How to avoid the Pinch this St. Patrick's...Rosette Tutorial...Heather's Inspirational Post

Heather from The Beating Hearth has a St. Patrick's Day trifecta to avoid being pinched on the 17th.  She also has the cutest little red-headed lass to help show them off!

 Just click on the door of the Cafe below and you'll be inside where Heather will serve you up an awesome tuturial on these great projects!

If you would like to guest post at the Inspiration Cafe, we'd love for you to let one of us know, or go HERE to our submissions page.
If you've never written a guest post before, that's OK, we're happy to teach you how with this easy step-by-step tutorial HERE.  It's easier than you might think and a great way to get exposure for your blog! 

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosting...Heather's Inspiration Cafe

Hi everybody, it's my turn over at Inspiration Cafe and I have made these cookies...if you are looking for something that uses simple ingredients but is a show stopper..then these are for you.  Yummy buttery shortbread cookies topped with an elegant chocolate peanut butter frosting...Oh yes...you must make these.

So, come read my post, I think you will be extremely pleased you did.

If you would like to guest post at the Inspiration Cafe, we'd love for you to let one of us know, or go HERE to our submissions page.
If you've never written a guest post before, that's OK, we're happy to teach you how with this easy step-by-step tutorial HERE. It's easier than you might think and a great way to get exposure for you blog!

p.s. Women love jewelery

So, if you've got some women or girls in your life who need a present...maybe in the next month or so...then let me recommend you to the lovely Natalie from Northshore Days.  Not meaning to brag or anything...but I happen to be her friend.  That's right.  She lives in New Zealand and has about the cutest kids you can imagine...plus on top of all that she's freaking amazing at making beautiful jewelery.

Pssstt...I have a secret.  A package just came in the mail for me...from New Zealand...wanna see...

Don't you love it when you get something and it's packaged pretty.  It just makes it so much fun to open up...

She is seriously a genius.  I told her my girls love purple and pink.  My Youngest...only LOVES unicorns.  How cute is this pendent?

And my Oldest LOVES ice cream.  They have been telling everyone we see that they got a present from a lady across the oceans!!! 

And look at mine...sigh...  So pretty.  I love the combination of beads that she chose and the shell is so beautiful.  The craftsmanship is excellent!

Let me show you these beauties in action...

And yes...this is my family in action.  This is a typical lazy day.  Hair's not done.  Face Paint smeared from the previous day's fun.  A stick.  Gotta have a stick for some serious play.  And now add to it beautiful jewelery!

If you're like me, you're into the layered bracelet look.  So this is the two I got from Nat plus one of my own.  Pretty freaking gorgeous!!

Thanks Nat!!!!  Love ya!!!

Heather

House Haunts by Heather...Inspiration Cafe

Welcome to the Inspiration Cafe. It's Heather this week, and I am so excited to get you inspired to do something....sewing.

Halloween is almost here. I know,  don't blink or anything. That is why I am taking the time today, in September, to help you get some Halloween decor ready before Halloween...because that's how I typically make decorations for holidays.  Once they are over I get things done and then can't use them until the following year.  So, we're getting started early.

I felt my house needed some haunts.  Kinda like Halloween groupies.  They hang around giving my house some ambiance, make us feel a little spooky...make my kids need to have the hall light on all night while they sleep...you know, things like that.  I also wanted to give you two options.  One you can make with a sewing machine and one to make by hand with a needle and thread.  Both are easy and cute....and they take very little time. Which for me, counts for a lot when it comes to making decorations.  I love to get inspired and be able to make something in an hour flat.

Sewing Machine option

1. Get some fabric. Whatever fits your Halloween style. I am using old lady mauve's and Grandpa grays because of this ghastly wall hanging.

2.  Cut alternating strips of fabric.  Anywhere from 2" wide to .75" wide.  And sew them together.  I wasn't too concerned with the length, as long as they were at least 8.5" long...I knew that I would trim it up later.

3.  Make a ghostly shape.  I roughly cut a piece of white fabric and just made sure it would basically fit and then cut it into a sperm...I mean, spirit shape.  The Mister just has a dirty mind.

4.  Start stitching around the edge of your ghost.  This is a rough-edge project so don't worry about turning the edges under...you want it to look a bit ragged.  I found that sewing around the edge 3 times produced the look I was going for.

Then draw on the face.

5.  Now you've got to fill in the eyes and mouth.  I went straight down all the way across and then started a zig zag up and down.  You don't want it to be completely solid....keep going until you like the look.   You also want to sew around the edge to give the mouth and eyes a defined look.

