First, I felted some old sweaters so they were nice and thick.  

I decided to use the red sweater, and cut our some hearts from one of the sleeves, then added some trim ~

I took a large tag and added some scraps of purple cardstock (edge punched) and marblish pink cardstock and inked everything up ~

Next I stitched the heart to my tag ~

then I got out my little label maker and punched out love you valentine and added it to my tag, along with some stickles ~

I decided I wanted a wee bit more embellishment on the top of my tag, so I punched a little scalloped circle, inked it up, added it to the tag, then used a silver eyelet and added some various pink and red ribbon.  All done! 

I still had one heart left, with stitched pink crepe paper.  I cut and edge punched some purple cardstock scrap, added a wee bit of satin ribbon and lace to the base of my card, and stitched things together ~

Then I stitched my felted sweater heart and trim to the base ~

Time for the label maker punched sentiment, and a bit of stickles.  All done!

I am ready for Valentine's Day now!  

I have assembled my bead soup, and it is alllllll ready for mailing.  I can't wait to send it to my partner, I hope she likes it.  I peeked at her blog, and she does some super fun steampunk jewelry items.  For the bead soup challenge we were paired by Lori Anderson, who did TONS of work on this party.  She pairs people with a partner of different styles.  I hope my partner likes what I am sending to her!  :)  Here is a mystery picture of my bead soup ~ 

I can't share more until Grace receives it.  I can't wait to see what she does with it!!!  Check out some of her cool steampunk jewelry on her website.  We definitely have different styles, but I think her work is beautiful.  

Last thing from me today.  My next class, Handmade Fabric Mini Albums, will be available at The Art Studio beginning next Saturday (it won't be listed until next week, check about midweek and look under Mixed Media Classes).  I love love LOVE making these fabric books, and can't wait to show you how to do so ~  

Well, that is it for me this week.  I need to skeedaddle and get back to a few tasks before the work week is here.  I hope you all have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Addicted to Sparkle

Hello everybody!  How are you this week?  Doing well I hope. I have been as busy as a bee working on my classes for The Art Studio, but I also snuck in a wee bit of time playing with my beads and wire.  I love love love sparkle in almost any form, so playing with bits of glass, crystal, and even pearls is a fun thing to do every so often.  As I mentioned before, I joined the bead soup bash, and I have been sorting some of my beads trying to decide what would be the absolute most perfect thing to send.  In the meantime, here are a few pics of some earrings, a few danglies, and a quick necklace I made this weekend ~

I am working on a bracelet for a dear friend.  Here are some of the swarovski crystal and pearl beads I have wired up so far ~ 

I will turn them into a bracelet for her daughter's wedding.  I'll show you photos of the finished product once it is done.  

Well, I need to get my rear in gear and get busy on some tasks, so I will close for this week.  Be sure to stop by The Art Studio to check out some of the new classes.  I will have another class in a few weeks, and Mo's class is available now too.  So stop in and say hello!  

I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Class is Live!

Hello everyone!  Happy snowy blowy cold January 26th! Woo, our winter has been crazy different this year, has yours?  Well, if you would like to play in the snow yet stay toasty warm, consider signing up for my Upcycled Snowman Class at The Art Studio.

These fun little snowpeeps are kind of addicting to make, I have to warn you!  You can customize them for holidays too, so gather your supplies and create a lasting Valentine for your sweetie by making an upcycled snow peep.  The class is priced at $5.99, so it is a wonderful bargain.  

In addition to the great classes already listed, there are other brand spanking new classes available now, two by talented instructor Christy Butters.  Both look like SOOO much fun, one class is a Valentine's Day Mixed Media Wall Hanging class, and one is a Valentine's Day Cards Mixed Media class.  You can check them both out at The Art Studio.  Another talented instructor, Mo will have a new class soon, so stay tuned!

Well, I am off to work on another upcoming class, I have a sneak peek for you below.  It is a fabric art journal or mini album class, and it is boatloads of fun.  Definitely addicting!  I recently made 20 of these little art journals, and gave most away as gifts.  Stay tuned for when the class will be available at The Art Studio.  

