Snowman Cookie Containers

I love the clear plastic paint cans that are available at the local craft stores. They make the perfect cookie containers. Every year the cookies that I give to friends and family have a theme. Since it's been cold and snowy here, I chose a snowman theme. I baked sugar cookies in the shape of snowflakes (a medium size snowflake fits perfectly in the paint can) and decorated them with white royal icing and Wilton blue sugar pearls. I decorated the outside of the paint can with a snowman scene.


These cookies are on their way to a friend in Germany. He has never had Sugar Cookies and is eagerly awaiting this package. I used a large bread storage bag (available from www.KingArthurFlour.com) to line the can. I strongly recommend using the large bread bag because it helps to cushion the inside of the can and protects the cookies during shipment.* I was able to pack 12 cookies in the can with a little room left at the top so the lid would snap down without crushing the cookies.

Directions for Snowman Cookie Can:

Cricut Snow Friends and Winter Woodland cartridges

White, turquoise, black, lilac, blue and a small piece of orange card stock

Clear paint can-available at Michaels

Purple snowman print ribbon-available at Michaels

Martha Stewart snowflake paper punch

Green print paper

Xyron (optional)

Foam Dots

1. Load the Cricut Snow Friends cartridge into the Cricut machine and cut Snowman 10 at 3 inches. Press the scarf key and cut it out of turquoise card stock. Press the shoes, buttons and face keys and cut them out of black card stock. Cut the nose out of orange card stock. Assemble the snowman.

2. Glue the snowman to the front of the paint can using Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue. Press in place until glue begins to set. You can also use a Xyron machine to glue the snowman to the canister. Run the snowman through the machine and peel away the paper backing. Attach the snowman to the paint can. My Xyron machine is the small one, so I had to place my snowman at an angle to get it to fit through the machine.

3. Cut the trees at various sizes (2 inches, 1 1/2 inches, and 1 inch) out of green print paper using the Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge. I used two different shades of green print paper.

4. Run the trees through the Xyron, peel away the backing and attach to the paint can (or use tacky glue) on each side of the snowman.

5. Punch one lilac, one blue and white snowflake out of card stock using the Martha Stewart snowflake paper punch. Glue the snowflakes over the top of the snowman scene.

6. Tie a bow with the snowman print ribbon and attach to the paint can lid using foam dots.

* The bread bag provided excellent protection for the cookies. Eventhough the shipping package was quite battered and torn the cookies arrived intact.

Wisemen Card

It was a long night but I finished the last of the cards around 1:00 a.m. and they are finally in the mail. Here's one of the cards that I mailed today.

I love the Wise men image on the Cricut Lite Inspired Heart cartridge. I wanted my Wise men to have a golden metallic look. I chose a golden bronze metallic paper and coordinated it with a deep violet blue card stock. The Wise men image was then matted on ivory glittered card stock.





Directions for Wise men Card:

Cricut Lite Inspired Heart Cartridge
Deep violet blue, and white card stock
Greeting Card Program

Recollections Metallic card stock-golden bronze
DCWV 'Tis the Season Ivory Glittered card stock

Gold Ribbon

1. Use the greeting card program to create a Christmas verse. Print it on white card stock using the horizontal half fold option.

2. Set the size dial on the Cricut to 3 inches and cut the Wise men out of golden bronze metallic paper. Next cut the background out of the deep violet blue card stock. Glue the Wise men to the background.

3. Cut a piece of ivory glittered card stock approximately 5 3/4 inches wide by 3 3/4 inches high. Glue the Wise men on top of the ivory card stock.

4. Cut a piece of deep violet blue card stock approximately 6 1/4 inches wide by 4 1/8 inches high and glue the Wise men image on top of the card stock.

5. Cut enough gold ribbon to tie a small bow. Glue the bow to the top left hand corner of the card.

Singing Angel Card

I finished the first batch of Christmas cards this morning and it was off to the Post Office to mail them. Hopefully the last batch of cards will be finished tonight. It may be a long night because tomorrow is my mailing deadline. To save time I use the division of labor principle. I stamp or die cut the same image twice. Then I cut the borders, frames and ribbons for both cards at the same time. Once everything is cut out I start assembling both cards at the same time.




Directions for Singing Angel Card:

Hero Arts Let The Angels Sing Clear Stamps
Color pencils
Deja Views Fair Isle Christmas paper-Light blue print
White and blue card stock
Gold ribbon
Gold glitter glue
Sansodor solvent
Blending Stump
Sanding Pad
Greeting Card Program
Color Box Black Pigment Ink
Cuttlebug Allegro Embossing Folder

1. Stamp the angel on white card stock with the black ink. Let it dry.

2. Color the angel with color pencils. Dip the blending stump in the solvent and blend the areas that you just colored. Let it dry.

3. Add highlights to the angel's wings and halo with gold glitter glue. Let it dry.

4. Cut the angel image to approximately 2 inches wide by 3 1/4 inches high. Cut the light blue patterned paper 2 1/4 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches high. Glue the angel on top of the blue paper.

5. Cut a piece of blue card stock to fit the embossing folder and emboss it. Lightly sand the embossed image to highlight it. Glue the framed angel on top of the embossed image.

6. Use the greeting card program to print a Christmas verse and print it on the white card stock using the half fold option. Glue the embossed image with the angel to the front of the card.

7. Cut two pieces of gold ribbon to fit across the top (left) and bottom (right) corners of the card and glue them in place. Make a small bow using the gold ribbon and glue it over the ribbon in the top (left) corner of the card.

Nativity Card

It has been snowing here all day so I decided to work on some Christmas cards. These cards are going to our friends in Germany. The nativity scene is from the new Cricut Lite Inspired Heart cartridge. To make the second card I colored a stamped image with color pencils and then used solvent to give a softer, watercolor-like effect.

Directions for the Nativity Card:

Cricut Lite Inspired Heart Cartridge
Deja Views Fair Isle Christmas Paper- Light blue with stars
Slate blue and white card stock
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Pearl
Blue glittered ribbon
Greeting Card Program
Platinum Stickles

1. Cut the Nativity at 3 inches out of white card stock. Spray the cut out lightly with Pearl Glimmer Mist and set aside to dry.

2. Press the Shift key and cut the Nativity out of the light blue patterned paper. Assemble the Nativity.

3. Cut the slate blue card stock approximately 4 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches high. Glue the Nativity to the slate blue card stock.

4. Cut the light blue patterned paper 1/4 inch larger (on all sides) than the slate blue card stock. Glue the slate blue card stock on top of the light blue patterned paper. Outline the edges of the slate blue card stock with the Platinum Stickles. Cut another piece of slate blue card stock slightly larger than the blue patterned paper. Glue the layered Nativity on top of this piece of card stock.

5. Using a greeting card program and white card stock select the half fold card option and print a Christmas verse.

6. Cut a piece of light blue glittered ribbon the length of the card. Fold the ends of the ribbon under the top and bottom edges of the card and glue in place. Center the framed Nativity on the card and glue over the ribbon. Make a small bow out of the same ribbon and glue above the Nativity frame.

Directions for Deck the Halls Card:

Grey and white card stock
Greeting Card Program
DCWV Holiday Stack-red patterned paper
Stampendous Fluffles Stamp
Color Box Black Ink
Color Pencils
Sansodor-Low Odor Solvent
Blending Stump
Green Metallic Ribbon
Prima Flowers-Poinsettia
Small Gold Color Brads
Dark Green Marker

1. Stamp the design on white card stock and let it dry. Color the design with color pencils. Use a combination of tan and light brown to color the cat. Color the ornaments with the color pencils.

