Fancy Little Angel

I love finding patterns for wood projects in the most unlikely places.  This pattern came from a scrap booking die that I own.  I cut one of these out of black card stock, scanned it with my computer, saved it, re-sized it using Adobe Photo Shop, and then printed it so that it was approximately 6 inches tall.

This was supposed to be done last Christmas and if you read my last post you know that it was cold in my workshop and I stopped sawing as soon as I had enough for my gift giving needs.

This one is for me to keep.

She was a lot of work with all of those little cut outs but the effort was well worth the end result.

I have started to play with computer font (dingbats) to make some more patterns for the upcoming Christmas season.

Find inspiration in out of the way places.

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Unfinished Projects Being Finished

Christmas 2012 was my first flurry of making ornaments.  When I had completed enough to give to family, co-workers, and friends I stopped.  I still had 3 ornaments prepped and ready to cut out but just didn't have the desire to be in the garage cutting wood when the weather had turned so cold. 

I have been working on those uncompleted ornaments and slowly getting them from the unfinished pile to the finished pile. 

Here is the last of the filigree angels:

I put kept setting this angle aside because I felt like there was something "dark" or "Gothic" about her.  I know that is really not the case but she was not as inviting as the rest of the patterns that she came from.  She is now finished. 

I had a friend of mine, who is in a nursing home doing rehab, ask is she could have this angel.  Donna said that she loved having the angel that I gave her at Christmas time hang above her bed.  One of her aides knocked it off and when it hit the ground she broke.  Donna said she always feels like the angel watches over her.  So this little girl is now watching over Donna as she does her rehab and works her way home.

Make someone happy and make a little something just to give away.

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Back To Wood And An Original Basket

Now that spring is here and I can be in the garage without freezing I have been busy sawing again.  I didn't actually start this project at the saw though.  I put pen to paper and designed this one myself.  It  is somewhat rough in the aspect that because I drew this pattern myself, it is not perfect.  I did not design it using a computer program (although it probably would have been easier if I had that knowledge.)

The piece went together pretty easy for me but I learned a few things while making this.

First I will share the pictures of the basket:

Front view:

Side view:

And a view to show you that the handle does move:

 

The finished basket is fairly small.  The finished dimensions are from table to the top of the handle is about 7 1/4 inches tall.... from table to the top of the basket part is 3 1/2 inches tall. the basket is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches square.

At this point I am not sure how to share the pattern with all of you. I can't get the PDF file to copy here.  I am still learning how the "Blog" works.

I hope that this is an inspiration for all of you to try your hand at designing.  The reason that I decided to do this is I could not find a square basket that I liked and could see the basic concept of the design by looking at other patterns.    

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Another Card

As with the previous post this card was made as a sympathy card for a co-worker and the idea came from Pinterest.

This card was a bit more complex in the making than the previous one.  For this one I used a diamond punch, a lace border punch, a butterfly die, several embossing folders, Stickles (glitter glue,) and pearls.  I also went a little to the unconventional side of scrap booking and used my sewing machine with a zig zag stitch and white thread.

This card, as you can see in this picture, has layers, texture, and height to it.

The sentiment in this one came from an Internet site.

I really like the way this one turned out and once I got it all laid out and figured out how to hold things into place so that I could sew it, the process was fast and easy.  By the way, the trick to sewing in order that you don't "gum up the needle" on the machine is to place a small amount of adhesive to only the center of each diamond.  That tip works like a charm.

Now that you've seen the scrap lift, and got a tip on how to make the process easier, go try one of these...  just imagine the possibilities with different colors of card stock, mixing and matching.  This could be used for any occasion as well.

Happy Scrappin' ! ! !

Brenda

Card Making

Recently, at work, I had several co-workers lose family members.  I needed tasteful cards to use as sympathy cards.  For ideas I turned to Pinterest for my inspiration.  Anytime I scraplift I try to give credit where credit is due but in this case I never did find the original post so I am just going to say I found the ideas on Pinterest and leave it at that.

I also want to point out that when I scrap lift nothing ever looks exactly like the original because I never have the same materials.  So with that said I will just share the first card.

I used embossing folders, ribbon, brads, a punch, and my computer.

A full front view:

And then the sentiment on the inside of the card:

The sentiment was geared toward the arrangement that the employees went together and purchased and sent to the funeral home, which was a lantern with a flameless candle in it.

This shows you that with the white on white effect that you can make a tasteful handmade card for the most serious occasion.

Happy Scrappin' ! ! !

Brenda.

Going Back

The last project that I shared with you was a ring box. I've learned a lot about making those little boxes since that post.

