Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and is always looking to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

Last weekend, here in Portland, quilters and manufacturers from all over the country had the opportunity to meet up and share what they love. Here are some of the highlights:

Right when we walked in to the quilt market, there were so many beautiful quilts hanging up around the booths. I absolutely loved the watercolor appearance of this quilt, with the intricate floral stitching. It’s absolutely gorgeous!

We very quickly started to notice a theme with all of the lovely quilts hanging up, lots and lots of color! There were bright neons and rainbow quilts everywhere!

This quilt quickly caught my eye. It is so colorful and I love the pointillism effect used with the background. I also love the fact that quilts don’t necessarily have to be about piecing together blocks of fabric anymore. You can create a scene and really tell a story with them.

Once we got into the booths, we had a lot of fun trying out the Sizzix Big Shot  and AccuQuilt Go Die they make cutting your fabric so easy and precise!

A lot of the booths had more fun notions and products than imaginable. It was so fun to look through all of the ribbons and trims that Cheep Trims has to offer.

The award for booth creativity definitely goes to Fairfield Batting. All of the decorations are made entirely from quilt batting!

 They dyed, felted, crimped, and ironed everything together to create this beautiful forest scene. It was really inspiring to see a creative way to use batting outside of quilting. Fairfield carries natural cotton batting, which they said was the easiest to dye. It’s so hard to believe those flowers are made from felted and dyed batting.

After many hours spent looking at new products, playing with new tools, and chatting with quilters, I think this photo best sums up how we felt when we left:

This decal was too cute!

By Guest Blogger Paisley Hansen

About the Author: Paisley Hansen is a freelance writer and expert in fleece fabric and beauty. When she isn’t writing she can usually be found reading a good book.

Be honest with yourself, how long has that basket of rags and fabric scraps been sitting with your craft and sewing stuff? If you are anything like me, you have probably been collecting enough fabric over the years to reupholster an entire mansion. That is, if you could do that using just scraps. Well, you may not be able reupholster your house, but there are plenty of things that you can create to make use of your leftover fabric scraps. Here are 10 neat ideas.

Rag Quilt

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If you have a lot of scraps, one way to use up just about all of them is to make a rag quilt. This might turn into quite the project, but you can watch tutorials such as this one online to help you out.

Blanket

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If you have a lot of leftover or cheap fleece fabric, you can easily make it into a blanket by cutting tassels around the edge. Tie a knot in each one to give it a more finished look.

Wreath

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If all you have are a lot of smaller scraps, you can make them into a wreath for your door. All you have to do is use a metal coat hanger, and bend it in whichever shape you desire. Then cut the fabric into smaller strips, and tie them around the hanger using a cow hitch knot for each.

Cleaning

It would be a shame to use nice fabric for cleaning, but if you have random scraps of old, useless material, or it is ruined for whatever reason, they make good cleaning rags.

USA map

Have you ever seen the maps of the United States, made from license plates? A cute idea for a family home can be to do the same thing, but with fabric scraps. You can either cut the states out and stick them on cardboard for your wall, or you can sew them together and mount them on a canvas.

Canning

If you want to try canning, scraps can be a cute way to brighten up jars. Secure a small square of fabric over the lid with a rubber band.

Flip Flop Redesign

A fun way to use old scraps can be to redesign old flip flops for a new season. Make sure that you use strong glue.

Bracelet

There are a lot of creative ways to weave bracelets using strips of fabric, for use as a friendship bracelet, or simply a fashion statement. One good way can be viewed here, along with a step-by-step.

Pincushion

For the avid sewer, a pincushion might just be the perfect way to use your scraps. There are a number of different ways to make one, in fact, here are just 10.

Dog Toy

For your dog that likes to destroy your furniture and clothes, why not give them something that they can destroy? Some fabric might be fine as it is, but here is a step-by-step guide to make a fun little toy for your canine friend.

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and is always looking to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

Spring is officially in full swing, and the well known expression “April Showers brings in May Flowers” is certainly starting to show in our part of the country! The sunny weather and colorful blooms outside my window have been an inspiration to bring the beautiful spring weather into my crafting. I’ve collected a few of my favorite floral inspired crafts over the years to help you celebrate May Flowers too!

Pick a few of your most colorful flowers from the garden and preserve them into these beautiful bookmarks. This way in the wintertime when you’re stuck inside reading, you’ll have something beautiful to get you through the cold weather.

Keep the flowers in your garden and create these beautiful fabric flowers instead. This way, you won’t feel as bad about wearing some beautiful floral accessories.

