Recent treasury featuring the work of SewingAmity

Check out my curry yellow owl in this sweet treasury:

It's coming along!

The glitter house that is. Over the weekend I cut out the parts, glued it together, and got on the white base coat. I did not start this from scratch: I repurposed a microwave popcorn box. The base is assembled from pizza box lid. Thank goodness the lid was totally clean!

I didn't want to recreate the wheel, so I used the instructions here:
Building a Glitterhouse-Howard's How To

Because I was working within the dimensions of my recycled box, I had to scale up the measurements. Not as hard as it sounds, I just multiplied everything by 1.5, except for the light hole in the back. I've got a special idea for that one. My lighted house is going to be cord free.

Getting Ready for Christmas

My Christmas decor has always been a foregone conclusion. Pull out all the hand me downs, from both sides of the family, and display. End of story. For good or bad, that is changing this year. Maybe all of my blog reading has ruined me for another year of same old, same old.

I didn't know it at the time, but I bought my inspiration just after last Christmas. We always go upstate to visit my parents, and I always make a point to visit The Old Mill Antiques. I think they're in Muncy? Anyhoo, they're a great resource for one of my loves, vintage linens. And vintage cocktail glasses, but that's more the husband's thing.

I came across this reindeer hand embroidered tea towel and fell in love. I bought it with no idea of what I was going to do with it.

For a while I thought it might become an apron. With a background of some cool pink fabric, the cut down tea towel would make a cute pinafore layer. But something has stopped me from cutting into it.

I think I'm starting to realize that it's all about the colors. It started two weeks ago when I was trying to find last minute Halloween decor at Home Goods. What did I see... super cute tinsel in feather trees in wonderful cotton candy colors. Garland and wreaths to match. Hmmm, an idea is brewing.

Yesterday at Michael's... Vintage looking pink mirror glass hurricanes and tea light holders. Oh, this is going somewhere.

Finally, this memory jogger of my love for little vintage glitter houses:
Glitter House Project by Sarahiscrafty
I'm eyeing up the empty microwave popcorn box right now!

Thrift Shop Inspiration

I'm an avid thrift shopper, but I'm very anti-clutter. Sometimes I see things that I think are really cute, but I have no idea how I'd use or display them. One thing that falls into that category is globes. Sometimes they're not in the best shape, and being at the thrift, you can bet they're out of date as well. So what to do with them?

I think this idea is awesome:
Chalkboard Globe Makeover

So of course, I made one for myself. I found a similar globe, only $3, with a plastic meridian. I didn't want to shell out for the chalkboard spray paint, and honestly, I wasn't turned on by the black globe. Martha to the rescue--she had posted a recipe for custom chalkboard paint. I just happened to have a big jar of "teal elementary school chalkboard" paint in the cupboard. Add a dash of unsanded tile grout and I was in business.

First off, I painted the globe with a couple of coats of gesso just to seal the paper. I followed that with 4 coats of the chalkboard paint--one layer horizontal strokes, one layer vertical till the coverage was good. I was using a cheap disposable foam brush which did leave a few brushmarks, so on the final coat, I went over it lightly with the rounded edge of a hydra sponge. It definitely gave the paint a smoother finish.

For now, the globe is living on the kitchen island, but I'm sure it will move through the house as the Halloween decorations are put away.

I'm still here

This summer was brutal in Philly, and sadly, with a west facing, un-airconditioned craft studio, precious little was created. I managed to keep up with my greeting card club, sending off 5-10 birthday cards each month. But really, that was about it. I know I managed a few repairs, the odd button sewn on or fallen hem tacked. But really, I wilted.

Suddenly, fall is in the air. I'm wearing a wool jacket and it feels good! I spent the afternoon yesterday at the football field. I'm feeling re-inspired.

My daughter is in 6th grade this year and is officially a middle schooler. She has asked to have her first Halloween party, and really, who can say no to a party? This summer, our neighborhood has become Mad Men style cocktail party capital, so I think the kids deserve their turn. So step one is invitations. I could have spent hours and fifty bucks making multi layered, multi papered, glittered, stamped, colored and rhinestoned invitations. They would have looked really cooh, heh heh heh. But yeah, I'd rather drop the bucks on food, decorations, and 20+ iTunes downloads for the party playlist. So I went cheap: I found a great vintage Halloween image, uploaded it to the computer, busted out the GIMP, and designed an invite. Then, I uploaded the invite to Walgreens, took advantage of one of their weekly photo specials, and sent my image over. Invites, 10 cents a pop--and I didn't have to hand write a thing!

