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I joined a superheroine swap and found out my partner likes She-Ra. I thought it was quite convenient as Sienna is really into She-Ra too (yay for Netflix streaming!) I suppose I should also link this photo too!

Made for a swap and sent to a Gone With The Wind fan. I guess I should watch that movie one day!

Cut the elephant with my Silhouette. I really like how this came out!

This is one of my favorites! It was for an Etsy inspiration swap where you check out your partner’s Etsy favorites list and make something inspired by something on their list. Being a fan of zombies, I really wanted to make this or something similiar. Of course, the original item is laser cut from stainless steel! I made mine with paper, vinyl and UV resin! I’ve done something similar a couple of times before, see here, here and here. And at first, I attempted to do the same way, cut several pieces out with paper and layer them together with glue. It wasn’t working out. Too many details and the Silhouette could not cut cleanly on the paper. I almost gave up. Then I though of vinyl! Or course, that would mean I couldn’t make the middle see through as I had to lay the vinyl on something! So I used red glitter paper to cut a frame, put the vinyl on top (which cut perfectly!) and then decided to coat it with Magic Glos. I’m not totally happy with how the hole for the jump ring got messed up and that is definitely something I will be extra careful with for the next one! My partner loved it!

I decided to use vinyl again for these hummingbirds since the beak is so small and delicate. I used dimensional fabric paint to make the flowers. I really like how they came out. By the way, this is 2 pendants that I made into one double sided one.

This was also for the Etsy inspire swap for the same person that got the zombie pendant. I am also a big fan of anatomical hearts so I carved one for myself as well!

Wall vinyl for the last item for the Etsy inspire swap. Just in time for Halloween!

Bookmarks! The one with beads is strung onto elastic cord. The top right is ribbon and the bottom right is scrapbook paper.

I saw this idea on pinterest (btw, totally love pinterest!) but on a bracelet so I adjusted it for these old earrings I had. Well, after this, I am totally addicted to doing macramé! More projects with macramé this to come!

When I saw this tutorial on Honestly…WTF (love that blog name too!), I couldn’t wait to give it a try! I plan on making more!

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The weather is starting to get cooler and I couldn’t be more happier! Autumn is my favorite time of year! Comfort food cooking, light jackets, getting cuddly and cozy and having more time for crafting! The summer days went by so fast with keeping Sienna occupied, road trips and just being worn out from the humidity. I didn’t feel like I did a lot of crafts over these past few months but when I compiled all my photos, there were a lot more than I thought. So I decided to just break it up into 2 posts.

I attempted shrinky dinks again with some rubber stamps. I colored them in with pencils and put glitter paper in the back and made them pins. Sorry for the bad photo!

Raven stamp carve

This was for my niece, Elianna, who lives in Thailand. Apparently Our World is big with the 10 year olds and it’s hard to get stuff so I made this with t-shirt vinyl. I heard she likes the shirt!

I bought this princess fabric from This and That from Japan. I love their shop! I love the fabric as it is a little thicker than quilting cotton. I made this pouch for Sienna to hold her little tiny princess dolls, it has since turned into the snack pouch.

I also made this Superman/Batman pouch to hold her Batman and villians dolls (see a couple here). The reason it is half and half is because I used remnants I had after making her these pillowcases:


I made this pouch for a Hello Kitty/skull fan on swap-bot.

This was for a bird brooch swap

I made these lighthouse notecards with my Silhouette. I’m not really happy with how poorly it cut the tiny details like the windows but it’s still better than hand cutting!

I made these photo notecards using my photos. The flower and tree frames were cut with the Silhouette.
And to round off this post, Thank you cards, also cut with the Silhouette:

Sienna’s goofy face is a little extra bonus for you! HA! Anyway, I totally cased this card from another Silhouette user. I really loved it so I made 2! One is for Yves’ cousin in Tunisia, who sent Sienna these cute outfits (see here) and yummy Tunisian pastries for us (I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of them! I was really impressed with how intricate some of the designs were!) The other card was for the Olson’s, whose house we stayed at during our Chicago trip.

Summer Crafts 2 to follow!

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Let’s get right to it!

Kliban cat rubber stamps and shrinky dinks. Still haven’t mastered the art of shrinky dinking.

This set was made for a Mail Art inside and out swap. You had to create 3 Mail Art related things so I made postal stickers, notecards (cards were made using a postal theme digital graphics, envelopes from old maps!) and a set of 3 postcards I stamped and colored.

I hosted a swap to make fabric luggage tags.

Bottle cap charms

Embroidered a set of 4 napkins using patterns from Wild Olive

View Master stamp carving for myself. Inspired by some view master fabric I saw online. Need to carve the viewer next!

For 2 carving swaps, beach themed that I hosted (inspired by our Myrtle Beach vacation) and a sun theme.

Hedge hog! Made these 2 for 2 different swaps, woodland brooch and woodland theme in a ziplock.

