Freezer Paper Textiles

{New discovery}: Freezer paper!! 
Can't find the exact pattern or color in fabric you're looking for? Create your own stencil from freezer paper. It's so simple and turns out a great image or textile. Only drawback: each stencil is really a one time use BUT its the cheap route to designing your own pattern :).

Here's how:
Materials:
Freezer paper - from the grocery store, 50ft for a whoppin $1.99, yea baby! :)
Fabric paint- Michael's craft store, $1.99 ( pick one that doesnt require heat setting to save time!)
Printer
Iron
Exacto knife
Cardboar
Fabric


Find an image online or free-hand it. For my first dress I thought i'd try a bird. The possibilites are endless! Granted I should have painted this BEFORE sewing the dress together but oh well (do recommend it, to have fabric lay flat).

I had sewed a simple sun dress
...but it was missing something

Cut freezer paper to 8.5x11 piece of paper and insert it into the printer with the non-shiny side up ( or whatever direction so that the ink is on the non-shiny side). Print your design out.
Cut out the negative space.

Place cardboard beneath fabric and lay flat and smooth. Position freezer paper, sticky side down and iron with a warm dry iron. This will form your leak-proof stencil (or so the box said...i had a few small leaks).

Use a foam or stencil brush and paint evenly onto the fabric. 
Tip: paint from the outside in and in thin layers.

Let fabric dry - my bottle said 24 hours- then simply peel of the freezer paper to reveal your personalized fabric! :) Let the imagination {go wild}!

Another idea: Go online to find free animal silhouette vectors to use as stencil templates.

Posh up a party with paper!

Check out this link - Pretty Up a Party with Paper - CraftStylish - to follow Jeff, who's job is to cut and create with paper- his stuff is aweseome!

Make a cake special without the fussiness of fondant

LOVE coral - will try this out, but around
a white cake- what fun!

 I love to bake cakes and love the graphic simplicity Jeff has used to create a beautiful cake! :) Will definitely be trying this out the first chance I get!

Don't forget to create that special Thank-you note with an exquisite, though time-consuming, personal touch. Perhaps this would be for very special occasions only :) Though it inspires me to try this effect elsewhere.

Who wouldn't love to get something this thoughtful in the mail!

The dress craze continues

Added another one to my bubby collection this weekend. I have enough fabric that I think I can make a sundress for myself in a similar style - if i dare! Children's clothing seems less intimidating right now.

Meet my "Honeysuckle" Sundress.
Materials: IKEA cut fabric. Pattern: Variation of MadeByRae.

Last night I tried a full pattern dress and was ironing the paper pattern flat across the entire living room carpet - maybe its a virgin sewer thing, but it was like trying to read a blueprint of a detailed heist or something! eek! 

Love my husband though for his encouragement and feeling proud of me in my new venture- that put the steam back into the project. 

...sooo 3 hours later I had templated and cut out all my pieces (almost! some lining to go). 
A white on white size 4 sundress should be appearing sometime this week! :)

Now to find some cute lil models to take pictures of with my dresses - any takers? :)

Desire to Inquire: Children's Books

"There's nothing quite as special as a favorite book that your parents would read to you - with all the voices- before bed. My favorite part- my parents would make the stories up - these adventures have stayed with me and long to be shared"

Ok, so another creative arena I'd love to take part in is
{children's books}- both as author and illustrator. I have had several manuscripts and dummy books collecting dust on my shelf for several years now. Time to dust these off??

The worst part? The lead character is a penguin (adorable i know!) but I guess I was ahead of my time. Now that these lil cuties are such a hot item, will my book be lost in the sea of "just another penguin"?

My Universe question: How can so many bad books get published and be on the shelves of Barnes & Noble yet it is so ridiculously difficult to get a book published (so I'm told)?
- why do i let this deter me?-
- how do you succeed without all of your money going to publishers? -

Children of the world: Hold tight, the cutest lil penguin story and other animal adventures will reach your lil hands in hardcover eventually!

Another avenue: Book Cover design
This can make or break a sale as consumers are drawn to eye catching covers. Anyone out there looking for design, I'm your gal! I already have one published book under my belt.

New Years Resolution: CREATE

When the 9 to 5 gets stale, my fingers get so itchy to create
- something-.

Well inspiration has hit, creative juices are flowing and I am determined to live up to my own challenge of getting better at my design craft. The greatest things about creativity and design is that it exists in almost anything, the coolest things can come from nothing.

First challenge of the new year: Sewing!
I received a sewing machine for Christmas from my mum. No more stealing her's to make simple square pillows.
My 1st project of choice? Baby clothes for a girlfriends baby shower in 5 days.  - am i crazy? crazy excited! - Have you seen the uber-cute things that these talented women are creating for babies?

Props to Made By Rae's FREE itty bitty dress pattern - you've started me on a mad hatter craze of baby clothes!


Here is my result: a lil different from the original pattern but not bad for my first sewing project. Hope it fits!!

'Plum Pudding' Dress
Materials: Soft purple suede pillow case,
Trim from a pair of capris from H&M that never fit.
Pattern: variation of 'Made by Rae'

I then created an infant party skirt from a variation of the 'Knot Me Tie Me' Skirt by Simply Modern Mum. What fun!

'Mad Hatter Tea Party' Skirt
Materials: Euro Sham pillowcase from IKEA and left over ribbon.
Pattern: Variation of 'Simply Modern Mum'

I'm on a roll and armed with several yards of fabric from IKEA. Who knew fabric was so expensive- on a mission to find cool textiles from unlikely sources to create precious treasures on the CHEAP!