Take Note!

I loved having pen pals when I was a kid. Receiving a letter in the mail was a highlight, so I started the tradition with the next generation. 

It's been a while since my older two grandkids and I exchanged letters. Yesterday I remedied that lapse. I made each of them a card with their favorite animals. 

Melody's

Annalee's

Inside I wrote them each a personalized limerick.

Melody's

Annalee's

It's a sweet nothing from Mimi to her favorite Idaho girls.

It's for the Birds

It's Penpal Day at my house. I took some time to write letters to our granddaughters in Idaho. I included a paper bird for each of them.

The last time I saw Melody, she handed me a paper Ziploc bag that was decorated with nature images. She asked me to make something for her from the bag. I made this:

I learned the technique from this video:

For Annalee, I wrote about our Friday Fieldtrip to the Cascades Raptor Center. So I sent her an origami owl.

I learned the technique from this video:

Fly away, fly away, fly away home.

Color My World

August 2nd was National Coloring Book Day. While I was working on my latest wreath craft, Jodie chatted with me and colored this picture:

Later on, I listened to a book and watched TV while coloring my own:

Both images came from this coloring book, Zenscapes:

At the end of July, my two oldest grandkids and I colored this one. 

It was Annalee, our six year old, that insisted on markers. I usually use colored pencils, so this was a nice change. They're very bright and pigmented.

Decisions, Decisions

I'm like the old woman who lives in a shoe.

I had so many children crafts, I didn't know what to do.

All the surfaces in my Studio were cluttered up with partially done projects. So I decided to create a little order today. Layer by layer, project by project, I cleared my work surfaces. I put each project in a pile on my bed. Now I can tackle them one at a time.

These are thrifting finds I bought last week. Some are gifts for my granddaughters. Some is geocache swag. I've washed the fabrics. Now everything needs to be put away. 

This box is a card-making kit. I want to make a bunch and send them out to "my ladies" to let them know they've been on my mind.

Here are a couple pen-pal letters started for my Idaho grandkids.

I've done some measuring, so will cut these boxes to size, line them, and work on my "fat quarter project" wherein I sort my fabric, fold each identically, and organize them in boxes that will fit their shelf. This way, finding an appropriate fabric will be much easier than the current toppling stacks. This project is one of my 25 Goals in 2025.

And, of course, I still need to finish my cross-stitch pillow. I haven't worked out all the math yet.

So ... tomorrow? I tackle the first project tomorrow? 

One small problem: where do I sleep tonight?

Summer of Stars

Summer decorations are going up. I decided to make some new ornaments for our LED entryway tree. Among my stash, I found a dozen white stars. That was my jumping off point.

I need 20 ornaments for the tree, so I made eight more white stars from cardstock. They're a slightly smaller size for variety.

I used foil star stickers for a pop of color. Half the stars have a blue star sticker, half have a red star sticker. All the star have a gold foil star sticker on the back.

As I put them together, I was afraid they might be slightly too large for the tree. But no! Just right!

The entryway is nearly ready for Flag Day and Independence Day now.

The local temperature is telling me Summer is well on the way. As I type, it's 85°. The sun will set at 9:53 pm. Feels like Summer to me!

Bookmark Experiment

Over the last year I made hundreds of bookmarks for the charitable organization I work with. All of them have been made of fabric and ribbon sewn together. I wanted to experiment with bookmarks made of paper and cardstock. I had a vision ... 

I started with scrapbook paper from my stash and coordinating cardstock cut from facial tissue boxes. 

I bought a couple packets of dies to cut into various bookmark shapes. This is what I used to cut the cardstock.

After cutting the scrapbook paper to size, I used embossing folders to add texture to the paper. (Those little hearts are adorable!)

Then I used a specialized paper punch to round the corners of the embossed paper.

I've wanted an excuse to purchase this tool for quite some years. Now I can add grommets to my projects.

I stacked the cardstock and embossed paper, punched a hole, then squeezed in the grommet.

The last step was to add a coordinating ribbon. I have lots of colors to choose from!

My vision came to life!

So far, I've made 16 bookmarks of various sizes. They are fairly time-intensive to make. So though I am extremely pleased with the finished product, I'm not sure this is the most efficient use of my bookmark-making time. I might return to the fabric bookmarks for that organization since they sew up fairly quickly.

Blossom Ornaments

Last week while putting my thrifted craft supplies away, I got inspired to start some new projects. That often happens when I "pet my stash." In a spurt of activity on Wednesday, I prepared a papercraft, two letters, a jigsaw puzzle, and a counted cross-stitch piece. I've finished/mailed the letters, completed the jigsaw puzzle, and created this papercraft. So I guess it's time to blog about them.

