Handmade Gift Exchange

In my last post, I told you a little about the Craftaholics Handmade Gift Exchange.  Today, I am super excited because I get to show you the gifts I made for my partner, Meaghan!  But first, let me say, "thanks" to Linda of Craftaholics Anonymous for hosting this exchange.  Through her, and the gift exchange, I "met" Meaghan!  We've been corresponding for the past several weeks and I feel I've made a true friend!  The photo at the top of this post is of the journal cover I made for Meaghan.  I used TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) to transfer the vintage lady image.  I embellished the image with small beads.  I tea dyed the doily and attached it using a vintage button.  By the way, I sewed the journal cover to fit a standard sized composition notebook.  If interested, leave a comment or send me an email and I will detail the specific dimensions and sewing directions.

Besides the journal cover I sewed.  I tried my hand at a little jewelry making.  You might remember I tried making a dictionary necklace charm a few weeks ago using Dimensional Magic Mod Podge.  That project didn't exactly turn out, but for Meaghan's charm, I used better quality paper and a different kind of bezel.  I also added a few bits of bling!  This time, success!

  

Again, I'm so happy I participated in this gift exchange.  It's been wonderful getting to know Meaghan, who lives in one of my most favorite places, North Carolina!  I'm so pleased that she likes the gifts I made for her and I am excited to see what she has made for me!  My package is on its way to my neck of the woods.  I will post about it when it arrives.  In the meantime,  please jump over to Craftaholics Anonymous and have a look at all the fabulous handmade gifts made and exchanged all over the country!

Tootles!  

Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) Project

Where to begin?  I've gone nearly another week between posts!  I'm afraid I've been a slacker blogger of late.  I'm sorry.  I promise to get my blogging act together!  So what have I been doing this past week?  Well, besides the torture, I mean, physical therapy, I organized a birthday party for my now seven year old daughter!  The party was a success...even the cheetah print cakes!  I also got a bit of sewing done.   I  completed a couple of projects for my Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange partner.  Unfortunately, I can't show you what I made for her just yet, but I can show you a few other sewing gifts I've made this past week.  Be sure to check out all the handmade gifts exchanged at Craftaholics Anonymous in the coming weeks!  My partner should be receiving her gifts soon!  I hope she loves them!  I can't wait to see what she has made for me, too!

A Fairy Journal Cover

Spaceship Ear Bud Case

Spaceship Ear Bud Case (back view)

I made the Fairy Journal cover for my friend, Molly.  (I hope she isn't reading this post!)  I used TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) to transfer the fairy image.  I must say, I was pretty impressed with TAP.  The image transferred to the canvas fabric perfectly!  I embellished the image using beads and embroidery.  I made the ear bud case for her little boy, Tucker.  I found the pattern and tutorial for the case at Dog Under My Desk blog via Craft Gossip.  I think it turned out cute and it was really easy, and quick, to sew.  These are great for using up fabric scraps and would make great stocking stuffers, too!

For all you readers in the United States, have a terrific Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your day of turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and of course pumpkin pie!  I made a "practice" pie a few days ago...

Yummy!

I also made a fantastic meal of chicken and dumplings this week.  The recipe would also be great for your leftover turkey.  

I leave you with my mom's recipe for awesome dumplings:

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

pinch salt

flour until stiff

Drop in boiling soup and cook for about 15 minutes

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sisterhood

Happy Tuesday!  I'm so excited that it is Tuesday and February 1st, I almost can't stand it!  Guess why?  Okay, the first reason is that Joanne, from her beautiful blog, Vintage Dragonfly, asked me to participate in Tutorial Tuesday!  Joanne hosts guest bloggers every Tuesday and today is my turn!   So, please go over and read my tutorial on creating a Journal Jacket.     While you are there, you'll be able to check out Joanne's awesome creations and read other tutorials as well!  

I was truly honored when Joanne contacted me and asked me to participate.  She is a wonderfully talented artist and I am humbled to have my work displayed alongside such gifted artists..  In celebration, I am having a giveaway!  Yay!!  Background info:  I "met" Joanne via the Bloggerette Sorority Sisters several months ago.  Coincidentally, the Sisters, specifically Debi, graciously took the helm of the sorority from our "founder," Karen, and started our own blog.  Okay, so what's all this sister talk have to do with my giveaway?  Well, the giveaway "prize" is a Journal Jacket (pictured above) I made that simply says, "Sisterhood."  

To win this jacket (book cover), just leave me a comment at the end of this post!  That's it!  I'll pick a winner randomly on Saturday, February 5th.  Oh, and please visit Vintage Dragonfly and the new Bloggerette Sorority blog!  Consider becoming a sister!

Now, for the second reason I am excited today:  It's the start of the February dress parade!  I've posted a "Simply Linked" tool for all you fashionistas to link up your dresses to your blogs!  You'll find the Simply Linked HERE.  I am so excited to see all the awesome dresses you have created using Gustav Klimt as your inspiration!
NOTE:  I've chosen to use Simply Linked for our dresses because Linky Tools has started charging for their service.

