Crafty Card Making

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Because I don’t have a million things on my to-do/to-make list…I decided to try my hand at making cards! I did a lot of scrapbooking in college; my roommates and I would plan scrapping trips to Archivers in the Twin Cities, which was a two hour car drive one way. We would spend the day using their die-cutter and planning page layouts together. It makes me laugh to think we didn’t even have digital cameras back then…it was only 10 years ago! We would turn our film in at Target or Hy-Vee, be sure to get three copies of all the pics (one for each of us to scrapbook!) and look forward to picking them up two days later! We spent a lot of time hanging out in the living room after classes putting together our scrapbooks. But with life getting busy after graduation, it got put on the back burner.

Now I have some more free time and the Cameo to cut out lots of fun shapes and words. I love all the options I have with fonts, as well as shapes that can be downloaded from the online store. Since all my pictures are digital and they never get printed…I wanted to use the Cameo for some paper cutting, so I decided to make some cards.  Of course I had to wander up and down the aisles at multiple craft stores before I decided what supplies I needed (wanted). After much hemming and hawing, I picked up a few different packs of pre-folded cards and some card stock.  I’ve decided card stock is like fabric…you can never have enough!

So here are some pics of my newest adventure in crafting!  I’m also trying out a new photo option from WordPress that my husband, aka my webmaster/designer, told me about. It seems like it will be a fun, new feature to have as an option for blogposts with multiple photos to post!

Kelly

Exciting News!

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Things have been really quiet around here these past few months. My husband and I are expecting our first baby in July!!  These past few months have been quite a blur, most days were spent going to bed early and napping on the couch!  But now I am feeling a hundred times better and ready to start sewing and crafting again!! I’m looking forward to incorporating these super cute fabrics into some projects for the baby, including lots of burp cloths!

Baby Fabric

Back in November, I had a booth at my first craft show…and it was slow…very slow. Veteran crafters assured me that craft shows were not normally like this and not to give up!  So I have lots of inventory that I need to either get listed on Etsy or find another, affordable show to try my luck at again.

Pantry Jars

I’ve been having some fun with my Cameo lately! I got lots of new supplies for my birthday and started working on some projects with vinyl. Since Valentine’s Day snuck up on me before I could make anything crafty, I have been thinking of some cute things to make for St. Patrick’s Day. Being Irish, this is definitely in my top 3 holidays for which I love to decorate my house.

I hope to be updating more often now, especially with the nursery projects I have in mind! With only two bedrooms, we moved our office down to the basement and will be now using the extra bedroom as a nursery. It is currently in shambles, as I have been cleaning, donating, tossing all the junk that has collected over the past four years. My mom made a good point as she was helping me – if I wasn’t crafty, I probably wouldn’t have so much crap! Pretty soon the room will be ready to paint – we are going with a turquoise color and adding green accents for a boy or pink accents for a girl…which we are not going to find out until July!! I’m hoping the “nesting phase” I hear so much about will kick in sooner than later so I can be more motivated to get this house organized. =)

Kelly

It’s a Halloween Giveaway!

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I have been thinking about doing a giveaway for awhile now, but just didn’t know what to give-away! Last night, as I was getting some sewing projects done, even my husband made a comment about how I should do a giveaway. So here we are, the SewCraftyCat’s first giveaway!!  In the spirit of Halloween and the fun fabric prints I have for the holiday, it is going to be a Halloween giveaway!

Up for grabs is a dog collar bandana or a baby bib! Your choice!

And here are the fabrics you get to choose from! You can even choose 2 fabrics to make your custom item reversible! The dog collar bandana will also be sized to fit your pup!

One person will be the lucky winner of this giveaway! You have until October 17th! Winner will be announced and contacted by October 19. Good luck!!

Enter here —>    a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Kelly

Downy Touch of Comfort Quilt

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This post is long overdue! At the beginning of the summer, I had read about Downy’s Touch of Comfort program which provides quilts to children in the hospital. You can find more information on their website:  http://www.downy.com/en-US/helping-kids.jspx

I haven’t made a quilt since I was in college, and even that one was a simple pieced squares quilt. So I ordered a free kit from Downy and got to work! This is the first time I pieced a quilt and machine quilted. Here are a few pictures of the final quilt, which I hope has put a smile on a child’s face and providing some comfort!

 

Kelly

Boo! Halloween Decor

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I have seen lots of pins on Pinterest featuring word decorations for the home. In the past, I usually buy some holiday decorations after the holiday because they can be so expensive!

We have a small wall next to our front door that is the perfect spot to hang words for the holidays. I headed up to the store to gather my supplies – this project came in under $10, and if you have scrapbooking paper and paint at home, you would just need the letters! Here are some pictures and a few directions to help you get started on your own holiday word decor!

Supplies

  • Wooden letters
  • Scrapbook paper
  • Mod Podge
  • Paint & Brush
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
After gathering your supplies, trace the letters on the scrapbook paper pages. I traced mine on the back, but you can do it on either side. If you do trace them on the back of the paper, be sure to trace the letters backwards.
Next, I painted the backs and sides of each letter black. I wanted a more finished look since it would be hanging near our front door, but you could skip this step.
While the paint is drying, cut out your paper letters. After the paint it dried (which doesn’t take too long if you put a thin layer on), add Mod Podge to the front of your wooden letters. Carefully place the paper letter on top and add a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the paper, making sure to get the edges.
I let the letters dry and put on a 2nd coat of Mod Podge – this step may not be necessary  but I wanted to make sure the paper was fully adhered and protected since I planned on storing this in a plastic bin with other decorations when not in use.
After the letters were dried, I tied them together with some orange ribbon.
I tied some longer ribbons to the top of the B, so I could hang it on the wall.
The great thing about this project is that the letters come in a variety of sizes, so it can fit the space you want to decorate. With so many paper choices, as well, you can create a decoration that fits with your current decor or themes. I think this would also look cute with some embellishments. I just got my Silhouette Cameo this week – so I might have to try cutting out some ghosts to add to this sign!

Kelly

Pumpkin Pillow

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I’ve been saving towards a Silhouette Cameo for a few months now, ever since I saw it being featured on some of my favorite blogs. I always enter the giveaways, but figured the chances are so slim that I better get to saving my pennies! It came in the mail yesterday, and I knew exactly what I was going to make! After playing around with the many features, including the sketch pens (which even impressed my husband!), I decided to get down to business. I had seen a cute pumpkin pillow on a blog and thought it would be the perfect first project. I “drew” the pumpkins and stems in Silhouette Studio… which reminds me a bit of Photoshop, but I can actually figure most things out on my own in the studio :-)  

Here is my fall Friday-night fun, pinterest-inspired pumpkin pillow!

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Kelly