Summer Scrapbooking

I don't have time to blog any more... I really don't.  But for some reason, now that school has started, I thought I would do a little blog catch up of some of the crafty things I did over the summer.

I love to scrapbook... crafting is fun, but I love to scrapbook.  And every summer, I plan on getting tons of scrapbooking done since I don't work in the summer... but, I have kids to entertain and play with, so I don't get any scrapbooking done... It's okay, I'll get caught up some day:)

Here are the pages that I worked on.  I think I got all of 2011 finished, so I can start working on 2012.

A halloween party I did for my kids.

 The Jubilee of Trees... held the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving... love layouts where I can fit tons of pix.

My hubby's birthday is in December.

Christmas Eve we went to Zion national park.

2 page spread of Christmas 2011

And the very last page of 2011... New Year's Eve

I still really love my little 6x6 albums I make for my kids.  Easy, simple quick layouts.  I don't put a lot in them, but sometimes there's just a picture that I take that needs to be saved... love this little boy.

Lastly, because I do two page spreads, there is always a page at the beginning of the album and end of the album that is a single page.  I try to put our family pix in those spaces... this is from 2009.  I had a few missing holes in some of my scrapbooks.

Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!

Berry Wreath Make-over

Do you remember these berry wreaths that were super popular a few years ago?  I'm not sure that they are going out of style just yet, but I thought I'd do a fun BRIGHT make-over with mine!

 First I sprayed primer on the wreath.  Then I spray painted it PINK!  (Just so you know, it takes a LOT of paint and primer... probably a whole can of spray paint to cover all of the branches!)

 Then I made paper flowers to go around the wreath.  I used this tutorial from Under the Table and Dreaming.  I used buttons in the center to add even more color.

Here's the final product!!!  I'm in love:)

Speaking of buttons... grab mine!

<center><a href="http://larciebird.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Manic Mother" src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv70/ryanisa/grababutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Button, button, who's got the button?

I spent about 45 minutes this morning doing a little more button organizing.... I stole all of my mom's buttons so I had several more to add to my stash.
The top dish is my large flat buttons. The bottom dish is the buttons that are not flat... ya know the kind that have the thing on the back that you sew on... what is that called? These are the buttons that I use to make my fabric flowers.

A whole pint jar of white buttons (I actually sent quite a few of these to the local thrift shop... how many white buttons do you need?)
More jars of buttons...
And my traveling case of buttons that I take when I go to a crop. Wow, that's a lot of buttons?

-Anisa

Patterned Paper Covered Wood Letters

Don't forget to vote for my new header!

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My brother built a huge shelf for my mom about a year ago. It was for her old house and was painted black. Well, it doesn't match in her new house, so a coat of primer and 4 coats of paint later, I finally got it white!
I've been busy spray painting candle holders, bookends, etc. to match her shelf. She also has a few fun antiques on it. And the fun part, was the "Believe" letters... (believe in what? I'm not sure, but she bought them several years ago and had never done anything with them... I like to think it's "Believe in God." That works for me.)
So, I traced the letters on patterned paper, cut it out, inked the edges, and mod podged it into the wood letters. Then I embellished with ribbons, buttons and crocheted flowers.
Mom loves them and that's the important thing!!!
-Anisa

Birthday and January Banner

A couple of months ago, I made these cute banners. Well, I need to keep making one for each month. So, here are the last two that I made.
The "Celebrate" one is mostly for birthdays. I didn't get it made in time for my hubby's b-day in December, but it was finished for my little boy's birthday in January.
My favorite so far is the January banner. I had some fun die cut felt that I was able to use and I did a lot of stitching!
I love the colors... red, turquoise and gold... and I love the stitching.
A couple of close ups...
I've got my paper for February... now let's see if I can some up with something creative to do with it! --Anisa

A girl for a week

My baby nephew was born on Dec. 23rd with an infection. So, he's been in Primary Children's hospital. We got to baby sit my niece while his mom and dad were in the hospital with him. Aside from the emotions of a girl, I had fun having a girl for a week!

I love cute hair flowers, but I never get the chance to make them because I have 3 boys. So, I got the chance to make a few!

I tried a few different techniques. All of these flowers were made by simply taking a strip of fabric about 2" wide by 18" long. I started by tieing a knot at the end... the not becomes the center of the flower. Then, you kind of just fold and twist while you hot glue. I'm sure there is some awesome blog out there with a tutorial on these flowers... I was too lazy to try to figure out how to take pictures while my hands were making the flowers.

