Ruffle tutorial

While recently making a bazillion yards of ruffles I came across an easier new and improved way of making them. No more pulling threads to gather the fabric into ruffles....Easy-peasy ruffles! Easy-peasy-FAST ruffles!Firstly, start off with long strips of fabric. I've torn my fabric in long lengths at 2 inch intervals. I pulled off all the extra strings and rolled them up for easier use. I like the worn/shabby look so I left both ends frayed. I set my tension thread at the highest number which causes the bobbin thread to be super loose. Now... here is the trick. With your right hand, grab the thread as it comes right off the spool, your wanting to keep it taut as it gets pulled into the machine to sew. After only about an inch of sewing you'll see the fabric start to ruffle instantly. Keep ahold of the thread at a consistant "pull" while you sew the length of your fabric. No more pulling threads to gather the fabric into a ruffle, once you've stitched the fabric-- its turned into a ruffle! You could even backstitch at the beginning and end of each ruffle strip for added strength. I've attached rows of ruffles to a long piece of fabric...which I then stitched to a lovely white embroidered square that I have sitting on top of one of two matching coffee tables. (covered in plastic due to the 3 cats I have who sit and dirty up everything!) Here is the before....
Here is the after... isn't is so darn caute? Just gives it a nice finished look.Now, I've just got to make more ruffles to finish up the other matching white embroidered tablecloth for the other coffee table. Easy-peasy-ruffles...
I've linked to The Trendy Treehouse~

Mixed Media Monday

This weeks challenge theme is: "cool it down" - in other words use cool colors in your creation.

I painted a picture of my 18 month old grandaughter. I am NOT a painter by any means, but I thought I would give it a try... I took the "paint by numbers" approach to painting this. I can't even believe I'm showing this.... cool colors though!!It has 3d elements to it... a textured tissue paper dress, textured paint for the flower stem & leaves and of course the silk flower.

Here is the photo I used for a reference~I also made some tags...

more my style!

Paperie Party

Paper,paper,paper...Don't ya just lurve paper? New paper, scrapbook paper, newspaper, old-old antique/vintage paper... I love paper! I am lucky when it comes to finding old books for around a buck (most pictured here are from the late 1800's early 1900's) You would think with all the folding, tearing, ripping and cutting that that wasn't the case..... paper in some cases even smells good. To me a musty old book smells divine! Lets face it.... paper, scissors and glue... and the world is yours! I've created a slideshow with some of the gazillion things I've created using paper and other things~

If your wanting to see more paperie party fun... grab a low calorie cupcake...and head on over to The French Cupboard.

Mixed Media Monday~

This weeks challenge theme is: something red~

I created 6 tags for a Wizard of Oz tag swap I joined. I made 6 tin man tags. This ties in nicely with the second part of what I made for last weeks MMM challenge. I used silver metal tape over illustration board that I cut into tag shapes. To create the rivets on these tags, I used straight pins which I pushed through the tag and cut off the excess on the backside. I rubbed some acrylic paint over each tag to highlight the imperfections in the metal tape. I think it gives it a more realistic look of metal. (the flash washed out a lot of the black on each tag.. in person they look really distressed/old) I used Sculpy clay to make the hearts around each small clock.... and vintage silver seam binding ribbon for each tags tie.

Here they are placed inside the 6 pocketed embellished manilla file folder that I made last week...

All tied up and ready to be shipped to the hostess of the Wizard of Oz tag swap.

Halloween fun~

With halloween right around the corner...I thought I'd get a head start on some halloween fun. I made these two little cutie-pies into halloween wall hangings.A little girl~and a little boy~

I really like how the glittered spiders turned out. I can see myself making a gazillion of these~I also finished up the last hollowed out orange I had.... I also had one more tiny cloche left to finish up~This wire ball cage I picked up at a yard sale for .10cents. I spray painted it white and added the fairy and flowers. There was a tremendous amount of work that went into this little cage, I'm glad I found it~I like how these two look in this pink bowlie...I may just leave them there until after halloween!

Mixed media Monday

This weeks challenge theme is: embellish.

