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Tag Archives: Amy Tan

Tuesday Techniques – Stitched Tags aka Great Minds Think Alike

28 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by Sara in Techniques, Tuesday Techniques

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Amy Tan, Backstitch, Lawn Fawn, October Afternoon, Satin stitch

So…funny story.

I had this week’s technique done  and photographed and ready to blog when I happened to read Krista’s blog on Saturday. In it she promised a little tutorial on how to make a stitched “love” tag.

What?!?!? That’s what I already had done!

So I told her we needed to communicate more. And we laughed about it. And we (with Meghan’s help) came up with an awesome plan.

We decided to do our posts on the same day and link up to each other! That’s right, two for one, my friends – a “Love” tag and a “Laugh” tag! You are all so lucky today you should go buy lottery tickets or something!

Oh, and give a me share when you win, I did suggest you buy them, after all. 😉

These were inspired by Amy Tan who has an amazing clothing line that’s all hand stitched, and she also has stitched tags she sells. Krista and I thought we could make our own!

So, here’s my tag. When you’re done admiring :), go here and leave Krista some “love” (haha!).

Supplies

Pretty simple supplies for this one: a tag, a pencil (my fun old school ones!), a paper piercing tool or push pin, and a needle and thread. I think twine would be pretty cool – textural and rustic looking, and baker’s twine would give it a neat look as well. I used DMC embroidery floss since I used to do quite a bit of cross stitching and have a ton of colours!

I also used a Stampin’ Up! Mat Pack that allowed me to keep the lines of holes straight and evenly spaced. The Tim Holtz Design Ruler has the same thing built in, but neither are necessary – you could eyeball it easily.

First, draw your words with a pencil, or trace your shape. I punched a small heart from a sticky note, laid it on the tag, and traced around it to get my shape. Again, you could just eyeball it instead.

Next, punch your holes. Don’t put them too close together or you’ll tear the paper when you pull the floss through. That’s where the piercing template came in handy – holes that are evenly spaced but not too close together.

As you can see, I didn’t hit my pencil lines exactly, they were just a guide.

Once you have everything drawn out and the holes punched, erase your pencil lines – they don’t look so nice on your finished product!

I used two different types of stitches for this one – a backstitch and a satin stitch. For stitching words or outlines, a backstitch is the easiest and most common stitch. The satin stitch is for filling in open spaces, like the heart. Both are super simple to do, trust me!

Pick your thread, twine or floss and start stitching! For the backstitch, you sew backwards to the direction you’re sewing (click the link, it’s easier than it sounds!). Sew So, you go up one hole…

backstitch - step 1

…then back down the previous hole.

backstitch - step 2

With the satin stitch, you simply do one long stitch across your shape, then do another next to it until you fill in the space.

satin stitch

When you have all your stitching done, you should have a tag that looks like this:

This was the very first time I’ve ever attempted this, so you can see that it really is super easy.

Since I wanted mist on my tag I did that before I started stitching. I didn’t want to discolour on the light pink heart.

Now, just add the tag as is to a project, layout, or card, or embellish it further.

completed tag

The other thing I did with my tag was to draw a light pink line around the heart to better define the shape.

Go have fun and try this one out! And don’t forget to leave me a link if you do try it –  I’d love to see what you come up with!

But first, don’t forget to check out Krista’s tutorial for her “love” tag – it’s *lovely*!

Also, Happy Birthday to my friend Heidi – I hope this is the beginning of your best year ever! Love you!

S.

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Hug Life

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Sara in ScrapBook

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

American Crafts, Amy Tan, Amy Tangerine, Bowring Park, Daybook, Paperie, ScrapBook, Thickers, Year Long Album

(EDIT: Today seems to be the day to showcase crop night LO’s! Check out this and this.)

Friday night I went to a crop night at my LSS, The Paperie. It’s always the third Friday night of the month and it’s always fun and yummy – great combination!

This time we talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and laughed – and actually got some scrapbooking done too!

One of the projects I was picking away at was the Hug Life Daybook from Amy Tangerine for American Crafts (a larger version of the one I tore apart for this LO).

These are the best mini albums – surprisingly big, as in tons of pages, and very eclectic.

There are pockets and grid papers and tickets and rounded papers and scalloped papers….. So different, so very fun.

I am using the November kit from the Paperie and I *love* it. The papers, the stamp, the thickers, the mixtape – awesome!

