Bet Mr. Levi never thought he'd see these...

cute jean place mats with bandana napkins sitting on the kitchen table...

If you've got an old pair of jeans hanging around that have seen better days, these place mats are super easy to make in a couple of hours.   I made these mats a couple of weeks ago from new jean material and attached two back pockets from an old pair of my hubby's jeans.  You could cut the mats from the jean legs if you wanted to... you may need to adjust the size.  Here's what you need if you want to make a pair of mats like mine:

Jean Place Mats

3/4 yard of jean material
gold coloured thread
twin needle (optional)
3/4 yard of fusible batting for the back
2 jean pockets... you can also use the pockets from kids jeans... they are somewhat smaller

If you are using new material, make sure you wash/dry it before cutting it out. These instructions are for one placemat.

Cut one piece of jean fabric 20" x 18".  Sew a pocket  to the fabric on the right hand side, Place approximately 3-1/2 inches from the bottom edge of the fabric and 1-3/4 inches from the side.  Sew around the pocket to attach it to the "placemat:" using gold coloured thread.

Serge all four edges of the fabric.  Fold under 1" on all sides. Press with an iron.  Cut the batting 18" x 16".  Fold back the fabric and iron the fusible batting on to the back of the jean fabric.  Fold the "seam allowance", miter the corners , fold back over the batting and pin. On the right side, sew all around the placemat in a double row.  You can use a twin needle or do each row approx. 1/4" apart.  You're done!

Bandana Napkin

1/2 yd, red bandana fabric
1/2 yd. blue bandana fabric

This is enough fabric to make 4 napkins.

Cut a 14" square out of both the red and blue bandana fabric for each napkin.  Pin wrong sides together.  Serge around the outside edge.

Tuck a napkin into the pocket on your place mat and you're done!

Now throw some beans in a pot, get a pot of chili brewing and break out a cool brewskie!

Cheers,
Sharon

Signs of Christmas Everywhere...

The west coast has been hit with some fierce storms the past few days and some parts of Vancouver Island, where I live, are in for a white Christmas.... something that doesn't happen all that often.  I love it when it snows around Christmas... especially those big flakes that drift lazily down and if you stick out your tongue you can catch them!

I have been down with a very bad cold and laryngitis this past week (I sound like a fog horn) and with the medication I am taking, all I want to do is sleep.  I have managed to get a few things done although I have not finished Christmas shopping and at this rate, probably won't!  Guess I'll just cut out pictures of what I was going to get, paste them in a card and take advantage of Boxing Day after Christmas sales.

Every year I make an ornament that I give to friends and special people for their tree or desk.  This year, I made some little angels that make up a choir when I put them all together to photograph them.

They stand about 1 inch tall and are as cute as a bug.  If you are interested in making them, there is a wonderful tutorial by Robyn over at Creations by Curry.

During the latest conflict in the Middle East I was inspired to make some clay peace dove pins with peace in English, Arabic and Hebrew stamped into the clay wings.  It may be wishful thinking but perhaps if enough of us think and show support for peace for the Middle East, it will happen.  While I was at it, I also made a dove scarf pin.  It looks lovely with the black knit scarf I have.  I discovered that it's tough to photograph anything white, so I tacked it to some black corrugated paper in the hopes that it would turn out.  Once it was fired in the oven and sanded, it was so smooth.  It's lovely to just run your finger over the top of it and make wishes!

Here's wishing you a very happy Christmas and lovely holiday season for you and your family!  I'll see you again in the new year...

Merry Christmas...

Sharon XOXOXO

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

A Be-Witched Tutorial

When I was a kid, I loved Halloween.  The thought of dressing up and going out "after dark" with my neighborhood friends to gather candy from the families in our neighborhood was just down right exciting.  The moment that the calendar slipped into October, I started planning my outfit!!

This year, the "magic spookiness" of Halloween and the fun of "dressing up" wandered over to touch my imagination again.  But first a little background....

This school year, I have volunteered to be the school crossing guard twice a day for the elementary school close to our home.  The street is a dangerous spot for little ones.  Too many cars speed along it.  Some drivers seem to not pay any attention to the posted school zone speed restrictions.  Other drivers are so wrapped up chatting on their cell phones while driving (even though it is illegal to do so in British Columbia) that they even go through the red light!