I've chosen to embellish a manila file folder. I created this vintage inspired soon-to-be tag holder to hold 6 tags I'm making for a Wizard of Oz tag swap. I added a glittered star with Toto climbing up from behind it on the cover. I made Toto using illustration board that I covered with textured paint and then used a stylis to make the fur on the dog. The white paint is on some of the raised areas of the textured paint. I gave the dog blue eyes~Here is the piece opened up. I numbered each pocket~

I used torn muslin on the seams to give it an even older feel to the piece.

Here is the backside... I adore the "antique" glue that I use, it gives everything a beautiful aged look~

I put so much time on this... to much time... so of course I want full credit!Next weeks theme is: seeing red.... I'm going to work that into the tags I've to make!

If you'd like to join in on the "Wizard of Oz" tag swap... visit Karla over at her blog "Karla's Cottage" and sign up~

Rag quilt

Well, I've begun working on my first rag quilt. I cut out 5 inch squares of flannel fabric along with some shabby-chic fabrics that I have in my fabric stash.I've googled how to make a rag quilt... and it looks easy enough. So far its been easy. I started by laying out the back of the quilt squares, then the middle section then finally the design that I've come up with-- so far.Here is the top of the quilt with the 25 squares that I've got sewn together so far~

Here is the back. I was wanting it to look like a quilt on the back as well as the front, so I used two different colors of flannel on the backside. A solid light pink and a lime green and pink dotted flannel. It lined up beautifully~I'm not sure how each intersection of the 4 squares is going to look once I cut and fray the quilt. Will there be holes in those spots? If anyone knows, could you please share with me.... I'm thinking about sewing a mother of pearl buttons in those spots, and use enough floss to be able to tie a bow on the backside of the quilt giving it a tied look. I'm still in the planning stages~

Mixed Media Monday

This weeks challenge theme is: Memories~
I call this Virginia~I used a lid off of an old box from the 1900's as the base to build upon. I added vintage crepe paper, a vintage corsage, a clock face from an old coo-coo clock, lace, an old key tied on with a ribbon, a pearl necklace, a photo transferred onto tape... a piece of muslin that I wrote on with a brown fine tip sharpie... and of course a four leaf clover.

San Juan Bautista~

While it seems everyone else in the world is spending time at the 500 mile yard sale... I've had to console myself with local yard sales and an antique show at San Juan Bautista this weekend. This is what I got from the yard sales I went to... a 3 piece set of round containers for .25cents, a chicken wire tea pot .10cents, a can of acrylic clear spray .25cents, an abalone shell .25cents, 2 butterflys .10cents, a small handmade round wire "cage" for .10cents, wooden hands for .50cents, and a handful of trim for .25cents...My favorite find was a milk glass piece for my ever-growing milk glass collection. A bird sitting on top of a nest. I had to pay the huge sum of .10cents for this piece... isn't it so darn caute?The antique show at San Juan Bautista was chalk full of the usual over priced stuff that is always fun to look at, but always to pricey to buy.... Its nice to have a reference of what things are worth when I hit the yard sales~ I did see things I would have liked to own but not at the prices they were asking-- no one needs things that badly. Here is a slideshow of just a few things I took pictures of... nothing really fabulous as I was just pointing and shooting randomly without my glasses on-- I didn't want to make a huge deal of taking photos.. this way, I didn't have to ask permission :-) Always thinking~

San Juan Bautista on PhotoPeach


The chickens and roosters are free roaming throughout the city and mission. You just know some of them end up on some ones b.b.q... I'm just saying~ The big black dog was h-u-g-e! It looked like a big black bear walking on a leash-- only this thing slobbered....

Fairy Crystals~

While going through some containers in my studio I came across some crystals that I've been gathering up whenever I see them at yardsales-- I have all of these... and somemore-somewhere. Are they not beautiful?I used clear glue to adhere each small fairy to the back/flat side of each crystal.Once the glue had dried, I slathered some glue over the top of each fairy and coated each one with some fine cut glitter. Once the glue and glitter had dried, I rubbed each one to take off the excess glitter. I then coated the backside that had the glitter on it with some clear spray to keep the glitter from getting everywhere. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone... so I added some vintage seam binding and some flowers. These do not photograph very well, but you get the idea~Some more....Here is one close-up....A few more... This little guy is a cutie-pie with his odd shaped crystal~I am going to have a Christmas tree this year with fairies all over it, always thinking ahead~