My next couple of weeks will be total party planning mode. I picked up a case of generic 7-Up at Aldi for $.39 a bottle yesterday. I'm thinking that the soda combined with a tub of rainbow sherbet in a punchbowl will make a really disgusting looking, and delish mocktail for the party.

I'm sure Em will want a pinata, so I'll have to decide whether to DIY, or pick one up at El Changarro for $15. And fillers--are 6th graders too old for candy? What else would be cool to add? Do I put in a super special prize like a $10 iTunes card, or will that cause fistfights?

Finally, this year's Dia do los Muertos altar will be dedicated to our dog Daisy, who passed away in February. She was truly my first kid, and a wonderful companion. I'll need to gather up a few photos of sweet Daisy in her prime, and I'll also put our her collar, food and water for her, add some candles and marigolds and pretty it up.

Chocolate suede Nintendo case

Chocolate suede Nintendo case
Originally uploaded by phunkymama

I created this Nintendo DS carrying case from the tutorial so generously provided by Mad Quilter here:

Mad Quilter


I embroidered the leather to start--first time with that and the design isn't 100% perfect. I should've used a sharp needle instead of the universal.



The leather was a bit bulky to sew through, and I broke 2 needles squaring off the bottom of the bag. I opted not to topstitch the top edge of the bag. It's a good thing I like the contrast lining rolling up around the top edge of the leather!



There are 8 game slots inside the pouch--plenty of options for my little Nintendo junkie!

Making the inexpensive special

I was wandering around Ikea the other day and found some pretty nice sheets marked down to $3.99 per piece. Of course $12 for a set of king sheets sounded pretty good to me! I got cottage blue fitted and flat sheets, but the only remaining pillowcases were a soft taupe. The mis-match wasn't going to stop me on my bargain hunt! In about a half hour, I added a bit of vintage (through modern invention) embroidery to the pillowcases to tie them to the sheets. The embroidery files are available on Ebay through Vintage Machine Embroidery.

Quickie Valentines

I don't like to spend a ton of time on the kids' Valentines. I like them to be cute, but the fact is that kids just want the candy! I saw these packets of Wonka Fun Dip Valentines at Aldi, and I knew they would be perfect for a fast project.

You'll need a sheet of 12x12 paper for every 3 Valentines. You'll also need the free printable located here: Secret Agent Josephine

Cut your paper at 9.25 inches. Turn and cut at 8 inches and 4 inches to get 3 strips at 4 inches by 9.25 inches. Holding paper horizontally, score at 5/8 inch, and then turn and score at 4.25 inches. Turn up the short tab and staple close to the fold. Decorate your cover and tack your treat inside. Easy!

January To Do

I'm resolved to be against resolutions. They're meant to be broken. Instead, I'm posting a list of goals. They (you know THEY are always talking) say that you're more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down.

Here goes nothing!

1. Locker hook new bathmat, thereby using up scraps
2. Finish 2nd Cracker Box Christmas ball. It's started, I swear!
3. Post some things to my Etsy stores. Both of them.
4. Knit new Odessa for my daughter. Yarn and needles are in stock.

Reflections ornament

reflections ornament
Originally uploaded by phunkymama

As I settle into my new craft room, I'm taking on the UFOs. I bought this kit about 10 years ago from Cracker Box. If you subscribe to "more is more," then these kits are for you!

I worked on this for a few hours at a time over about 4 days. My fingers got really sore by the end! I'd tried using a thimble, but it was just too big to get down into the spaces between the beads. I know now why they recommend a tool which is used for countersinking nails!

I did need to modify the instructions a bit. See the circular section of the silver braid, most evident on the hanger? In the instructions, it was an oval, so there were fewer wedges of bead designs on the sample. I guess the tension on the braid machine was extra tight on the day mine was made! At any rate, the increased number of wedges left me short on a few styles of beads, so I modified and simplified every other wedge.

I think the end result is still pretty fantastic!

Quickie Ikea Hack

My daughter has been wanting a clock in her room, more for decoration than for telling time. I've never been able to find something that matched her decor (aqua and lime) without it being emblazoned with characters.

Ikea to the rescue! I purchased the Rusch clock in white, bargain basement price of $3. I pried off the clear dome over the clock face and went to work. First, I colored the white plastic frame with Ranger Alcohol Inks. Then I went to work on the face itself. The hands of the clock lift right off, allowing you to pull up the paper face. I simply covered the numbered paper face with glue stick and slapped it onto a piece of scrapbook paper. When that was dry, I cut out the circle, using an eyelet tool for the center circle. The numbers were cut with the George cartridge on the Cricut. I put the clock face on a window so that I could use it as a light box to line up the numbers--even with the scrapbook paper over the paper face, the numbers showed through really well. The numbers were just glue sticked into place.

