Altered Shadow Box

A little project created for the May 15Th Design Team reveal over on the Create It-Green Challenge Blog.

The challenge was to create a project using a Square or Squares.
I thought it would be fun to use a Cigar box to create a Shadow Box for my kitchen to go along with my Flower Basket.


Cutting off the lid with an exacto knife I used the lid as my insert.

Painting my box with some crackle paint to lend an aged look.
Paint the outside and inside sides of the box.
Covering the back with black adhesive felt for a finished look.
Using brads and floral wire for the hanger.

For the appliques I again used the same material as my Flower basket.
Material is from an outdated Upholstery Sample Book.

Apply the flower fabric to double sided fusible webbing.

Draw flowers on the back of the paper of the fusible webbing, cut out flowers and iron onto your fabric square that will be used as the background.

Proceed to sew around your appliqued flowers using a Zigzag stitch or by hand.
Using a straight running stitch for the stems.

Print out quote on to Iron on transfer paper and apply to fabric.
Taking your square and center onto your Cigar box top , staple to the back.
Slip into your box and there you have it!

Fun compliment to the Flower Basket.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend !! : )

Earth Day Blog Hop Update

Hi folks :)
Hope you all had a fun time with the Create It- Green Earth Day Blog Hop.
Again I apologize that I was unable to continue in the hop.
A big Congratulations to all the winners of the wonderful prizes contributed by our generous sponsors!!

I thought I would share with you my other Create It Green Project that I had prepared for the hop.

Fun and easy aprons!! Created from t-shirts!
These are very simple and fast to create.

For my project I used 3 different digital donated by our sponsors.

Butterfly by The Digi Shack
Flower Cart by Fred She Said
Weeder by KLM Designs

Printed them out,colored and scanned them into my computer to be printed out onto Iron on Transfer paper.

Instructions for T- shirt Apron

1. Take an old t-shirt and spread out flat.

2. Cut under the arm sleeve straight across under the other arm sleeve.

3. Cut and remove the hem from the bottom of your t- shirt.
This will create your apron strings.

4. Next you will fold over to one side, both sides of the top of your t- shirt 2 inches.
Cut down about 1/2 an inch and 1 inch apart, fold back up.

5.Weave your hem strip through the slits.

That's it fast and a quick fix when you are in need of an apron.

Now, you may take it one step further by adding a pocket or any other embellishments that you may like.
finishing off the edges by folding edges in and closing with a hand stitch both the top and the bottom.

Depending on the size of your t-shirt will determine the size of your apron.

Hope you found this helpful !
As always thanks for stoppiong by my little corner of the Crafty World :)

Earth Day Blog Hop - Day One

Please

Welcome to Create It- Green's Earth Day Blog Hop!! Thanks so much for joining us!

If you are following along you should have arrived here via the very creative Jennifer.

Is her project today just about the cutest !! love it!

If you just happened upon this blog and didn't realize a blog hop was taking place, please go back to Create It Green and start the hop.

You won't want to miss all the Earth Day inspiration or the amazing prizes from our generous sponsors! Make sure you leave a comment on each blog on the hop since winners will be drawn from the comments!!


Today's project I would like to share with you is a child's hat created from 3 t-shirts that were destined for my Husbands rag bin.
Also a very simple way to gussy up a child's T-shirt and help get the message out, to help protect our environment.

After all, isn't this all about saving the Earth and her many resources for future generations!
You will find the pattern and simple instruction here for the infant hat provided by Prudent Baby.

I did end up creating my own pattern from a smaller hat that was very similar in style to the one in the link. I needed to enlarge it to fit my lovely granddaughter's head.
Follow the instructions for putting this hat together in the link provided.

Found a tutorial here by "Material Magic by Shar" for the adorable flower for the top of the hat.

Turning it upside down and sewing it on.

Coloring this cute "Earth Day" Graphic generously provided by "Meljen's Delights" and transferred it onto Iron on Transfer Paper and applied the image to my hat.

For her T-shirt I used this sweet "Save Our Trees"digital image provided by another generous sponsor "Digital Delights".

Colored it scanned it into my computer,then again printing onto Iron on Transfer Paper.

Easy and fun way to get the message out there!!

After all one is never to young to be taught to appreciate the environment and resources that surround us!


Stop back by on Sunday Day Four of our Earth Day Blog Hop.
I will have another project to share with you
This blog hop will run from today, April 22ND until Sunday, April 26TH, midnight PST. We will be drawing for winners on April 27TH.

Follow along in our blog hop! your next stop will be one creative and earth friendly lady Ali !

EDITED/ I apologize to everyone , but due to family matters out of state I will be unable to continue with the hop.

Thank you all for your generous comments on my projects and my Grandaughter.

Have fun with the hop and good luck to you all on the wonderful prizes donated by our sponsers!

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.

Crop & Hop

Hello Scrapbookers!
Are you looking for some Scrappy fun? Would you like to get caught up on some of those pages you have been wanting to Scrap?

