Stampin' Clips & Quips

Rylee's 2nd Birthday

We're busy celebrating birthdays this month.  Landon turned one on February 12th.  Rylee turns two on March 13th.  Caleb turned three on March 6th. Three grandchildren and their birthdays are all within a four-week period.  We are a very fortunate bunch, indeed!

Last year I put together a youth bed-sized truck quilt for Caleb. Of course, as can happen with a two-year-old, he never got the hang of his race car bed and went right into a twin.  The truck quilt is fine...just a bit short on one end!  So this year, for Rylee's second birthday, I decided to make sure she'd have a blanket big enough for a twin bed -- and, yes, you guessed it -- she's going into a youth bed.  At least that's the plan.  The one good thing is she's going to outgrow that in time and her big-girl blanket will be waiting for her.

 

The quilt pattern came from the Scrappy Stew class I took last fall.  I used all 1940s retro prints and a lot of pink for the background.  What can I say?  I waited a long time to have a little girl to put in pink...and her blanket certainly will attest to that. 

After piecing the blocks and doing some diagonal machine quilting, I used my embroidery machine to put a butterfly in the center of each block -- 40 butterflies in all.  Yes...I now know how the embroidery unit works.  Practice makes perfect and those 40 butterflies gave me a lot of practice on positioning and, of course, troubleshooting when threads broke, et cetera. 

Buying "just the right amount" of fabric is still a challenge.  I'd be devastated to run short, so I generally have a bunch leftover.  This time I used some of it to make her a matching pillowcase and a throw pillow for her dolly. 

And the best part?  The whole thing's finished and I still have a week until her party!! 

Hmmmm, I wonder what else I'll come up with for her before next Saturday?

Jean

Quilting Memories, One Piece At A Time

Happy Anniversary

Joe & Eleanor live across the street in a tan house with PURPLE trim.  Not lavender.  PURPLE.  Joe's the same age as my dad.  El's the same age as my mom.  They celebrated their 60th anniversary this year, same as my mom and dad would've.  Even though Mom and Dad are gone, it's nice having someone of the same age and generation nearby.  It gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling watching them grow older together. 

After Christmas, during one of our many snowstorms, I decided to see what I could come up with using purples, and here's the result.  I took it over to J&E's on their anniversary and sat with the couple for a few hours.  We talked about their wedding day, they showed me family pictures. What a nice afternoon that was.

Jean -- Quilting Memories One Piece At A Time...

 

Snoopy

Okay...since Jacki said she couldn't wait to see a quilt, here's the first one.  It was a crib blanket I did for a baby shower a few months back.  I had an extra block that I sewed onto one of those re-usable "going green" bags you can buy at Target. The bag was cute and saved me the trouble of finding wrapping paper:)

 

Jean

Making memories one piece at a time.
 

I've Been Absent

Okay, yes, I've been absent for quite a while now, but I think it's time to try to revive this blog.  I've done a pretty major switch from Stamping to Quilting and I'm enjoying every minute.  Hope you come and check out my additions when I get them posted.  Of course, finishing a quilt takes a bit longer than finishing a card, so I'll just have to see what else I can find to put up here:) 

Check back when you get a chance.  I've taken pictures of the quilts I've made this year and am going to start putting them up here in the next few days.  Of course, one thing I've learned is I have a LOT of learning to do... which is always a good thing with a new passion! 

Stay turned...I'll start posting SOON!

Jean

 

In With The New...

Yesterday would've been Mom's 80th birthday.  Instead of spending it with her in Wisconsin as I've done the past handful of years, I decided to work on something she would've loved to have had her hand in.

This quilt is called Scrappy Stew.  For the scraps, I used a lot of pieces I'd collected when I cleaned out Mom's sewing closet in the spring.  She had a habit of collecting little bits of this'n'that when she'd be traveling or just shopping for the day. Many times she didn't use those "special" pieces, just collected them.  When we were together last Christmas, I straightened her closet and she told me the stories behind some of them, i.e., I picked that piece up in Hawaii, OR, Aren't those birdhouses cute?  I just had to have them, et cetera. 

I decided it was time to put bits and pieces of her "special fabrics" together, along with some of my own, and this is what I came up with.  In honor of her 80th birthday, I put the finishing touches on it last night.  It just seemed fitting.

 

Tart 'n Tangy

It's summer and I'm digging out some old favorites.  I think I've used Tart 'n' Tangy to death, and every time I think it's time to put them away, I find another set of cards I need them for.

These three are just something simple I put together.  They'll be great for summer birthdays or what have you. 

