Branch Slice Ornaments

I just wanted to share the start of my Christmas ornaments for this year. My husband cut slices of branches for me and I dried them in the oven for about and hour at 225F and then let them cool in the oven until they were completely cool which to about 3 hours. 

Then I sketched a little tree design on then and began to fill them with paint. 

I added shading and ornaments to round out the design. 

Fall Crochet

Every fall it seems as though the cold weather brings with it a crazy passion to crochet and make all things warm and cozy. Well this year it has hit full force again and I have been using up yarn like crazy. I am a full time caregiver for my dad and sometimes I really just have to sit with him so that I'm not just walking back and forth every few min. So I keep a basket of yarn and my crochet hooks beside me on the couch and just let my fingers fly. The yarn is soft and cozy and I love the way it feels slipping through my hands. So I thought today I would share a couple of the things that I have made so far this week.

I have made six pair of these I various colors and I love how they dress us a pair of boots and make my outfits pop. 

Here is how they look with my favorite pair of boots. 

I made this infinity scarf out of Chenille yarn and I love how it turned out. It is mindless crochet after the first twist. All I do is crochet until it is as wide as I want it to be and they stop. It is worked from the center out. 

I am working on another one in gray and it will be a single crochet rib stitch. These are all of my own design and I am working on writing  up the patterns for the soon. As soon as I do I will post here. 

 Save 50% in Knitting at Interweave Store  Save 50% in Crochet at Interweave Store

From the Studio Faith Hope and Love

I have been busy this week getting ready for a sale on Saturday. I have been making a good collection of mixed media house collage paintings. I created three medium size ones on 1x4's and painted a solid color on the background and then added a crackle finish on top. I really like how these make me think of winter.

Each ones is different. I added doodles after paper piecing each of the houses. I even added rubons for added texture and then used various other mixed media techniques to finish each piece.

I really like the way the crackle is very different on each one. This just happened and I was a happy surprise. I applied the crackle medium the same way on each of the pieces but each on turned out different.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to any of my local readers visiting me at Antiques and Stuff in Covington on Saturday.

Custom Favor Bags How To

Supply List:

• Computer with Label Making Software (I used MS Publisher)
• Printer
• Paper
• Glue
• Crepe Paper Streamers in color of your choice
• Gift Bag (sized for your item)
• Scissors

Happy Monday

I feel like I have neglected my readers over the past couple of weeks. I have been trying to spend more time creating and less time online. I really want to share a new item that I am making.

This idea came to me while I was shopping with my BFF and she found a fabric lanyard from a well know designer but could not find a bright print that she liked because most of the prints were very simlar. Well long story short she didn’t make a purchase so with her birthday this past weekend I decided to make her one with all the bright colors that she really loved. Needless to say the present was a hit.

All it took was a very small amount of fabric, some interfacing, a couple of burnt fingers (trying to iron something this small is very hard) and a small swivel lobsters clasp, and I had a perfect thin fabric lanyard. I added a small split ring key ring just incase a key was needed to be kept handy. I am planning on having a few in my Etsy Shop later this week, but first I have a make a larger order, thanks to my BFF wearing it to work this morning, for her office.

Scrap Scarf Sewing Tutorial

This Scrap Scarf Sewing Tutorial is very easy to make with just the sewing scraps that you have on hand. All you need is a good handful of sewing scraps and a little bit of muslin and you are all set to make a great Scrap Scarf.
Scrap Scarf Sewing Tutorial Supplies:
2 pieces of muslin measuring 5” x 72” (if you buy 2 yards of fabric and rip in into 5 inch pieces you should be able to get 9 pieces from each cut)
A good hand-full of various scraps. Long and narrow ones work best.

Thread (color of your choice because you really want it to show)
A sewing machine
Step one:
If you have not already prepared your base fabric do so now. I prefer to rip my muslin because it adds to the scrap look of the scarf.
Step two: organize your scraps so that they are easy for your to pick up with out too much thought and so that they will be random.
Step 3: Begin to sew them down the length of one piece of the base fabric. You can use a straight stitch or one of the many decorative stitches that are on most sewing machines. You could also just use a simple ziz-zag stitch.
Repeat step 3 going up and down the length of the base fabric until you are happy with the way it looks. (Note: I left a space of 1/4” inch between each row of scraps.)

Step 4:
Once you have finished sewing all the scraps down on the first base fabric, line up the second piece on the back with wrong sides together , you can pin to together at this point but I don’t bother with pinning.
With a medium stitch length sew around the edges about 1/4” in from the sides. I them used the same stitch length and sewed an extra large zig-zag pattern down the center of the finished scarf.

