A landscape of inspiration

I think it's ok to admit how horrible I've been at keeping up these past couple of months.  It has to do something with 3 young kids, summer vacation, a new school year, a new machine and travel! Eventually one day I'll get back into my routine but until then, I have a little to share.

After several weeks with my new machine, I can officially say it is a work horse of a machine. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.  I love that I am able to see a lot of the inside of the machine so I can clean the nooks and crannies that like to clutter up with fabric fuzz. I was very hesitant about the side bobbin but it's amazing.  Love the knee presser foot lift, so much so that my knee does this really awkward jerk when I go back to my Singer machine.

I'm happy to confess that despite being busy with the kids I have managed to give Juki baby a run for her money.  Most recently I have been excited about recreating landscapes of beautiful Oahu, all done on fabric.  My most favorite part of it all though, is the 2nd to final step, the free motion quilting.  First few tries my hands were very shaky but as I get used to it, build up my confidence, and practice I notice a steadier hand and more of a fluid movement to my designs.

I've gone in to a couple of local galleries to see if they will carry my work.  I will pursue this more once we get back from our trip, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will all pan out.  I'm gradually growing my inventory in hopes of joining a gallery in the near future.

So we are heading out on a trip for the grand event of our family! My younger brother is getting married.  And with only 2 weeks to spare my bridesmaid dress arrived and to my dismay, it didn't fit.  In a true panic, I took a few deep breathes, whispered to my seam ripper "don't let me down"  and together we worked at tearing seams apart, reworking them and finally, getting the dress to fit without having to pay a seamstress to alter it.  Another check in my book of things to learn. I'm thankful it worked out.  I'll share pictures of the dress after the event.

I've been practicing my "smokey" eye makeup.  So far, I've tried green, gray and black.  I'll find the links to the good tutorials I have been using to learn how to do this.  I love the reaction my girls give me when they see a new shade of smokey eye.

Despite being gone from the blogging world, I hope you have all stayed creative and inspired!  Until next time,

                                              Mokulua Islands off of Lanikai Beach

                                                The many shades of Kailua Beach

                                                          Mt. Olomana from Kailua

                                                              Plumerias at Pyramid Rock

A new Machine?

I've been missing my blog, writing, and just over all being creative.  I just completed week 4 of my workouts, trying to get ready for "little" brother's wedding next month.  But with that said, after my intense workouts I lack energy and though I have had the urge to be creative, I just haven't had the energy.  So, I switched my workout a little bit.  I'm really not trying to prove anything and I realize how totally obsessed I can become over something.  I feel if i don't follow this program exactly, then I wont see any changes.  Finally decided I need to get over that feeling and just realize that doing SOMETHING is good...doing nothing, well that wouldn't be so good.  Needless to say, I scaled back but I do something every day. Thankfully this has provided me with a little more energy to do something creative while the kiddos are at school.

I've been heavily contemplating a new machine.  I even stopped by a sew n' vac store last week and sat down with a few machines, then again on Monday.  I have read 100's of reviews on the 3 machines I was heavily thinking about and finally, decided on the 4th option.  Much more affordable and though it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the pricey machines, it does what my intention for a new machine is supposed to do.  I've read countless reviews on it's reliability, it's performance and I think I have yet to read anything negative. The other machines had quite a list of con's which seemed crazy to me with the price tag they came with.

First on my list was the Viking Eden Rose, though affordable, when I sat down with that machine, for 4 times the expense of my current machine (Singer Quantum Stylist 9600) it didn't feel much different. In fact, it felt more flimsy to me and the only thing I like about it was the bigger throat and the way the presser foot lifts when using just the pedal.  Slashed off my list when I finally go the chance to try it out.

Next was the Viking Designer 1 USB.  But I think my judgement was clouded by a little bit of bait and switch from the sales person. Luckily, I don't just jump on things with hefty price tags. I always discuss with my husband, read reviews, watch videos and look online for better prices.  Thankfully, I found out that this machine was more for embroidery, older (crazy price tag for an older machine!) and it didn't have the throat size that I am looking for to ease up some of my FMQ.

