Doll Sleeping Bag & Pillow

Hey There loyal followers!

I am finally back with a crafty post after a bit of a "vacation" of sorts.

I have been busy with school and other summer activities, such as going to Disneyland with our precious Granddaughter "J"!

Here is a picture of us at Disneyland:

I'm hoping to get a layout done soon of our wonderful adventure and share it with you all!

For now, I have a sewing project to share with you that I have finally finished after working on for a few months.

It should not have taken that long, but with everything else that was going on this summer, I didn't get to work on it as much as I wanted to.

Here it is...

It is a doll sleeping bag for a 18" Doll, like the American Girl Dolls.

I made this one particularly for my sweet Niece "K".

She recently received her first American Girl Doll and just loves to tote it around with her everywhere!

Her Mom had seen a couple of one's I had made for my daughter "B" when she was a little girl and asked if I would mind making one for "K".

Of course I didn't, but it had been so long since I had made the one's for my daughter that I wasn't even sure if I still had the pattern.

Here is a picture of my precious Granddaughter "B" with one of my daughter's AG Dolls and one of the bags I had made for her (my daughter) years ago:

(I passed down my daughter "B's" AG dolls to my Granddaughters (J & B) and they received a sleeping bag with them also!)

I was thinking If I had to, I might be able to "re-create" the pattern, from the actual bag that I still had, but I am not that great of a sewer (self-taught) and I was not too keen on that idea.

I could not find the pattern at first, so I went to the internet and found several websites that had tutorials on how to make doll sleeping bags and some videos on YouTube.

The one's I found though, did not have the zipper in them, which I wanted to use, so I kept looking around the house and eventually found the old pattern in one of my sewing stash boxes.

Here is the pattern I used back then and now:

Simplicity 9833 - Simplicity Crafts, Andrea Schewe (©1996).

I was really glad to find it, because when I checked eBay, there weren't too many of these around and they were going for around $20.00 at the time! (Yikes!)

This pattern is really pretty easy to sew, with the exception of the zipper, which isn't too hard if you've done one before, but it's a bit tricky to get it just right.

It is basically two contrasting pieces of fabric with batting in between.

Here is a picture of the project at that stage:

I used Mountain Mist Quilt-Light Batting and the fabric was purchased at a local fabric store.

My niece really loves Zebra Print and that is why I chose this fabric and the colors just happen to match her room perfectly!

I did not take pictures of all of the steps in this construction, since this project was done using a purchased commercial pattern.

But here are a few more photos of the process:

The pattern calls for top stitching on the bag to give it a "quilted" effect.

My sewing machine has been acting up lately, as it is pretty old (early 80's), so my top stitching does not look as nice as I would have liked.

I used 3/16" narrow satin ribbon for the ties.

The pattern called for a larger width of ribbon, but I liked the way this ribbon looked with this particular fabric.

For the pillow, I decided to use a contrasting fabric on the back, instead of making it all out of the zebra print.

I added some pretty black lace for the edging on the pillow and then stuffed it with Fairfield 100% Polyester Fiberfill.

The finished product!

I haven't given this to my sweet niece yet, when I do, I will take some photos and update this post.

(UPDATE: See My Post, "Happy Nieces" to see photos of my Niece with the Sleeping Bag!)

Thank-you all for checking in and staying with me!

XOXO
Lisa

This project/post is linked-up to the following Link-up Parties/Sites:

Sorry I have been Away!

Hello my Crafty friends!
I have to apologize for not posting in awhile.
I have been so busy this summer, several out-of-town trips, lots of family coming to visit and school.
I am working on a project right now though that I hope to have up on my blog soon with pictures!
Don't give up on me...I haven't gone away!
XOXO
Lisa

Winner Announcement!! 100 Follower Giveaway

We have a winner in my 100 Follower Giveaway!!
Drum Roll please....
And the winner is:

#13, Christy from Christy Blade Handmade!!!
Yay! Congratulations Christy.
Please e-mail me with your mailing address so I can get your goodies sent out to you!

Here is a short video showing how I picked the winner, in case you are interested.

