Card Display Garland

My son had a zoo theme for his 2nd birthday...he'll be 5 in May.  One of his decorations was this really cute garland with zoo animals on clothes pins and I hung a picture of him from each of the animals. I believe in reusing, so for the last 2 years, we've been using that garland to hang our yearly cards from.  I always had the intention of updating it...but here it is 2 years later...

And you know what?? Those are still cards from my daughters 1st birthday almost a year ago.  So while looking at that the other day, I decided that either A: I'm bored with hanging cards that way or B: I'm bored with it because I haven't updated it.  I decided that A wasn't quite it, so on to B.  Time to change it up.  I looked everywhere for foam shapes that would be good for all year round...didn't happen. So on to making my own.

For this project, I knew I wanted something that was going to last year round and I wanted to use my cameo to do it.  I didn't really feel like paper piecing, so sketching was my next option. 

Next I had to tear apart the zoo animals and decide what I wanted to put up instead.

I decided birds is kind of a running theme throughout my house, so some cute sketchy birds would be perfect!

Source:http://sweetclipart.com/cute-bird-line-art-17



I used this bird, traced him in Silhouette Studio and then duplicated him on top of himself a couple times to give him a more sketchy look and offset so I had a cut line. For a sketch and cut tutorial, click here.

 

Cute right?  I just love him!

 

Just for the purpose of this post, my daughter's birthday cards did go back up, but they will be coming back down soon.  Time for Christmas Cards!!!

 

Thank You

 

 

October 22nd marked the one year anniversary of my first pen holder sale on Etsy.  And I just want to say thanks to everyone who has purchased one or is thinking about purchasing one.

 

 

Since the day my son was born, all I have ever wanted to do was stay at home with him.  So I started creating stuff to provide a small extra income that would hopefully someday provide enough to buy his school clothes and allow us to do extra fun things or just to have lunch without having to tap into our single income budget.  Selling pen holders has not only allowed us to do all of that but it also allows me to grow my crafting business, which is my second love.  So thank you.  You think you just purchase a pen holder to do some fun crafting, but what you really purchase is opportunity for my family and me.

 

 

 

 



Sketching on Fabric

I wanted to try something new; to sketch on something I've never sketched on before.  I use paper all the time and I've even tried vinyl and shrinky dinks.  All very fun projects and great uses for my pen holder.  However, I have never sketched on fabric before. 

What you'll need:
Fabric (any size, this is 6.5x6.5)
Pen Holder
Marker (I used Sharpie, but I'm sure there is a thin fabric marker out there that might work better)

So all I did was cut my fabric 6.5x6.5 inches. This is going to be a mini pillow for my daughter's babies but I have a million more ideas circling in my head.

You just load your mat with the fabric on it the same way you would paper or anything else you are sketching on.

Set up your silhouette screen.  I just drew some Xs and Os really quick.  I was originally going to do this 12x12 so that's why there are so many extra. The font for this project is KG Be Still and Know found on Dafont.com. You are then going to want to set your settings to thickness of 1, speed whatever you want, I used 10.  And make sure sketch pen is selected. I also have it double cut but my marker is a little dried up.

 

Then watch it go! This is my favorite part. I always watch my machine work.

All done sketching!  Oh yeah, I should mention.  I grouped the two red ones and told them not to cut first and changed my pen out and reselected them and told them to cut and the black ones not to cut. Got that?

And here it is.  Just cut another piece of fabric and sew it to the back. Sewing would be a whole other tutorial, but it's really easy.  This still needs it's stuffing and the bottom closed, but for you all this is good enough.

 

So yeah, sketching on fabric...who knew?  I love it. I'm thinking muslin bags, more pillow designs, garden flags...got any more ideas for me?

 

Please take the time to visit these great sites for more project inspiration!

DIY Ironing Board Hanger by The Turquoise Home
Silhouette Challenge: Time Zone Bathroom Art by Nearly Handmade
Santa's Christmas Countdown by Tried & True
Nautical Anchor Pillow Tutorial by The Thinking Closet
Christmas Card Ornament with Free Cut File by unOriginalMom
Thanksgiving and Christmas Dual Sign by Architecture of a Mom
Itching to Etch by Get Silvered
Snowman Tag ~ Silhouette Challenge by Whats Next Ma
Thanksgiving Sign by Chicken Scratch NY
DIY Horse Silhouette Pillow by Rain on a Tin Roof
Sketching on Fabric by The Sensory Emporium
Paper Leaf Garland by Lil' Mrs. Tori
DIY Blessing Board - Silhouette Challenge by One Tough Mother
Christmas Pillow by Create & Babble
Glass Painting with Reverse Stencils by Givemeapaintbrush
Chalkboard Thankful Tree by Cutesy Crafts
Bottoms Up! MYO Wine Tag by From Wine to Whine
'Happy Holly-days' Tags for the Swap by An Elegant Touch...
Thank You for Dinner (Card) by Everyday Paper
DIY Flyleafs for Planners or Albums by The House on Hillbrook
Advent Star Christmas Countdown by My Favorite Finds
Geometric Fabric Bowls by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
Paper Carnival by Home At Eight
Silhouette Cameo Tutorial: Dual Sided Business Cards by Black and White Obsession
In Case of Emergency Baby Bag Tags by Tossed Salad Life
Christmas On My Mind by Creative Turn
Jingle all the Way! by My Paper Craze
Christmas Lights Garland by Making Home Base
We Are Thankful by 4 You With Love
Seattle Skyline Silhouette by Sowdering About in Seattle
DIY Stenciled Mugs by Coley's Corner