Category Archives: Crafting

And the Winner is….. drumroll!

Deb "Itsmee" from the Daisie Boards won the prize in the drawing this morning.  Thanks so very much to her and all of you that participated.  It will be a monthly feature, so keep that in mind and when you read something that you think would benefit someone special your lives, please pass the link on (and then tell me you did, so I can enter you).

I'm working on a craft project that I will post here, maybe as early as tomorrow, so check back in!  I'll have a template and instructions on making a wall hanging with Pabric (or other printable fabrics).  I'll be making it out of kits that are already available from Daisie Company, but will make a mini kit of the design elements available separately in case you don't already own the graphics to create it.

On another note.  I wanted to mention the incredible sense of community that has developed in the past year at The D.A.I.S.I.E. Company and especially in the Message Board Forum.  In a world where we can live next door to people for 5 years and barely know their names, it is amazing to discover the loving, caring, fun relationships that have developed between the women there.  My husband and I have talked about it quite a bit and have come to the conclusion that in many ways, it's similar to centuries ago when the women would have gathered together at the river's edge to do their laundry together.  Or perhaps more like an 18th century weekly quilting bee.  Often times there would be nothing more than a little bantering and playful conversation, but when one woman was hurting all would gather around and help bear the load emotionally and prayerfully.

We have women literally from around the world, that are gathering at the river's edge throughout the day, to share the events of their daily lives and to support one another.  I think that there's little difference in the quality of those relationships because they're "cyber" relationships… except that we don't get the joys of holding a hand, wiping a tear and giving a hug except with the thoughtfulness of our words. 

One of our members, Sue (OzSue) from Australia, recently had been missing from our midst.  It was noticed, shared, wondered about and then last night discovered that she and her husband had suffered the loss of his mother unexpectedly.  Our community worked.  We noticed.  We cared.  We reached out to make a difference.  Take a moment today to think about those who share your lives in both your day-to-day world and elsewhere.  Is anyone missing?  Is anyone suffering through a challenging time?  Does someone need a hug?  If so think about what you can do to draw close and lighten their load.  That's community in action.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Personalize a Wedding or Anniversary with Digital Clip Art and Scrapbooking Kits.

Are you preparing for an upcoming wedding?  Do you want to celebrate an anniversary that marks a milestone?  Do you want to do it in a way that will be both timeless and classic yet contemporary?  Then my new art collection is for you!  Wonderful parchment, cocoa and latte browns mix with clean fresh blue hydrangeas to make a romantic statement.

Creating a beautiful Certificate of Marriage for that special Bride and Groom or making favors for their reception will be so easy with all the pieces you'll find in this new digital art kit.  There's even a new hand lettered font that will be released along with it, "Audrey Jeanne's Loose Handwriting 1."Timeless Treasures Collection Preview 

This font is shown in the Title of the image to the right.  A loose, but elegant handwriting that speaks to the best of the elegant traditions of the past but when mixed with the loose floralia swirls is contemporary for today's bride.

This kit will be available probably by next Friday if my schedule allows. 

For a ready to purchase gift of unsurpassed elegance and value, try Cottage Garden's 12" x 12" shadow box Dimensional Decor photo frame with and elegant walnut finished frame.  Very reasonably priced… it will be the gift that they talk about and show off proudly as their favorite!

Call 877-210-3456 to inquire for purchase.

Cottage Garden's Scrappin Decor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Family Heirlooms, Crafted with Love

I'm an "Antiques Road Show" fan.  It's fascinating to see the amazing array of things that are collectible and valuable and the various ways they came into the possession of the current owner.  I'm jealous of those of you in the midwest and east with spacious basements and attics.  We in the west don't have them, so we don't end up owning the family "junk" of one generation that becomes the treasure of the next!  I especially love when the show reveals that something is extremely valuable, yet the owner would never part with it because of how much they love and treasure the memory of the person that gave it to them.

If an item comes from someone we deeply loved, we call it an heirloom.  We cultivate respect and love for it and the person who made it, or gave it to us, by sharing their stories with our children.  Through this process of family storytelling, they too come to love and treasure it and pass it down to their generations.  If it is merely old or came from a crotchity old aunt of ours, we call it an antique and we just might part with it for the right price!  The difference isn't the item it's the relationship…

You that are crafters, every piece of creativity that you make (and for the most part give away) has the potential to be an heirloom to your children and your children's children.  They watch you put your heart and soul into its making.  They see you express all the love that you feel in the delicate care you take in your creations.  Sometimes even the content of your creations, such as scrapbooks or quilts or framed sentiments are full of messages of love.  A beautifully detailed, hand-made card or minibook will probably never be thrown away.  It will be tucked away to bring back the priceless memories of you.  The work of your hands will continue to communicate your love, for generations to come.  Remember that as you play in your craft room.  You're not just playing, you're doing very important work… you're creating heirlooms of the future for your family to treasure and keep!  Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Printing on Fabric

Those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, know a little of the insanity that was the preparations for the CHA show and my display for the Designer's Showcase.  I wanted to take a little time to share a little gem of a discovery I made during that process.  It's a printable fabric called "Pabric."

Many of the projects that I made were created with this material.  It printed fabulously and was wonderful to work with.  Pabric is not machine washable, but can be either spot cleaned with a damp cloth or dry cleaned so making a clothing item probably wouldn't be practical, but for decor, the sky is the limit!  You can find Pabric at www.pabric.com

Project made with Pabric

The photo album and journal were purchased items that I covered with Pabric Creative which is a heavier weight fabric that has a slight vinyl feel to it and is perfect for these applications.  I used ribbon to cover the joints and printed a matching cardstock page to use inside the covers and they looked as though I purchased them!

The Wall hanging will be a kit in the near future, but I still need to adapt the project to standard 8.5 x 11" sheets (I used a 16" roll pabric trimmed to 13" to fit through my Epson wide format printer.

The pillow below also will be a kit, though I will probably make it into a square so it's easier to find a pillow form.  When sewing for home decor uses, the pabric is a little stiff and really is meant for decorative use only (I don't think I would use it to really cuddle up with!)  Hand stitching the seams closed took a little bit of effort, but was worthwhile when it was done.

Pabric pillow

One of my goals in making these projects was to hopefully attract a fabric company to license with… and it worked!  I will have a line of quilting fabrics by later this year.  I'll keep you posted!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts