Upholstery Flowers

It's that time again!

Time for another Create It- Green Design Team Reveal !

I really look forward to the monthly reveal.

Each month this group of creative women present us with so many different ways to look at objects around us.

Objects that might normally be found in the trash bin by the end of the day, become useful in our creative process.

Stop by and check out what the DT has to share with you this month.While your visiting why not check out past project reveals!

My project this month is a Flower Basket for my Kitchen.

The basket I located at our local Thrift Store for .50 cents. Excellent Bargain!!

The material for the flowers came from a Upholstery Fabric Sample Album that a friend donated to me. Their store was upgrading their sample books and this one was destined for the bin.Apparently this is what happens when they are dated.

If your ever out checking out furniture ...why not check with the store and see if they have any books that are outdated. They may be more than happy to share!

You will be surprised at the size of the sample once you pull them out of the book!

I used a free Primitive pattern found on "Crafting With Lillie Mae's" blog for my flowers.

Check out all the wonderful free patterns she has shared with everyone. Love her Primitive and Country patterns !

Her Potted Country Flower template and tutorial may be found here

The buttons for my flowers came from a tin that once belonged to my G G Aunt Alice.

I switched up my flower stems a little by using wooden skewers found in my kitchen drawer and wrapped them with hemp twine.

I also added some leaves to my stems.

The flowers are held into the basket with a piece of foam that came in a package delivery to my home.

Poking a hole and adding a touch of glue to secure in my flowers.

topped off with some Spanish Moss.

That's it ...fairly easy and fast to come together.Makes my kitchen just a touch more happy.

Welcome Canvas

A little Canvas I have had sitting around for awhile in need of some play time.

Not so sure what I was going to do with it , had an idea here or there.

Settling on my original intent, to make a simple welcome greeting for my kitchen and the season.

With some inspiration from "Create & Decorate" April 2009 Magazine's Pattern Insert.

I used some images that I thought would work well for my project.

Springtime Stationary/ April Showers note card

flower images by Kim Klassen.

Used for the center flowers on my canvas, adding in my own bumble bees to give it a personal touch.

Also inspired by " Backyard Chicks"punch needle image by Whimsey Street Designs for my bird.
Even though the images where meant for an entirely different type of project than mine.

They just seemed to be the inspiration I needed to get started on this canvas.

I like the look of Primitive & Folk Art ,but have never really gave it a try until lately.

I find it to be fun and lighthearted and it also makes a blank canvas look less intimidating,

especially when paints are not my strongest area.

Happy Crafting and thanks for stopping by : )

Rag Doll

Finally, a little spare time to sit down and share.

My grandmother would spend her winter months sewing .
At any given time you would see her with some type of thread or yarn in her busy hands.
Whether it was tatting , embroidery ,yarn ,doll dresses you name it she created with it.

Her stitches were perfect with speed from her hands.
I imagine working in a glove factory in her early years did help in improving the speed at which she was able to create.
Under Grandmother's watchful and helpful eye she guided all the women in our family to learn how to sew.

My first lesson to learn was mending socks.
Having painted faces on Grandmother's Darning eggs helped to hold all our attention.
As we grew older so did the lessons she would share.
I still find myself looking for a needle and thread in the winter months as some old habits are hard to give up.

I love the look of Primitive Art and decided I would try my hand at it.
Here is a little project I created while teaching myself some of the tricks to Primitive cloth creations.

Lets see...there is tea dying , Using Ranger Ink, painting, embroidery, creating hair from Rags,stitching a 3d nose and drying techniques.


I used an old shirt of mine and some lace from a set of my grandmothers old curtains (just to old to hang :) for the dolls dress. Touch of embroidery for the smock.


A close up of her face and hair. Not having any yarn for her hair ,I used strips of left over cloth from my doll pattern.

I need to finish her shoes with laces, still have not decided on how I want them to look.

Here are some links I found helpful in helping me to create this doll.

Pattern Jackie's Girls by Annie's Cupboard

How to Needle Sculpt a Nose tutorial by Traci Dunn Courtesy of PrimMart

Embroidery Stitch Videos Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread Blog

Basic Tea Staining Olde Country Cupboard

Coffee Stain and Prime Sunflower Tutorial courtesy of Free Craft Articles

contributed by KKL Primitives

Tutorials for doll making by Traci Dunn

If you really want to see some wonderful Primitive Creations out there...check the ones showcased on the Ditty Bag...such creativity and talent in the World of Primitive Crafting.

Just a little thanks to all the crafty folks out there,who spend the time and willingness to share all the helpful tips and Craft tutorials found in the cyber world !

They help bring Crafting back to the kitchen table for sharing.

Take Care and a Crafty Day to you all :)

Holiday Craft Inspiration

As the Holiday season is upon us,many extra tasks are added to our everyday normal routine,

and the stress level begins to rise.

For me unwinding at the end of the day,consists of heading to my craft room to create.

With not much time allowed for large projects ..I search the web for simple and fun holiday inspiration to get me in the spirit.

Here are a few that I have come across and would like to share.

INSTRUCTIONS

candy cane vase

snowmen gift cans

Candy Wreath

Santa Advent Calender

Paper Crafts

Holiday Gift Card Holders

In my home during the Holiday Season all small gift packages

and special envelopes become part a of our families Christmas tree decorations.

BHG's "Creative Collections" Holiday Crafts Magazine 2007 Issue,

featured a stocking gift card designed by One Heart_One Mind

I thought it was a clever idea.

Using the pattern insert that came with my magazine.

I found it very fast and easy to make..creating three cards in a row.

Now that I had the fundamentals down for this card ..time to add my own twist.

The pattern called for covering both sides of a Stocking chipboard shape with Paper of your choosing....I used instead for my stocking a cardboard insert that came from my 4X6 Photo Paper Pack.

Punched 2 small holes on the top left inside of gift card to add ribbon for hanging.

You can use your favorite Stocking & gift card envelope templates to create this card.

Snow Lady Card

Teaching Tuesday this week at the SOS Blog is using patterns from other hobbies you may have.

This little card was made from a doll pattern for wood carving that Deanne created.

Soon as I saw this on Deanne's blog ..I thought of what a cute card it would make.

Deanne was very generous in sharing her pattern with instructions on how to make this wood carving..and also posted an example on what a cute card it would make on the Sisters Blog.

I like the pattern because it so versatile...I chose to make mine a snow lady.

Trying to get ahead on my Christmas Cards this year...I think my next one just may turn into a Gingerbread Man.