I should seriously buy stock in Sears before posting this but here goes…

As you know, my sewing machine broke last week (bad Pixie) but what you might not know is that Singer didn’t even bother to respond to my email asking for assistance on reseating the bobbin so Singer is now dead to me.

My husband picked up the Kenmore 1/2 size sewing machine at Sears for me last night (on sale until August 2 for $59.99 – save $20) and I just took it out of the box…OMG, I think it’s a Janome Sew Mini.  Here’s my evidence:

The Janome Sew Mini:

The Kenmore 1/2 size:

The only difference is the brand name and the way they outline the stitch patterns (so, the only difference is the decals.)

As further proof, I found this on Overstock.com when looking for a shot of the Sew Mini:

http://www.overstock.com/Crafts-Sewing/Janome-Sew-Mini-Sewing-Machine/3654717/product.html

(it’s a picture of the Kenmore but there’s no Janome or Kenmore logo in the picture)

So, Canadians, I think you CAN get a Janome Sew Mini in Canada…that’s pretty cool.  I must go post this on SCS!

(I’ll try to come back later with a real project…if I can get the sewing machine set up – I actually stopped the card making to post this news.)

…with a PaperWorks Blog Hop.

Welcome to the July PaperWorks Blog Hop.  Today PWCO is launching their latest Rachelle Anne Miller stamp line and boy is it cute! (and RAM’s blog is worth scoping out too…check out her Etsy shop while you’re there – her illustrations are to die for.   There’s an adorable elephant I’d LOVE to have some day!  I {heart} elephants!)

If you are participating in the blog hop (and you should because there are PRIZES!) and you came from Cabio’s Blog then you are on the right track.   If you just started on this hop please start at the PWCO main blog.  I’ve got the listing of all participants a bit further down in today’s post.

I have LOTS to tell you/share with you today so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride…and don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance at winning the stamps featured during today’s hop.

I’m working with a sweet stamp called Side By Side.  First we’ll start with a picture of the stamp image:

Adorable, isn’t it?  I didn’t colour mine quite as nice as this (still working on the copic skills and need to add to my collection a little more) but I did use my copics and I also had a little fun altering the image.   The sentiment that comes with the stamp was the starting point for my card idea today.  It reads: 

Side by side or miles apart
dear friends are always close to the heart

Here’s the front panel of my card:

This is an accordion card and it has 5 panels in total.  It was a little hard to take a picture of the whole card so I’ve got some extra pictures to share today…next we have a little close up of the front plus some details on the supplies I used:

Basic Grey patterned paper, prism cardstock, copics, nesties, the flower was created from paper that I stamped and distressed and the ribbon rosette was made from wrinkle ribbon that I dyed a couple of weeks ago.  I used the same stamped paper to create the ruffled awning at the top of the card too.   (The ribbon ruffle on top and the ribbon that holds the card closed is wrinkle ribbon – you should try this technique!)   I used a stick pin to further embellish the flower and ran the sewing machine around the edges of the patterned paper before matting it with some green cardstock.

Panel 2 and 3:

I used the words “or miles apart” for this idea.  You’ll need your stamp-a-ma-jig for this and it’s a little tricky because the top of the swing set is not in a straight line…you can make your swing set as long as you’d like it to be…(get it?  my little guys are now spaced miles apart…well about 3 1/2 inches but you get the idea!)

The “extra” flower and grass was doodled by me.  More Basic Grey paper and some sponging give these panels a decorative touch (you don’t want to use anything too bulky as this card needs to fold up and these panels are on the inside).

Panel 4 and 5:

The next line in the sentiment reads “dear friends are always close to the heart”.  You can see that I altered the length of the image again – just join the end of the swing closer to the first seat and you’ve got a swing for one.  I cut out the bird and put it on a dimensional so my two little cuties are sharing a seat – can’t get much closer than that!  I drew in the bird’s legs.  Don’t look too closely unless you’re looking for a laugh!  I used a few pearls and some faux stitching on the last panel to give it some interest…again, you don’t want to use flowers (well, you do WANT to use them) or anything that will prevent the card from staying closed.

