Two New Blogs I Found This Week!

Last night -or early this morning, depending on how you like to look at it- I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I wanted to continue my post, however my thumbs were getting tired.  Well, it was more like my forearms and biceps.. I'm probably gonna end up buff from all of the thumb typing I've been doing.

So, the first blog I found was a blog I came across on either Thursday or Friday, called "Made By Rae".  I was discussing bag making with my friend Nay -who now has her VERY OWN blog!- and she somehow was able to give me the link to Rae's blog.  Her blog is sewing themed, and I immediately started following it.  She has a few various patterns on her blog, free as well as ones to purchase the licensing to make bags from her pattern and then to sell them.  She has some free patterns but they are personal use only.  I liked the look of her Buttercup Bag, but of course before I commit and spend the $10 for the license fee, I wanted to take the pattern for a test drive!  So I did!   I realize it's not the best quality picture, but since I wanted to finish writing the blog, rather than waste time nitpicking the picture of the bag, I went with this one.  As you can tell, it's quite different than her bag.  I used a solid brown color for the top part of the bag, and the straps have tabs on them -not sure why I did this actually- and the strap is made with the same fabric as the inner lining, and features a knot since it's in two pieces.  I also added some decorative stitching on the top part in variegated pink thread.  Since I was just experimenting with the pattern to see if I could do it, the fabric is quite wrinkly.  My favorite part of the bag is the green fabric I used as the lining and the straps, but especially how the fabrics don't really match, yet somehow it works out.  I adore the green fabric and I do plan on going back and purchasing more of it.  The neat part about this bag -in the smaller size anyway- is that it can be done with two fat quarters and a little extra.  I highly encourage you to check her website out!

The next blog I found was in the wee hours of Sunday morning, just after midnight.  I went searching for a tutorial on pleating.  Now, before you get any crazy ideas in your head that I don't know how to pleat, get them out!  I DO know how to pleat -otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make the bag you see above- but I wanted to find out if there was any magic mathematical formula regarding pleating and reducing the inches down.. something like this... x size pleat * times y pleats = total inches reduced to equal new width.  That actually makes more sense in my head...  Anyhoo, the first thing google popped up was this tutorial.  I knew enough that smocking was kind of in the other end of the spectrum for the type of pleating tutorial that I was looking for, but I didn't care.  I always had an interest in smocking, but it wasn't until I came across Marie Grace's blog that I was hooked.  Her blog isn't really about smocking exclusively, it's actually a blog primarily about knitting, but she also shares stuff about her family, sewing, quilting, and smocking projects as well as her goats and other animals.  I was instantly drawn in, and I laid in bed  reading her blog for about 2.5 hours (or more) before I looked at the time, realized it was after 3 in the morning, put my phone down and went to sleep.  I recall having a pleasant dream, and despite only getting 5 to 6 hours of sleep -I need at least 8 or 9 so I'm not a grumpy ogrette- I woke up quite refreshed and spunky, something I highly attribute to reading her blog right before falling asleep.  Don't misunderstand, it didn't BORE me to sleep, but I knew if I didn't stop where I was, I was going to be up until 5 trying to finish reading her entire blog.  I know I got as far as May of 2008, and I plan on finishing reading her blog.  I left a comment on her blog, and woke up to a very kind email to which I responded to.  She's awesome!

Oh, and I never found a magical formula for pleating.  I decided to dart the fabric instead, which is the shell for a purse I'm designing.

My Upteenth Goal to Blog More

I realized when I posted this orginially one of the pictures wasn't working like it was supposed to.  I was planning for these two to be placeholders anyway, so they're now changed.

Well, this is my first attempt to blog from my shiny new cellphone. It's an experience into itself so hopefully, it actually works the way I want it to, so I can blog more.

Well, a few new things I feel like blogging about! I recently -and also successfully I might add- finished my very first quilt that didn't look like it belongs in a Salvador Dali painting! It was a baby quilt that I gave to my sister-in-law as a gift for baby D who is officially due on March 3rd, but will probably come sooner than that; we'll have to see! Here is a picture of Jessica holding the quilt up. My favorite part of this is that you can see her cute bump poking out a bit.

And of course, I also had to make a diaper cake! I can't help myself, they are really cute and fun to make. Plus, there's also a wow factor involved as well.

Cute, isn't it? I like to think so!

