A little sewing project

I made this for my mama on mother's day, but I think it makes a sweet project any time of year.

Let me state that I am a crafter who requires free-styling projects--or, ones that take little prep time and don't take too long. I get bored pretty easily. Are you like that? I have so many friends who love taking their time to prepare for a project and I admire them so much! For me, I start to feel clausterphobic when a project takes too long. When a new project gets in my head I am full speed, drop everything, let the kids watch too much tv and ignore the dog crazy. I have to finish my projects before the next idea comes raging in.

Anyway, this was a nice project for those aforementioned reasons. I used a mandala design I'd created previously but I think any clip art you find on-line would work well (check that the art is not copyrighted, of course). You can also do a cute line drawing yourself--I think the campy and simple style works perfectly! Trace the image onto the fabric lightly with pencil. I don't know any fancy embroidery stitches, so I just did a straight stitch (in and out, in and out) for the whole design. I also was able to use the embroidery thread I've had for over 13 years when I cross-stitched a baby door hanger for my oldest niece who is now a full-fledged bikini wearing teenager. (where does the time go??) I put some thought into the colors, choosing what I thought would work well with my mom's decor, should she try to hang it somewhere by her bedside table (hint-hint). I used some plain white cotton fabric that was part of an abandoned project for my girl's room. I did have to purchase the embroidery hoop, but since I make a trip to Michaels about every week, this was not a problem. And since it the hoops cost a little over a dollar, this made for an inexpensive but special gift.

I also hand-wrote my message to her in pencil and stitched that in. So she'd know I love her. Cause I do. :o)

The mandala patter I used is attached and free for you to use (personal use only, please). I outlined the pattern only, but I think it would look nice if you filled in some of those petals with color (that would have been in the "takes too long for me" category). It should fit within a 6" hoop nicely. Have fun!!

Guest Post-Kalani Cropper

One of my favorite aspects of the blogosphere is the community. I'm sure there are some nasty souls out there, but I've only met the nicest ones. I took an amazing on-line class called Blogging Your Way with Holly Becker (Decor8, HausMaus) and Leslie Shrewring (A Creative Mint) last year. Not only was I inspired to blog to the best of my ability, but I met a lot of other inspirational bloggers and have joined a most supportive and friendly community.

That is how I met Kalani, who authors her blog of life's beautiful details and craft projects called Kalanicut. She was kind enough to share a bit of herself and her charming torn paper art in today's guest post. I thought the torn paper was such a wonderful way to use decorative paper that I decided to add to this post by offering a pack of my very beautiful decorative paper. I use and keep all the scraps left over from invitation projects and crafting projects and I've amassed quite a beautiful collection of silkscreened Chiyogami and graphic prints. I'll be giving away 3 fat packs to the first 3 readers who leave a comment. Please send me your address via email and I'll send it out to you!

Hit it Kalani...

The Simplicity & Delicacy of Torn Paper Art

Hi. I am so happy to have a chance to guest here at Margot Madison Creative. I thought I would share the art of torn paper today. Torn paper art is simply tearing all the shapes by hand, rather than using scissors, punches or other instruments. I first started doing paper art with construction paper in college. Since then I have used it when babysitting small children, teaching at The Art Farm (a children’s art program I founded), as family Thanksgiving Day entertainment and professionally to make notecards and larger pieces of art.

It is amazing what a group of people can come up with in a torn paper art session. It’s an art form that even people who don’t feel they are creative can lose themselves in, which brings me a lot of joy to see. I have seen everything from pop up notecards to broad landscapes and 3D structures. Paper is an amazingly flexible medium - you can tear it, fold it, bend it and glue it into endless formations.

When the scrapbook paper industry began to boom I graduated up to enjoy the full spectrum of colors and patterns it has to offer.  This past year two of my most challenging projects were contributing a torn paper art piece to the BlogHer/Kirtsy Gulf Auction  and creating a “portrait” of my little clan.

To make the large flower seen above you only need to be able to tear paper teardrop shapes in varying sizes and then tear three circular shapes.

