pamgarrison

a change of plans

 

Remember the scraps from a few posts ago (that many of you were kind enough to give feedback on, thank you for that) ? Well, after playing around with them for a bit, I ended up going a different route. (if you follow me on instagram you already know about this change of plans and if you commented there, thank you, too)

I took the scraps and appliquéd them onto an old piece of fabric that has faded remnants of a cross stitch pattern. You can see it in blue if you look closely:

I love the idea of using up all the bits and scraps and remants of crafts gone by.

Still love the scraps together:

You can see, I didn't worry too much about clean or hidden sewing ;).

I simply laid it out, then pinned and machine stitched away. Here they are in the planning stage:

Unfortunately, I didn't look at this photo before stitching, because I prefer the E this way above to the taller one I created when sewing different pieces on...but of course, it doesn't really matter.

After stitching the letters onto the front piece of fabric, I sewed on a label that I rediscovered recently onto the back piece. I ordered them years ago from namemaker.com .I remember being disappointed that the labels were broken up, and not one continuous ribbon, but the single is perfect for this type of project.

Once the front and back pieces were done, I sewed the three sides together and inserted a down pillow purchased at IKEA. Then I simply slip-stitched the 4th edge closed by hand. Super easy pillow, but love that there is not another one exactly like it anywhere!

washi tape love

 

I'm sure I've shared with you before my love for washi tape, and really, colored tape of all kinds while we're at it. I've collected quite a lot over the past few years (I have bought online from Freckled Fawn and Cute Tape before, and in person at Michael's and anywhere else I've come across it. I even bought the kids' colored tape from Target. As I was looking for links for you, I stumbled across this which I might need to get, darn it, and this, which I am getting for sure. As far as art supplies goes, it's a pretty inexpensive item with a lot of bang for the buck. I store mine in something similar to this, (I can't find the exact item) and it makes it really easy to see what I have and easy to access it too. 

I started making a bunch of striped journaling and weekly date cards for my project life album that I'm keeping. I used these cards for a base for the most part.

For this one I covered an old date journal card that I had, that's why you can see through to a design under a couple of the stripes. That doesn't bother me though.

I had used all patterened tape before, but then started loving the solids.

For the card pictured above, I used my little dream machine to cut out the oh yes on scrapbook paper and then did stripes of washi behind it.

I find the washi cards easy to help tie in colors on a weekly spread. For example, my printer was acting up, so the photos came out with pink and purple hues. I added in a digital card from here, and decided to use the washi tape to make some cards that would match, as purple is not a standard supply color for me.

It's a fun way to choose your colors. I took the photos above just to show the difference adding or changing one color makes in a color palette. 

 

I started making diagonal cards, and then used the triangles cut from the edge to make cards themselves. You know me and my love for scraps of all kinds...

I used some Project Life arrow stickers here, as well as an old card that I covered in washi tape trying to make my own chevron design.

Oh washi tape, I love you!

Have a favorite source for wahi tape that you'd care to share? Tell us in the comments.

More washi tape love on my instagram  ( pamgarrison is my user name).

project life • week 10

 

Project Life week 10, March 4-10.

As you can see in the photo above, I chose to use a calendar card with the days of the week highlighted instead of a header card, just because the calendar card was already there from use on the other side.

I really enjoy working on this project when I allow myself the time to do it. Still developing a method that works for me.

I really love that I've got my daughter and husband thinking about taking photos to use. (My son doesn't have a phone yet, but when his 14th b'day rolls around we plan to get him one, I'm hoping he'll start taking some pictures too.)

I take a lot of screen shots of my phone (on an iphone you hold down the top on/off button at the same time as the home/circle button to do a screen shot) when my daughter send me snapchats like this one:

or texts (top row pictured).  The bottom row pic was one she texted and I just saved it to my camera roll. This project would be so much harder for me without cell phones, but I definitely use my DSLR too during the week, so my Project Life spreads have both in them. 

And another week documented! Feeling really good about that. Ready to try to catch up on weeks 11 and 12 (before 13 is over!).

quilting update

 

I've been working on all the quilts I showed you before in fits and starts over here since that post. Thought I'd share a little update. Above, you can see a shot of my latest obsession, stitching all the itty bitty pieces that have been cut off edges or scraps from who knows what. Some of these are super tiny, (like 1cm x 2cm), some bigger. I'm just finding shapes and colors and patterns that I find are pleasing together, either becuase they clash perfectly, or compliment each other, and then machine stitch them together. Seeing them grow is quite satisfying. I have always been a lover of scraps, be it paper, fabric, whatever. Hate to see anything go to waste, and love the challenge and the resulting organic nature of what's created, since it certainly wasn't the plan from the outset.

It's really fun to iron these patched toether pieces too, they clean up nicely ;).

