Sewing: St Patrick’s Day Pin Cushion

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Christmas and Holidays, DIY & Crafting, Sewing, Textiles, Vintage

Tags

Bunny Boudoir Lamp, charms, Colleen Moody, corsage pins, hand embroidered, LOveBug Creations, millinery flowers, mother of pearl, Otis and Lola, pin cushion, rhinestone button, Rumple Ribbon, sewing, st patricks day craft, vintage, vintage millinery, wool felt

I spent the weekend creating in a class with artist extraordinaire, Colleen Moody. I took her Bunny Boudoir Lamp class and was so entranced with her dolls, her home, her studio and her beautiful bulldogs, Otis and Lola. Colleen is known for her paper clay dolls, but excels at all sorts of other artistic endeavors. One of her creations, a gorgeous pink and white pin cushion, came home with me and inspired me to create one of my own.

I used Lovebug Creations Simply White to create a delicate, vintage-style focal point.

I added a vintage mother of pearl button to the Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon bow.

The four leaf clover on the top of the pin cushion is created from green wool felt, with hand embroidered details, vintage mother of pearl buttons and a vintage rhinestone button in the center.

I added some antique millinery flowers and a piece of tulle.

Next, some beautiful corsage pins.

And a top hat charm and a horse shoe charm for good luck!

Thank you for stopping by to see my project! Have a wonderful week!

xo,

Christine Barker

PS: Stop by later this week to learn more about my class with Colleen Moody and to hear about my adventures in antique stores and the Alameda Flea Market with my friends Kim, Terry, Mariasela, Sylvia and her mom!

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Swap: Precious Hearts Swap

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Christmas and Holidays, DIY & Crafting, Sewing, Swap, Textiles

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

arts and crafts, craft swap, crazy quilt, fabric, flower, Happy Valentines Day, hears, hearts, material, pearls, precious hearts swap, sewing, swap, valentine craft, valentines day, Valentines Day Craft

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you have something special planned for today. I don’t know if it’s the colors, the sentiments, the hearts or all of it together but Valentine’s Day is my absolute favorite holiday!

Today I’m going to show you the beautiful hearts I received in the “Precious Hearts Swap” hosted by my friend, Andrea Villarreal. For this swap we made 13 hearts that were approximately 5″ and we took 12 to Andrea’s house to swap with the other talented ladies. The color palette was to include light/pale pinks, creams, whites and burgundy. The choice of fabrics was up to us and we could include whatever kinds of trims we wanted. As a finishing touch we each put our initials on our hearts so that everyone would know who made which one.

Isn’t this packaging pretty and creative? I love it!

Here they are all together and what a perfect collection they are! All of the colors blend together so beautifully. I can’t decide if I want to make them into a garland or as a wall hanging/art quilt. Decisions, decisions!

Update! I made a garland. Here’s how it looks!

These are the talented girls who were part of this swap:

Andrea Villarreal (Hostess with the Most-ess)

Cheryl Stoneham

Cynthia Flores

Erin Barraza

Julie Weller

Mariasela Vallejo

Sylvia Estrada

Terry Frias

Here are some close ups of my heart. I researched and learned a new technique to make flowers after receiving some gorgeous blooms as a hostess prezzie from Lonnie Jenck. After I told a friend about this technique, she told me about an easier technique to do the same thing. I’ll give it a try and let you know how it works out.

I am completely smitten with these ballet-slipper-pink pearls lately. I find i’ve been using them on all kinds of projects.

I used my fancy embroidery machine to stitch silver thread onto the seams like a crazy quilt, plus I embroidered my initial. So easy!

I’m really happy with the way my hearts turned out. But, next time I’m going to get brave and put more embellishments on them!

Thanks for stopping by! I’ll be sharing one more Valentine project tomorrow so drop by to take a look. Enjoy your Valentine festivities!

xo,

Christine Barker

Sewing: Prairie Chic Apron Featuring Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Sewing, Textiles

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

apron, apron tutorial, battenburg, lace, lace rosette, LOveBug Creations, prairie chic, ribbon, rosette, ruffle, Rumple Ribbon, seam binding, sewing, shabby chic, shabby chic apron, The Creative Connection, unbleached cotton

Hello Friends!