You can leave it just the way it is or your can add come embellishments to it.

I have some vintage bias tape in my stash and I found one that matched my thread and decided to ruffle it. (To ruffle it all you have to do is set your machine to the longest stitch length and the tension to the highest setting and it will ruffle itself.)

then I pinned it down in a shape that I liked and sewed over it with a very small stitch length.

If you would like a warmer scarf you can add either sew-in or iron on fleece. I hope that you enjoy this Scrap Scarf Sewing Tutorial, if you make one I would love to see it, just come back and add a link in the comments section. Next time you need a way to add pop to any outfit just remember this Scrap Scarf Sewing Tutorial.

Mother-Daughter Crafting

My oldest daughter loves to make things. She has been making presents to all the people on her Christmas list. I think that it is so sweet that she wants to make sure that she has something for everyone that we see on Christmas day. the other day she asked if she could use some of my supplies. (She has her own 3 drawer box that has all her craft supplies) I always make sure that it is stocked but she said that she need the “Good” stuff. I couldn’t help but laugh at that comment. I wanted to share a few of the things that we have made over the past few days.

Mini Explosion Boxes

Glittered Gift Tags

and Pom-Poms.

She has been busy and has loved every min of it.

This month I will have a different post sponsor each week. This week's sponsor is Shabby Fabrics.

Go on over and check them out and let them know that I sent you. 

Friday Pinterest Finds

I know that have been a little lax and forgot to post these for the past few weeks, so I wanted to get this weekend started off to a great starts with a few of my favorite finds for this week. I hope you enjoy them as much I have. I am on an early Christmas gift making kick this week so I thought I would share what I have found just spending too much time on Pinterest.

Source: ohcrafts.net via pam on Pinterest

I love this idea for my younger nieces and nephews. This would be great to make with small dollar store items.

Source: simplysavannahevents.blogspot.com via Jody on Pinterest

This is a great DIY project look on the bottom of the post for a link to a great Etsy seller if you don't want to make your own.

Source: marthastewart.com via Carisa on Pinterest

Love this idea of the Bath Bombs, These are on my must make list this year.

Source: cosmocricket.typepad.com via Teresa on Pinterest

These are so cute. I think this this is a great way for me to use up some of my every increasing stash of scrapbook paper.

Studio Storage

Ok for my birthday my husband and girls got me a new rotating organizer for my studio table. I love it. I have started filling it up and still don’t have it filled even though I have got a ton of stuff in it already.

Loyalty Card Holder

I found this cute pattern on Grosgrain during their free pattern a day during the month of April. I didn’t have a working printer so I couldn’t print the pattern. Well as of this week I have a working printer and I decided that I really wanted to make one. I changed it up and used Velcro instead of a magnetic snap because it was what I had on hand. I really am trying to use what I have for a while. I have such a good fabric stash, but this fabric is one I picked up at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago. I fussy cut this fabric to get the large motif to be centered on the flap.

I have only half filled it . I know that It will be full soon.
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"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee." ~ ~ Isaiah 41:10

All In a days work

These flowers were a breeze to make and I found them through a link party here and I hope that you will visit the creator of this design. I love all the many ways that she used them, and I thought that making a brooch or hair flower out of them would make them useable for me.

I also made a few coffee cup cozies. These are super easy. Next time to go to Starbucks grab an extra cardboard sleeve and open it flat. Take off the over hang piece and cut out your fabric. I used pre-quilted fabric that I had laying around in my stash. A few quick passes with my sewing machine and it was all done.

I didn’t want to waste the scraps from making the cozies so I thought about what could I make out of these cute little pieces. I made small key fobs. I just decided on the shape that I wanted and cut two matching pieces and added a small piece of ribbon and when I was finished sewing over the edge with a zig-zag stitch.

A Southern Lady’s Ramblings © 2011

101th post and a Break

This is my 101th post and I would like to announce a break for the rest of this month to focus on being creative and when I start back posting I hope to have some very interesting subjects. I hope you enjoying looking around at my past post and will come back and join me on March 1st for a new exciting adventure.

Great Finds

I have been browsing through some blogs looking at older post and I thought I would share some of the great tutorials that I found.

The Wee Wonderfuls Freebies


Scarf Tutorial


Pin Cushions

Storage Cubes





Artful Organization
Maya*Made
Molly Chicken