Bits of love

Bits of love around the house today...


This garland and a super easy way to make multiples is found at Betz White


There were hearts left over, so rafael had some fun stringing ornaments and putting them around the house.
On the bathroom door...

On the lamp...

On the speaker...

And bits of love on the chair...

Have a good one,
Amanda

wet felted heart soaps and a bit of a how to....

Keep reading, I've added a bit of a tutorial.
Rushing out the door for kid pick up, but wanted to leave you with some eye candy. Actually, wet felted goodness... all the same isn't it?


K, I'm back. I like the rhythm that comes from wet felting. First I needle felt the shape. Then to boil the kettle, take the projects to the sink, getting the tray with window screen on it. I once used bubble wrap, but prefer the non-metal window screen. Pour a bowl of cold water and one of hot water and put them in the sink. I use at least one rubber glove (the kind for washing dishes)so I don't burn my hand with the hot water. ( you only need to learn that lesson once)

With just a dab of soap on my finger tip, I put it on the wool and then drip a bit of hot water from my fingers and pat the soapy part. Rub with my hands for a little and then get it wetter and rub it on the window screen. After the wool starts to take a bit of shape, usually it feels like it's getting bigger, and soapy from the soap, I dunk it in the bowl of cold water to shock it and then back into the hot. A few rounds of that and some rubbing on the screen in between. It really starts to mold to the shape of the soap by now. When I am satisfied, a rinse under the tap finishes it off and a wrap in a towel to absorb some of the water. If you rinse the soap and then squeeze that water out, you get more soapy water. i've learned to just give up trying to wash the soap out and let it be. After all, it is soap. I put it on top of our hot water radiator to dry overnight. I'm always surprised how light the soap is after it's all dry.


This time, I used a glycerin soap by Dial. It is cranberry scented, nice for Valentine's day. I did buy some olive oil soap from Palestine at our church. It is all natural, but I think I'm just going to use it in the shower rather than as a hand soap. It really is lovely.
Oh, yes, I suggest using roving that has not been dyed. The white is natural, I also use grey and put on white embellishment. The pink dye does not run and I'm thinking the light blue will not either. The bold, intense colours that I have do run, so are not suggested for wet felted soap. Unless, you want to see the dye in the water when you wash your hands. Not me.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

hearts hearts hearts

Thursday saw a flurry of heart related activities around here.
Valentines were being written, mama was whipping up some felt bracelets and the Shower curtain was updated.(last week)

Oh, almost forgot, the lady bug note in the top picture is from skip to my lou. Mine has been altered a bit. You still have time to make a few.

For the bracelet, I just cut the felt with my scallop rotary cutter blade to fancy it up and glued a heart on it. For the ties, I crocheted 2 colours of thread and sewed it on each side.

Some of the kids at the parenting centre are always interested in what I'm making, so it was nice to give them something of their own.

And the long shot of the curtain. Yes, there are still snowflakes on it, it is still winter.

And close up. I used stickyback felt stickers from the dollar store, but I punched holes in them instead of sticking them. The stick is VERY sticky. And just sewed them on.


Hope you're having a very heartful weekend.
Amanda

Felt Valentine heart pins

Hello,
carrying on with my felt theme....

Some heart pins for valentine's day. I snapped these pics as i was running out the door. I've given away twice this much already. Some were hair clips, most on pins.

Just a little jolly to brighten up the Feb. blahs. We finally got some snow. yeah! Something for the kids to do outside. Now to find the spray bottles for coloured water snow painting I bought back in December....

thanks for looking,
Amanda

tiny world pin cushion and a heart

Here is the 2nd of my tiny world pin cushions. My 1st can be seen
here

The originals can be seen here on Mimi Kirchner's blog.

Do you like the scallop on my light blue water? It's a scallop blade for the rotary cutter. How cool is that?!! I need to work on the ball. Like, to actually make a ball instead of only half a ball. I noticed that she has more world on top. Hence, the need for a ball.
I'm not very comfotable creating my own yet, so I'm copying various elements from her collection. Aren't they just lovely?


