DIY Sewing Cards for Kid's

It's Craft Lightning time again and this one is all about Scout Crafts!

I remember as a young girl attending Brownies and Girl Scouts was always a fun adventure and my favorite part was all the crafts we did!

These organizations always taught such good values and important skills as well.

Sewing was one of the skills I learned back then and this project is a very basic way to teach beginning sewing skills!

I first did this project with my Grandaughters a few years back, to help teach them to sew and now I am proud to say my 8 year old Granddaughter has graduated to using a sewing machine!

As you know, I love to upcycle/recycle things in my crafts and these sewing cards were no exception.

I used old cereal boxes for the cardboard and printed out cute and colorful pictures/graphics from the internet to paste on the cardboard.

I found that the pictures looked better if I used a drier type glue to adhere them to the cardboard, such as "Zip Dry" glue which is used a lot in Scrapbooking projects to preserve the integrity of the photos and not make them appear "lumpy".

I made two versions of the cards, one with small holes for older kids and one with larger (and less) holes for the little ones.

I used some washi tape to cover the edges and poked the holes using a metal scribe on the small holes and the Crop-a-Dile II from We R Memory Keepers for the card with larger holes.

My Granddaughter who was 6 at the time was able to help with almost all of the steps in this project, so I would say it is perfect for any Scout troop with children ages 6 and above!

She was mighty proud when she was done...and so was little sister!

Here are the steps for making the sewing cards:

Here are the Supplies and Tools I used for this project:

Tools & Supplies Used:

Light to Med Weight Cardboard (such as a cereal box)

Photos or Graphics printed out from the Internet

Paper Trimmer, Fiskars

Ruler

Scissors

Razor Blade (Adult Use Only!)

Glue, Zip Dry

Wax Paper (Not shown in photo above), to cover photos/graphics while drying glue with pressure

Heavy Book or Flat Weight to aid in drying glue on cardboard smoothly and firmly

Metal Scribe Tool

Crop-o-Dile II, We-R-Memory Makers

Washi Tape, Scotch Brand

Yarn (Variegated, Multi-Color)

Colored String (Variegated)

Needle, Plastic (for yarn)

Needle, Metal (for string)

Be sure to stop by the other blogs featuring these fabulous Scout Crafts that only take 15 minutes or less! 

Just click on the Info Graphic Below.

Thanks for visiting my blog, hope you will find this project useful and fun!

This project/post is linked to the following sites/link-up parties:

My Memories - 7 Days of Software Giveaways - Day 3

Today I want to send out a special welcome to those of you joining us for the "7 Days of Software Giveaways - My Memories" Blog Hop, hosted by Melinda over at 28 Peppermint Grove!

It is Day 3 and my turn to introduce you to some AWESOME scrapbooking software...My Memories Suite v.4, by Story Rock.

Now, if you've never heard of it or tried it, this is your chance to join in the fun and checkout all the cool things you can do with this software, and possibly win a free copy for yourself!

There are so many projects you can do using this software, the possibilities are almost limitless!

You are not limited to just "scrapbooking"...You can make all of the following (and MORE!) using this software:

• Greeting Cards 
• Calendars
• Photobooks
• Party Invitations (see the one's I made here and also here)
• iPhone & Laptop Skins
• Photo Apparel
• Tags & Stickers
• Ornaments
• Magnets

This is just a sampling of what you can do!

Today, I am going to share with you two different Holiday Greeting Cards that I made using the newest version of the My Memories Software Suite,version 4, which was just released in the last couple of weeks.

The first card I created was a typical 4x8 photo greeting card that you might normally see at one of the online photo finishing retailers.

The great thing is, you no longer are limited to their designs, you can create your own using the My Memories Suite and your card will be unique and one of a kind!

I used elements from the "Holly Jolly Christmas" kit  from Shmooangel Designs to create this card.

You can get this "add-on" kit right now for 40% off...only $2.99 (reg. $4.99)!

(But you gotta hurry! The sale ends today!)

The second card I made is a 5x5 square card, which is becoming more popular for greeting cards these days.

For this card, I used some basic elements that came with the software in addition to some purchased kits.

The software comes with many elements included like: background papers, embellishments, word art and  frames and much more!

On their website they offer a TON of  free kits  in addition to the beautiful designer kits you can purchase (for a VERY reasonable price I might add!).

