Champion

My son recently won a wrestling tournament, so we wanted to letter the back of his tournament shirt with the word "CHAMPION"  for him.  The image on the front of the shirt was done in silver and red, so we wanted to use something similar for the back.

After searching high and low for iron-on letters that would work (glittery silver letters just weren't going to cut it for a H.S. sophomore), I decided to try my hand at painting them using my Cricut Expression to cut a stencil.

I had read many online posts about freezer paper T-shirts, but thought I would try using contact paper as my stencil.  I put my contact paper on my cutting mat with the paper side down, cut out my word with the Cricut, peeled the paper backing and stuck it to the shirt.  I made sure the edges were stuck down REALLY well, so that the paint wouldn't seep under.

I used a metallic silver acrylic paint called Lumiere by Jacquard that I picked up at my local Jo-Ann's store.  The first coat of paint was applied very thin, just to help seal the edges of the contact paper to the shirt.  I then painted the shirt again with a thicker coat of paint.  After letting the paint dry for a day, I heat-set the paint with my iron.

I was pretty pleased with my first try at this; it even went through the wash well the first time.  My son liked it, and better yet, so did his teammates.  They all wanted to know how he got the back to look so much like the words on the front.  Now, I'm afraid I am soon to be team "shirt letterer" as well as the team "muffin maker".  They swear I make the best muffins - even though they're simply out of a box.  Teenagers....they'll eat anything.

I am not the first to do this kind of craft, and won't be the last.  I watched MANY videos and read MANY blogs about painting T-shirts.  I wanted to give you a link to a GREAT resource for painting shirts that I went back to several times before I tried this.  Monique at Monique Griffith Designs did a great shirt using vinyl as her stencil.  You can see her step-by-step directions by clicking HERE.  She has done others including a great pink "bug" before CHA, just look for them on her blog as well.

Blog Candy from L.E.M. Photography & Papercrafting

Lauren over at L.E.M. Photography and Papercrafting is celebrating her one-year blogoversary.  In celebration, she is giving away some blog candy on February 28.  Visit her blog by clicking here.

Another Scarf....

Here is the scarf I just finished; it will be going up on my Etsy site for sale (how many scarves can my family actually use???).  I had purchased two skeins of eyelash yarn - one lime and the other olive - for a craft project with my Girl Scout troop over the summer.  Once I got them home and tried them, neither worked for the project.  Here I was, stuck with two skeins of yarn that I had only used about 6 inches from. 

Recently I ran across the skeins again.  I decided to try knitting the two together, because I didn't like the individual color of either.  I was pleasantly surprised when the scarf turned out so pretty.  These colors that looked so awful alone, and I would never have normally put together, ended up looking great together.  The photo doesn't do it justice - there is so much depth to the color.  It is a very thick, plush scarf since it was knit with two strands of eyelash yarn.

Hope you have a great crafting day!

Scarves

Before Christmas, I knitted about 15 scarves for gifts.  I was getting so fast that I could whip out a scarf in a few evenings.  All of the scarves I made for gifts this past Christmas were made with eyelash yarn, but I made about every color you could imagine.  Some were sparkly and others were not. 

I made three of the Ohio State scarves below - one for my daughter, one for my sister-in-law who works for OSU, and one for my mom who was preparing to head to the Rose Bowl.  I guess the only person that got left out was me, but that seems to always be the case - moms always take care of everyone else first.  I also made my daughter a similar scarf that was sparkly blue and orange (our high school's colors) for her to wear at my son's sporting events.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to my blog!  I have been thinking about starting one for awhile now.  I follow many and have been inspired by many wonderful crafters out there.  I would like to "track" my progress and creations.  I am often working on so many crafts at the same time, that I feel like I don't ever finish anything.  Hopefully, this will help me track my accomplishments.

I am a busy mother of two - my son is 15 and my daughter is 10.  I work full-time outside the home and work full-time when I'm at home keeping up with the many activities of my children.  I try to find time "for myself" to craft, play on the computer, or just veg, but for those of you with kids, you know that time is often hard to find.  Just because I'm not busy enough, I have also been my daughter's Girl Scout leader for the last 6 years.

I hope you come around often and get to know me better through my crafts.  I look forward to receiving any comments you have to help me improve.



The first craft I am going to share with you was inspired by Robyn, "My Pink Stamper".  My daughter watched one of her videos with me where she altered some $1 Target mailboxes, and decided she had to have one for Valentine's Day.  Luckily, our Target also had the mailboxes, so not only did we make one for her, but one for her teacher as well.

This is the mailbox we made for her teacher.  The pink heart paper is something I found in "my stash".  It is Stardust Hearts Pastel Pink by Making Memories.  The red ribbon is 1/4" real red Stampin' Up grosgrain ribbon I got from Barb at Snowmanlover's Paperie.  The front of the mailbox is a heart I cut on my Cricut Expression using the Beyond Birthdays cartridge and some leftover red cardstock I had around.  I used Xmas Red Stickles by Ranger to "bling up" the heart.

Finally on the back I used some paper I had leftover from a craft project my daughter did for school last year.  I believe the paper was Me and My Big Ideas.

My daughter is a "girly girl".  If it's pink, it sparkles, or it shines, she has to have it.  For her mailbox, she chose the pink mailbox that she then proceeded to cover with more pink.  The paper she chose came from a paper pad called The Basics by The Paper Studio.  She loved the polka dots, but wanted them to shine, so once the paper was attached to the mailbox, I covered all the dots with liquid glass by Close to My Heart.  It made them really shiny and gave them just a slight bit of dimension (I hope you can see it in the photo).  The ribbon around the back of the mailbox is 3/8" cocoa Close to My Heart grosgain ribbon.

On the front and back of her mailbox, I used my Cricut and Accent Essentials to cut the scalloped circle, the heart, and the heart shadow.  The paper is cocoa cardstock from Close to My Heart, pink paper from The Basics paper pad again (to match the polka dots) and some random white cardstock.  I added some liquid glass to the pink heart, filled it in with Star Dust Stickles and added some white dots with my Inkssentials opaque pen.

The finishing touch my daughter had to have was a pink happy face on the side.  She loves the Peachy Keen Stamps I won in a contest from Robyn, "My Pink Stamper".  She said it made her smile; you can't beat that.  The face was stamped on the same pink paper I used on the heart and cut using Accent Essentials.

I have some other crafts I've finished recently that I'll be posting soon.  Please let me know what you think of my blog so far and check back for some other creations.