Oh yes, there is another tree, it fell off on my ascent to the attic. Love the little sailboat. And how nice to take a picture in the window on a bright day. No flash. yeah.

Missy moo wanted a heart on her orange purse, so mama obliged. I may make a few of these pins for Valentine's day. easy, quick and fun.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

there you are....

I bought this stamp a few years ago for an anniversary card for my DH. i've used it a bit in various circumstances. Especially love using it with children and parents.
Anyhow, the paper is already die cut, 12x12 hearts. Lovely.

Here it is in Stampin' Up! pomegranate..


Look what I tried...

These are self stick felt hearts from the buck store. i love my embroidery floss these days, so I home-ey-ed them up a bit. Can't wait to try more tomorrow and make something from it. Can you see the button additions?!! Stay tuned.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

crochet hearts

It's snowing like crazy outside! big movie snowflakes. My daughter and I came home after dropping my son off at school and have been playing in my stamp room. All cosy. Now we have to trudge out to pick him up. ack.

I finally got the pattern down for the crochet hearts. I love 'em. So easy to do and I can get one done with minimal interruption!

Another clean layout and no Designer paper! lol
Swiss dot cuddlebug folder and a few pop dots doubled up for height. I'm finding lately that I want my popped up layers pumped up! so that's how I do it. Anyone have a better tip for popping things up higher?

Here is the inside. The Valentine stamp is from Michael's, the swirl is from Garden Whimsy--stampin' up and the heart is from Quickutz.





K, off to pack a lunch and convince my son to stay at the play centre to eat it!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

pop up kisses

Here's a cute little duo. The cards are the mini ones from Stampin' up! I just love this size card. So cute to work with.

The cut outs are from Quickutz and popped up.
Yes, I know it's blotted under the chocolate. I covered up a name so I don't spoil the surprise.


The Kiss me stamp is from a St. Patty's day set.


Thanks for looking,
off to play in my room....

Amanda

Button your heart

Umm, I don't really know what the title means. Just go with it eh??



This card didn't totally go as intended. The heart is a bit of a different shape. I think that's what is throwing it for me. But i like it.
I painted a chipboard heart white, then added buttons using Crystal effects. When I placed it on my confetti white cardstock, I realized that you couldn't see the edges too well. So I used a red marker and went under the buttons on the edge to bring out the shape a bit. I then drew a grey shadow.


I have a few non valentine projects to do. I had a request today for some of my crochet flowers to put on a baby's hat. So I'm happily crocheting and sewing buttons on. I'll take some pics so you'll have something different to look at. lol I learned how to crochet a leaf also. Way cool.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Heart tag

Another clean, simple Velentine card. I'm not able to think in designer paper these days. Loving all my quickutz, cuttlebug and nestabilities dies. know what I don't have though? A Happy valentine stamp. Kind of annoying me. The tag is popped up and the Stampin' Up always stamp is embossed in silver.



Thanks for looking,
Amanda

hugs to you

Another Valentine card. Sorry for the overload, but the ideas keep coming to me. I still have a bunch on hand and a few more in my head. So you'll have to put up with it or look away. :}





Don't feel like puttin much details at the moment. I'm sure you can figure it out. :}

thanks for looking,
Amanda

The Queen of Hearts...

She made some tarts, all on a summer's day...
That children's song comes to mind when I look at this card.


See the sparkle on that baby!!???!!


Still stuck on a brown and pink theme for valentines as it is stuff out on my desk right now. And the spahhkly paper. I wish I could get it in red.


I used the negative pieces from the balloon hearts on the previous post. I paper pierced the brown edges and popped it up. The glitter dots are from Stamping Bella.

This idea was an extra (not one of my 5 thought up in the light of dawn). bonus. I think I have another to try later.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Little birdie calls hello

Wow, lame subject header eh?

