Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2014

DIY Embossed Felt Business Card Wallet

I went to a blogging conference, Declare Conference, in Dallas this weekend. It was amazing conference for women. I got to meet some of my friends I met on Social Media groups (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogging) IN PERSON!! We got to spent time together and I share hotel room with 3 of them. I will share some pictures later this week 🙂

So, when I found out that I would have roommates, I started to look for inspirations. I decided to make a business card holder/wallet for them because we were suggested to bring business cards to swap with others there. So, Pinterest where I went for more ideas. I found so many tutorials using sewing machine and they said that it was for beginner. I told myself, “Helen, this is the time to learn and try using your new sewing machine.” I tried. But failed. It was not because of their tutorials, but it was because of my lack of ability of using this machine! Check these sewing tutorials if you want to try 🙂

I still have LOTS of felt leftover from our craft making party last year and why not using felt and hand stitching, I talked to myself. And there went I tried. Adapting from this sewing tutorial, I made single card wallet/holder with felt. And I wanted some textures on my felt, not just plain felts. I remembered this embossed felt tutorial from Becky Fleck and decided to try when I made these business card wallet.

Supplies you will need to make this business card wallet/holder:

Felt
Iron
Needle and thread
Scissors
Rotary cutter
Pinking shears
Ruller
Spray bottle and clean water
Rubber stamp of your choice

my ruler is too long for this picture… sorry.

You will need 1 of 4″ x 2.5″ rectangle and 1 of 3″ x 2″5 rectangle. I cut my felt using my rotary cutter and quilt ruler, quick and easier than using regular scissors.

Lay the felt on top of the stamp that you want to use. For this first one, I laid my smaller felt on top of one of the butterfly rubber stamp from Denami Design – Fancy Flutters stamp set and using my spray bottle I sprayed the felt lighty with water.

The iron I used is a tiny one I found at Walmart (or you can find at any craft store). It is not too hot for craft projects. So, I press the felt on the rubber stamp with my iron for about 15 seconds. Don’t be too long. But if the impression is not what you want, you can press again for another 10-15 seconds.

Here’s what the embossed felt look like after the ironing:

Then last step is to put them together. Lay both felt on top of each other and stitch. I used blanket stitching to make the pocket. You can use the pinking shears before or after the stitching together for the decorated border top.

Here’s another one I made using one of the rubber stamp from Taylored Expressions – Sky’s the Limit stamp set.

And this one I decided not to embossed the felt but added a crochet doily on it. The pink is just fit with the dark and light chocolate 🙂

So that’s the simple project I made for my conference roommates 🙂 Thank you for visiting my blog today! Have a fun crafty day!

Posted on Friday, June 20, 2014

DIY Stenciled Burlap Plate

Last weekend one of my close friends had a house warming for her new house. It was a very nice house. Lots of close friends from church came and we had fun fellowship there. And my baby was too sneaky… she had more than enough candies because she could reach the dining table! It is surprised me because I just don’t realize how tall she is now!!

For my friend’s house warming, I made her gift… it’s stenciled burlap plate. I got the plate at Hobby Lobby a couple months ago.

The same way I stenciled the canvas tote bag for my craft swap friend, I used the freezer paper for stencil. I got a bottle of White Plaid all purpose paint at Walmart to sponge the dots and phrase. Then I trace the white paint with Sharpie marker.

Supplies:

Burlap plate (or burlap canvas works great too!)
Freezer paper
It’s Little Things That Make Life Grand cutting file
White acrylic paint (all purpose that works on fabric works well).
round sponge dauber
Sharpie permanent marker
Iron
Silhouette Cameo
Cutting Mat
Spatula

Here’s the simple way to make this burlap plate decor:

Open the phrase cutting file I got from Silhouette Online Store designed by Lori Whitlock on Silhouette Studio Designer Edition (but Silhouette Studio software is free software you can download here).
Resize the phrase according to size of your plate or burlap. Do not ungroup!
Flip the phrase to the right.
Place the freezer paper on the place mat. I cut it 12 x 12.
Load the mat.
Set the blade setting to printer paper.
Cut. – Enjoy while the machine does the work for you 🙂
Use spatula to get the stencil off the mat. BE VERY CAREFUL! (I learned in a hard hard hard way!)
Place the stencil on the burlap.
Set the iron at lowest setting, no steam. Run lightly on the freezer paper couple times. Make sure the paper stick well.
Put some paint on paper plate, dip the dauber in the paint.
Add the paint on the stencil. Be very careful.
Remove the stencil before the paint gets to dry. You don’t want it to stick on the burlap.
Let it sits to dry completely. The pain I used is Plaid All Purpose Pain which dries quickly. It was about 2 hours.
And then trace the letters with Sharpies.
Done.

I hope you find this easy to follow, if you have some questions, feel free to leave me a comment. I will reply as soon as I read it.

THANKS for visiting today 🙂

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Link up the project at:

Lori Whitlock Link Up Party with Traci

Creative Spark Link Party Week #7

Posted on Monday, June 16, 2014

DIY Stenciled Canvas Tote Bag

Summer is finally here! We had such wonderful and fun weekend celebrating our 6th Anniversary and Father’s Day. I am thank God for my husband, Dave each day and love him more! I praise God for him! The best father God has given to my daughters!