I’m going back to my shabby chic roots for this weeks project featuring Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon. I like to call this look Prairie Chic, since it reminds me of something that Laura might wear if she could choose a pretty apron to wear in her Little House on the Prairie.

I started with a piece of unbleached cotton canvas and ripped off 16″ of fabric. I prefer ripping cotton fabric as opposed to cutting it with scissors because ripping fabric ensures that your seams are completely straight. This apron is about 16 inches high by 20 inches wide. I folded the fabric in half and cut a nice curve at one end.

I laid out my doilies and stitched them into place. Next, I created the ruffle, (leaving one side with a raw edge), and stitched it along the edge of the apron, right on top. Then, I added a piece of crocheted lace trim on top of the ruffle stitching. Finally, I created a waistband sash and added more crocheted lace trim to keep the look cohesive.

In 2010 I went to a very special event in Minnesota called The Creative Connection and got to meet one of my favorite artists, Ruth Rae. Ruth signed a copy of her book, Layered, Tattered & Stitched, for me and I’ve treasured it ever since. I’ve been inspired by her work for a long time now, and from time to time I give free motion stitching a whirl. It’s a little difficult to see but the words I stitched are LOVE, CREATE, IMAGINE.

I created a rosette from some sheer mesh and used Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon to create the center of the flower and added a pretty bow to the sparkling glittered key.

The ribbon that I used is called William. It’s been one of my shabby chic favorites and it’s part of the Oh Cecilia Collection.

This apron is for sale in my Etsy shop. Please come over and check it out along with my other shabby chic and vintage treasures.

And if you haven’t visited the Lovebug Creations shop lately, you’ll want to check out all of the beautiful colors of ribbon, and now mesh, that they offer. From Shabby Chic to bright and vivid, there are many stunning options for you to choose from. If you’d like to give some Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon as a gift, you can also choose a gift certificate and your gift recipient can select their favorite colors!

Thank you so much for joining me for this project. I hope you have a wonderfully creative week!

xo,

Christine Barker

Sewing: Easter Bunny featuring Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Christmas and Holidays, DIY & Crafting, Lovebug Creations, Sewing, Soft Sculpture, Textiles

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bonnet, bunnies, bunny, Cadbury mini eggs, collecting, crafting, Easter, easter basket, easter bonnet, easter bunny from fabric, Easter Parade, embroidery, felt easter basket, fuzzy yellow chicks, LOveBug Creations, making, Mollie Makes, Oh Darling, paris flea market, pearls, plushie, Prima, prima marketing, Prima marketing Inc, rhinestone, Rumple Ribbon, sewing, shabby chic, thrifting, tulle, UK

Hello Crafters!

I have to tell you about one of my favorite magazines. Mollie Makes is one of my most adored resources because it’s filled with wonderful and inspiring pictures of people and projects from the worlds of making, thrifting, collecting and crafting.

All of my dearest pastimes are together in one beautiful publication from the UK!

The most recent issue, No 25, of Mollie Makes has an adorable and easy pattern to make plushie bunnies. My poor sewing machine has been sitting on the craft table, lonely and neglected, so I made this cute Easter Bunny and gave my sewing machine some love.

I embroidered her sweet face and gave her a heart shaped nose. Bunny needed a quick and easy basket to sit in, so I stitched one up for her out of felt.

It’s just not Easter without an alluring Easter bonnet, so I used some pretty Rumple Ribbon from Lovebug Creations. This color is called “Oh Darling” and isn’t that the perfect name? It gives my whimsical lil bunny a wisp of shabby chic style. I added a foof of tulle, a rhinestone and a ring of pearls to a paper flower from Prima and she’s all ready for the Easter Parade!

I adore fuzzy yellow chicks so they had to find a place nuzzled in with my sweet Easter bunny. The eggs in the white basket remind me of one of my favorite candies, Cadbury Mini Eggs. I’ve been able to get through Easter season (so far) without eating more than one lil bag of these delicious chocolates and I’m patting myself on the back for that!

