Valentine’s Cards

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Barbara Harper

We had a lovely Valentine’s Day. We’ve always made it a family day. We’ve tried once or twice going out for dinner, but the restaurants are so crowded it took a long time and wasn’t enjoyable. A few years ago for Valentine’s Day I used the recipe for Li’l Cheddar Meat Loaves but shaped the loaves into hearts, and that has become a tradition. (Note on the recipe: I use oatmeal instead of bread crumbs, only about 1 1/2 Tbs of brown sugar instead of 1/4 cup, and I omit the mustard because it gave it more of a BBQ flavor).

It’s also become a tradition to make heart-shaped cupcakes…

..and peanut butter cookies with Hershey’s heart candies on top.

I received flowers and candy from my dear husband and cards from him and Timothy.

Jason and Mittu and Timothy also gave us these cute magnets from Photo Barn.

I’ve also been making my own cards the last few years, and I know some of you like to do the same, so I thought I’d show them to you. I collect card ideas on Pinterest – I have one board for cards and one for Valentine’s Day. So when I have occasion to make a card, I’ll scroll through those for ideas plus the Cricut Design Studio. My generous husband gave me a Cricut Explore a few years ago, which can be hooked up to my laptop. They have “make it and take it” designs, which will allow you to cut the needed elements piece by piece and tell you how to layer them (the computer sends the design straight to the Cricut). Or, if you have an idea of your own, you can search for particular things, like “mug,” and it will show you several designs to choose from and then you can cut them out with the Cricut. So I peruse a lot of these ideas beforehand and see which one seems to “fit” the ones I am making a card for. I seldom copy a design exactly. Some times, like last Christmas, I don’t use the Cricut at all; this time I used it for every card. Of course, many things, like a mug, can be cut out without a machine like this. I can wing it with some things, but not so much with others. 🙂

So here’s what I came up with for this year:

For my husband:

For my oldest son, who lives out of state:

I had planned to put something like “Sending love your way…” on the front, maybe on one of the clouds. But I thought this looked balanced as is, so I put that on the inside.

For Jason, a coffee aficionado:

For Mittu (it’s nice to be able to do one girly one. 🙂 ):

I was particularly excited about this one for Timothy. He likes anything on wheels right now, and I had seen one design with a dump truck with hearts in it that I was planning on using. But when I saw the design for an excavator, I had to use it. He’s very much into excavators right now (and it is so cute to hear him say it) thanks to this guy, and can even name all the parts.

I was thankful to find stick-on letters (for sale half price!) for that one and the next one at Hobby Lobby.

This was Jesse’s. From the time he was very little, he’s always had a bright, happy spirit, so this seemed perfect for him.

And this was for Jim’s mom. My machine had some trouble with the small cuttings – I think maybe I need a new blade, but I didn’t have time to run out for one. There were four hearts layered for this one.

I enjoy making these as my gifts to my family.

All in all we had a great day. 🙂

Family Christmas Cards

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Barbara Harper

I hope you had a special Christmas. We had a nice day with all the family here. Someone, I think my son or daughter-in-law, had the idea of putting our photos in stickers on the Christmas gifts so Timothy could help pass them out to the right person that way. He was very patient as we got breakfast and read the Nativity story, then passed out a few gifts to others, then said, “Baby presents?” like, “Hey, shouldn’t I be getting one of these?” 🙂

The last few years I have been making cards for my immediate family, so I thought I’d show you the cards I made for Christmas. As I scouted Pinterest for ideas, I noted that several I had pinned had snowmen, so I decided to go with a snowman theme.

For this one for my husband, I looked up “snowman template” and cut out this little couple, colored them with colored pencils, then decorated around them. The background paper has phrases from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” on it.

This was for my oldest son. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the snowflakes on the background. I love the perspective of this one (I can’t take credit for it – I saw it on Pinterest. 🙂 )

This was for Jason. I love the cheeriness of this one.

This was for Mittu. I was delighted to find wintry paper that had purple in it.

This cute one was for Timothy.

