Heart of Love

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  I always love Fridays, don’t you?  It’s so nice to know you can turn off that alarm clock for a few days and just relax.  And this weekend is particularly exciting with the Winter Olympics starting.  Cannot wait to watch the opening ceremony in just a few hours.

I’m also very excited to share with you a project I made for Webster’s Pages just in time for Valentine’s Day.  Throughout the month of February, the Webster’s girls are showcasing projects made in partnership with Tattered Angels.  If you have not popped over to inspireME to check out all the amazing offerings, you MUST do so!  Truly, you won’t want to miss out! Today I posted my little Heart of Love I made to brighten up my home for the holiday.

Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile probably already know that I love to create things from old kraft shopping bags.  I love the rustic charm of the kraft paper, love recycling something old into something treasured, and especially love the large “canvas” a big shopping bag provides.

To begin this project,  I created my own heart template on some newsprint paper, using the old-fashioned method of folding the paper in half and drawing half a heart shape.  That is probably the ONLY way I could freehand a heart and get the two sides equal.   Once you have your template, draw your heart shape two times onto the kraft shopping bag that you have cut open into one large piece.  Cut out your two hearts, leaving about a half an inch extra between your traced line and your cut.  Don’t worry about being perfect, as you will go back later and trim the edges once your heart is finished.

Next I created a patchwork of beautiful patterned paper from Webster’s Postcards From Paris line.  I was down to my very last scraps of paper, but that’s ok because this is a perfect project for using up those scraps.  To create your patchwork, lay your pieces front side down onto your workspace, joining your edges together.  Using regular scotch tape, tape your pieces together so that they will stay in place.  Make yourself a large enough piece so that you can trace your heart pattern onto the paper.  Cut out and adhere to one of the kraft hearts.  I then machine stitched a zig-zag line between each seam of patterned paper.

Now comes the fun part of decorating and embellishing!  I sprayed my heart with 3 colors of Glimmer Mists (Gold, Blue Skies, and Coffee Shop) in a very random and chaotic fashion.  So very fun to just go wild with this.  I love the beautiful shimmer it gives to the whole piece.

Sprayed some white tulle with the Coffee Shop mist to tie across the center of my heart, and then added a few of the gorgeous Webster’s trims to add detail. I used stamps from Tattered Angels’ In Flight Screen Prints Clear Stamps to create several flourishes and the large focal butterfly to place on top of the trims.  The butterfly was stamped in brown ink on Webster’s Paris Couture paper and then heavily misted with first Blue Skies then Gold Glimmer Mists, and cut out.

Used Tattered Angels’ Regal 3-in-1 Alpha Chips to spell the word love on my butterfly.  They are sprayed with Gold mist and outlined with brown pen.

I then had fun adding some beautiful beaded picks and Prima pearls and crystals and silver mesh flowers. LOVE those!

When I had the front finished, I edged the entire heart with some of the vintage lace I found at the antiques store recently and then stitched the two kraft hearts together on my sewing machine, leaving enough of an opening to insert some poly-fill fiber.  Once you’ve created a pleasing “pillow” effect, stitch the remaining opening closed.  Trim the edges with pinking shears or your regular scissors so that the edges are even.  I then used the original handles of the shopping bag, wrapped in some old white wire, as the hanger for the piece.

I had such a great time with this project!  It is just so fun to go crazy with the Glimmer Mists.  Think I sprayed pretty much everything on here, including all the papers, the butterfly, the tulle, the beaded picks, and even the center Prima pearl embellishment.  I haven’t found an item yet that won’t work with the mists.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I always love to hear your sweet comments!  I’ll see you all back here tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

Countdown to Christmas- Day 24

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!  What a magical night it is!  After all these weeks of preparation, the long awaited moment is finally here.  I can still so clearly remember the excitement I felt on this night as a child.  I dreamed of seeing Santa Claus in person and insisted on sleeping out under the Christmas tree every year in hopes of catching a glimpse……but I never did.  And now this year, my little Nik tells me she is going to sleep on the couch so she can see Santa.  How hard I tried to stay awake all those long years ago, how heavy my eyelids would become, how I would tell myself I could close my eyes as long as I stayed awake listening………how it makes me smile to think of my daughter carrying on the tradition.

I have a few last Christmas things to share tonight.  My last Christmas card of the season.

Making Memories Mistletoe paper, K&Co. die-cut and rub, Webster’s Pages Ivory & Cream trim from the Elegant Trim Collection.

An early Christmas present I received from my sweet mom.  A gorgeous white feather tree to add to my tree collection.

This tree holds most of the hand-made ornaments that both the kiddos and I have made over the years. It holds their tiny fingerprint reindeer and wooden stick framed photos, clay cut-out snowmen, fun-foam creations and my scrapbooking ornaments from years past.  Treasures, each and every one of them.

And here are a few of my favorite handmade ornaments that I made back in 2005.  I enjoy these so much, I might have to make a few more next year.

Thrift store spoons turned into cute little snowpeople.  This is the pair I made for my kids.  They look pretty spiffy in their striped scarves and touches of Stickles bling.

These snowmen were made from acrylic paints and Stickles glitter.  No special treatment is needed to paint on the metal, nor is it necessary to seal the paints afterward. I just made two ball shapes from white paint, and after drying, I created the dots for the faces and buttons using the back of my small paintbrush.  Let dry between each stage as you add the rest of your finishing details.  Once the paint was completely dry, I applied brown chalk pastel to the edges with a Q-Tip.

I also made some country cousins to my city slicker snowmen.

Here is another Christmas present I got from my friend yesterday.  I became familiar with these Lori C. Mitchell figurines for the first time this Halloween, and I now have 3 Halloween pieces and this fun Christmas guy.   This is Tinker Twinkle, new for 2009.

I think he’s shocked to find himself stuck under glass.  Look at the expression on his little face.

And before I go tonight, I have one final project to share.  My brown paper bag gingerbread man Nik and I made together in an art class when she was 2.

Trace a gingerbread shape onto two flatted grocery bags.  Cut out, stuff with newspaper, and hot glue together. Paint and decorate and love forever.

Thank you so much for spending part of your Christmas Eve with me.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas day tomorrow with the special people in your lives.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Read Full Post »