Craft Academy Christmas

I made christmas gifts for all of my coworkers again this year!  This time I to made the drawstring bags we learned how to make in Craft Academy.  They are simple to make and very cute.  :-)  I made eight bags!  I used three different fabrics and four different colors of bias tape.  No two bags are the same.  I think they turned out pretty cute! 

Sorry for the poor quality pictures.  I ran out of time to photograph them before it got dark in my house and I needed to wrap them. 

Recognize the fabric?  I used the left-over to make bunting!

Craft Academy - Flower Accessories

We learned how to make some fun flower accessories in Craft Academy!  I loved making my felt flower hair clips so I was really looking forward to these projects a lot.  All of the projects were really fast and simple.  I will definitely keep them in mind when I need to dress up an outfit or do something pretty with my hair.

Silk Flower Hair Clip

I thought these turned out really cute.  I will probably make more of these with different flowers.  I may do some with leaves and without leaves, too.  I have a couple of other ideas but I'm keeping them a secret for now!  ;-)

Fabric Flower Hair Clip

I would have never thought to do this in a million years.  It's such a cute idea!  I will definitely be making more of these when I find some more flower fabric I like!

Fabric Flower Necklace

This is such a great idea!  I love fabric so much so it makes me very happy to think that I can use it in so many ways.  I need to start thinking outside the box like this more.  This was such a creative project!

I feel like I am now well prepared to pretty up my wardrobe in an inexpensive and very easy way.  I can't wait to make some more to match all of my clothes!  :-)

Craft Academy - Embroidered Napkins

I am so excited to share this project with you!  We learned now to make embroidered napkins in Craft Academy. 

For the actual napkins we learned how to sew mitered corners.  It's a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I will definitely be using that sewing technique again for future projects. 

Then we learned how to embroider them! 

At first I was just going to write some words in the corner and embroider them.  But then I saw these cute little coffee themed iron on patterns so I decided to go for it.  I thought they were going to be tiny like they were on the package so I was just going to embroider one of them on a corner of each napkin.  They were HUGE!!  They took up almost the whole napkin.  Oops!  I thought it would be a great learning experience anyway so I went ahead and transferred a different pattern onto each napkin.  I have only finished one so far.  I'll try to finish the other one this week. 

What do you think?  I know it is far from perfect.  The stitches are not even and the pattern isn't perfect, but I'm pretty proud of myself for learning how to do it.  :-)  With more and more practice I'm sure my embroidery will improve. 

I really enjoyed doing this project a lot.  I can't wait to try more embroidery projects. 

I'm going to finish my other napkin using white thread since it's dark blue, too.  My mom showed me a second type of embroidery stitch so I will probably try that stitch on the next one to see which one I like the best.  Then I'm going to get a lighter colored fabric and different colored threads to finish off all of the other patterns.  I can't wait!

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I was talking to my Craft Academy classmate Bridget from Love Peace Family last night about embroidery and I loved the way she described it so much that I just had to share. She described it as drawing with thread.  I thought that was such a perfect explanation for embroidery.  It is exactly like drawing with thread! 

I love it!  :-)

Craft Academy - Water Bottle Carrier

We learned how to make a really cute water bottle carrier in Craft Academy. 

It's actually a really simple project and I like the way it looks.  It has french seams, lining and a round bottom which are all things I have done before but for some reason on this project I was very intimidated by them.  I think I kind of doomed myself from the beginning on this one.  It made me nervous from the beginning of the class so I put it off for as long as I possibly could.  Then I decided I needed to just go for it!  

I thought I made my seam allowances extra big so that I wouldn't have any problems but somehow they came out too small.  I couldn't use the water bottle I was making it for.  But, it does work for a smaller size.  Then I messed up on my french seam!  I have done these before with no problems.  I just didn't catch all of the fabric in the seam when I sewed it.  It's an easy fix.  I was just ready to be done.  ;-)  

I ended up having to get my mom to help me sew the bottom on because I couldn't figure it out.  Everytime I have sewn a round bottom onto something it's been larger so it's a little easier to work with.  This was very hard for me.  She helped me pin it and then we just hand sewed it.  

