March Quilt Calendar

Since today is the last day of March, I decided I had better post my Monthly Mini's Patchabilities calendar for this month.  

I did get it done in time for St. Patrick's Day, however, there was a delay as the fabric paint was not with the kit.  

The great thing about it being the end of the month is that I can go in to Sew Divine later today and pick up my April version of this!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Strawberry Card

This card is made using one of my favorite Designer Series Paper: Berry Blossoms.

The card base is Lucky Limeade, layer with Very Vanilla and then the Berry Blossoms DSP.

I really tried hard to only use Stampin Up product on this card (hmmmmmm....- controlled my creative free spirit), however, I did use felt ribbon from the Christmas Mini Catalogue (OMG - she used retired product again!!!!).

The strawberry is made from the heart punch, dry embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder, the leaves are from the Fun Flowers Die, the blossom is from the Triple Flower punch and the flower center is the Owl punch (eye).  I used So Saffron ink with the flat stamp from the Distressing Kit to ink the strawberry blossom edges.

The greeting is stamped in Calypso Coral from the Sweet Cake stamp set.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

M & M Easter Cookies

While staring in the cupboard last night thinking about what to make for supper I found this bag of Easter M & M's.  So, we made cookies (I did make supper too).

I used the recipe straight from the M & M'S website.  I did make one change and that is to use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour to equal to recipe's 2 cups of flour.

They turned out very tasty.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Cross Stitch Pillow

I am posting this picture today as I realized when I took this pillow out of the wash - that although it has sat on my couch for years, I have not put anything cross stitch on my blog!

This pillow was cross stitched by me years ago (at least 20), as I cannot think of a time since leaving home that this has not been with me!  I believe that the kit was purchased at this neat little craft store on Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon, SK., as that is where my cross stitch items came from at the time (I taught myself to cross stitch at age 13 as everyone around me did embroidery and I decided to be different).

I still think it is pretty, and it's back on the couch all nice and clean.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

First "Real" Quilt

About three years ago when my son was about to turn five, we realized it was time once again to convert his bed (it started as a crib, then to a toddler bed, and at age five into a double bed).  At that time I told him that his birthday present for that year would be a complete new bedding set from one of the children's linen shops in Edmonton, and that he could choose whatever he wanted for his brand new "Big Boy" bed.

Well, he got quite upset about that wondering why I was not going to make the blankets for this bed as since birth he had always had knitted, cross stitched or sewn by mom blankets.  

I explained that at that time I did not know how to quilt.

His reply: "Well, maybe you should learn"!

A bit of time went by and one day leaving Safeway he pointed out to me that near Safeway was a quilt store with learn to quilt classes.  We went in to Sew Divine and I signed up for the class. 

The class was for a sampler quilt with one of each of the different blocks, but Pat was willing to help me with expanding this project to make a "Big Boy" bed quilt.

This is the quilt that I made.  My son chose the ocean fabric, and the ladies at My Sewing Room helped me pick coordinating fabrics for it.  

The quilt is backed with a soft blue flannel, machine quilted by me, and every wash day when I put it back on the bed (it is a permanent fixture there - other quilts may be over top, but this one is always on) it makes me very proud of what I did, and what I have since accomplished in the past three years.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday

Today's version of Oh S"crap"! It's Monday is all  weird shaped pieces of paper that are left overs from other projects.  With some careful cutting though they are on here and might almost pass for my trying to make them look this way.

The base is a left over Sahara Sand piece along with a remnant of Old Olive and Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper.  The flowers are punched with 2 very small pieces of Poppy Parade with the Triple Flower punch.

The label is made with the label punch and stamped with my new Charming stamp set.  The brads are from the Sale-a-bration promotion right now as is the ribbon.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Kitty Pillowcase

I made two of these kitty pillowcases for a friend of my grandma's (who has been a friend of the family for year) as Christmas presents (and also to put her presents in).

I purchased the fabric at Quiltessential Co.  in St. Albert before Christmas.  

Now that I know she has them and loves them, I decided to post them as the even I think the kittens are very cute (still not going to get another one for the house though....).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Another Scarf!

I started this scraf on our Family Day Weekend road trip to Canmore and finished it this weekend our Spring Break road trip to Whitefish (thanks to our son we're all about the skiing). 

It is a very simple pattern.  Cast on 30 stitches (multiples of 3) and knit 2, purl 1 all the way across every row.

