Sunday, January 31, 2010

Biscornu Finish and a Few Other Things

WooHoo!! Finally, a finished piece of stitching is appearing on this blog. I have made another biscornu for a Swap-Bot exchange. This will be the last one I make for a while, I plan to concentrate in getting my UFOs finished and working a RR in late February with Stitch It Quick group. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to stitch in that RR.

Stitching

This biscornu is in honor of Valentines Day. It is stitched on Cameo Rose Zweigart 14ct Aida with DMC # 99 variegated floss and little tiny pinkish-red beads from Japan. This turned out to be the smallest Biscournu I have ever made and I just love the colors it will be hard to part with tomorrow. BooHoo!!


Papercrafts

I also completed a bookmark, coaster and tea exchange for Swap-Bot. The acrylic coaster is decorated with designer paper from K&Company and solid paper from Stampin Up!. I made a coordinating bookmark and tea packet holder. The idea of the swap is to have a cup of tea and enjoy a good book. Turned out pretty good, tomorrow they leave with the Postman as well.




Here are some cards I made for upcoming birthday and swaps. This particular layout was inspired by Dawn of Dawn's Stamping Studio. I love watching her videos, she has some great ideas. These are made with a combo of Stampin Up! and K&Company papers. The sentiments I printed on the computer onto Whisper White cardstock. Easy as pie!!


Other Stuff

If you want to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer in a crafty way consider joining Nancy, Basketmasters Weavings, Think Pink effort. My friend and fellow weaver, Sue and I plan on participating, we would love to have your join us. BTW-Sue and I will be making that basket this spring. So excited!!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate all your comments.

See ya!!

CJ

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Clean and Simple Card Challenge

I decided to try my second card challenge. I really like the CAS sketch this week and I thought it would work great for an upcoming Card Maker swap. Here is what I have come up with for my sample. All the paper and ribbon used in this card are from Stampin Up!, click to visit my favorite demonstrator Barb. The stamp is from Gina K. Designs, Signs of Autumn Stamp Set. I very am pleased with the outcome. The theme for the swap is tea or coffee and I left the inside blank so the card can be used for any occasion. Now I just need to make six more to complete the swap.

See ya!
CJ

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Happy 2010!!

This is my first post for 2010 and the month is almost over. My life just gets in the way of my posting. I really should try to find more time to post or come up with a better system. On the home front, the family is good although hubby is a little disappointed with the Cowboys. Oh well!!

Stitching Update

Actually did a good bit of stitching this week. I have finished the grid for Blue Ribbon Design Stop and Smell the Flowers. I have one letter left to stitch on my Granny ornament, and I have almost finished a biscornu for an upcoming exchange. I received a Christmas packet from Pirjo for an ornament exchange we had on CSE. He stitching is superior as always and I just adore how she finishes her pieces. I am so lucky to have two ornaments from her now. She sent some metallic thread, a piece of hand dyed fabric and the snowman ornament with a sweet card.



2010 reading Olympics

I finished Hey Diddle, Diddle the Corpse and the Fiddle by Fran Rizer on 8 Jan and started Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Thus far it is slow going in the new book, I am only on chapter three--that is what I get for only reading in bed.


Paper Crafts
Card making seems to be taking over my life. I am going to stop getting feeds and just checking for updates on my blog roll. It is just to tempting to start something new or buy more stash when I can read about it in e-mail. I entered a card in the Card Maker Weekly Challenge. This the category is Monochromatic. My card is shades of yellow. I used all Stampin Up! materials, even the button is made out of paper.


During the holidays I made Gift Tags and Gift Card holders for exchanges on Card Swap. The card holders and tags that I got back were fabulous and they came in very handy. I used up all the tags for my kids Christmas gifts. I managed to save a few to copy for next year. Here are pictures of my Gift Tags -- I had to make a dozen. They are folder like a match book with white paper inside for a note or sentiment.



I had to make six Gift Cards and they were pretty ordinary, but I got back some really nice ones. Unfortunately, they are all gone and I did not take any pictures of them. Bad me!! Here is a shot of some that I made. I used a pinwheel design that I got from Barb.




Recently, I started to cover some old bird houses with the designer papers I have collected and I am really pleased with the outcome. I got the idea from a card Maker magazine. So far I have two finished. One I kept for myself the other was a present for my baby girls teacher. The plan is to display them in my kitchen above the cabinets with greenery and lights. This is a picture of the one I kept. The box it is sitting on is also covered with paper. It is Washi paper from Japan, I have had that paper for many years and I love working with it.




Basket Weaving

Last week my friend and basket weaving mentor Sue came up and we did a little weaving. I was able to finish the trim on my Cherokee Market basket and weave the Ladybug kit I had bought last October. We plan to do it again on Tuesday this week. Making baskets leaves me with a really "green" feeling. These baskets will last almost forever, if they ever get tossed out they will not harm the environment. I have baskets around that I weaved over 20 years ago and I still use them today. I use the market basket to carry my weaving tools and the other is a gift. They are not perfect but I love them and they look even better in person.







For Christmas I made a few Nativity baskets for family members. Here is a picture of one.




Here's wishing all of you a very happy and healthy 2010. Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate all your comments.


See ya!!

CJ