Thanks so much Kalani! I love that spring flower and how it dresses up a gift (and the flower is a gift in itself!) I'm imagining how great it would look on a spring wreath too. Hmmm....somebody's mother might be getting a special torn paper something from her crafty daughter for Mother's Day....

Easter Goodies!

Homemade Marshmallow Eggs

Sugar Cookie "Eggs"

Last Sunday the kids at our church held a bakesale to support the relief in Japan. As I am always ready to jump at an idea that is both worthy in cause and creativity, I was all over this. I know that a "better" mom would have asked the kids what they wanted to do to contribute but I'm sorry to tell you that I don't work that way. My husband and I discussed what we were willing to to (since we'd be doing the bulk of the work anyway) and brought the kids in for important decisions like choosing the color of sprinkles and handwriting the tags. I love to create, but I really don't have lots of patience.

So, now that you know I'm a design-nazi mom, you can really appreciate the effort (and future therapy bills for my kids) put into these projects.

Homemade Marshmallow "Peeps"
This was actually my darling husband's idea. He's been into making homemade marshmallows (his day job is producing gelato so he's quite a creative foodie) and I thought it was brilliant. I'm not a fan of Peeps (I'd much prefer some nice crispy onion rings) but my kids love them, and I appreciate not filling them with all those awful chemicals used in the store-bought ones. This recipe is particularly good because it doesn't use high fructose corn syrup.

Making marshmallows is really rather easy. Start with a batch using the recipe here. Prepare a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, then a light dusting of sifted powdered sugar, and spread the soft marshmallow mixture on top of that. Ours was about 3/4" thick. Sprinkle bands of colored sanding sugar on the mixture, covering all the white completely. This was a great job for the kids, so little N helped me with that. Let the mixture set and once firm, use a cookie cutter to create the shapes. I know you're thinking now, "Hey, you called these homemade Peeps and I didn't actually see any chicks in your pictures!" You are correct. The cute little chick cutter wasn't working with our marshmallow mix; the beaks and feet kept breaking off. And since I was going for beauty here, I decided to let the kids eat those ones. Once the shape is removed from the sheet, cover the edges with more sanding sugar and set aside for packaging.

I placed 2 eggs in a clear plastic sleeve (link here) and put a cute stamped sticker on top. This was mainly because I thought it was easier to handle and sell at the bakesale. They would be really nice on a plate with some other treats, or also great as a decoration on a cake!

Easter Egg Sugar Cookies
Since the "Peeps" were kind of involved, I wanted to keep the next baked good simple. My kids love these sugar cookies covered with pastel M&Ms. I make them at Christmas with red and green M&Ms and they look like ornaments. A good basic sugar cookie recipe is here. Roll the dough in the M&M's and bake as directed.

Luck of the Irish Cootie Catcher

Too cute! A craft from A Subtle Revelry (formerly City Cradle) that I think my wee ones would love from their part English-Scots-Irish (and a little bit of German) mama. They'll be so pleased that I've moved on from the Kokeshi Dolls. ;o)

Since I don't think kids should have all the fun, I think this would also make a fun table favor for a dinner party or Irish themed wedding, don't you think?

Now then, back to work!

Make Kokeshi Dolls with this free printable!

Well, Mama was a little obsessed this weekend. When my husband asked what was on the agenda for Saturday, I believe my actual words were "I don't know about you, but I'm going to be making Kokeshi dolls all day!" And I did, along with anyone who happened to pass by my dining room table, including our dinner guests on Saturday night. (It just happened to come up in conversation *wink-wink*):

Here are the after-dinner crafters

It all started with my daughter J wanting a Japanese themed birthday party. We were poking around on Google and discovered these adorable folk dolls from Japan called Kokeshi Dolls. They looked way fun, so I scurried down to my computer and made a doll template on Illustrator. J put in her 2 cents on  some Kimono adjustments, hairstyles and lo! we had templates for 2 different forms of the doll; one to create with cut paper and one to trace and color on my favorite medium Shrinky Dink plastic. Yes, I said Shrinky Dink. And because craftiness like this should be shared, I'll include both templates at the end of this post so you can make your own. This is a craft project dynamo that people of any age can enjoy (you'll see my 6-year-old son's below--it's the one with the bloody death scene on the bottom hem) because no matter how simple or complex the design is, each one looks better than the last!

