10th Day of Christmas Gifts and Crafts

Day 10 already!  Here's a lovely "French themed" pillow that is very easy to make and would make a great gift for someone on your list.

French themed pillow with polymer clay buttons

Here's what you need:

1. A throw pillow form... you could recover any that you might already have to get a fresh look.

2. A piece of light colored heavier fabric and matching thread.  You'll need to measure your pillow to figure how how much you need.

3. A piece of wide, heavier lace to go across the top of the pillow if desired.

4. Avery T-shirt transfer paper for inkjet printers.  Just follow the directions on the package for applying the graphic to your material.  DO NOT try and print with a laser printer.  You will muck up your printer (and perhaps even ruin it) as the transfer paper will melt in your printer from the heat.

5. You can find French (and other) themed graphics at the Graphics Fairy. There are some wonderful graphics there.  Just remember to reverse it before you print it onto to the transfer paper !!  I don't know how many times I have forgotten to do that in the past...

6. Large buttons.  I made the buttons out of polymer clay ... they are quite large... about 2" in diameter... but you could use any large buttons you may have in your button box... and to add to the pillow's charm, they don't have to match!!

Measure the circumference of your pillow form from top to bottom and all around.  Add 1" seam allowance.  Now measure the width and add 1" seam allowance on both sides.  Using these measurements, cut this piece out.

On the right side of the material, transfer your graphic to the top of the material leaving enough room for the lace and generous seam allowance ABOVE it.

Place the lace between the graphic and seam allowance. Sew down. 

Fold the material right sides together.  Stitch one end and the top of the material.  Turn inside out.  Insert your pillow. Add the buttons on top of the lace catching the pillow insert as you do so.  This will help anchor the bigger, heavier buttons. Stitch the remaining end by hand.    That's it... DONE!!  Wrap it up and put it under the tree....

Happy sewing,
Sharon

Fun Projects to Make in Just a Few Hours

Where does the time go?  Here it is Black Friday already and I don't even have my shopping list together!!

I had planned and made a promise to myself after my last blog post that I would pull up my "socks" and post more regularly.  The spirit was definitely willing... the body however, not so much!  I've spent the good part of the last three weeks down with a wicked cold, sore throat, laryngitis and ear infection that plunked me firmly on the sidelines covered in Vicks, slurping hot toddies and sleeping round the clock.

Honestly, I can't remember when I felt so miserable and had a "bug" that wandered on its own "merry" (ugh) way through my body in slow motion!! The pain in my ears (and the fact that I could hardly breathe) got so bad one night, I ended up in the Emergency dept. at our local hospital.  All they could do, after a good "look see" was tell me it was going around, give me antibiotics, told me to steam, stay in bed, keep warm and sent me home.  I was back at midnight again... this time with blood seeping from one of my ears as in "ruptured ear drum"!  I will spare you the nitty gritty's but it hasn't been the most pleasant couple of weeks in my life. However, today is the first day that I have felt like myself again (by gosh, I am actually going to live LOL) so I decided to pull a few fun things things I've made out of my art/sewing room to share with you.

First up are some pillow with neat French graphics on them.  Kinda the "in thing" this past year.  I purchased some good pillow inserts at the local fabric store (I was surprised at how expensive they are... even on sale) along with some Osnabruck fabric.  I messed with the graphics to change them slightly to make them larger and darken them up to ready them for fabric transfer with HP T-Shirt Transfer paper. I dug around in my lace stash to find some antique lace (had just enough for two pillows) and decided to make the large, two and a half inch buttons from polymer clay.  And here they are, all finished, gracing the antique chairs and couch in my living room...

You can find some neat French graphics at The Graphics Fairy if you are so inclined to make some for yourself or as a "different" Christmas gift for a friend or family member.

Remember all those Reader's Digest books I inherited?  Well, I found another use for them.  I was visiting an antique store this past summer and saw a book that was all bashed up but decorated with fabric roses.  It looked interesting just randomly sitting on an old side table in the store.  At $25.00 a pop, I decided I could make it myself!!  It sits "nonchalantly" on a table in my living room that is covered with my great grandmother's beautiful lace tablecloth (and was on my wedding table when hubby and I got married).

A couple of years ago I inherited a whole box of fabric flowers and ribbon from my sister in law who was clearing out some of her "stash".  She thought I'd be able to use them so gifted me with the lot.  I sorted out what I wanted and stashed it away in one of my translucent shoe boxes that I keep on the shelves in my sewing room.  I knew that some day a project would come along!  Don't they always???? LOL

So here's how to make one of these books yourself.  You can't be squeamish about bashing a book up to do this. Use a book that has no meaning for you or is so bashed up all ready that you are "recycling" it into art and giving it a second life.

Tear off the cover and the spine.  Take some brown ink (Tim Holtz has some great ink pad colours) and splatter it all over the book... spray it with a fine mist of water to spread the ink around.  I took a page from an old German book, crumpled and inked it,  tore it to size to fit the front page of the book and glued it down.  Once everything was dry, I simply took a wide piece of wired ribbon to tie around the book and hot glued some roses to the top of the book.  That's it!!  A quick and very easy little project.