This was Jesse’s. I think I got something a little askew with the hat…

This was for Jim’s mom. I had seen the idea for “JOY” with a wreath in place of the O, and changed it for a snowman’s face.

Then I stayed with the same theme for our anniversary card with a different template:

I used punches for some of the circles and squares and buttons and eyes, stickers in some places and markers in others.

Overall it was fun to do while listening to the Instrumental Christmas station on Pandora. Most of it was done after the toe injury and thankfully after I had almost everything else done but the cleaning, which my husband graciously did. I think they all liked them.

I’m working on some end of the year blog posts of books read this year, my favorites of them, and a wrap-up post for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I’m afraid they will overlap a bit. 🙂 And usually around this time I look back over some of my favorite posts of the year. So, as time allows, that’s what will be up the rest of this week.

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A few cards

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Barbara Harper

At our ladies’ Christmas party last week, we were to bring three of the same item ($5 or less each) to give away that were some of our favorite things. At the party, we each had an opportunity to share why these things were our favorites, then three names were drawn and our three things given to those three people, and we each went home with three gifts from others.

After mulling over what I could possibly share, I came up with note cards. Even though people don’t send them as much as they used to, there are still occasions for them. Making cards when I have time is one of my favorite things, and I have a stamp that says “I’m thinking of you prayerfully,” which covers a lot of situations. So I made six cards in different designs and combined them two to a package for my gifts. I thought I’d show you how they came out.

The brown above was meant to be a suitable for a man or woman, and I think it is, but the flocked butterflies make it maybe a little less masculine than I had intended. 🙂

This blue one turned out to be one of my favorites.

The leaves on this one were from one little square stamp. Some years ago someone showed me the technique of rotating it a quarter turn while stamping it in a row so it looks like the leaves are tumbling. And a multi-colored stamp pad accounts for the variety of color. Though I can see that for the phrase stamp, it would be better not to end of begin the word in the yellow part – it makes it look like it is fading out.

Part of me thought I must be crazy trying to do this in a busy Christmas season, especially when I have family Christmas cards to do (I make Christmas cards for my immediate family but buy them for extended family and friends – it would take too much time to make them for everyone we send them to). But I kept them pretty simple, didn’t use the Cricut at all, and the trim and flowers were either cut with a straight edge and glued on or were stick-on. I like how the flowers on the blue cards add some texture but aren’t over-fussy. I don’t like a whole lot of stuff sticking out from the card, but a little is nice.

They afforded a few pleasant afternoons of creating while listening to Christmas music, and I hope the recipients enjoy them.

Ornaments for Timothy

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Barbara Harper

I mentioned a few weeks that my son and daughter-in-law were going to put a mini Christmas tree in my little grandson’s room and asked if I would make some ornaments for it. I decided to go with felt because it’s obviously not breakable and hopefully will hold up to being handled by a little one. I wanted something he could be free to be “hands-on” with. That was part of the idea behind his own tree.

So I researched Pinterest (love that place) and got several ideas. One included free patterns; some I cut out freehand; for others I googled things like “gingerbread man template,” “candy cane template,” etc., and found basic designs.

I thought I could machine-stitch most of them, which would have made the construction go much faster. But it was a little hard to control, especially for the small ones. So I looked up how to do a blanket stitch (if I had ever learned it before, I had forgotten it). By the last few I was pleased that my stitches were getting more uniform and even. I think the blanket stitch overall makes them look cuter though it did take a bit longer.

I’m learning in my (ahem) middle age that I have to have good lighting to see to stitch well. My craft room doesn’t have the best lighting except in the afternoons, so I’d go in there for a couple of hours a day and open the blinds, and that worked best. Sometimes I was motivated to do more, but my neatness fell off after a while, so it ended up being a good thing to work on it only a limited time each day. Sometimes my lack of dexterity in my left hand, leftover from transverse myelitis, was a bit of a problem. Even though I’m right-handed, holding the ornament in my left hand just right to be stitched was sometimes problematic, especially when trying to hold those tiny buttons in place. But overall I was pleased that even with “issues,” I could still do something like this.