One other wee bit of info, I signed up today for something that looks like boatloads of fun ~ Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party.  Check out the deets here.  Signups are only until Sunday January 27th, so zip over there pronto.  I like to tinker with beads and wires, usually in my art journals, art quilts, and in embellies for my scrappy projects, and in ornaments versus making jewelry.  I do make jewelry, but not as much as I would like.  This bead soup blog party sounds like so much fun, I can't WAIT to play!  As a lover of pretty much all things sparklie, this is gonna be fun!  It is good to try something new, isn't it?  We all need to find time to nourish our creative spirits, and keep our brains and fingers nimble.  :) I hope you will try one of the great classes at The Art Studio and learn a new technique or how to create a fun or inspiring project soon.  You won't be sorry, I promise!   

Stay warm this week!  I wish you a joyful and creative day ~ Pam

Fast is Fine Too

 

Hello!  I hope you are enjoying a lovely January.  It has been crazy chaotic as usual for me.  I have decided one of the things I am really going to work on this year is finding an hour here and there to complete a quick project.  I am always happy to tinker on things, even when I only have 15 minutes to do so.  This year though I am also going to look for ways to complete projects in an hour or so.  Working a full time job, a part time job, developing my classes, taking care of a family and hoping to go back to school leave me with little free time.  In the past I have done bits and pieces of projects (and will continue to do so) but since I am kind of anal about having my projects look just right, I haven't given myself permission to do things in a quick way.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for other people doing so, I just have a hard time giving myself permission to do so.  So I am digging into my stash of fabric, scrappy, and crafty supplies and creating things that make me happy, even if there isn't a lot of detail or time in each one.  This weekend I stitched together a Valentine's Day wall hanging.  Normally I wouldn't dream of doing this without quilting it, putting a binding on it, making sure everything is exactly square, etc... but I do not have time for that right now, and I have been holding onto this fabric panel for about 5 years.  Enough I say!  Just stitch the dang thing together and be done with it. It looks lovely hanging in my hallway, even though it isn't quilted, and it has no binding. Instead I used some of my favorite favorite fusible fleece for a batting layer, and plain batiste fabric for the backing!  Less than one hour later it was hanging on my wall and looking absolutely fine.  So if you are like me, and have a hard time giving yourself permission to take shortcuts or to make something that is less than a 150% effort, get busy.  No worries, just make something!

Don't forget, my upcycled snowman class starts next Saturday at The Art Studio!  I'll post a link to the class as soon as it is available.  Talk about addicting, these fun little sparklie peeps are totally addicting to make.  Consider yourself warned!  :)

I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam

Time to put up the Valentine's Wreath!

My goodness, we are about at the halfway point in January already, can you believe it?  I put my Valentine's Day wreath on the front door today since that holiday will be with us before we know it.  I made this last year and used lots of Ruby Rock-it cardstock and some bling, as well as feathers, ribbon, and glittery hearts and snowflakes and a little red bird.  Of course I had to use the S, since I am still lovin that monogram theme  for my wreaths.  :)

I had a few minutes to work on a set of Valentine's Day tags this weekend, and it was a lot of fun.  I will have a tutorial up at the Art Studio the week before Valentine's Day, stay tuned for details.  In the meantime, I have a photo of some of my Valentine Day fabric from my stash.  I played with some of this today.  Love that I am using more fabric from my stash instead of hoarding it and just looking at it.  It is a lot more fun to use it, believe it or not!    

 Speaking of The Art Studio, I can't wait  for my Upcycled Snowman Class to start on January 26th!!!  I will post a link here to where you can sign up, as soon as it is active.  This one shot class is priced at only $5.99, which is a super great deal.  In the meantime I have a couple of sneak peeks for you. 

 

Well, I have a long day tomorrow, and have to be up just after 3 am, so I better get my rear in gear and go to bed.  Time for more crafty stuff later this week, or on the weekend!  

I hope you all have a joyful and creative week ~ Pam