Custom Vinyl Plaques & Frame

After I recently made the sign for my brother's wedding I received a couple of custom orders. The top two plaques are doors from IKEA. I checked on the retail prices on doors the other day and who knew that most were $100 or more. Crazy! Thank goodness for the "as is" section where they sell doors that are either returned or taken apart from their former displays. You can buy doors for just a fraction of the price. It's my latest addiction.

The bottom frame is from my stash of tole painting wood from my Provo Craft days. Although it looks like it's painted really fancy I actually just mod podged a piece of paper on it.

I love how these projects turned out and can't wait to make more.

Spring Boutique

Just a sneak peak of some of the items that I made for my Spring Boutique tonight at my home from 6-8pm. Hope you can make it!

Two more Tshirts upcycled

This is an old Tshirt of mine that I haven't worn in a very long time!

Why I ever owned a 2XL shirt is beyond me.
Josh's favorite Tshirt that he still wore even though the neckline was totally fraying and there were lots of holes in the shirt!

I used the same pattern for all three. The blue one turned out a bit smaller since that fabric was thinner but I love them all.

P.S. -- The other day my friend told me her picture taking secret and I'm using it here for the first time. She takes pictures in the corner of her garden tub since there's a great white background and lots of natural light. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? I dusted my tub this morning since I never use it so I could try it as my picture taking spot. There's a bit of a pink hue since I had my pink curtain closed but I think it worked pretty good. I'm sure I'll be using this spot a lot more.

I won!

I was so excited to receive an email this morning notifying that I had won my friend's giveaway. Technically you were supposed to win something currently listed in one of her stores but since I went over this morning to pick up my prize she said I could choose whatever I wanted and so of course as soon as I saw this beauty I knew this was it! It was like this was made just for me it was so perfect. When I got home I actually did my hair and makeup and picked out an outfit to match. I'm wearing a pink skirt and pink shoes as well. It was so fun to be all dolled up for church. I love it! I'm so lucky to have such an amazingly creative friend and even luckier that I won one of her amazing items. Thanks Jen! Visit her blog and you too will be blown away!

Upcycled Tshirt

Before - my old Gap tshirt had seen better days

During - I started out cutting a 1" spiral. Once I got up to the sleeves I just cut strips and then pieced them together.

After - Upcycled into this versatile container. The sides really are straight. I'm not sure why they look all wonky in this picture.

A week or so ago I came across this old tshirt of mine that had been packed away for a pretty long time. Obviously it wasn't fit to be worn anymore so lastnight I started cutting it in a 1" spiral to get it ready to be crocheted. Today I started crocheting intending to make coasters or a trivet or something like that but then I ended up making this cylinder instead. It would make a great pencil cup or you could put a glass jar in it and use it for a vase. For the picture I threw some of my crochet hooks in it. It is 3 1/2" across and 6" high. I'd been wanting to try this for a while now and really liked it. I already have a couple more tshirts set aside to make some more. I can't wait to make another one.

Eco Friendly Wool Dryer Balls

I'm running low on dryer sheets and was contemplating alternatives to purchasing another box. When I took care of my friend Jessica in NYC in January I noticed she had reuseable plastic dryer balls and was intrigued with this solution. They seemed to work well and she said they lasted a long time so I thought that might be the way to go but wasn't completely convinced. Then I noticed some etsy listings for reusable dryer sachets that are like beanbags made from recycled tshirts and are filled with herbs like lavender and are reusable. That sounded like a step in the right direction. And then this past weekend the answer was given to me. My aunt clipped out a newspaper article from the Salt Lake Tribune that pointed out concerns about the chemicals that dryer sheets and even these reusable dryer balls end up leaving on our clothes. The author recommended using wool dryer balls. She said they last for years, absorb static cling and prevent the waxy buildup in your dryer and on your clothes. While I was out yesterday I stopped at Joann's and purchased a skein of wool yarn with my 40% off coupon. I was able to make 4 balls from the yarn and they are currently in the dryer with the sheets for their first load. I can't wait to see how they work. I took lots of pics along the way and am contemplating writing up an in depth ehow article on them since the current articles are vague and don't include pictures.

Another crocheted edge baby blanket

Yeah! Another completed project!

Close up of the finished edge.

I finished crocheting the edge around this baby blanket earlier in the week and hadn't had a chance to post a picture of it yet. I really love this fabric. Of course I'm a big fan of the flowers and I like the coordinating blue on the back as well. I used a variegated pink thread and just made up an easy pattern. I can't tell you how many hours this took. I know I don't crochet very fast but whenever I crochet projects with thread it just makes me appreciate all the more people who make big items from thread. I seriously do not have that kind of patience. I think is the last blanket I'm ever going to crochet around.

