Quilting???

The last time I ever tried quilting it was awful.  I am not a quilter, although I do sew my own window valances, bags and a few costumes in the past. 

As I was talking to my best friend Melissa, she mentioned she was getting back into quilting.  She had signed up for some quilt-alongs.  I thought that sounded like fun.  Even thought I didn't sign up for any quilt-alongs I wanted to try something "easy".  I found several free block patterns online and decided on the Disappearing Nine Patch. 

Another thing I wanted to do was use up some of my fabric I had stored away.  The colors I had the most of were black, white and turquoise.  One thing I found not easy was cutting the fabric the traditional quilters way, using the rotary cutter and ruler.  I went with the non-traditional way and made a pattern to reuse.  Hey, that is the way I feel most comfortable doing it. 

The following is a picture of my 9 squares sewn together.  Then you cut then in half horizontally and vertically. 

Next, you take the four squares and turn them until get a pattern you like. Then sew those squares together.

This is my quilt about two-thirds of the way done.

Anyway, this is my quilt (well wall hanging). I will post a picture later.

New Project - Non cardmaking or scrapbooking involved

Lately, I have been trying to stay active and not sitting for too long.  My knees are still a work in progress. I find if I am sitting at the computer or at the desk to craft for too long, my knees tend to get sore.

My husband and I had built a wall shelf for the area above my computer desk.  I decided I needed another one.  This time I cut the wood out, sanded and painted it.  He helped me put it together and up on the wall.  This smaller shelf holds my Cricut Cartridges.  (who knew I had so many). lol  I really like the way it came out.

Happy Valentines Day Honey!!!

For this past Valentines Day, I wanted to give my husband a different kind of card.  You know, the non-typical type you wouldn't find at the store. 

One day I sat down at the computer and logged into my trusty, go-to craft website - aka Splitcoast Stampers.  I found a thread where someone was looking for sexiest valentine images.  BINGO, I thought.  One of the ladies had suggested Kenny K. Downloads.  I knew I had to order a couple of those images.   I decided to use Allure Von D on my card.

Here is my "sexy valentine card for my darling husband.

No Mojo

It seems like it has been forever since I my last card/scrapbook/project. 

My husband bought me a Cricut Expression in Teal for Christmas.  So I had been playing around with the Expression and my Design Studio.  I have been to several Creating Keepsakes Conventions over the past years.  One of the booths in the Vendor Faire had laser cut pages.  They are wonderful pages but I didn't was to pay the $5 per page.  So I looked around the internet and found Scrappin' My Stress Away Blog.  She made exactly what I had been looking for.  After several hours over the course of a few days and a bunch of cheap paper I finally made something I liked and could use.

This is a double page spread I made for a trip to the beach.  All I have to do is take the pictures, add them to the page and do some journaling.

CC296 - Turquoise Birthday Wish

Since I am trying to get crafty today, I decided to go back through some of the challenges on Splitcoast to get some creative juices flowing. 

I looked through the Color Combo challenges and found CC296 - Poppy Turquoise & White.  I really love this color combo.  I poked around some other sites to get some ideas and came up with a birthday card for my younger sister.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Winobella (Stamping Bella) and Small Script (Stampin Up)

Paper: White, Red, Black, Turquoise & patterned paper by Martha Stewart

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Accessories: Copic Markers, Pearl accents, Stampin Up border punch and Stampin Up Ticket Punch

January 2011 SFYTT

Happy New Year to everyone!  I am new to I {heart} 2 stamp.  I came across the  website through my sister-in-laws facebook wall.  I took a peak at the I {heart} 2 stamp website and really liked what I saw.  The sketches look great! 

I have decided to try out the monthly sketch challenge for January.  Making this card gave me the chance to look through all my crafting paraphernalia.  You wouldn't believe how many times I said, "oh I forgot about that" or "oh how pretty is that paper." 

Card recipe:

Stamp: Daisyboardabella by Stamping Bella
Paper: White, Black and Spring Your Wings(3 Bugs In a Rug)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Copic Markers and Grey watercolor pencil
Accessories: Snowflakes embossing folder (Cuttlebug), white felt, snowflake chipboard, white paint and glitter

Another year gone by

Wow what a year we have had.  Back in January 2010 my husband's family lost one of their brothers.  That was quite the shock.  Well the year didn't get any better after that.  In August another brother, Denny passed away to a Subarachnoid hemorrhage.  This was too much to take in.  We had just spend a long Fourth of July weekend with him at Ted's house.  So needless to say, I am hoping that 2011 will be kinder than 2010.

As for the rest of the year it was pretty much on the low key side of things. 

I neglected my crafts for the most part.  I feel like I lost all my crafting mojo.  Hopefully I can find some of it this year..

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and have a safe and healthy New Year!!!