I did more research online, looked into Babylocks.  The Crescendo is still on my dream list but for quilting, I realize that it too has too many bells and whistles that i just don't need right now.  Of course, the store didn't have any babylock Crescendo's for me to test drive, but instead, she brought me over to the Bernina's.  Now mind you, every quilting book and magazine that I drool over, most of the quilting artists have Bernina's so there has to be something there.  I sat at the 750 QE and OH my! I was in love. I still am.  But I am so hesistant to purchase something so expensive reading some of the reviews (a lot actually) of issues people have. Of course, while we are stationed near a Bernina dealer I have someone who can help me BUT what happens when we get stationed elsewhere? Particularly if we go overseas again?  The thought just unnerved me.

SO back to looking.  I came across a few blogs that talked about the Bernina 750 QE and they also mentioned how much they love their Juki 2010Q for FMQ and piecing.  What? What is a Juki 2010Q. Thank goodness for google.  And boy, the reviews I found are amazing!  So with my husbands support on this machine (of course, the price tag is much less shocking) I took the plunge this morning and ordered it.  Couldn't get the free shipping to Hawaii but I did get $100 off my order.  I'm beyond excited for my new "baby" to arrive! It already shipped.  Stay tuned for the unveiling of the machine that will hopefully change the way I do quilting forever!

In preparation for Juki's arrival, I made a few squares to practice some FMQ on my Singer.  What fun, but even my small 12 x 11 piece of fabric got a little crazy to maneuver around the small throat.  Still fun, and so excited to try doing this on a machine made for quilting.

Until then, be on the look out for my new machine and my thoughts on its performance!

My little bird of whimsy, practiced free motion on this as well as some free hand stitching on the tail, eyes and feet.  Available on Etsy :)

And this here is a star pattern I put together to practice FMQ on, just haven't tried yet because it is kind of big. I'm thinking of waiting until Juki-baby comes.  We'll see.

Let's Embroider by hand

Wow, when did August happen?? Crazy how quickly the summer has gone by. Technically it's still summer but my girls went back to school yesterday and so summer feels like it's over here.  I have mixed emotions about it.  House is a little less chaotic with them at school for a few hours but I miss them and their chaos.  House stays a little cleaner, though this morning I told the little guy he was on the verge of making a bigger mess alone, than 3 of them together.  He stopped mid way into spilling the millions of littlest pet shop pets and accessories on the floor when I said that, stepped back and apologized.  So back to school means a little more time for some crafty business.

A few blogs that I adore, do a lot of embroidered work on fabric and yesterday that itching desire I get every once and a while to try something new (ok, every other day or so)  I pulled out my cotton floss that I had stashed away from my friendship bracelet days, pulled out a doodle I whipped up the other day and copied the image on to an Eiffel tower fabric.  I'd say, if I did this again I would certainly NOT use such a busy fabric because it pretty much takes away from the embroidered design but for my first try, I'm pretty pleased.  It'll be fun to put some of my doodles to stitches the good old fashion way with a needle and thread and a hoop for good measure.

I have lots of designs stirring in my little brain! I hope to make them soon. Until then, have a wonderful and creatively filled day!

Paper Roses, repurposed book pages

If you haven't figured it out yet, I ADORE flowers! Fabric flowers, flowers in fabric, real flowers, fake flowers, flowers made from just about anything.  So it shouldn't surprise you that I had to try something new while sipping my morning coffee.

Each petal is individually cut, rolled around a pencil for a little bit of shape and then applied to a "stick" (I used a q-tip covered in washi tape!)   Hot glued on...I have 2 burned fingers but despite that throbbing pain in my poor fingers, I love how this turned out!

Enjoy!

      

       

Breathing new life into an old book, scrapping books

Perhaps it's not a fantastic idea but I love the printed page style items I keep seeing in the scrapbook, paper product world.  I wanted to try this out myself, without having to rip up a book that I love (which is how I feel about all my books in my house)  so the kiddos and I went to the Salvation Army in downtown Kailua this morning.  After a stop at Coldstone Creamery and a scoop of chocolate cake batter ice cream and another scoop of cotton candy ice cream, we ventured over to SA to take a look at their book selection.  A perfect day, I spotted an encyclopedia right away. 1,000+ pages of experimentation for only $2, how could I go wrong?!   So after a few more errands with the kiddos, we headed home for some paper crafting time.

We (my girls too!) are LOVING making our own envelopes.  We thought they would make for a cute personal gift, some homemade envelopes with hand made cards to go with them, tied in a nice ribbon and ready to be gifted.  I showed the girls how to make the quick envelopes and we experimented a little with the encyclopedia pages.  What a neat little accent to an envelope, open the top, pull our your card and see the background of knowledge.