I used Wonder Under on some of them (like the fox and deer ornaments) to fuse a design on, both to make it more sturdy and to use less stitching. 🙂 I also used it to fuse a basic woven fabric to the back of some of the designs that had a lot of buttons, because the newer felt is kind of thin, and I didn’t want the buttons to be pulled off due to the weakness of the felt.

There is an old-fashioned kind of felt that is thicker but also pliable (I am thinking it might be made of wool, but I’m not sure). Then there is a newer synthetic version that’s very thin and worked well for fusing on top. There is an even newer synthetic version that is very thick and not very pliable. I tried to cut the gingerbread people out in a double layer and nearly gave up because it was hard to get more than a blob: the finer details, cutting around the neck, etc., were hard to do. I came back the next day and cut the layers separately, and that worked much better. I was glad I persevered because they turned out to be some of my favorites.

This first one I did not make: I bought it. I saw it on Pinterest, clicked through, and found it was from an Etsy shop, and, unfortunately, got a notice that the item was sold out. I messaged the seller and told her my little grandson loved Batman, and would there be any possibility she would be making any more. She said she happened to have one left, and she sold it to me. Yay! I had given some thought to trying to make it on my own – but she did such a great job, I was glad she had one left to sell.

Here are the ones I made:

Free patterns for the deer and fox ornaments are here.

They’re Starbucks aficionados, thus the Starbucks-type coffee cup. 🙂 They always ask for a small empty cup for Timothy so he can have “coffee” with them.

I think the gingerbread family are my favorites. 🙂 They’re supposed to roughly correspond to my son’s family, thus the blue eyes for the Daddy. etc.

I stuffed some of them, others I left flat, just depending on what I thought looked best for each one. The first one I completed was the little house, and got it kind of over-stuffed, but that taught me that they just needed a little. I had thought about using one type of hanger for them all so they’d look more like a set, but it seemed better to vary them with what I thought would look good for each one.

I found a sturdy gift box from W-Mart which had a lid that just lifted off, so Timothy would have a box to keep them in and also so it would be easier for him to open rather than unwrapping something.

We took the box over to him on Saturday. He enjoyed checking out the ornaments and putting them on his tree.

Sorry that’s a little blurry – it looked clear on my camera. 😀

I hope they hold up well – I hope he can use them over and over again for years to come. It’s been a long while since I’ve crafted anything besides an occasional card, and I enjoyed doing something creative, especially something to contribute to Timothy’s Christmas. 🙂

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Cards

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Barbara Harper

Someone commented recently that they’d like to see the cards I had mentioned working on, and I am happy to oblige. 🙂 When I make cards, I usually peruse my Pinterest board for cards unless I have an idea already. I try not to copy them exactly but rather just get ideas and inspiration.

Before the spate of Valentine’s cards last week, I made this for a lady at church to go with her baby shower gift. I used a cute little elephant punch I had gotten for Christmas, but it could be done with stickers or punches of anything that might look like a baby’s mobile.

This was my Valentine’s card for my husband:

This was for my oldest son. I think the brown hearts look like chocolate ones. 🙂

This was for my middle son:

The design on the butterfly paper was raised and velvety (flocked). I love the masculine feel of the tans and rich browns.

This was for my daughter-in-law:

This was for my grandson – I think it is my favorite:

This was for my youngest son:

I should have made the jar from a different colored paper or outlined it so it showed up better.

This was for my mother-in-law:

The monkey, branches, birds, and jar were cut from my Cricut. Most of the hearts were done with various sizes of punches. Everything was done with things I already had on hand. Anything with words I type out on the computer, along with the sentiments inside, then print them off all on one sheet and then cut them out and paste them. The Cricut Explore has various fonts but I haven’t quite figured out adding words with it yet. On the heart on my mother-in-law’s card, I turned my heart punch upside down so I could center the words where I wanted them before punching the heart out.

