the four one one

There are 42 million reasons why I love all of you, why I read about all of you, why I incessantly talk about all of you to people who do not know you. Most of those reasons are found in last Thursday’s comments. You absolutely rock my world.

Folks, a little crafting for you today. My little arthritic fingers have been busy over here… staying up late, watching Law and Order, buzzing away on some custom orders and new ideas. May I share?

In the middle of my insanity last week, I popped in City Knitting and bought two pair of circular knitting needles. But, not just any needles. Addi Turbo needles. Sometimes… ok, all the time… good tools make all the difference, right Jim?

I’ve been working on a canvas for a sweet lady in North Carolina, whose accent is simply charming. These canvases are 16×20 and flat, so they fit in picture frames nicely. Each scene is hand-cut from my fabric stash (Do those patterns look familiar, Sunday?). I fill in the ’sky’ area with quotes and Scripture and messages from friends and family. I have really fun art pens for that part. (Miss Chris, I know you’d appreciate them.) This is the third canvas I’ve made. It’s the closest I come to drawing and designing free-hand, and I love that.

Celebration banners! These are prolly my favorite thing to make, though they are the most labor intensive. I love picking out the flag fabrics, cutting out their names, making the tape, thinking of the party when it will hang above a happy kiddo. I still have 4 of these to go, with a self-imposed deadline of August 1st.

And, I made a stamp! Why not? I’ve been working on a logo for awhile now, and finally came up with something I love. It says ‘TexasNorth KatieKate’ around the outside and ‘I made this for you.’ on the inside. I wanted it to look like an old passport stamp… typewriter font and round. This stamp will be used on packages, on cards, and on fabric as a label. You can make anything these days! Thank you, Microsoft Publisher.

And finally, a project for you: Freezer Paper Stenciling! Now, this has been around, um, forever… but I know some of you are new to the craft world, so I’ll put my version out there. It’s the easiest craft I know of. For a girl like me, who never got to Bedazzle anything, it’s heaven. You need: a razor blade, a cutting board, freezer paper (found right next to the aluminum foil in grocery store), some fabric paint, a little paintbrush or sponge, and your computer.

First, find a silhouette you love… think simple here: black and white, clear lines, etc. (Remember that photos, patterns, and fabrics are copyrighted. Don’t plan on selling anything you make unless it’s public domain art. If you find something you love, like this fairy by Karl Johnson, it’s proper to ask the artist before you save it to your computer… even for personal use. Be good.)

Now, transfer that photo or clip art to a Word document and adjust the size to whatever you’d like. Take that freezer paper and trim off a piece that’s 8.5 x 11 inches so it fits in your printer just like a regular sheet of paper. Ideally I like to print on the non-waxy side to avoid smudging, but I can never remember which way to put the paper in. Details, you know. Magic! You have your letters or your picture on your freezer paper and now you need to cut it out. Warning: this part is highly addictive. Grab your cutting board and cut out the figure carefully. This little lady was altered to hold a heart instead of a tooth. You’re going to take your cut-out and lay in on the fabric, waxy-side down. Press the paper with your medium-hot iron onto your fabric. This temporarily adheres the freezer paper to you fabric and gives you nice, crisp lines for painting. It’s genius, really. Sponge your paint on, let it dry, and then rip off the freezer paper. Love. It. This is a great project with kids (as long as mom cuts the picture out), or for baby presents, or on bags that need a little sprucing up, or on t-shirts… the possibilities are endless. Jami says if you run an iron over the finished product, your design will last forever. I never doubt Jami.

To recap: print, cut, press, and paint. It’s that easy.
I firmly believe I can finish the laundry today. I shall go.

Love to you all… and happy creating!