kismet art

You Are My Sunshine

I know spring is officially here but day after day of dark, rainy days has been getting me down so I decided to make a little piece of scrapbook art to brighten my mood, as well as the wall in Emma's room. Since her birth I have sung "You Are My Sunshine" to her- it was the song that soothed her when she cried and the song we now sing together nightly as part of her bedtime routine. The lyrics, that have become such an important part of our everyday life, seemed like the perfect choice to make into a wall hanging.  To make this project I cut 7 one-inch wide strips from different pieces of yellow 12x12 patterned paper as well as 1 piece of grey to use for the rays of the sun.  I cut the sun from a piece of yellow cardstock, glued it on a piece of patterned craft paper, then glued down the 8 strips at different intervals.  I used random yellow letter stickers, some chip letters painted grey, and my own handwriting to put the lyrics onto the rays of the sun.  Now all I need to do is slip it into a frame and hang it up in Emma's room.And I'm hoping the sun takes the hint and comes out a little bit more.

Easter Felt Hoops

The last two weeks have passed by too quickly as we try to get everyone in our household well again, but I wanted to share a trio of wool felt Easter projects I made last week- I used wool felt for the base, stretched it inside of a 6 inch embroidery hoop, cut an egg shape from wool felt, embellished them with bits of vintage white trim (except for the pink one- Emma insisted on pink for hers, go figure), and embroidered Happy Easter on each.  Wishing you all a Happy Easter and looking forward to getting back into the swing of things!

Faux Sew Love

Better late than never here are a few more Valentine's Day 2012 projects that I finished this February (before the 14th if you can believe it!)  The first is a little wall hanging for Emma's room, I have a reversible one that is on her bedroom door from Halloween- Christmas, when it came down this year she requested a new one.  I used one of the 5x7 flat backed canvases from my previous post, covered it with a sewing pattern and mod podge, punched with an awl around the edge, faux stitched with a marker, then embellished with ribbon, chipboard letters and buttons, and topped with a felt hand stitched heart.The second project is a love banner I created by covering 4 scalloped chipboard pieces found at the $1 spot at Michaels with a sewing pattern, sealed with Matte Mod Podge, faux stiched with a sharpie around the edges then embellished with buttons, ribbons, paper tape, and hearts.  The O and E are on top of 4x6 overlays from My Mind's Eye.  At this point I think I have a banner for almost every major holiday- I think the next one better be a birthday banner (luckily that won't take too long, I have the pennants covered with paper, I just need to add the letters.)  And after misplacing my Halloween banner for over 2 years I have started a banner box so I have a central place to pack and store them away after each holiday.

Valentine Canvas Collage

I thought I'd try another "clean out my button-flower-brad, etc. stash" project much like my Easter egg from last year:  http://kismetart.typepad.com/kismet_art/2011/04/easter-egg-project.html

Because of the time it took last year I started with a slightly smaller canvas this time around (5x7 instead of 8x10) and chose to use more elements that I could glue on, much easier than punching through the tough chipboard backed canvas.

This is still a favorite project, especially because it is one you can easily work on while watching a movie, hoping to make some different holiday shapes this year because I still don't see much of a dent in the old button stash!

For You, A.

I Felt Crafty This Christmas

Every year I handcraft an ornament for members of my family, and after purchasing the book Fa La La Felt last year (the book is full of fun felt holiday craft ideas), I decided to try creating some embroidery hoop ornaments.  I used hoops ranging from 3" to 6" for these projects, wool felt, and a varitey of different threads and embellishments.  Here are a few of my favorites:These are Ben and Emma's hands, I love that I have a record of their size from the end of 2011.
The first one in this series of 3 is a replica of my brother-in-law's company logo (he owns a landscaping business and uses a ginko tree leaf on his hats.)The first one is a replica of Ben's "Human Beans" comic strip series (it is one of his bean people), the second is a ladybug, not only Emma's favorite insect but also her Halloween costume this year.
The poinsettia was inspired by a pillow cover in the Pottery Barn Holiday catalogue.
I also make an ornament for my niece and nephew.  Earlier this winter I had covered some chipboard houses with paper and thought these felt gingerbread people made a nice addition (the other side has their names and the year).