I’ve made cards off and on for years, but started making them in earnest when they got to be so expensive in stores. I had a lot of papers, cardstock, equipment, etc., accumulated from years of sales, coupons, and gift cards to craft stores, and felt I needed to either use it or get rid of it. Of course, I have to watch out for this kind of thing:

🙂 But I usually ask for craft store gift cards for my birthday and Christmas, so that supplies my habit. 🙂

So even though I started for economical reasons, I do enjoy being able to give something unique and personal. It’s a bit more pressure Valentine’s Day and Christmas when I am making cards for all the family at once, as opposed to individual birthday cards through the year, but I enjoy it.

Crafty Organization

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Barbara Harper

I mentioned last week that I had been able to do a bit of reorganizing in the craft/sewing room, so I thought I’d give you a peek.

My dear husband very generously gave me a Cricut machine some years ago. It took up a good deal of space on my work table, so a couple of years ago I told about painting an inexpensive TV cabinet on wheels that would fit under the table and keeping the Cricut there. The only problem was that when I did start to make cards, I didn’t want to take the time to pull the Cricut out and plug it in and set it up. Plus all my cartridges were in a file box, which was ok, but not the best solution.

Former location of Cricut cabinet

Cartridges in file box

Finally somehow a light bulb went off over my head, and I pulled the cabinet out and placed it against an empty space on the wall. I put the cartridges on one shelf and the other things on the bottom shelf.

Newly organized cabinet in new location

Now the Cricut itself plus the cartridges are more accessible, so hopefully I’ll use them more. I feel guilty for having all this stuff and not using it. I’ve started making cards this year since even the basic ones at Wal-Mart have gotten up to$5 and $6 and since I do have stuff to make cards.

I feel like I need to say, too, that a lot of what is in this room has been bought with gift cards given by my family on various occasions and often on sale or with coupons. Plus this is the accumulation of 35+ years.

Also, I had my Cuttlebug embossing folders in a file box, but they didn’t need all that space.

Cuttlebug folders in file box

I had this cute little plastic box I’d found at Target but hadn’t found a use for it yet, and they fit perfectly. Now they are much easier to flip through.

New Cuttlebug box

As you can see in one of the above pictures, the Cuttlebug, box of folders, and laminator all occupy the bottom shelf of the TV cabinet.

By the way, does anyone know what happened to Cuttlebugs? I don’t see them in craft shops any more. I guess they probably got replaced by some new machine that I don’t know about. But I love the Cuttlebug. I used it on this card for my son and daughter-in-law:

I still like the idea of a storage cabinet under the table. though. They still have these cabinets at Wal-Mart, but only in black, and I am not fond of the idea of painting black cabinets white again. I’ve looked at kitchen carts (usually too tall) and other ideas, but everything else is either too expensive or doesn’t fit the space. So I’ll have to think about that a while.

Also, I didn’t think to take a “before” picture, but I did some work in the closet as well. I had a corner cabinet in there that was tipping forward because the stuff I had one it was too big and heavy. Jesse helped me put some pieces of cardboard under the front corner so it wouldn’t tip forward, and I traded all the smaller things that were in the middle bookshelf onto the corner shelf and put the big photo albums and such that I’d had on the corner shelf onto the middle bookshelf (one of those, “Duh, why didn’t I think of that before?” moments). Then I just had a bunch of stuff piled into the right corner. It just recently occurred to me that I could get another corner shelf for the right side (another “Duh!” moment!) I couldn’t find one like I already had on the left, but I found this one on Amazon and was able to get it free with accumulated cash-back points from the credit card. So picture the before photo with a mess in both corners, and now (I ended up having to take two “after” pictures because I couldn’t get both sides in the frame):

Left closet corner

The pink plastic drawers on the left are two stacked on top of each other. I wasn’t sure if that would work or if they’d topple every time I opened a drawer, but they have worked wonderfully. I did think about them for that under-the-table space, but I was wanting more open shelves there. But they might work – still thinking. 🙂

Right closet corner

I’m delighted that those corner shelves have really made the best use of that space.

Also, for good measure, I thought I’d show you this:

All of those boxes on the left-hand shelves hold photos that, hopefully some day before I die, will make it into some of the albums I’ve accumulated through the years. That was before photos went digital.

