Have a seat!

Hello friends! After filming my Mardens haul video yesterday I had a bit of a panic because I had two fabric projects looming in my future so I thought “Hey, I’ll replace the cover on my butterfly chair now because that will be a quick and easy project.” You can probably guess where this is going huh? You’ve probably even uttered those words at the start of a project. But it never goes as quickly or easily as expected. How hard can it be, it is basically a pillow case with flaps on the back to hook it to the chair. Or so I thought.  I decided in preparation for my jacket lining project I would use a seam ripper to take the cover apart and remove the cushion inside than trace the old fabric on to the new fabric. Well, there were more pieces to that sucker than I imagined, the seams would not come apart and I ended up just tearing the rip in the back (that is why I am recovering it BTW) to remove not one rectangle cushion but two asymmetrical cushions and I immediately forgot what way they went in as soon as they came out! Crapola, I have no clue how to even begin this project and I am beginning to doubt the 3 yards of fabric will be sufficient to finish it (I was too cheap to shell out the extra $3.99 for another yard.) I took a deep breath and pondered my lot. I grabbed some paper, a measuring tape and figured out a way to make the cover from scratch with re-enforced pockets to hold the cushion on the frame. I laid the old cover on my material a couple of times to make sure I could fit my pieces before I cut and I sewed that sucker good! What do you think?

This is my favorite spot to crochet. I like to sit criss-cross applesauce in this chair and crochet while watching TV. I’m happy to report that it works just fine! The kids have been in it a lot today but they have been warned not to jump on it for I will tolerate no shenanigans that cause another rip in the back. I am not sewing another one! I think that I will keep my eyes peeled (at Mardens of course) for a 40″ zipper so I can undo the top seam and insert a zipper so the cover and be washed but that can be done anytime. I am happy with it. My husband thinks the fabric looks like lawn furniture. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time we had lawn furniture in the living room! 😀 I see what he means though. So, what are you making this weekend? I hope it goes as smooth as you hoped for. Til next time happy crafting!

A day late, and a dollar short…

I was so excited to make this set, there was a Paris challenge and a color challenge that I was doing this for, however I didn’t notice until after I made them that both challenges were over the day before, oh well, I still like the set! Challenges are a great way to spark creativity but let’s not forget the real reason we make cards: To express our creativity and to bring a smile to the people we love, these are for my Mom and Sister:

Stamp: StampFrancisco, Cardstock: SU, Paper Co, GP, Ink: SU, Envelop Templates: Lindsay's sTamp Stuff, Swirl: DB Dainty Swirl, Eiffel Tower: Cricut

I used my Envelope Bonanza templates for the envelopes. After I cut them with SCAL and my Cricut I stamped the text on the inside to add a bit of flair.

I repeated the stamp design on the cardstock and the envelope for a matching set!

I also used SCAL/Cricut and the font DB Dainty Swirl from Lettering Delights to make the white flourishes. I was a bit disappointed with the Eiffel Tower die cut, I used the new Summer in Paris Cricut cart and put in a fresh blade and the paper snagged and tore, I think I will try cutting it in design studio as maybe my speed was off, the designs are so pretty, I hope I can get it to cut well! For this I had to use my cutterbee scissors to go in and snip parts off where it did not cut all the way through, arrgh!

To make the "Merci" simply type the text in scal (CENA font) and drag a cylinder over it from the shapes menu, then you can use the cut out letters on another card (as I did) ans make use of small scraps!

Since my cutting did not go as planned I wasted a bit of paper  but instead of trashing it I made a cute bookmark!

adorable use of scraps, no?

Although I missed the challenges I was aiming for this set qualifies for the following challenges:  Aly’s Sunday Challenges (bows), Clearly I Stamp (flowers), Crafty Ann (lots of color), Whoopsie Daisy (as you like it), Incy Wincy (button up), Just Us Girls (use a template), Lots to Do (flourishes and swirls) and Sew Many Challenges (anything goes).

BTW the color challenge that I missed was to use Baha Breeze, Melon Mambo and Pink pirouette (Stampin Up colors) I made due with the closest colors I had, love this combo! It was from k Warners blog. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!