I have made several more of them and expanded on the sizes, shapes, and even finishing them. I've learned to flock the inside, giving them a felted interior.

Today I am sharing all of the boxes that I've created so far... and there will be more in the future because this is one of the ways that I am using scrap wood.

This is the last box that I shared with you:

 

That box's interior became this:

Then I expanded into round and square boxes:

As you can also see all are flocked on the inside and each has a unique knob as well.  My compound cutting is also improving with each project that I do.

One last photograph of all of the boxes that I've completed....  I am hoping next round to do a clover, a heart, and I also want to expand and do a few bandsaw boxes.  I have a list a mile long of projects.

Happy crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Been Busy

As you all know life gets so busy sometimes. Mine is no exception and I tend to forget about my blog when that happens.

My daughter's Senior year of high school has flown by. She is now a graduate.

My nephew had a horrible motorcycle accident. He is going to recover but has a long road ahead of him. I had to shake my head and smile. When I asked him if he was going to ride again his response was "can't wait."

New posts are coming your way. New projects in both paper crafting and wood working.

I am trying to get a few things together and try to post at least once a week.

Stay tuned and keep crafting.

Brenda

Welcoming 2013 And Using What I Have - Small Oval Box

I have learned over the years to never throw away something that might be able to be used. I learned this from my dad, Cecil. We always joked with my dad and told him to "throw that away." His response was always the same, "I might need that someday or worse, you might." He took saving things to the extreme! Although I do not save everything, when I am working with wood and I see a scrap of wood from a scroll cut and I always think to myself, "do I save that or throw it in the kindling pile?"

I love the thought of using odd items or scraps and making them into something. With that thought in mind, my scrap wood pile was getting a bit larger that what I have room to store so I started searching for a project to use some it.

That is when I thought about my Christmas gift from my son. He and his wife, Kim gave me a scroll saw pattern book called "Custom Wooden Boxes For The Scroll Saw." This book has all kinds of wooden boxes for the beginner to the advanced scroller. In that book I found a few small boxes in different shapes that were perfect for the scraps that I wanted to use.

These boxes can be made from any wood and a person can make them in several different ways. I glued scrap boards together to form a block and then cut the rings to form the box sides and a scrap of 1/4 inch scrap cut into an oval formed the box bottom.



The top of the box is formed in the same manner except only one ring is attached to the box top and it is slightly larger than the box rings from the bottom of the box. The knob on the top of the box is a compound cut.







Here are several views of finished box. The first is an angle shot of the box so that you can see that the knob is compound cut.



A side view:



And lastly a front view:



This is a relatively a small piece measuring 3 1/2 inches from the table to the top of the knob and about 3 1/2 inches at the widest part of the oval.

I love the way that the grain in the wood really shows in the ring layers and that each ring (even though the entire box is made of pine and is stained all in the same stain) is a different shade. I was very happy with this project and being able to use some of my scrap wood and turn it into a useful made this project all the sweeter.

I love taking a page out of my dad's book and saving those pieces of wood that are somehow just to big to throw away and then finding a use for them. I also love the fact that this project did not cost me anything to make.

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Heart Candle Base With Charms

This will probably be my last post until after the New Year. This also concludes the items that I have made for Christmas gifts. I made two of these heart candle bases with matching charms. One of them is going to my husband's brother and his wife, and the other to his sister and her husband. I just could not come up with a gift idea for them so I made them something and purchased the candle to go with it.

I am not going to get long winded on this post but rather get right to the wood working.

Here is a picture of the just the base:

And here is a picture of the candle on the base with the charms tied to it with jute:

I hope that they like them as I put a lot of time and effort into these.

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda

Quick Gifts - Change Of Pace - Sewing

I needed a quick and easy little something to give as a gift. This was more or less to fill in and make my gift look a little bigger. I had previously posted that I made each of the girls in my office a wooden trivet.

I did a little research after seeing these towels at a local craft bizarre. I found a great step-by-step tutorial on you-tube.com and having some sewing experience these looked so easy.

Materials were inexpensive, readily available, and I had some of the supplies on hand such as thread and buttons. My materials list was potholders with a loop on the side and they could be round, square, or rectangle. Matching or coordinating kitchen hand towels, color coordinating buttons, thread and of course my sewing machine.

Here is a the LINK to the you-tube tutorial. You will find that the directions that the girl gives are very easy to understand.

Here is a picture of my finished hanging towels that will be given with the hand made trivets.

Just a quick share of another craft that I enjoyed making and would like to get as a gift myself.

My motto is always give something that you would like to receive.

Happy Crafting ! ! !

Brenda