Category Archives: fun finds

Wow, it’s November?!

How’d that happen? I’ve got 2 craft shows to tackle this month as well as reports and parent interviews at school, and all that normal life kinda stuff too.  Busy, busy, busy.

Just wanted to draw attention to the lovely sponsors I managed to wrangle up for my first adventure in group posts and sharing the love.  Now how strange is it that Tera Sue is one of them!  Same name?  A 3 letter S word too?  So wacky!

But since we’re a pretty cool brand of people, any way you spell it, I’m super happy to have her here.  I did some poking around and discovered she makes amazing clutches.

I’ve seen Tera out and about in blogland so it’s nice to get to know a bit more about her. She works for Disney!? How cool is that? Well it sounds cool, I’m sure it’s not all singing birds and woodlands animals doing chores for you. She also draws nifty portraits here and here (scroll waaaay down if you click that one).

Prepare to die from cuteness.

I guess with that title I could use this spot to show off my new kitten. Instead I’ll talk about the fabric that arrived the other day. You may be thinking to yourself, “Sheesh Tara can’t possibly make a ton of money selling on Etsy since she spends so much buying on Etsy”. You would be correct.

But look closely at this cloud fabric, honestly, are you dying of cuteness yet?!

I also got this fun little bonus.

Gotta love generous Etsy sellers! In other new I think it’s time I start a support group and seek out others like me who are addicted to Japanese fabrics.

Flowers, hedgehogs and damask. Oh my!

Totally meant to post this much earlier today but I got sleepy last night, you know at 12:30 am, and didn’t get to posting. Of course I remembered once I was cozy in bed doing the math that I had to wake up at 6:30. Long weekends are great but they sure do spoil me for waking up early.

Anyhow, here are some much better photos of my NapKitten wallet creation.

I picked a cute Japanese cotton print and a locally found red damask print. Due to all the pieces you have to cut for this pattern NapKitten has you cut as you go and I had a hard time with that. I’m a very visual person, and since I was working with a fabric where direction mattered I wasn’t sure I was going to have enough. The outside is one of the last pieces you cut and so I did some skimming through the pattern and some willy nilly cutting. I set aside the pieces and labelled them.

Making the bias tape was a fun experience, a little too finicky for my taste but I’m glad I know how to do it now.  I’m not a very good precision sewer/ironer and I think you need to be for bias tape making.  I found a video on YouTube on how to fold and cut fabric on the bias, while it seems confusing for me that was the easy part.  It was super tricky to have it nice and even and covering all the edges and previous stitching.

I made the inside pocket on the left there with the damask because I was worried I’d run out of hedgehogs, I think it was the right decision.

At the very bottom in this next photo you can sort of see the one place I’m not happy with my sewing job.  Right at the very bottom just left of the zipper is the seam of the outer binding and it’s a bit stuck out.  Also left of that in the very middle I had a hard time getting the binding up nice and close because of the middle card slot part and there’s some stitching and innards showing.  No one will ever see it since it’s inside my wallet but I plan on going back and hand stitching it a little with red embroidery floss just to hide it a bit.

Wonkiness aside I’m really happy with it and super proud to be using such a unique made by me item!

This has been floating around, allow me to keep it bouyant.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!!
If you live elsewhere have a happy day too, sorry you’re at work.

Here’s a low key silly little post since I’m destined to be full of turkey later today.