Well .....the Sisters at the "Sisterhood of Scrap" Blog will be hosting a combination Crop & Blog Hop!! In celebration of their 3 year Anniversary!!
Starting tomorrow April 9Th through the 16Th you will find many Challenges to get you motivated! Plus there will be RAK prizes to boot!

If you would like to find out more about the details you may read all about it here!
While you are visiting check out the weekly challenges that are posted every day.
This months sponsor is a new Online store "Timeless Daydreams" they have donated a lovely prize for this months giveaway.

Hope to see you at the Sisterhood! A fun & friendly place to share ideas & creations!

Create It-Green DT Reveal

Hello Crafty Bloggers :)
Time for another Create It- Green Design Team Reveal!
The Challenge for the Altered Team this month, use a paper bag, tissue paper or lined paper to create an Eco- friendly project.

I decided to use paper bags for my project this month.
The end result a Paper Bag Wreath.
I used a total of 3 Paper Bags to create this Wreath.
Two of the bags coming from one of my favorite places to buy bread, Paneras Bread! Yummy!!!
They give you those lovely heavy brown bags with the twisted paper handles, the other from my local grocery store.

All items contained in this wreath are created from the brown bags, with exception of a little hemp rope that intertwined in with the braiding.

Using the handles from my bags for the centers of my flowers and the curly vines I also unrolled one ever so gently for the Bow.

Next time I think I will use 2 handles for the bow so it will be larger.

To create this wreath

Open 2 bags very gently so you have a large rectangle.

Cut 3 strips of equal width horizontally from the 2 bags.

Gather 3 Strips and bind at one end.I used twine to hole my end together.

Twist each strip before braiding.

With Glue add in your other 3 Strips onto the bottom of each of your first strips.

Binding with glue.

then twist this addition of Paper bag.

I clamped each of my 3 strips together using clothes pins until the glue was nice and set.

Begin to braid your Paper Bag strips together.

Form your Wreath , then secure by wrapping twine around the ends.

Now your Wreath is ready to decorate how ever you choose.

I created flowers using my 3rd Paper bag .

Finishing off with Ink, Glimmer Mist and a Clear Acrylic Sealer to set the Wreath.

That's it fairly easy and fast project to complete.

Don't forget to stop by and check out all the other fantastic creations created by the DT members at Create It-Green this month.

You will find projects, Scrapbook and Card Sketches.

All using everyday items that we find around the home everyday.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Think Green ( it is almost Saint Patrick's Day after all) :)!!

Spring is in the Air

Finally the sun has been shining the temperature rising and the snow melting.
Spring is in the air!
Cleaning up the yard and raking out the flower beds have been the priority for the last week.

While waiting for the snow to melt I have been working on a few crafty and scrapbook projects in my free time.

Something new for me has been ATC cards.
I never real understood what is the purpose of an ATC card besides a way of introducing yourself in Craft and Art circles.

I discovered they are a fun way to mix and try out different techniques on a smaller scale.

My first ATC (ARTIST TRADING CARDS) I was really pleased with until after it's completion.

I discovered that I should have done a little googling to discover the ins and outs of ATC's.
First mistake I left out all designer information!
2ND mistake ...I misquoted the quote!!
3rd mistake I submitted it into a challenge!!!!!
So for all those who are interested in trying an ATC for the first time here is a link
explaining the basic rules of ATC.

All in all I am happy again, by slapping a magnet to the back, I have redeemed myself by turning my mistakes into a refrigerator magnet!!

Vintage ATC #1 "Dancer"



This next ATC was created for a RAK Challenge posted on the "Sisterhood of Scrap".


With a little more of an understanding on ATCs and feeling a little more confident .This little project came together without a hitch!
Using free vintage images from the Graphics Fairy (link in the right hand sidebar).

Vintage ATC #2 "Secret Garden".

I discovered they really are fun to create. If nothing else they can come in handy as a visual reference for different techniques.

They are also a great way to fill the need to create when the desire hits you but your time is limited.

They can be as simple or complex as you would like, no wrong or right...just a few simple rules to follow.

I also managed to complete 5 new Scrapbook layouts during the Winter Olympics

by participating in the "Olympic Crop" that was hosted by the "Sisterhood of Scrap".

Great fun to watch the Olympics while having your own challenges to complete.

If you would like to check them out they may be found here.

If you are in the mood for a Challenge all March Challenges have been posted for the "Sisterhood of Scrap" links may be found here.

Also tomorrow the Sisters will be hosting their One Hour sketch Challenge .

Beginning at 7:00 pm EST you will have until 8:00 pm to complete and post on the forum by 8:20 pm. Great fun and a real challenge!!!

Also you have a chance at a wonderful and generous prize!

Don't forget to stop by Create It-Green Blog on March 15Th for the design Team Reveal.You will find many ways to recycle ,up cycle and refurbish everyday items into your creative process.

Thanks for stopping by :)