Enjoy.

Infinite Goodness

Okay...is anybody out there still reading this?  I know it's been a L.O.N.G. time since I've put up new cards, but it is summer...or at least that's the excuse I'm going to use. 

First things first.  Happy Birthday Donnie!!!  My oldest turned 30 today.  How'd that happen?  He's married, has two adorable sons, and has spent the week playing Mr. Dad while Michelle has been working on a summer master's class.  Pretty neat stuff.  Of course, that means I've officially been a Mom for 30 years, huh?  Hmmm. Might have to think about that for a minute.. 

Okay.  Back to cards.

A couple weeks ago a neighbor walked up my drive asking if I'd make her a set of "all occasion" cards.  She'd seen some of our class cards and wanted some of her own. 

Right.  Uh-huh.  I blurted out without much thought, Why not join us and make your own? Poor Linda.  I think I almost scared her off.  But being a good sport she showed up tonight with her friend, Donna, and I really hope they had a good time.  I know we enjoyed having them.

Tonight's cards used the now retired hostess set Infinite Goodness.  I hadn't even mounted them...remember back when we had to mount stamps before using them?  Yes'm.  They must've been in the bin for quite a while, but I loved them back then and they were fun to work with.

I tried to make the cards pretty basic so as not to scare Linda and Donna off on their first night.  We used Cuttlebug folders for the embossing, and Watercolor Wonder Crayons with Blender Pens to color in the images. 

And what's the first rule everyone learns on their first night out?  Paper has two sides.  Stamp it wrong the first time?  No problem.  Flip it over and try again.  And, yes, we had a few do-overs tonight, just like every other night.

It's been too long since my stamp room was full to capacity, it was too noisy to hear yourself think, and the M&M bowls were all but empty by the time everyone went home.  Sounds like a success to me.

Ladies, we look forward to seeing you back in a couple weeks.  You have so many more new tricks to learn, and we'll teach you all of them if you give us a chance.

Enjoy

Japanese Dolls

Some Thursday nights I watch as everyone stamps.  Other nights, there's an open chair and I get to stamp, too.  Tonight was one of those nights that I got to stamp, and I have to say *I* had a great time.  Why is it that it's always more fun to stamp with a table full of people just chatting away, crunching on pretzels and M&Ms, and not looking at the clock?  I guess that question pretty much answers itself, huh?

Tonight we made Japanese Dolls.  Not an original idea, by any means. In fact, I pretty much copied them hook, line and sinker from Creatin' With Kirsteen.  Kirsteen saw them in a recent Papercraft Magazine and figured out how to make them.  She even has a great 

step-by-step tutorial on her blog in case you can't figure out how they're done.

This was a great project that used up the tiniest scraps of designer paper.  We used the stamp set Fresh Cuts, Stampin' Write markers, black brads, and a host of punches.  I actually sent out a supply list of things to bring for this class.  My Thursday night group is very patient and we usually share very well, but this was the kind of project where it helped that everyone had a set of tools all lined up and ready to go.  There were lots of little steps.

One other perk the girls got tonight was a sneak peek at Stampin' Up!'s new Idea Book & Catalog that's being released on July 1st.  I think everyone saw something to add to their wish list.  I know I've picked out a few things I'm just going to have to have.

Watch later in the week for the challenge cards and for a new sketch.  You're going to love the new cards the girls brought me tonight!

Enjoy.

More Get-Well Cards

As promised, here are more Get-Well cards from Terry.  Normally I can tell you lots and lots about each card, but this entire group is nameless since I don't have the cards here.

Isn't this top one elegant?  I remember seeing it and looked and felt just like lace.

Of course, this second one was from Debbie Liberty.  If the Loads of Love stamp set wasn't a dead giveaway, the picture of her with Kix & Dunn told it all:)

And finally, back to all-around basics and a wonderful red and black card anyone can duplicate. 

More to come.

Terry's Getting Well...

Last time's challenge was to send Get-Well cards to Terry.  I got to see the cards everyone sent last Thursday and I was overwhelmed by the stack!  There's definitely too many for me to post at one time, so I figured I'd start tonight and see where it takes me.

This first card was a favorite.  It's a pop-up card.  The bunny and owl are on separate pieces and bounce up and down.  It was really cute. 

This next card is from Puns From the Past and I love the colors and dimension it has by raising the coffee pot.

And today's third card is simply elegant.  Again, the flowers are raised and which really makes them jump out at you. 

How could you still  be sick with these gorgeous cards?