Sewing with my Gals: Stuffies

My daughters had two days off of school this week, so we took one morning and made stuffies with scrap fabric. 

We got the idea from the book Sewing School (http://sewingschool.blogspot.com), which I highly recommend for teaching kids to sew. Everything is kid-centered, doesn't focus on appearance, and it even tells you what size needle and what type of thread to buy. This was my 5-year-old's first time actually sewing, and I thought she did a great job!

Next time I'll probably have them draw their own animals, but this time, since the instructions call for tracing from paper to fabric anyway, I let them pick coloring pages online, which I enlarged for them and they traced. They also did the coloring, cutting, sewing, and stuffing with only a little guidance. 

I learned cross-stitch as a kid but never the more practical sewing skills. I had to take a machine sewing beginner's class at the local community college with a friend a few years ago in order to learn even the most basic things. 

I'm hoping that giving the girls creative license in this arena will foster a long-term interest in developing sewing skills. It's also the perfect outlet for my crafty girls.

Queen Elsa the Odd Girl

My girls have been 100% caught up into the world-wide Frozen craze. So of, course, when my oldest had her birthday, it had to be Frozen themed. Around this time I also ran across a whole bunch of papercrafted Disney Princesses while browsing the ubiquitous interwebs. These dolls were made with the Sizzix Paper Doll dies, which I just happened to have. The dies had come in a bundle of Sizzix stuff that I got at a garage sale, and up until now I had relegated them to kiddie use. The images I saw online sparked my imagination, and since I couldn't find one of Elsa, I got to work. 

Whatta ya think? I used stamps from Sweet & Salty (face with nose drawn in) and Happy Day (mountains, ice drops). Papers and inks are Stampin' Up, as is the "branch" stamp (Gorgeous Grunge), the flower die (Floral Frames Framelits) and the sentiment (something way retired). 

I'm linking this up with the Some Odd Girl Wings and Things Challenge on Facebook, and the July linky party.  (Http://someoddgirlblog.com)

Sorry, Call It Deja Vu

So the InLinkz needs a separate link for each card. You get to see Foxy again, lucky you! 

This is for the SOG Pot O' Gold challenge: http://www.someoddgirlblog.com/2014/03/pot-o-gold-challenge/

Gold, Kraft, and Chevrons: What's Not to Love?

I am just loving the chevron strip from the Some Odd Girl clear set "Make A Statement!" It adds the perfect accent to so many cards. This time I stamped it in white on kraft cardstock (another favorite combo) using Hero Arts Unicorn colored Pigment Ink. I am so glad I picked some up, because it really is the perfect white ink! It shows up nice and opaque on dark-colored cardstock and still keeps a pretty crisp image. 

I started out with this Happy Borthday card. I embossed the sentiment (from Stampin' Up's "Perfectly Penned") in gold. But you know what? I ended up loving the layout and the color combo so much that I decided to try some other focal stamps...

Meet Foxy. I think he looks grand in gold, too. His hat comes from the SOG Owl-days set, which leads me to my next card...

Luckily this little guy fit on the tag, too. I made a couple of each so that I have more to give out in future. :) The owl one got entered into a twine challenge on Some Odd Girl's Facebook group a few weeks ago, but Foxy and Happy Birthday were saved for this month's Pot O' Gold Challenge ( http://www.someoddgirlblog.com/2014/03/pot-o-gold-challenge/ ). Fingers crossed! (Uh... metaphorically. I don't actually believe in luck, but that's a whole 'nother topic).

Stick around, I've got a few more cards to post in the coming days... gotta make up for a long un-bloggerly absence. :) Until then...

Leprechaun Trap

As soon as my 4 year old saw this leprechaun trap, she had to do it. So I let her "help" me where possible: picking out paper colors, taking the scrap paper off the Cameo mat, etc. She had to bring it into her preschool class, since they had been having some leprechaun visits of their own. :)

 The leprechaun is supposed to try to grab the gold hanging inside the door, and instead he falls in the hole into the box below. Clever, huh? We've been telling the girls that our guinea pigs are really leprechauns, and, surprise, the sneaky guy that escaped our trap left guinea pig treats! Hmmm....

Instead of making a ladder, we just used a toy one the girls already had with their Fisher-Price Little People sets. 

SVGCuts.com is giving this cut file out for free! There is also a pattern for hand-cutting on MarthaStewart.com. You should snatch it so that you're ready for next year. It was seriously so fun to make!

May Sketch Entry

Once again I'm skirting the deadline! The May Some Odd Girl Sketch Challenge (http://www.someoddgirlblog.com/2013/05/may-challenge/) ends tonight, and this is my entry. It's a graduation card - black and orange are the school colors. I made the tassel myself using what I remember from a tutorial I read a while back - I think it was on Paper Craft Planet but don't quote me on that. I also used a Jelly Roll Glaze pen to add some accents - once I get started with that pen I can never stop! It really gave the card that extra "something" this time.

Paper: Unknown

Punches: Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Ribbon Loop

Dies: Lifestyle Crafts Pinking Circles, Stampin' Up Apothecary Accents and Labels Collection Framelits

Stamps: Some Odd Girl Make A Statement, Stampin' Up Smile Accessories (retired)

Say "Hi!" to Ollie!

So I bought a new (to me) Some Odd Girl stamp. I had been eyeing the Ollies for a while, and then my seven-year-old gave me the perfect excuse. She saw me watching one of Kristy's coloring videos and it blew her mind that Kristy is the one that draws all the SOG stamps (I've let her color others before, and she's seen the cards I've made for other people). She is quite the budding little artist. So I showed her the online store. She liked a bunch of them, but when she saw Ollie Glee she said, "Aww, he's so CUTE! He costs three dollars? I have three dollars!" She wanted to spend all the money she had been saving on him. Isn't that adorable?

Her birthday was a week later and I just couldn't imagine making her card with anyone else. So, I bought him and printed up some extras that I slipped inside her birthday card for her to color. She was very excited. Rewardingly so. Later she mentioned that she didn't think I had ever made her a card with a SOG stamp on it. Which is true. (Truth be told, we bought her card last year.) I didn't realize it would mean so much to her! I'm kinda excited to have someone who appreciates my papercrafting so much. I guess I have a new little SOGgy on my hands!

This is for Some Odd Girl's April Sketch Challenge.

Images: Some Odd Girl, Create with TLC
Papers and ribbon: Stampin' Up Pool Party, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango (small strip of orange paper is some random brand)
Die: Stampin' Up Apothecary Accents Framelits
Embossing Folder: Lifestyle Crafts