I did bring back a sack of flannel from CA last weekend that my mom gave me but haven't decided what to do with it yet. So many fun possibilities! I'm very glad to have yet another ufo finished. Yeah!

Scrap my Scraps Challenge

A couple weeks ago my friend Erin put out the call for volunteers to participate in her "scrap my scraps" challenge. I was lucky enough to get picked to play. She sent me about 6 rectangles of scrapbook paper and I combined them with some of my scraps and made some stuff most of which turned into packaging for other items but it was a lot of fun. She posted my pics the other day. Follow this link to go to her posting. While you are there check out all her fun stuff.

Giveaways

I personally love giveaways. I enter all of them that I come across and I nearly always do the surveys that I find printed on receipts. I was even lucky enough to win a $100 gift card from DownEast Basics on their blog last Fall. I thought it would be fun to do my own giveaway but for whatever reason it didn't take off. I'm not sure if no one noticed it or if it was too complicated or confusing or what. So I'll put that aside for now and just keep on recording my creative journey.
I feel very blessed to have many talented friends, two of which are currently involved in giveaways. The first is Jennifer of Mary Poppins Presents. She is a constant inspiration to me and I'm always amazed at the unique items she comes up with. Click here to find out how to enter. The next one is a friend that I haven't seen for over 15 years but was lucky enough to find again through facebook. She is a jewelry maker, artist and author. You can win a copy of her book and a necklace here.

Wrapping Paper Bows

Not my most impressive bow to date but this is after a long car journey...

I can't remember where I first saw the idea of making bows from your leftover wrapping paper but I loved it and have been making them ever since. I thought I'd post about it since it seems like there's always someone who hasn't seen it before and wonders how to make them. Being a compulsive hoarder it's always difficult for me to throw away those strips of paper that you end up cutting off when wrapping a present so this is the perfect solution for me. All you do is cut your excess paper into 1/2" strips and curl them with your scissors just like curling ribbon. They magically curl up and then all you have to do is tape them into a bow. You don't have to worry about if your strips are perfectly even because this method covers up a lot of mistakes. I have used a paper shredder before but the strips ended up quite narrow which I guess would be good on small packages but ended up being a bit time consuming on larger packages.

So there - my secret of wrapping paper bows is out. Happy wrapping!

Keith & Rachael Millett

The happy couple with their wedding present from me.

It looked great on their sign in table. The frame on the right she received at her bridal shower.

My brother got married on Friday and this is the present I gave them. I was helping set up Friday afternoon and noticed they were putting up some pictures by the guest book in the lobby and thought they might want to add this to the diplay so I went out to the car and got it and let them open it. They really loved it and it was a nice addition to the table. Rachael really loves black frames. I was so lucky to find this cabinet door in the "as is" section at IKEA. Thanks to my friend Jen for generously cutting the vinyl for me. I was so nervous to apply it since this is the biggest vinyl project I've done to date. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I hope to make one for me soon. Plus I keep getting requests for more so I'll be going to IKEA again soon and hopefully will find some more cabinet doors that will work for this project.

White Newborn Headband & Bootie Set

I've started making headbands. Thought it would be cute to have a matching headband for the newborn booties. These would be perfect for a baby blessing. I'm going to list this gift set in my shop soon.

Check out this Chick!

It's so fun sharing the love of crafting with your friends. One of my friends that I've known for a very long time has a really great bog that I love checking out. I admire her amazing paper crafting skills. She recently started designing for Skipping Stones Designs which means she gets to play with completely adorable stamps and make the cutest cards with them. Check out her card this week: http://inkysmiles.blogspot.com/2010/03/skipping-stones-design-sketch-ssd016.html

Spring Giveaway!

I’ve been meaning to do a giveaway for a while now and obviously never have gotten around to it so here it goes…

There are five(5) ways to enter:

1. Follow my blog and leave a comment. (or if you already follow leave a comment)
2. Become a facebook fan and leave a comment. (or if you are already a fan leave a comment)
3. Post a picture of a staceylyndesigns original that I’ve given you or that you have purchased from me (preferably with you in the picture as well) on my facebook page and leave a comment.
4. Post a link to this on your facebook and leave a comment here.
5. Post a link to this from your blog and leave a comment here.

Oh, and don't be worried if your comment doesn't show up right away. I guess I'm some sort of international sensation because I often get comments in other languages which I don't approve since I have no idea what they say.

And if you own several things that I've made you can take a picture of each one individually and each of them will count. Just post a comment about each one since the comments are the entries for the drawing.

