Presenting “Colors from Nature”
May 15, 2008 in Books, Crafts, Creativity, Quilting
With pride, I present to you some photos from our brand new book, “Colors from Nature.” The concept of the book is using color and design from nature to inspire quilts, crafts and even decorating projects. We selected some beautiful photos as our starting inspiration. With some analysis of each landscape photo we tried to interpret the overall feeling with fabrics and projects. It was very fun and challenging. Paring down and simplifying a design can often be more challenging than making it complex and representational. My goal with our quilt designs is to make them interesting and pleasing while still being easy to make.
Rocky Revelations may be one of my favorites. Courthouse steps is a classic traditional block and with the fabric we used I feel we captured a look that can as easily be considered modern as it is vintage. I love how the shapes resemble the stones with the snippets of orange represent the leaves scattered among the rocks.
The rows of warm colors in Desert Dimensions mimic layers of clay in the stone canyon walls of the Southwest desert. The green brush and blue skies bring in interesting color contrasts. I think the rows of simple triangles accomplish this representation well and would be stunning displayed on the wall or as a bed topper.
Red poppies along with yellow and white daisies frolic across the quilt top of Meadow Melodies. This cheery color story represents my favorite hues of high summer. When I look at this I can breathe in the fragrances of the meadow and even feel a little breeze across my face.
We also cover other wonders from Mother Nature in River Reflections, Seaside Serenity, Mountain Masterpiece, Forest Foliage and Floral Flamboyance. Colors from Nature also includes a couple of appliqué quilts and a unique and clever assortment of decorating and crafting accessories. Please enjoy this glimpse into the pages of the book and I hope you find lots of inspiration to create!
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Left Dangling
May 12, 2008 in Crafts, Creativity
I used to think that being left Dangling was not a good thing. Now I think, the more Danglers the better!
This can be your solution for all your Creative Gift Creations for the summer. They Sparkle on the Patio, they Sparkle in the bath room, they Sparkle in a tweener’s bedroom, they Sparkle in the kitchen window. And they certainly will bring a sparkle to the eyes of the recipient of this fun and easy project.
You can explore a variety of themes for Spring and Summer like birds, butterflies and flowers. But any favorite theme can be achieved by incorporating themed ornaments and trinkets along with assorted beads. You can try different styles, colors and materials for different looks. Some of our examples show a variety of materials such as stained glass, wire, colored glass, rusted metal, painted wooden cut-outs, glitter, decorative and word rub-ons, and even napkin rings! Us collectors of “stuff” always seem to have an assortment of little trinkets and baubles that we’ve been holding onto. You weren’t sure what you were going to do with those until now! Click here for some great basic directions to assemble your own Dangler. You’ll be hooked!
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Online Fabric Sale!
April 14, 2008 in Crafts, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting
Check it out – Order online and save 50% off of DM Baby & Everyday Quilting Fabrics through April 20. Take advantage for your fun spring projects. If you don’t have a project in mind – here’s one for ya!
Love Grows Lap Quilt
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Cute Idea
April 2, 2008 in Crafts, Creativity
A young girl named Leah, who loves our calendars came up with a clever idea for recycling calendar images after the year is over. If you’re a pack rat like me, it’s hard to make yourself throw away outdated calendars so I always save mine. After years of saving - I have big piles of them now. (I can’t throw away art!!) But it is fun to come up a way to re-use the images. I don’t know if I would mail my bills out this way – but for a surprise note to your Mom or a friend – how cute would it be to “scrapbook” a little card and then use a folded up calendar page for your envelope. It’s dripping in Creativity!!
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A Special Birthday or Mother’s Day Gift
March 21, 2008 in Crafts, ScrapbookingIt was Kathy’s birthday this week. I put together this little gift basket of goodies for her and the “group” suggested I share it in my blog. So I gave it to Kathy and then immediately took it out of her hands to take a quick photo. I used Scrapbook paper and supplies to decorate this basket full of bathroom luxuries.
