A Quilted Card: Simple Stories

Are you a scrap saver?  Generally I am not, but I tend to hang on to the bits and pieces from my 6 x 6 paper pads, especially if the sheet is still attached.

I was flipping through what was left of my Simple Stories Sn@p 6 x 6 pad the other day and thought it was a shame to let the little pieces go to waste. The paper is so fun and cheery.  

To make the quilt, I punched 16 squares, laid them in a grid on a piece of cardstock, then stitched them down, quilt style. I added a piece of coordinating ribbon from May Arts and a bit of twine from The Twinery. 

I punched a tag from grid paper and ran it through my printer to add the sentiment:  When life gives you scraps, make a quilt.  I left some space to add three small quilt blocks. 

I uploaded this card to Two Peas in a Bucket Sunday night and was surprised to pop over to the site on Monday and see that it was the featured project of the day. 

Linking this quilted card to Tip Me Tuesday.

Documenting Baby's Growth: The Months Rocket By

Long before I had a child or started scrapbooking, I saw a baby project on the Martha Stewart show that stuck with me.  A crafter – and new momma – had taken a photo of her baby every month on his birthdate in a plain white onesie.  Then at the end of his first year, she made a photo collage of the 12 photos and framed it.

I loved this idea and decided to follow suit when my son was born.  I went to the store and bought a Carter’s plain white onesie, size L, which fits babies up to 20 lbs.  Wow, that onesie looked gigantic and it was hard to believe my little sweetpea could grow into it in one year’s time.  But he did!

And so I set about photographing my son each month in the onesie.  For his newborn pic and 1 month pic, he’s wearing a long-sleeve onesie because he just looked ridiculous in the size L onesie. But after that, I faithfully took his photo each month in the same onesie. 

I still haven’t made a photo collage of all 12 months. But I did make a layout of the photos from the first six months.  I used October Afternoon’s Rocket Age for this layout. Although Rocket Age is not a baby line, the theme of time rocketing by worked perfectly.

I reduced the size of each photo so I could punch it in a square.  I also punched squares of patterned paper and stitched them to the page for a quilted look, then added some space-themed embellishments, including a rubber charm to stand in for the "o" in rocket.

This layout was published in the April 2012 issue of Scrapbooks Etc and is reposted with permission. 

Shaped Card: Quilted Beach Ball

Today, I have a quick card to share with you:  a bright happy beach ball card.  On the inside, I used the sentiment: It's your birthday!  Have a ball!

To make this card, I drew a ball shape on cardstock (tracing a small plate) and cut it out.  Next, I gathered some coordinating paper scraps from Echo Park and cut them into pie-shaped wedgess, inking the edges. I laid them on the card front in a beach ball design, lightly tacked them down, then used a zig zag stitch between each panel for a quilted look.

At top, I added a small cardstock circle and large stitched brad from Crate Paper.  On the bottom right, I stitched on a label sticker from October Afternoon with brads, chipboard and letter stickers.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a warm and sunny weekend wherever you are.