Just before the kit was released, we spent a day in Bowring Park with the kiddies taking pictures of them in the leaves. Then we headed to Lester’s Farm for pumpkin pics and baked goodies, along with yummy fresh veggies.

The pictures from that day perfectly matched the colours of the the kit papers and so instead of a LO, I decided to do a mini album.

It’s still not finished, but I’m loving what I have done. The pictures are most definitely the focus, not the papers or embellishments, and  there’s plenty of room to do journaling as I go along.

So…. so far, so good. It will be a fun one to flip through when I’m done. And because the different papers make it so easy, it’s a good one to poke at when midnight rolls around and the brain has gone to mush!

My plans for naptime today and this evening revolve around writing instructions for the 2012 Yearlong album – the first class is Sunday. Hate the writing instructions part – love the teaching it part!

Enjoy the cold today if that’s your cup of tea. Me? I’m freezing!

S.

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Today….

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Sara in Classes, Family, ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Amy Tan, Family, Home, kids, ScrapBook, Studio Calico, Year Long Album

…I am cold. We all bundled up and went out to slide and play in the snow that was dropped on us yesterday. Unfortunately, the wind is bitter cold and now I can’t warm up again. Brrrrrr.

…I can’t type very well and am making lots of spelling errors. That just may have something to do with the two-year-old who is determined to sit on my lap today.

G & Mama

Don’t you just love his new “smile for the camera” face? Cracks me up every time! Does not amuse his photographer father as much, especially since I think it’s so funny that I keep asking for it! Ha! 🙂

…we’re having mac & cheese for lunch, with peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Comfort food for a cold day and something that is always devoured by the kiddies. That being said, they do just as well with broccoli and spinach too. But I digress…

…M is having a bad day. Enough said. Sigh.

…it’s very loud. Well, that’s par for the course so I don’t know why I’m even mentioning it. Moving along….

…I started this class. It’s good so far and I’m looking forward to more inspiration!

…I’m plugging away at the 2012 Album and getting frustrated. Luckily, I can turn to my graphic designer husband to do cover pages for me!

Cover Page Sneak Peek

…the playroom has had cow and dog races (the cow always wins and apologizes to the dog), monsters eating trophies, storms destroying the train tracks (“Really, Mama, it wasn’t me, it was the storm!), and pirates making little boys walk the plank. Never a dull moment.

Wishing you all a day that is warmer but just as entertaining as mine!

S.

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Things on Thursday

26 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by Sara in Family, ScrapBook, Things on Thursday...

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Amy Tan, Layout, October Afternoon, Paperie, ScrapBook, Studio Calico, Washi Tape

It’s been a big week around here:

1. I started this blog! (Big cheers! Confetti! Yay!)

2. The cookies we made yesterday were yummy, yummy,yummy – even gluten free!

3. I got fun eye candy mail, 3 magazines from Northridge Publishing – Create, Simply Handmade, and Cards. Love how beautiful these books are.

4. I’ve been creating! I was in a rut for, oh, a million years or so it seems, so it feels really great to be doing stuff just for me again.

5. I finished the Year Long Album 2011, typed up all the instructions, and have almost finished getting all the pictures in there. Nice to have this one clued up, since the 2012 class is just around the corner!

6. I finished the Kraft Glassine Album for the class I’m teaching in February. Once again, instructions are typed up and I have all the pics in. Nice to be ahead of the game for once!

7. I signed up for this online class and am pumped to start! I love Amy Tan’s style and the list of special guests is awesome too. Also, I have three Paperie kits and one Studio Calico kit mostly unused and waiting to be played with – I need the push!

8. The big one this week is especially big for M. She had her follow-up appointment with the optometrist and the news was not what we were hoping for. As a result, we’ve started patching her right eye to get her left eye working better. Sigh. Tell me if any four-year-old would make this easy, because my daughter is not! She loves pirates though, so we’re really pushing that angle (please forgive the bad pic – I think it was taken on D’s cell phone!).

M, acting the pirate and not wanting a picture taken!

And that’s my week so far, lots of fun and not so fun things happening. To let you go on a good note, here’s a LO I did using a little of the November Paperie kit – lots of Amy Tangerine (can you tell I love that Amy Tangerine stamp?), some October Afternoon, a bit of  K&Co. Smash, and a touch of Studio Calico! As always, click on the image to see a larger size.

All You Need is Love & Dirt

Here’s hoping your week is already, or is becoming, just as interesting as mine!

S.

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