All Things Alicia

On the Crafty Horizon

just an update

 

I have a few projects I'm wanting to get to.  I'm trying out a new scheduling technique soon that will hopefully get me into my craft room more often to feed my soul.  I've been working a lot lately of self-talk and how crafting fits into my life.  I have this feeling like I can't craft unless I am done with all the 'important stuff'.  I'm working on that.  Crafting is good for me in so many ways and I need to treat it like the valuable part of my life that it is. It is part of the 'important stuff'.

 

So what's on my list for the coming months?

 

Quilts for my girls!  They moved into big girl bed a long time ago and they're still just using blankets from around the house.  I can't find anything I'd like to buy so I decided to make them quilts that match their bedroom.  I'll be shopping for fabric this week and hopefully can share a sketch/plan with you soon.

Project Life- I'm uploading pictures today and hope to get started on this year's PL soon.  I'd like to have January done by the end of next week.  That shouldn't be too hard because this year I've planned a lot more on combining weeks.

More scrapbooking- I have a stack of pages that I am ready to roll with, purchases done, pictures printed, etc...maybe I'll plan myself a little scrapbooking retreat in my office for a day.

Skirts and scrubs - I have an idea for my girls that involves bandannas to make skirts.  I might move this one up on the list because I just heard their school will be doing a 'dress like a cowboy/cowgirl' day sometime this spring.  They already have the boots, it'd be cute to make the skirts to go with them. 

Also, I'd like to try custom making my husband a pair of scrubs for work.  He has brands he loves but they always have one thing he'd like to change. I'd love to make him one pair that has all the features and fits he wants. 

So that's it right now.  There are, of course, a bazillion more things I want to make, but that's what I have narrowed it down to for the immediate future.

Oh!  I also need to start thinking about Teacher Appreciation Week!

What crafty projects do you have on your docket?

December Daily 2013 Days 4 and 5

So day 4 records my youngest daughter's countdown chain.  Her brother had one of these in preschool, then her sister did last year, and now she's uber excited to be the one who made one. 

Each strip of the chain has the date and piece of the Christmas story on it so I used the strip from today in the bottom left.  That set the tone for my more green focus on this day's layout.  I printed the picture of her taking off the chain in sepia, partly because I love sepia, and partly because the pic was a little orangey and busy and had so many colors.  The sepia made it more cohesive.

The burlap paper in the bottom two squares I got on sale at Michael's.  I stamped the wise men from an old Stampin' Up! stamp set on the bottom right and put a Studio Calico wood star over the star in the stamp, but on the outside of the pocket.

In the top right I put a wood ornament I got the other day at JoAnn's.  I inked it just slightly with a green (Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi) that coordinated with the paper strip, and then added a wee bit of Stampin' Up!'s dazzling diamonds glitter.  I adhered to the outside of the pocket and was origianlly going to leave the pocket empty.  However, the paper that showed through from the other side behind it, though pretty, didn't really look good.  So I cut a creamy patterned paper square from a scrap stash and tucked it in behind the ornament.

I originally skipped adding a number to this day since it's written on the green strip from the countdown chain, but now I'm thinking I might go back in later and add a number on the right edge.  Not too worried if I don't get to it though.

And on to day 5:

 

Day 5 spotlights my growing Christmas music list on Spotify.  I just took a screen shot and divided the whole thing up into the 4 squares.  I put the music sheet paper in the back.  

Up on the top left I put a strip of fabric from my stash (it's retired Stampin' Up!) and layered a bit of doily I had left from the bottom right.  Then I put that red and white star tag over the top of the page protector.  the star is from the same tag set I used in day 1 and I believe it's from Little Yellow Bicycle. 

The bottom left I used to journal in red about how my tastes in Christmas music are a bit different this year and it's led to growth in my list.  I also put a glittery 5 here from a number sticker set I got at JoAnn's. 

The top right I left as is.

The bottom right has a doily cut up to frame a little chalkboard art I printed with Christmas carol lyrics on it.  The red tree sticker on top there is from a sticker set of red and green fabric and felt trees.  I've been looking all over the internet trying to remember what brand they are.  If you really want to know, leave a comment below and I'll make sure I check when I get over to my stamp room next.