Jumped at the chance to join a july birthday card swap so I could get some in the mail!

Another birthday party for a former classmates of Sienna’s so I made the same card as I did for the twins in May! His party was at the Party Gym.

My partner loves the Monkees in this swap for Wacky Holidays June.

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It’s been HOT here in New York and actually much of the midwest to northeast so have not been doing too much crafting lately. So I thought it would be a good time to update the craft posts from May! Soon to follow will be June.

Sienna’s really into super heroes so it has re-ignited my interest in them as well so I signed up for a Super Hero Softie swap. I even made a little comic book to go with it. I picked out a pattern from the Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals book that I’ve had for awhile and been wanting to try. I’m so glad I finally tried one of the patterns because it was soo easy!! I reduced the pattern and used felt instead of fleece. I made the cape and mask myself. I think it came out really cool and became one of those swaps I almost did not want to send off!

Another theme I love is the Circus and these were made for the Theme in a Ziplock group. I made domino pins, tags, notecards, stickers and frames. My partner loved everything! (If I ever get around to posting what I received, I’ll be sure and show the 2 headed woman doll my partner sent me! LOVE it!)

Stickers made using hand carved stamps and die cut using my Silhouette machine. The batman logo, POW and flower were carved by me. The others were received in swaps.

Mother’s day card with a pop up rose. You can see Sienna’s writing on the inside for her grandma(s).

Birthday cards for twin boys that were in Sienna’s nursery class.Their party was at the Children’s Museum of Staten Island.

These were made for swaps. My partner loves daisies. The left one was made using rub ons and the right was using a die cut flower although it’s hard to tell from the photo.

Another swap also using die cut flower.

Felt flower brooches using one of my favorite Sizzix dies.

Made this shirt for Sienna for team day at her nursery school using glitter heat transfer vinyl. She’s only wore it once. I don’t know why Yves doesn’t push her to wear it more often! HA!

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I’ve been creating! I’ve been creating! I just haven’t been good about posting them up in a timely manner so while I am on vacation (Myrtle Beach, SC) I thought I would catch up a little. Here is what I have made in April!

These were for the altered bottlecap pendant. You were only required to make 1 but I was inspired and made my partner 2. The top one was used with some aluminum roses and an old finding from a grab bag of vintage items I got from a flea market ages ago. The bottom one I painted a blue flower white and used alcohol ink to color it but when I diamond glazed it, it lightened the color but it totally works! The L was made using faux enamel.

These items were made for a different kind of Easter basket for the Zombies, Aliens, Monsters, Vampires and Robots group. Bela and Frank are rubber stamps that I stamped on glitter and glued on a Tim Holtz fragment. The stuffie is obviously a vampire rabbit. I wanted to show the back because I also made the tail. I finally used my Clover pom pom maker!
I think these were made for an Easter lucky parcel, I can’t remember! I printed out the Easter vintage tags and used my Silhouette to cut them out. I made 2 magnets with a Tim Holtz fragment and a bottlecap.

These were made for part of a Mother’s Day mini lucky parcel. One of my partners favorites is the Addams Family. I saw Morticia and Gomez earrings on her Etsy favs so used that for inspiration for the top one (bad photo!). I bought the tv bezels a while ago and finally had an opportunity to use it!

I signed up for a swap NOT on swap-bot! {gasp!} It was a crafty peep swap on Strumpet’s craft blog. My partner likes flowers and bright colors so I ran with that! For the card, I used my Silhouette to cut out the flower. The felt flowers (Sizzix die that gets used a lot!) as magnets and an A heart pendant. I also made her these following 2 pendants but will talk about it below.

I discovered this new technique on Lisa Pavelka’s website and wanted to give it a go so these 2 were actually “testers” which turned out to be my favorites over the other ones below. I especially love how the glitter came out in the moon burst zipper pull probably because I was just being free with it.

The glitter really sparkles but I took a bad photo of this. This was the main pendant I made for my partner and funny enough, my least favorite. I had to put a lot of layers on this and I still wasn’t completely happy. Oh well, at least my partner got the other pendants and felt magnets.

Using the same technique, I made this for my MIL for Mother’s Day.

I made this one because I like the graphic. I still have it so may just keep it for myself.

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I joined a stuffed mini book swap last month and it was so much fun! Basically, it’s a 3×3 book you make out of a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper and makes 3 pockets to put things in. I really put a lot of work into it and I believe my partner enjoyed it. Her profile said she likes flowers so I kinda ran with that theme!

All Tied Up. I glittered a chipboard frame for the front

Pretty Thick book!

Front and Back covers with a made with love charm

White embossed the flowers and painted it with twinkling H20s (sadly the photo doesn’t really show the shimmer)

Used some glittery stickers and glued a fragment on top of a Georgia O’Keefe flower I printed and stamped cherish

My favorite spread! I used the nine fold explosion and used floral wire to put the flower in the middle. I really like how it came out! The flower was actually sent in my mini book from my partner!

