Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Spring Card Swap

Ok ladies. Time to pull out the yummy and warm spring-colored cardstock, stickers, buttons, etc. Twiddle Thumbs is excited to be hosting our first card swap and we would love to invite all of you to participate. Here's the 4-1-1: Theme: Spring. Sign-up Deadline: Tuesday, March 10 midnight. (Please email us at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com if you want to participate.) Cards due to Twiddle Thumbs: Tuesday, March 31 (That gives you 4 weeks if you start now!!) Cards will be returned by: Tuesday, April 7. When you mail your cards, include a pre-stamped, self-addressed envelope (postage should be the same amount), then you'll be sure to get your cards back. We'll email particpants the Twiddle Thumb address well before the deadline. This is going to be so fun. Can't wait to see all the cards!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Favorite Brands

I must tell a short story 1st. When it comes to crafting, I had no idea that brand names existed. I had my favorite stores, but I bought paper or fabric because I thought it was cute... I had no idea who made it. That is, until I met Cami. The first time I scrapbooked with her, she said, "Oh, I love that paper. It's Scenic Route. I love their stuff." I was baffled. I literally had never really paid any attention to the fact that there were different brands of paper. So Cami took me shopping and enlightened me. And I definitely have my favorite brands of paper including... Scenic Route, American Crafts, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, etc.
And then I went fabric shopping with my sister-in-law Shauna.  She's a quilter and sewer extraordinaire.  I told her about the types of fabric that I like and she said, "Oh you must love Amy Butler."  It turns out I do!!!  Check out her website.  She has some really great fabric and some fun free patterns! Leave a comment and let me know your favorite brand of paper, fabric, etc.
-Anisa

Friday, February 27, 2009

Placemat Purse

My mom is a gifted seamstress and very creative. One of her latest obsessions is making placemat purses. As I was surfing the Internet this morning, I came across Small Fry and Co. and a super-easy tutorial for these purses, allowing me to take an ordinary (but cute!) placemat and turn it into this: Perfect for spring! I thought it was a great, quick project. The cost was minimal-a placemat that cost about $4 and some ribbon which I had on hand. (Gotta love projects that you can use your stash for!) I could quite easily become addicted.
-Angie

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

In like a Lion...

I was contemplating crafts for March and trying to think of some St. Patrick's Day crafts.  Then Cami mentioned that she was sick of clovers... "why can't we do lions and lambs or kites instead."  So, I got thinking about Angie's cute candy hearts and came up with this cute idea for a March craft.  
  These were super easy to make (I'm not sure if my husband would agree) and they were fairly inexpensive.  We bought some wood at Lowe's and my husband used our jig saw to cut out the kites.  We also cut out the little stands.  Then we drilled holes in the bottom of the kites and in the stands to put the wooden dowel in.  I painted, sanded and stained the kites and then just hot glued the ribbons on the back.
Oh, and don't forget about our GIVE-AWAY!  You have until next Wednesday to leave a comment and be entered in the drawing.
- Anisa

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

One Craft 3 Ways.... Applique

One of the great things about starting this craft blog is that we have deadlines. I have been wanting to make this applique pillow for almost a year to match my guest bedroom. But it just kept getting put on the back burner. Then when we decided to do applique for our "One Craft 3 Ways" I was excited that I would now have a deadline to get it done.

What I did.... First, I went fabric shopping (my favorite part). Then I cut out the fabric for my throw pillow. If you would like to see a tutorial on how to make a throw pillow similar to this one, go here. Then I traced my designs on paper. Next, I cut out my fabric about the same size that I needed for my shapes, but I did not cut out the shapes. Then, I ironed on the heatNbond to the wrong side of my fabric. Then I cut out the shapes (you see, this way I don't have to cut out the shapes twice.) Then I ironed the shapes onto my white pillow fabric. Then comes the hard part. I set my machine to a tight zigzag. Then I zigzagged around the outside of the shapes. It was somewhat difficult to make good corners and such. If I were to do this again, I would use a different type of stitch. Then I finished up my pillow. During the process, I would probably have said I would never do it again. But it is so cute finished, that I think I will. I will just learn how to do it better!!! -Anisa

Deadlines...yeah, this is our third and final deadline for this post. :) It is nice to get something like this done.This applique wall hanging measures 11" x 13". I'm framing it and hanging it in my little girl's room. It was a lot of fun doing the embroidery by hand and using several different stitches and styles to complete it all. --Cami

I have been wanting to do some applique on T-shirts for my kiddos for sometime now. I found an uber-cute skirt at The Children's Place and decided I could make a cutie-pie shirt to go with it for my littlest princess. Would I do it again? Maybe. I thought the knit fabric of the tee was hard to work with. I'd definitely be willing to try it on something not quite so stretchy, though. I do love the overall look and am contemplating what else I might like to do for some added embellishment. Happy crafting!

-Ang

Monday, February 23, 2009

Craft: mag

If you haven't entered our give-away yet click here after reading today's post.

This is the current issue of Craft Magazine. In this issue is featured instructions to help you creat the perfect mixtape for any party, make a keepsake wedding book, design beautiful invitations and make customized plates and coasters, fancy hats party cakes and cake toppers.

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I love this magazine.

I REALLY love this magazine.

Anyone who got me a subscription to this magazine would be my friend for life... ...but I digress.

Craft magazine is so fun.

It is filled with crazy craft ideas.

It has repurposing.

It has tutorials.

It has patterns.

It is never-ending goodness.

It has stuff to make for kids.

It has stuff to make for adults.

It is FULL of stuff to make for adults that think they're still kids.

It is funky and current.

It is always checked out at the library.

It is available for purchase at Hobby-Lobby. Here is a link to their blog: blog craftzine Here is a link to projects on their sight: Projects --C

Friday, February 20, 2009

Clearly a cute Legacy

Don't forget to check out our HeartFELT giveaway.  There's a link in the sidebar on the right or click here.
I love to scrapbook... it's my passion. And I love all of the cute, trendy things out there.  And I love all the cute girly paper and embellishments.  But alas, I have 3 sons.  So, I made this darling acrylic album of my niece Legacy.  It's for me, not for her.  And I love how it turned out!
Supplies (not inclusive):
patterned paper- basic grey and sassafrass lass.  Ribbon- making memories, american crafts, etc., Acrylic accents- making memories, chipboard accents and other acrylic accents cut from Cricut,  brads, buttons, acrylic paint, stamps, etc.
-Anisa

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A Heart-FELT Give-Away!

Hey, everybody!
Yesterday was our 50th post! Yay! So far, doing this blog has been as much fun as we hoped. It's also been a lot of work, but totally worth it so--
We felt like it was time to celebrate!
We felt like the best way to celebrate was to have another give-away and we felt that felt was the way to go.
We each made something out of felt and all three items will go to one lucky winner.
Angie made the cute felt flower barrettes, Anisa made the adorable red dress and Cami made the teeny-tiny pin cushion.
To enter the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment telling us one or two of your favorite crafts to do or a craft you'd like to learn to do. It's simple!
One entry per person counts.
The contest will run from today, February 19 to Wednesday, March 4th. All entries must be received by 8 PM MST. The winner will be posted the next morning, March 5th.
Color and design of items subject to change.
Tell all your friends to check us out and enter!