Speaking of quilting, this week I got the deal of the century! Here's how it happened. I was browsing on the local classifieds looking to see if anyone was selling beads. There wasn't unfortunately, or at least I didn't get far enough to see. Anyway someone was listing a quilting machine and quilting frame for an awesome price! I had planned on buying one eventually, however it was a deal I could NOT pass up! Right now, it's in pieces, but after our road trip, I plan on setting it up and using it. We're probably leaving in about five or six weeks and I figured there is no point in starting a project now and having to abandon it for a whole month I know that would drive me insane! Hopefully, while we are on the road I can find small privately owned quilting shops and add to my stash of fabric. Once we get our route mapped out, I can do some research of stores we can stop in. Can't wait!

I was also planning on discussing my etsy shop in this post, however my arms are getting tired from thumb typing and it is rather late, so I will post later today on that... it is almost an hour into Monday after all!

(To be honest, I'm shocked I even made it this far!)

Taking a Break...

In paper crafting that is.  This year, I've completed an unknown amount of scrapbooking pages, cards and other assorted projects.  And before the year's up, I've got more to complete.  I've simply burned myself out.  I've kept this an open ended blog; not so much exclusively scrapbooking and papercrafting, but I had the foresight when I created this blog back in July of 2008 to keep the possibilites open for showcasing some of my other talents.

In addition to papercrafting -something I only started back in 2003- I have interests in other crafting mediums.  For my 9th birthday WAAAY back in 1994 -I do realize some of my readers are chuckling at that statement- I was given my first sewing machine for my birthday.  I don't remember the model number (I do believe the numbers involve just zeros and ones, and the letters H, I or J) but I do remember that it was a Babylock.  I was quite fond of that Babylock, and is currently with my dad in Virginia.  Then in 2005 when I was pregnant with Zoe, I had the fanatical desire to purchase another sewing machine, and I got a Brother sewing machine on eBay.  It wasn't in the greatest of shapes; honestly it was worth every bit of the $15 dollars I paid for it, and not a penny more.  Eventually though, it ended up on it's last leg, and I replaced it with my current machine back in October of 2007.  Because I had such fond memories of my Babylock, I went back to the brand and purchased another one.. this time buying a Babylock Xscape.  It's portable and is actually a little smaller than most machines -it advertised as being 2/3 the size of a standard machine- and only weighs about 13 lbs.. even came with a bag to carry it in!  I was also lucky enough to get it during a good sale, and ended up saving myself roughly $299.  I won't tell you how much I paid for it, and how much the original price was.

Around the time that I got my first sewing machine, I also gained an interest in yarn crafting, something I got from my Aunt Mary.  She's one of my dad's younger sisters and was probably one of my biggest influences into creativity and crafting.  I remember watching her crochet, and being absolutely fascinated with how quickly and nimbly her fingers worked the yarns and crochet hooks.  I wanted to learn.  Unfortunately, I'm left handed and she's right handed -like 90% of the world's population- and all I managed to learn how to do was a chain stitch.  Years later, when I was a sophomore in High School, during my lunch break I discovered a book in the school library.  I don't remember the title of the book; I just recall it being very light and small and was excited to discover it had crocheting patterns in it!  And even more so, I was finally able to make sense of what my aunt was trying to show me 6 years earlier.  And just for good measure I grabbed the book next to it or nearby and taught myself how to knit.  I had difficulty casting my stitches onto the knitting needles, however; I met a very nice lady at a crafting fair not too long after that and learned how to cast stitches properly.

So there you have it.  For the next while, I will be focusing on going back to these crafts.  I will occasionally do cards and whatnot; but my main focus will be sewing, knitting and possibly crocheting.  I do hope that my followers that enjoy seeing my paper crafts will come back and follow my blog still as I journey back into knitting and sewing.  Of course, I will occasionally do some paper crafting, but that will become the exception, rather than expected.

Cabbage Roses

A while back, I was planning on making myself a sash belt with cabbage roses on it to wear with a dress I purchased but ended up having to return because it was too big.  That happened after I had already bought a sash, something I no longer really need, but that still did not put a damper on my interest in creating cabbage roses.

So today while conversing with my friend about sewing, I had the urge to sew one, and ended up making two.  I used some fabric I had bought over 4 years ago when I made Zoe's baby bedding, and because of how careful I ration my fabric, I ended up with a respectable amount of fabric left.  Some time ago, my friend had found me this link, which I bookmarked and I pulled it up today to figure out how to sew these flowers.  It's a great tutorial; however if you're left handed like me, it's got a bit of a learning curve, because I tend to work clockwise, while right handed people tend to work counterclockwise.  I ended up having to save the files and then reversing them so I could follow the directions, however my flower didn't come out quite as well as I'd like, however for a first timer attempting to work in reverse, it came out alright.