Ribbon:            Lovebug Creations Rumple Ribbon
Floral Fabric:   “Paris Flea Market” by 3 Sisters for Moda
Brown Felt:      JoAnn Fabrics
Paper Flower: Prima
Yellow Chickies and Basket with eggs: Michaels

Thank you for joining me here on Scarlet Calliope and please leave some love in the comments! Come back for my next update to read all about my adventures at Glitterfest. My niece and nephew were visiting from Prescott, AZ, so I’m a little behind in my blogging, but they were soooo worth it!

xo,

Christine Barker

Field Trip: CHA Winter 2013, Part One

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

a place to bark, arlene baker, art, artist, be aware foundation, cha, cha winter 2013, charity wings, claudine hellmuth, craft, craft and hobby association, craft designer, crafter, elaine hull, Elena Lai Echeverry, embroidery, fiber, french general, glitter, graphic 45, jenn mason, jo packham, kaari meng, laura mccollough, mixed-media, quilting, ranger, scrapbook, scrapbooking, sewing, suze weinberg, suzi blu

I was really hoping to go to the Craft and Hobby Association 2013 Winter Conference and Trade show (CHA) this year. As a major art and crafting fiend, it’s marvelous to see all of the new products that the craft and hobby manufacturers are creating before they’re available in stores. I wanted to be a part of it so much that I put an offer on my Facebook page that I would be a slave at CHA in exchange for a badge. I was willing to build a booth, promote products, do a demonstration, lead a make and take, whatever it took to get me to Anaheim so that I could be a part of the Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Trade Show.

The last time I went to CHA I did product demonstrations and before that I had experience doing everything from building the booth, meeting manufacturers for advertising in a publication, promoting product and tearing down and packing up the booth. I was really hoping that someone would hit me up and tell me that I was going and I was infinitely disappointed when I didn’t get any bites. Imagine my delight when I saw that Elena Lai Echeverry of Charity Wings posted on her Facebook page Monday morning that she needed a couple of volunteers to help out in the Charity Wings booth and was there anyone available to help? I jumped on it immediately and enthusiastically, like a girl with new glitter kind of excited, and sent her a message. I was so truly happy when she called and asked me to come up and help. You’ve never seen a girl get dressed so fast!

It was so exciting to walk through the hall and see all of the vendors new products on display. I love to see the new scrapbooking papers, stamps, embellishments, as well as new products from the sewing, quilting and embroidery companies. There is really something for every type of artist, crafter, and hobbyist, from scrapbookers to mixed-media artists, and from model builders to fiber artists.

After I got familiarized with the details on Charity Wings I got to share their mission with the CHA attendees. Charity Wings is a non profit organization that hosts and sponsors scrapbooking crops, online raffles, mixed media events and fairy fly by appearances. From their Facebook Page, “Charity Wings is a 100% volunteer run organization whose mission is to raise money and awareness for noble causes through unique scrapbooking and crafting events and to coordinate and promote “creative” opportunities for crafters to give. We raise money for the worthy causes we support.” These causes include “A Place to Bark” no kill shelter, Hurricane Sandy Victims, the Be Aware Foundation and many others.

I had so much fun being in the booth! I got to see people I’ve met through the years, meet the owners of scrapbooking stores, chat with art and craft designers, and giggle with my friends who work in the art and crafting industry. People who came by the booth included Jo Packham, Jenn Mason, Suze Weinberg, Arlene Baker, Laura McCollough, and Kaari Meng. Artist Suzi Blu worked in the booth on Saturday and Sunday painting “Live” and stopped by on Monday to drop off her finished work of mixed-media art.

During my lunch break I ran from booth to booth quickly snapping pics of some of my favorite new products. Among my best loved companies is Graphic 45. I always love their unique and amazing designs! I also stopped by to see Claudine Hellmuth doing a demonstration in the Ranger booth. Another of my favorite lines of products is from Tim Holtz for Ranger, I can’t get enough of the Steampunk/Cabinet of Curiosities theme! One of the highlights was meeting designer Elaine Hull for the first time. We’ve been friends on Facebook for a little bit and it’s always fun to meet people in person after you’ve had a conversation online!

Here are some of the snapshots I took. I’ll be posting more photos that I took on my second day of CHA so come back to check those out. I’m also going to be posting pics and talking about my experience at an event I went to over the weekend. The Art of Craft is held at one of the most special places on earth, French General, in Los Angeles. Kaari Meng is an incredible event organizer and I met some really talented and genuinely nice women. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

In the meantime, enjoy these pics that I took at CHA.