• Art - Blog - Creativity

    Children’s Literature

    March 4, 2013 - By 

    Children’s books are so much fun.  charlottesweb

    Silly stories, tales with a moral, social stories, nursery dairyofawormrhymes and so forth,  all have one idea in mind. To get kids reading or being read to by others.

    I volunteer in our elementary school library once a week and love to see those certain titles that are being checked out time and time again. They are sometimes tattered and torn…what I like to call, well loved.

    In my new altered book I’ll be highlighting some of my favorites. I’ve been throwing this idea around in my head for a while. Now I’ve finally gotten started.   veryhungrycaterpillar

    Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White…a classic.  I remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Clark, reading it to our class.

    Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin is one of the funniest kids books I’ve read. I get a chuckle just sitting here thinking about it.

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar is just one of many favorites by Eric Carle. Certainly the easiest to illustrate.

  • Blog - Crafts

    Scrappy cards

    February 28, 2013 - By 

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    I made a few more cards from some scraps and photos laying around my workspace. I just love using those scraps! It’s like a challenge to me.

    I can’t remember what these flowers were…something is making me think they are an herb that flowered. Hmmm.

     

     

     

     

     

    The green scrap is from a very pretty card I saved from the recycle bin. It matched the pink and green of a thank you card perfectly.

    Isn’t it great when things like that just work out.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A tag with a little bit of ribbon looks much better when mounted on little foam squares. It gives nice dimension.

     

     

     

    And then there’s one of my favorite pictures…

    My girl sharing the heart shaped inside of a black walnut shell. Pesky squirrels left me a present in the garden but it made for a fantastic photo op.

    She’s even wearing her LOVE shirt.   <3

  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Tutorials

    Recycled T-shirt bags

    February 22, 2013 - By 

    t-shirt

    First of all, I have to admit that this is not my original idea. I’ve seen many versions of this on Pinterest.    box pleat

    But after going through the kids clothes and coming up with 2+ garbage bags full to pass along to a friend, it inspired me to keep a couple school shirts for this project.

    This project couldn’t be an easier. I turned the shirt inside out then stitched the bottom closed.  Next was the box pleat to create a flat bottom. Basically you sew perpendicular to the bottom seam at each corner. You end up with a triangle of fabric that is not usable bag space. Gosh, I think I’m making that more complicated than it really is!! Here’s a link that shows the process if I just confused you.

    Anyway…then I turned the shirt back right side out and cut off the sleeves and made a scoop cut at the neckline. No pattern just start cutting. We all know what a plastic handle bag from the grocery or discount store looks like….that’s what you are going for in shape.

    All in all, not too shabby for a few minutes work. It saved a couple of shirts from the rag pile since  they’d likely never be worn again.

    Little J claimed the lime green one as soon as she returned home. It was her shirt to begin with so now it will continue to serve her in a different capacity.