Some Last-minute Gifts

Getting a Head Start

Last year I was a little disappointed that I didn't have any sellable items prepared for the Putnam Arts Council's annual holiday art sale.  The year before, I managed to sell a few bookmarks and lavender sachets.  This year, I thought I'd get a head start making charms and see if I can produce a few bracelets and maybe some earrings and quilted coasters as well.   Here are a few samples.

I still have some embellishing to do on the coasters and I just ordered some silver-plated chain and toggle clasps to complete the bracelets.  I think the button Christmas tree charms are my favorite so far!  I'd love to make more of them, but I need to find some more smaller buttons for the top of the tree.  I have bags of green buttons but only a few that size!

Presents and Projects

Happy Monday, eveyone, hope you had a great weekend!

 Look at t he fantastic carry-all my Mom made for me for my birthday!  It is very roomy and has pockets all along the outside, but it's also reversible, so the pockets could be on the inside.  She chose a sturdy quilted fabric in colors that I wear all the time.  Isn't it great?  Thanks, Mom!  I love it!

I also finally bought myself a polymer clay conditioning machine (aka, a pasta machine).  All this time, I've been conditioning the clay by hand, which is tiring.  And when I roll it out, it never comes out even and smooth.  I do use clay quite a bit, so I hope to get a lot of use out of this.

 But lately, I've been sticking with fabric.  Over the weekend, I put together these four 4-inch-square coasters.  I used the scraps from my previous project so they came together very quickly.  I still need to paint the edges with acrylic paint and seal the tops with that fusible vinyl.  I had a lot of fun choosing fabrics and getting back into decorative free-motion quilting.  Small projects are so satisfying because they can be finished in a day or two!  

Have a great week!

Happy August!

I decided to finish a few creative projects and write a post first thing this morning before work and another busy day. I am outside keeping the dog busy before our daily walk. Here is a morning glory climbing near our deck. They're so cheerful, with their trumpet shape and the delicate folds and stripes.

And here are some more coasters, in a different color scheme this time! These seemed a little harder to me because I didn't have as many fabric and stamp options, but I'm still happy with the results and still enjoyed the process a lot. They're another gift...
And now I'd better run. I need to get ready for work, and somebody wants to play...
Have a great Monday!

Getting addicting!

I'm having so much fun making these little 4x4" coasters, that I made another set of six and sent them off to my mother-in-law for her birthday. Even though it would be faster to just keep making the same six designs, it's so much fun to sit and play with all the possibilities and see what develops! Here is my second set, above, which does have one design almost identical to one in the other set (the palm tree set on the diagonal). But I cut a fish stamp out of thick craft foam and added that to my stamp set and also did a little more free-motion stitch elements on these.

In the ones below, I stuck mainly to squares and rectangles in an effort to simplify and speed up the process, and even then, I didn't find it boring or repetitive. Once again, if i could find a way to do these more quickly, I would consider selling them on ETSY or in the Putnam Arts Council Holiday sale, or any other venues that might arise. I could do some with seasonal themes, or popular color schemes like blue and yellow or black and white.

The first two sets I made contained six different designs (I wanted to be generous) but this set only has four. I think whenever you buy sets of coasters, they only come with four, and that would make everything easier and faster. Maybe I'll do a little marketing research and keep this idea percolating...