Catching Up on Christmas

Next up on my backlog is posting about projects I made for Christmas.

Don't let this post deceive you, they were done before Christmas, I just didn't post about them.

Some time last year, I hemmed a curtain for my friend to use across her under-the-stairs storage. When she wasn't looking, I snuck the cut-off home with me to use at a later date. I decided Christmas was that later date.

She just finished a basement upgrade (well her dad just finished it) and so I decided she could use some cushions for her new living area to match her curtain. The fabric sides were inverse of each other (dark with light branches and light with dark branches), so I decided to take advantage of that and utilize both sides.

I also decided to add a ruched bit in the middle. (I originally saw this idea in a magazine I got for Christmas one year, though when I wanted to confirm the length of fabric I might want to use, I could not for the life of me find the magazine).

One thing I will say is that this fabric really had a life of its own - and staying square wasn't high on it's priority list. So to make my life a little easier, I used freezer paper on the back of the fabric until I was done attaching it to everything, and that really helped.

Another thing I added was pipping. The Seasoned Homemaker has my go-to pipping tutorial. I have used it a countless number of times.

I didn't have enough fabric for all of that out of what was left from the curtain, so I used some grey cotton from my stash for the ruching and pipping. I went with a darker pipping and lighter ruching on with the dark side of the fabric, and a lighter pipping and darker ruching for the lighter side of the fabric.

With the ruching, the pipping, and the curtain fabric, I think they came out looking very professional, and not at all like a homemade pillow.

For the same friend, I also utilized some new skills on my Cricut. I had bought some wooden coasters and wanted to jazz them up. She always has so many lovely plants in her home, so I decided I would go with that for a theme.

Test run in vinyl on paper

I found some designs I liked, cut them out of iron-on vinyl, and attached them to the wooden coasters. That's the white-washed version of how things went (and how I planned it, because you know, I watched a 5 min youtube video). In reality, I started too late, didn't have everything planned, and was trying something completely new. So I was in my craft room at 10 PM the day before Christmas Eve (when I was leaving at lunch the next day and hadn't packed yet), freaking out because nothing was working.

A couple things I learned: First, not all wooden things are created equal. Part of the problem was that my surface wasn't smooth enough. Thankfully I had some sandpaper that I could take to it, and after sanding it down for a while, it went much better. Second, small pieces are trickier. Originally I was going to just do the outline, but there wasn't really enough there to stick down. Even as is, with the transfer tape on top of it some of those pieces just didn't want to stick and I had to go with the iron straight on it (but not for too long or that was also a problem).

Did I have to cut the first one out multiple times because I ruined it trying to attach it? Yes. Did I have to glue felt to the bottom because I ruined one side of one of them and had to turn it over and use the other side? Yes. But, overall am I happy with them? Yes. 

While we're talking Cricut projects, I'll also show you the card I printed for my Dad to tell him we helped kickstart a new season of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 on his behalf (it's a nerd thing).

Apparently I didn't take a picture of the finished product, just the plan. The finished product basically looked like this :D. 

Tune in next time for more "Things I made at Christmas, but am only posting about now" :).

Paper Crafting with Cricut

About a year ago, I decided to use my Christmas money and treat myself to a Cricut machine. I had been considering one for a number of years, but always considered it a pipe-dream. However, I found myself with a little extra cash and decided it was time :).

First project they have you make.

I decided to go with an Explore Air 2. The maker was significantly more and I decided the features it included weren't ones I would really take advantage of.

Pre-designed card with beautiful water colour
background painted by my friend

So far, I have focused mostly on paper crafting - mostly cards. I already had a lot of paper from my years of scrapbooking (that I will probably never get back to) and card-making.

Another pre-designed card

I had Cricut Access for the first month, so I cut out a number of cards and things while I could, and set them aside for gluing later. If I'm being honest, there's still some I cut a year ago that I still haven't glued, but I've also put a number of them together and given them out :).

This was made using the foil tool
I got for my birthday.

Hard to tell, but I used my
glitter gel pens here.

After that first month, I've been on my own in terms of designing, which has worked out fairly well, but can be difficult. Sometimes I'm able to mostly use something from the free library, such as some of the ones below (and the thank yous above).

This is a card I've been able
to make too many times.

I find it easy enough to write
on the outside of the card

But I often stick to gluing
an extra paper on the inside

Pre-designed outside

With custom-designed inside
based on the invitations

One of my favourites.
Foil background design.
A little custom work for the
two colour butterfly.

But sometimes I'm completely on my own. I have done some digital visual design work as part of my job, but this has definitely stretched me out of my comfort zone. 

One of my first solo designs.
Had better visions for it, but you have
to start somewhere
in the learning process :)

Baby card for an Eric Carle and bird
themed baby gift

I also took some time to make myself a sign for my laundry room as it saw a lot more outside use over covid :D.

I also have a number of cards I've made but have forgotten to photograph. I still have lots to learn, but I'm also very happy with what I've been able to do with it so far.