Card-Making Party

Last night one of my co-workers hosted a card-making party at work. I'd never been to one before, so I was excited.

Okay, I have to tell you - this is the way to craft! This brilliant, artistic woman showed up with all of the supplies to make 4 different card designs. She had examples made, plus all of the fancy papers, embellishments, stamps, inks, ribbons, tape, glue, foam tabs, and envelopes needed. She even brought her die-cutting machine! I got to make 8 really cute cards. It was cheap - $10 total - and I didn't have any pesky leftover supplies to figure out storage for.


I made this cute little kangaroo pocket-card.

You know I love all things owl-related!!

I would have never come up with this design on my own, but I think it's very fun.

How cute is this - 5 little mini cards inside a nifty little box that we made with the die-cut!

Too fun!

Halloween Envelope Bags

Oh, I just can't help myself! I know that it is way too early to start spreading Halloween cheer, but this weekend I found an inspiring tutorial on how to turn an envelope into a little gift bag, and I couldn't resist. These ones are filled with sweets leftover from my Halloween Advent Calendar. I'm going to try to wait to deposit these on desks until at least October 1... but no promises. :)

Sweet Encouragement

Okay, I'm a major dork... I'm aware. In so many ways I geek out daily - from the pun-based jokes that I insist are still funny the 18th time, to the ham I am when I get in front of my students. However, stress brings out a whole new level of dork in me.

This week I'm going through a certification to become a trainer of other educators in a method of teaching I strongly believe in (GLAD). Without going into specifics, this is the culmination of a year -or, if you look at it another way, 4 years- of an intense process. So naturally, the puns are flying like fish at Pike Place. My certification partner, Jenny, doesn't read this blog, so I'm comfortable showing the little daily encouragements I have planned for her.

First, I spent way too long in the candy aisle at QFC, searching for candy bars with names that could be turned into notes of support. When I got home I got out my beautiful new wool felt and some scrap craft paper and sewed 5 little tags, with rick-rack ties. On each one I composed a little note of encouragement, and I've started leaving these in places where she'll find them throughout our certification.

I found that I really liked making the labels. I've never tried sewing paper and fabric together before (aside from sewing the labels onto my mail sorter), and it was oddly satisfying.

Here's something else I discovered. All felt is not created equal. Those of you out there more experienced than me are thinking, "duh" right now, but for me this was a revelation. I've only ever used eco-felt before, and while it has its charms, it can't beat wool felt. This stuff is soft, easy to cut, easy to sew, and has such a rich, luxurious look to it that it barely fits in the same category. If you've never indulged before, I highly recommend it.

Organizing the Mail

Alright, be honest now. How many of you, like me, have a mail pit - a place where mail is dropped and forgotten? I get home, my hands are full of groceries, I have to use the bathroom, and everything just sort of gets dumped on the dining room table. Of course I sort through the groceries - after all, food must be refrigerated. But once I've scanned through the mail to see whether there are any packages, paychecks, or birthday cards, I pretty much just leave it there, where it mocks me for the next week or so. Eventually I'll do a quick sort through the pile, recycling junk mail, searching for bills, and shredding credit card applications, but 29 days out of the month the pit is there.

Enter Gina, of Bright and Blithe, and her fabulous mail sorter tutorial. This was a very simple project, and her tutorial even includes the printable labels you see above. Essentially, you are just creating a long pouch, then dividing it into 4 sections with rows of stitches.

Gina used unbleached cotton, which looks the same on both sides, and so her sorter was unlined. I used a cotton print that looks ugly on the back (which would become the insides of the pockets), so I lined mine with a pretty white eyelet cotton that I found at Goodwill.

She also uses a long piece of elastic to turn this into a sort of necklace for a door. I added fabric tabs to mine, so that it can just hang on a wall.

I mounted it on the wall right by the front door, and have notified the husband that there's a new system in place, so here's hoping that I've seen the last of the mail pit!

Kite Paper Window Stars

I am all about color, and in these dark, gray days of January I find that I'm in need of bright spots of color more than ever.

Enter Waldorf window stars. For those of you not in the know, Waldorf education is a philosophy of education that emphasizes creativity and imagination. Personally, I don't have any experience with Waldorf schools and so have no opinion about their efficacy, but I do love so many of the arts and crafts that come out of these classrooms.

I found the tutorial for these stars on Garden Mama, and the kite paper at Palumba. Kite paper is basically colorful waxed paper. I wanted to get the "all colors" kite paper, but Palumba is out of stock for now. Instead I went with the other set, which includes primary colors, green, and white.

I've also been experimenting with cutting the paper down to get smaller stars. I want to put these stars everywhere. The photos don't do them justice at all - in person the colors are more varied and subtle, and the waxiness of the paper makes them shimmer and glow in the window. I highly recommend these stars as an antidote to the January grays!

P.S. Don't worry Chelsea - I didn't forget about you! I still have plenty of paper left, and I'm ordering the "all colors" set as soon as I can. I just couldn't wait to try making these when the paper came in the mail yesterday!

I Heart Martha

Oh, that Martha. She is so stinking cute!

Whilst wandering Michael's today I found this Martha Stewart Crafts kit for making glitter transfer prints. Well you know that I hear glitter and I'm sold, so I picked it up. Unlike some other kits that I could mention, this one did not disappoint. It's super easy to use - basically you put a temporary tattoo on your paper and shake some glitter on it. I made my Christmas thank-you cards with it tonight, and a birthday card for a certain someone too.

My one wish is that either the tattoo glue would be stickier, or the glitter would be finer, because with some colors the glitter coverage is a little spotty. But a second glitter-dip seems to do it, so that's just a baby wish.

Upcycling Christmas Cards

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this idea, but since I haven't heard of anyone else doing it I'm claiming credit now. I invented this idea.

I always keep my Christmas cards, because it seems so lame to throw them out. At the same time, I'm a whatever-the-opposite-of-a-pack-rat-is (an unpack cat?), so it really bugs me to just store them.

So here's my solution. I went to Michael's and got the biggest round craft punch I could find. Then I punched the best part from each card. Voila! Next year's gift tags, all ready to go. I'll pack them away now, and next year I'll have totally cute, unique, free, eco-friendly gift tags!

Silhouettes

I made an unfortunate impulse buy at Barnes and Noble a few days ago - one of those little gift kits. Sometimes those kits are worth it, but this one was pretty lame. I've always wanted to try cut-paper silhouettes, so I was lured in by the idea of a quick, easy way to do it.

Sadly, the kit turned out to be nothing more than an unhelpful booklet, some (pretty cute) background papers, and a bunch of black paper squares. I could have put that together.

Anyway, I gave it a try, and here are my first attempts below. I do have to say that I like the way they turned out!