So — getting things spiffed up in there is inspiring me to spend more time in there – if only I could!!! But getting it more organized will make it easier to do things in there when I do have time.

I am linking up with Tori‘s To-Do Tuesday.

A new gadget!

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Barbara Harper

One evening while my husband perused some of the “deal of the day” sites he follows while I was making dinner, he asked me if I wanted a new sewing machine.

No, I replied. My little faithful, uncomplicated Kenmore had served me well for 30+ years now, and I figured I’d just keep using it until it gave out. Besides, those newfangled computerized ones would probably require a significant learning curve to become comfortable with, whereas I knew my Kenmore so well I could operate it almost without thinking.

But he began to read some of the features of the one on sale, and the more he read, the more attractive it sounded. And, I began to reason, when my machine does give out, there might not be a deal like this readily available. So I said, “Sure, if you want to get it for me.” 🙂 So he did.

It arrived last Saturday, and thankfully he was here to help me get it out of the box and figure out some of the diagrams to get started with it.

This photograph with the light on isn’t as good, but you can see the screen display:

Some of the basics like threading it and the bobbin were a little hard to figure out: some of the specialty stitches were easy, and I had fun playing with those a bit.

It will take a while to feel “at home” with it, but that should come with use. It’s supposed to have an automatic needle threader which I haven’t figure out yet but which should come in really handy: I keep a little magnifying glass in the desk drawer for help with threading now. One feature I really like is that there is a little push button on the side that opens a little drawer for all the extra presser feet, bobbins, etc., thus freeing up crowded drawer space.

And, as an added bonus, the sewing machine cover I made for my old sewing machine last year came out a bit too big for it, but – you guessed it, it fits this one nicely. It’s a bit snug, but it still covers it.

As I moved my old sewing machine and began gathering all its attachments, I felt like I should give it a hug for all its good work through the years and pat it and tell it what a good job it has done. But when I feel sentimental about appliances, this video comes to mind:

So even though I am a little intimidated at figuring out things with the new machine, I am looking forward to it as well, and I am thankful for my husband’s love and generosity.

Valentine’s Cards

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Barbara Harper

I have an embarrassingly large supply of materials to make cards. Most have been picked up on sales or with coupons. I have used some over the years to make personal cards or for projects for our ladies’ group and missionaries, but I have quite a lot on hand still. Often by the time I think of making a card for an event. I don’t have enough time. But this year I determined it make Valentine’s Day cards for the family, and I thought I’d show them to you. I perused my Cards and Papercrafts and Valentine’s Ideas Pinterest boards for inspiration and used a few there as springboards but came up with a few others on my own.

This was Jim’s:

The key is a little 3-d sticker and the only thing I bought especially for these cards: everything else I had on hand. He’s enjoyed joking that keys to my heart can be bought at Hobby Lobby. 🙂

This was Jeremy’s:

The inside said “…To wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.” I think the brown hearts look like chocolate, and they’re a great way to get hearts on a man’s card so it’s more masculine looking than the pink ones I gravitate to. 🙂 I usually make heart-shaped chocolate cupcakes decorated with sprinkles or icing for Valentine’s Day, and I thought these were reminiscent of those or of chocolate candies. Most of the hearts of various sizes on the cards were made with punches.

This was Jason’s:

The inside says “That’s our love for you,” meaning it’s so great it can’t be measured. I just realized last night or some time this morning that I didn’t have a heart on his. Sorry about that, Jason! Here’s one for you: ♥ 🙂

This was Mittu’s:

The inside says “On Valentine’s Day and every day!” The little envelope was made with help from a template I found by searching online for “small envelope templates.” I have a neat punch that rounds off corners and used that for the words here. By the way, the words were all printed out on the computer with the Bradley Hand ITC font except for the letters for “LOVE” here, and those were from a page of punch-out letters. My own handwriting, I’m sorry to say, would not make for a pretty card. The words on the other cards I cut out with a scissors with a torn-paper-looking edge. That one is a little more forgiving than, say, a scalloped edge. I have a hard time cutting in a straight line, so this particular scissors helps. I have a mini paper cutter for longer straight lines.