2. Dip the blending stump in the solvent. Using a circular motion blend the colors of the cat until the color is even. Repeat this process to blend the color of each ornament.

3. Color the needles of the tree branch with a dark green marker.

4. Trim the stamped image to the desired size and glue to a piece of red patterned paper slightly larger than the stamped image.

5. Using a greeting card program and grey card stock print a Christmas verse using the half fold card option.

6. Cut a piece of green metallic ribbon slightly larger than the length of the card. Fold the ends of the ribbon under the top and bottom edges of the card and glue in place. Glue the red paper with the stamped image over the green ribbon. Make a small bow out of the green ribbon and glue above the stamped image.

7. Assemble a poinsettia with three layers and attach to the card (lower right) using a small gold color brad. Glue the poinsettia's leaves under the edges of the flower.

Santa Invitations

I purchased the Cricut Lite Jolly Holidays cartridge at the Walmart Black Friday sale. The Santa image is perfect for our Christmas party invitations.


Directions for Santa Invitation:

Red, white, pink, Christmas pattern, dark red, green and black card stock
Greeting card program
Cricut Gypsy Font or Cricut Font of your choice
Cricut Lite Jolly Holidays cartridge
Gold color brads
Prima Holiday Poinsettia flowers
Black and gold glitter glue

1. Using the greeting card program and white card stock print the invitation details on the inside of a half fold card.

2. Weld the letters Ho, Ho, Ho together using the Gypsy and the Gypsy Font and then cut it out of green card stock at .75 inches.

3. Cut Santa 1 at 3 inches out of red card stock using the Cricut Jolly Holidays cartridge. Press the shift key and cut Santa's sack, belt and shoes out of black card stock. Press the layer key and cut the top of Santa's face out of pink card stock. Load white card stock into the Cricut, press the Layer and Shift keys and cut Santa's beard. Assemble Santa, highlight the sack with black glitter glue and the belt with gold glitter glue. Set aside until the glitter glue dries.

4. Cut the Christmas patterned card stock approximately 3 3/4 inches wide by 4 inches high. Cut the dark red card stock approximately 1/4 inch larger than the dimensions of the Christmas patterned card stock. Glue the Christmas patterned card stock on top of the dark red card stock leaving a 1/4 inch border on all sides. Center Santa on top of the Christmas patterned card stock and glue in place. Center the card stock with the Santa on the card and glue in place.

5. Glue Ho, Ho, Ho above the framed Santa.

6. Assemble the poinsettia using three flower layers. Attach the poinsettia to the lower right hand edge of the Santa frame, using a gold color brad. Glue the leaves just under the poinsettia.

Infinity Scarf Update

It's finally finished! The finished length is 72 inches (38 inches per panel). The scarf is long enough to be worn as a hood and then wrapped around the neck twice. I only wish that I could have worn it last night during the snowstorm.



There are no changes to the posted pattern.

Beaded Necklaces

The Christmas shopping season is upon us and like everyone else I have been searching the stores for the perfect gifts. Rather than continuing to battle the holiday crowds at the stores to try to find the gift that I have in mind, I decided to make my own gifts.

Beaded necklaces are easy to make. The best part is that beads are available in every price range and color. I am fortunate enough to have a bead supplier in my area that specializes in real stones. The first necklace was made with turquoise and quartz beads while the second necklace was made with onyx beads.





Directions for Turquoise and Quartz Necklace:

.018 inch Beadalon Satin Gold bead stringing wire
Tube of #1 or #2 Crimp Beads
1 strand of light brown colored quartz beads
1 strand oval turquoise beads
1 strand fluted brass beads
1 strand of tear drop shaped blue-green flecked beads
1 gold colored jewelry clasp or toggle
Office store small binder clip

1. Cut the bead stringing wire to 24 inches for an 18 inch necklace.

2. Attach the binder clip 1 1/2 inches from the end of the wire.

3. String the beads onto the wire as follows: * tear drop bead, fluted bead, tear drop bead, quartz bead, tear drop bead, fluted bead, turquoise bead, fluted bead. Continuing stringing the beads from * until the necklace reaches almost 18 inches in length.

4. Add 3 crimp beads after the tear drop beads on each end of the necklace. String one end of the clasp onto the beading wire and loop it back through the crimp beads and pull the wire tight. Crimp the crimping bead nearest the clasp. Trim away the excess beading wire and seal with a dot of jewelry glue. Repeat this process on the other side of the necklace.


Directions for Onyx Necklace:

.018 Beadalon Bead Stringing Wire- satin gold
Tube of #1 or #2 Crimp Beads
1 gold colored jewelry clasp or toggle
Office store small binder clip
1 strand of Onyx beads
1 strand round carved brass beads


1. Cut the bead stringing wire to 24 inches for an 18 inch necklace.

2. Attach the binder clip 1 1/2 inches from the end of the wire.

3. String the beads in the following order: *2 brass beads, 2 onyx beads and repeat from * until the necklace reaches almost 18 inches in length. End the necklace with 2 brass beads.

4. Add 3 crimp beads after the 2 brass beads. String one end of the clasp onto the beading wire and loop it back through the crimp beads and pull the wire tight. Crimp the crimping bead nearest the clasp. Trim away the excess beading wire and seal with a dot of jewelry glue. Repeat this process on the other side of the necklace.

Winnie The Pooh New Baby Card

This week we are celebrating the arrival of the newest member of our family. We wanted to send a card to the new parents expressing our heartfelt congratulations. Since Melissa loves Winnie The Pooh I decided to use him as theme for the card.


Directions for Winnie The Pooh Baby Card:

Cricut Pooh and Friends Cartridge
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
Yellow, red, black, blue, white, peach and parchment card stock
Blue patterned ribbon
Martha Stewart Doily Border Punch
Martha Stewart Flocking Powder-blue
My Minds Eye Home Glitter Stack-blue dotted paper
Spellbinders Nestabilities Lables Nine
Chalk
Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink
Greeting Card Program


1. Use the parchment card stock and agreeting card program to print the verse on the inside of the card. Use the Half-fold card option.

2. Cut out the largest Spellbinders Label out of the blue dotted paper using either the Sizzix, Cuttlebug or similar die cutting machine. Distress the edges of the label with the tea dye distress ink.

3. Using the Cricut Pooh and Friends cartridge. Cut the sleeping Winnie The Pooh (Pooh 4) at 1 1/2 inches out of black card stock. Press the Layers 1 and 2 key and cut Pooh's body out of yellow card stock. Press the Layers 1 and 2 and the Shift keys and cut Pooh's shirt out of red card stock. Press the Layers 3 and 4 key and cut Pooh's night cap out of blue card stock. Press the Layers 3 and 4 and Shift keys and cut the hat's tassel out of white card stock. Load yellow card stock into the Cricut and set the size dial to 1 inch then press the Icon and Shift keys to cut the stars. Assemble Pooh. Cover Pooh's night cap with glue. Sprinkle blue flocking powder over the entire surface of the night cap and shake off the excess. Set aside to dry.

