Cards for Hospitalized Kids

I have to share with you a fabulous idea from a reader named Lynn. She received one of my Hope Heart Starter Kits a while ago, and she was inspired to use the heart templates in the kit to make greeting cards for a wonderful organization called Cards for Hospitalized Kids. When you click on that name and go to the website, you will see how easy it would be for you to brighten the day of a hospitalized child by making and sending a greeting card.

Here are two cards that Lynn made using my heart templates (you can find them at the end of the post HERE, and print them out on your computer). I love how these look! What a great way to use up extra scrapbook paper! What a nice message she wrote inside! The stickers inside are a really cute touch too.

I haven't made any cards--YET--but I intend to. In fact, even though I haven't been feeling especially "crafty" lately,  I am strongly tempted to commit myself to a "card-a-day" challenge (like the "heart-a-day" challenge I undertook in 2012). Or what about a Facebook group, where everyone could post pictures of the cards they make? This could be just what I need to get back into general crafting, while doing good at the same time. The cards could be as simple or as elaborate as time allows, and I'm very inspired by the photos of the kids on the website, posing with their cards. So I will be participating in this, one way or another. Anyone else?

A Meet-Up in NYC

Many of you know me from Craftster (I'm Leslieshappyheart there); and many of you also know my swap co-organizer Susan (she's susanab on Craftster). I've mentioned Susan MANY times on this blog; she's the one who got me interested in Craftster, and she's the one who encouraged me to start a blog. After knowing her on-line for several years, we finally met in person!

Last Sunday my husband and I travelled to New York City for BlytheCon 2013, a gathering of Blythe doll collectors and enthusiasts. Since Susan lives in New Jersey and works in NYC, it was easy for her to meet up with us there for lunch. We had planned to meet at the Panera Bread restaurant that is less than a block from Penn Station (we came into that station on the train), but Susan texted me to say she was waiting for us outside the station. When we came out onto the street the crowd was thick, and I stood in the middle of it, craning my neck left and right, looking for a small, dark-haired woman; then I heard "LESLIE!" and suddenly Susan was right in front of me! We gave each other a big hug, and started talking a mile a minute. The three of us made our way to Panera Bread (which was surprisingly quiet when we walked in), got our lunches, and sat down for good food and good conversation. Bill took these pictures of us as we sat across from him.

We had a bit less than two hours before I had to be at BlytheCon to watch a demonstration, so after a little eating and much talking (my voice was actually getting hoarse!) we reluctantly said goodbye. It was wonderful to meet Susan; she felt like a familiar friend, and our first meeting was so fun that I know we will see each other again.

Quilted Sewing Machine Cover

For a recent craft swap on Craftster, I made this sewing machine cover for my partner. Her favorite color is orange, and she likes it paired with purple, so that's why I chose this color scheme! I must say that after the top was all pieced together and I was considering a purple fabric for the binding, I wasn't happy with it--the colors seemed to be "too much".  Then I thought of going with the black and white stripe, and it took on a more modern feel to me, and I am very happy with how it turned out. I quilted it by machine, which is unusual for me (I do almost all of my quilting by hand), but I was running out of time, so machine quilting saved the day!

This is the first sewing machine cover I've ever made, and although I would have preferred to make a fitted cover with closed sides, I didn't have the exact dimensions of the machine it would cover, so I made it loose-fitting with adjustable ties. My partner says she loves it, and that's what matters.

This was my 52nd swap on Craftster! That's a lot of swaps! I'm going to take a break from swapping now and concentrate on other things...at the moment, my main interest is sewing and crafting for Blythe dolls. I've opened an Etsy store called Blythe Happy, and the embroidered panties are selling like crazy! I will be doing more blogging on my other blog (also called Blythe Happy) and less blogging here.

So, until next time, happy crafting!

What I've Been Up To in August

I'm surprised that more than three weeks have flown by since I last posted here! I guess my July craft-a-day challenge didn't have the intended effect--I had hoped/expected it to give me a creative jump-start, but instead it seems to have drained me! Well, it didn't drain me completely...I must admit that I've been quite a busy bee recently in the realm of crafting for dolls.  By the way...did you notice that I didn't mention Blythe dolls at all during the month of July? I did that on purpose. I was trying to separate my Blythe crafting from my general crafting, and I undertook a Blythe doll dress-a-day challenge during July too. It turns out that I much preferred working on the things for the dolls! I love working on that small scale, and I like that I can use all my crafty skills to make things for them. Here's an example of what I've done lately:

Dresses and shrugs (I love sewing and knitting!)

Underwear (I love embroidery!)

I'm getting ready to go to a big meet-up of Blythe enthusiasts in New York City in October, and I plan to hand out doll undies to the people I meet there (package with my business card--I've just opened an etsy shop selling Blythe clothes and accessories, called Blythe Happy). So for now I am concentrating on doll crafting, but there are a couple of other projects that I plan to post here in the coming weeks.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer! This summer I have finally gotten back into regular exercise (jogging a mile every day) and I've managed to lose 10 pounds!

Thanks for stopping by!

July Challenge Day #31

Hooray, it's day 31, and this month-long challenge is DONE! I'm ending it with one more goody for you strawberry lovers: a strawberry pincushion. I found the pattern at Martha Stewart.com. It is made from wool felt and filled with emery, which I had bought on Etsy quite a while ago--I'm glad I finally got around to using it!

July Challenge Day #30

For today's craft, I turned a leftover quilt block into a potholder!  Here's the front (I added the red boarder to make it plenty big to handle hot things in the kitchen):

On the back I used a pretty blue print. I layered the front and back with two layers of cotton quilt batting, and machine quilted it. It went together really quickly, and it's a great way to use an orphan block.

See, it really works!

July Challenge Day #29

About a year ago, for a Craftster swap, I made a felt heart covered in buttons. I've thought about that heart many times since then, wishing I had one for myself--so with this challenge for motivation, I finally made another one, just for me.

Here are the two halves of the heart, completely covered in buttons.

Here's the finished product. For me, the appeal of this heart is the assortment of buttons all in a shade of the same color. It was so easy to make I can't believe I put it off for so long!