another field trip - michael's arts and crafts

I popped into Michael's the other day to get some ideas. I saw these chalkboard sheets in one of the aisles near their "dollar spot" section. They had adhesive chalkboard and dry erase sheets, plus different shaped woodcuts. I saw crowns, speech bubbles, circles, frames, etc. Some of them came in different colors - you can kind of see the pink sheets in the corner.

I have an idea for a bulletin board for my craft room, but was hesitant to buy chalkboard paint at $25/gallon. But these little shapes would be perfect for smaller projects. The sticky sheets you see in the picture were only $2 apiece, with the other shapes around the same price range.


When I got to Michael's, they had a sign in the window that they now carried fabric (aisle 10A!). I had to check it out and....not impressed.





They offered several dozen different patterns in one-yard packs for $10.99 each. That seemed very pricey for the quality and patterns offered. You can buy Amy Butler or similar designer fabric for $8-$10 a yard at any local quilt shop, and cheaper on Etsy. I wonder if they price it so high so it's more reasonable when you use a 40% off coupon?




They also offer some easy-to-sew "kits," such as these aprons. The trim is pre-printed on the outside of the apron, so it takes very little sewing ability.




Lastly, I found this adorable little crown ring dish and perfume bottle in the "Parisian" themed home decor aisle. How cute are thesering dish and ? Since I just finished watching The Tudors, I feel like I need need need this for my dresser! How Queen Anne!

how to make some art

How to make art for the walls of your house that have been blank for four+ years:

Step 1: Create a workspace.

This may include removing straw hats, football gloves, dead flowers, spare sheets, old mail, a dead camera, and twenty-eight cents from your table.

Correction: twenty-nine cents.

Step 2: Is it decent to go to McDonalds for the sixth day in a row for a sweet tea and small sundae? Answer: If you have to ask, the answer is "no."

Step 3: Try and remember where you put the fabric you bought last October specifically for this project. Find it hidden away in a drawer with the baby ducky fabric you bought for a baby quilt. Realize you have poor follow-through skills.  Also realize you failed to wash and/or even iron the fabric you so lovingly spent eight dollars on last fall. Decide it is nothing a little Downy Wrinkle Releaser can't fix post-project.

Step 4: Windex or clean the table in a vain attempt at removing the glitter and glue left over from last Christmas' cards.

Step 5: Assemble your materials.  Search the house for your staple gun.  Look first in the tool box, as if you've ever put a tool back where it belongs in your life. Search the tool shelf.  Search the basement. Search your craft drawers. Even search the garage, since the one and only time you can recall using it was to staple garden twine to hold up your green beans.  Finally have the presence of mind to search the tool drawer (yes, drawer), and lo! Staple gun.

Large canvas, $20 from Michael's with a coupon; Lantern Bloom by Laura Gunn fabric in Textured Stripe Turquoise, $8ish from Etsy; POS Staple gun.

Step 6: Lay the fabric right-side down on the table. Lay the canvas canvas-side down over the fabric. Pull one side of the fabric up over the back of the canvas. I used the selvage edge so I could line it up with the wood to make sure the fabric was straight.  Staple first in the center of the side, then once on either side of that to hold the fabric down.


Step 7: Begin shaking your staple gun when it stops stapling.  Check that it is not jammed and has staples. Wonder if maybe it just needs more staples, just in case.  Repeat step 5, to search for extra staple, which you just know are in the house somewhere.

Step 8: Call your mom, ask her to bring staples and her staple gun.

Step 9: Talk to your mom for half an hour about the dogs, vacation, the garden, everything but the four foot wide art project on your dining room table.

Step 10: Her staple gun works great. Shoot dirty looks at your POS staple gun, which has now been used twice in its short life.  Finish stapling the first side, then begin stapling the opposite side, pulling the fabric taut. Then staple the remaining two sides.  Staple first in the middle, then move outwards, keeping the fabric tight and without wrinkles.

Step 11: Try to figure out how to wrap the corners.  Staple really close to one end, then fold the fabric over the corner just so, then staple the heck out of it.





Stapling the heck out of it

Step 12: Trim the excess fabric from the canvas. Give to your mom, who is super duper excited to make pillows, aka dog toys, for your couch.


Step 13: Repeat step 5 for frame hangers.  Until they are found inside a shelf/drawer/toolbox, enjoy your new, uhh, shelf art!


Total Cost: Canvas- $20, Fabric- $9, Staples- free = $29
Total Time: Began at 6pm, ran out of staples by 6:30, watched an episode of True Blood until Mom came over, finished around 9:15= 3.25 hours
Actual Time Spent Not Goofing Around: 45 minutes, max.

to do, or, procrastinating just a bit longer

I've been hard at work on my To Do list today, which is to say that I'm not actually doing anything. I feel productive, because look! A list! Of Things To Do! But what am I actually doing? Uploading photos onto Flickr, reading teh internets, and posting to my blog. I think it goes without saying that I am still in my pajamas, too.

Things on the To Do List:
-Clean the entire downstairs. There are actually 11 points detailing this, but it is essentially: the downstairs is a wreck (I have been gone for a week, left in a shambles when I hurriedly packed before my trip)

Okay, that is really all that's on the To Do List. So instead of mopping the floor, I made a Crafting To Do List too!

• Finish Elbac (not pictureD)- I am about 1/3 of the way through, thanks to four hours on a plane last week.
• Work on my Crafting binder (on my 101 Things list)- I've been printing out or copying projects and ideas for a few weeks. I put them in plastic sleeves rescued from the trash bin at work, and an old binder I found in a drawer here. I also need to make a cover for it.
  
• Sew a dress (also on 101 Things)- from a pattern I bought last year at this time. Maybe this year I'll buy the fabric and next spring actually make it! Ha!
  
• Butterfly collage inspired by Ali Edwards and craftster
• Hoop circles inspired by The Purl Bee. I found most of the circles at the thrift store near my house, although they also seem to be VERY inexpensive at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I probably paid about the same price.
  
• Wooden Christmas Tree inspired by the ones in this C&B catalog (although it's not actually IN this catalog, just on the cover?). Red and flocked in the photo, mine will probably be a white/blue/green color, though I would love to try flocking some day.
  

new Amy Butler fabric!

I am simply in love with the new Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric. I saw it online last Friday, and sent a few links to my Mom to check out. My very resourceful Mother called around to a few fabric stores in order to find it. We ended up driving all the way down to Franklin, only to find A) they did not have Daisy Chain, only other AB collections and B) we didn't bring the measurements of the furniture to cover. DOH!

So yesterday, after my 14 mile training run, I stopped by Quilts Plus since it was *right* next to our finishing point. Convenient! They did have the fabrics, and they are even prettier in person.

This is one of my favorites (clematis in forest on the top)


(photo by Rubysdaughter)

I also loooove this handbag!


by poseypatch1956

I can't wait to head back up to the store to get all the yardage I need!