They have specials and sales running all the time and right now they have a 12 days of Christmas promotion going on. 

Every day until the 12th there is a special promo code on their home page with a discount for you!

Check out their facebook page also, where there is always a lot of fun going on and additional freebies.

Okay, now for the good news!

My Memories has authorized me and the awesome ladies below to give away one free copy of the software to one of our lovely followers/readers!

(That is 7 copies to be given away!!)

To enter, just use the rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Below is a list of all of the blogs who are participating in this hop and you can enter to win at any or all of them!

Sunday 12/9 - Melinda (Host) at 28 Peppermint Grove
Monday 12/10 - Theresa at Dear Creatives
Tuesday 12/11 - Lisa (That's ME!) at Stuff-n-Such by Lisa
Wednesday 12/12 - Melissa at Missy's Scrap Space
Thursday 12/13 - Leah at Digital Scrapbooking
Friday 12/14 - Sew Cal Gal
Saturday 12/15 - Cheryl at 2 Girls at Play

If you are just too darn excited to wait...and want to purchase this awesome software now, be sure to use my link and discount code below to save $10.00 on the best scrapbooking software EVER!

CODE: STMMMS91285

Thank-you for visiting!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/linky parties:

Martha Stewart CraftStudio App for iPad

I'll be honest, I haven't been a real big fan of most of the "crafty" cell phone and tablet apps out there in the past, but recently I came across one that I am really loving and I thought I'd share it with you!

The Martha Stewart CraftStudio App for iPad is normally $4.99, which is a good price for what you get, but I was lucky enough to get it for free when they were running a promotion recently on iTunes.

It just so happens that around the time I purchased my iPad, (which was near the end of June this year), this app was just being released, so the iTunes App store was featuring it for free for a limited time.

This application is so easy to use, yet delivers great results, especially considering it is a tablet app, which one would assume could not have all the capabilities and options of a full-blown computer software application!

This is the first thing I made, when I was experimenting with the app and I did it in about 2 minutes.

Of course, this design is pretty simplistic, but it's still cute and creative, which is what I was going for.

There are many options to choose from, including 4 different themes that come with the app, "Everyday", "Birthday Party", "Doily Lace" and "Nature"

.

Under each theme there is a selection of the following:

Background Papers

Stamps

Glitter

Text/Type Tool

Pens

Stickers

Punches

So, the creative possibilities are huge and if you decide to purchase any of the additional themes (in-app purchase), the options are practically endless!

Here is a screen shot of what the design interface looks like (where you design your project):

Of course, the icons are clickable and contain much more than you see in the screenshot, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like.

I was pretty impressed with the overall design of the application and the nice graphics!

The application is designed and produced by a company called Happy™, for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. ©2012

I found this app incredibly easy to use, but just in case you do get confused (that's me!) or need help...there is built in audio tutorials at the click of a button and they are even fashionably narrated by Martha Stewart Herself! ("It's a Good Thing") LOL!

Here are some more examples of projects I have made using the Martha Stewart CraftStudio App for iPad:

All of the above were made using only the themes and tools that are included with the initial application.

I just downloaded some of the additional/new themes today, so after working with those a bit, I will post some new projects so you can see the new themes!

Here are the additional themes available to date:

Elegant Celebrations

Spring

The Great Outdoors

Vacation Adventure

Summer Fun

The cost for the add-on themes is $1.99 per theme and can be purchased "in app".

If you are having a creative block and need to be inspired, there is a Inspiration section right next to your "gallery" of projects that you can click on and get templates for projects such as:

Invitations

Greeting Cards

Announcements

Memory Keeping

Stationery

Postcards

After you are all done, you have many options to save, share or print your project.

It can be shared through: e-mail, Facebook, Twitter

It can be saved to your Photos on your device

You can send it to Snapfish to be professionally printed

You can print it at home (air print with iPad)

Here is a video from the Happy Studio NYC Company showing the app in action:

If you go to the Martha Stewart website here, there is a video that details some of the features of the application.

Hope you enjoyed my quick review of the Martha Stewart CraftStudio App!

Thanks for stopping by!

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this post are those of the author/owner of this blog, myself (Lisa Hall) and no one else. 

I have not received any compensation either monetary or otherwise to write this post or comment on this product.