Because we have so much rain in the winter (and it can become so downright miserable some days that I threaten to pack up and move to Arizona on the next available flight... giggle...), our little school has had a hard time attracting anyone to man the light and cross walk at the school during the winter months.  So much so that the school has not had a crossing guard for over two and a half years.

Of course I only found out about this fact when chatting with the woman in charge of crossing guards for our district.  If I felt so strongly about it she said, perhaps I should volunteer to take it over! Well there was such a tug on my heart strings and seeing that I had practically talked myself into it anyway, I decided that in spite of the arthritis that has taken up residence in my body and does not like rainy weather one little bit, I'd do it.  After all, it is on my way home from the pool where I swim each morning.

Fortunately, living on the wet coast, I've got great rain gear and over the past couple of weeks doing this discovered that the trick to standing out in rainy weather is to dress in layers and as warmly as one can under all that outer gear.  Hoodies are great under a jacket.  Rain jackets with wide hood brims that shield the rain from dripping onto your face and into your eyes really work. Two way zippers in jackets are great! Ski underwear makes a difference.  Rain pants keep you dry.  The rain may be pelting down in sheets yet I am as snug as a bug in a rug!!  If it starts to pelt down hard, I can use an umbrella between trips of escorting kids across the street. Who would have thought I would enjoy this... not me for sure!!  BUT...

BOY it is worth it!  Parents are so appreciative and friendly.  Many of them have expressed how grateful they are to have someone there now even though they may walk their kids to school.  Some of parents of older kids who walk to school by themselves have expressed how relieved they are to have someone looking out after their son or daughter.

Many of the children always remember to say thank you.  I have received little "thank you" gifts from the younger tykes like a candy, chocolate bar, homemade cards, box of raisins, little drawings.  They are so proud when they present their special little gift to me.  It melts my heart.  Every day I am blessed with smiles or laughs from some of their "worldly" observations or remarks!!

Of course, since the calendar flipped to October, the "chat on the street" has all been about "Whatcha gonna be on Halloween?"  Angels, princesses, vampires, zombies, Red Riding Hood, Elvis, Darth Vader, a baby and  peanut butter (that should be an interesting costume!) are just some of the ideas being tossed around.  I am keeping "mum" about my costume... even though some of them are begging me to tell them!

So, if you promise not to tell them, here's a peek at one part of my costume... and how to make one for yourself in just a couple of fun, creative hours...

 Front Close Up

 Batty Witch Hat

 Back of Hat

What you need to make your own witches hat:

3 large pieces of black poster board
black polymer clay (optional)
small piece of black boa (optional)
fish line (optional)
Modge Podge or glue
Glue gun
1 yard of netting in the colour of your choice
a bunch of black flowers
5 or 6 large silk leaves
black poster paint
2-1/2 inch wide black wired ribbon
sparkly pipe cleaners
black shoe laces
thread in colour of netting
bat print out
glue gun

To make the hat. 

This video on uTube will show you how to make a witches hat better than I could describe it.  It's easy and doesn't take long.  The only thing I would change is to double the brims (make two instead of one and glue them together) to strengthen the brim up.  Even though the flowers and ribbon are not heavy, they will weigh it down.

Once your hat is finished and dry, you are ready to start adding the embellishments,  Drape the netting over the top of the hat.  Using a needle and thread, loosely gather it together at the bottom of the netting and baste it loosely with large stitches all around the brim of the hat. Tighten it up so that it fits around wide part of the hat at the bottom. Hot glue it in place to the brim.

Paint the large silk leaves black.  When dry, hot glue them in place to the brim in the front.  Save one or two leaves for the back of the hat.

Make a large bow (click for a good tutorial on uTube if you need to find out how) for the front of your hat.  Hot glue it in place on the brim and close to the top part of the hat.

Cut down the flowers and hot glue randomly to the front of the hat burying them in the bow.

Click on the bat print out in the instructions above to go to a website where you can get a paper bat print out.

Print out as many paper bats from the template as you would like on your hat.  Cut them out.  Trace the cut out on left over poster board and cut out more bats.  Place a pipe cleaner on one of the backs (hot glue it).  Modge Podge (or glue) the bat cut outs to the front.  Staple over the now hidden pipe cleaner for good measure!  Twist the pipe cleaner in a random shape and hot glue to the hat.