Here is a sample of the cut paper style. What I loved about this kind was that I got to use some of my beautiful Chiogami paper (you only need a little bit!) and made use of some beautiful origami papers too. Choosing coordinating papers and obis (that's a crossword favorite, folks. It's the official name of the belt worn on the Kimono) and adding accessories to each doll's hair was a delightful challenge. Scrapbookers would really like this one since it makes excellent use of the smaller scraps of paper.

Here are some of the Shrinky Dink variety, which turned out to be everyone's favorite. I started with the frosted plastic and used my colored pencils. Those were nice, but since I was obsessed, I went to 2 craft stores and bought the Shrinky Dink variety pack at 8 pm on Friday night. The almond and white opaque plastic was a great medium and requires a permanent ink or paint pen. I used that as an excuse to buy the big pack of Sharpie markers that always calls out to me at the craft stores. Here are some more photos of the craft rampage...

Coloring a design with Sharpie markers on Almond Shrinky Dink Plastic

Ready to bake!

Just a few of our creations...

Paper Cutting template

The paper Kokeshi doll template should print on a standard size cardstock. Then trim out the pieces and trace onto your decorative paper.

This Kokeshi doll template is so you can trace the different dolls (differentiated by their hairstyles) onto the Shrinky Dink plastic and color your designs. Print to a standard white piece of paper.

If you end up using these templates, please send me pictures of your tiny works of art! I'd love to hear your stories!

St. Theresa Textile Trove CLOSING!

Margot just blogged about St. Theresa Textile Trove this past summer, and we heard word that the store in College Hill is closing for good in January 2010. Such sad news!

From their website, here is the discount schedule:

• Now through Nov 14: 30% off

• Nov 17 - Dec 15: 40% off

• Dec 16 - Dec 23 (closed Dec 24 and 25): 50% off

• Dec 26- Jan 31 (closed Dec 31 and Jan 1): 60% off

Their new store hours are 11am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday. Be sure to visit the store before all of the lovely fabrics, beads, and buttons are gone forever.

Handmade Journals and Pouches

We're excited to announce our first local artist selling wares at the store in O'Bryonville!

Kate Staiger crafts handmade books and pouches from recycled and upcycled materials.

Pieces of old hardcover books and found objects are sewn together to create new art objects. They contain blank, hand-cut paper inside, along with the occasional postcard or vintage bookplate. The books make lovely journals, and are a great gift paired with one of our pens--for around $20.

The pouches are great for keeping keys, cell phone, or lip gloss handy in your purse or bag. They are made of sturdy fabrics, and are embellished with buttons and hand-stitched designs. The pouches come in assorted sizes, and each design is entirely unique.

These items are available in-store only. Come in and check them out before they're gone!

Mini Moss Terrarium

I created this mini terrarium a month ago after seeing something similar on an etsy store. It was one of those things that you see and you know you should do it yourself. Usually, I don't ever DO those things but this time I actually did! I collected some moss from our farm property in Adams County, OH, put it in this great glass jar with some dirt on the bottom and stuck a rock in it.

Last weekend I was playing with some Sculpey clay and made the little mushrooms to "grow" with them. I thought it needed a splash of color and charm and now I love it even more. I think I have finally found a potted plant that thrives on my benign neglect....

Paper Inspiration

I saw this great idea while perusing the newest Martha Stewart Living magazine this morning. Since I have a bit of a paper fetish, I carry a vast amount of decorative papers from all over the world and from many wonderful paper designers at my retail store. So many people gaze at the wall in amazement, knowing that they NEED to have the paper but have no idea WHAT TO DO WITH IT! Here is one idea that would be super easy to do. And as a side note, these chairs are from IKEA and are inexpensive and very comfortable. The link to the craft is here. For paper ($4 to $18 for a sheet about 20x30"), visit Margot Madison Stationery retail store and be inspired!