4. Cut a piece of peach card stock approximately 4 1/4 inches wide by 5 3/4 inches long and emboss using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Lightly sand the raised dots to highlight them.

5. Cut a piece of blue dotted paper approximately 1/4 inch larger (on all sides) than the dimensions of the embossed peach card stock. Glue the embossed peach card stock on top of the blue dotted paper.

6. Glue Pooh to the blue dotted label. Glue the blue dotted label to the embossed peach card stock. Position the three stars just above the top of the label and glue in place.

7. Cut two small pieces of blue print ribbon and place them diagonally across the upper left and lower right corners of the layered card panel. Glue them in place. Tie a small bow and glue it to the ribbon in the upper left corner.

8. Center the layered card panel on the front of the half-fold card.

9. Punch a border out of parchment card stock using the Martha Stewart Doily Punch. Glue the doily border just under the right edge of the card.

10. Dip a small sponge in the tea dye distress ink and dab the ink randomly over the parchment card stock portion of the card. Highlight the edges of the doily border with the tea dye distress ink. Lightly apply smoky blue chalk to the tea dye distressed card. Use blue chalk to shade the area under Pooh. Highlight Pooh's back, arms and legs with a light orange chalk.

Winnie The Pooh Birthday Card

My husband surprised me with a Gypsy for my birthday. I couldn't wait to get it out of the box and start designing. I quickly found out that in order for the Gypsy to be useful I had to update the firmware and link my cartridges to it. This took most of the afternoon. Now I was ready to start designing.

I decided to try using images from two different cartridges. I chose Winnie The Pooh, a scalloped oval and a butterfly. Since I wanted my images cut out of different colors I needed to use the Layer tab (one layer for each color of paper). Next I wanted to cut my scalloped ovals in two different sizes. The first oval was to be cut at 2 1/2 inches and the second one was to be slightly larger. I entered 2.75 inches for the height and the Gypsy sized the width proportionally.

I love the Gypsy. Not only does it have a lot of design capability but it's small enough to take anywhere. I took it with me to the doctor's office and designed a Christmas card while sitting in the waiting room.



Directions for Winnie The Pooh Card:

Medium blue, parchment, yellow, red, orange, green and black card stock
My Mind's Eye Home Glitter Book for the blue and white dotted card stock
Sheer blue ribbon
Prima Flowers Roses-orange and blue
Martha Stewart Rose Leaf paper punch and Scalloped Doily border punch
Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink
Greeting Card Program
Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue
Green Ink

1. Using a greeting card program and parchment card stock select the half-fold card option and print Happy Birthday on the top portion of the card. Print the verse on the inside right of the card. Fold the card in half and crease.

2. Using the Gypsy and the Pooh and Friends cartridge, select Winnie The Pooh (with his hands behind his back) and transfer him to Layer 1 on the mat screen. Select Layer 2 and the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge and tap the Shift key to select the scalloped oval. Transfer the image to the mat screen. Select Layer 3 and repeat this process for the oval. Next select Layer 4 and transfer the butterfly from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge to the mat screen.

3. Place the yellow card stock on the Cricut mat. Tap the Layer 1 key and select a height of 2 1/2 inches for Pooh. Link the Gypsy to the Cricut. Load the mat into the Cricut using the Load Mat key on the Gypsy. Tap the Cut key. Unload the mat and remove the image. Repeat the process using the red and black card stock. Glue the yellow Pooh on top of the black. Take the red Pooh and cut the red shirt out. Glue it on the yellow Pooh.

4. Place the blue and white glitter card stock on the Cricut mat. Tap the Layer 2 key, set the height at 2.5 inches and then tap the Cut key. Using the Gypsy load the mat into the Cricut, tap the Cut key and cut out the oval. Unload the image and place the medium blue card stock on the Cricut mat. Tap the Layer 3 key and set the height to 2.75 inches and cut out the image.

5. Using the Layer 4 key and a height of 2.5 inches cut a butterfly out of black card stock and then orange card stock. Cut the wings off of the orange butterfly and glue them on top of the black butterfly. Cover the wings lightly with the platinum Stickles. Set aside to dry.

6. Punch a scalloped doily border out of parchment card stock. Cut the border to approximately 3/4 inch. Lightly distress the scalloped edges of the border with the tea dye distress ink. Position the cut straight edge of the border along the open edge of the card and glue in place.

7. Position Winnie The Pooh slightly off center on the blue and white dotted oval and glue in place. Center the blue and white dotted oval over the medium blue oval and glue in place. Position the medium blue oval slightly below Happy Birthday and glue in place. Cut the wire stem off of the blue rose and curl the wire stems of the orange roses around a stylus or pen. Pull the stem slightly to elongate it and trim to desired length. Punch two leaves out of a scrap of green card stock. Ink the edges of the leaves with green ink. Position the roses along the lower right side of the oval and glue in place using a hot glue gun. Glue the leaves under the edge of the roses.

8. Tie a small bow with the blue sheer ribbon. Position it slightly under the oval and glue in place.

9. Glue the butterfly to the left of Happy Birthday.

10. Lightly distress the edges of the card with the tea dye distress ink.

Polar Bear Quilt

I found a bear quilt pattern in the clearance bin at my local quilt shop. Even though the price had been drastically reduced I debated about buying it because the picture of the finished quilt was dark and drab (the bears were brown, dark green and dark blue with burgundy and tan accents). I love bears and collect them and I wanted to make a bear quilt to use as a wall hanging. Since I liked the bears and the over all quilt design but not the colors, I purchased the pattern and changed the colors. I decided to make a Polar Bear quilt and used several white on white print fabrics for my bears. I wanted the quilt to evoke the feeling of the cool climates of the Polar Bears and chose a cool color palette of blues and purples.

Here is the finished result. Unfortunately the pattern that I used is no longer available. The yellowish cast on some of the bears is due to the light that quilt was photographed in.

Owl Tote Bag

I'm always looking for new ways to use my Cricut (or justify the need to upgrade to the Expression). We received an invitation to Aunt Pat's 75th Birthday party. Since she loves to read we decided to give her a gift card to a bookstore. I always like to add a personal touch to my gifts and decided to make a book tote. I love owls and thought that it would make an appropriate theme for my tote. This tote was a fun, easy and quick project. If you haven't used the Cricut to cut out fabric appliques I encourage you to try it. It's really quite easy and it opens up a lot of design possibilities.


Owl Tote Bag


Close up of Owl.

Here are the directions for the Owl Tote.

Cricut Hoot 'N Holler cartridge- available only at Walmart

Fabric tote bag- available at Michaels or Walmart

Fat quarter fabrics in brown, gold, green and orange prints- available at Jo-Ann Fabrics

Heat 'n Bond- available at Jo-Ann or Michaels

Small black beads for eyes and green, brown and gold or orange thread for applique.

Painter's Tape- This is necessary to keep the fabric from slipping on the Cricut mat while the machine is cutting out the image.

Brayer- optional


1. Iron the tote bag and the fat quarters to remove creases.

2. Cut gold and orange fabric pieces 6 inches by 6 inches. Cut the brown and green fabric pieces 6 inches wide by 12 inches long.

3. Cut the Heat 'N Bond the same dimensions as the fabric pieces.

4. Lay the fabric pieces (one at a time) face down on an ironing board. You want to fuse the Heat 'N Bond to the wrong side of the fabric. Place the rough side of the Heat 'N Bond on top of the wrong side of the fabric (the paper backing of the Heat 'N Bond should be on top). Heat the iron on Cotton setting and fuse to the fabric according to the directions on the Heat 'N Bond package.