This project/post is linked-up to the following sites/link parties:

Card for Dylan

Today I want to tell you all about a very worthy cause I found out about a little while ago and hopefully some or all of my craft buddies out there will want to contribute.

I came across this through a blog I subscribe to called Free Digital Stamps.

One of the designer blogs that they regularly feature is Dustin Pike's Blog.

Dustin also has a store web site here.

Anyway...he recently posted about a young boy named Dylan who has an inoperable brain tumor and he is collecting hand-made cards for this precious boy and has sent out a call for cards.

He is also offering a free digi of his if you'd like to use it in the card you make and a free exclusive set of his digi's if you make and send a card.

You can go to this link to find out more.

You can also visit Dylan's site to learn more about his brave journey.

Dustin is accepting the cards until the end of the Month and will be hand carrying them to Dylan.

I am working on my card right now and will update this post when I have finished it.

In the meantime, here is the card/coloring page that my 3 year old Granddaughter B made for Dylan...using one of Dustin's Digi's:

Thanks to Dustin for bringing this to our attention, this little boy deserves all the love and support in the world!

Update: 05/25/11 - I have finished my card for Dylan and mailed it out yesterday along with B's cute coloring page. 

Here is the card I made:

I picked a basketball themed card that featured the Utah Jazz logo, as this is Dylan's favorite sport and team. 

I found the Jazz logo by doing a Google Image Search and printed it out in color on some white card stock.

I cut out the logo and then outlined it in Patina Stickles.

The cute bug is a digi stamp from Dustin Pike. 

I colored in the digi with Copic Markers and carefully cut it out with my Cutter Bee Scissors and another pair of small scissors.

I stamped "My Hero" on the banner card the bug is holding, using a stamp set from Pink By Design called "Our Troops".

I trimmed the middle section of the card with some bright orange ribbon to match the patterned paper and to go along with the Jazz Logo.

The small oval embelli on the left of the bug was made from a previous cricut cutout that I had leftover from another project.

I lined the oval in Orange Peel Stickles and wrote Dylan's name in the center with two stamped hearts.

I added a bit of Glossy Accents to make the name & hearts stand-out.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside using a Studio G i-Cling stamp and left plenty of room to write a personal note to Dylan.

I am showing the back of the card only because it is the first time I am using my new personalized stamp from PSA Essentials. I just love it! 

Here is a picture of the items I used in making this card:

Recipe:

Pre-Made Blank White Card, K&Company

Memories Forever patterned paper (Basketball)

Paper Reflections, One Pound Scrap Pack (Various Pieces)

Digi Image/Stamp by Dustin Pike 

Copic Sketch Marker, R29 Lipstick Red

Copic Sketch Marker, W5 Warm Gray

Copic Sketch Marker, YG07 Acid Green

Copic Sketch Marker, B39 Prussian Blue

Copic Sketch Marker, B34 Manganese Blue

Copic Sketch Marker, YG03 Yellow Green

Pink By Design Clear Polymer Stamp - "My Hero" from the "Our Troops" Set

Basic Grey, Bitsy Clear Stamps, Heartthrob

Studio G, i-Cling "Thinking of You" stamp, #V54911

PSA Essentials, Peel & Stick Custom Stamp

Inkadinkado, Dye Ink, Ink Pad, Black

Red Ink Pad, Small Square (Unknown Brand)

Woven Edge Ribbon, 3/8", Bright Neon Orange

Ranger Stickles, Orange Peel

Ranger Stickles, Patina

American Crafts, Slick Writer, Medium Point, Black

Ranger Inkssentials, Glossy Accents

Zig 2 Way Glue, Jumbo Tip

Glue Dots, Glue Lines, 1"

Therm O Web Zots, Clear Adhesive Dots, 3-D, 1/2"

Scotch ATG Tape Gun

Cutter Bee Scissors

Small Scissors, (Unknown Brand), 3-1/2"

(Please ignore the embossing powder, brush and tray in the picture...I had previously made an embellishment and embossed it, but did not like the way it turned out and didn't use it in the card. However, when gathering the items for the picture, I forgot to put these items away and they ended up in the photo...sorry about that!)

I hope Dylan will like my card and I hope you all liked it as well.

Please say a prayer for Dylan and his family or send good thoughts his way!

