April's Craft Blog

Have you ever had to get a bag of those clear stones that come in several colors and had a ton left over? Well I have a solution for that.
You can use what ever kind of image you want that is the right size. You can even use stamped images or a picture or what ever would match the room you are going to put them in. Now find a magnet that would be well hiden behind the stone. You take the image cut it to the right size then you put a strong glue on the top of it and place the stone on top of it. Then you take the same glue and put it on the magnet and put the magnet on the back of the stone and image. Now let it set for about an hour or so before you use it. But once it is dry use it on what ever magnetic surface you want. Have a great crafty day!

I finished the blanket yesterday and I am pleased with how it came out. I think it came out great especially with it being the first quilt I ever finished on my own. I washed it today and will post pictures soon. I have a lot of new crafts ideas and will start on them shortly. Have a great crafty day.

I am almost done with the blanket I just have the binding left.  I can’t wait to show you all what it looks like.  Now I didn’t make the whole blanket, I got one of those panels from Hobby Lobby.  They are so nice, all you have to get after choosing your pattern is choose what you want for the back and get the batting and maybe some yarn if you want to do some ties on it like I did.  Then when you get it home all you have to do is tie it, do some quilt stitching if you so choose, and then bind it off.  I did all of the above, with the exception of the binding that I am trying to finish.  I hope to have it done today so that I can get back to posting regular crafts.

So, some thing you can do as you are waiting is organize your craft stuff.  If you need to down size, go through the things you don’t use and put them in a separate box.  When you are done finding the things you don’t need, such as paper you don’t really like, you can have a craft party at this party you can swap craft stuff or let others go crazy with crafting or you can sell it or give it away.  Every one has different tastes so a paper that you hate that came in that paper pack you got some one else may totally love it.  Then there is that stamp you got in that craft kit that your husband or friend got you that you never use, once again some one else may love it.  So do your self and your craft stuff a favor and get rid of stuff you don’t use and organize what you have.  Once you see all that is left you just might get inspired to finish that scrapbook that you started a year ago.  Have a great crafting day!

I haven’t done any crafts of late. I am working on a baby blanket for my sister who is about to pop. As soon as that is done I will post pics of it. Then I will get back to other crafts.

Have you ever received a clock that you liked every thing but the face of it and threw it out?  Or did you see one at the store on clearance that had a beautiful frame around it but the face was ugly?  Well now you can keep or get that clock.

Last year I got this clock and didn’t like the face at all.  After a little of playing around with it I was able to figure out how to pull it apart.  Taking the hands off was super easy, they just popped off.  So I took the face of it out and traced it on a piece of card stock.  Then I cut out the card stock.  Every year I make a point of getting a beautiful calender that fits me and my decor so I took last years calender and found a picture in it that I thought would look great in the clock frame.  I used the card stock to lay out the pictures just right.  The nice thing about  this is you could take off all of the clock workings and just use it as a frame or you can cut the hole in the center for the post for the hands.  If you actually want the numbers on it I would use the old face to measure where those should go.  Then you could use what ever you wanted to mark the numbers.  After I did all that I wanted I put it all back together.  Then I noticed that I put the picture in upside down.  Don’t make that mistake, before you put it together make sure every thing is right so you don’t have to take it apart again like I did.  But I did turn out in the end.  Well you can see that.

Making a cookie bouquets are not as hard as you may think they are.  They are fun to make and look really cool.  You have a few options on how to make them.  Wilton makes some cookie treat pans that help you bake the cookie on the stick for the bouquets.  You can buy these pans at Hobby Lobby as well as on the Wilton website.  But if you are like me and don’t want to go buy a new cookie sheet and have tons of cookie cutters that you would love to make a bouquet with well you are in luck, you can use them.

What I learned isn’t very hard to do.  First you will want to select the sticks you want to put in your cookies.  I like the bamboo sticks ( be sure to soak for and hour or so).  Then you make your favorite cookie cutter dough.  When that is ready just roll it about half the height you normally do and cut out two of the same shape.  Lay the first one down on your cookie sheet put your stick down on it and be sure it goes about half way up the cookie shape.  Then lay the corresponding shape on top and slightly pinch together, you may want to have a bowl of water next to you to dip your finger in to wet in-between the layers.  Bake, cool, frost, let set, last but not least arrange your bouquet in some flower foam that is inside of the container of your choice.  Be sure to let the frosting set up or it will slide off.  This is something that is so easy to do, so go get your kids and have some fun.

Okay, sorry I didn’t do this yesterday but I was trying to find my card reader so I could put the images up.  But after looking high and low I couldn’t find it.  I think my husband left it at his office.  So I will just tell you how to do it then later when I get my card reader back I will put the pictures up.

One, you will want to prep your area.  That means covering your table or other work area with paper or something so that the ink does not bleed through.  The VersaCraft ink is made to also stamp on wood so you don’t want to ruin your table.  You will want to get your iron and ironing board out.

Two, you will want to pick out the stamps you want to use and the colors of ink and get it laid out on another surface that is near by, like a card table.

Three, get your fabric out, be sure it has been washed.  Some fabrics come prewashed.

Four, I  like to lay my stamps on top of the fabric to help me decide how I want to do the pattern and what colors to use for what stamps.  So I would suggest doing so.

Five, start stamping. Tip: if you plan on layering colors you must iron the first image before you stamp another color on top of it.

Six, iron the images.  I suggest using the highest setting that is safe for your fabric and be sure you iron is completely heated up before you start ironing.  You will want to leave the iron on the image for about 10 seconds to be sure that it set well.

Seven, do your sewing project then wash. Or if you are just stamping an already made thing just wash.

I hope you have as much fun doing this as I did. I will post how to do the sheets in the next couple of days.  First I need to do some school work.  I will also try to find a way to get the pics of how to do this off my camera as soon as possible.

April Sensiba

I have learned how to stamp fabric in the last few weeks.  I have been taking pictures of how to do it.  It is really simple and fun.  It is something you can even do with your kids if you would like.

Now there are a few different ways to stamp fabric.  Over the next few weeks or so I will post them one by one.  The first one will be using VersaCraft stamp pads.  Here is what you will need to get started:

Fabric of your choice, VersaCraft stamp pad/s, any rubber stamp that you really like and will go well with your decorating ideas, iron and ironing board, and an area to work.

Now if you Google VersaCraft you will find many different websites to buy from. Just pick the one that has the best color choices for you, the best price for you, or that has the best shipping choices for you.  If you are really lucky you will be able to find it in a local store.  I have looked all over Las Cruces with no such luck.

I am making a crib sheet so I was able to buy a twin sized flat sheet that was on clearance.  I should have the last of the pictures taken by tomorrow and that is when I will tell you how to do all of this.

April Sensiba

Well it is a new year and I am sorry I never got around to putting up a how to.  I got busy with making some other stuff. I will post that up as soon as I finish my last project. I hope with the new year I can get better at posting more crafts.

Thanks

Well the craft fair down in El Paso is over. Now I hope I will have more time to post some craft stuff up for you. I was thinking I would start off with some thing simple, a card maybe or a scrapbook page.

What you like to see? 1)scrapbook page, 2)greeting card, 3) Christmas card, 4) making jewelry

Anything I do will be available for sale. You will be able to get it complete or in a kit.