Repeat this same sequence for the back of the hat with any left-overs of ribbon, leaves, bats, etc...

*OTHER IDEAS*

If you have some black boa "furry stuff", you could spice these bats up once you have them cut out by adding a little piece in the middle of the bat for the body, glue some tiny button eyes to the boa.  You can then hot glue these furry little bats to the bow.

Additionally you could make some bats out of black polymer clay to nestle in the bow (just hot glue them in) or for your Halloween window.  Using the print out as a template, cut out bats from conditioned polymer clay. Bake as per manufacturer's instructions (about 15 minutes in a 275 degree oven). If you are going to add them to your window, just poke a tiny hole in the middle of the bat's wing (at the top) before curing your clay.  When cool,  finish the bats with the boa and tiny eyes as above.  String fish line through the top of the bat wing and hang in your window.

Finishing Your Hat

Poke two holes in the top of the brim (one on each side) to add the shoe strings.  Thread them through the holes and tie a knot. These will help keep the hat on your head when tied in a bow beneath your chin.  You're done.  Now try on your creation and listen to the oohs and ahhs from friends and family!! 

Enjoy!!  Happy Be-Witching on Halloween,

Sharon




 

A Mixed Media Bunny tutorial

Happy Easter everyone! 

Last week I promised to show you the bunny I was hoping to work on this week for Easter.  Since it turned out to be so darn cute and easy to make (less than an hour), I decided I would post the pattern and write up a little "how to" for you as a little gift from the Easter bunnikin!

So let's get started... and take a peek at what she will look like once she's finished.  She is about 8" tall and is a "stand up" bunny that you could put on a windowsill, a table or tucked away in a niche.  She's a real cutie!!

Here's what you'll need for supplies

piece of heavy cardboard 8-1/2" x 11"
Modge Podge or other white glue
Brown ink pad and a piece of polyester batting
about a yard of 1" pink wire edged ribbon
a cluster of small silk roses
something "fluffy" for her tail - I can never remember the name of that furry, fluffy stuff :)
box cutter
scissors
bunny pattern
white paint or piece of decorative paper

Cover one side of your cardboard with decorative paper.  Alternatively, you could also paint it white.

Here's the bunny pattern.  Just click on the link to download it to your computer.  Print it out, glue it to the other side of your cardboard and then cut it out.  Using the box cutter to lightly go round the bunny will make it easier to cut out with the scissors.  

Ink the edges with your brown ink and a piece of polyester batting.  The batting will create a softer outline.  Glue a small piece of the white fluffy stuff to her tail.

Make a stand for the back of your bunny from the leftover cardboard and glue it to the back.

Tie the ribbon round her neck. In the knot (before you make the bow), place the cluster of roses, knot it and then tie a bow.  That's it!  You're done.  Stand back and admire your cute bunny!

Hoppy Easter... may the Easter bunny bring you lots of chocolate!!

Cheers,
Sharon

"Tooling" around... some mini "how to" tutorials

After a total *DISASTER* in the computer department, I am finally back online!  The motherboard on my main computer decided to give me a very hard time... three capacitors blew up and that was the end of my computer!  I was *more* than annoyed... the computer wasn't all that old and a well known brand name.  But I heaved a sigh of relief at none of my data being lost!  Doing backups on my external drive made a difference too!  The only problem was... I had to find a computer *somewhere* running XP (I had always refused to upgrade to Vista) in order to access it.  It took a couple of days for hubby to track one down with our local computer guy... who was great.. he switched the drives and I was back in business.  I flipped the switch and  then came the shocking realization I had lost all of my software programs!  Fortunately I had the CD's for some of them (and have most of them now re-loaded) but a lot of programs I had downloaded off the web were lost.  Needless to say, it has been a frustrating and maddening two weeks getting back to this point.

To calm my jangled technology nerves, I whipped out my clay and began to play!!  I have been wanting to cover a needle tool hubby made for me a couple of years ago out of a heavy darning needle and a piece of dowel.  I use it all the time... and not just for claying.  After all that use, it was looking pretty grubby!!