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Toodles,

Angela

Back In Business...Sort Of

Happy Happy Happy!

I am super HAPPY to report that I am B*A*C*K!!  Well, sort of.  My super smart hubby installed a new hard drive in my computer after receiving (finally) the recovery disc from HP.  All went well. However, I'm now missing all my photos, documents, including my Blogger cheat sheets, and the programs I had installed, most importantly, Adobe Elements!  Never fear, I am in the process of reinstalling the programs and my husband says he can put the photos back since they are currently being housed in a temporary external hard drive.  Is hard drive one word or two?  Anyway, I'm looking at this as a "clean slate."  Plus, I have a giant excuse to get my camera out and shoot a ton of new photos!  See above as an example!  This is my littlest daughter with her BFF, Wallace, in the igloo she and my hubby carved out of the snow a few days ago!  Pretty cool huh?  Literally!

Here is another new photo:

This is another journal, or book cover I made.  I thought this style appropriate for a recipe book.  I've been experimenting with different fabrics and embellishments.  The base (blue) is duck canvas and the brown is linen.  I've used my fabric crayons and markers to draw the lady cook.  Her apron is cotton and I've trimmed it in lace.  I used my alphabet stamps for the word, "make," since I don't like the look of my freehand writing.  I trimmed the top in lace and adhered a "vintage" button to the cover using a button pin.  Of course, I put a little bling at the cook's collar! I hope you like it!

I've also been busy working on February's dress, purse, and ATC! I have also decided to try my hand at quilting!  I have been admiring Donna's mug mats from afar..until now.  Donna, of Brynwoodneedleworks, created a tutorial on how to create her mug mats and is hosting a Mug Mat Swap!  I just can't wait to get started!  Have a look at some of Donna's work and get the information about the swap HERE!  I'm a little nervous about making and sewing the binding...any pointers?

Have a great week everyone!  Toodles for now!

Angela        

Is That What is Called a Senior Moment?

Happy Saturday!  I just wanted to pop in and show off my completed Discovering Myself Journal!!  I've really had a great time working on this project, a first of a kind for me.  Bonnie's blog is so gorgeous and her designs are beautiful.  I'd love to learn how she creates her digital designs!  That's her next class maybe?  Anyway, while I didn't think I really needed to discover myself, and I don't feel I was lost and had find myself, completing some of the pages did force me to think about different parts of me and my personality:  The Good, The Bad, and The Down Right Ugly.  Also, just the physical aspect of creating the pages has really made me see and appreciate (even more) all you paper/mixed media artists out there!  That said, here are the rest of my journal pages:

Front Cover

I Am Beautiful

My Quirks

My Life Motto

Back Cover

I've also changed up a few of the first couple of pages.  If you'd like to see the entire project, click on Journals page on my side bar!

I think I had a "senior moment" when I came up with the name for the Wednesday Wonderisms project.  I had Wednesday and Wonderisms reversed.  I have no explaination for this other than I guess my mind works in reverse (some would say backwords) sometimes??  Anyway, I've corrected it and made a grab-able button for anyone who wants to play every Wednesday.  You can just grab it off my side bar.

Okay, I'm off to work on my Hepburn coat.  I have vowed to complete it this weekend! 

Toodles for now!

Art Journals, Jewelry, and Hepburn, Oh My!

Good Sunday night!  I hope you all have had a fabulous weekend.   It has been a wonderfully warm few days, but, alas, I believe this weather will begin to turn cooler sometime during the overnight hours tonight.  The good news here...terrific sleeping weather! 

The weekend has been really busy for me, but I managed to squeeze in some time to catch up with Bonnie on my Discovering Myself Journal.  Have a look at these 4 pages and let me know what you think.

I'm sorry for the less than terrific photos.  I took these with the camera on my phone, which, actually works fairly well, but the light was horrid in the room and I just could not adjust what light I had and/or the flash on the phone.  I think there are 3 or 4 more pages to go and I should really know myself!

On Friday, before getting to watch my littlest daughter ride on her Daisy float in the Homecoming Parade, I received the Halloween bracelet in the mail that I won from Amy at RubyMoon Art.  The bracelet she made is super cool, but look at the container she sent it in.  It is really neat.

Cool huh?  I managed to complete one more art/craft related activity just before the "beep beep beep" of my pager rang out...I finally purchased the fabric for my coat I'm making for the Hepburn Hepburn Project hosted at Rhinestones and Telephones.  I decided on doing the "simple" coat:  vintage Simplicity 5301.

Again, this photo sucks, but trust me..the fabric is pretty nice.  It is more on the green side of khaki than the tan.  It is a semi heavy cotton/poly blend of some sort.  I was excited to begin to cut out the pieces and get started on this project, but I could not ignore the beep. Maybe I'll be able to start cutting this week??  Hope so!
Toodles for now!