6.  Add a border around the whole thing.  And voila.  Now, I actually made mini quilts out of my House Haunts, so I sandwiched them with batting and another layer of fabric.  Then threw on the binding.  You do to whatever level you feel confident with.

I made two haunts using this method.  The Mister says this one is better.  I like the first one best.

Hand Sewing Option

1.  Cut a block of fabric to size.  This was 8.5" x 8.5".  Cut out your ghostly shape.  As you can see, I just chose a fabric that I liked.  No sewing involved...yet.

2.  Outline it using 2 strands of embroidery floss in your needle.  I found that outlining it twice with embroidery thread was perfect versus 3 rows with the sewing machine.

3.  When hand sewing the eyes and mouth, I found it was easier to break the ovals up into about 3rds for the vertical lines.  Then sew horizontally and slantwise across it to start filling it in.

4.  Make sure to outline around them for a nice defined shape.  Throw on a border around the edge if you want.  You can totally hand sew a border on.  I cut mine purposely wonky.  Just make sure you put your front sides together and do an even running stitch across.  Then press.  All good!

Now welcome your house haunts home...don't mind my pink walls.  My sewing room is the kids former play room.

Happy Halloween in a month and a half.

Thanks for reading.

Heather

Gorgeous wrap bracelet by Natalie...Inspiration Cafe

 

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all had great weekends. Its time for Inspiration Cafe again - yay, so lets get started.

Today  I'm going to show you how to make a Wrap Bracelet

There are so many of these wrap bracelets around blog world with loads of great tutorials. I have to admit that when I first saw these bracelets popping up on Pinterest I thought they would be too difficult to make. That was until I saw a tutorial from Happy Hour Projects. So simple and so easy.

Here's what you need:

Cord, cotton for sewing, a needle, beads (uniform in size) and a button. 

I also used a clipboard to secure the cord so that I could work neatly. 

I roughly measured my wrist and allowed for a bit extra. Double the length and cut the cord. At the bend in the cord (halfway mark) knot the loop for the closure, make sure that your button will fit snugly through the loop.

Here's how to sew it:

Thread the needle with a double thread and secure to the cord.

I worked from left to right in a figure 8.

Thread the first bead onto the cotton and pass under the right cord.

Loop over the right cord and thread back through the bead.

Pass under the left cord and loop over - thread the next bead on.

Again pass under the right cord. Over.

Thread back through the bead.

Under the left cord and over. Thread the next bead on.

 

Continue until you are
happy with the length, then secure the end of the cotton onto the cord
and cut off. Thread the button onto the cord ends and secure. I liked
the end pieces sticking out but you can cut them off for a neater look.

 

  

Pretty easy right?

I love it - its by far my favourite bracelet to wear. And I get loads of compliments and "where did you buy its" when I wear it.

 I haven't had time to make more yet, but I definitely will, and I think next time I will make it longer so I can wrap it twice around my wrist.

 

I hope you enjoyed Inspiration Cafe today.  Be back next week to see what Mary from Sweet Little Bluebird has in store for us

Take care

xxx

Put it on the fridge by Danni...Inspiration Cafe

Welcome to the

For those of you that follow my blog, you know that most of my projects are pretty quick, fairly versatile and very inexpensive. 

With summer winding down, and a busy fall season just around the corner, I decided to make a small white board I could put on my fridge to remind me of some upcoming events that I'm looking forward to, like.....

 I started out thinking I was going to cute up this little whiteboard that I got from our bank when they had a grand opening for their new building.

Unfortunately, the pen was not a whiteboard marker.  Don't know what that was about, but anyway, I needed a change of plan.  I had a chalk marker and a piece of adhesive chalkboard vinyl that a friend gave me, so I figured it was time for my first chalkboard project.

Now I love Freedom Bank, but their logo just doesn't match my decor, so I got out my scissors, cut off the logo, trimmed down the chalkboard vinyl to fit, removed the pen holder, then got out my washi tape and trimmed the edges out.

Now it's looking a little cuter and I haven't spent a dime on this project.  I used a strip of magnetic tape that I cut in half and fastened on the marker to make it stick to my fridge so it will always be handy.

 You can see that I have some fun things coming up on my schedule.  I've decided to use it for only the fun things.  That way when I'm feeling overwhelmed, all I have to do is look at it and I'll be cheered up!  

