Have a Heart

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are having a wonderful, sunny and loved Sunday! At Hamman HQ we are spending some time outside on our stoep, having a barbecue and a swim. It's HOT down under in Sunny SA.

Speaking of hot - the SimonSaysStamp challenge of the week is "Have a Heart". What more do you need to heat things up on your craft table?? Last year I made a kit of different heart themed things to keep on hand to pretty up my occasion and this year I decided to re-use my items and to duplicate the kit and gift a friend with one. The idea is to spread the love, isn't it?

And here is my "Have a Heart" kit:

"Have a Heart Kit": Ribbon, Washi, a handmade heart bunting, red vinyl die cuts, heart confetti, picnic cutlery sets, drawstring bags, straws and note cards.

I really did use what I had on hand. The confetti, heart bunting, straw toppers and paper spools for the ribbon, twine and washi are made from recycled scraps, the drawstring bags from offcuts of fabric and the rest came from my craft and kitchen stash. 

And here are what I made with the same kit last year:

      Cappuccino mugs          Heart bunting gift wrap        Drawstring gift bags       Recycled drink bottles

Just click on the names below the images to see the related posts.  If you want to have some more Valentine's fun, check back later this week as I'll be sharing more links. I do love occasions!!

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I really enjoyed having you over.  Have a GREAT week and remember to TRY SOMETHING NEW.

Drawstring bags: Write your own Message

Hallo Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Wacky Wednesday. And by public demand ............................................ another Drawstring Bag!! I think this is version 4:

I don't really do cards and sometimes a tag just looks "overdecorated" so I came up with this version of a Drawstring bag with a sewn-on tag.  I've made "blanks" for my Etsy shop - you can buy and keep it ready to pack and write a message whenever you need to.(I'll activate the link to my shop once I've loaded my new stock) If you want to try your hand at making your own, I'll do a tutorial at the end of my Drawstring Bag series - I think I've figured out the quickest way (after making 300+ over the weekend!)

This one is going to a friend of my mum that lives in a retirement home - inside I'm putting a mega chock chip cookie, a gift card and a photo of my family. I think I'll write her a letter as well (yes, I do letters!) ................ she's really old and while I have the time, I should tell her how much she has meant to me over the years.

And I can't help to share these pictures of my neighbour's cat coming over to help:

Even though he's not mine, I love him to bits. Thanks Maja for sharing him!

That's it from me. Have a great day and thanks for looking at my blog. I'll be back to share some more crafting fun right here - just check back.

Bye
Hazel

Drawstring Bags - Stamping AND Fabric paint

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and time to try something new!!  I've got a "newbe" to share - a combo of stamping AND fabric paint:

In my previous post I showed you how my 9-year old craft class stamped on their canvas bags but when I looked at my attempt it looked too bland for IMPERFECT me. So, Silhouette to the rescue with my "fave" option - "trace and detach". I only wanted a little pink on the butterfly's wings so I opted for making cutting lines from the inside of the shape. First, the stamped image that I scanned and opened up in Silhouette:

And my Silhouette layout:

As I told you before. I use ordinary vinyl for my stencils as I have lots of scraps.  For this I used an 2 x 3 piece and did the L-O-V-E for my first post on altering drawstring bags as well as the butterfly for this project. In black you can see what my original butterfly looked like.

And a WIP pic:

You will agree - it does look funky now!! I love trying new things and when it works according to plan, it's extra special.

Sorry but I'm a bit tired of drawstring bags now.  Tomorrow I'll do i SPY as I saw something wonderful and would love to share it with you.  However, I have lots more in my Drawstring Bag repertoire.  I think I'll continue with that on a weekly basis - let's make it every Thursday???

That's it. Thanks for looking at my blog today. Please check back as I have lots more to share right here on Play as U Go.  Have a great day!

Hazel

Stamping on Drawstring Bags

Hallo Bloglanders

Finally!! ..................... It's Friday.  We are having the first festivities of the yearly Stellenbosch University carnival over the weekend, the wine route is having a festival end there are numerous craft and food markets all over town.  I'm sure to spy something special to show you on Monday!!

Back to my "decorate drawstring bags class" (yesterday I did the first part - fabric paint) If you missed it, just scroll down or hit HOME and then do the scrolling part.:

I used my favourite stamp - it's from Jennifer Bowlin - I use it ALL the time.  It even stays mounted on an acrylic block to speed things up. But for one of my little students everything didn't go according to plan so I've decided to show you my take on "stamping gone wrong":

I just replaced the smudged star with an iron-on fabric one.  And now the rest of the class wants pink polka-dot stars as well!!!

That's it from me. Thanks for looking at my blog today.  Have a GREAT weekend and please check back as I have much more to share with you right here on Play as U Go.

Bye
Hazel

Drawstring Bags Many, Many Ways.

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!! It is very, very hot down under in Sunny SA but if I look at all the snow the USA is having, I can't help a few shivers.  For those of you over in snowy USA - hang in there, keep warm and stay safe.

Today I'm doing the first in a series of  "Decorating Drawstring Bags".  I had to help a class of children do some Valentine's gifts and decided to recycle all my cotton scraps into drawstring bags for them to use to pack their projects. Of course, we decorated the bags!  I'll be showing some of our projects and if you can come up with more, we would love to hear about it. Next class we will try it out.

And this is the stash that the IMPERFECT factory made:

I think I have figured out a quick way to make them and will be sharing that in a later post (IMPERFECT ME still have to take pic's).  So, first up is a bag decorated with fabric paint.

I did the letters from scraps of Vinyl with my Silhouette and the girls just had to paint the open spaces.  I know the whole Blogland is buzzing about the new stencil material coming to Silhouette shortly but we, down under in Sunny SA will probable be getting it after CHA 2015.  In the meantime, I use the regular Vinyl and I DO reuse it.  I keep it on pieces of waxy paper in an office folder (the wax paper comes from the inside of the heat transfer rolls).  Here is a bit of  WIP info:

These letters have been used by 9 little girls and I think it's still ready to go for my own attempt at stenciling with Vinyl. We only used 2 colors of  fabric paint. Pink first and then adding more white to get the lighter shades.  I think you save on paint and mess that way and which little girl wouldn't like to have an all pink drawstring bag to give away? (I think they are keeping these!)  OH, and remember to put something inside the bag when you paint otherwise it will seep through.

That's it. My first way to decorate an ordinary drawstring bag. Thanks for looking at my blog today. Please check back as I have lots more to share right here.

Have a great day!
Hazel