You Color My Day | Digital Scrapbook layout designed by Helen Gullett

Kit: Live Life In Color by Jen C Designs Template: May Grab Bag, Memory Makers Vol.7 by Jen C Designs Font: OldNewspaper Type

More exciting today… I am joining an amazing craft blog hop today! It is The Silhouette Challenge – Handmade Gift Exchange on the Silhouette Challenge Facebook Group. If you would like to join us, please go to Lauren’s blog to find out the details.

The rules is simple: use Silhouette die cutting machine to make a gift for the assigned exchanged friend. I made this stenciled canvas bag for my friend, Debby.

hmg-canvas-bag-stencil

Supplies you’ll to make this tote bag are:

Plain canvas bag (get at any craft store)
Fabric markers or paints
Freezer paper
Iron
Silhouette die cut machine
Cutting mat, spatula, tweezer
Shapes from Silhouette online store. For this my bag, I picked Poppy head and stem from Donna Downey.

I found couple link tutorials you can check out their tutorials how to make stencil project using freezer paper:

First, open the shape on Silhouette Studio software. I resized the phrase to 8 in tall for the tote bag. Then I mirrored the writing to the right. Then I cut 12×12 freezer paper and put it on the cutting mat shine side up. Then cut. Use the spatula to pick the cut shapes off the cutting mat.

I added the stems first on the bag. Set the iron on low (no steam!) and lightly run the iron on the freezer paper (shine side down) on the canvas bag until it sticked on the bag.

I found a pack of 24 fabric markers at Walmart because I cannot find fabric paint there. I always wish that we live right next to Hobby Lobby…hahahaha…. 😀

Using the green marker, I drew the stems on the bag. I layered it couple times to get bolder result. This marker dries right away after you draw on any fabric so that you can peel off the freezer paper right after the drawing. This is perfect for quick project.

After peeling off the stem freezer papers off the canvas bag, I added the poppy shape using the iron again. And using the red maker I filled in all the cut shapes of the flower. I did twice to get darker red.

When I was done with the red, I peel off the freezer papers and then colored the middle of the flower with black marker.

Ta-da! It is done! I love how result! Very lovely poppy flowers. I am planning to make one more for me and add my favorite Bible verse on the bag too 🙂

Are you looking for more DIY Gift ideas? Check out my Silhouette Challenges friends’ projects. I hope you all find inspirations you need from this blog hop today 🙂 — Click the link below to see the projects:

An InLinkz Link-up

HAVE A FUN CRAFTY DAY and THANK YOU for stopping by today!

Posted on Sunday, June 1, 2014

A God’s Gift

Welcome to June! WOW… can you believe that Summer is getting closer? Well… here we actually already have our “Summer” weather. SO LOVE IT! My husband and I have planned for our Anniversary + Family Vacation later this month. We are just so thankful for God’s blessings in our life and enable us to have our first family vacation, real vacation just us and the girls! That is one of the activities we have in our Summer bucket list. What about you? What’s your Summer bucket list?

This new month, we also have fun new challenges at Scrapping Everyday Miracles:

Main Theme Challenge: you can create any projects with the main theme challenge “Each New Day Is A Gift.” Or you also can use the inspiration verse from James 1:7, “Every good and perfect gift is come from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Layout Sketch Challenge:

Card Sketch Challenge:

I made this necklace using CTMH Base & Bling Wearable Crafts collections (only $15 for the whole necklace supplies). This is a reminder for me that every day is a gift from God because He will fulfill His purposes in my life because He is my God who endures forever. Knowing God’s promise in our lives is a gift, forever gift!

And here’s my take on the Card Sketch Challenge. I used Create Paper Pad and the stamp set is from CTMH Ivy Lane Cardmaking Workshop Kit (D1586) and I wrapped with the hemp cord I got from a store a while ago. I made this card for a friend… she is one of God’s gifts in my life.

You can link up your projects as many time as you want as long as they are following our challenge rules and themes. There are goodies to win!

Posted on Friday, May 30, 2014

DIY Baseball Banner for Baby Boy Shower

Couple months ago, our friend had a baby shower for their baby boy and they picked baseball themed party because they are a huge fan of Cincinnati Reds (we are too! :D) So, I created this banner for them:

First, I created the baseball shape using Silhouette Studio Designer software and then I cut them with my Silhouette Cameo. The size of each baseball is 5 inches. For the balls I used White Daisy Cardstock and the red stitching I used Ruby Cardstock. Then I punched the holes and I used jute twine I got from a craft store.

For the name, I cut out the letters from Black Cardstock and I added some glitter using Wink of Stella glitter brush. Then I added the letters on the balls using 3D foam tape to give some dimension to them.

We totally had a fun baseball themed baby shower for my friend’s baby boy! Friends and families celebrated the blessing of God in this family. And few weeks ago we finally met this little guy! He is adorable!

Thanks for stopping by today! This project I link up SOUS Die Cut Challenge:

This new die cut challenge runs from May 30th through June 12th. You are challenged to use any CIRCLES die cuts on your projects. Need some inspirations? Check out the Die Cut Team members’ projects here for inspirations! You can link up your projects here to win this month blog candy sponsored by Paper Bakery… Sarah, the owner, generously provide $15 gift voucher to the store where you can shop for all of your paper crafting needs. Check out their blog and inspiration here.