A. Age: newly 36
B. Bed Size: King
C. Chore you hate: Keeping the floors clean. Oh and laundry, it never ends! Unless you walk around naked I guess.
D. Dogs: They’re cute, always have cats but I’d be dogified too.
E. Essential start to your day:: Tea
F. Favorite Color: I’m in a green phase right now, although yellow and orange are sneaking in too.
G. Gold or Silver: White gold
H. Height: 5’8.
I. Instruments you play: Piano-ish. I can play Blackbird on a guitar.
J. Job Title: Special Education Teacher
K. Kids: 2 boys, newly 5 yrs and nearly 3 yrs
L. Live: Oshawa, Canada
M. Mother’s Name: Brenda
N. Nicknames: T
O. Overnight hospital stays: Yep, tonsil removal and a cosmetic surgery when I was 12. I’ve been in labour over night, twice, but left a few hours after my kids were born in the mornings.
P. Pet Peeves: Ignorance
Q. Quote from a Movie:
Inigo: Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?
Fezzik: If there are, we all be dead.
Vizzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it!
Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?
R. Right handed or Left handed. Righty
S. Siblings: Nope
T. Time to wake up: Is this when I have to or when I want to? 6:45 for work, when the kids jump on me relentlessly on days off
U. Underwear: Yes!
V. Vegetables you hate: It would appear I like them all . . . . I can’t think of one.
W. What makes you run late: Hitting snooze.
X. X-rays you have: My wisdom teeth, no longer with us and my foot.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Guacamole and a chick pea salad.
Z. Zoo animals: Giraffes and zebras please! I must have a thing about patterns.

It’s my birthday! It’s my birthday!

Annnnnnnd my BFF is pretty awesome.  Here’s some of the fun goodies she got me (she snooped in my Etsy favs). There’s a really cool nautical patterned fabric.

Some fun vinyl stuff, nice linen/cotton blends, fun ribbon and a button.

And this cool piece with vintage images on it, it’s some sort of panel type thing. I’ll find a use for it.

Luckily it’s a half day of work for me so here’s hoping Nate has a nice nap and Wesley is enamoured with his LEGO yet again this afternoon and maybe I can wander off and create something fun with all this pretty new stuff!

I’ve also got a DIY post featured here today, a little back to school organization sewing project that anyone with little kids to get ready will love. Hope you all have a great day, even if it’s not your birthday!

My gift giving challenge.

You know I don’t really need yet another creative thing to do but they’re always so fun and cute. Keyka Lou posted this great ribbon the other day which of course sent me off clicking to Etsy to see what it’s all about.

While I was admiring all the pretty chevron ribbons I had a lightbulb moment. I’m going to wrap all my gifts pretty simply, kraft paper or bags or boxes and then go all out making them look great with twine, ribbon, doilies and other such embellishments. That way the items are reusable, repurposable or biodegradable.

Allow me to share some of my fav items and shops that will help me, and you if you want to play, with this challenge. Click images to be whisked away to shops!

I’ve ordered a set of these already to make my own envelopes out of various papers.

You can order a printable PDF file for these vintage linen inspired cards.

Hoboville has the cutest rubber stamps I have ever seen! A great option for making your own printed wrapping paper.

Thriftypyg has some great ephemiria items that would jazz up some plain kraft paper nicely. Check out these cute stamps.

I’ve got some of these stashed away downstairs, no clue what I’m going to use them for but they are ridiculously sweet.

Baker’s twine is pretty easy to find on Etsy but these little mushroom spools are extra super cute.

Pretty Tape has a great selection of . . . pretty washi tape and loads of other great packaging accessories.

Some of my favourite shops for packaging supplies are Paper & Parcel , California Craft and of course I couldn’t have made it this far without Knot & Bow.

Shipping center

I’ve been looking for a way to organize myself a little shipping area. I found the answer in an unlikely piece. Well I suppose it is a mail organizer to begin with but it was pretty yucky.

So I painted it.

Then, after wondering how I could cover the painted cork with metal to make use of my awesome fun magnets, I decided to just use some cork scrapbook paper stuff I had and stick that overtop of the dark cork.

Then I hung it up and attached the things I need! Apologies for the poor lighting situation, again that basement workspace. I really need to keep working on my kids about those bunk beds.

I still struggle with my packaging style. There’s just so many fun things and ideas that I can’t settle on what exactly I want to do. But I have started using up a pile of these “Hello” name tag labels that were left on the ‘take me’ table at school. I write the addresses on them. I use washi tape to stick the corners of the envelopes down, just to make sure they stay closed. I usually wrap the order in kraft tissue paper and then either tie it with baker’s twine and attach a tag or stick it shut with one of my MOO stickers.