Sorry about the quality of it, I used my webcam and it usually does a decent job, but I guess because I was filming the computer screen it didn't work so great.

Thanks again to all who entered and who have come to visit my blog!

Goal Reached - 100 Followers!!

Yay!!! (clap, clap, applause!)

I've reached my very first blog goal of 100 followers!
I am so excited!

My 100th follower is Scrappin' Annie!
She is a new crafty blogger, so if you get a chance, check out her blog and follower her also!
Thank-you for visiting my blog Annie and following along!


Now, as I had stated in my blog candy post, I am leaving this giveaway open until 12:00 Midnight (PST) today/tonight (22nd). 
I will pick a winner after that time using random.org. 


Thanks so much to all of you for coming here and becoming a follower!


It is just so awesome to have friends who share in my crafty endeavors!
I hope to be better about posting more often. 
I recently decided to go back to school to learn graphic arts and that has kept me very busy, along with being a stay-at-home Grandmother and Wife!


Take Care my crafty friends and please come back soon!!
XOXO
Lisa

Ikea Julen Cards

I recently won some blog candy from Scrappin' Delta Diva's blog and one of the items that was in the awesome bag of goodies I won were these cute little blank cards from Ikea:

I never even knew that Ikea had cards!

I was pleasantly surprised to find these little nuggets in my gift bag, as they are different and a bit unusual, which inspires some creativity in me.

I really liked the stitching on the envelopes, it adds an elegant touch without being distratcting.

I tried to find out some more info on these cards online, but couldn't find anything.

I was curious to know what they are made of, because they feel almost like they are part paper and part fabric!

I couldn't wait to try them out and see how the fibrous material reacted to different mediums.

I knew that I wanted to make "thank-you" cards as these are the perfect size for that, so here are the results:

The catepillar card was made using a digi design from my dear bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

She is SO very talented, if you get a chance, check out her blog and see some of the awesome digital images she offers.

Incredibly, she does not charge for most of them, but she does accept donations on her blog site and I hope you will donate if you like and use her images.

I started out by experimenting with some stamp pads and a natural sponge on the background of this card.

I wanted to bring out the natural texture of the card material and see how it would look.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, it looks almost like it is lightly tie-dyed!

I sized down the digi from Melonheadz to fit my card and then printed it out on white cardstock and cut it out.

I colored it using copics sketch markers and then gave it dimension by coating it with glossy accents and adding pop dots to the back to adhere it to the card.

The word "Thanks" was cut from one of my cricut cartridges, but I'm not sure which one, as it was from my "extra" stash of cuts.

I embossed the word "thanks" to give it a bit of pop.

I added a strip of ribbon and small purple flower brads to finish the card with a bit of charm.

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

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge - "Thanks"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Digital Image, Catepillar - Melonheadz Illustrating
Ribbon, Berwick Offray, Sheer Petit Dot C5 Kiwi, 9.0mm x 4.5m
Flower Brad, Purple, Creative Impressions Bright Flower Asst. Item #90666
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Embossing Powder, Super Fine Detail, Clear, Ranger #SFJ06954
Embossing Ink Pad, Clear, Emboss-It Inkssentials, Ranger Ink
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Lime Green, Studio G
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Yellow, Studio G
Copic Sketch Marker, Y13, Lemon Yellow
Copic Sketch Marker, YG03, Yellow Green
Copic Sketch Marker, BV13, Hydrangea Blue
Copic Sketch Marker, R29, Lipstick Red
Zots Clear Adhesive Dots, 3D, 1/2", Therm-o-web
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools Used:
Cricut Expression Machine
Heat Tool, Marvy Uchida, Model #2500
Sponge, Watercolor, Large Coarse Sea Sponge, Royal Langnickel (From Set #R2098)
Awl/Scribe
Cutterbee Scissors
Flat Spatula Tool, Metal
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Now, for the second Thank-you card:

The bow on this card was made using a technique I found on a fellow-blogger's site Seongsook's Creations.
I am terrible at tying bows...especially tiny ones and this tip was a big help!
Here is a photo of the items I used to make this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Flower Shape & "Thank-you"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Patterned Paper, Diamond/Argyle Lt. Purple/White (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Satin Ribbon, 1/8"(3mm), Spool-o-Ribbon, Offray #RN1991 Orchid
Rhinestones, (2 ea.) Purple, Stick-on (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Copic Sketch Marker, #YR68 Orange
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools:
Cricut Expression
Cutter Bee Scissors
ATG Tape Gun, Scotch
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Of course I stamped the back of both of my cards with my custom stamp by PSA Essentials.