I'm glad I was brave enough to try this project.  I just forgot that I need to go into a project ready to learn something and not looking for a perfect outcome.  Somtimes I forget...especially when I have had a few projects go really well.  Then when something doesn't come out like I hope it's extra frustrating.  Oh well.  I completed it.  It looks decent and serves its purpose so I'm going to call it a success and move on to the next project.  :-)  I have lots of fun projects planned!!  I'm so excited!!! 

Craft Academy - Shell Picture Frame

Lesson six in Craft Academy was a shell picture frame.  I really enjoyed this project.  It was fun to make a mess with the sand and it was really relaxing to sit there and play with gluing shells.  :-)

I had a little trouble finding the supplies I wanted but I made it work.  I got white shells.  They have a little bit of pink and yellow in them,too.  I thought they were very pretty.  I couldn't find a frame that was the same width on all four sides so I decided to put a little starfish on the larger side.  I liked adding a little personal touch to my project. 

Here's my finished frame!

Now I need to go to the beach so I will have a picture to put in the frame!  ;-)

I still have a lot of white shells and star fish left.  I want to try to come up with some other fun projects to make with them.  I could make some other fun summery crafts.

Any suggestions?

Craft Academy - Painted Rocks

Our fifth Craft Academy project was painted rocks.  It's a fun and simple little project.  The hardest part (believe it or not) was finding big rocks to paint!  Who knew they would be so hard to find???   I really don't have any big rocks around my house and I couldn't find any to buy unless I bought a huge bag so I gave in and bought some small rocks at the craft store.

It was very difficult to cut such a tiny pattern out of tape so my first attempt didn't go so well.  I think I was using too much paint so it went through the tape.

I had already painted a rock white when I was doing my first set of rocks, but since the stencils weren't working I decided to just make a little circle with my paint brush and make a flower.  It's not very good but I just wanted to put something on the rock so it didn't get wasted.  This was a five second painting.  ;-)

Don't worry.  I did a little better on the second attempt.  :-)  I ended up cutting the patterns out of cardstock and using a sponge brush instead of a regular brush. That seemed to work a little bit better on the smaller rocks. I will have to try the tape stencils again later if I have larger rocks.

I did find one really big rock at the last minute that was the perfect shape for a longhorn stencil.  So, I cut a stencil out of carstock and painted it.  I think it turned out pretty good.

I think this would be a good project for decorations in a flower bed or in the yard.  That's where my rocks will live.  :-)

Craft Academy - Fabric Envelopes

We learned how to make fabric envelopes in Craft Academy last week.  They are very easy to make and I love the way they look.  I got to learn how to use some new crafting supplies for this project, too!  I had never used fabric stiffener or fray stop before.  I was a little worried about  how it would mess up the color of the fabric but it really didn't.  Now I love it!  I can't wait to find other projects I can use them on!

I chose two fabrics for this project.  I couldn't decide what I wanted so I narrowed it down to two.  One is dark blue and the other one is light pink.

I loved the way the first envelope came out except that I wasn't thrilled with the shape I chose.  It's a little too square.  I'm going to use this one as a coupon holder to keep in my purse (great suggestion from Renee).

I made the second one a little more rectangular so it actually looks like an envelope.  This will be perfect for sending a letter to someone very special!  :-)

Bridget from class made a great suggestion that I make a felt applique envelope similar to the postcard I made.  I love the idea.  I was actually thinking about doing it before but I thought that people might think I was being a little too felt crazy.  I'll probably wait to make that one until after class is over.  I'm finally getting caught up so I really don't want to get behind again by adding more projects.  This just gives me more time to plan what I want to applique onto my envelope!  ;-)  I'll post pictures of it when I finally get around to making it. 

I think this project will be great for Christmas time.  I may actually get around to sending out Christmas cards this year!  I'll have to come up with some great crafty Christmas card to put inside my great crafty Christmas envelopes.  :-)  Any suggestions?

Craft Academy - Drawstring Bag

I love purses!!!  Actually, I’m a fan all kinds of bags.  Love, love, love them!  I have sewn a couple of bags but never really could figure them out.  I really want to get better at sewing so I can make my own purses.  That’s what made me want to sew in the first place.