It's the greatest little tool for punching holes in leather, in cloth for putting in grommets or getting a sewn buttonhole started, cleaning those tiny ridges in my clay gun, poking holes in cardboard or paper... oh I could go on and on!!  Want to make one yourself?  Just get a heavy darning needle, drill a hole in a 4" piece of 3/4" doweling that will fit the darning needle and glue it in with some heavy carpenter's glue. Cover it with clay, make a little bead for the end (so you don't poke yourself by accident) and you're done!

While I was at it, I decided to make some little stamps I could use to texture clay from some charms, embellishments and buttons I had lying around my art table.  I simply made an handle out of scrap clay, put a little clay behind the charm, button or embellishment to offset it from the handle, cooked it and voila a bunch of cool little stamps were born.  They work like a charm!  (no pun intended!)

 

Take a look at this photo.  Yep, it's my initial!  Can you guess what it might be?

The mystery thickens with some colourful "pick up sticks"

Now what do you get when you add the two together?  Why a "Bead-0-Matic" baker and glazing tool that looks like this:

Here's what's neat about this "tool":  it won't fall over in the oven (even in a convection oven with all that hot air swirling about) while the "cocktail" toothpicks hold the beads while baking.  You can remove the toothpicks and once you have sanded your beads (if they aren't textured), you can put them back on the toothpick, dip or glaze them and set them back into the holder to dry.  If you happen to lose or break one of the toothpicks, you can simply replace it with another one!

All you need to make it are some cocktail toothpicks and some scrap clay.  Form the clay into an "S", poke your toothpicks into the clay (leave them there while baking the "form"), bake the clay at 275 degrees for about 40 minutes (depending on the thickness of your clay).  Remove it from the oven while hot (I use an "Ove-Glove" in my clay room for handling hot clay coming from the oven) and immediately remove the toothpicks.  Let it cool, then put the toothpicks back into the holes in the form.  You have to remove the toothpicks while the form is hot otherwise they will be very difficult to remove without breaking!

Another use for this tool is using it as a holder for painting small "stuff" or when you are making little embellishments to add to ATC's, cards or other art.

So that's it for today... hope you find these tools useful.  I've got some beads that need sanding...

Happy Arting...

Sharon

P.S.  Have any of you who have blogs had as much frustration as I have had in "transitioning" the Google apps that can't automatically be moved to Google's new structure?  I was ready to tear my hair out...what a process... and I am not sure that I have even got it right.  I consider myself pretty web savvy but boy I found it confusing!  If anyone has some good tips, I'd love to hear from you!

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

A Christmas Gift for You!

I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who have supported me by visiting my blog, leaving wonderful comments and sending me such lovely emails this past year.  It is very much appreciated and I truly treasure your friendship.

Christmas morning is always fun for me.  I enjoy opening all the gifts under the tree but the most fun and what I love most is watching the faces of my family members as they open theirs. 

In my house, there is always much guessing on Christmas Eve as to what the "handmade" gift from me will be this year.  I don't think anyone has guessed correctly yet... it remains a mystery until Christmas morning... 'cause I won't tell or even give any hints!

Guess what? 

Santa left a present

under the tree

JUST FOR YOU

 at myStoryART...

And DRATS... I have to tell you what it is. LOL

A tutorial for a 3-1/2" x 5" Vintage Photo Lantern made from glass and as a bonus for my "twinchie" friends, the tutorial also includes some prints to make a sweet 2" x 2" Christmas lantern.  The little lantern has a flickering flame LED light behind it and the large lantern can have either a candle in a votive holder or two flickering flame LED lights to shine through the photos.  Difficult to photograph but I guarantee... you'll love the effect!!



Twinchie 2" x 2"  Christmas Lantern



3-1/2" x 5" Vintage Photo Glass Lantern

The tutorial photos for the large lantern are different than on the one I made for myself but they are just as lovely.  Here's a preview of them....

If you hurry, you can even make one for Christmas, either as a gift for someone else or yourself! (how novel...LOL)

Download the PDF Tutorial Here

You can save the PDF to your computer.  Please be patient with the download.  It is a BIG pdf file....

Wishing YOU a wonderful Holiday Season!  Merry Christmas everyone and see you in the New Year!

Happy Holidays

Sharon