I found this ball of yarn in my knitting bag when I finished a prior project and so while on route to Canmore decided that this one lonely ball of yarn would become a scarf.  I used the entire ball, when I cast off the worked in the loose ends I had 3 inches of yarn left over.  The left over piece will go in the dog bed scraps!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Rag Quilt

We're going skiing in Montana again this weekend, and so that meant it was time to get rid of that stash of flannel I have lying around, as I need to justify the acquisition of more flannel - right?

The quickest way to get rid of 8 meters of flannel is - RAG QUILT!!!

All of the flannels in this quilt are again "souvenir" flannel that I have picked up with no particular intent at various quilt shops on road trips, Lloydminster, Camrose, Canmore, Jasper, St. Albert, Spruce Grove,  Vegreville, and Lethbridge.

Now that they are in use, I can get some more this weekend (hehehehehehe)!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Shasta Fabric!!

Look what arrived in the mail this morning!!!!

I am so excited!!

This is my Shasta Fat Quarter pack along with flannel backing fabric from The Quilt Patch.  

The Shasta fabric is actually designed by The Quilt Patch!!

I am so excited to sew this together.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Blueberry Muffins

I discovered a bag of blueberries at the bottom of the freezer today, decided it was time to use them!

I made blueberry muffins, this is one of my favorite Blueberry Muffin recipes:

Blueberry Muffins:

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

3 tbsp. ground flax seed

2 cups frozen blueberries

1/4 cup Decorator sugar 

Mix wet ingredients in order listed.  Add in dry ingredients, then fold in blueberries.  Sprinkle decorator sugar over muffins in pan.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Duckie Card

I think it's close enough to spring to bring out some of my fun spring/Easter stamp sets.

This is a duck stamp set that I got some time ago (not sure where or when).

The card base is Pear Pizazz, along with a piece of Daffodil Delight and the image is stamped on Whisper White.  I used my Copic Markers to color the duckies, and a piece of green ribbon (again not sure from where or when I got it).  

Not exactly "Top Drawer", but kinda cute I think.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday

I'm beginning to dread this day of the week.  Trying to create something out of that box of scraps that seems to keep growing is somewhat of a chore!!

For today's project I used Sahara Sand, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla card stock along with a piece of First Edition Designer Series Paper.  

The Early Espresso was embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  

The stamped images are from The Open Sea stamp set in the Summer (spring?) Mini last year.  

When I was finished this card my son decided it looked like a treasure map and so he put a small "x" to mark where the treasure is!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Antiqued Card

This card is probably a classic red eye craft.  It was 0100 hours and I had nothing better to do (could not sleep - so decided to go craft)!

I got this embossing folder a few months ago, because I loved the all over design of it (by the way I dislike butterflies - their flapping wings creep me out), but every time I went to use it the folder seemed blah on it's own and with paper way too busy.

So I got out my Stampin' Write Markers and coloured in the depressions, put a piece of Whisper White card stock in and ran the whole thing through the Cuttlebug.

Still did not look "Top Drawer", so I got out my distressing kit with Tea Stain ink and the flat stamp and rubbed tea stain ink all over the surface - even the coloured areas and "antiqued" the entire project.

Some garden green and pear pizazz card stock, along with the triple flower punch and Teeny Tiny Wishes greeting, and TAH DAH!

Now, good night.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I ran out of car candy last week and so my son and I went to Bulk Barn.  While there replenishing my supply of assorted candy we found Shamrock Sprinkles.  OMG we had to get these.

My son and I baked cupcakes (from a mix - did not have time to make a from scratch cake) for his class, I iced them quickly and he put on the Shamrock Sprinkles!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

St. Patrick's Day

I made this card for my son.  Now, before you think "what a nice mom", the reason I made it was to use up some of the random green jelly beans we have left in the house!!!

I LOVE candy (ironic), but am VERY allergic to anything with lime in it, so when we get candy I "share" all the green candies with my husband and son (heeheehee).

 This card is made with Old Olive, and Whisper White card stock. The Whisper White is embossed in the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  The leaves for the shamrock are cut from the heart punch using Old Olive Designer Series Paper, and the Heart shaped Sweet Treat cups are left overs from a couple of years ago (OMG old product again!!).  

The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

 

Watermelon Card

Today I felt like spring might be trying to "spring" here in Edmonton.  The little snow in my front yard is almost gone, and the sun has reappeared in the sky (happy face).

I decided I would play with some of my more fun spring/summer stamp sets today and so I got out the Mouthwatering stamp set.