We did have to break for dinner but we are still at work on the floor enjoying the creative processes and discovering new ways of using old things.

I took a page of the book and made a singed flower and then a doodled heart for a long awaited Thank you card.

But as the night falls upon us, I see some tired eyes (me! me! me!)  and we'll have to pick up where we left off tomorrow.  So until then, I'm sure you are resting peacefully in slumber land or perhaps waking to a new day.

  

Add caption

Miss M's card (I adore this!)

envelope obsession

our creative disaster

Paper Fun, Simple Envelope Tutorial & Scrapbooking

I have so many things swirling around my brain that I want to make.  Sometimes I just have to do something quick and little to help quench my creative jumble for a little while.  This morning I decided to make an envelope tutorial, mostly pictures. Super easy and very chic when complete. I'm going to use this to put extra pictures in for a scrapbook in the making.

For the scrapbook in the making, I used a normal 3 ring binder (found in abundance at the stores these days because of Back to School shopping!)  I am currently in the process of creating the cover, need to do a little bit of inspiration searching to complete it. But hey, at least I started the first part of the process! I did sew it, now I just need to design it.  I've attached very small snippets of what is in the scrapbook from scratch, once it's gifted I'll show bigger better pictures.  Not a scrapbook in the complete sense but more of a scrapbook, photo album mixed with art book.  I love the new process of doodling on scrapbook pages. I think it adds a sweet dimension of creativity.

Anyway, the scrapbook will be gifted soon and my plan (though I'm not always good at following through with my plans!) is to add pages to it as I develop pictures..or for holiday/birthday specials.  We'll see how good I do. I have the best intentions though.

And finally, my brother and his beautiful Fiance` are getting married in September and I've been working on a cover for them.  Just a little bit more to go and then it'll be complete.

Until next time, have a wonderfully creative day!

Some funky craft paper, glue, an envelope and a pen 

 Carefully open up the envelope, and outline it on your craft paper...excuse the nail polish, my 8 year old daughter gave me a "manicure." 

 Trace it and then cut

 Time to fold, sides first....

 Bottom's UP!

 Add a little bit of glue....

 Seal and it's ready to go!

................The Scrapbook from scratch, peak below!...............

Searching for inspiration to decorate this cover. I want it to be whimsical, artsy and fun.

Strips and Strips and a tiny little star: Adventures in learning to piece and quilt.

I really haven't had much opportunity to create over the weekend so I was anxious to try something this morning.  I wanted to figure out how to create a tiny little center star using strips.  The outcome is not too shabby but I definitely need work on keeping my lines straight through-out.  I also think that the star will need to be a bit bigger next time around because when I finished up the block, not all triangles were the same size.

So I started out with 6 6" squares (you are only going to need 4 groups, with this you've actually made an extra 2 groups which I haven't yet figured out what to do with them.)  I cut each of them into 6" x 1" strips and then separated them into different groups.  I then cut 4 1" squares.  I attached the 1" squares on one 6" x 1" strip from each group, all going in the same direction, basically the same way you would make binding strips.  Cut the extra fabric off, pressed and then started attaching all the strips.

The strip that has the triangle should always be the bottom. I attached each 6" x 1" strip until 6 were attached, then I would do the same for the rest of the groups.

Pressed, remeasured and cut, lined up the center star and started attaching the blocks.

Once that was all done, I pressed again, and cut off the excess fabric. Put that aside and added it to the border.  I'm not sure that I would recommend using my measurements as my star is off, if you have advise I would love to hear it.  Anyway, pictures of my process. Another block complete for my sample Twin quilt.

Until next time friends, have a beautiful day!

                                                                               

started off making 6 (you'll only need 4)  groups of 1" x 6" strips  and 4 1" squares.

I attached the 1" squares on one strip from each group, I attached it as if making binding.

trimmed the excess fabric

I pressed each strip in the same direction

Then I started making my blocks, make sure you stitch on the 90 degree angle side

Pressed each group and then measured and straightened the blocks to attach to one another.

You can see my star is off a bit, I think it is just that one triangle on the damask fabric that is off though.

All attached, trimmed into a nice square, used the excess fabric for the border, see below.

Used the excess fabric to make accent the border here.  Need a lot more practice to get my lines straight!