This little drawstring bag was our third Craft Academy project.  I love it so much!  It’s very simple to make and it is adorable!!!  I wanted to use ribbon for the drawstring but I couldn’t seem to find a ribbon color I liked so I used bias tape on this one.  I may have made the drawstring a little too long.  Oops.  I wanted it to have a handle.

I loved this fabric so much so I bought a bunch of it.

 
I'm going to make a matching bag for my mom once I get all caught up on my Craft Academy projects.  I have a couple of other people in mind that I want to make one for, too!  I can't wait!

Here’s what I made!

Don’t you love it?? 

My purse collection is very happy right now!

Craft Academy - Photo Luggage Tag/Crafty Pictures

Say Cheese!!!

 {weheartit}

We made these really cute photo luggage tags in Craft Academy.  It was actually our second project but I’m so slow at crafting that I am way behind!  Oh no!  I'll get caught up eventually.  :-)

For this project we learned how to make a cardstock luggage tag and a felt luggage tag.  I love them!!!!  Sadly, I don’t travel…or even own luggage.  That’s so pathetic!!  I decided that I would use this project for a couple of different things. The first thing (the one I’m most excited about) is going to be a banner for my craft room (when I finally get around to setting it up).  I’m going to make felt tags with pictures of all the projects I post on the blog and turn it into bunting to hang in the craft room.  I’m so excited!!!  I thought they would make really cute gift tags or cards, too.

I absolutely love that they look like Polaroid pictures!  Someday when I get brave enough to change the look of my blog I want to have a banner of Polaroid pictures.  I’m not that brave yet.  ;-)

These are the cardstock pictures I made.

These are the felt pictures I made!

These are my favorite…of course!!! 

Craft Academy - Fabric Postcards

This song has been stuck in my head ever since we started this project!  :-)

I finally completed lesson one from Craft Academy!!  I'm kind of slow when I craft so it takes me a little bit longer to get projects done.  I'm happy to say that lesson two is also complete and I will be posting it this week!

The first project we learned to make was fabric postcards.  I love this project!  It's fun and simple and the possibilities are endless!  I like that I have a simple and fun sewing project to work on between big projects now.

I made three different cards to try it out.

I just used a solid piece of fabric for the first one.

Then I got creative!  I used scraps from my first quilt to piece this one together.

Of course I had to make a postcard with felt!  I cut out some little flowers and sewed them on with green craft thread.

I am very excited to work on more ideas for postcards now.  I loved participating in Happy Mail last month.  It really made me fall in love with sending mail to people.  I know that sounds weird, but really, how often do we send mail to people anymore?  I think this is the perfect little twist on sending a letter!  :-)

Gotta Go Back, Back, Back to School Again

Congratulations!
Today is your day. 

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!
-Dr. Seuss

{Mae Chevrette}

Oh the thinks you can think

think and wonder and dream

far and wide as you dare.

When your thinks have run dry

in the blink of an eye

there's another world there.

If you open your mind

oh the thinks you will find lining up to get loose!

oh the think you can think!

 

Today is a very big day!  It's the start of my big summer adventure!  Craft Academy starts today!!  I am so excited!!! 

I can't wait to meet some new friends and learn all kinds of fun new projects.  I have never taken a class like this before so I have no idea what to expect.  I think that's part of the excitement!  I'm going into it with no expectation except to have a great time!

I decided that I would write posts for the blog throughout the class to share this great experience with all of my wonderful bloggy friends.  I'll post pictures of my finished projects, too.  I can't wait!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  It's not obvious or anything, right?  ;-) 

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Modecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!




Do you have any big summer adventures planned?

I had to have some sort of Dr. Seuss and Schoolhouse Rock references if I was going to write a post about taking a class!  :-)

Craft Academy

{voices.com}

I have big news...

I enrolled in Craft Academy today!!! 

{Craft Academy}

Craft Academy is a seven week video tutorial course with lots of fun craft projects that I heard about from AJ the Purple (she's one of the creators of the course).  I thought it sounded like so much fun! 

I think it will be good for me to have some set projects for a while to help get back into regularly crafting again.  I have been so scattered lately and I want to re-focus myself.  And why not have fun while I'm doing it?  ;-)  I'm excited to share the awesome things I learn to make here on my blog, too!

{weheartit}