The center stabilizer is actually a pearl.  As you can see the flower is worked around clockwise, which for some reason I find aesthetically pleasing.

Then I of course decided to try again, and this time without the stabilizer bead and I added a second piece of fabric between the folds and sewed that together to give it a different look.

This one is done without a center stabilizer, and it's also got another piece of fabric.. and it's quite a bit larger as a result of using longer length of fabric. And it also goes counter-clockwise.

I'm not sure which one I honestly like more, since they are both pretty and unique in their own ways.  However, I cant wait to experiment with different fabrics as well as different finishes.. the instructions suggest to hide the raw cut edges of the fabric, but I think I want to try this with the raw edges showing... there's just so many possibilites with this one set of instructions!  You can also do this with ribbon and other types of fabric.. satin, organza.. as long as it's not too thick it should work!

Working With Vinyl

One thing I've always wanted to do with my cricut was cut out vinyl and then use it to decorate.  And I finally did!  I've done two projects.. and with a bit of fustration and I do have to admit.. a little swearing, I got them done!

This was the first one I did with Zoe's help.  On Monday, we purchased the wooden plank at Roberts, and then painted it bright orange and let it dry overnight.  Then the next day we went to a local place and I went a little crazy and bought a bunch of vinyl sheets.  Then we came home and put this together!  The ghosts and tombstones were from Paperdoll Dress Up, and the "Happy Halloween" was cut from Lyrical Letters in the Jack Sprat feature for the "Holidays" cut (page 67 of your handbook).  I was thinking to cut it it at two inches, but that ended up being way too small, and so I loaded it up on my mat and hit the 'fit to page' feature, and as a result it was cut at 4".  The Ghosts were cut at 2" (lower right) and 1.5".  And the tombstones were cut at 1.5" and 1.25"... I think.  I used a black sharpie to accentuate the eyes and mouths for the ghosts, and then did the same for the tombstone's features.

I made this one yesterday.  I believe the material of the board is MDF, and I learned that MDF painted with regular craft paint doesn't work very well.  You can't get an even coating.. as you can see; however it is not as noticeable in person.  If I do another one of these, I'm thinking I will need to buy either spray paint primer and use craft paint over it, or I'll just buy smaller sized cans of spray paint and paint it that way instead.  I do have to admit though, the paint is quite old and I think it had seperated at some point so that may have had something to do with it not coating evenly.  Anyway, after I applied two coats and let it dry, I took a dauber and with my "Spring Leaf" CTMH ink pad, I daubed the beveled bits to give them a bit of color.  Of course, I HAD to use my least juiciest ink pad, so I foresee a CTMH order with a reinker included...  Anyway, I used brown vinyl and used Lyrical Letters "Loop Dee Loo" font and cut out "The Hayfords" at 2.5" and everything else at 1".  My inital plan was to have "EST 2005" above "The Hayfords"; however the board wasn't tall enough to do so, and therefore I improvised.  The silver flourishes -they may be a bit difficult to see- were cut at 1.5" and they are from the Home Decor solutions cartridge.  And I love the saying I added onto it.. because Jeff and I are both gamers, and I know if we did not have that in common, our relationship wouldn't be as good as it is.  My biggest beef with this project isn't the paint, but the fact that some employee stuck the price tag on the FRONT AND CENTER part of the board!  The paint didn't want to cover it very well.  And again, I'm pretty sure that spray paint would solve my even coat issue, but nonetheless, I'm happy with how it turned out!

I really enjoyed working with vinyl.  My only word of advice, if before you cut it out, test the cuts on paper before you load your vinyl up.  This way, you'll know how it'll come out on the mat, and this will also let you know how much you'll need exactly; rather than eyeballing it or cutting out a full sheet of 12x12.  This way, you can cut off what you need and save the scraps!  And I think next time too, to save myself the headache, I will be investing in 12x24 mats so I can lay it out in design studio, and then lift it off the mat with the contact paper, versus trying to do it piece by piece by hand.. VERY frustrating with those curly letters!  I still had fun though!

Work in Progress

Well, I haven't worked on much lately.  However, today I felt inspired to go into my craftroom and create something, so create something I did!  Unfortunately, I've hit a brick wall with my project.  I feel that it NEEDS something else, but I can't figure out what!  Any suggestions?