Supplies:
Coordinated assortment of:
Scrapbook paper
Press on letters
Dimensional embellishments
Ribbon
Craft paper
Tissue paper
Rub-on or clear acetate quotes or words
Fancy Soaps
Lotion
Clear Votive with colored sand
Small Basket
The concept is simple, fun to do and pretty self explanatory by looking at the photo – but I did learn a couple little tips to share with you in case you’re inspired to do the same. I ran all my “parts” through a Xyron machine and hoped that would work to adhere them to these surfaces. However, the papers lifted off the glass surface. (bummer) It needed a little extra strong glue to make it adhere! Also, I had to command it to “Stay!” I also made the mistake of buying a round bottle of lotion and thought I could wrap a band of paper around the bottle. This one lifted too. Sigh……….But I found with a flat sided lotion bottle and (yippee!) I could make that work. A lot of times the fancy soaps come in fancy wrappers that don’t coordinate with your colors. I covered the bars in craft paper before layering the coordinating papers on them. When I was out shopping, I only found sayings that I liked in acetate – but if you can find rub-on’s – they would be much easier to work with.
Hopefully with these tips, you’ll avoid some of the mistakes I made and reach success in time to put together a special birthday or Mother’s Day gift.
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NEW Fabrics in store!
March 14, 2008 in Crafts, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Quilting
I’m excited to say that piles of new fabric are arriving and in store for you at Jo-Ann Stores. There are wonderfully springy blues, greens and ivory in both cotton and flannels in “Love Letters” Collection. In fact we whipped up a quick quilt idea for Mother’s Day using these fabrics! (This quilt will be available on our web site on April 1)
For all you pet lovers, you’ll find fun turquoise, orange and browns in “Cat’s Meow” (kitties), and red, gold, and brown on Ivory in “Furry Friends.” (dogs). You can create great Nursery décor and baby friendly projects with two new Juvenile groups called “Kids Talk” (hot, fun colored animals) and “Bumbling Bees” has a great assortment of fresh, cheery greens, blues and pinks in sweet little bees and bugs. You’ll find some great number patterns in this collection too.
We also created a darling baby quilt design using these fabrics that you can download for FREE! I’m starting to see a smattering of some of our Summer Collections trickling in as well. I’ll keep you informed. I’m just so excited about these new fabrics and I’m thrilled with the quality of the color and printing. Hope you love ‘em too!
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Love Letters Craft Project
January 15, 2008 in Crafts, MediaI've been a featured columnist for Country Registers across the U.S. and Canada for 5 years now. Just in case you don't have access to this publication, I thought you would enjoy seeing the latest article. For those of you in North America, look for my column bi-monthly in your regional Country Register.
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One Skein Scarf (2+ hours)
November 28, 2007 in Crafts
Because I’m always running cold, Kathy, from the studio, made me a scarf out of our new yarn for Boss’ Day. I asked her if she would mind writing up instructions for the project.
Materials:
1 skein DM Illuminations yarn (Vanilla Bean)
Size 15 Knitting needles
Reserve 24 feet of yarn for fringe
- Cast on 8 stitches
- Continue in knit rows until scarf reaches desired length (Debbie’s scarf is approx. 56” without fringe)
- Bind off knitwise and loosely. (weave in ends)
- Cut fringe yard into 18” lengths; attach 8 strands (each folded)
Sit in front of a couple hours of re-runs on TV (so you don’t have to look up too often) and before you know it – you’re done!
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So Cute & Cozy!
November 7, 2007 in Crafts
Jackie, who has been on my staff for almost 12 years now (Wow!), has a daughter who teaches first graders. We occasionally donate things to her for her classroom. Recently, we gave them a couple of our fleece fabrics to make each student their own little classroom pillow. Brandi, or “Mrs. Ottersen” to her kids, tells it like this:
“We are learning that as teachers and students, it helps to be comfortable in order to have great stamina for learning. I already have what we call “cozy spots” in my room for children to use, but not enough for everyone at one time. So, why not make a spot for everyone? I asked a parent to sew 25 little fleece pillows – one for each student. They use them at their desks, on their chairs, lying down with a good book, or snuggling up for a story read by their teacher. The kids love and are taking great care of them. Each child will be able to take them home at the end of the year.”
I have to admit, it wouldn’t have occurred to me what a great idea it would be to make a little pillow for a child to bring to school until now. This would also be a great donation idea for sewers (or even non-sewers since they are so easy) for Shelters, hospitals, etc. – anywhere where there are little ones in need of extra comfort.
Look at their cute, little happy faces. Thanks for sharing this with us, Brandi!