I used my Stampin' Write markers, to colour the stamp prior to stamping it, but the colour was not bold enough (I thought), so I colored it again after I stamped it.

The card colors are Garden Green, Real Red, and Whisper White.

The Whisper White was run through the Cuttlebug in the Square Lattice Embossing Folder, and the ribbon is 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon.

The "Just for You" greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Got Green?

Today I thought I should do something green as St. Patrick's Day is getting close.  

The card base is Garden Green with Pear Pizazz run through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  The flower stems are from the Field Flowers stamp set and the flowers were purchased at Michael' s for the bargain price of $3.99 for a box of (? a million) from the wedding section as they were clearing out stock.  The flowers are a plain white, but Copic Markers work wonders on them to make them any color I want.  SOOOOO much fun!

The brads for the flower centers are from the Everyday Enchantment brad pack (free from Sale-a-bration).

The Got Green? greeting is from the Got Treats? stamp set.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

New Fascinations!!

A couple of months ago while picking up some fruit to take along to riding lessons (for us - not the horses) I found in the magazine section of a grocery of store the most fascinating publication: Cardmaking & Papercraft.  I bought my first of this publication because of the free stamp set that was enclosed with it that month, and have since then become FASCINATED with all of their publications.  Every issue comes with fantastic ideas and projects and some kind of reward for buying the issue.  I LOVE it.

For today's project I used Wisteria Wonder card stock with Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper, and Concord Crush Designer Series Paper.  I then stamped a portion of this beautiful flower stamp set on a piece of Whisper White card stock, got out my Copic markers and colored!

The greeting is from the Touch of Kindness stamp set in the Summer 2011 Mini catalogue.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday

Although I have a full box of scrap paper the concept of Oh S"crap"! It's Monday is starting to get more and more difficult.

This is what I came up with for today.

I had enough Whisper White card stock (in a weird shape) to make the card base and some left over for the banner that I cut using my Nestabilities dies - Whisper White and Poppy parade.  The flower is from the Triple Treat Flower stamp set (got it free with Sale-a-Bration) and stamped in Pool Party with a brad from the Everyday Enchantment Brad Pack (again - got it with Sale-a-bration).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Cut Once, Stamp Twice

Today I decided I should play with my new Mouthwatering Stamp Set.

I cut Early Espresso for the back ground, Very Vanilla for the accent, and used the First Edition Designer Series Paper for the card on the left.  I cut out the squares with my 1" square punch.  The cherries are colored using my Stampin' Write markers to get 2 colors.  I cut out the cherry on the left and used Stampin Dimensionals for this.  I did use my new edgelets die as well on the Espresso edge and then the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

The greeting on the left is from the Swirls and Curls Verses stamp set for hostesses. 

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Banana Muffins (Again)

 It's that time of week again, where I have to start thinking of that onerous task of making nutritional balanced and creative lunches again.  By this time of year the monotony  starts to get to me.  I love cooking and baking, but when I HAVE to, then sometimes it becomes a task.

Today, I am not creative at all, and went to the freezer for a bag of  "rotten bananas" - not a gross as you might think, I HATE bananas with brown spots on them (eat them when they are green and crunchy) and when they get a brown spot on them, I peel them and put them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer.  Very quick and easy to defrost in microwave and use in muffins.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Banana Muffins

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup buttermilk 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoon ground flax seed.

Mix all ingredients together in order listed and bake at 350 degrees F.  


Kathy

Table Toppers

Have you seen this before?  I bought this fabric kit at Lori's Country Cottage last winter.  I loved the color combination and the pattern that came with it.  The pattern is called Two at a Time and designed by Designs to Share with You.  Now the kit to my knowledge was to make one of the square table toppers as you see in my blog profile, and the left overs were for a table runner.  However, either I got more fabric than I was supposed to, or I was really tight on my fabric cutting, as I was able to make 2 of the table toppers, and from the left over triangles (the square table toppers are not pieced from half square triangles) I was able to get this table runner out of it as well!  Awesome, I think I am going to have to make another of these soon, as I think they look beautiful.  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Minkee Blankie

I LOVE Minkee.  I hate sewing with it, but the end result is always phenomenal!

I made this blankie about a year ago for my son.  We had gone in to Earthly Goods and my son always loves to touch and cuddle with all of the fabric before going to the play area.  On this particular day when we walked in one of the staff members told him to come with her as she had something to show him.  I found him a few minutes later snuggled up in a big pile of Minkee bolts with a BIG smile.

These are the colors that he picked out.