At the top I filled in the little heart with some fabric and turned it into a little pin cushion and then I use those on the cork board. Hanging from the bottom are MOO stickers and envelopes that have already been return address stamped and have an address label attached. Just add ink!

Not bad for a thrifty find.

Mooooooo

I might be addicted.

They launched some new products recently.

And had some really good sales.

And I didn’t even photograph the stickers!

I’m a copy owl

My friend and I were browsing Pier One a few weeks back and saw these really cute owl plushies.

No clue what they’re for but they were really cute, and $18. Of course I did one of those, “We can totally make that” things and took a sneaky photo of them. We went and bought some felt that night and then we got crafty while we were away at the cottage. Using some felt, embroidery floss and 2 buttons, here’s what we came up with.

We cut all the shapes by hand, it probably would have been easier with some sort of Cricut type thing, but whatever. We stitched it by hand, almost entirely. I used my machine to sew the green bits on the belly so they’d be stuck on well. We were going to get ambitious and knit or crochet the legs but didn’t have the right supplies at the cottage. My friend decided not to put legs on her owl at all, just attach the feet, and I used some fabric and made some little legs instead of the HUGE ones on the Pier One owls.

Here’s a sketch, because I have yet to learn how to do pattern pieces all fancy like, of all the bits you need if you want to give this a try yourself. I’m all about putting your own spin on crafts so it’s measurement free, my owl is about 10 inches tall (legs not included.

1. Eye flower cut 2 (shape can be different)
2. Outside eye circle cut 2 (should be a circle, I used pinking shears to give it a fun edge)
3. Beak cut 1
4. Owl body cut 2
5. Face, base this on the size of your body piece. Cut 1.
6. Wings (optional, my friend didn’t make any) Cut 4.
7. Belly piece, this is hidden once the owl is all done but it’s there under the ‘feathers’. Cut 1
8. Feathers cut enough to cover piece #7, my owl has 12.
9. Feet cut 4.

Assembly

1. Sew the buttons on the eye flower pieces with the white circles behind
2. Sew the white circles to the face piece with a contrasting thread and some fun stitches.
3. Sew the face piece to the owl body, sew the beak on as well.
4. Attach the belly piece to the owl and cover it with the feathers, staggering them a bit.
5. Stitch the 2 body pieces together, leaving the bottom open. Mind are stitched with embroidery floss showing on the outside. You can stitch it right sides together on a sewing machine and turn it if you’d like. I was going for a more rustic look.
6. Stuff your owl.
7. Stitch the wings together, leaving a small opening and stuff them. Attach to the body.
8. Cut 2 pieces of fabric, mine were about 3 x 8 and fold and stitch down the long edge, turn the tube rightside out and stuff.
9. Stitch the feet together, leaving a small opening, stuff and stitch closed. Attach to the legs.
10. Tuck the legs into the opening at the bottom of the body and stitch it up!

Pyrex love

I should have been writing a different post I have all the photos for, instead I went window shopping on Etsy. I had to share.

‘Pyrex love’ by sewtara

A vintagey colourful treat for your eyes. Go ahead, feast!


snowflake PYREX 195…

$12.99

Vintage Pyrex Cinde…

$46.00

Butterprint. Vintag…

$9.50

Vintage Pyrex Daisy…

$22.00

Pyrex Gourmet Casse…

$28.89

Vintage Pyrex Bowls

$10.00

Vintage Pyrex Bowl …

$6.98

Pyrex Berry Bowl wi…

$9.00

4 coordinating mism…

$19.00

Vintage Pyrex Ameri…

$10.00

Mustard Green Geome…

$30.00

Pyrex Mixing Bowls …

$45.00

Amish Butterprint S…

$45.00

Pyrex Butterfly Gol…

$30.00

Vtg 2 x Piece Pyrex…

$38.00

Vintage Pyrex Bowl …

$14.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Let me know if you go shopping!