It's not the best picture, but at least you can get a general idea of what it looks like.  And yes I know, it would have looked better if the picture was in either black or white or sepia, but I didn't think I would do this particular project when I had the picture printed.

Color Blocking Tutorial

Once again, I participated in a Digital challenge, and last week's challenge was to use eight or more photos in a layout.  Here's the link to Diane's blog entry to see the challenge.  I initally had some hesitation to participate in this challenge, because I didn't think I had enough pictures of one event to do the challenge.. then while I was looking through my pictures, I decided to do a layout from Easter!  It worked out perfectly because Zoe and I colored eggs, and the girls also got easter baskets, so I took pictures of those that I ended up including in the layout.  Here's my layout.

And one of the lovely ladies pointed on the FCTSC message board pointed out another tutorial was needed, so here I am, making another one!  And just for the record, I do not mind!  I LOVE learning about photoshop and learning new methods and techniques and I'm more than happy to share my knowlege.  This tutorial will be covering the techniques used in the bottom right picture, and the top right picture.  As you can see, the eggs are in color, but the rest of the picture is not.  I'm also going to go off on a tangent here and this tutorial is... NOT going to involve fish or fishing trips.. YAY!  Before I start though, I want to explain a bit about how I initially started using this technique and why.

When Zoe was a baby, she had the BRIGHTEST blue eyes I've ever seen -at that point of my life anyway; since then I've seen bluer- on a person, and I LOVED how blue they were.  I said 'were' because they turned a green/hazel color about a year or so ago.  Anyway, I would color block -the term of this technique- her eyes in pictures and then do the rest in black and white.  Here are some early examples.

Anyway, I eventually got brave and tried larger objects or subjects, which resulted in this:

However, for simplicity, and ease, I will be demonstrating this with a simple object with very good contrast; that is contrast between the subject and the background.

Here's my drinking cup, please excuse my screen, I didn't realize I need to clean it off!  Obviously, the green is very contrasting with the black and white and brown of my desk, the bag of baby wipes and my wall.  BTW, that book you see is a chipboard album I covered in zebra minky fabric, and have yet to finish it up; since I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet.

Anyway, the first thing to do is obviously open the image up in photoshop!

The tool you want to start with is the magic wand.  Here's a closeup of where it's at.

As with everything in photoshop, it's extremely important to use layers.  However, this time we're doing layers slightly different.  Anyway, use the magic wand to completely select the cup (in my case anyway).

Once your object is completely selected, it'll have this black and white line going around it.  Keep in mind, sometimes it is easier to select the area AROUND the subject -for example you were trying to colorblock a person standing up against a solid colored wall- and then inverse the selection to get your subject.  To inverse, you go to "Select > Inverse" and it'll inverse your selection to whatever is not selected. This is very much like my first tutorial about digital elements; however we're taking it a few steps further with this one.  Anyway,  the next step is to copy the selected image.  It's also important to work with the largest file size possible in terms of how many pixels it is wide and tall.

You do this by going to "Layer > New > Layer via copy".  And at that point, you'll have a second layer, and it should look something like this in your layers box in the lower right corner -that is if you left the default locations for everything as it is-.  The next step is to make sure you have your background layer selected or highlighted -opposite of what you see in the above image- and then deselect your image by going to "Layer > Deselect".  This is to ensure that none of your background is selected, because the next step if not done correctly will result in your object being desaturated, rather than the whole background.  To desaturate, you go to "Image > Adjustments > Desaturate".  This will remove all the color from the selected layer, and turn it into shades of gray.

 

 The next step after this is to merge your layers.  You do this by going to "Layers > Merge Down" (this works if you have the top layer selected) or "Layers > Merge Visible".  Then once you are happy with the image and how it turned out, adjust the size of the picture -if you want- and then save it as a .jpg file!  For some reason in photoshop, if you work with layers, it'll try to default save it as a psd (photoshop) file which won't work because most webpages don't recognize the file as a psd, and it won't show.

Keep in mind too, you'll almost never get a perfect selection of the object; this is okay, as long as you try to get MOST of it.  Keep in mind too, if the background color of your image is too close to the color of the subject -like a couch that matches too closely to your wall color- , it'll most likely not work with what you want to do.  If you plan on doing this with a particular object or person in mind, be mindful about the closeness of the shades with the background and such.

Hope that helps, and if anyone wants a tutorial on how I did the "black box with color inside over the desaturated background" like you see on the carton of eggs, or the four eggs with our names on it let me know!