Sin City Stamps has two new plates of Alice in Wonderland stamps! You can see them here and here.
I decided to create a Wonderland Tea with mine. The first piece I made was a centerpiece for the table.
I started with a vintage linen centerpiece. I love the lace border! A little dip in tea hid some stains, and I decided to place my panels so that one of them would hide the hole.
I stamped the images onto tea dyed muslin. Stamping on fabric usually works best with tightly woven fabrics. For this project, I chose a piece of muslin that was smooth but not stiff, so that it didn’t interfere with the soft hand of the linen. I used Colorbox Chalk Ink in Dark Brown and heat set the images with an iron. For more information on stamping on fabric, check out this post.
I like to stamp onto a piece of fabric that I can discard if the image doesn’t come out well. I also like to stamp on a piece of fabric that is larger than I think I will need, and then trim the fabric later. That way if I stamp crooked or off-center, I can make up for that when I trim the piece.
I trimmed all the pieces to the same size using a rotary cutter. Then I pinned them in place on the centerpiece.
I stitched each piece down with a zigzag stitch. Then I added vintage lace around each panel.
I’m still contemplating what other pieces I will make for my Wonderland Tea. I hope you’ll check back and see what I come up with!
Sin City Stamps is sponsoring the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge this month, and the Sin City Stamps Design Team is participating in this month’s challenges.
Today’s challenge is Ribbon, Lace and Twine! The idea is to create a project using some of the supplies you’ve been hoarding. I made my project with a beautiful stamp from Sin City Stamps and some of the seam binding ribbon that I dye by hand.
I wanted to use this vintage handkerchief as the base for a fabric cuff. The hankie is worn and stained but the trim is still gorgeous.
I folded the hankie in half. I chose the locked hearts image from Sin City Stamps’ Rosette Hearts stamp set and stamped it onto tea dyed muslin with ColorBox Chalk Ink in Warm Violet, then heat set the ink with my iron.
The stamped panel was long enough to fit around my wrist and to catch the lace edge of the folded hankie when I sewed it on. In this case, the lace edge is much stronger than the center of the hankie. I cut a piece of muslin the same size as my stamped panel, put the right sides together, sewed all the way around, cut a slit in the back of the unstamped piece, turned the panel right side out and pressed it. Then I pinned the panel onto the hankie.
I chose the ribbon I wanted to use and then sewed it onto the panel and hankie. The seam binding is crinkled, and I left it partly crinkled up as I sewed.
The last step was to add a snap.
Here’s the finished cuff!
To see the other Sin City Stamps Design team projects, just return to the Sin City Stamps blog.
You can participate in the Craft Hoarders Challenge, too. And you can win a prize from this month's sponsors!
Sin City Stamps’ Rosette Hearts stamp set set has three different images perfect for making fabric or paper flowers. I used one to make the embellishment for this peat pot Easter basket. I started with a plain peat pot. These are for starting seeds; you can get them where you find gardening supplies.
I coated the outside of the pot with matte Mod Podge and then sprinkled it with mica flakes. When the Mod Podge was dry, I punched holes near the top and inserted a sparkly chenille stem for a handle. I filled the pot with shredded paper.
To make the flower, I started with a ribbon rosette. You cut a length of ribbon, sew a wide running stitch along the ends and one side, then gather it up and knot the thread. A good rule of thumb is to start with a length that is about eight times the width of your ribbon. You can also make a rosette with lace, strips of fabric, or paper. I make lots of fabric flowers with rosettes and yoyos, and I am always looking for large buttons to fill the center. I use mostly vintage buttons, and the large ones are harder to come by and much more expensive than the small ones. The rosette from Rosette Hearts works perfectly as a replacement for a large button!
I stamped the image twice.
I cut out the rosettes and made two small holes in each. You can sew through cardstock, but if you pull the thread tight or put pressure on the stitches, the cardstock will rip. So I added two small buttons to keep the cardstock from ripping. I threaded a needle with hand dyed embroidery floss. Then I put a little square of adhesive foam on the back of the ribbon rosette to hold it in place on the chenille stem while I was sewing through all the layers. I sewed through one hole of a small button, one hole of the front cardstock rosette, the ribbon rosette, then one hole of the second cardstock rosette and one hole of the second small button, with the thread on top of the chenille stem. Then I brought the thread back, through a different hole of the second small button and the second cardstock rosette, under the chenille stem, through the ribbon rosette, the first cardstock rosette and the first small button. Then I tied the two ends of the thread together to secure the flower.
