This is an altered book page for the challenge from Prairie Stampers.  I said I would never do altered books but decided to give it a try.  The book had already had several pages done and it was a particularly uninteresting book, content wise.  These are my altered pages.  The background was sprayed with dye based re inkers that I diluted and put into little spritzer bottles.  Once that was dry I cut the pages down and adhered to the book.  Using three selections from the Graphic 45 collection of papers I began creating my scene.  I used my Cricut for the fence and trellis.  It was fun to do.  I decided I really wanted some dimension so I made a bouquet of 24 g beading wire and twisted that together.  I made a 45 degree bend and glued that into the binding.  The butterflies were cut with the Cricut and glued to the wires.  They lay flat when the book is closed and can be manipulated when it is open. 
     Now I am going to make some booklets out of file folders...if I can just find the directions.

new version of the bunny bags

Here are the bunnies all in a row made with the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge in 5" size. I was able to find treat bags to cut down to make the basket part between the bunnies. I also have some wild green grass and candy to fill them up and cellophane bags to drop them into for presentation.

Now for something entirely different

This has been such a delightful project. This is by Kaisercraft and it is called a mini cubby. There is some basic assembly to do and then the fun begins. This is probably going to be the color that my box remains but it definitely is not the first color I painted it! The box itself is very sturdy and takes a lot of painting and cleaning and painting over without warping. The nine little boxes are a bit more fragile but still study enough for a lot of painting and gluing. The company even included an extra box to use if you have a problem or for a template for cutting the paper for the front. I just papered the front but you could do all four sides and even the bottom. I thought it might slide easier without the paper on the sides. I am still working on the top. I think I want it to look like a meadow with a birds' nest which I will build out of bits and pieces from the yard. This kit cost less than $15. to buy and provided me with hours of entertainment. I can hardly wait to start on my next one. This time I will paint all the parts with a color and make sure I am happy with it before assembling. Kaisercraft has several kits along the lines of this one.

Dapper Dillinger Trousers

My first real sewing project of the year - Figgy's Dapper Dillinger Flat Front Trousers!  Emmett's favorite color is green so I made these for him out of a light weight green corduroy with a contrasting patterned corduroy.  My model was very busy playing soldier / rock star but was happy to add these pants to his ensemble.  They are actually long enough but I had to tuck the shirt in so you could see the lovely flat front of these pants and that really yanked them up.

I have never - never - made pockets without sewing them somehow to the back of the pants but through careful work I finally accomplished it!  So simple!  These have really nice deep pockets perfect for Emmett's every growing rock collection and an elastic waist in the back for easy on and off.  I can hardly wait to make these again.

Wreath from Molly's design

Look from bottom to top since I am never going to get used to adding my first picture last! The hard foam wreath was crocheted to cover with brown and a varigated green yarn. Next a LOT of tiny shamrocks were cut using the Sizzix Big Shot in a dark and light green felt then in four different patterns of fabric. It was fun work and even more fun with help from Carrie. After trying all sorts of patterns I decided on a light to dark transition from the outside to the inside of my wreath. Each shamrock was then pinned with a headed pin into the wreath form. Some tiny bows in green were added for accent. Love the design Molly. Thank you so much for such a pleasant craft project.

Valentine plastic canvas completed

Here you see the final product for the plastic canvas lesson shown a few weeks ago. Just adding the silly eyes and nose make them come alive. They are ready for boxing and sending to my grandchildren and their friends for Valentine's day with a chocolate kiss in each one and of course, more kisses from Nana!

Valentine's Day Heart

There are a couple of things I don't love about Valentine's Day and that pink-on-red color scheme is one of them.   Luckily shopping with two little helpers precluded me from getting a chance to pick out a color scheme and limited me to what could be grabbed and thrown into the cart before they knocked each other down again.  

I used:

Some inexpensive blue yarn I got for a different project and a crochet hook that was on hand.

A Heart shaped wreath

Origami Paper

Straight pins normally used for sewing.

I had spotted a crochet wreath on Pinterest earlier in the week but the directions were beyond me.  I nearly (very nearly) just wrapped the darn thing but took the time to figure something out.  This worked really really really well and was fun and exciting for me because it was tight and even.

Use a slip knot to get going.  

 Then, wrap the yarn around.  I went down and then around the back once and then again before I pulled through.  This kept the wrapping process going and made everything nice and tight.

 The points were tricky and this would be much prettier on a round wreath.  But, since I planned to add more things it didn't really matter.  Although, to be honest, it was hard to leave the bald spot.

I really liked the seam.  It was strange, but I kept thinking about how nice this stitch would work to cover a cast.  The things that go through your mind during crafting....

All week I had been folding origami pinwheels.  I really wanted to use the flowers I made last week but they had too much depth.  And they took forever to make.  Pinwheels were fun and I could do them in the car during pick-up.

 Then I pinned them onto the wreath with straight pins.

And, done!