Thank-You!

XOXO

Lisa

Coordinating Damask Cards

Well, I am still in the process of making Thank-you cards for all the great blog candy I won last month!

It was a lucky month for me!

Here is the latest card(s) I made:

I made these to Thank the two persons/bloggers responsible for my win: The Scrapbooking Society and Kathy's Cozie's.

I was extremely fortunate to win one of Kathy's Cricut Expression Cozy's:

Isn't it Gorgeous! (Or as they say nowadays...GORGE!)

I am just in love with it...it makes my craft area (which is my kitchen table by the way...lol!) look so much prettier and it protects my favorite toy from dust.

Kathy hand sews/quilts these and they are such fine quality!

She has an Etsy store and you have to check it out, she sells other cozies for things like iPads, Kindle's, Cuttlebugs and she also has cozies that fit the Cricut Personal Cutter, the Imagine and the Gypsy!

Scrapbooking Society had a giveaway going on that was sponsored by Kathy and I was the lucky winner!

Another interesting tidbit is...the background of the SC website is a blue and brown damask pattern and Kathy made the cozy to match!

So, I decided to make my "Thank-You" cards match also.

I took a close-up picture of the cozy design on the material and then I printed it out on an 8x10 piece of white cardstock and used it to cut the shaped cards on my Cricut Expression using the Wild Card Cartridge.

On the larger card, I cut the word "Thanks" out using the Lyrical Letters Cartridge and the oval backing from the Wild Card Cartridge.

I embossed "Thanks" to add a little shine to the card.

I inked the edges of the oval with some chocolate brown pigment ink to give it some dimension and I placed the oval on the front of the card with a pop-dot to give it depth.

I felt like the holes in the scallop shaped seemed lifeless, so I added the blue ribbon, though I wasn't sure I liked the way it laid naturally, so I glued it down and hand-tied a bow at the top.

For the smaller card I cut the scalloped shaped card from light blue card stock and lightly inked the edges and open areas of the scallop with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China).

I glued a smaller scallop cut from the damask pattern on top of the card.

The sentiment was stamped on a small piece of coordinating card stock using the chocolate brown pigment ink and adhered to the card with a pop dot for dimension.

I added a bow on this card also, though I did not hand-tie this one, as it was very small.

I used a fork to form and tie the bow!

I did not come up with this on my own...of course I googled it and found several videos on how to do it.
Click here to see one of those videos.

I later found out that you can purchase a small template/tool to do this also, I found it at Really Reasonable Ribbon and you can check it out here.

The fork worked great though...so if you don't mind having household cutlery in your crafting kit, then it will work fine!

I experimented a lot with the sizes on these, so I'm sorry, I don't remember exactly what sizes I ended up cutting, but the final cards ended up being: a little over 4" wide and 3" wide.

I decided to make envelopes for the cards also, which is my first time attempting this:

I did alright, but I scored the bigger envelope a little too hard and had to tape a small area of it.

One warning about the envelopes though...(and I should have known this, but I found out the hard way!)...the U.S. Post Office will not be pleased if you try to mail these out in strange size envelopes.

The larger card was sent back to me with postage due (I put a 44 cent stamp on it).

At first I couldn't figure it out, cuz I knew it didn't weigh too much, but it was an "odd" size, so evidently they don't like that and will charge you more!

I was smart enough to put the small card in a bigger outer envelope, because I was afraid it would get very lost in the sea of mail and I was pretty sure the USPS wouldn't like it's itty bitty size!

Okay...so hopefully I haven't rambled on so long that I have lost you...

Here is what I used to make the cards:

Supplies/Tools List:

Cricut Cartrdige: Wild Card (p.52)
Cricut Cartridge: Lyrical Letters
White Card Stock (w/Printed Pattern from Cozy Photo)
Brown Card Stock
Lt. Blue Card Stock
Craft Smart (Michaels) Pigment Ink - Chocolate Brown
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Broken China (#TIM21414)
Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam
Sponge/Foam Daubber
Ranger Inkssentials Emboss It - Clear Embossing Ink Pad
Ranger Super Fine Detail - Clear Embossing Powder
Embossing Heat Gun
Studio G Clear Stamps, Thanks so Much #VS4911
Zots Thermo-Web 3-D Clear Adhesive Dots, 1/2"
Offray Spool o' Ribbon, Lt. Baby Blue, 1/8"
Offray Spool o' Ribbon, Teal Blue/Green, 1/4"
Zig Memory System 2-way Glue, Squeeze & Roll
Beacon Adhesives, Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive

Thanks for stopping by and if you feel like it...leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

A New Card & Happy Birthday to My Dear Friend Melissa

Whew! Finished another card...took me awhile, but I was a little bit faster this time, so I'm hoping with each additional one I will get faster!

