Felt Jack-O-Lantern Pin

Halloween is just around the corner so I thought I would make a pin to wear the rest of the week. I cut this pumpkin from a felt placemat that had die cut pumpkins in the design- I just couldn't pass it up. I cut one of pumpkins out, glued it to a fabric yo-yo, add ribbons and of course rick-rack and it's ready to go. Hope you like it. Happy Halloween!

Ready for Fall....

Fall has finally come to Fresno....time for pumpkins and acorns. I have been seeing these on felting blogs where they used a felt ball for the acorn.....so cute, I just love them.

I didn't have any felt balls ( I wanted to give up) so I decided to create something different. I wadded up a small piece of tissue paper then wrapped it with pearl cotton or embroidery floss - they both come in so many colors - some even variegated - the choices are endless. I don't have any oak trees around but I did find these eucalyptus caps...I liked the color and they work just as well - something a little different ....... My friend Alexa at The Swell Life took these pictures for me - I just love the natural light. Thanks so much. I think these would be so cute just lying in a bowl or plate - the natural wood really enhances the colors.

I decided to create little pumpkins with some. After wrapping with orange, I took wrapped a single strand of brown to create sections. Everything was glued in place with Fast Grab Tacky Glue - it dries clear and fast. Before I glued the cap on, I drilled two small holes, inserted thin cording creating a hanger for the necklace. Small felt leaves were glued on for color. I just think these are so cute and could be worn all fall.

Here is a different necklace, plain pumpkins but with a larger felt oak leaf added to the necklace lacing. I like how it turned out. Hope you like these and will try them - please let me know if you do - I would love to see them.

Candycorn Cupcakes!

I was shopping this weekend and saw Candy Corn everywhere. I decided that instead of getting the candy, I would make cupcakes instead. Very easy and look really cute when cut. I found these great polka dot cupcake papers at Michael's craft store. Basically I started with a white cake mix, added food coloring then layered together. The frosting creates the white of the candy. They taste pretty good too!. Hope you'll try them.

Here it it before it's cut - love the colored sprinkles......gives a hint of what's inside. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch and Nectarine Cobbler!

I went to visit my sister in Paso Robles this weekend - so beautiful - still warm - about 85 degrees - way to hot for mid October. To get in the mood for Fall we drove to Avila Beach to visit the country store - boy were they ever busy. Here is just a small sampling of the different types of pumpkins they had - so beautiful and very interesting - some I had never seen before. Lots of families picking out their pumpkins. I chose to buy a homemade nectarine cobbler instead......it was delicious!

Wool Debit Card Holder

I love this cute holder. I had to make it because my wallet keeps de-magnetizing my card - this is my third in two years....so I decided to make a separate case for it....and of course it had to be red wool with felt details. It only took about 30 minutes to make and by using Fabric Fusion to glue on the details on I know they won't come off.

It was super easy - just sew a pouch from wool or felt, sew a button to a felt round, cut out some leaves then glue everything in place. I like the added touch of stitching around the opening. So easy and so cute....Hope you like it.

Team Edward?

I made this t-shirt for a class I plan to teach at iLoveToCreate here in Fresno. I think it turned out really cool - and so easy to make. I used a mirror image technique - I squeezed True Red Tulip 3D Fashion Paint on one side of the lips, folded the shirt in half, pressed together then opened shirt revealing the mirror image. Adding Red Tulip Fashion Glitter for the lips and Silver Glitter for the drips adds a bit of glitz.....perfect for Halloween - which will be in no time..... Hope you like it let me know what you think......

Wedding Pictures!!!!!!

The Newlyweds! (sorry about the fuzzy picture - camera problems). They got married in Maryland College Chapel. We all went back East for the wedding - it was simple and beautiful. Notice her bouquet? She made it herself from the inside of security envelopes (the kind bills come in) they are all colors of blue.....a closeup later..... they look so happy.......
Here is the bride Renee with her parents my sister Carolee and brother-in-law Jay. Jay is retired from the military and wore his dress uniform - so handsome and Carolee looked so beautiful in her blue. Notice the LOVE in the background - instead of flowers Renee used Mylar balloon letters for the decorations - they were inexpensive and were easy to move to reception - they looked really great behind the couple. The are attached to wrapped bricks. Great idea......

Here is plate at the reception. Renee and family made 3000 cookies of all different flavors as wedding favors. She had decorated bags available so everyone could take a bag full of cookies home with them....they were so yummy. She had printed all the recipes and made a book for everyone to take home with them... another great idea........

Here is the table centerpiece. Renee and Carolee made them all. Branches from the back yard were sprayed white then punched flower for security envelopes where glued to the branches - so cute and all the different blues were so beautiful. the most expensive thing was the vases from the Dollar Store....... Notice the picture on the table? Each table was a year and the pictures where what the bride and groom looked like that year - really fun to look at all the pictures from the different years......the head table had them together....really neat idea.

Here is the half finished Cake Topper I made for their cake. It turned out really cute and Renee really like it.....check out Renee's blog Wedding and Cookies to see the finished result.

Here is a close up of the bouquets....now you can see all the different designs and colors from the envelopes....actually very pretty. Renee make all the bouquets for the wedding.....they looked really great and really different.....a great idea.