5. After the fabric is cool to the touch place the brown fabric on the Cricut mat fabric side down. It is easier for the Cricut to cut out the image if the paper backing is on top. Firmly press the fabric down on the mat. Use a brayer to help smooth out any bubbles and help the fabric to adhere to the mat. Next cut 2 strips of painter's tape slightly longer than the fabric and tape it to the edges of the fabric. It's okay if the tape extends a little into the green edge of your mat.

6. Load the fabric in the Cricut. Using the Hoot 'N Holler cartridge and Owl 10 cut the owl at 5 inches. With the brown fabric still in the machine press the Shift key and cut Branch 1. Load the gold fabric into the machine and press the Layer key and cut Owl 10. Press the Layer and Shift keys and cut Owl 10 out of the orange fabric.

7. Load the green fabric into the Cricut and cut Branch 1 and then press the Layer and Shift keys and Branch 1 to cut out the leaves.

8. Remove the paper backing from the green branch, brown branch and leaves. Position the green branch on tote bag and fuse in place. Place the brown branch on top of the green branch and fuse in place. Next fuse the leaves in place.

9. Remove the paper backing from the owl and position the owl's feet on top of the branch and fuse in place. Fuse the gold owl on top of the brown and then fuse the orange layer on top of the gold layer.

10. Using the orange thread for the owl stitch around the edges of the owl with a zig-zag stitch. Zig-zag stitch around the owl's feet and the branch with brown thread and around the leaves with green thread.

11. Sew the beads for the eyes in place with a needle and thread.

Hello Kitty Birthday Card and Gift Wrap

Recently I have become a Hello Kitty fan. I love using Hello Kitty to decorate cards and packages because she is so cute.

Brittany's birthday was coming up and I couldn't find any gift wrap that I liked so I decided to make my own. I bought some plain pink wrapping paper and sheer white wire edged ribbon at my local craft store. I used my Sizzix Hello Kitty Ladybug die, Build A Lilac die and Martha Stewart Ladybug craft punch to make the decorations for the package.

Brittany loved the gift wrap so much that she opened her gift and then re-wrapped the empty box and sat it on her desk.


Directions for the Hello Kitty Card and Gift Wrap:

Greeting Card Program
White, Yellow, Bright Pink, Pink, Black, Lavender, Green and Red Card Stock
Pink Patterned Paper
Pink Gift Wrap
Wide White Sheer Wire Edged Ribbon; 1/2 inch wide sheer white ribbon
Sizzix Hello Kitty Ladybug and Build A Lilac Dies
Martha Stewart Ladybug Craft Punch
Craft Wire
Pastel Flower Shaped Brads


Gift Wrap:

1. Wrap gift box with pink gift wrap.

2. Tie the wire edged ribbon around the package and make a knot to hold it in place. Tie a simple bow.

3. Using the Sizzix Build A Lilac Die and lavender card stock cut 4 petals. Assemble the flowers using two petals per flower. Use pastel flower shaped brads to hold the petals together.

4. Glue the lilacs to opposite corners on the top of the package. Add two leaves to each lilac and glue in place.

5. Using the red card stock and the Martha Stewart Ladybug paper punch make 10 ladybugs. Punch 10 ladybugs out of the black card stock. Assemble the ladybugs and glue to the package. Glue a ladybug at opposite corners on the top of the package and one ladybug on each side of the ribbon on the sides of the package (refer to photo for placement).

6. Using the Hello Kitty die cut Kitty several times using the white, yellow, bright pink, black and pink card stock. Cut Kitty again using the pink patterned paper. Assemble Kitty. Add the pink wings and the pink patterned paper flowers. Cut a 6 inch piece of craft wire and fold it in half. Attach the wire to the back of Hello Kitty with tape. Attach Hello Kitty to the bow so that she sits in the bow.


Hello Kitty Card:

1. Use the greeting card program to generate a birthday greeting on the front of the card and a verse on the inside. Use the half-fold card option.


2. Cut a piece of pink patterned paper approximately 4 inches wide by 6 inches long. Cut a piece of 1/2 inch sheer white ribbon slightly wider than the width of the patterned paper. Glue the ribbon across the bottom of the patterned paper. Tuck the ribbon ends under the paper edges and glue in place. Tie a small bow and glue it to the ribbon. Glue the pink patterned paper to the white card stock.

3. Using the Hello Kitty die cut Kitty several times using the white, yellow, bright pink, black and pink card stock. Cut Kitty again using the pink patterned paper. Assemble Kitty. Add the pink wings and the pink patterned paper flowers. Glue Hello Kitty to the patterned paper.

Bat Cookie Season

In my house October marks the beginning of Bat Cookie Season. I usually start baking the cookies two weeks before Halloween and if I'm lucky there are enough left to serve on Halloween night. I originally cut sugar cookies in the shape of bats and then outlined the edges of the bat with chocolate butter-cream icing. One year I over estimated the amount of icing that I needed and had a lot left over. Not wanting to throw out the left over icing I spread it on one of the bats and placed another bat on top of it to make a sandwich cookie. They were an instant hit! Now they are my most requested cookie.


Bat Cookies:

Sugar Cookie Recipe (use your favorite recipe)

Chocolate Butter-cream icing ( I use Hershey's Cocoa Powder and the butter-cream icing recipe on the side of the Domino's 10x Sugar box)

Bat shaped cookie cutter

Piping bag and Wilton Number 3 Round Tip

On a lightly floured pastry mat roll out the sugar cookie dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut out bats using the Bat cookie cutter. Bake the cookies according to your recipe directions and cool them on a wire rack.

After the baked cookies cool separate them in pairs. Ice the bottom cookie with the butter-cream icing and gently press a cookie on top.

Put some icing in the piping bag and outline the top cookie. Add a dot of icing to make the eyes.

Bewitching Halloween Card

I found some cute dimensional stickers and coordinating paper by K & Company on sale at Michaels. Dimensional stickers are easy to work with and can be a real time saver. Since this card has very little die cutting it can be completed very quickly. Unfortunately the witch did not photograph well so it's hard to see her face.




Halloween Witch Card Directions:

Black, grey and dark purple card stock
Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge
Martha Stewart paper punches- Bat and Pumpkin Border
Paper Crimper (I used Fiskers)
K & Company Tim Coffey Halloween Paper and Witch Dimensional Stickers
Glimmer Mist Raven Mist by Tattered Angels
Halloween Dotted Ribbon
Black Cat sticker
Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Nine
Foam dots

1. Fold an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of grey card stock in half and crease.

2. Cut a label using the Spellbinders large label and the orange swirl Halloween paper. I used my Sizzix to cut the label. Center the witch sticker on the label and press into place. Place the black cat sticker next to the witch and press in place.

3. Cut a piece of black card stock 4 1/4 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide and run it through the crimper. Spray the crimped card stock lightly with Glimmer Mist. Let it dry and spray it again.

4. Attach the orange label to the crimped card stock using foam dots.

5. Punch pumpkins using the Pumpkin Border punch and the orange swirl card stock. Cut the border to fit the sides of the crimped card stock and glue in place. The bottom of the pumpkins should touch the black card stock.

