Craftyminx

Wedding Wednesday... already!?!

I have slacked this week guys. I attended a funeral yesterday that has left me out of sorts. I have nothing for you... nada. Ok well maybe I'll add some pretty photos I have been collecting on my computer for inspiration. But I have to say that these pictures don't have links to where I found them, because I wasn't planning on sharing them (blogger fail) but I'm sure most of them are from the style me pretty or Once Wed blogs.

I decided to pretty these up even more with some Kitschy Digitals items-
Frame: KD Fabric Covered button kit
Flowers:KD Vintage Stacked Flowers

I do know that the necklace in the bottom left hand corner is from the erin keys etsy shop because I bought it. It is perrrfect!!! And just as beautiful as it looks in the picture.

Happy Wednesday! Sorry to suck it up as a blogger today.

Mini Tutorial

Well my test went pretty well... at least I think. I don't find out anything until the 2nd so I have to nervously await my score all week. I have lots of crafting and homework assignments to keep me busy though. 

I originally wanted to share some pictures of my process of stitching on the vintage camera bag, but I didn't take pictures and didn't have time to work on a tutorial before the test. So when Danielle asked me about the process this morning I knew I had to share the process that I described in the camera bag post. 

Here's what you need:

A pattern, it's good to start out with something simple, for this tutorial I used the extra heart pattern that comes with the Kawaii Cute Vintage Camera pattern. 
A stick pin. I used a t-pin because they are more sturdy.
Embroidery thread, tapestry needle (I used size 26), and a rubber finger to help with stitching
Optional: an ultra fine sharpie. This is for more detailed patterns. 

First, place your pattern, right side up on the bag. I haven't found a tape that won't rip the vinyl from the bag, but if you know of any you might want to tape the pattern down so it doesn't shift while you are poking the pattern into the bag. I just held the pattern in place.

Next, take your pin and poke a long the pattern lines. Make sure the pattern doesn't shift during this process. I try to make the holes the same distance that I would want to stitch because I use these holes for my embroidery needle later. 

Here's what it looks like after all the holes are poked:

If you are doing a more detailed pattern, like the camera, you will want to play connect the dots with a ultra fine sharpie so you can see the lines better as you are stitching.

Finally, thread your tapestry needle and stitch the pattern. 

And you're finished!

I hope that helps any of you that might want to try stitching on such a material. :)

Wedding Wednesday - Memories

This is a mini post. I have my Masters comprehensive exam on Friday morning and I'll be out of internet commission until Saturday. This test determines whether I graduate or not, so I'm kind of freaking out!

Dear readers, please tell me the most memorable moment from your own wedding or the best wedding you ever attended. 

Mine was from this summer. I went to a wedding with Sheldon and his family where the groom surprised the bride with a helicopter ride to the airport for their honeymoon. It was pretty dang sweet. Also, he took her there by a wheelbarrow ride. This was in small town Oklahoma btw. 

Ok see you next week :) Send me happy vibes on Friday morning!

The best of both worlds

Vintage and Kawaii... yes please!

 

While thinking of projects for Danielle's patterns, I kept coming back to this vintage camera bag I thrifted a couple of months ago. I've never stitched on anything like it so I knew it would be a challenge. But I knew the vintage kawaii camera patterns would be perfect for this bag so I had to go for it. 

You may notice something about this piece that is unlike a lot of my other pieces... it's kind of wonky and the lines are kind of crooked. This is because there really isn't a good way to transfer a pattern to this kind of bag. Iron on methods will melt it. Since it is a cushioned camera case, transfer paper doesn't work. So I went with the poke method (hold the pattern on the material and poke dots along the lines). The holes that are poked do not go away so you have to be very careful. 

Something else different about this project was that it took me three weeks to stitch! After two weeks of only being able to stitch for 10 minutes at a time, I thought I would never be able to finish. Then my friend Amy told me I should try to use rubber fingers. That is why I love this lady, she knows what she is talking about. 

 These made stitching through the thick fabric easy. I started with two but later realized that I just needed one on my middle finger since that's the one I use to push the needle through the fabric. 

It was worth it all though, because now I have an awesome one-of-a-kind bag!

Did you see the good news?!

If you follow Danielle Thompson's personal blog or the Kitschy Digitals blog, you would have seen her creative team announcement yesterday. And guess what? I'm on it!

In fact, my friend Amy and I are both new members! We'll both be embroidering up cuteness to share from Danielle's designs. We have be brainstorming like crazy so get ready for some great projects!

Embroidery patterns are only a tiny portion of the awesome things Danielle designs. The other new creative team members will be working with her other digital scrapbooking/art tools. I dabble in that realm and I am always amazed at the awesome pages that come from her creative team. Everything they do is inspiring.

Wedding Wednesday - Music

Sheldon and I both love music. The biggest thing I had to accomodate when sheldon moved in was his CD collection. I thought it was crazy that he still bought CDs because I am completely addicted to iTunes. I'm not going to write a lot for this post, I'll let you listen. These are some of my favorite love songs and songs that mean something to us a couple. Think of this as a mini wedding music sampler.  The youtube videos are songs I couldn't find on playlist.com.

Something Cute for your Morning

Wedding wednesday will be posted later today, but I thought I needed to show you all this cute new digital scrapbooking kit that Danielle Thompson from Kitschy Digitals has created and released today.

 
This kit is on sale at Jessica Sprague for $1 today only! All this cuteness for a buck. You can get it here. 

These cameras were previously released as embroidery patterns. Which I love!

Adorable right!? You can find those here.

Have a Happy St. Patricks day and stop by later for a wedding wednesday post... I think we'll talk music today.

Wedding Wednesday - Kids

There comes a point during wedding planning where you have to decide whether or not you want kids at your wedding. For us, it wasn't much of a decision, it was a given. We love the kids in our life and want them to have fun at the party as well. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but our wedding is going to be a huge festival of fun along with a wedding on the side.

Having attended many a church wedding in my life as a child, I know how boring these things can be. It is important for me to think about our young guests as well as the older ones.

 Image from funnyweddingphotos.net

We've discussed having some kind of Children's play area near the reception tent. We haven't nailed down exactly what it will be yet, but we've discussed a moon bounce, water slide or some kind of carnival type game(s). The downside to these things are that they require adult supervision, and we want the parents to be able to have fun and would never want to ask anyone to be kid wrangler for the day.

I like the idea of coloring sheets, or busy bags with toys and crayons, maybe an activity book. That way they can be with everyone else and still amuse themselves.

image from

Jennifer Perkins

 

I also love the idea of having a craft area for the kids maybe involving food (decorate your own cupcake) or something  like that.

 

Something I'm definitely going to have is a kids only dance. We went to a wedding this summer and they didn't have a kids only dance, but it was so hot outside that the kids were the only ones cutting a rug on the dance floor and it was adorable. Sheldon's nieces danced the night away.

 

Any other ideas? Did you do anything at your wedding for the young guests at your wedding? How did you make them feel special?

Wedding Wednesday - Save the Date

If you were following my flickr account around mid January you would have seen this little peek of an embroidery design I was working on.

Well that peek was of a piece I designed (with a little help from the sublime stitching sparrows) and embroidered to be on the front of our save the date postcards. I can show you the full design now that they have been mailed and received by our wonderful invitees.

FYI - ths piece is pretty big. It's probably 11 inches at the widest point. That's how I could get all the small details.

I'm pretty proud of how they turned out. I wanted a handmade touch to our invitations and what not, but there was no way I was going to embroider 150 save the date cards. I think this was the perfect solution.

Thanks to VistaPrint, these were also very economical.