This was Timothy’s:

The inside says, “To our favorite snuggle buddy.” It was inspired by this pin, but when I tried to click through to the site to see if the card maker had instructions or a pattern, I couldn’t find the original site, nor could I find it by searching Google using the terms I thought I had originally found it with. So I had to wing it (pun intended. 🙂 ). Then I realized this card was going to be from both my husband and I, so I needed more than just one adult with the baby bird.

This one was Jesse’s:

I think the inside just said “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

With the last two, I was running out of both time and ideas, so they are somewhat similar. This was Great-Grandma’s (or Mom, to my husband and me):

Sorry about the shadow on this one. The inside says, “Your example has taught us how to love….May we show you as much love as you have shown us.”

This was for Jesse’s girlfriend, Meaghan:

All of the borders were from packages of stick-on strips – very handy! And Hobby Lobby has them on sale 1/2 price pretty frequently in the scrapbooking section.

And on the back of each card was this stamp with either Mom, Grandma, or Barbara written in accordingly:

They were a lot of fun to make, though they did take quite a bit of time. Actually once I decided what to do for each one and chose the decorative papers, it didn’t take long to put them together: the decision-making was the hardest part.

I’m hoping this will jump-start me into making more cards rather than buying them this year. It will probably depend on how much time I have before each occasion and whether I remember to start on then in time. But I think they add a nice touch.

Occasionally I’ve thought about starting an Etsy shop to sell things like this. But I’d also like to do more writing and various other things, so I am not sure of which way the Lord would have me use my time yet. So for now I’ll just do them as I have time for the family and think about the possibility of expanding on them later.

Finished Project: Sewing Machine Cover

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Barbara Harper

Whew! I don’t think I have ever been away from the blog this long before. My oldest son, Jeremy, was here all last week and my husband was off as well. Jason and Mittu and Timothy came over a number of times as well as Mittu’s mother, who was also in town visiting for a few days. Jesse’s girlfriend also came over a couple of times to meet the rest of the family. Between visiting, a few outings, keeping up with groceries and cooking, and then after everyone left recuperating, catching up on laundry, running errands, and more grocery shopping – well, you can see why I haven’t been around much lately. 🙂 It was a wonderful time, though – I’ll probably say more about it on my weekly Friday’s Fave Five.

My sewing/craft room doubles as a guest room. Jeremy would be staying there this visit, and though the room has been a continual work in progress ever since we lived here, I pretty much have it about like I want it with just a couple more touches to finish. One project I’ve been wanting to get to for some months was to make a new cover for my sewing machine. My old one was red (which I don’t care for or use in my decorating any more), Holly Hobbie (which I got over a long time ago), and looked like something had been spilled on it. It was about 30 years old, so I felt a new one was overdue.

Old Sewing Machine Cover

I’ve been looking up ideas online for some time and gathered them into a Pinterest board for Sewing Machine Covers. Deciding what to do is the hardest, usually longest part of any project for me. This one was my main inspiration, but I didn’t want to do it exactly like that (and I couldn’t get to the original post about it – all I had was the photo).

I finally came up with a plan and got it in my head that I wanted to get it done before Jeremy came – not that he would notice or care about it, but you know how someone coming over is the impetus to get some things done. I didn’t get it completely finished before he got here, but it was far enough along that I could toss it over the sewing machine. I just finished it, or as much as I am going to do with it for now, this morning.

I knew I wanted a sewing machine on front, and this mug rug gave me the idea to add some sewing accessories. I was going to try to just wing it drawing the shapes I wanted, and then decided that the couple of dollars for that pattern as well as this one for the sewing machine would be money well spent. I enlarged the sewing machine pattern by 150% on my printer, but the other pieces are the same size as the pattern except that I cut the pincushion down a bit.

