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Friday, June 26, 2015

Milestone Birthday – 6 years old – B06a

I stamped the Sanded stamp on the Green Galore card using Green Galore ink.  I cut a strip of Green Galore about ½” wide by 3” long and mounted it on So Saffron.  The rest is fairly straight forward.  I did use mounts behind the scallop circle before putting it on the card.

Cardstock: Green Galore, White, So Saffron.

Ink: Green Galore

Stamps: Riveting, Sanded.

Accessories: Dilly Dally Party jumbo wheel, mounts, sponge.

Punch: 1/2", 1", 1-1/4" circles, scallop circle.

Poem used inside is:

When I was one, I just begun.

When I was two, I was nearly new.

When I was three, I was hardly me.

When I was four, I was not much more.

When I was five, I was barely alive.

But now I am six!

I’m as clever as clever!

So I think I’ll stay six forever and ever!

Friday, June 19, 2015

Borax and Jam Ant Bait Recipe

Since making the previous recipe HERE, I found this one on Pinterest too.  Much smaller batch and a lot less fuss to make.  Doesn’t make me feel any less guilty however!

Mix two teaspoons of borax with one teaspoon of jam, jelly, honey or syrup until it is a paste. Smear some on cotton balls or a plate and put it where the ants are. They will flock to it, eat it and take it back to the nest.  Apparently it acts as a natural ant killer.  I really hope it just puts them to sleep so they don’t suffer!

UPDATE:  Hubby took these cotton balls out to the farm where there was a ton of ants. He said the ants never did flock to this mixture, even a day or two later.  Guess I will stick to my original recipe.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Milestone Birthday – 5 years old – B05c

There is lots of Thomas the Train cards on Pinterest.  I couldn’t really find any with a tutorial so I just grabbed my punches and began creating! 

Cardstock: Garden Green, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip, Black, Real Red, So Saffron, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue.

Punch: 1-1/4” scallop circle, large oval, modern label, ¼” square, ¼” circle, ½” circle, word window, 2” circle, owl builder, curly label, corner rounder.

Ink: Garden Green, Black.

Accessories: mounts, white gel pen, white chalk, pink chalk, black marker, sponge, post it note, Woodgrain EF, Vine Street EF.

Stamp: Party this Way, Lovely as a Tree, Memorable Moments.

Here is what you should have:

 
I started with a Bashful Blue card.  Stamped the row of trees about 2” from the bottom. 

Once I had everything cut out, I sponged them black. 

I put the green (4-1/4”x1”) thro my Vine Street embossing folder, sponged it black and mounted it to the card.  Now, I do not know the parts of a train so bare with me. 

Next, I cut two ¼”x1” strips of gray and glued them onto the grass. 

Then came the brown piece which I put through the Woodgrain EF and glued it onto the grass about ¼” from the bottom of the card. 

Punch out a gray piece using the word window punch, cut a wee bit off the long edge then cut it in half.  Glue it about 1” from each edge of the card.

Cut a hitch using the modern label punch from black.  Punch a circle at one end using a ¼” circle punch, saving the circle.  Glue onto the brown using only what you need.  Save the remaining part of the modern label punch for the chimney.

Cut a strip of white about 3-3/4”x3/8” and a red piece 3-3/4”x3/4”.  Attach the white to the red across the top and set aside for later.

Cut a gray piece about 3-1/2”x1-1/8” and round the top two corners.  Draw five vertical lines with a black marker about ½” apart.  Butt this to the top of the grass on the card.

Cut a black piece about 1-3/4”x3/4” and butt to the gray.

Stamp the number 5 then punch out using the scallop circle.  Attach the scallop to a piece of post it note and punch again so it looks like the sun.  Add to the top right hand corner of the card.

 Now cut a 2-1/4” square from Pacific Point.  Round the top with a bowl.  Cut a black piece about ½”x2-1/4”.  Mount to the curve and trim to match.  Butt to the black piece on the card.

From Pacific Point, punch using the large oval punch.  Cut in half.  Butt the straight edges to the gray.

Cut another piece of Pacific Point 1-3/8”x2-3/4” and one 2-1/2”x1/2”.  Glue the smaller on to the back of the large one.  butt to the black, on top of the oval curves.

Use the remaining black modern label piece left over from the hitch.  Punch a ¼” circle and a ¼” square before mounting it to the card.

Now, back to the red piece that was set aside.  Apply ½” black circle lights about ¼” from each end of the red.  Highlight with a white gel pen.  Add the So Saffron modern label punch to the center and mount with the phrase.  Add to card using mounts about ¾” from the bottom of the card.

I used the large circle from the owl builder punch for the top yellow lights and added ¼” black circles to the center.

For the head, I cut the ¼” square punch in half for the eyebrows.  Used the ½” circle, owl builder punch and the white gel pen for the eyes.  I used one corner from the curly label punch for his smile.  I glued a ½” circle in the center of two ¾” circle punches for a guide to draw his nose and cheeks.  I gave him pink cheeks and a white nose, going over my black marker to soften.  Add mounts to the head and add to the card.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Borax Ant Bait Recipe


Now this seems really cruel for someone that doesn’t kill insects.  If a bee gets in my house, I will catch him with a jar and rescue him to the great outdoors.  If I spot a spider or any insect enters my house, I will trick them into crawling on to my dust pan and put them back outside where they belong.   The only insects I do not tolerate are flies and mosquitos – they really do just have to go!  However, I have ants sneaking into my garage and I’m having troubles tolerating their choice so something had to change!  I also know that ants live in colonies and one class within the colony is the worker/gatherer. Workers make up approximately 10% of the colony and it’s their job to go out, find and collect food then bring it back to feed the rest of the colony – another reason I feel so guilty!  None the less, I hunted for a recipe on Pinterest and found this one.

Borax Ant Bait Recipe

Boil 2 cups of water.

Pour into an empty jar.

Add half cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons borax to hot water and stir until completely dissolved.
Soak cotton balls with mixture.

Place cotton ball wherever you have ants.
I checked my cotton balls about a half hour later and they were fairly covered with ants!  Feeling really guilty now!

 
I did not see any ants around my garage door the next day!  It really sickens me that I would actually kill a colony but they have to learn not to invade my garage!  This is a huge recipe – I would only make up a quarter of this recipe if I ever need to make it again.  

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

American Girl Doll Victorian Dress Tutorial AG030




Do you recognize this item?  

It’s a curtain valance!  I used the Basic Dress Pattern by allthingswithpurpose.com to make this beautiful Victorian dress for the 18” dolls.  All the hard work was done for me!


I basted some lace down the center front of the bodice.  I cut a piece of pink fabric 1” wide by 4.5” long, folded the long edges under and sewed it on top of the lace.

Once you have sewed the lining to the front and done the clipping and pressing, topstitch around the neck.  Baste armholes.  Set this aside.


I liked the looks of mycupoverflows blogspot sleeve from her dress.  Pin the bands to the bottom of the sleeves.  Pink seam and topstitch.  Run a gathering thread across the top of the sleeves.


Sew in place.  Topstitch the sleeves towards the bodice.  Sew the side seams.


I cut my skirt 30” wide at the waist by 7.5” long.  No hemming required as that was done for me!  Gather the skirt at the waist and attach to bodice.


Serge to clean finish and topstitch towards bodice.  Also serge the center back seams.   Sew center back seam about 4” from the hem.  Add velcro.


Cut two pieces of ribbon each 16” long.  Sew at the side seams.

Pantalette Tutorial

I used Kirsten’s Pantalette pattern from agplaythings.com collection, however, I cut 1” off the bottom in kind of a straight line to make adding the lace easier.  I took ½” off the waist back and tapered to 1” off the center front.  I am not making a casing.


Sew center front seam.  Serge lace to bottom of legs.  Baste 10” of ¼” elastic to waist then serge to clean finish.


Sew center back seam adding a little ‘back tag’.  Sew the inside legs.

Round Petal Flower Hairpiece Tutorial


I used my 2” punch to make a couple of circles from cardstock.  I glued them together to make a sturdy template.  Trace the circle onto your fabric with a chalk pencil.  Cut out 5 circles.
3814 Fold circles in half.  Tie a knot at the end of your thread and begin sewing through one half circle along the raw edges.


Carefully pull the thread to create a petal.


Using the same thread continue making petals and pulling them closer together until you have five petals complete.


Once you reach the end stitch through the first petal to make a flower.


I cut a small circle from the fabric using a pill bottle as my pattern.  Glue an alligator clip and a piece of ribbon to hold it using Fabri-Tac glue to the circle.  Now glue the outside edges of the circle and attach to hair piece.  The small circle gives you something to sew or glue on embellishments.


Sew or glue a button to the center.


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