I used copper embossing powder for this stamp and used distree stains to color in the flowers

Another flower pop up that was so fun and easy to make!

Final spread. Had to use my silhouette at some point! I used pop up dots for the flower.

The stuff I included in the pockets. Some paper flowers, metal flowers and the links on how to make the 2 pop ups.

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Here’s the completed box that you can see Sienna start painting here. Yves requested a box with a Spider Man theme to put his watches in. I could only find this wooden box with a mirror on top at the craft store so I thought putting a web on top would be cool. I used my Silhouette to cut the vinyl. I attempted to use the transfer tape but it actually made it harder!

Here’s the thank you card I made for Stan for sending Sienna the Wonder Woman doll and Green Goblin that made her so happy, as you can see here. I should have thought to take a photo of the writing Sienna did inside the card. I told her to write I love my Wonder Woman doll, love Sienna. It was all over the place so I also wrote in a translation. LOL

Some cards I made at a Stamping Meetup based on alcohol inks:

The butterflies were made with soda cans cut with a Sizzix die and the circle in the last card is a CD.

Some recent swaps:

This was for the silly greeting a flat item swap. My flat item was the mustache on a stick so I made the card for Something on a stick day (which was March 28th)

I carved this owl stamp copied from a certain popular stamp company catalog. I don’t remember what I made it for! I think it was for a group forum Winner Takes All.

For the Handmade keychain swap.

For the card wallet swap. My partner likes the V monogram so I used my Sizzix to cut out the letter. I also made her some swap cards and put them in.

For the pendant swap in the Zombies, Aliens, Vampires, Monsters and Robots group.

A pendant I stamped, which was partly for the Spring Lucky Parcel swap

These 2 were part of the Eggy Spring Swap with a twist. The twist is that you have to put 6 little treats in eggs or egg shaped. I ended up making felt egg pockets. We got 2 partners so there is one for each. The top are felt brooches and the bottom are upcycled baby food bottle caps turned magnets.

This was for the Woodland Creature with a Moustache swap. I also made the little pom pom tail.

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This embroidery was made for the Profile Stitch swap for cobalt gypsy

Mug Rug swap for zigg13pra, who is a GS volunteer.

Sienna went to a birthday party in early March for Olivia and I made her this shirt. Funny and cute photos of the party can be seen on here!

I have been getting Sienna into more crafts! The first photo she is coloring Princess shrinky dinks from a kit I got at the craft store (plan to make my own next time!). The 2nd photo she is helping me paint a box for Yves to keep his watches in. That one is still a WIP because we have to put Spider-Man stickers on it.

I’m happy that Sienna likes Super Heroes as much as Princesses so I made her this Wonder Woman paper doll cut with my Silhouette

And that was before she got a real Wonder Woman doll and Green Goblin (or Gobalin as Sienna says it) from my former boss at Mada Design! How I love Facebook!

Sienna’s school had a Wacky Tacky day. Wear the wackiest outfit for a chance to win a free lunch (although Sienna doesn’t eat lunch at school!). So I sewed together 3 different parts of 3 different shirts that Sienna pretty much outgrew. I wanted to take a couple of photos and she totally went into pose mode. I posted the above photo and 4 others here. She is such a crack up. I did not give her any direction whatsoever! All these poses were done on her own and within 5 minutes!

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I participated in Thing a day again this past February. I didn’t post much about it on this blog but if you click on the logo, it will bring you to my flickr set of thing a days. Each photo has a link to the posterous blog for further details about the project.

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I’ve run out of “clever” blog titles so just using the timeline for now!

This was for a Valentine Earring swap. Once I read my partner’s profile, this design came to mind. I searched for the right image via Google and finally found this. I did the auto trace with my Silhouette machine and made a couple of tweaks with the design. I did a little back and forth with the initials but liked how it ended up. This one is the most intricate design so far with the layered paper. My first one was so simple! The second one was a little more detailed. There were a few minor details that I wasn’t very happy with but overall I think it came out nice. I also made my partner an extra pair since I wasn’t sure how well the other would hold up.

I actually made these as the original 2nd pair to send my partner but because I am not very good at wire wrapping, the force I was using to wire wrap was weakening the loop of the heart (which is wooden) so it was starting to chip off. I didn’t think they would last so I kept it for myself and as predicted one fell off when I wore them yesterday for Valentine’s day.


Made for the Wacky Holiday/February swap. These handmade catnip mice were for Be Nice to Your Pet day.
The following cards were for the same swap and made for the Send a Card to a Friend day. I used my Sizzix and some embossing folders and made a “faux” letterpress. A bit messy but I really liked how they came out! These were done with Cuttlebug folders and I also did some with Sizzix folders (which were not for a swap and I did not take a photo of them!) I prefer doing this technique with the Sizzix as they emboss deeper. This was a lot of fun!

I decided to use the non faux letterpress side since it got a little sloppy.

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