6. Attach the golden rhinestones in each corner of the black card stock.

7. Set the Cricut size dial to 1 inch. Using the Happy Hauntings cartridge and the dark purple card stock cut the phrase Happy Halloween. Glue it to the top of the card.

8. Punch 2 bats with the Bat paper punch and glue them on each side of the Halloween greeting.

9. Cut a piece of dotted Halloween ribbon and glue it to the bottom of the card. Make a bow and glue it to the ribbon.

Bat Garland

In my Halloween decorating the hallway leading to the front door usually gets overlooked because there is no foyer area (the hallway leads directly to the front door). This year I decided to decorate the banister with garland. I bought a garland of black leaves and some sheer glittered purple ribbon at my local craft store. Then I made bats with the Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge and attached them to the leaves. Next I added some Cobb webs and some battery operated flame-less tea lights.

The pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.



Bat Garland Directions:

Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge
Black, dark purple and a scrap of golden yellow card stock
Cobb web material
Purple ribbon (I used purple glittered ribbon)
Black leaf garland
Glimmer mist
Purple ink or chalk to highlight bats
Foam dots
Glimmer Mist Pearl by Tattered Angels
Craft wire
Flame-less battery operated tea lights


1. Set the size dial on the Cricut to 3 1/2 inches. Cut 4 bats out of black card stock using the Bat 1 key. Press the Layer 1 key and cut 4 bats out of dark purple card stock. Snip of a small rectangle from the golden yellow card stock and glue it behind the purple bat's eyes. Assemble the bats.

2. Apply a little purple ink to the bat to highlight it. Spray the bats lightly with Glimmer Mist and let them dry.

3. Attach the garland to the banister poles using craft wire. For safety reasons leave the top handle rail free.

4. Tie 5 bows and attach along the top and the front pole of the banister using craft wire.

5. Apply one small foam dot on the back of the bat's wing tips. Attach the bats to the leaves spacing them several inches apart.

6. Cover the entire garland with Cobb webbing material.

7. Place the flame-less tea lights at the base of the banister between each banister post.

Birthday Cards

October is always a hectic month for me because we celebrate my Husband's and my daughter Michelle's birthdays five days apart. In order to get the birthday cards finished in time I have put my Halloween projects aside.

Here is the card that I made for my Husband used the Mini Monsters cartridge because I wanted a unique and fun birthday card. Michelle is such a fashionista especially when it comes to shoes. I decided to go with a shoe theme using the Cricut Forever Young cartridge.






Directions for Monster Birthday Card:

Light orange dotted ribbon
My Mind's Eye Home Paper Pad- Orange dotted paper
Medium purple, lime green, black, white and gold card stock
Forrest Fun Dew Drops by The Robin's Nest
Cricut Mini Monsters and Beyond Birthdays cartridge
Card Making Program
Bone Folder (optional)
Foam Dots
Hot Glue Gun

1. Create and print a birthday verse on a half fold card using white card stock and the card making program. Fold the card in half and use a bone folder to crease it.

2. Cut a 1 1/2 inch Happy Birthday out of purple card stock using the Beyond Birthdays cartridge.

3. Using the Mini Monsters cartridge cut a 2 1/2 inch monster out of purple card stock. Using the 2 1/2 inch setting press the Layer 1 key and cut the monster's body out of gold card stock. Press the Shift and Layer 1 keys and cut the ears and stomach out of lime green card stock. Using white card stock and the Layer 2 key cut out the eyes and the base of the mouth. Press the Layer 2 and shift keys and cut the pupils (eyes) and mouth. Assemble the monster.

4. Cut a piece of orange dotted card stock approximately 3 1/4 inches wide by 5 inches long.

5. Attach the Monster to the orange dotted card stock using foam dots. Center the orange dotted card stock on the card and place it approximately 3 inches from the top edge of the card. Glue it in place. Glue Happy Birthday approximately 1 inch from the top of the card, centering it above the orange card stock.

6. Arrange the pale green, pale blue and orange Dew Drops to look like ballons and attach them to the right and left of Happy Birthday using a hot glue gun.

7. Tie a small bow using the orange dotted ribbon and glue to the bottom of the orange dotted card stock using a hot glue gun.


Directions for the Michelle's Card:

Cricut Forever Young Cartridge
White, red, turquoise, gold, purple, lime green, cream, pink, brown and black card stock
Orange dotted ribbon
Greeting card program
Tim Holtz Tea Rose Distress Ink
Tattered Angel's Pearl Glimmer Mist
Adhesive gold beads and rhinestones for embellishment

1. Using the greeting card program select a half-fold card and type Life is Full of Important Choices on the front of the card. Generate a verse and add it to the inside of the card. Print the card on white card stock.

2. Fold the card in half and crease using a bone folder.

3. Using the Cricut Forever Young cartridge cut ten 1 1/2 inch shoes using black card stock and Heels 1. Press the Shift key and cut 5 pairs of shoes using the various colors of card stock. Use lime green and the Layer key to cut leaves for the flowers. Load red card stock into the Cricut and press the shift and Layer keys to cut flowers.

4. Assemble the shoes by gluing the colored card stock on top of the black shoe base. Embellish with the card stock flowers and beads.

5. Using the Forever Young cartridge set the Cricut dial to 3 inches and cut Model 1 out of cream card stock. Press the Shift key and cut the dress out of black card stock. Press the Shift and Layer keys and cut the top out of pink card stock. Cut Model 1 again out of brown card stock. Cut off the hair from the image that you just cut and glue it to the cream layer. Glue the black dress over the cream layer and the pink top over the black top. Add gold beads to resemble buttons. Use a black marker to color in the Model's shoes.

6. Center the Model on the card and glue in place. Glue the shoes around the Model. Glue one shoe to the left of the greeting.

7. Dab a foam sponge in the Tea Rose Distress Ink and dab it around the Model's feet.

8. Spray the card lightly with the Pearl Glimmer Mist and let it dry.

9. Cut a length of the Orange Dotted Ribbon slightly longer than the card and glue it along the outer edge of the card.

Bewitching Candle

I recently purchased Cricut's Happy Hauntings cartridge and wanted to use the images in this year's Halloween decorations. I decided to make a Halloween candle. Since the images on the candle holder are made from paper I felt it was safer to use a flame-less candle as the light source.




Directions for Bewitching Candle:

Candle base with glass insert

Cricut Happy Hauntings and Mini Monsters cartridges

Sizzix Bats Sizzlets Die

Flame-less Candle

Grey, black, dark purple, dark lime green and light lime green, yellow, white and gold card stock

Black glitter glue

Martha Stewart Gothic Fence paper punch

Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink, Green Ink

Small foam dots

1. Cut bats out of black card stock using the Sizzix Bats die. Highlight the bats with black glitter glue. You can substitute your favorite bats instead.

2. Set the Cricut dial to 2 inches and cut 2 tombstones out of black card stock using the Mini Monsters cartridge. Using the Layer 1 key and grey card stock cut the tombstone tops. Using white card stock and the Layer 2 key cut the skull and cross bones for the tombstones. Assemble the tombstones and highlight them with the tea dye distress ink.

3. Make a small circle out of gold card stock using a circle cutter or paper punch.

4. Punch a fence to fit around the glass insert out of black card stock using the Martha Stewart Gothic Fence paper punch. Highlight the bats with black glitter glue.