Clear as mud? Oh, maybe I should tell you what the prize is…

Ta da! It’s a Double Daisy Brooch with leaves (yes I just came up with leaves a couple days ago and I’m so excited about them!) You can wear it on a shirt or jacket or pin it on a purse or tote bag or even attach it to a hat or headband. The possibilities are endless. I hope you will want one and play along. The flower is about 3” around and the leaves stick out about an inch further so the overall dimensions are approx. 3” tall x 4” wide.

And you have 10 days to enter. On the morning of the 23rd look to the east as the sun rises and I will use one of those cool number crunching things to reveal the lucky winner.

Thought this would be a great way to Welcome Spring in a big way!

Good Luck!

Flower Hair Clips

I made these today. I've been wanting to make flower clips for a while now but I could never figure out how to use the flower that I make for the hats since it's so holey. It finally occured to me to make the flower that I use on the baby booties. Luckily I had some barrettes on hand that I'd picked up at the 99 cent store a while back. As you can see the flower measures approx. 2" across and the hairclip is just a bit shy of that measurement.

Crocheted Top Kitchen Hand Towels

In all my years of crocheting I had never crocheted the tops on dish towels before. I didn't have the patience to search for a pattern so I just kind of made this up as I went along but I like how they turned out. I took lots of pictures along the way so I could write up a tutorial about it. I already had the kitchen towel and found the yarn at a thrift store the other day for $1. The buttons came from my collection. The first row is pretty slow going since you are crocheting through the towel but the rest of the rows go fairly fast. I'm sure I'll do some more one day just as soon as my other thousand works in progress get completed.

Green Dishrags

Here's some more dishrags I crocheted up recently. This time I used the pattern on the package label. Not sure if I like it or not. I also added a lacy edge to a couple of them but then I ran out of yarn.

Green Camo Dishrags

Today is my cousin's b'day. A while back we were shopping at JoAnn's and I saw this yarn and new that she would love it so I got it and crocheted her these dishrags. The giftbox is made from 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. I also made her a card too. She is 9 1/2 months older than me. We have been friends since we were very small and I'm so happy that we live just a half hour away from each other and usually get to hang out atleast once a week to run errands.

Another Granny Square Afghan

I couldn't resist making another granny square baby afghan. I had a couple skeins of this bright pink yarn so I started with it. This yarn was a bit thinner than the purple yarn and as you can see it won't need much blocking. I did a couple extra rounds of the border here to give it a nice lacy edge. The finished afghan is approx. 32" square.

Rossette

So I finally got around to making a rosette the other day. They're on everything these days and I have admired the looks of them for a while now. I downloaded a pdf instruction sheet last fall and attempted to follow the instructions but ended up just kind of doing whatever and it still turned out. Tempted to cut up all the fabric I have and turn them into roses.

For the back I just glued on a piece of felt to help hold it together and glued on a bar pin I had on hand. I made it green since it's March and I've been wearing green pretty much everyday.

Granny Squares

Since I've been on the subject of granny squares lately I thought I'd include a picture of these beauties. Believe it or not these are the first crochet projects I ever did about 30 years ago I'm guessing. I don't know what possessed me to try to make an afghan. Being a 70s child, these were the colors my room was decorated in. I guess I made these two blocks and as you can see they didn't finish the same size so I stopped. Probably not the best project for a beginner but I suppose each square could be blocked to be the same size.
After making these, I remember completing a couple of baby blankets with a croknit hook. It's a cross between crocheting and knitting where you crochet the stitches on and off a rather large hook. I have one around here somewhere. Maybe I'll take that up again and see how that goes.

Blocking

I only had two skeins of yarn so when I ran out of purple I added a little lacy edge of white. I love how it turned out. At approx. 32" square it will be a great size for using in a carseat but as you can tell it wasn't laying perfectly flat. Since I mainly stick to smaller projects I had never blocked anything bigger than a doily so I did a little research online to figure out what to do.

Luckily, the piece fit on my kitchen island just right. I sprayed it down with water and stretched it here and there and now it lays flat even though I need to work on it a bit more to be perfectly square. This is a great way to use up yarn and as I'm constantly hosting baby showers I think I'll make a couple more to have on hand for some of the many expectant mothers I know.

Yikes!

I'd always been intrigued with making a giant granny square afghan so I started following a pattern that I found in a book I recently got from the library. After crocheting for a while I noticed that something was going terribly wrong. It wasn't laying flat at all and I knew that it was only going to get worse. I found a leftover granny square from an afghan my mom had made and noticed that it only had 3 double crochets in each grouping - not 4 like the pattern I was following called for.
So I ripped it all out and started over again and as you can see it worked out much better. Most of the time you can follow a pattern and it will turn out just fine but don't hesitate to make adjustments as neccessary.

Ocean Pot Holders

This yarn reminds me of shades of the ocean. I actually made these two potholders first and then the items in the previous post with the leftover yarn. I love how they turned out. They are going to make a great gift!