Thank-you for checking out my blog!

Hope you'll return soon...don't forget my follower giveaway posted on my sidebar and here.

I am almost at my goal of 100 followers!! Yay!

Card for OWH - Sending Love Your Way

Hello crafty peeps!

Sorry I've been slacking on postings.

I recently started going back to school and it's kicking my behind!

I'm struggling to find crafty time for myself these days.

I recently started making cards for a cause that is near and dear to my heart, Operation Write Home (OWH).

As most of my readers know, I have a son who is in the Army and is deployed to Afghanistan, so I am so grateful for this organization.

If you haven't heard of them, go check out their site here.

Their mission is: "Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them."

Here is the latest card that I have made for this cause:

I am kind of slow at card making right now, because I haven't been doing it long, but I hope to get better and faster at it so I can send LOTS of these off to the shippers at OWH.

I started off using a card map from the OWH Stars & Stamps bloggers circle to help get my creativity flowing.

This is the one I used OWH Sketch #72:

As you can tell though, I changed it up a bit, but these card maps are great to get you thinking about where and how you want to start, especially if you are a newbie card-maker like me!

 Here is a picture of the tools and supplies I used to create this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Imagine Machine - Better Together Cartridge
Cutter Bee Scissors
ATG Tape Gun
Scribe/Awl
Provo Craft Bone Folder
Blank White Card, 4"x5.5", Recollections
Printed Diecut, Square with contoured edges, "Sending Love Your Way", pg. 3, Better Together Cartridge
Patterned Paper, DCWV Citrus Matstack, 4.5" x 6.5" Pad
Card Stock, Light Olive Green (Unknown Brand, from stash on hand)
Paper Flowers, Orange Brown, Olive Green, Oriental Trading
Lace Ribbon, Matilda (Cream/Off White), Really Reasonable Ribbon
Pearl Brad, blue/green, Eyelet Outlet
Zots, Glue Dots, Medium, Singles
Foam Adhesive Squares, Recollections

Thanks for visiting me!
Happy to have you here!

XOXO
Lisa

P.S. Don't forget to check out my 100 Follower Blog Candy! Click HERE or look on my sidebar.
More followers would make me so happy, so tell your friends!

Beloved Pet Layout

Today I am posting a layout that I made about a month ago, but am just now getting around to posting here on my blog.

I was going to enter this layout in a challenge, but ended up finishing it late and didn't make the challenge.

I was pleased with how it turned out and since it honors our sweet beloved and departed dog Cookie and her lifelong companion, our Daughter "B", I decided to post it anyway and see what you all think about it.

These pictures were taken a little over a year ago, right before our dog Cookie passed away at 16 years old!

Our Daughter was home from College on a visit and luckily got to spend some time with her before she passed.  

These were the very last photos taken of her and I was so happy that "B" was with her in the pictures, because when we got Cookie as a pup, "B" was only 7 years old and she always considered Cookie  her dog. 

(We had another dog at the time and our son "R" adopted him as his own.)

We sure do miss Cookie, she was a sweetheart and a true friend to all of our Children while they were growing up!

I Googled "Pet Poems" to find the poem shown, but I cannot remember now what site it was, but it did say the author was anonymous.

You can click on the last picture if you want to be able to read the poem better, the picture should enlarge for you.

I apologize for not having a list of materials used for this project or a picture of the materials used.

I usually like to do that, but at the time I was making this layout, I was in a big hurry, because I was trying to make a deadline (which I didn't!) so I forgot to write anything down or take any pictures of the supplies.

If you want to know any info about what I used or any techniques used, just ask, I might be able to "recall" certain things...even in my old age! LOL!