I had a great day today! Before I even opened my eyes this a.m., I had 5 valentine card ideas. The worst part was trying to remember them before I got to write them down. And I did, at a greasy sppon in my neighbourhood. no kids, just me, my sketch book and a warm breakfast already cooked for me. And no cleaning up. Doesn't that just sound heavenly? once in a blue moon.

here is the 2nd card I made today from that list:


Balloons are from Quickutz, bird from hero arts. pink polkadot paper from Doodlebugs and the lace ribbon I bought at Stamping Bella. didn't even remember I had it till I went ribbon searching. Score! Everything from the White cardstock up is popped up. Click on photo for larger view. I took a close up, angled shot, but the colours were really off, so I'm not going to show it.

Had a lovely afternoon also. The temps were a warm 4 degrees. You could feel the warmth of the sun. So i prepared a picnic lunch, got the kids dressed in snowpants and we headed to the local park to go sledding. Great time, but the best part was having a picnic in the snow and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. Only regret was not bringing the camera. Oh well, other outings to come, I'm sure.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Kiss me...

Here is another VD card in a funny vein...


Get it? frog prince?!!?! yes? no?


My daughter chose the frog stamp at our LSS trip yesterday and I knew I had to use it for this card. The metal heart is from the buck store, the crown is a punch and the lips are from Quickutz set. I hand wrote the "Kiss me", but then found a stamp in my stash from a St. Patty's day set. I thought I'd use the acrylic for a little somethin' different.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

I'm tweet on you

yeah,title's too cheesy for this card.



I took the kids to the LSS this afternoon. My son had some birthday money he needed to spend and wanted to make some Valentine cards. So off we went. his first choice was hot pink sparkle paper!!! Think he has a few girlfriends in mind?! He made a bunch when he got home. i'll show you another time.

Anyhow, I finished using the gift certificate my sister in law gave me for Christmas and bought the Quickutz trio of birds die. I don't know what it is called at present. The hummingbird on this card is one of them.

The card base is pomegranate from SU as well as the DP- Bella Rose. The heart shaped eye and heart in the corner is from the dollar store. I dragged my hubby there before our movie date night and bought a bunch of bling! I'm sending him to work with Valentine cards galore. Worked well on Mother's day, why not Valentine's? I fake stitched the Dp using paper piercing and a marker. Oh yes, the flower is from QK. I folded it in that shape to make it 3D.

I have a few more VD cards to show you in the next few days. i have many ideas and cards to case, so stay tuned!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

More sibling love

I really liked this picture of the kids, so I decided to make these cards for immediate family for Valentines. Of course, they are not finished, and I still have to get them to the post office. That takes the longest time of all. lol
So if you are family, your surprise is ruined.
No stamping! The card bases are 5.5x5.5 from the Embossed box at Michael's. Prima's are from my LLS and the rhinestone centres are also from Michael's.
I'm too zonked to say anymore than this.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Valentine love

ok, it's between a brother and a sister. Love is the theme today.
These kids are having so much fun lately. It's so nice to see them interact with each other. And for my daughter to initate a lot of the play. They do have a great laugh.

I got the idea for weaving from my friend, Sarah's blog at www. sarahiscrafty.com
The designer paper is from a huge slab one of my customers gave me. I don't know who it's by, but I do know that I had previously bought some of the paper by the sheet from the LSS.
The white heart and love sentiment are chipboard with seafoam EP. This fridge magnet is for daddy's filing cabinet at owrk. Apparently, his office at his previous job only had 1 card made by my son and a mug with their pic on it from when my son was less than 3 months old. So this time, his office wil have many pics of the family.

We are smothered in snow here. I haven't seen so much in the city since the big storm of 99. Good thing we have a part of the driveway to pile it in. But I'm parked on the street and a little snowed in. Haven't even been able to gear up to go to the grocery store. That's bad. DH stops by now and then, so we're not too bad.

alrighty then, look who's been Chatty Cathy. lol
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Always hearts

This layout is the same as the Friday, Jan. 25 entry, but I changed the image. In honour of Valentine's day, I used the hearts. They were embossed in different colours, pink and seafoam. The sentiment was stamped on vellum, then the underside was swiped with white craft ink so that it is more visible.
Love this designer paper, Berry Bliss and the Always stamp set.
Guess it's a short post tonight.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda