4 New Pictures

This morning I added 5 new pictures to the Farm Girl Vintage Sew along.

Just about finished!  Only two more to go. Looking forward to putting them all together.

Saying Thank You

Last weekend, some of my friends make it possible for me to go to the Great Lakes Scrapbooking Mega Meet held in Novi, MI each year. They arranged for Don's sister to spend the day with him so that I could go. It is always so much fun to see and experience the new things that are on the market.

This was my "thank you" card that I made for my sister-in-law who spent the day with Don. The  two of them had a good time together. It is very similar to the card that I made for my last card class. I sponged a very light oval onto the white card stock (using Primrose Petal ink) which I used as a guide for doing my stamping. I used peg stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry.

"Quilty Fun" -- Mug Rugs

I am having so much fun with these. I purchased this packet of cute sayings all related to "Quilty Fun" from June Tailor, Inc. I don't remember which of my favorite quilt shops had them, but I have three different sets. Each package has 7 printed statements printed on 100% cotton and seven simple mug rug patterns. Each on has a finished size of 8" x 10".

I have

four finished. Hope you love them as much as I do.

Cards From The April 27 Class

April 27 was the last card class for me. After more than two years I have had to make a very difficult decision. It is hard to explain but as Don's Parkinson's Disease progresses, I need to eliminate stress. Several of the ladies had asked about using peg stamps. I have several sets from Rubber Stamp Tapestry and a number of the stick stamps from Stamps By Judith. It had been a long time since I had these stamps out. It was fun having all these stamps out.

The last card was a very simple, elegant sympathy card. I find that these cards are hard to make but it seems like I am needing more and more. The lilies are from the "Loving Memories" set from Our Daily Bread Designs stamped in Smoky Slate ink from Stampin' Up.

A New Tote

One day I had been looking at items on the Missouri Star Quilt Company's web site. I came across this fabric and fell in love with it immediately. It was designed by Deborah Edwards for Northcott Fabrics and called "A Stitch in Time". I ordered  four different pieces. Things were really busy for quite some time so I did not get to work on the bag until I went to our quilt guild's winter retreat in January.

I somewhat followed a pattern that I found on the Moda Bakeshop blog. You can find the pattern by following this link "Husabye Tote Bag". It is a project that I enjoyed making.

If you are interested in purchasing this bag, please email me at sarahdbeans@outlook.com. At this time I can only accept payment by PayPal. The cost of the bag is $40.00 which includes shipping. 20% of this sale will be donated to our Michigan Parkinson's Foundation after shipping costs are deducted.

Easter Wishes

Tomorrow Don and I have a lunch engagement with three other couples we met at Rock Steady Boxing. All four husbands have Parkinsons, at different levels. These three couples bless our us every time we are together.

I wanted to make a special Easter card. I came up with the idea of doing a card-in-a-box. It had been a long time since I made one. The first thing I had to do was find my instructions. It took me almost a full day to create the card. After that everything went a little faster. The three are now finished.

Stamps -- Blessed Easter (Easter Wishes on back panel), Tranquil Tulips, His Grace (John 3:16) and Beautiful Bouquets (Leaves)
Dies -- Cross of Hope Framelits, circle punch and round and scalloped dies
Card Stock -- Rose Red, Old Olive, White and Black
Ink -- Rose Red, Old Olive, Soft Sky and VersaFine Onyx Black

Something Different

There are times when I just need to do something really simple. That's where I have been this week. I spent some time at my sewing machine on s few projects that were quick and easy.

The first one was something I just wanted to try. It was simple and didn't take a lot of time.

I have been making these little tulip blocks. I am not sure what I am going to end up doing with them, but I have been enjoying just making them. I saw a sample of the above block on someone's blog and had to give it a try. My sample is now hanging on the wall in my kitchen. Each of the tulip blocks measures  4 1/2" x 4 1/2". The wall hanging above finished at 8" x 14".

Here is the link to the tutorial that I followed -- Podunk Posy quilt block tutorial

Then yesterday I finished up a couple of "mug rugs". I love making these little placemats. Their size was 8" x 10". This morning I gave a friend one for her birthday. I think the other one is going to be mine.

The printed squares can be found in Inspirational Mug Mats by June Tailor. There are several different sets with each containing about seven printed blocks. I used blocks from two different sets. The first one from "Quilty Fun" and the second one from "Spiritual". I am looking forward to making other mug rugs using the other squares.

Share what you love.

Today's Class

This morning I had the March "Create, Challenge, Encourage" Stamp Class. We had a great time together. These ladies are such an encouragement to me. I was sorry to tell them that the April class will be our last one. I am finding it harder and harder to be creative as my husband's battle with Parkinson's Disease continues. The first card was posted on March 7. Another card needs some extra pictures. So that leaves two.

On this first card, I wanted to highlight the new Sale-A-Bration embossing folder called "Country Floral". This folder is beautiful. A small piece of card stock was embossed and added to a white card base. The accent color used was Lost Lagoon. The sentiment and heart was from the set "Ribbon Of Courage." I sponged on a little ink in order to accent some of the flowers.

I ended up making two samples of the next card. The first one was made using Lost Lagoon ink and card stock. But not wanting to make two cards using the same color I chose the color Sweet Sugarplum.

This is called "RetiForm Technique". It has been around for sometime. You basically section off different  parts of the card stock, sponge on your ink choice and then stamp the images in that section. It might have been better if we had used a darker shade of ink. I still like the cards this way.

I chose two stamps sets "Touches of Texture" and "Painted Seasons". I thought these two sets worked well together.

Added A New Block

I am still working on the blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along which I joined last September. It has been great being a part of this group. I have learned a lot about my sewing and found things that I do right and things that needed improvement. I have also gotten to know other ladies from the Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild here in Jackson, Michigan. Today I have just posted Block # 24. We are now over the halfway mark. I actually have only about twelve blocks left to finish. Yes, I have been sewing ahead.

This block "Kettles On" was not one that I was looking forward to doing. There were so many little pieces, especially for sewing the handle. When finished, I said to myself -- "This was really not so hard."

You can see all the blocks that I have finished by clicking on the tab above, "Farm Girl Vintage".

The sun is shining here is south central Michigan this morning.

I hope it is shining where ever you are today.

Butterfly Gala

My love for butterflies is showing again. I fell in love with the new "Butterfly Gala" stamp set in the 2019 Occasions Catalog from Stampin' Up. I also love the punch that goes with it. Then in the 2019 Sale-a-bration catalog there was beautiful Designer Series Paper that coordinates with the stamp set.

For this card, I embossed the butterfly image on a vellum card stock using white detailed embossing powder. Then to make it pop, I stamped the image on some card stock that's very close to the
Lemon Lime Twist color with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. After adding some dimension to the butterfly images with my fingers, I glued the two pieces together along the center line.

For the center insert, I used the next larger die to cut a piece of white card stock.

Detail list of supplies used--
Card Stock -- Crisp Cantaloupe and Botanical Butterfly DSP
Stamp sets -- Butterfly Gala (with coordinating punch) and Lasting Lily (Sentiment)
Gina Marie Designs dies