And there you have days 4 and 5.  Can I say that I am way more relaxed this year with December Daily?!  It's been a fun blessing and so little stress.  Planning on working on it every few days keeps me up enough that I don't feel behind, but without the stress of trying to do it every night.  I'm thinking I'll stick to a very similar system next year.  

Related articles

December Daily!

December Daily 2013 - Day 1

December Daily Title Page

December Daily 2013 Days 2 and 3

Little Neighbor Christmas Gifts

So I tried this new recipe, Chai Spiced Fudge.  Not being a fan of Chai tea, I wasn't expecting much, but the ingredients looked good.  So my plan was to make a batch, taste it, and if it was good, give it away as gifts.  That way I wouldn't eat it myself.  Have one piece, give the rest away.  Sounds good, right?

Sigh...now I must make another batch.  It's so freakin' good.  It's great.  It's spicy in just the right way, and flavorful and creamy...

But I digress.... Here is how I packaged them:

 

Chai Spiced Fudge in a Tin

That tag might look familiar if you read yesterday's post. ;)  Why double the work?  Just make extra tags and use them! 

 

I cut the fudge into small pieces and put them in a nugget tin I had on hand that I had lined with wax paper.  Then I wrapped the tin in a large doily, tied on a scrap of Deck the Halls fabric, and did another tag with a glittered clothespin so people would know what they're digging into.

Here I slid the tin out a bit so you could see it without the wrapper covering it all up.

 

 

Chai Spiced Fudge Christmas Gift

 

 I love baking, and eating it, and therefore (by necessity) I love giving baked goods away.  The cuter the packaging, the more special the gift feels to me.  

Related articles

A Simple Cash Holder for Fall or Christmas

Crazy Things From Convention...

...crazy cool that is! 

Here's on of my favorite things ever on display at convention:

 

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE burlap!  And I totally love the spice cake fabric too!  This is an awesome purse!

 

 

burlap and spice cake purse

  And how about a corset?

 

Deck the Halls Fabric Corset

This one is so cute.  The detail on the little bicycle seat is to die for (it's Beau Chateau fabric) and check out those tiny little catalogs in the basket!!!!

LIttle Beau Chateau Bicycle

A ruffled Dress:

ruffled ribbon and fabric dress

Or check out this doll house someone made!

paper doll house

Introducing...The Random Roomful !

I've been working on a little project for a while, and now I'm ready to launch it!

 

quick visual of the random treasures currently listed in my Etsy shop

 

 

I'm changing the name of, and content of, my Etsy shop!

I've been toying with the idea for a while now.  My main hobby/job is paper crafts, but I love so much more than that as well.  I love vintage finds, other crafts, making gifts, etc...  I felt the name change was needed so I could better incorporate all the things I love instead of just paper crafting!

The Random Roomful allows me to be, well, random!  Which is my personality anyway!

Along with the shop change, I'll be adding in more random things here on my blog too
(but no name change here;).  You can look forward to lots of paper crafts and Stampin' Up! stuff, but also expect to see some other things like recipes, photos from my homelife, vintage finds from yard sales, and random repurposing projects that I love to do as well.

Take some time to check out my shop at TheRandomRoomful.etsy.com and don't forget you can get your stamping and scrapbooking supplies at my Stampin' Up! website!

 

How About an Easy Coin Purse?

Another fabric project...that I made for my girls...this time not for Christmas. ;)

How little and cute!!!

And super fast!  I used the Big Shot and cut these out with the scallop envelope die.  Then put right sides together (yes I trimmed off the scallops.  Didn't want to do that sewing work!).  Stitch around leaving an opening on one side. Then turn right sides out, stitch closed. 

I hand stitched the sides together when I folded it up.  It was just a few stitches on each side. 

And since I used the Big Shot I took less than 20 minutes to make each one, start to finish, including sewing the snap and flowers on for the opening!

These are for my girls to take their tithe to church.  They do chores, and earn money for some of them.  We're teaching them to save, spend and give. 

Here's what I used:

-Twitterpated Fabric (from the Occassions Mini that expires at the end of this month!)

-Big Shot and Scallop Envelope Die

-Fleurettes

-thread, sewing maching, snaps.

You can get all of these right now in my online shop!