I added some candy eggs and a fabric bird to the basket.
I made the bird with the Birds & Clocks stamp set from Sin City Stamps. For details on how I made the fabric bird, check out this post.
Supplies needed for the peat pot basket:
Cardstock
Ink (I used Colorbox Chalk Ink in Rouge)
Peat pot
Mod Podge Matte
Mica Flakes
Chenille stem
Paper shred
Ribbon
Thread
Buttons
Embroidery floss
Wishing you all a Happy Spring and a Happy Easter!
Tassels made with my new hand dyed seam binding colors are perfect for Spring or Easter decorating!
When I saw Jen Cushman's article on mixed media tassels in the March/April 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, I knew I had to make some of my own. Jen shows how to turn a bundle of fibers into a tassel using wire and a large-hole bead. I don’t normally buy large-hole beads. I have lots of vintage wooden thread spools, though, and I thought they would go well with my hand dyed seam binding. They worked perfectly, and the finished tassel is a perfect decoration for a sewing room, or a cottage or shabby decorating scheme!
I am making them in other color combinations, too. You can get these in my Etsy shop and there are a few in my space in Merchant Square in Chandler (Small Wonders section, Bookcases C, D, E and F).
About the seam binding: This is rayon seam binding that I hand dye with cold water dyes. For each color, I mix three strengths of my own custom dye combinations. I cut the seam binding into five yard lengths and dip each length into each container of dye, so that each piece gets a mixture of lighter and darker versions of the color. You can buy them at Merchant Square, in my Etsy shop, and at local shows throughout the year. You can also find them at Vintage Bliss at the Warehouse occasional sales. They are perfect for jewelry, mixed media art, sewing, gift wrapping and decorating.
I acquired some wonderful old door hinges that turned out to be too heavy for the project I had in mind. But look what great easels they make!
I’ll be taking some of these to Urban Restoration for the February sale, and to my space at Merchant Square (in the Small Wonders section).
I love to repurpose old items, but I prefer to use them in a way that allows them to be used again in the future, for their original purpose or for another purpose. I didn’t have to do anything to these hinges, so they can easily be used again!
I love the fancy ones, but even the plain ones make lovely little vintage easels. You could use them for place cards, too. How about a Junkers’ Tea? Hey, that gives me some more ideas…
I have another fabric stamping project for you today. I love the stamps from Sin City Stamps! Just looking at the images inspires me to create!
I wanted to end the year with a project that looks forward to next year, so I made a fabric book that I can add pages to during 2014. I think I am going to use this book to save samples of laces and trims that I love, but you could use it any way you want, with fabric or paper pages.
This book started with a lovely placemat and a piece of hand dyed gauze. I love the way the color of the gauze peeks through the placemat. I folded the placemat in half, then doubled the gauze and trimmed it to fit. I sewed the two pieces together with a straight stitch.
The focal piece is a beautiful image from Sin City Stamps' Wing-It set.
For stamping on fabric, you want a tightly woven fabric like the muslin I used. This piece was tea dyed in advance. I put my stamp on an acrylic block. It helps to put a piece of craft foam under the fabric when you stamp. I used Chalk Ink in dark brown, but you can use other inks. India ink works well on fabric, too. I heat set the ink with my iron after it dried.
Once the image was stamped and set, I pinned the muslin to a piece of cotton batting. This gives it a soft feel and strength to hold the stitching and beads.
I didn’t like working with the pins in the way, so I basted the two pieces together with a running stitch by hand. I backstitched around the image with embroidery floss. Then I added seed beads, one at a time, stitching through each twice with all purpose thread. Next I added some metallic thread to the angel’s wings.
I cut a piece of muslin the same size as the one I’d stamped and stitched on, pinned them together with right sides facing, sewed around the edge, cut a slit in the unstamped piece, trimmed the corners, turned it right side out and pressed it. Then I pinned it in place on the placemat/gauze piece and stitched them together with a straight stitch on a sewing machine. Finally, I sewed on a clock charm with a little seed bead.
Here's what the inside looks like:
For now, I added a piece of hand dyed seam binding as a closure. After I add the pages, I’ll decide what kind of closure the book needs. My plan is to sew in fabric pages throughout the year with samples of laces and trims that I love and don't want to part with. I’m hoping that saving some samples will spur me on to actually use some of my stash!
Be sure to stop by Sin City Stamps and see all the new products. You will be amazed!
I'm working on a new design for this year's pumpkin patch. These are made from velvet, with vintage wooden thread spools for stems and hand dyed seam binding for a finishing touch. I'll have some in my Etsy shop and at Merchant Square in Chandler soon. You'll also be able to find them at The Market at Urban Restoration starting in September; Briar Patch Marketplace at Hamilton High School in Chandler on September 28th and 29th; Briar Patch Marketplace at Sequoya School in Scottsdale on October 12th and 13th; and Junk in the Trunk in Scottsdale on November 9th.
I have velvet in several colors and they look great with my other styles, too! I can't wait to harvest these!
One day I found some old iron trivets with tile inserts in an antique store. I didn’t like the pictures on the tiles, but I thought the bases would make great frames for small artwork. They did!
I just got the Halloween stamp sets from Sin City Stamps and they are perfect for my Halloween trivets! I really like simple designs that I can combine in different ways when I decorate. I chose one image from the Halloween Takes Flight stamp set and one image from the Halloween Bingo set. You can get the stamps individually, too.
I chose some paper:
I've been experimenting with stamping on different papers. Then I can choose the best one for my current project and I have extras all ready for future ideas! I cut the paper to fit the tile, then stamped my images using Stewart Superior Black India Ink. Stewart Superior sent us some inks to work with, and this one is perfect for Sin City Stamps! This ink makes a really crisp image, even with fine details.
I inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo. I started with the lightest color and ended with the darkest. Because the India Ink is permanent, it doesn’t run when the Distress Inks are added. If you want a soft look, you can apply the Distress Inks with a sponge or a blending tool. I like the sharp, linear look here. It contrasts with the curves of the frame and focuses the eye on the images in the center. I later added some Rusty Hinge around the bottom of the cauldron to suggest fire and a little Antique Linen above the cauldron to suggest steam rising.
Here's the original trivet.
I painted the tile with gesso so the picture wouldn’t show through my paper. This picture shows the tile with one coat of gesso; I added one more coat.
I inked the edges of the tile.
The tile has a glossy coating that won’t take the ink, so you need to wipe away the excess.
Then I adhered my picture to the tile with gel medium. Some of the tiles are glued securely to the trivets. You just have to sort of work around the frame. But this tile had come loose, so it was easy to work with. One the gel medium dried, I sanded the edges of the paper and reinked them. Then I added a coat of gel medium on top and glued the tile back into the trivet. The trivet isn’t suitable for holding hot items any more, but you can easily hang it on a wall or incorporate it into a Halloween vignette.
You can make a similar project without the trivet. Here’s the same layout on another background.
I used a small canvas that I had previously “painted” with fabric dye. I inked the edges with Distress Inks.
Then I adhered my picture to it with gel medium, sanded the edges and reinked them.
You will love the Halloween stamps from Sin City Stamps! And, no, it’s never too early for Halloween projects!
And right now, Sin City Stamps is having a Scratch ‘n’ Save promotion. Visit this page to see how much you can save!
I hope you will be inspired to create your own Halloween projects with these great Sin City Stamps sets!
These vintage clock face display stands are now at Urban Restoration, awaiting this weekend's Market, July 12, 13 and 14.
And I have a few more ready to go to Merchant Square in Chandler on Saturday (Starshine Salon is in space 74). Merchant Square is celebrating its 11th anniversary this weekend with a big sale. See you there!
Just a quick post to share my latest creation! I love clock faces and I’ve been using them in lots of projects. I thought it would be fun to make a clock face stand to use in displays.
This is a vintage clock face adhered to a layer of burlap and a layer of inked mat board. The clock face and the matte board are coated with Mod Podge. The clock face “sandwich” is attached to a glass candlestick.
It’s not food safe, but I think it would be really fun to set a glass plate full of goodies on top of it.
I should have a few of these at Merchant Square in Chandler soon, and a few at the next Market at Urban Restoration in Phoenix (July 12, 13 and 14). And by the way, I have lots of other finds and creations at both those places!
All text and photos copyright Karen Lackey, 2011-2016, unless otherwise noted. You may link to text but please do not copy it. If you use my photos, please give credit and link back to the original post. Thanks!
Sin City Stamps provides free and discounted rubber stamps to its Design Team members.