Can you see how tiny some of the pieces are? So fun to see them all crammed together willy nilly.

Here's what I've got so far:

I laid them all out and thought about making them all (or most) a similar size and then adding a white edge to them all for similar sized quilt squares, (yes, I've added yet another quilt in progress to the mix with the addition of this new one - that makes four) but after I placed them all close together, I really am not sure which way I like best:

Feel free to chime in if you have a strong opinion. Not sure where it'll end up, but I'm sure I'll love it when it's done! How could I not love a quilt made from orphaned scraps, right?

Stay tuned for progress updates and decisions made...you'll likely know as soon as I do!

 

a little more garden love

 

For some reason this spring is making more happy than any other I can remember. For those of you in colder climates waiting for Spring...hang in there...this is right around the corner for you too!

some recent art journaling in progress

 

{cute hand carved stamps by amy hanna}

march 17

 

This Irish gal found a little green that lives on our counter and thought I'd try to mix it with my developing PS skills (thanks to Sarah's patient tutelage) to wish you and yours a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ed: I don't know what's gone wrong, but it appears that sometimes the photo is all black for some reason. If that's what you see, click on it and the photo should appear in it's proper light/color.

project life • week 9

 

Week 9, February 25- March 3, 2013

This week I added an insert pocket for a super awesome letter our daughter sent us.

I put the envelope in a page protector to determine size, cut the excess off and put washi tape on the edge to hold it in place.

Love that this project gives me a place to keep the letter someplace where we'll see it again and among photos of exactly what was going on at the time.

in & out today

 

 

Souvenir Spring issue

 

Heather's been working hard to bring you another great issue of ideas and eye candy available now here.

(And good news for those of you that order yours in a print version, Mag cloud is running a sale now thru the 17th, $7.00 off your print copy price.)

Here are a couple teasers:

Bring on Spring!!!

project life • week 8

 

Project Life week 8, February 18-24

See that picture bottom left? That's the biggest reason I'm doing this project, to have our lives documented for my kids. Only 8 weeks in, and he's looking at it! Love.

I've really appreciated technology even more since taking this on, because it makes it so easy to get photos and texts from my daughter capturing her life at college, and it makes me realize how easy it is for us to stay in contact vs. what it would be like without the benefit of today's inventions.

But I won't even pretend that having a reason to play with fun papers and flair ( like the Studio Calico items above)  aren't another reason I am enjoying this project so.

I wrote on the photo Sunday Morning with an app called Over that I like a lot.

This week was pretty standard. I used a cut up piece from my Paper Source calendar for the week date card. And since I was cutting into it, I used the month and glued it onto the Scrapbook dividers to break up the months in my album.Of course, I'll have to wait until after each month is over and I've torn the used calendar sheet off the wall to put them in the album, but that doesn't really matter.

Other than that, it was business as usual. Still happy to be doing it, and onto week 9!

i am not a quilter

I don't consider myself a quilter, (I think of quilters as artists that follow patterns and have studied and learned the art of quiltmaking and therefore know what they're doing), but I have made some quilts none the less.  Above are two quilts that I have made- one a simple square patchwork I made for my family to use and my daughter to inherit, made before my son was even born, and the bottom one is that Big Crazy Summer Journal Quilt I took on a year or two ago now. 

When my son was born I made him a baby quilt made of patchwork squares and alphabet letters. I went looking for it today, but couldn't find it anywhere. (It's somewhere, I'll find tucked away safely one day.) All my friends that had children at the time recieved the alphabet baby quilts too. It was back before I had gone digital, so I don't have any of those photos readily available either.

Recently, my firend Charlotte gifted me with her second fabric line and I wanted to make her something out of it. What started as a small pillow or journal cover has turned into a little blanket, or lap quilt. I ordered more of her fabric and grabbed what I had left of her first line and began a crazy quilt of sorts. I'm still working on it (shown above), but will show it here for sure when done.

Anyway...while I was working on that quilt, I started thinking about the quilt I had started long ago, intending it to be another family quilt used regularly by all so that my son will have a quilt from his childhood too. Out it came and I finished piecing the top last night. I'm going to batch quilt I think- do the stages- top, binding, quilting etc. at the same time vs. one all the way through. I plan on showing finsihed photos of it too, when done.

But late one night, while playing with the pretty fabrics, an idea came to me and in order to be able to move on from obsessed with the idea, I pursued it. I kept picturing a white quilt with pinwheels scattered on it. By starting some pinwheels, I felt like I could then get that "I can't wait to try this idea" out of the way and finish up the other quilts. But then again, Maybe I should finish this top and batch all three. :)

Yes, I'm a crazy person.

But you already knew that by now.

All this play at quilting has really got me more interested in it than ever. Currently, I just muddle through and try to figure things out as I go along, but I'm feeling a desire to learn more, understand more. Last night on my instagram feed I showed a picture of my completed top for my son's quilt, and when someone asked for a good starting quilting how to book, Jemellia suggested this one. Maybe I'll start there...