5. Cut a 2 inch tree using black card stock and the Mini Monsters cartridge.

6. Cut a 2 inch witch out of dark purple card stock using the Happy Hauntings cartridge. Cut the witch's face out of dark lime green card stock using the Layer 1 key. Next cut the face over lay and hands using the Layer 1 and shift keys and the light lime green card stock. Using black card stock and the shift key cut the witch over lay. Finally cut the broom base using yellow card stock.
Assemble the witch. highlight the witch's face with green ink and the yellow broom base with tea dye distress ink. Apply glitter glue to the broom handle.

7. Attach the fence to glass insert using small foam dots. Apply a small foam dot to each tombstone and attach to the glass just above the bottom of the fence ( I slightly angled the right tombstone). Place the tree so that one branch rests on top of the tombstone. Attach the witch to the glass so that her foot is slightly above the top of the angled right tombstone. Place the gold circle slightly to the upper left of the witch and glue the bats to the circle.

Halloween Quilt

While browsing for some fabric at a local quilt shop, I saw a cute Halloween quilt hanging on the wall. This quilt must be my next project! It was colorful, relatively easy for a beginning quilter and small (26'' x 32"). I bought the pattern and the fabric and then enthusiastically started sewing. I was certain that I would be able to finish the quilt before the Halloween deadline ( 2 weeks away).

This week I came across the pattern for the Halloween quilt in my files. What ever happened to that quilt? I started looking for it and found it in the bottom of a basket of fabric pieces (remnants from previous projects). It only needs a bottom border and backing and I already have the fabric. After spending six years as a UFO (unfinished object) my Halloween quilt is finally finished and ready to hang. Just in time for Halloween!

Although it may not look like it, this is an easy quilt to make (especially if you are a beginner) because all of the pieces are appliqued onto the quilt blocks using Heat and Bond and a zig-zag stitch.




The pattern is ONE SCAREY NIGHT and is still available from Clow Creations www.thepatternpeddlers.com.

Baby Shower Cards

Brittany and I were invited to attend a cousin's baby shower. The shower theme was Winnie the Pooh. Every one loves Winnie the Pooh and we assumed that Pooh and his friends would show up several times as gifts, cards or gift wrap. Brittany and I wanted to do something different and unique to welcome the newest member of our family.

Brittany cross stitched a card. The cross stitch panel can be removed from the card to put in the baby book.








I decided to make a gift bag using the the Cricut Robotz cartridge.





Directions for the Baby Bag:

Large white bag (available from Michaels)
Cricut Robotz cartridge
Yellow, blue, black, white and green card stock
Green and blue dotted ribbon

Cut 1 inch letters out of green card stock using the Robotz cartridge. Glue welcome to the top of the bag and baby to the bottom of the bag. Leave room in the center of the bag for the robot.

Cut robot 43 at 2 1/2 inches out the yellow, blue, black and white card stock. Assemble the robot and glue it onto the front of the bag.

Make a bow from green and blue dot ribbon and glue it to the top corner of the bag.

Antique Lions Et Oiseaux Update

This is the progress that I have made after 2 weeks of stitching. I absolutely love the way that this is turning out. The copper penny Zweigart fabric gives the piece an antique look. Unfortunately it doesn't translate well to camera (the piece is much more beautiful in person).

The Gloriana silk has been joy to work with. It doesn't fray when being pulled through the fabric multiple times and very rarely knots. The over dyed colors create a shaded effect on the motifs (notice the green shading on the lion).

I can't thank the owner's of Haus Tirol enough for helping me to select the perfect materials for my sampler. The pattern (Antique Lions et Oiseaux by a mon ami Pierre) and the materials used for this project can be ordered from The Stitching Well at Haus Tirol, 1915 Pocahontas Trail, Williamsburg, VA 23185 Phone: 757-220-0313. Their website is www.haustirolonline.com.

Halloween Cards

Every year I like to include some cards in my Halloween crafting because they allow me to experiment with a variety of products and techniques. Here are some of the cards that I made for 2010.



Click on the picture to enlarge the image.



Vampire Cat Directions:

Golden orange card stock
Orange card stock
Dark purple card stock
White card stock
Black card stock

Feline Count Stamp by Penny Black, Inc. (Margaret Sherry Collection)
Hampton Art Mini Flip Flops clear stamps
Sizzix Bats
Martha Stewart Bat paper punch, Martha Stewart trellis border paper punch
Dark purple ribbon
Green glitter glue
Glimmer Mist Sea Glass
Color Box black ink
Watercolors, colored pencils or markers in your choice of colors

Fold an 8 /12 inch by 11 inch piece of golden orange card stock in half.

Cut bats using the Sizzix Bat die and black card stock. Use green glitter glue for the bats eyes.
Lightly spray a piece of black card stock with Glimmer Mist Sea Glass. After the card stock is dry use the Martha Stewart punch to make three bats.

Stamp the cat on white card stock with black ink. After the ink dries color the image with watercolors, markers or colored pencils. I used watercolors for my cat. Cut the card stock to approximately 3 1/4 inches by 3 1/4 inches.

Cut the purple card stock to approximately 3 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Glue the white card stock on top of the purple card stock (leaving a 1/4 inch border).

Cut the orange card stock to approximately 4 inches by 4 inches. Glue purple layered card stock on top of the orange.

Cut the black card stock to approximately 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. Glue the orange layered card stock on top of the black.

Cut a piece of purple ribbon and glue across the top left corner of the layered card stock. Glue another piece of ribbon across the lower right corner of the card stock. Make a small bow and glue it to the ribbon in the left hand corner.

Center the framed cat image on the golden orange card stock and attach it to the card using foam dots.

Glue the Sizzix bats across the top of the card.

Stamp the word Fright Night in black in under the framed image. Use the Mini Flip Flops phrase (Fright Night).

Glue the Martha Stewart bats around the greeting.

Cut 1/4 inch off the long edge of the card. Punch a border out of black card stock using the Martha Stewart trellis border paper punch. Place the border slightly under the edge of the card and glue in place.


Haunted House Card Directions:

Halloween card stock: black or dark grey pattern, dot pattern
Sizzix Bats die
Martha Stewart Haunted House paper punch
Circle paper punch (large circle)
Orange plaid ribbon
Green glitter glue
Black, orange, light grey and gold card stock
Hampton Art Mini Flip Flops clear stamps
Color Box black ink

Fold a piece of 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch card stock in half.

Cut the dark grey patterned card stock approximately 5 1/4 inches long by 6 inches wide.

Punch a circle out of gold card stock using the large circle punch.

Punch the Haunted House out of black card stock using the Martha Stewart Haunted House paper punch. Glue the Haunted House on top of the gold circle.

Cut a piece of the Halloween dot card stock approximately 3 1/2 inches long by 3 3/4 inches wide. Glue the gold circle to the card stock.

Cut a piece of black card stock approximately 4 inches long by 4 1/4 inches wide. Glue the dot patterned card stock on top of the black.

Cut a piece of orange card stock approximately 4 1/4 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide. Glue the black layered card stock on top of the orange.

Cut a piece of black card stock approximately 4 1/2 inches long by 4 3/4 inches wide. Glue the orange layered card stock on top of the black.

Glue the Haunted House framed card stock one inch from the top of the dark grey patterned card stock.

Using the Mini Flip Flop stamps and black ink stamp Have a Haunted Halloween above the framed image on the dark grey patterned card stock.

