Happy Birthday Banner and 1st real sewing project

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all having a great weekend so far. Yesterday was very rainy and cold here in the greater Houston area so we spent the whole day indoors. My poor doggies were getting cabin fever :)
It gave me a chance to catch up on some work and get crafty in my studio.
There are several projects I wanted to do this weekend including making a banner for a little girl's birthday. One of our medical assistants at work has admired my banners and asked me to make one for her daughter's upcoming 1st birthday.
I also had the chance to make a small pillow for the basket that our cat, Isabella, likes to sleep in.

This week was a week full of nice surprises in the mail! I received my Cricut Artiste cartridge set from Close to my heart, my Two Peas purchase, and some prints from Shutterfly.

I did film another video with my Canon DSLR camera but still needs editing. I will try to get it up on my blog and You Tube later this week.
I will just post some pics for a sneak peak :)

This is the Cricut Artiste cartridge and set from Close to My Heart (CTMH). This came out back in August/September of 2012.  I had asked Santa for this set for Christmas but I don't think he received my letter :(
So after Christmas, I went online and bought it myself. CTMH came out with a Cricut cartridge in 2011 called Art Philosphy which is GREAT! It has so many basic shapes/die cuts that it is really the only cartridge you need for any project. CTMH also makes their own clear stamps and many of them coordinate with both cartridges.
The set comes with 3 stamp sets and chipboard pieces that coordinate.


For my Two Peas purchase, I bought several Valentine's day collections including Crate Paper, Pink Paislee, and Echo Park. I also bought several other papers and embellishments from older 2012 collections that I will cover a little in my video. This was my biggest Two Peas purchase to date. What sucks is that 4 days later they offered an extra 25% off my purchase! Ugh!! If I would have just waited a little longer :(

Here are some sneak peaks:

Well onto this week's project.....a Happy Birthday banner.  The colors from the invitation are fuchsia, black, white and a zebra print.

I used both the Cricut Art Philosophy and my new Cricut Artiste cartridges with my Cricut Expression 2 for all the banner cuts including the alphabet font.


Here are some pics of the completed banner:

I hope she likes it! I think it came out pretty cute. Happy 1st Birthday Blakeley!!




I found some time yesterday evening to work on my first real sewing project on my new sewing machine.
I have been wanting to make a pillow for the bottom of a basket that our cat likes to sit/sleep in.
I found some quarter squares at Wal-Mart the other day with a cute cat print which I thought was purr-fect :)

It was fairly easy to make but I think next time I make a pillow, I will try to use a zipper on that last side so it can look more professional.
I just used regular Poly-fill for the inside. After adding the stuffing, I closed the pillow with a single stitch over a 5 inch area that I had left open to fill the pillow.

Here is a picture of Isabella's pillow:

This morning we found that Isabella was not too fond of her new pillow as she has now refused to sit in her basket. I think she may need some more time. My husband thinks she maybe only likes to sit on a hard surface.
If she does finally sit on her new pillow then will try to get a picture to show off :)

There have been sneak peaks all over manufacturer's blogs for the upcoming CHA 2013 show. This is where all the crafting world gets together and manufacturers debut their new products/collections coming out. There is one in January and then one in June I believe. The new upcoming collections are for the Spring/Summer seasons.
I have been taking a look at all the sneak peaks and I have to tell you that I will not be able to contain myself! There are several collections that I have my eye on. I already told my husband that I will have to break my promise about not purchasing supplies. He just gave me a blank look and said "I knew it, no worries". I don't think he is too happy about it :)

Well thanks for stopping by and taking a look. I will upload my video as soon as I edit it.


I hope you all have a great Sunday and a great week everyone!