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Framed Quotes -Fun Gift Idea!
October 17, 2007 in Crafts
Kris, our very talented studio organizer and my assistant, made some wonderful gifts recently for our staff. They are framed quotes using Scrapbook papers and cute do-dahs. What was so special about these, is that she selected the quote and designed the frame to suit each recipient. I asked Kris for any tips or thoughts she had about creating these.
From Kris:
- I created as Christmas gifts for co-workers: something to decorate their desks and bring a smile to their face.
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The first (and most fun!) step was to search for applicable quotes for each person. - I used inexpensive frames that were easy to customize.
- I used up Paper scraps and mis-matched supplies
- I also included a personalized note on the back of each frame (i.e. Mandie, CPA - "I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I bet I'd be darling at it." The note on the back of her frame said "Mandie... Money isn't really everything, but it sure is fun to play with, isn't it?! -Kris")
It was so fun to see what Kris created for you, but just as fun to see and read everyone else’s.
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Fast and Easy Glass Lanterns - How To Video
September 7, 2007 in CraftsFrom my appearance on KXLY, full instructions here.
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Fast & Easy Glass Lanterns
August 31, 2007 in Crafts(and I mean Easy!)
You can't do this wrong! Wrinkles and tears are part of the charm when you make these colorful glass lanterns. Perfect for a late summer party, your kitchen table, or as a hostess gift, these cute lanterns are fast and fun and amazingly pretty!
Supplies:
Vase or Glass Surface
Tissue Paper or Party Napkins
Decoupage Glue -- GLOSS!
Inexpensive Bristle Brush (Sponge kind doesn’t work as well)
Supplies are available at Jo-Ann Stores or any craft supply store
Making the Lanterns
1. Cut bright colored tissue paper into 1 1/2"- 2" squares or long strips for the striped lantern.
2. Pour some decoupage into a throw-away container
3. Starting at the bottom of the vase, spread glue on bottom half of vase.
4. Randomly place tissue squares on decoupage, overlapping as desired. Smooth down with brush, applying more decoupage and making sure that tissue is totally saturated. Places where two colors of tissue overlap will create a third color. Wrinkles in the tissue just add texture. Have fun with this! You can't do it wrong. 5. Continue applying decoupage and tissue until entire vase is covered. Fold tissue over edge at the top and cover with decoupage. Use bristle brush to push tissue into any indents in the glass.
6. Vase will be sticky, so turn it upside down over a glass bottle or set it on a small flowerpot to dry. Allow to dry overnight or until all stickiness is gone.
Embellishing the Lanterns
Use tacky glue or jewel glue to adhere small appliqués or beads. Or string beads onto an elastic string to make a "necklace" for your lantern.
Do not submerge lantern in water! Clean with a damp cloth when needed.
These are festive, fun and perfect for your last Patio Parties of the season. Enjoy! Debbie
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Quick little Votive Project
March 14, 2007 in Crafts
When I went to the "Go Red" Luncheon for the American Heart Association in February, I came home with a soy candle votive with a simple beaded embellishment added to it. It was a red bead in the center of an assortment of complementary beads. The Heart bead was symbolic for "heart health" and for Valentine's Day too.
I thought it was a cute idea and "Hey, why not decorate this for all the spring Holidays? " Inspired by the great Heart idea, we came up with a simple solution for St. Patrick's Day. Even if you don't have Clover shaped beads- an assortment of green ones convey the message. For Spring/Easter, I found a sweet Tulip button to be the centerpiece of the Candle's bracelet.
Because it is such a simple concept, you can probably tell how to make it, just by looking at it, but just in case:
You Will Need:
* Elastic beading cord. (big enough piece to wrap once around the votive and allow enough extra to tie it off.
(Make it fit snug enough, so it doesn't slide down the votive.)
* A collection of simple, color-coordinated beads for your project. You may want one bead (like the heart or the tulip) that can be your centerpiece bead.
* You can make the choice to wrap the embellishment all the way around the votive, or to showcase it on the front of the votive only.
Entertaining Tip: Use these as Table Favors for a Dinner Party. Place one of these votive's at each table setting. Light the Candles for special table ambiance. When dinner is over, announce to your guests that the candle is a gift from the hostess.
And at that moment, they will know you are the "mostess!"
Debbie