Here are the "poofs" used for the aisle decorations. They are about 18" across and looked really cute down the aisle. They sewed a ring of elastic to the back of each so it could be slipped over the end of each pew - much easier than wire - a great idea.......

Hope you like the pictures of the wedding - we had such a wonderful time meeting his family and reuniting with family and friends.

12 Layer Birthday Cake!!!!

I went to my niece's wedding in Maryland that past week and stayed with my sister. We had three birthdays this month so she made us this birthday cake - 12 layers of yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting between. It was the BEST! My Brother-In-Law Jay loves yellow cake with thick chocolate frosting - he loved this - as did we all. There was only a small slice left after we all got a slice so Jay decided to freeze it till after the wedding....Thanks Carolee for making this great cake.....Yummy!!!!!!

My niece's wedding is next weekend and this is the sweater I plan on wearing with a black dress. I just had to make something sparkly to wear with it. I really like the way it turned out. The bracelet base is from Amate Studios - they have great sterling sliver and other metal bases just waiting to be be filled with all sorts of things. I used thick lime colored felt as my base, sewed a black flat bead in the center then added rings of Black and Lime Glam-It-Up Crystals - they add such sparkle to everything. I realize now that I need to make a matching necklace....I have something in mind and will show you how it turns out.....

Beautiful Silk and Crystal Bracelets

These are few of the bracelets I made to take to Twee - a cut little consignment shop in the Tower District of Fresno. The fabric is silk - so beautiful - they were 18" sample squares I picked up at a local fabric store for $1 each. I just love the look and feel of silk and got about 20 different colors - these are just a few. I covered inexpensive bangles with strips of fabric, gluing ends in place with Fabric Fusion. I sewed a few yo-yos, added dimensional leaves then sewed a vintage button in the center of each. The real sparkle comes from the Tulip Glam-It-Up Iron on Crystals - they really glitter in the light. Liquid Fusion was used to adhere crystals to buttons - just a few but they really finish off each bracelet. I really love these - hope you do too.

Wedding Cake Topper for my Niece.....

Spoiler Alert for Renee!

My niece is getting married at then end of this month. Six months ago she asked me to make her cake top for her. She sent me some ideas and this is the finished project. I think it turned out really cute - I hope she will like it too. The bride and groom are made from wood pieces, glued together then painted. I used ribbon and felt for clothes, ribbon and paper flowers, small silk leaves then added pearls. I used Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky to glue everything is place( it is the best for crafting). Plan to send out on Monday ( don't was to risk it in my luggage). I am very honored to create this keepsake for her big day - she is very special to me. I will post pictures of it from the wedding.

My Purse on a Magazine Cover!!!!!!!

How exciting is this? A purse I made as a designer for iLoveToCreate was chosen for the cover of Haute Handbags. There are alot of really cool purses in the magazine so I'm very porund that they chose mine for the cover. I found the jewlery at Forever 21 and in my own stash of "retro" jewelry that I wore in high school. I was reallly happy with the final results. I want to thank everyone at the magazine for the honor. Hope you like it too.

My sister decided we needed to make a hamburger cake for our Easter dessert. We had a lot of fun trying to figure out what to use for each layer and filling. Here is the picture after the first slices.....everyone loved the cake and all the layers.
Here is how it looked finished with "fries". We used puff pastry, cut into thin strips, rolled in sugar then baked - they look like real fries. We had a cup of strawberry jam so we could dip them in "catsup". It was a real hit at the party.

Here is the assembly of the cake....we used two cake mixes, one cooked in a pan and on in bowl to be used for the top bun. The hamburger is actually two layers of brownie with frosting between. Pickles were make by layering green fruit rollups and cutting into circle then tomatoes, mustard and mayo were created with colored frosting. We carved out the top and filled with a mixture of whipped topping and pudding. I had found edible Easter grass, used it for the lettuce and white chocolate chips for sesame seeds on the top bun. I think it turned out really cute and we had a great time making it.

Crochet Necklace with Crystals

With statement necklaces being so trendy I decided to make my own. I like to crochet and thought this would be a great way to create a unique necklace for myself. It only took a few evenings to finish. I started out with a purchased necklace of metal rings. I crocheted around each ring with embroidery floss then around separate plastic rings. I used Liquid Fusion to glue Glam-It-Up Iron-On Crystals - they add so much sparkle then glued the smaller rings in place. It is a very easy project and looks like you spent a million bucks. I'm working on a bracelet now and will show you when it's finished. Hope you like it.....

A peek at what I'm working on....

Hummmmm......a canning jar, zippers and Fabric Fusion.......just a little something I'm working on at iLoveToCreate. You'll have to wait until until the August issue of Crafts and Things magazine is out to see what it will look like. Zippers are very trendy now and everyone has old ones in their sewing stash - so now is the time to get them out so you'll be ready to make one for yourself....... hope you like it......

Mushroom Pin Cushion.....

Wanted to show what I worked on last weekend. I love pin cushions and keep them around for decorations. I thought this one turned out really cute. I used a recycle sweater rolled up for the stem and a piece of red blazer for the top. White embroidery floss sewn in a whipstitich creates a cute edge. Add white sweater dots, wool grass and a cute button and you're ready to go. I glued everything thing together with Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue - it dries clear and fast....a great crafting glue. Hope you like it - let me know what you think....