artful thursday - flower cuff

here's a little pretty to spruce up your fall wardrobe. i think this would be great for dressy, or school, or even t-shirt and jeans.

first of all...
gather up some seam binding. this can be found cheap at your local salvation army. i like the rayon kind with no sticky stuff on the back. i am always on the lookout for colors like smoke, pewter, and slate...


cut a strip about 18 inches long, and stitch along one side, using the widest straight stitch your machine has.



pull the threads and gather up the binding so you have a wrinkly piece to work with.


now. cut out a circle of felt - or any kind of fabric for backing will work. these circles are about the size of a half dollar.


get that glue gun good and hot!

working around the outside of the circle, start gluing the seam binding down.


hint: after i've gone two whole rotations, shown above, i move to the other end of the seam binding and begin rolling it into the center. then i squeeze out a big ole glue gob right in the center and gently set the rest of the rolled ribbon on the glue gob. i use a crochet hook to secure the seam binding in random spots.

here are some photos of the flowers i made today...the larger ones were too big for my cuff, but they would be lovely on a purse.






okay. now i had white elastic on hand. so i used white elastic. black would have been better.


use enough elastic that your cuff will be easy to put on and comfortable to wear. sew.



glue the flowers all the way around the elastic cuff.

and it's a pretty!

thanks for stopping by!
happy day to you!!

artful thursday - art party!!!

okay. so artful thursday this week was dedicated to a little art party hosted by my sister and i to meet some new silver bellas! we were so delighted to learn that there would be 6 of us from our neck of the woods headed to omaha later this year...we just couldn't wait till then to meet up for some creating fun, food, and, of course, SHOPPING! we also wanted to share a few helpful hints with the girls to help make silver bella a great experience for them.



so we started with brunch...(photos taken before the gathering) :)



then moved onto the creating table...(again, photos taken before the creating began!)



the girls found goodie bags hanging on the backs of their chairs. papers, lace, bingo cards, a little of this and a little of that all waiting to be used.





our project was a portfolio...i shared it a couple weeks ago here.



since the bellas are wearing hats this year for the vendor fair, karla used her collection as decor for our gathering. (i love love this hat.)

here are our new found friends!

this is chris...


janet...



lisa....



and lora...


after we finished the portfolios, it was on to the shopping! we hit one of our all time favorite "junk and pretties shop"...i didn't get any photos of our goods, (lame. sorry.) but i will say, lora scored on a chippy white table and two chairs, janet picked up some great little cards that will come in oh so handy for creating, lisa was all smiles with her sewing supplies, chris was pumped with her treasures that totaled nine bucks, karla found fabric to use in one of the swaps she's participating in, and i came home with a ziplock baggie full of great vintage paper dolls and "a damaged just enough so i love it" framed yard of roses - already hanging in my dining room. :)

girls, we had a wonderful time!!! thanks so much for joining us!

happy day!

artful thursday - summer necklace

hi girls! i'm a day late, i know!


gather some happy grandma-ish brooches from yard sales or flea markets or the trusty goodwill.

pop the backs off.

create a little arrangement that is pleasing to your eye.

you'll need a little fabric for backing, i chose a vintage print.

cut the backing that will work for your arrangement. in fact, cut two. one for the front and one for the back. i wanted a little weight with mine, so i sandwiched a piece of paper in between and sewed them together.

then i went to town stitching and went around and around using different stitch widths.

i used the amazing crop-o-dile to punch holes and add eyelets.



then i got out the big guns - E6000 (holy cow is it good glue.) and glued the arrangement right on to the fabric backing.
waiting for the glue to dry.

i used an old chain from a garage sale necklace.

and finished!


happy day!

so i am sort of coveting...

this little wonder. i am so not a computer gal, but i know enough to know that i love apple! my mamma is totally in love with hers. her birthday is tomorrow so i whipped up a pretty little accessory for her. she still doesn't read my blog, so no worries in sharing it with you. :)






in other fun summer news...elliott and beatrice were invited to a toy story 3 birthday party - come as your favorite characters!



okay, elliott really wanted to be zurg...but that just didn't work out!



happy day!

artful thursday - getting organized

two weeks? so sorry about the absence, friends! this is way overdue.

okay. so, no doubt, you have run across all the very cool blog posts and classes offered for journaling. i just have to tell you there is no way i am going to start journaling and here is why. i journaled regularly like in my twenties. then quit. found them later, read them, and promptly BURNED THEM! it was fun to look back and think - oh yeah, i totally remember that, but then i was all like -ohmygosh! what was i thinking??!?! for me...i do not want people reading my private secret thoughts no matter how long gone i may be. you all go right ahead. : )

HOWEVER. i do like a pretty portfolio to keep me organized. begin with the humble file folder.



using three folders, you can cut the tabbies off and shorten them to any width. i cut one folder to 6 inches, another to 7, and the last one to 8. then you glue them together creating the type of portfolio you are most interested in. this one has two folds, and three flaps. see?



this is what it looks like all folded up.



there you go. e.a.s.y. and then the super fun embellishing begins! i love little pockets and places to write my things to do and remember lists. this is my silver bella portfolio. the photo i used on the cover is of my great-grandma, her two sisters, and two cousins. they are dressed so lovely and are wearing these great hats! these women were all very artistic and talented. most definitely bellas.



i added pockets EVERYWHERE. this is the backside. i am crazy about crocheted lace. LOVE IT. i purchased the little button last year at vendor nite and decided to use it as part of the fastener.



here is the inside flap.



and here it is all open. you can see that there is one more section behind the smaller flap.



i used a light color of paper here so i can write notes or other important information right on the portfolio.



here are a bunch of detail shots.