These blankets are relatively easy to sew other than that the spray adhesive makes my unable to breath so I have to use a respirator (not comfortable even though the package says so), and the small bits of the minkee that shed off also get up my nose, so I have to wear the mask from start to finish, then ask someone to vacuum the craft room.

The backing and batting are laid out, then the middle strip is place on and sewn on top close to both edges.  The next strip is placed (right sides together) on top of the middle strip, and sewn at 1/2" edge along the entire length.  Once sewn down the wrong side of the strip is sprayed with adhesive and pressed down to the batting. The next strip is then place on and sewn 1/2" seam allowance along the edge again.  Continue until you reach the end of one side of the batting.  Return to center and work out to other edge.

These quilts usually take me the better part of a Sunday (1100 - 1600ish) to complete, but are so cuddly and worth it.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Puppy Cuddle Critter

This is the Puppy version of the Cuddle Critter that I showed yesterday.  My son of course chose the puppy and now that the bear was made he had to have his.

Again, I could not bear to cut the puppy in half, so he has a soft puppy and coordinating cuddle blanket.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Bear Cuddle Critter

A while back I bought two of these Cuddle Critter Kits at Sew Divine.  One is a bear and the other a puppy kit.

Last night I decided to sew up the bear kit as today we are going to visit a co-worker who has a 6 month of little boy and for which the baby needs a gift because it's a random drop in visit.

The kit instructions are for cutting the bear in half (OUCH!!!!!) and then sewing his head and bottom ends to opposite ends of the cuddle fabric blanket. I could not bring myself to cutting the bear in half, so I sewed up the blanket, and gave him the bear!

Hope he loves it, and Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday

Here's this weeks version of Oh S"crap"! It's Monday.

The card base is a piece of Early Espresso with the leftover Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper from Christmas - both the birch and the plaid.

The bear is from the Under the Stars stamp set.  I colored it using my Copic markers.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Cool Pocket Protectors????

When did pocket protectors become cool???  I still do not think they're cool, however, apparently since cutting edge phones that everyone MUST have require plastic protectors to work (why not fix the defect???) everyone walks around with pocket protectors for their gadgets.

My husband recently bought me a new phone as apparently my old flat flip phone is not that cool any more (only 7 years old), and although he remembered not to take off the plastic piece off the face plate, he did get me a plastic cover.   WHAT!!!!!!

So, I did it old school the Kathy way.  I decided to learn to crochet recently (another rant for another day), and this is one of the patterns from the learn to crochet class that I recently took at Michaels (there were no other learn to crochet classes in the city of Edmonton - trust me I looked).  Now, I am currently working on a scarf, because I have plenty of yarn left over from this project.

The instructor for the class is Anna and she was VERY patient with me, as crochet is nothing like knitting I found out.  Check out her blog at Get Crafting.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

I Must be Bored.....

I am not particularly creative tonight, so this is what I managed to put together.  Hmmmmmmmmmm

Sometimes red eye crafting is not the best plan in the world, but I need "Blog Filler" so here is is....

I used Pool Party Card stock for the base, the Designer Series Paper is from the Sweet Shop Specialty Designer Series Paper.

I used my Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge to cut the scallop circle and stamped the Cherry Image from the Fruit and Flowers stamp set inside.

The ribbon and brad are from the Sale-a-bration bonus catalogue.

Going to get some sleep and hopefully will restore my fronto-temporal network.....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Stamp of the Month Club

This is my most current edition of the Stamp of the Month Club.

This is a club offered by my friend Karina, and every month you get the stamp set and three cards made using this set to give you ideas as to how to use this set.

I LOVE this set and will probably make lots of use of it because surprisingly and ironically I LOVE CANDY!!!!

I have so many ideas as to what I can do with this, just need the time.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happy Birthday Mai

I made this quick cake for my co-worker Mai for her birthday.  

The cake is a french vanilla cake mix (I did not have time to bake a real cake) as she requested.

Every couple of months (or sooner if I run out) I make a big batch of butter cream icing that I keep in the refrigerator in case of icing emergencies.  I take out the portion I need about a half hour early from the refrigerator and re-mix it once warmed up and work with it to color and get the right consistency, firm for the roses, medium for the flowers, and thin for the flower centers and the leaves.  

I made a whole bunch of random flowers while the cake was baking and once cool and the top was frosted my son enjoyed putting random flowers on the cake top.  I had to stop him or there likely would have been no room for leaves!!!

For a cake mix it was turned out alright.  I might do this again!!

Happy Birthday Mai.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy