Conversation Blocks

I made these cute blocks a couple of months ago. I used Stampin'Up Newsprint DSP and the Broadsheet alphabet stamps. Love-love-love them so much. The wooden blocks were made by my Uncle David many years ago. I painted the blocks black and then cut the squares using my paper cutter. I used a varnish on each side after I finished adding all my stamped letters.
I started out with 14 blocks and had to figure out the words I wanted to spell out and any other holiday sayings I wanted to spell also. Then I stamped multiple letters and added the letters to different sides. That part took forever I must say.
It was an interesting project. I felt like I was creating a puzzle of sorts to try and come up with a lot of words. It's cute and I am able to spell Stampin'Up! and bzstampr to name a few.

I hope you like my block project. I think about my uncle, and the many talents he shared before he passed away, every time I look at them.

Well... it looks like we have a storm popping up. I better get off the 'ol computer and maybe read. Whoops... I hear thunder. geeze... better git!

Thanks again for taking the time to visit with me today.

Take care,
Debbie

Mug rugs

This was my first attempt at making mug rugs. I took the quick way and didn't use traditional quilt binding. I used fusible fleece on the front and sewed right sides together and left an opening so I could turn it out. Then, I top stitched around outer edges and did a wonky stitch vertically and horizontally for my quilting. I cut the yellow stars on my Cricut Expression. I had to put Heat N Bond on the wrong side before I could cut them out. After fusing the star to the front piece of the mug rug, I zigzag stitched around it.
It was a quick project. They measure about 8"x10". I can't wait to make more because it was easy and fun. I even washed them to see how they would hold up. I wanted them to get "wrinkly" like an old quilt but they came out rather smooth.

I hope you like them.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit my blog.

Debbie

Coffee bean bag pillow

I'm still here....
I was afraid Blogger wasn't going to let me post something. It was giving me error messages. hum... what's up with that? Can't a lazy blogger be 'lazy'?

Look at this giant pillow. It has a 24"x24" pillow form inside. The front is an actual burlap coffee bag with the graphics on front. How cool is that? I thought it would be hard to sew but it wasn't as bad as a fuzzy shirt I made for my granddaughter one time. The back of the pillow is made from canvas. I bought a 6'x9' painter's canvas for about $10 and it's strong and I see a bunch of tote bags in its future.

The coffee bean bag was so smelly when I received it that I had to leave it outside for a week. Then I had to wash it with water and leave it outside a couple more days. That did it and it smelled like sunshine.

I had read some horror stories online about sewing the burlap but I had no trouble at all. I cut the burlap pieces with pinking shears and that was a little tough but not too bad. It really went together in less than an hour.

I like it ... how 'bout you?

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll have more projects to post in just a little bit.

Have a great day!

Debbie

My Stampin'UP! stamping blitz

This is the result of my latest stamping blitz. I used only SU! products. My main focus was on using the Sew Suite stamp set (#122009 clear) and the Sweet Stitches DSP (#121781) from the Occasions Mini. I used my technique that I discovered a couple of months ago where I just start with about a dozen card bases and start adding paper. Then I decide what I want to add with stamped images and punched shapes. I did this blitz over the course of a few days. I'm thinking it's faster than what I used to do. We'll see my next blitz with another beautiful stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog.
I hope you don't mind a bunch of pictures so here goes....

Well.. there you have it. They're not fancy but they were quick and easy.

I hope you enjoyed the blitz. Let me know if you have any questions about any of my cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I really appreciate it when you leave comments too.


Happy stampin',

Debbie

Hot Apron

 

I made this apron Saturday for a dear friend. It has red with white pin dots fabric for the pockets and ties. The sides of the apron curve around to the back. I fussy cut some of the peppers out of the background fabric and appliqued them onto the pockets for a little different touch. Red bias tape goes along all the outside edges of the apron.

I used my iPhone 4 to make the picture so it's not as good as what my Canon camera could do. I just wanted to share something with you today.

Hope you like it and I so appreciate you stopping by today.

Debbie

My little helper

Our fur baby, Mr. Whiskers, loves to come into the Strawberry Studio if he knows I'm in there. He just checks things out then wants back outside.
He showed up at our doorstep about 1-1/2 years ago. We took him to the vet and had him fixed and got all the shots he needed and he's just the best pet. My husband wasn't too crazy about cats before Mr. Whiskers came along, but he loves this little fellow and Mr. Whiskers loves my husband. He chooses to sit with him most all the time and just sits with me if hubby isn't home. How funny!

I was going to share a bunch of cards with you today but my pictures are still in my camera. So... I'll share those pictures tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Debbie

Just Blown Away

I'm just blown away on a Saturday morning. Just checking my emails and discovered I received a sweet award from Belinda Keller.  This is my first award ever. I've seen awards on other blogs but I've never had one. Didn't know what you had to do to get one either. She's such a sweetie to pass this award along to me. I'm very flattered to say the least.

Thanks so much Belinda. Visit her blog today and say hi.

When you receive this award you are to pay it forward and follow these rules:

1) thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog

2) share 8 things about myself

3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered

4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

So lets see 8 things about me........

1. Well.. tomorrow (Feb. 20) is my birthday. I get to do a lot of celebrating too. It started a week ago when my sweet hubby bought me an iPhone 4. It's my first smart phone and I'm loving it so far. 
2. I love gadgets and gizmos. (Such as the iPhone) but I love my Cricut; sewing machine; AccuQuilt Go; Big Shot die cutter; Bind-it-all; Martha Stewart score board; hundreds of markers; tons of paper; and a few thousand rubber stamps. I also love organizing cubes, boxes, crates and anything that might help me to be more organized.
3. I recently rejoined Stampin'UP! for the third time. The first time was in 1997 and was with them for a number of years. They really do have the best products around.
4. I was a sign-painter for about 18 years. I painted signs after working full time and would sometimes put the sign in front of a gas heater to get it to dry faster so I could paint the other side. Geeze... How did I ever live through that?
5. I'm still living my dream of my new craft house "Strawberry Studio" that we built in the summer of 2009. I pinch myself  everyday because it is truly a dream-come-true. I noticed yesterday when I walked in it still smelled like a newly built house. It is full of recycled/re-purposed items that didn't cost a lot of money.
6. I started sewing when I was about 10-years-old. Sewed through a finger back then and learned fast not to do that again. Made a lot of my clothes in those days because I was skinny as a stick and a straight-shirt dress was in style.
7. I started painting and drawing when I was big enough to hold a pencil. In  the first grade my teacher popped my hand with a ruler because I was drawing instead of listening. Oops... She just didn't know I needed the practice.
8. My husband and I took in a stray cat about a year and a half ago. He was nearly a year old then and we love him to pieces. His name is Mr. Whiskers and he is very spoiled. This may not seem like anything special, but my husband hated cats and we both just never wanted pets because we worked so much. Now I just work part-time (after eight years of a one-hour commute one way) I retired from that job.

PHEW! I hope that wasn't  TMI! (Too Much  Information)
My turn to 'Pay it forward' goes to some of my favorite places to visit. You will too like them too. They are in no particular order as they are all wonderful.

1. Jo Wilson
2. Diana Gibbs
3. Lynn Pratt
4. Trena Brannon
5. Denise Hill
6. Melanie
7. Mary Fish
8. Gretchen  Barron

Thanks again Belinda for including me in your choices for the Stylish Blogger Award.

Have a happy Saturday everyone and thanks for taking the time to visit my blog.

Debbie