Using the Sizzix Bat die and black card stock cut out several bats. Glue the bats over the Haunted House and to the left and right sides of the greeting. Aplly a small amount of green glitter glue to the bats eyes.

Cut a 2 inch long by 5 1/4 inch wide piece of Halloween dot card stock and glue to the bottom edge of the card. Glue a piece of plaid ribbon over the area where the dark grey and dot card stock pieces meet. Make a bow and attach to the ribbon.

Halloween Tree

I can't believe it's September already and Halloween will be upon us before we know it. Therefore my next few postings will be related to Halloween projects. Denis this one is for you since you requested that I update my project postings more frequently.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it allows a lot of room for creativity. I have never liked the gory, gross, creepy side of Halloween. I prefer to focus on the fun and whimsical side of the holiday. I decorate with witches, ghosts, bats,vampires and pumpkins. Recently I purchased the Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge because the images are so cute. I wanted to use as many images as possible in my decorations so I decided to create a Halloween tree.










Directions:

All supplies are available at Michaels Craft stores.
Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge, Bat for tree topper, cob webbing and gnarled black tree.

All ornaments were cut with the Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge at 1 1/2 inches. The spider also used the shadow feature and gray card stock as a backing for the spider image. Ornaments are made by using an awl to punch a small hole in the top of the finished design and threading a small piece of gold craft wire through the top. Twist the wire around the tree branch and tie a small bow using purple ribbon around the branch to hide the wire. Using packaged cob webbing decorate the tree to fill in open areas being careful not to cover up the ornaments. Position a bat at the top of the tree ( as a tree topper) and adjust the wings.

La Sorciere

After years of use some of our Halloween decorations were looking kind of ratty and worn. Brittany and I decided it was time to replace them and headed off to our local Home Goods store to browse the Halloween section. It was there that we found a collection of interesting colorful witches unlike any thing that we had seen before. These witches had smiling green faces carved out of resin. We couldn't decide which witch to buy because all three were cute. Unfortunately Home Goods had only one of each of the styles of witches. As we debated our choice a woman came up to us and told us the witches were so cute and then patiently hoovered over us waiting for us to put the unwanted ones back on the shelf. Still indecisive and not wanting to relinquish any of them just yet Brittany suggested that we use the Mac Beth rule. The witches in Mac Beth traveled in threes. As you can see I invoked the Mac Beth rule and we came home with all three.
We added the trick or treat sign and made the witches into a display.

Trip to Colonial Williamsburg

I have finally returned home from my vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia. Since I love 18th century history Williamsburg is one of the places that we vacation each year. Colonial Williamsburg has such great interactive programs that I could spend the entire week there. My family is not as enamored with Colonial life and they usually have their fill of 18th century history after a couple of days. They prefer to spend their days instead at Busch Gardens.

While I am in Williamsburg I make it a point to stop at Haus Tirol to chat with the owners and purchase some needlework projects. Brittany found some Beatrix Potter Tale of Peter Rabbit patterns and I found some patterns by a mon ami Pierre.

A mon ami Pierre's Antique Lions Et Oiseaux caught my attention. The design was based on an antique French sampler.


The pattern is available from www.amonamipierre.net




I knew that I could not leave Haus Tirol without purchasing the materials to stitch the sampler. The owners were very helpful in selecting fabrics and threads to make my sampler look like an antique. They layed about five different fabrics on the counter in front of me and then pulled the equivalent DMC colors suggested in the pattern. I chose a beautiful 16 count hand dyed Aida (dark taupe with copper shading). The original model was stitched with Anchor floss and an over-dyed green floss that are not available in the US. Since I wanted to work in silk the owners suggested Gloriana Cranberry and The Thread Gatherer Silk 'N Colors Dark Forest over-dyed silks.




I'm interested to see the finished results and will post them here.

Cat Quilt

My daughter Brittany will soon be leaving Germany and returning home. We wanted to give her Host Mom a special gift to remember their time together. Heidi is such a wonderful, caring person and a great Host Mom so I decided to design a quilt for her. I chose a cat theme since Heidi loves cats.



Several years ago I decided to try to design my own quilt. I found the entire process very frustrating because I didn't know where to begin. I'm posting the entire design process in the hope that it will inspire other beginners to design their own quilts. It's so rewarding to see a design that was translated onto paper actually come to life as a quilt.

The first thing that I always do is to develop a quilt plan. The plan includes a sketch of the design, the size, number of blocks per row, block size and colors. I really like the cat from Whistlepig Productions Wild Cat pattern and decided to use it for my cat blocks. I selected the medium cat and changed the colors to black and white. Heidi used red accents in her living room and I wanted the quilt to coordinate with red. I used a color wheel (available at craft and fabric stores) to determine compatible colors. When I went to purchase the fabric I decided to do a monochromatic theme.

Quilt plan, color wheel and sample color swatches







Quilt fabrics


The next step is to pre-wash and iron all of the fabrics. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Quilt fabric is 100 % cotton and must be pre-shrunk, otherwise the quilt will shrink when it's washed for the first time.




Directions for Cat Quilt:

All fabrics used in this quilt are 45 inches wide.
Finished size is 56 x 72.

5 yards red fabric (45 inch wide) for backing, borders and binding
1/2 yard white fabric for cat's muzzle and paws
1/2 yard black fabric for the cat and the ears
1 yard dark pink dotted fabric for the border
1 1/2 yards each of light pink and medium pink fabrics (2 light pink prints, 1 medium pink print) The light pink prints are for the background squares and the medium pink print is for the hearts.
2 yards deep rose fabric for borders and sashing
scraps of light pink print for the cat's nose and inner ears
Heat and Bond for appliques (Do Not use Heat and Bond Ultra. It's very difficult to sew through.)

Threads: Natural color machine quilting, black and medium pink

Green beads for the cat's eyes ( I used Green Jasper)

Twin size low loft batting ( I chose low loft because the finished quilt would pack flat for mailing.)

Whistlepig Creek Productions Wild Cats pattern for the cat (available from www.wpcreek.com)

Cricut George cartridge for the hearts

All seams are 1/4 inch. Press each seam. This will allow the quilt to lay flat making it easier to sew and give more professional looking results.

1. Trace the cat image from the pattern on to the Heat and Bond (paper side facing up). Trace the cat in pieces (face, ears, paws, nose and cat body). Draw 24 cats and carefully cut them out. Lay the fabric wrong side up on the ironing board, lay the Heat and Bond paper side up on top of the fabric and fuse according to manufacturer's directions. Fuse the cat body and ears on the black fabric, the muzzle and paws on the white fabric and the inner ears and nose on the pink fabric.

2. Cut the medium pink print fabric and Heat and Bond to fit the Cricut cutting mat (mine is 6 x 12). Lay the fabric with the wrong side facing up on the ironing board and lay the Heat and Bond paper side up on top of the fabric and fuse. Place the fused fabric on the cutting mat (fabric against the mat and paper side up). Press down hard to get the fabric to stick to the mat. Tape the edges down with painter's tape, otherwise the fabric will shift when the blade starts to cut. Using the George cartridge select the heart and set the dial to 5 1/2 inches. Cut out a total of 24 hearts.