Read the rest…

By Card Making & Scrapbooking Contributor

Peg Rounds from:

Peg’s Crafting Corner

I was excited when I was asked to review the new Imperial Gold Nestabilites Dies by Spellbinders.  These dies add even more fun elements to any of your projects whether they are cards, scrapbook pages or even altered art items.  For $19.49 you get 4 to 12 dies depending on which set you choose.  This is a great price for the amount of things that can be created using them.  These dies will cut, emboss, deboss, stencil and letterpress.  You can do one layer or several.  The dies can be used in most die cut machines, too.  All you need is to follow the stack instructions for your machine that is provided with the instructions.

On this layout, I wanted to create a frame for the pictures.  The top picture I used just one of the dies to create an embossed mat for it and the bottom 2 pictures I made the embossed mats for both of them and then added a die cut and embossed frame over the top of each picture.  See how quickly it is to now create a beautiful frame for all of your pictures?

I experimented with several types and weights of paper to see how well they worked.  On the packaging it is suggested that the paper weight be 65 pounds.  That doesn’t mean that is what you have to use.  Here I tried lighter weight papers and found that most worked.  The foil (the red piece) didn’t cut, but did emboss.  It was too thin using in a regular stack and as I ran it through my die cut machine (Spellbinders Grand Calibur) I could feel the difference as it seemed to easily roll through without pressure.  A shim may have helped with this problem and I will experiment more on this to see if I can get it to work.  It will make a nice mat for a smaller picture, though.

I mentioned earlier about the correct stack to use these dies, but you will also have to purchase the Junior Magnetic Placement Mat to add to the stack or the dies will not work.  I was a little disappointed when I first received the dies and went to use them and couldn’t because I didn’t have this mat.  Nowhere on the packaging does it mention that it is required.  It was only when I opened up the dies and read the instructions was it mentioned. It is the only way to achieve the correct thickness for the stack and helps hold the dies in place when layering them.  Luckily, Create For Less has them and they ship quickly.  You will get 2 mats in a package for $8.49.  The mats are thin so when they are used they become etched as shown in the right picture.  This doesn’t affect the use of them, but after a while they will require replacing.  This was a big con for me is that it is not mentioned on the packaging that it is a required item in order to use these dies.

Overall, I would definitely suggest this product to everyone.  I love the different looks that can be achieved by just a few dies and that the price for them is reasonable.  They are great to use for frames around pictures or for embellishments on cards. There are several different designs to choose from which is a great idea, too.   One drawback is that the Junior Mat is required for use and there is no mention of it on the packaging.  Now head on over to check the dies out for yourself and start a new layer of fun on your projects.

By Craft Trends Contributor, Gillian from the blog Dried Figs and Wooden Spools. Check out our Craft Trends board on Pinterest!

Remember rock pets? I LOVED rock pets. I think I had a whole collection of them and looking back, it’s kind of silly to remember how much fun I had with them. Because… they are rocks. But there’s something to it because my kids seem to love them as much as I did. In fact, they love all sorts of rock art. And boy is there a lot of it out there. With summer vacation just around the corner I’ve been building up my supply of rock art ideas, and of rocks, of course. They’ll love them, I know, and I bet your kids will too. Here are some of the best of the best out there.

Being Crafty with Rocks - Lori-Lee Thomas

My daughter has a fondness for foxes. She loves them and has a whole collection of fox friends (all named foxy, by the way) So I KNOW this will be at the top of her list of rock art projects. A fox she can keep in her pocket? Perfect. And I have to admit, I think I need one too, it’s so sweet!

Painted Rocks – Inspire Bohemia

So Many Owls – Lori-Lee Thomas

These wildly different but equally cool rock owls are also at the top of our list. I love them both. The more abstract heart shaped owls have such a fun, modern look while the more realistic owls have a woodsy, folksy look. It’s the detail and color combinations in both that make them so dazzling I think. I can’t wait to try my hand at creating something similar.

Pierres Graphiques by Yoran Morvant - Available for purchase at Ashes and Milk

And talking of abstract, this rock is stunning with it’s abstract circles and lines. It reminds me of zentangles, except on a rock. I think these might be just the thing for some late summer birthday gifts from kids to the grownups in their lives.

Have you tackled any rock art? Show off your projects! We love to see them! Check out these and other ideas for rock art projects on our Craft Trends Pinboard!

It’s a very happy Monday for one lucky winner! Congratulations to…Portia! Enjoy your Blue Moon Beads Prize Pack!

This prize pack has 10 different Blue Moon Beads elements including 5 Pendants, 1 Bead Strand, 3 packs of Findings, and Metal Bails!

The winning answer to “If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?” is…

“quilt… or sleep. zzzzzzz.”

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week.  Check back on Friday for your chance to win!!

By General Crafts Contributor Erin from the blog Lovesome.