A little close up of my alteration (check out those  bird legs!):

Here’s the full card when it’s open (sorry – it was really hard to get it all in one shot):

Even after all that marathon creating, I couldn’t stop there.  I decided to make a little gift to go with the card and to make some matching packaging (by now you must know that I like my gifts coordinated!).  The illustration on the stamp inspired me to make the first (to the best of my knowledge) unofficial Rachelle Anne Miller (RAM) stuffed toys! (P.S.  I can’t sew…please don’t laugh at my wonky seams – unless you’re in need of a laugh…if so, go ahead, I won’t hear you anyway!)

The two sheets of Basic Grey patterned paper I used for this project were more than enough to make the card (with decorated panels) and the gift bag.  I’ve even got enough left to make a card or two!  There are lots of tutorials on making bags from paper.  This one didn’t come from a tutorial – I used the box in a bag template from SCS to make some wedding favours last year so I’ve got lots of practice – I just used the basic construction concept from that and added some fun details to make my bag a little more purse -like. (my sewing machine got quite the workout this week.)

The stuffed toys were made from felt.  I used a little more wrinkle ribbon for the bow just because it’s nice to match things up if you can.  The freckles are french knots and the nose and the mouth are just stitched with embroidery floss…I was copying the face on the stamped image – he’s kind of looking off to the side.  Oh, and the eyes are brads!

Here’s the card next to the gift bag (a little tissue paper would have looked good…):

If you’re still with me, just a few housekeeping items and you’ll be on your way.

To enter for a chance to win one of these new stamps, just leave a comment.  8 winners will be randomly chosen – visit each blog for more chances to win.  Here’s a complete list of the participants in today’s blog hop:

PWCO BLOG

Steph S

Cabio

Kelly <———————————– you are here!

Lisa

Silvia

Jenny

Steph J

Karen Lynn

Bella

Danielle

Sunghee

PWCO BLOG

Peggy at PWCO is offering a special this weekend:

10% off on ALL PWCO STAMPS.  Code in “PWCO stamps” on the discount section when you checkout.   Offer is good till Monday night (July 19th)

After you leave a comment, please go to Lisa’s blog to continue the blog hop.

While I’m sure some people did something meaningful and celebratory for Canada Day, DH and I had a quiet day at home.  The most productive thing I did was laundry (oh, and I made a batch of blueberry scones for breakfast)

I did spend some time in my craft room today – not as much as I thought but I did work on three different projects (one can’t be shared at the moment, unfortunately – the hardest part of being on a design team).

The first project is the subject of todays blog post title.  I made three batches of wrinkle ribbon.  One soft yellow, one soft green and one rose-red.  I have red fingertips which I hope will be faded by the time I go to work tomorrow.  It was hard to get a picture showing the true colour but this is relatively close:

I then worked on the un-shareable project for a little while, had some lunch, read for a few hours, did laundry, read for another little while, had supper, spent an hour with DH, read some more (almost done) and then decided I didn’t want to let the day end without making a card so I whipped up this little number which was inspired by the ribbon I made:

All in all, a very decent day off!  I’m going to grab a shower and read for a little while before bed – I hope everyone had as enjoyable a Canada Day as I did.

I’ll start with the card and then do a quick review on the Pixie by Singer…

Today’s card uses some cute new Cosmo Cricket paper called Joy Ride.  The 3 latest paper lines by CC all have similar colour schemes which is a bit disappointing in one way but probably means they’ll be okay for mixing and matching.

I chose my patterned paper before I coloured the image and then tried to match the colours as best I could (I only own a couple of copics – skin tones – and I have 3 of the SU colour families in reinkers but I think I did okay).  I used a cute Whipper Snapper stamp that I’ve inked up before but never used on a card. (Speaking of Whipper Snapper, their Spring 2010 collection came out today.  I can hardly wait for them to have a sale so I can place an order – KAREN, are you listening?!)

Here’s my card:

Isn’t this little guy cute?  And WS has more cute stamps – several of them suitable for the boys (or men) in your life so check them out!

I didn’t have the exact shade of purple (I’m thinking Eggplant might have been a good colour match but I don’t own any) but I think the card turned out okay.  The ribbon might be a bit of a mistake but I couldn’t leave the card too plain so on it went!