3. Cut 24 eight inch square blocks out of each of the light pink print fabrics (total of 48 blocks).

4. Remove the paper backing from the hearts, center on the block and fuse. Center the cat body on the block, fuse and then add each of the pieces and fuse (ears, nose, paws). Check the pattern for placement markings for each piece. Finish the fused pieces using a zig zag stitch. Use black thread around the cats and pink thread around the hearts. Using the zig zag stitch sew the cat's eyebrows and whiskers. Using black thread sew the eyes on by hand using green beads (I used green Jasper beads).

5. Using the dark rose fabric cut about ten 2 inch strips for sashing between blocks.

6. Assemble the rows alternating cats and hearts. Each row contains 6 blocks. Example: Row 1 Cat, Heart, Cat, Heart, Cat, Heart Row 2 Heart, Cat, Heart, Cat, Heart, Cat Sew the sashing to the blocks using 1/4 seams. Do not sew sashing to the end blocks. Each row will use 5 pieces of sashing. Press seams toward the blocks.

7. Sew the sashing between the rows. You should have a total of eight rows. Do Not sew sashing to the top or bottom. Press seams.

8. Using the dark rose fabric cut eight 2 1/2 inch wide strips to make the borders. Sew two strips together. Press. Sew the strips along the sides of the blocks. Press and then sew the strips along the top and bottom rows. Press.

9. Cut eight 1 1/2 inch wide strips out of the red fabric. Sew two strips together and then press. Sew the strips to the side borders and then the top borders. Press seams.

10. Cut ten 2 1/2 inch strips out of the dark pink dotted fabric. Sew two strips together and repeat. Then sew three strips together and repeat. Sew the three strip unit to each side of the quilt and the 2 strip units to the top and bottom of the quilt.

11. Take the 4 yards of the red fabric and fold the fabric crosswise. Double check your measurements by laying the fabric on top of the quilt. Cut the fabric in half (2 yard pieces) and sew together. This will form the backing for the quilt. Press seams. Lay the backing wrong side facing up on a large table or the floor, lay the batting on top of the red fabric and then lay the quilt top on the batting. You want to form a sandwich- backing, batting, quilt top. Baste the layers together using quilters safety pins. The batting and backing fabric should extend three inches past the quilt top on all sides. Trim away any excess.

12. Start quilting the layers. Begin in the middle of the quilt and work towards the ends. Stitch around the edges of each block. Next stitch around each heart. This will cause the hearts to puff up slightly. Trim away the excess fabric and batting before sewing on the binding.

13. Cut twelve 1 1/2 inch strips out of the red fabric. Sew 3 strips together. Repeat. Press seams and fold in half and press. Sew strips along the sides and the top and bottom of the quilt. Press. Pin in place and then stitch by hand.

Quilled Accents for Wedding Invitations

My daughter Michelle's best friend Valerie is getting married. Valerie, the Maid of Honor at Michelle's wedding, is marrying Brandon, the Best Man. Incidentally, Valerie caught the bouquet. We are all so happy for them.

Quilling has become one of my favorite crafts because it doesn't require a lot of expensive materials to achieve beautiful results. Many people have the impression that quilling is hard to do. It's simply twirling a strip of paper around the end of a quilling tool. It's great for beginners because they don't have to master a lot of skills to get good results.

I'm always looking around my house for items that I can enhance with quilling. I was so excited to receive Valerie's wedding invitation in the mail because it meant another quilling opportunity. Since Valerie's wedding is being held at a local vineyard I decided to use grapes to decorate her invitation.






Directions:

Supplies:

Slotted quilling tool
1/8 inch wide quilling paper strips in shades of purple and shades of green
glue
mat (I used an 8 x 10 double mat with a 5 x 7 opening)
frame (I used an 8 x 10 frame and removed the glass. Unless your frame is deep enough to accommodate the quilling, you will have to remove the glass).
Martha Stewart maple leaf punch
green card stock for leaves


1. Using purple quilling paper strips roll tight coils out of several different shades of purple. Carefully remove the coils from the quilling tool and glue the end of the paper. After the glue has dried carefully push the end of the roll out with an eraser ( consult Martha Stewart.com).

2. Put the mat in the frame and measure from the frame to the end of the mat. This is the area where you can place your quilling (mine measured 1 1/2 inches). Lightly mark this area with a pencil. Remove the mat from the frame. Glue grapes in bunches around the top and bottom of the mat.

3. Punch several leaves out of different shades of green card stock. Glue the leaves in place behind the grapes.

4. Roll 3 strips of light olive green quilling paper into tight coils and pull the end of the coil as you take it off of the quilling tool so that it produces a curly spiral shape. Repeat the process with a darker olive green paper. Glue the curly spirals around the tops of the grapes.

5. Using the darker olive paper make several scroll shapes and glue them between the bunches of grapes.

6. After the quilling has dried position the invitation in the mat. Carefully place the mat in the frame.

Decoupaged 18th Century Chest

I have always liked decoupage but my projects never turned out the way that I had envisioned them. After reading the decoupage section in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts I decided to give decoupage one more try.

My daughter Brittany's friend Mitch was the inspiration for this project. Mitch collects Marie Antoinette memorabilia. On their trip to Versailles Mitch was disappointed that the only collectibles were pictures of Marie Antoinette. He told Brittany that he wished he could find something that he could display on a table. Brittany knew that I wanted to do another Marie Antoinette project and was looking for an idea. I had just recently finished reading a book about Versailles and decided to do a small chest that resembled some of the chests in the book. I decided to replace the painted images on the top of the Versailles chests with a decoupaged picture.









I used Jolee's dimensional stickers for the trim.





The frame was cut using Cricut Home Decor and card stock. It was then painted with metallic gold acrylic paint and sealed with Modge Podge.

Directions:

1. Lightly sand a pre-sanded wooden chest to remove any rough spots. Wipe the piece down with a damp cloth to remove dust. Paint the chest with Folk Art Italian Sage acrylic paint. Let the chest dry over night then apply a second coat of paint.

2. Paint the trim with Dazzling Metallics Elegant Finish Venetian Gold acrylic paint. Let the chest dry over night then apply a second coat of paint.

3. Scan a picture of Marie Antoinette and print on glossy photo paper (I used an inkjet printer). The printed picture is approximately a 2 1/2 inch oval. Carefully trim around the edges of the picture. Apply the picture to the top of the chest using a foam sponge and a very thin coat of Modge Podge. Using light pressure roll a brayer over the top of the image to remove any air bubbles. Let the image cure for about a week and then lightly sand it with very fine sand paper. Wipe with a damp cloth to remove any dust and let it dry. Apply a second coat of very thin Modge Podge and brayer the image. Let it cure for about a week. Since I was working under humid conditions I let the piece sit for a week between coats of Modge Podge to be sure that the piece was completely dry.

4. Using a foam sponge and Modge Podge lightly coat the entire chest to seal it. Let it dry completely and then seal it again.

5. Using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge and cream card stock cut an oval frame at 2 1/2 inches. Paint the frame gold and when it dries paint it again. After the frame is dry lightly coat it with Modge Podge to seal it. When the Modge Podge dries glue small pearls around the edges of the frame.

6. Glue the dimensional stickers to the top, sides and front of the chest. Glue the frame around the picture of Marie Antoinette.

Tip: Instead of a traditional palette and disposable palette paper try using a large glazed ceramic tile. They are available from Home Depot for about $1.50 per tile. They clean up with soap and water.