I went over the red second hand with black StazOn ink. I guess if I wanted to really get into it, I could've spray painted it, but I wasn't that committed. I did add a nice rhinestone to the center, though. I put everything back together and noticed something I didn't like. There's a channel all around the clock frame where the alcohol ink didn't go. I decided to make it part of the overall look by filling the groove with Glossy Accents by Ranger, and then pouring on the holeless microbeads in a lime color. It does take a while to dry, but I think the effect is worth it!

Treasure Hunt Kit

Treasure Hunt Kit






Originally uploaded by phunkymama

More crafting fun! I created a fun Treasure Hunt kit with stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps. It was a bit work intensive, but definitely worth it! I'm sure my son's next birthday party will involve a fun frenzy of treasure hunting!

I had a bit of a hard time getting the red cellophane for the lenses. They did have it at AC Moore (but not at Michael's) but it was a pretty large roll, and it was $4. I'm sure you will understand when I say that I am a frugal crafter! I ended up scoring the cello at a local art supply store which also has a decent candy making department. The roll was nearly as large as the one at the Big Box, but it was only .99!

The lenses were punched from two layers of cardstock, which allowed me to sandwich the cello. They were also nice and sturdy, but I wanted to be able to have a way for the kids to carry them along from spot to spot. I decided to add an eyelet and a bit of heavy elastic thread. Mission accomplished!

To write out the clues, you just write lightly in pencil on the red stamped box on the clue card. If you're using a red lens, I also found that pale green marker works really well.

Don't make these mistakes!

A couple of years ago, a dear friend gifted me a beautiful Odessa hat. My sweet daughter promptly stole it from me. While she loves the hat, it isn't her favorite color. I decided to go ahead and knit her another Odessa in the turquoise she so loves.

Mistake 1: not printing out the pattern. The Odessa was originally published in MagKnits, an online zine that closed up a while back. The pattern has been moved to Ravelry, but I had never joined. If you're at all interested, do request an invitation, it only takes a few days! So I got about as web savvy as I could (read: not at all) and plugged the old Magknits link into the Wayback Machine, and I got my pattern.

Mistake 2: cheap yarn. OK, pure laziness on my part. My local yarn shops aren't all that local, or they don't have convenient hours. Thirty minute drive to a yarn shop, or hit the yarn aisle when I'm at Michaels three times a week? Sadly, I bought the yarn at Michaels, and it was cheap Red Heart. I was forced into it by weight and color--they do have a few decent balls of yarn there, but none suitable for the Odessa.

Mistake 3: not making a swatch. OK, more laziness. But I'm not a master knitter, so I can't even wrap my brain around swatching this pattern. It's knit in the round, so I'd have to basically knit up a hat to get a swatch anyway. See where this is going?

The finished project:


It doesn't look terrible lying flat. But it's too big for Emmy. It's OK, I'll wear it, but it's nowhere near as lovely as the gifted Odessa. Let's just say that Red Heart DK isn't at all DK. It's more like worsted. Plus, my hands started to hurt after a couple of hours of knitting. I hate hate hate it when yarn creaks. Lessons learned! I'll hit the yarn shop after Thanksgiving and find some proper yarn. I still have half a ball of crummy Red Heart left. I swear I'd burn it if I knew it wouldn't release toxic gasses and immediately kill off an acre of rainforest!

Jumping on the bandwagon

I think everyone has bought the Top Note die from Stampin' UP! Mine finally arrived last week, and I just got some time to sit down and play with it. First, I die cut the Top Note in Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point. I cut off the outer border of the Tempting Turquoise piece, and used my Quickie Glue Pen to attach the thin border to the Pacific Point piece. I'll put aside the inner piece to use on another project.

For the focal image, I stamped the butterfly image from Stampin' UP! Garden Collage set in Ranger Archival black ink. I used watercolor paper, so that I could go in with my watercolor pencils to color the image. Just a bit of blending with an Aquapainter and it looks great! Then I coated the image with 4 layers of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. When the last layer had cooled completely, I gave the piece a gentle crack. I rubbed a bit of Ranger Distress ink in Broken China over the image and wiped it off with a tissue to give the cracks a bit of depth.

Everything is layered up on a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock stamping in Going Grey with the Floral backgrounder (all items are from Stampin' UP!).

Cool new Purple Onion stamps

I recently stumbled upon the new Note Block stamps at Purple Onion. Not only did I like the bold graphics, but I loved the potential for super quick cards that these stamps afforded. I was supposed to be cleaning up the office today, but I stole five minutes to whip up a quick holiday card.