This pink flower was made by taking the same strip of fabric. Instead of twisting and hot gluing, I folded it in half the long way. Then I simply took a needle and thread and sewed along the non-folded edge. I gathered as a sewed. Then I sewed a button in the middle.
This flower was made by taking a piece of fabric about 1.5" wide x 18" long. I simply tore the fabric to give it the shappy chic look. I then used a needle and thread to do a gathering stitch along the edge. I repeated with a piece of fabric 1" x 18" and then sewed the smaller one on top of the larger one. And sewed a button in the middle.
I think they turned out pretty cute and it was fun to make some flowers out of fabric.... Next up... singed flowers.

Some of these flowers were made specifically to take pictures of this cute little girl....

I had fun trying out some photo techniques and fun editing in Iphoto and Photoshop elements.
Now, I can't wait to go meet my new little nephew!!!

A few homemade Christmas gifts

In my family, we rotate who we give Christmas gifts to. When I asked my brother and sister-in-law what they wanted, they told me a gift card to Walmart. How boring! But, I know better than to give my brother anything other than what he asked for. However, I just couldn't give them a gift card without giving them some cute hand made gifts to go with it. They have a little girl who is 3 1/2. So, I thought I would make a cute hair clip for her.But, they were expecting a baby boy (he was born Dec. 23rd). I couldn't figure out what to make him. I debated on burp cloths and bibs.... but I finally decided on a binky holder. I just put a simple brad on the end to hide the clip... and I love it when I can purchase something for a gift for someone and have a bunch of fun stuff left over for me!
One of the fun parts of giving gifts is the packaging. One of the things that makes it cute is when you use something from the gift to decorate the packaging... I used the ribbon from the binky clip and a scrap of fabric from the hair clip to tie the cellophane bags. It adds a fun touch to the gifts.

Our little nephew has been in Primary Children's hospital with an infection and we haven't even been able to meet him yet! He is improving a ton but won't be out until the round of antibiotics is over (in another week). I can't wait to meet him! In the meantime, we are baby sitting my niece... I have been making more hair flowers and have plans to make a few more.... I don't get the chance to make girly stuff all that often!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

-Anisa

Black Apple Doll Party... so much fun!!!

So, I wanted to post the pics of the girls and their dolls. This turned out to be so much fun.

They are so great because they each have their own characteristics. The girls picked their fabric, felt hair color and all of their embellishments. They even painted their own faces on.
It took us almost 2.5 hours to complete the dolls. I did all of the sewing, but the girls did the rest. They cut out the fabric, stuffed, drew on faces, etc. They all loved their dolls and had tons of fun chatting while they worked!!! -Anisa

Black Apple Doll Party!!!

Now that the Seedlings Craft Boutique is over, I can start working on my own crafts:) Not quite. Maybe next week.

So, I had a friend ask me if I would teach her daughter and 3 of her friends how to make Black Apple Dolls for her daughter's birthday party. How fun is that. This little girl is turning 11 and it was her idea to do this for her birthday. My husband said that I'm the clown at the birthday:) Anyway, I am going to bring my stash of supplies and teach/help these 4 little girls make Black Apple Dolls. I hope all goes well... these little dolls can be kind of tricky. I made a couple of new dolls to just refresh my memory of how they are made. Loving them!!!

-Anisa

March Snow Showers bring Fabric Flowers

It snowed this weekend. But I was in the mood for flowers. So, I used Cami's Sizzix and some super cool wool fabric that I got from my mom's stash and I made some fabric flowers. I met a girl in my neighborhood a few months ago that was wearing a fabric flower similar to these. I asked her how she made them and she kind of explained it to me. So, I thought I would do my version and see how it turned out.

For these flowers you will need 6 flowers. We cheated and cut the flowers out on the Sizzix with a flower die. You could trace and hand cut the flowers if you want. I am using different colors in my sample flower so that you can see the layering easier.
Step 1: Take your first two flowers and off set them. Using a needle and thread, just pull the need through from the back.
Step 2: Fold the other 4 flowers in half (I ironed mine for the picture, but don't do that. You want them to fluff up).
Step 3: Layer the flowers like you would fold closed the top of a box... turning a quarter turn for every flower.

Step 4: Put your layered flowers on top of your other two flowers and pull that needle through the flowers again. Sew a couple of stitches through to make sure you get every layer.
Step 5: With that threaded needle still in your flower, sew a button in the middle.

Now, my multi-colored flower is a little wonky... but kind of cute. But let me show you some of my cuter flowers.
Gotta love my mom's stash of fabric!!!
-Anisa