Hoops and Babies

Gift giving season has started already! 

I have loads of friends and relatives with November and December birthdays,

and this month I also had a friend's baby shower to attend.

I'm not really inspired to shop for gifts anymore - the commercialism, the long waiting lines, the coupon/sale games, the not-having-the-right-size dilemmas, etc. etc. etc.  

Plus, the lack of the PERSONAL in those kinds of gifts.

The older I get, the more important it is for me to do things that have meaning to me, 

and hopefully, to the recipient.

So HANDMADE is my preferred way to go.

(plus, having a TON of crafting supplies spurs me on too!!!)

OK, blah, blah, blah.

I've had these embroidery hoops laying around for way too long, plus I love to collect lovely scraps of leftover fabric from my favorite charity shop, The Legacy, in Sebastopol.

Time to put them together........

This hoop was made for my friend Kelli's birthday gift.

Who doesn't like their initial?

Kelli's a hip dame with a sophisticated artistic style, hence this classy color scheme.

The monogram K was made by using a large stamp on scratch paper,

then pinning it to the fabric and cutting it out like a sewing pattern, 

and layering it over a canvas scrap that was cut as if it were a matte.

The way to make the flower on the left was taught to us at Brave Girls Camp, 

by Kathy Wilkins' 12-year-old daughter (!!!) - hint:  much hot glue was used.

The flower on the upper right is layered from a leather die-cut, a hand-cut canvas circle and a button.

The embelly on the bottom was purchased.

 This next hoop was made for my friend Jenny's baby shower.

Jenny had  POSTED how she made her hoops to decorate the baby's room,

so I followed her lead, for baby Isabel.

This beautiful fabric is from Stampin' Up.  

The monogram "I" was clip art I googled and enlarged, and again cut from the fabric like a sewing pattern.

The pink plastic doily is a vintage find from Etsy (ka-yoot!).

The flower embellies are all layered bits and die cuts from my stash.

Again, who doesn't like their initial?

Below is the card I made for Jenny.

The scallops are all die cut from decorative paper and fabric, all by Stampin' Up.

I love the fresh lavender-yellow-pink color combo!

I made the card extra large (5"X8" I think) because I wanted to fill it with a lot of scallop layers.

Why not?  More is MORE, right?

TFL!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving collage

OK, I am totally inspired by my friend Jenny (see her BLOG).

Actually, I love stealing ideas from her...because she has such FUN ideas!

She has this shadow box in her entry hall in which she displays a variety of 

seasonal or holiday collages, on a rotating basis.  

Her house is new and clean and beautifully decorated, in what I would call a chic country style.

My house is old and worn and contains the possessions of the three generations who have inhabited it.  I would call our "style" ranch eclectic, with an emphasis on the ranch part - lots of mismatched stuff from different eras and places, and lots of art and "collectibles".

To liven things up, I purchased my own (black) shadow box, and have so far made three seasonal collages.

This one I made yesterday while attending a crop with a bunch of my friends.

Yes, the theme is Thanksgiving, which is only 12 days away (!!!).

Better late than never.....

Here are some close-ups of the details.....

.....this is a great way to use up lots of random embellishments that you may have lying around.

I used lots of different techniques:  stamping, embossing, watercoloring, paper piecing, distressing....

...plus using lots of different textures, like fabric, felt, paper, metal, buttons, etc., gives it lots of interest.....

The little rusty house is so cute!  Its from RED LEAD PAPERWORKS, which carries lots of yummy vintage-y stuff, plus lots of inspiration.  

The sticker next to the house is a sweet Irish blessing:

"May your troubles be less,

and you blessings be more, 

and nothing but happiness, 

come through your door"

This is just a fun way to play with all the little bits we collect or have left over.

Now that Jenny has inspired me, I hope that I have inspired you!

Happy Halloween!!! (a week late...)

Some of my crafting friends and I have a new monthly ATC club, which started in October.

After some discussion and many laughs, we decreed ourselves the HOT FLASH HOTTIES!

Being of, or approaching, a "certain" age - ya gotta laugh!!!!!

So our first month's theme was "HALLOWEEN", and here are the artistic results:

something bright and fun, by Kelli

profound and mysterious, by Deborah

something delightfully dyslexic, by Marcia

some interactive ghostly fun, by Diane 

a scary spooky witch, by Berta (check out her lovely blog HERE)

some neat-o fall textures, by Mahria

an exquisite scary cat on a fence, by Helen

some bats having a party, by Kate

and a little witch with her spider friend, by me

Here's a shot of the group.  Creative and fun, eh?

Stay tuned for November's creations.......