I had never appliqued before, except for one vague memory of an attempt at trying to use the satin stitch on my machine and having thread pile up in a lump at the beginning. So I don’t know why I decided to try to do that on a project like this that needed so much of it, and on a deadline. Glutton for punishment, I guess. 🙂 I did use Wonder Under to fuse the pieces on, but needed to cover the outside edges in stitching so they wouldn’t ravel. Much of the satin stitch actually came out looking like a zigzag stitch. You do have to help guide/push the fabric through while sewing, and it’s hard to get a feel for how much to do that without the stitches spacing too far apart. That really bugged me until one of the patterns I was looking at this morning said a zigzag stitch could be used – so I can just pretend I meant it to be that way. 🙂 It wasn’t until the last item I stitched that it began to look more like a satin/applique stitch.

Anyway – here it is:

I was going to put a ruffle at the bottom out of the same fabric that I used for the sewing machine applique – but I didn’t leave myself enough room. That is one of my favorite fabrics – it’s from a maternity dress I made during my first pregnancy. 🙂 You can’t really find those shades of pink and blue together on fabric much these days.

I used a fabric that was already quilted for the base because I didn’t want to have to deal with quilting the background fabric (sorry Wendy — maybe next time. 🙂 Wendy is an expert at free-motion quilting on the machine and has been encouraging me to try it).

This was the last item I appliqued where it was just starting to look like I knew what I was doing.

No, I’m not going to show you a close-up of the zig-zaggy ones! 🙂 Though you can see a bit of it to the right of the pin cushion there.

It might’ve helped to use a slightly wider stitch to be more sure of catching the fabric edge, but some of the pieces were so small I didn’t want the outline stitching to take up too much of it. There were a couple of places I strayed off the path a bit, especially with some of the pinks that were lighter and harder to see. At some point it occurred to me that I could use a washable fabric marking pen to outline where I needed to stitch on those hard-to-see places.

I’ve thought about adding some stitching like that in this piece to kind of tie everything together. I may also come back at some point and embroider some pins in the pin cushion. I was originally going to do another design on the back so I could change it around as desired – but I got to a point where I just felt like I needed to get it done. It’s usable now, and I can think about the other touches and add them later if I decide I want to.

It’s not perfect – but I like it, and it is much better than what I had.

Here’s my little sewing corner:

No, my desk isn’t usually that clean, and yes, I did clear it off just for the picture. 🙂

It was nice to get behind the sewing machine again and especially nice to get a project done that has been on my mind for ages.

Help! Questions about scrapbooking and photo albums

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Barbara Harper

One of my side projects I hope to at least make a dent in this year is to get shoe boxes full of photos (from pre-digital days) into photo albums and to redo my old photo albums which are those old sticky kinds that are supposed to be bad for your pictures. Whenever I make any efforts in this direction, questions come up about the best ways to do it, so I thought I’d share those questions with you all and get some advice.

Do you arrange your photo albums chronologically or by event or some combination? Do you do separate albums for vacations or other topics?
When you make a baby album for a child, how for do you go in it? Do you just cover the first year or so? I struggle with what photos to put there and what to put in the regular family album.
What do you do with photos like the ones of animals in the zoo from 20 years ago that no one is that interested in any more or the extra photos of an event that you’re not sure whether to throw away? Do you end up still keeping some photos in a box?
When you use a scrapbook, do you mat every single picture?
Do you use those little corner holders, or do you use glue and page protectors? Don’t the corner holders poke into photos on the opposite page?
What kind of glue do you use?
When you do digital scrapbooking, do you print it out or does it stay digital? How do other people see it?
What are your favorite tools?

I think that’s all for now.

For the record, I’ve made one photo album for each child up to maybe 1 1/2 to 2 years of age and then chronological albums (not one per year, but each one covers maybe 3-4 years). I’ve thought of making a “Friends and Family” album of those school and professional photos people have sent over the years. I’ve only made a couple of scrapbooks: one for Jason’s high school graduation of highlights of his life and one for Jesse’s graduation just of school and class pictures through the years. My scrapbooks are more about the pictures than the decorations – so far I haven’t gotten too decorative, both because of the time factor (both were made under a deadline) and also because I prefer to emphasize the photos rather than the layouts. But now that I’m doing this on my own timetable, I might try to be more creative with them.

I appreciate your feedback!