1st annual Craft Camp

That's correct! 

It was craft camp at 

the Peterson home in August

Holli and her friend Courtney flew in from Nashville
Katie and Daniel drove up from Aiken
Daniel didn't participate in craft camp
He had other things to do around Raleigh and Cary
and Jeff graciously took on the role of camp cook!
We even squeezed in a movie at the theater and a fun game of Canasta that we picked up and continued each night.

Everyone arrived on Thursday afternoon. The girls shared with each other what we wanted to accomplish. Then we heading out to purchase whatever supplies we still needed.

Holli wanted to make a pillow, cover a pad for a tiny bench, make a couple pillowcases and make new curtains for her bedroom!
Katie wanted to make an apron and some earrings.
Courtney wanted to cover some pillows for her sofa and some for her porch.
I wanted to at least start on a baby quilt and maybe even new valances for my kitchen!

This was going to be a big undertaking as Courtney was learning to sew for the first time and Katie and Holli were adding to their learning curve!

We purchased fabrics to go with what we had and found the perfect fabrics for both Holli's windows and mine.
We were already on a roll!

Here is day 2 when
the campers are really getting started.
Holli in the background at the ironing board
{sweet child of mine even ironed all my skirts and shorts in my to-do pile}
Courtney is in the foreground cutting out her first pillow cover
Katie is designing and cutting out the first part of her apron

 

Katie piecing her apron front

Katie was 'getting to know' the sewing machine that she got for Christmas from Daniel. Not to mention designing and figuring out how to make this apron WITHOUT a pattern! She's well on her way to being a pro at this sewing stuff!

here's me - piecing on the baby quilt
Holli did most of this while I was helping the other two. She is good at this piecing stuff!
But, I wanted to make this quilt so she saved some of the piecing for me!
And at the end of day 2...
we had a couple pillow covers for Courtney {background}
a pillow case for Holli {yellow bicycles on white}
a pieced pillow for Holli {bottom center}
an apron front for Katie {left}
a baby quilt top for Lois {right}

On day 3 Katie learned how to etch metal,
all this, while still working on her apron!
First the hole punching
then the stamping
then the actual etching

the finished earrings are fabulous

Katie is a quick study and has this down now too!
Plus, she has given me new etching ideas for
it's by design


There was lots of 'team' measuring and cutting for the two sets of window treatments.

Even Piper got in on the action! {Holli waits patiently in the background}
and because we were ALWAYS having fun at this craft camp
here is Katie on her magic carpet ride
AKA strips of my new kitchen valance

and MORE fun...

while Holli presses and pins the hem to her curtains
I just stand next to her and entertain!

more from day 3
custom reversible bib apron
by Katie

Katie checking out the reverse side {upper left}.
Just before the front and back were sewn together
tucking the bib, neck sash {not quite tucked yet}, and the waist sash inside the edge. Then side 1 of the apron could lie on top, right sides together {upper right} and the final machine seam could be sewn all around the rectangle. A small opening was left so that it could be turned inside out. After everything looked good and the sashes and bib were released from their captivity, the opening was hand sewn shut.
{arrrggg! the girls learned that lots of projects end with hand sewing}
Side 1 of apron {lower left}
Side 2 of apron {lower right}
Yes, that's a pocket on both sides!
we're officially professionals

the hand sewing begins

and here we are on day 4 just showing it all off!

Katie had to head back to South Carolina on the afternoon of day 4.
Holli and Courtney and I still had a full day 5 to finish hand sewing all the pillow closures and Holli's LINED bedroom curtains.
That was a big project
mainly because there was so much fabric!

the Loot photo on day 4
pillows, pillows and more pillows

and earrings that Holli commissioned me to make
the pearl necklace is a custom order for a special bride that I finished during craft camp. So it became part of the loot!

when the Tennessee girls returned to their homes
here's how they showed off some of their projects

Courtney's sofa pillows
Courtney's porch pillows
{there are actually two of each}
and a sage green pillow {pictured in the loot photo} for her sofa

lots of crafty additions to Holli's already crafty bedroom
the burlap type fabric curtains are lined with blackout lining
Holli LOVES to sleep in when her schedule allows!
the little black bench that Grampa made now sports a new cushion of salmon and white polka dots {left}

the cute little pieced pillow is backed with the polka dots
it's home is on the palette couch we made last fall

the bicycle pillowcases brighten up her new bedding
AND
hide her guest pillows
for when someone passes through town and sleeps on the sofa
{she and Courtney even built the trunk at the end of her bed}
this little apple doesn't fall far from her mama's tree!

that's it for craft camp 2012

my kitchen valances and baby quilt were not completed at craft camp but they will be blogged about soon!

better at projects than posts...that should count

I've actually been quite crafty since my last post,

just not diligent with my crafty blog.

Let's catch up.

First I came up with a good use

for two of the old doors

that came out of the back hall remodel.

I had been contemplating something new

for displaying my necklaces at shows.

cut down the doors

remove the knobs

pull out my favorite paper, scraps and maps

 and the white glue/water mixture

and

voila!

I added corkboard to the other side

and then hinged it together.

Here it is in action

at The Handmade Market!

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Then there was the pillow for Piper.

I got out the fabric samples that Holli had given me

from when she worked for an Interior Designer

I began by cutting squares and rectangles

out of the samples

and sewed them together.

As I got closer to the overall pillow size

I had to sort of work it like a puzzle.

 

side one

side two

The pillow insert is a very used insert from a chair.

That's what led me to make this in the first place.

My favorite chair and a half had lousy pillow inserts.

I finally purchased some great feather inserts.

I couldn't just toss the old ones!

They looked sort of flat and even split in the center.

But, for some reason it just looked like a comfy doggie pillow to me!

look at those sad pillow inserts

before...

after...

one happy Piper!