Thanks for stopping by the Inspiration Cafe today and don't forget to come by again next Monday to see what Sherry from Pondered Primed Perfected {P3} has been doing.  You can bet it will be something special.

Embrace your inspiration...Inspiration Cafe by Heather

Thanks for visiting the Inspiration Cafe this week.  It's Heather (your sewing guide), back for my turn to show you what I've got percolating this week. 

One of my favorite things about sewing, is being inspired by something and then making it my own.  My family room is sorely in need of...I wouldn't say redecorating so much as I would say...decorating.  On one wall, we have...a big screen TV.  That's it.  It needs something...almost anything to give it some excitement.

This is what I decided would give the room a little...flair.  Go ahead and read what you see here out loud.  It took The Mister a few seconds to get it...so don't worry...just say it.

The Mustache craze that's going around the interwebs right now is my favorite.  So, I  have made it my own.  This project that I'm making isn't just for an experienced sewer or quilter, I am using a technique that any beginner can use with ease. Just ask my Sister.  You just need a special tool...it's called fusible interfacing, and it's a miracle product.  You are able to fake applique...and for somebody who actually does applique the traditional way, whenever I use fusible web, I think...Dang, I should only use this.  Please make sure you don't buy heavy fusible web unless that is what you want...which it probably never is  Buy the light weight version.  What's great about this is you can make personalized shirts for you or your kids.  You can make adorable blankets even more adorable.  What about holiday projects...fuhgedaboutit.

Okay, so let's get started.  The first thing I did...was decide how big my wall hanging was going to be.  I happened to have some tissue paper that was 24 X 20 inches and thought...that'll do.  So I roughly positioned my phrase...knew approximately how I wanted to look, and went from there.

Now, you need to get your words just right. For me, I used my printer and found a font that I liked and made it HUGE (by the way, if you are going to use words, you need to trace them onto the fusible web mirror image).  The easy way I do this is print or write out your words and then turn the paper over and trace them onto the reverse side of the paper.  Voila.  Mirror Image.  And this mirror image is what you then trace onto the fusible web paper...and when you cut it out, it'll be right side.  Magic.

Now that you've got it traced onto your fusible web, you iron it onto the backside of your fabric.  I cannot emphasize that enough.  I don't know how many times I have wasted fabric and had to re-do my fusible interfacing because I ironed it onto the front side of the fabric.  Your fabric's pretty...I know...but look at it later.

Now cut out the words or the image.  They'll have a protective layer of paper on the back side.  Do not remove this paper until you are ready to iron it onto whatever you are ironing it on.

I removed the paper and then ironed my words onto white fabric.  I knew that the wall hanging I was going to ultimately put this on had many different fabrics in the background and so I wanted to be able to read the phrase easily.  So, it's black on white (I also had my white fabric on fusible web so it would be easy to attach to the background).  Take it from me, this comes from experience; if you try and put words onto printed fabric, it can be tricky to read.  That's the reason for the white fabric.  I then cut my images out and left a thin, white border.

Time to iron it onto your background fabric.  I'd say that my inspiration for this was shades of gray...but that just sounds naughty now. 

I pieced together many different 2.5" squares to use as my background.  You can do this...or you can just use a single piece of fabric that you really like.  So, to place your iron-on transfers, remove the paper backing and you will see your image now has a layer of adhesive on the back.  Just place it where you want it, iron over it, following the directions and it will stay there...more or less...definitely with some stitching.  Do not put your iron on the adhesive side...it'll make a mess of your iron...personal experience again.

This is where I made a mistake that I do not want you to make.  You are going to have to sew your iron on transfer down around the edges...otherwise it will peel off your final product.  No good.  You can just use a zig-zag stitch or blanket stitch to outline.  My mistake was...I sewed over the white fabric with the fusible web paper still attached.  I had to then carefully pick the paper out of the stitches before I could iron it on the wall hanging...it worked out okay, but I wouldn't recommend it.  In the future I would say iron the cut out image onto it's final resting place as you want it to appear and then sew it down.  Match your fabric and your outline thread.  You don't really want the thread to show up.

I threw on a black border because I want it to look like it's framed.  Make sure to measure accurately.  If you find your top and bottom edges aren't exactly the same, then meet in the middle.  So if the top is 20 1/4" and the bottom is 20"...then cut your border strip to 20 1/8" and you shouldn't end up with a pucker.

Thanks for checking us out here at Inspiration Cafe, please come back next week to see what Danni's up to.

Happy Reading!

Heather