Fat Quarter Aprons

I made these for Christmas for my girls. I know, I've taken my time posting them. ;)

The pink one on my little O is a little large, but she's growing fast. ;)

The best part, they're reversible!

 
Pay absolutely no attention to the smudges all over the fridge. ;)

It's hard to see the buttons, but I layered a little white flower one onto a pink round one.

 

For some reason I can't find the pics I took of the flowered apron on both sides.

These were soooo easy to do.  Just cut two of our Stampin' Up! fabric oversize fat quarters in to squares, then place right sides together, tuck ribbon where you want straps, and sew all but a small section straight around all the edges.  Then turn it right side out and finish that one edge you haven't done yet.  I got them both done in less than 30 minutes! 

Here's what I used:

-Fabric - I used Flirtatious for one of them and Sprintime Vintage for the other

-Ribbon for straps - Marina Mist 1 1/4" striped grosgrain for the Springtime Vintage apron.  The other apron used a retired ribbon, but the Melon Mambo 1 1/4" striped grosgrain in our current catalog coordinates perfectly.

-buttons- I used several from the designer buttons collections

These are all availabe in my online shop, but the retiring accessories list comes out soon and I don't guarantee those will be around long.  You might want to go order yours now!

Gift for a Knitter

I've been playing with a set I really love called Hand Knit. I'm not a knitter myself, but I have a few friends who are, and I love randomly blessing my friends with little gifties so I've made a few things with this.

This is a simple wrapped type holder for knitting needles.

Too cute huh?!

I used some scraps leftover from the Sale A Bration paper set.  It's no longer available but you could totally do this with any paper you like.  It's not really a paper specific type thing.

I got the bamboo knitting needles at a local craft store and used my coupon for them.  That makes this a really inexpensive gift with a whole lot of love!

Here's an up close of the little yarn and button detail around the middle:

 
I made two of these.  One for a friend and one for my Etsy shop.

Even though you can't get the Everyday Enchantment paper anymore, you can still get this stamp set (hand knit) and other supplies at my website.

Here's a list of what I used:

-Hand Knit stamp set

-Everyday Enchantment paper

-sticy strip

-Early Espression 1/8" tafetta ribbon

-linen thread

-Poppy Parade marker

-Black Staz On ink pad

-neutrals designer buttons

-stampin dimensionals

-paper snips (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE my little paper snips for trimming things!?!)

Hop on over here to order your supplies!

Or hop over here to get this gift already made (if it's still there by the time you read this ;)).

A Few Last Minute Ideas for Halloween

Just some eye candy today. :)

These are gloves I picked up in the dollar spot at Target last year around this time.  I thought they'd make cute little gifts.

This pair is more purple and less blue-ish in real life.  I'm not sure what was happening with the camera here, but I couldn't the color to work right.

Anyway,  I used some Old Olive satin ribbon and the Wicked Cool stamp set to get these done.  I love how punches make quick work of things!

On this black pair I used the Pick Your Poison Quick Accents and thePick Your Poison Designer Series Paper from the current Holiday Mini Catalog to put a simple little band on them.  I had imagined them kind of rolled up and with the belly band, but that just wasn't workin' too well.  So this is what I ended up with.  Belly bands are a great way to use up scrap strips of paper, by the way. ;)

And lastly a little hot chocolate, spooky style.

 
I took a plain white mug and some decor elements to make the mug.  Spanish moss in the bottom to make it drearier (if that's a word) and to fill space.  One of the baggies has hot chocolate mix and one has the ghost Peep marshmallow.  They look really cute floating in the hot chocolate. 

My kids drink the hot chocolate with the pumpkins shaped Peeps in them.  Too cute!

Updated Fall and Halloween Project Class!

RSVP with payment by September 9th.  I'm attaching a downloadable registration form and also including it as screens shots!  You should be able to click on these screen shots and see them full size. 

There are all kinds of fall projects at this event.  Everything from little gifties that make great small gifts or favors or class things, to decor and party set up!

Remember that you can share this with your friends who might be interested. 

 
 

And here's the downloadable file to see it all up close:

Download Fall and Halloween Project Buffet

The RSVP date is rapidly approaching so get your project list and order of what to prep to me soon!