Now I must get my list ready and get out to those sales today... Hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving and happy hunting in the Black Friday sales...

Cheers,
Sharon

Button, button, who's got the ..

buttons!  I DO! 

More about buttons with a mini tutorial for polymer clay buttons  following this BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT...

Looking for the One World, One Heart Giveaway Post?  Just click on the link under Popular Posts to go there or scroll down past this post.

Also... I have a lovely surprise coming towards the end of February for my followers (and anyone who becomes a follower between now and then) so keep a watch out for it.


And now... to this week's post...

Next weekend (the 18th, 19th & 20th) I will be in Vancouver (with my Vancouver Island Guild clay buddies) for a weekend of fun playing with clay.  I have been looking forward to this bi-annual shindig put on by the Vancouver Polymer Clay Artists Guild for months now... I even re-scheduled my foot surgery coming up on February 22...(more about that later) to make sure that I could walk without a cast and have a good time.  Now that is dedication to my art... LOL

With loads of demos planned (color mixing, conditioning, transferring images to clay, making hinges for boxes), a full weekend workshop of creating a pinched leaf necklace (see photo below) with Helen Briel and Eugenia Chan, catching up with Lower Mainland friends, dining out and sipping wine, it promises to be a weekend without much sleep but with a lot of FUN and a LAUGHTER!

Here is a photo of the gorgeous necklace we are going to learn how to make...  I just hope I can create something that even comes remotely close to it... LOL

Helen Briel/Eugenia Chan Design
Photo courtesy of Vancouver Polymer
Clay Guild, Helen Briel and Eugenia Chan

One fun activity that is done on the Friday evening is to exchange polymer clay buttons we have made.  I  have been in a steampunk and faux raku mood lately so here's a photo of the buttons I have made for the exchange:

It was fun making all 30 of them with what I call my "Serendipity Steampunk" method. 

You just take a piece of rolled out on your largest setting black clay, double it, gently roll it smooth to release any air bubbles. 

Now just grab a bunch of "stuff" like toothpicks, screws, little charms, watch faces, fancy buttons, watch parts, little keys, keyholes and so forth and press them randomly into the clay to create a pattern all over your clay.  It helps if you swish them around in a baking soda bath (baking soda poured in a recycled lid) so that they don't stick to the clay when making the impressions.

Next come your cutters... whatever shape you like... and, with "gay abandon" just cut your buttons out from the clay.  Let yourself be surprised by what your "buttons" will look like.  You just never know what you are going to get and it's a fun way to just stay loose and simply create!! 

A small cocktail toothpick will create the holes quite neatly. Punch them from front to back, then back to front.

I dust them with Pearl-Ex, "cook" them (20 minutes at 275 degrees) and when cool put a Varathane finish on them (cause I like shiny!).  This also allows them to be washed.  However you can also cover the "cooked" buttons with Precious Memories III (one coating is enough), Future Floor Wax (several dippings) or just leave them as they are... just lightly sand and buff HARD on your jeans.

These buttons are great for adding to a knit sweater (most knit sweaters have such boring buttons) or even to a top or blouse.  And at the cost of buttons these days, they are CHEAP!  But don't stop there... leave the button holes out and use them as embellishments for altered books, scrapbooking pages, cards, altered art... the list could go on and on...

So there you have it!  Next on my list to make will be some "critter" buttons for my granddaughter.  When she saw these (via Skype) she thought they were pretty cool!

If you are a clayer, when was the last time you made some buttons?  If you aren't a clayer. why not give it a try?  Polymer clay is so easy to work with.  It doesn't take long and you'll have a blast coming up with all sorts of designs that you'll just have to go and buy a new sweater... or blouse... or  ....... start a new altered book... or ... make a fun card for a special someone... or add them to your latest painting.... need I say more?  Didn't think so!
 
On another note...
 
I am going in for surgery on my foot on the 22nd.  As some of you know, I have arthritis and it has taken its toll, destroying cartilage and creating all sorts of grief for me in various parts of my body.  If I want to be able to continue to walk, this operation has become mandatory.  I will be in a non weight bearing cast for about 8 weeks while everything heals... and quite honestly for someone like me with high freedom needs... I am hoping I don't go stir crazy batty!!  It is my right foot so unfortunately driving is OUT!
 
But I am going to ask for a plaster cast for the first one (there are two casts) so that I can have some fun drawing zentangles on it while I recuperate for the first couple of weeks!  I'm going to Michaels this weekend to buy some of those Sharpie paint pens they have on sale to get ready... and  hope the orthopaedic surgeon goes along with my request.
 
During that time I am going to do my best to keep the blog updated.  Time permitting, I will get some writing done beforehand that I can then schedule for publication.  
 
 
Cheers,
Sharon