 

italy in the works

 

As I've mentioned before, Amy and I are co-teaching for a week in Italy, September 2014. The class info will be available soon...we've just got to finish up all our samples first! Which is what the sneak peek is above, one little part of the class.

And another part...

Look how beautiful this marbled paper is from Italy! I could stare and stare at it. One excursion over the week will be to a paper shop to see this beautiful marbeling in action. (I'm saving my pennies already!)

Like I said, first to finish up...more very soon! The more we work on the class, the more excited we get for the trip, it's going to be fantastic!! Hope some of you will be able to join us, if you think you might, save the date: September 28- October 4, 2014!

flea market finds

 

I went to the flea market this past Sunday. Thought you might like to see what I bought, since I love seeing flea market finds myself.

The best thing I bought was a giant easel for $40.00, but I don't have a picture of that yet, still in the garage needing a better scrub down than the quick one I gave it Sunday. I'll show you that soon. Here's the rest:

A #2 for $2.00. It's already in the cubby full of random bits and bobs in the office.

A silver metal tray, $2.00, for a million uses, I'm forever trying to corrall things like dip pens and inks in use, bits of paper etc. It'll be used all the time on whatever my current project is, I'm sure.

All those paper bobbins. The truth is, this was probably my "mistake" purchase..you know, the one you shouldn't have made. It was $10.00 for all, and honestly, they ended up being not as pretty as I expected. Usually, it's the opposite, once you get the item out of the filthy bag they were stored in they look better, but the colors were not quite what they looked like to me in the dirty bag and bright sunlight. I've still got an idea for them, so they'll get used, just certainly didn't need them.

Some of my favorite finds of the day, items with patina and utilitarian usage.

An old awl which I'll use all the time for bookbinding $3.00.

A chandelier cage (?) which I'll use to hang a lightbulb somewhere needed. Pricy at $6.00 but worth it I think.

The round wood thing on the bottom of the picture, $3.00, not sure what it was, I plan to use that in the ceiling of my office to hide the hook that I am hanging a light cord from...it'll make more sense when it's done and I take a photo.

The metal tool tray (love it so much) $25.00. It'll get used a thousand ways as well, from carrying food, silverware,napkins, salt & pepper, etc. to meals outside, to art supplies, to plants.

The two metal drawers, 2 for $10.00. I think these will be perfect for Project Life journal cards.

Shown in the very top photo, a grey blue two drawer metal file, $10.00- again, art storage.

An old crystal knob, $3.00.

Vintage velvet jewelry box (another non need, but it's sooo pretty and I collect a few special ones) $10.00.

An old doll shoe, piece of cross-stitch, sequins, buttons (part of more seen below), safety pin, crystal push pin$9.00.

And my favortie find of the day, these pink vintage ice cream containers for $5.00.They'll get used a ton too, (but never for ice cream!).

And that was it, nothing thrilling, but a fun day searching none the less. I so love flea marketing. Some would say too much. ;) (Occasionally, I don't listen to them.)

spring on the way

I woke up the other morning and it was warm and sunny and felt like Spring. This view of the sun streaming in made me head outside:

I just love Spring and it's warm (but not hot) weather.

The first signs of spring:

blossoms on fruit trees. {This is a dwarf plum.}

I've been wanting a dwarf kumkwat tree for years, and was thrilled when I popped into Home Depot garden section and found them.

I bought two.

It was so warm out, I brought out the outdoor cushions too. Everything just looks prettier in the light of spring. Loved the light on this blue chair and the mix of green, rust, blue and that one little yellow leaf under the chair:

Noticed this notch on the tree for the first time, almost looks like someone was carving a heart...

I guess I got a little overzealous in my Spring Fever planning, because the weather calls for rain this week. I'll have to cover the cushions again, and exercise a little more patience. If I'm ready for Spring, I assume those that live where the winter has been rough must really be ready! Shouldn't be too long now for all of us....

project life • week 7

 

Week 7, February 11-17

This was my favorite week so far. Probably because of all the fun Valentine's Day themed fodder, as well as lots of photos to choose from when I sat down to print.

I'm such a sucker for packaging, it's nice to have somewhere to put it when I come across it. The "sending you my love" postcard was sent to me in the mail, but it's a Rifle Paper Co product (love everything they make!).  The plastic heart frame around my husband and me, as well as the "Be Mine" under my son was from a Target sticker package, the Spread The Love card was included in an etsy order I placed with them. The clear, colored hearts was cut from a Target bag I received with something. Most everything else is either handmade or from Studio Calico Project Life kit.

Almost 2 months down...that's crazy! So happy I decided to do this project and document our year. Onto week 8 I go...