Hubby was getting tickled that at 4:00 am this morning I was still working on it.

He probably wonders why I don't just go and buy one...but he knows how much I love to "create", so I'm sure he's figured out my insanity!

This card is a special one because I made it for my dear friend Melissa who's Birthday is today.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Thank-you for being such a good friend to me and always being there when I needed someone.
You're awesome!

This card was supposed to be finished yesterday, so that I could mail it to her (she lives about an hour away from me) or take it to her, but...as usual, I struggled over all the little details and it took me longer than expected.

So, my blog followers will see it before the recipient...though I think I will e-mail her a link to my blog so she can see it on her Birthday!

Here it is:

Here is a picture of the items I used to make this card:

Supplies:

Cricut Imagine

Cricut Cartridge: Kate's ABC's

K & Company Blank Cards & Envelopes, White

DCWV Adhesive Paper Prints Stack, 6"x6" (#MS-012-00003)

Joy's Life Mother & Daughter Stamps

Joy's Life Father & Son Stamps

Studio 112 Clear Mini-Stamp (#60-30437)

Studio G i-clear Clear Acrylic Stamp Block (#VC0028)

Black Stamp Pad, Mini (Unknown Brand)

Sanford Color Pencils

Small Metal Flower Brads (Unknown Brand, but I think I got them at Target)

Wrights Baby Rick-Rack, White, 3.70m

Zip Dry Paper Glue

Kokuyo Dot 'n' Roller Adhesive, 1/3"

Zots 3-D Clear Adhesive Dots, 1/2" dia. x 1/8" thick

Directions:

I used a pre-made, white, blank card from K & Company and placed a 4 x 6 piece of patterned adhesive paper on the front.

I glued down a piece of rick-rack on the bottom edge of the front of the card.

I cut-out the teacup on page 35 of the Kate's ABC's cartridge, using my Imagine and colored cardstock.

For the sentiment background on the front of the card I cut out the square shape with rounded corners (included on the Imagine machine) at 3.0" and a smaller one at 2.8", using textured white cardstock and used the color printer feature of the Imagine to color these squares just to make things a bit faster.

The sentiment was something I just came up with, because thinking of my friend Melissa reminded me of a time when we went and had coffee together when I needed a shoulder to cry on and she was there for me!

I printed the sentiment in Microsoft Word using the Catholic Schoolgirls Intl. BB Font.

I first printed the sentiment on plain printer paper in my Lexmark X4975 Printer, then lined it up with the cut out sheet I had left over from cutting out the square shapes.

When I had it lined up properly, I put a piece of white cardstock on my Cricut mat and printed the two squares in color, but did not cut them yet.

Then I placed that same piece of cardstock in my printer and printed the sentiment onto the square, placed it back into the Imagine and then cut it out. 

This took a little trial and error before I got it just right, but I didn't have to waste any good card stock to do it, just a few sheets of cheap printer paper!

This may sound a bit confusing, but what I did basically was cut out two sets of the squares, one to act as a "template" to set-up the sentiment in MS Word and one that was actually used for the card.

Does that make sense?

It would be better if I did a video for this, but I know many other Cricut-teers out there in YouTube land have done videos explaining this, so I didn't want to be too repetitive.

I will try to find one that explains this and link it here...it's basically a way to make any Cricut machine perform like an imagine. 

I added one final piece of  "bling" (which I agonized for hours over whether I should or not!) to the corner of the sentiment...a metal flower brad.

Okay, for the Inside of the card I used some very cute stamps from Joy's Life to stamp the sentiment and a mini-stamp from Studio 112 of two girls drinking coffee for the corner accent.

I decided to color the stamp to give the inside of the card a pop of color...it seemed a bit bland without some color.

Hope you liked the card and thanks for stopping by!