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Next up

 the paper poms

*

Oh, the paper poms

who knew the paper poms would be tricky to make?

certainly not I.

I had this great idea to make paper poms

for decorations for a

Bridal shower I was hosting 

for my dear friend

Alison.

My friends and co-hosts 

Becca and Libby

got in on the fun.

My first shock was that the flowers would turn out so large!

For some reason, I thought they were going to be 

these small little flowers that would turn into

a garland.

They could have been,

but as we tried them

we found out that the smaller the flower

the harder it was to work

First you cut a width of tissue paper

about the same size as what you want

the finished diameter of your pom to be.

Libby had just folded her purple paper accordion style

and was adding the floral wire.

We followed the directions

on 

Martha Stewart.com

I worked on the green poms.

We rounded some of the ends

as shown on Martha Stewart.

Some of them we trimmed to a point.

 Becca worked on an orange one

with rounded ends,

Carefully pulling layers

of tissue out from

each end.

Here is a green pom in progress.

The funny thing is that we thought

our poms were awful at the time!

Looking at these photos now...

They were actually

some pretty great poms!

No one can see the torn pieces here and there!

The holidays came and went

and

it was time to use our tissue paper poms

for the shower.

Our original plan of a garland

was replaced with

this awesome bunch of flowers

hanging

from a light fixture.

Cheers for Libby

and that idea!

If you look closely

you will see 

additional flower poms made of tulle.

They were made on the spot

out of lots of loops.

It was the perfect filler.

I know that I learned more than just a new craft

with this little project.

Three capable artists

thought they could whip through

this little project.

When the tissue paper

started tearing,

the frustration level

starting growing.

We expected perfection

from the start.

But, after a few hours

and a lot of laughs,

it turned out

we made some

pretty nice

tissue paper poms!

Thanks Becca and Libby

for the memory!

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And finally,

the sweetest project of all...

Footprint pictures with "the greats"

I like to call my great nieces and nephew

"the greats"

After all,

they are pretty

G R E A T

!!!

We spent part of the holidays

with family in Des Moines this year.

That gave us the priceless opportunity

to hang out

with 

the greats!

We searched Pinterest for a project idea.

Made a few creative additions of our own.

And here is how it went.

Camryn

Sat perfectly still

not one bit ticklish.

Gage

Super ticklish!

Hayden

Another ticklish one.

It was a challenge

to keep those toes

out of the green paint!

This one was Camryn's.

I added the star.

Holli added the trunk.

And for our crafty addition

to these mini masterpieces.

Holli added song lyrics.

Camryn's and Gage's

Auntie Carol and cousin Emma

wrapped them up

to surprise

some happy parents.

T H A T

was a fun afternoon!
I
L O V E
my greats!

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the Pallet project

Holli - "Mom, we're going to do a project from Pinterest over Thanksgiving"

Me - "Can't we just do nothing?"

Holli - "No"

Then about a week before she came home I saw my neighbor had a pallet laying next to his truck.

I asked him if he could get us 3 more.

In the mean time Holli came home and Kirby, Holli and I ran some errands including a fabric store in North Raleigh.  I just wanted to stop there 'for a minute' to get some feather pillow inserts.

An hour and a half later we had a huge piece of foam 80"x27"x5" and some fabric for making pillows for Holli's future Pallet sofa!

We also saw a couple pallets outside of the store and asked if we could have them. They said yes and we loaded them in the car.

We quickly learned that pallets are different sizes and we needed four to match pretty well.

Our new find did not match the one from my neighbor.

Holli and Kirby took a little trip in the car around town looking for more pallets. They traded their original pallets for some that would more closely match each other.

Is that stealing?

I think it's trading.

Now the 4 pallets needed to be cut down to size.

We just happen to have builders working on our screened porch ceiling. So of course Holli got them to cut our pallets!

We started small by making a couple pillows first. 

Then we moved on to covering the big piece of foam.

The challenge was getting it ON the foam!

It took a team of three.

Thanks Amanda S!

At this point we loaded the 4 pallets in the car

along with the foam cushion

and the 2 new pillows

and headed back to Nashville.

At Holli's house we finished the pallets with six 3" locking swivel casters

and a few metal plates to hold it all together.

A little drilling then nuts and washers and bolts

The pallet boards are all different sizes

so the center caster had to move in a row.

The finished product!

Those crates at the end were a nice little discovery while Holli and Kirby were on their pallet hunt.

Thanks to Pinterest and the blog

Under the Sycamore

for the great idea!

sometimes you win, sometimes you don't win

but you never lose!

Every now a then I get my ducks in a row and enter something that I have designed into some sort of publishing 'competition'.

My first experience was simply a pair of earrings that were published in Stringing Magazine in 2009.  They landed on the '17 earring designs page' and I was thrilled!  I think I even received a check for $15.00 for that big event.  But it was simply the accomplishment that I enjoyed.

Then about a year ago I tried my hand at needle felting and turned it into a pillow for my bed.  A short time later I saw that a publishing company was looking for 500 felted projects.  I thought, what the heck, I'll send photos of my felted pillow.  I waited months and months for them to decide.
Finally only weeks ago, I received the news...
Thanks, but no thanks.  That's OK, I love my pillow.  And after all, it WAS my first attempt at needle felting!

So, that's when I didn't win.

Here's when I won!
In the very same week I that I was turned away from the felted projects book I heard word from the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors. I had entered a reader challenge titled 'all buttoned up'
I'm pretty sure that I sent my photos in October or November.  I heard that I was a top contender in December!  I sent in the actual button necklace for further judging and low and behold....
I was published as one of the 17 winners to the challenge.  No prize money this time, but more joy and excitement!

what does this mean?  Just keep pluggin' away, keep tryin', keep creating!