Now that I've tucked away the St. Patrick's Day decorations for the year, I'll decorate for Spring for a couple weeks before I add in the Easter decor. Each year I like to add one more handcrafted item to the decorations. I chose to make some new ornaments for our lighted tree in the entryway. Here's what I pulled together:

The base is created with a 1-1/2 inch scalloped hole punch

and this pink parchment cardstock. Fun fact, this cardstock in my stash is left over from the wedding invitations Dale and I made nearly 34 years ago! I keep the good-sized scraps left over from making greeting cards.

It's easiest to place the paper in the punch correctly if I hold the punch upside down.

I decided to make 20 little double-sided ornaments.

I used a 1/8" hole punch for the hanging ribbon.

These paper flowers from Dollar Tree were in my sticker stash. I used four colors in two designs. 

When I went to stick the flowers to the pink bases, I learned that these flowers are not stickers. So I grabbed some pop-dot 2-sided foam adhesives to adhere the pieces together. I put a white flower on one side of the ornaments, and a pink flower on the other.

Those pop-dots give the ornaments an extra 3-D effect.

I pulled these two shades of pink ribbon from my stash. I didn't have enough of the dusty pink narrow ribbon, so I used the brighter pink ribbon on the last four ornaments. I'll admit that tying the knot with these short strands took a bit of patience. But the shorter loops look best on the tree.

A-n-d ... Here they are in place. So sweet.

It's pure joy to craft when the idea in my head comes together simply and easily. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

New Year Cards

Since activities around Christmas fill up the days before the 25th, Dale and I have moved to sending New Year Cards instead of Christmas cards. This year it was a joint venture.

Dale did the math, then made the template the way I envisioned it. We printed it on heavy cardstock.

Then I got busy painting, using a video tutorial I found on Facebook. 

Following the video, I painted ...

and painted. I used three shades of green, red, some gold, and a silver/grey mix. The painting is done with Q-Tip cotton swabs. I ended up making 20 cards.

While I was painting and signing the back of the cards, Dale wrote the poem.

I addressed the envelopes, he helped with the licking of the envelopes (mmmm ... tasty!), adding the return address label I designed, and adhering the Christmas postage stamps.

What a team!

Melody's Stationery Kit

The last time I was with my granddaughter Melody, she was able to read whole books to me. She can even read cursive!

She graduates from first grade soon.

Since she lives so far away and we don't get to see her family very often, I'm hoping to build a one-on-one relationship with her in a new way. Or ... an old way, really.

I was about Melody's age when I started having pen pals. So now that she can read and write, I'm hoping Melody will be pen pals with me! To that end, I made her a personalized Stationery Kit.

We're starting small. The kit has:

• six blank card with envelopes
• two sharp pencils with tip erasers (when I was a kid, I LOVED tip erasers)
• a standard pink eraser
• six Sesame Street character Forever postage stamps
• a sample of how to address an envelope
• an envelope that's pre-addressed
• a sample of how to write a letter ... where to put the date, a salutation, the body, the sign-off, a signature
• a short letter I wrote to her with all those elements
• and a full sheet of personalized return address labels

Please note the Kittycorn!

I loved sending letters to my grandma and receiving them in return. I lived in southern California; Grandma lived in Pennsylvania. We got to see each other even less often than Melody and I spend time together. Grandma's letters always began:

"Just a few lines to let you know that we are well and hoping to hear the same from you."

I hope Melody and I can grow some fond memories through the written word together, too. 

Paper Easter Baskets

Here's one of those crafty things I've been meaning to try for over a decade. Seriously. This very easy, finish-eight-of-them-in-under-an-hour papercraft was first introduced to me by my friend Mary in 2011. As part of my 24 Goals in 2024, I was determined to do it this year.

(I was determined to do it LAST year, too. Yet all the bits and bobs sat in a plastic container in my Studio for an entire year. Best laid plans. Oh, well. They're done now!)

Mary does a great job with her tutorial, so I'm not going to reiterate how it's done. Here are the supplies I used:

• 12" x 12" pieces of watercolor-print scrapbook paper
• a cutting tool
• a score board
• a rounded corner paper punch
• a 1/8" hole punch
• colorful tiny brads

I cut my 12" paper into four 6" squares, so made four baskets from each piece. I made a total of eight baskets.

The finished size is about 3" across. 

Dale printed our names on the sides. I filled them with Easter tinsel grass, three sugar cookies, and some pastel-colored M & Ms. We used them as party favors on the Easter dinner table to mark where each person was to sit.