As someone who often has a hard time sitting still to watch a movie at night I think in these felt creations I have found an activity that I can work on for all different seasons.

Happy crafting in 2012!

Pumpkin Card (And One of The Reasons I Love Crop Chocolate)

I wanted to share a Halloween card I made for a challenge over at Crop Chocolate, using products I purchased from their site.  The challenge this month was to use stitching on your project, I chose to faux stitch using both a black and a white pen. The pumpkin on this card was inpired  by a folk art pillow that my parents purchased for me last year. Earlier this year I purchased a basic sewing machine to use for projects such as this one but I have yet to use it in crafting (but I have a set of curtains that are not dragging the floor anymore and Emma is the proud owner of a small purse made from an old pair of jeans!)

And if you are looking to add to your craft stash Crop Chocolate is a several deal a day site that purchases products from different scrapbook maunufacturers and sells them at a deep discount.  When you purchase something from them you have the option of adding a package of "Hot Chocolate" to your order (HC is a mystery grab bag of products )for $2.49- I have yet to receive a bag of HC that was worth less than $20.00 retail. They are an amazing company with the best customer service I've ever dealt with and a genuinly nice staff.

Because of the demise of the small, local scrapbook stores in our area I often find myself shopping online for procucts that I am in search of, and most of the bigger online stores tend to either forget to pack items, send damaged goods, or take weeks to get product shipped to you. I have never had this be the case when dealing with Crop Chocolate, and with less money in my pocket these days to spend on supplies I plan on continuing to spend where I receive excellent customer service.

Easter Egg Project

Back in February Jen Jockisch posted a Letter Monogram project on the American Crafts blog (in her project she made a large letter A on card stock, covered it with buttons and brads, then framed it). After seeing it I knew I wanted to try one (especially since I have an overabundance of buttons, flowers, brads and beads in my craft stash). For my Easter Egg project I used an 8x10 flat canvas stretched onto cardboard, traced a large paper egg, and started punching holes. After filling in most of the egg with brads I then started layering bits and pieces in the bare spots. When I was done I added the velvet letters and punched a hole in the top to hang it with ribbon. This was a fun project, I love that it reminds me of the jewelry trees my neighbor made on green velvet when I was a child. And because I only made a small dent in my embellishment collection I know I'm going to have to try it again for another holiday.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here are a few of the cards I made this year to show some love to my family this Valentine's Day- I found a book of reproduction vintage Valentine's at Borders bookstore- I love the look of these "old" Valentine's and their semi-corny but sweet sentiments, they remind me of the cards I used to get from my grandparents as a child.

Today got me thinking about Junior High and High School when you could send someone a rose or a note in class and how every time the door would open my stomach would drop a little in anticipation.  And how more often than not the card or flower that came my way was from my friend Kathryn (usually a flower with a note about being "best buds") -thanks for always having my back K, because of you I always felt the love on the 14th!

Today Ben went off to school with a small bag of Star Wars Valentine's - ready to hand out cards but a little embarrassed that he would be getting some in return (and I am a little sad to say this is the first year he was not so interested in making a Valentine for his teachers).

Emma has spent the morning layering heart stickers on construction paper hearts that are covered with crayon "pictures".  She seems to be the person who is most excited about sharing the love today.

And for those of you not smitten with Valentine's Day instead try wishing everyone a Happy New Year the way that Emma has this morning instead, it has brought a lot of smiles to many.

Hope your day is filled with love!

Valentine Box with Paper Candies

One of my favorite projects ever, I made these paper candies for a Valentine's contest at a local art supply store- the faux truffles are cotton balls wrapped in brown tissue paper.  I am thinking that this year I may just have to try and make a new one, maybe with Emma this time.