First I stamped the Happy Holidays Note Block stamp on to some striped paper. I quickly cut it out with a craft knife and matted it on some tomato red paper. I created a card base with Stampin' UP! Garden Green cardstock which was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder. I tied some Stampin' UP! striped grosgrain ribbon around the card front, and mounted my stamped image on some dimensionals. Easy peasy!

Busting out glitter for Day of the Dead

We started celebrating Day of the Dead last year. I'll admit that I was lured in by The Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo. But really, who can resist brightly colored paint and glitter!

Last year's major project was an altar for my grandfather, Robert Somerville, who passed away. Em got into making the paper flowers and the white chocolate calaveras. We invited a bunch of friends over for a party and had a wonderful time.

Because the house is under major renovation right now, we're on a party hiatus. I wanted to continue the tradition, though, so I've been on the lookout for some inspiration for a fun project. It hit me at the Dollar Tree yesterday. Skull shaped "pots" with an opening in the head which would be great for a little 4" marigold. They screamed for alteration, and here's my creation.

I started by glittering the teeth. Then I went to work with the puffy paint. No plan in mind, and it was fun to just doodle. Most of the real sugar skulls you see are decorated in pretty simple, abstract patterns. I went a little glam on this one. Now to decide if I should go back for more.....

Non Traditional Colorways

I like to do a few non-traditional colorways for some of my Christmas cards. I love the lush feel of the Vintage Violet background paper contrasted with the strip of kraft cardstock. It's hard to see, but I did accent the tree a bit with my Sakura Stardust pen. I love the way it adds just a touch of sparkle without the mess of glue and glitter. It dries pretty quickly too.

The stamp sets I used are Stampin' UP! Season of Joy and Heard from the Heart. The background paper I textured in my Sizzix with one of their plates. To bring out the subtle embossing, I used a Versamagic Wheat pad to lightly highlight the snowflakes. It's a nice, natural look with the flecked kraft and ivory natural cardstocks that I used for the other layers.

Starting in on the holiday cards

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing in Talbot's and heard Christmas music. Too early, I thought! But I'll confess that as a crafter, I'm one of those people who pushes towards Christmas before I give candy to a single Trick or Treater.

I wanted some instant gratification, so I went to the November 2007 Sheetload issue to get me started on some quick cards. After banging out a dozen cute cards, I had two small strips of printed paper left over. Never one to waste anything, I whipped up a second card style to use it up.

Super Scrapping

Moving the craft room has made me realize just how many craft supplies I have. With construction going on in the rest of the house, I've been forced to hang out in the office and face just how much stuff is here. Instead of wallowing in guilt, I've been scrapping. I promised a while back to donate scrapbook pages to parents of preemies, so I'm finally getting my butt in gear. I hope to be able to send out a pizza box full of pages by the end of the week. I'll show a couple of samples to give an idea of what I'm doing. I added a temporary pic of DD on the eggplant page just to show how lovely it will be with a photo.

If you're interested in donating scrapbook pages, please visit Pages for Preemies.

Labelicious

I've been putting this project off for wayyyy too long. I made up a variety of 'cellos at the beginning of the summer. Of course the idea was to have them on hand for holiday gifts and such. Unfortunately, the Mello Cello has not survived the summer. It was just much too delicious! I made it just like a basic batch of limoncello, but I added 2 split vanilla beans. It's wonderfully smooth and, well, mellow!

These tags are just basic shipping tags from Office Max. The orange and strawberry are from the Stampin' UP! Tart & Tangy set. The lemon is from Stampin' UP! Sun Ripened II. The berry and orange are colored with markers, and the lemon was done with watercolor crayons. They were all "aged" with various Distress Inks and a bit of little "sprinkle" stamping.

Everyone has been asking for my recipe for the Mello Cello, and I have to admit that I "wing it" much like most of my other cooking. Here's the basic jist...

12 lemons, scrubbed to remove any shellac
2 vanilla beans Mexican are fine for this
1 liter bottle of Everclear. Have DH to cross state lines to get it if necessary.
1 empty 4 liter bottle from cheap jug wine

Thoroughly clean wine jug. Peel lemons as thinly as possible, and drop peels into jug. You don't want any white parts, just the colored outer skin. Split vanilla beans and drop into jug. Dump bottle of Everclear into wine jug, cap, and put it in a basement or other cool dark spot for at least a week. When your alcohol is a lovely yellow color, it's ready.

Strain peels, vanilla, and discard. Prepare a simple syrup. I use about 8 cups of sugar and 8 cups of water. When cool, add to your jug. Mix well and you're done! If you like a thicker, more syrupy drink, go heavier on the sugar water. If you like the more traditional "warming" drink, you may want less.

We like to drink our Mello Cello in small rocks glasses over chipped ice.