Colouring was a hybrid – copic markers for the skin and SU reinkers for everything else. (well, the outline is a grey copic as well…)  I don’t know if I’m going to get the hang of copic markers.  It’s great that there are so many shades for skin colouring and outlining but I’ll be sticking with watercolouring for the time being. 

On to the Pixie.

As mentioned, I purchased a Pixie at Wal-Mart about a week and a half ago and I have used it enough times to do a quick review.  Here are my thoughts:

If you are in Canada and want a smaller machine like a Janome Sew Mini, this is probably a good substitute.  It’s small, it’s affordable, it runs on batteries if you want it to (though it works better with the adapter) and it has several stitches.

Some Pros:

It’s sturdy.

It comes with 4 bobbins (3 already spooled plus a spare), 3 spools of thread, a needle threader, and a spare needle.

There is a small compartment for holding spools/bobbins.

It’s compact.

It comes with an adapter so you don’t need to use batteries.

It’s not difficult to use – especially if you are already familiar with operating a sewing machine.

Some cons:

The zigzag stitch is not that great for cards.  It works but it’s not the right scale for card-making.

Batteries do not last that long (I used Duracell and only got 3 uses out of the machine before it slowed down)

You can’t use “regular” sized thread spools with the machine.  I’ve found a work-around but it will only be of use to you if you have access to another machine to thread bobbins.

It’s purple (that could be a pro or a con – it’s a con to me)

So, I hope that will help some Canadians in their decision.  Before I go, I will show you the work around I’ve come up with so I don’t have to buy smaller, more expensive spools of thread:

As mentioned, you will need access to another sewing machine.  All you have to do is fill a plastic bobbin with thread using a “regular” sewing machine.  You can use this bobbin as the spool of thread for the Pixie (the bobbin in the bottom of the machine needs to be metal as it’s held in place by a magnet)  Here’s a picture of my work around (I am using white thread – the bottom spool came with the machine and I’m just using it to give my “spool of thread” some height):

That’s it for tonight.

The title of this post is purely about what’s on the card.  I’m not bragging about my memory.  Anyone who works with me can tell you that I will lose a train of thought or a paper from a file faster than you can possibly imagine.  I like to think it’s because I have so much going on in my brain but I’m pretty sure it’s an attention span issue.  Oh well!

My card today was inspired by a little crochet project I did this week.  I’m not actually very good at crochet – I’m self-taught (went to the Y many years ago with a friend but we were both lefties and the instructor was right-handed and it didn’t go very well) and just make things up as I go.  I can’t make anything complex, don’t really know how to properly weave ends and attach things, but I get the job done in my own unique way.

Amigurumi seems to be very popular lately and I have to admit I’ve seen some really cute patterns.  I wanted a break from card-making after doing some valentine’s projects and thought I’d give making one of these animals a try.  Since my favourite animal is the elephant it made sense (at the time!) to start with one of those – plus I had some grey yarn in my stash.

Here’s my interpretation of an elephant (it doesn’t look much like the original):

I didn’t like the trunk on the one I followed the pattern for but I did make it “as written”.  Once it was done I took the stitches out of the trunk and re-engineered it (yes, my elephant has had a nose job!).  I also can’t find safety eyes anywhere in town but haven’t tried the local fabric store (I don’t sew and have no idea what is available at Fabricville…).  Luckily, I had some black beads that were about the right size.

Let’s get back to the card, shall we?

So, I made an elephant-themed card in honour of my nameless crocheted elephant.  It’s not grey simply because I wanted to use some BG Lemonade paper to make the card.  I also used a layout similar to a card I found on Amy Rohl’s website. (hers is much more detailed and it’s oriented differently, etc.)

Cute?!  I distressed the papers and did a lot of DTP with some Ranger ink.  I just realized that I hardly ever distress my cards anymore – which is odd because it’s my favourite technique.

I triple punched a flower shape out of paper and crumpled the shapes before threading them on a brad.  It’s also odd that I did that because I have a kazillion prima flowers in my craft room.  I should make using them up my next challenge (’cause I’m rocking the “use basic grey paper” challenge).

Must go grab a shower…DH is willing to browse Chapters tonight!