Valentine Star

Happy Friday, everyone!  Well, I don't have a free pattern for you today, but I do have a new pattern up in my Etsy shop, which is almost as good, right?  It at least means I'm getting back into the swing of making patterns!

Valentine Star Tissue Box Cover, Plastic Canvas Pattern, $4 on Etsy

Here's hoping you all have a great weekend!

Winter Welcome Wall Hanging

I did it!  I finally got the Winter Wall Hanging pattern all finished and posted onto Etsy!  I've been working on this thing for... maybe two months?  That's ridiculous, considering the Spring and Fall versions took me about two weeks to finish.  I guess I'm getting slow in my old age.

Winter Wall Hanging Plastic Canvas Pattern, $4 on Etsy

Now that that is out of the way, I plan on doing some smaller, easier patterns to get myself back into the swing of pattern making!  No promises, but I may even get back into making free patterns for the blog!

Have a great rest of the week, everyone, and a fun weekend!

Jar Alphabet

Hi there, everyone!  I got my act together today and got the Jar Alphabet all finished and listed up on Etsy this morning.

Jar Alphabet pattern, $4 at Etsy

Now if you want to make a seasonal jars wall hanging with your own words or names, you can! 

Ok, I'm off to go work on my cool new Halloween pattern!  Have a great rest of the week!

Winter Jars

Hi everyone!  I finally got to work today and finished up the winter jars pattern!  Can you believe how much I procrastinate? 

Winter Jars pattern, $4 on Etsy

I'll probably move on to another project before I get back to work on finishing the jar series.  But if you like this one, make sure to go check out my Fall Jars pattern too, and keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Spring and Summer jars too!

Have a great weekend!

Free Friday: Christmas Collection

Happy Friday, everyone!  We're speeding right through December, aren't we?  It's just 11 more days until Christmas and I feel like it's going to be here before we blink twice. 

That's why today I'm bringing you a different kind of Free Friday post.  Instead of posting a new pattern, I'm putting all of my Christmas patterns all together in one place.  These are quick and easy patterns that you can whip up between now and Christmas in case you need an extra present or just want to make your gift a little extra special!

Charming Christmas Tag

Candy Cane Ornament

Small Box

Poinsettia Basket

Poinsettia Ornament

Christmas Present Coaster

Winter Coaster

Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging







My life is going to be pretty busy between here and New Years, so I'm going to bow out of  blogging for the next two weeks so I can focus on my family and our celebrations.  I'll be back in 2019 though!  I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging PDF

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I'm gonna make this quick because I have quite the to-do list today!

I wanted to let you all know that I added the Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging to my Craftsy shop in PDF form!  In case you forgot or haven't seen it yet, I held a 4-week plastic canvas stitch-along and this adorable wall hanging was the result!

If you want to make him yourself, you can go back and check out the stitch-along posts, or you can go grab the PDF over in my Craftsy shop! 

Have a great week everyone!

Free Friday: Cheery Snowman Stitch-Along #4

Happy Friday to you all today!  And it is a happy day here.  There's a gentle fluffy snow falling outside and the sun is shining a little bit.  It's warm and cheery in my house now that it's all decorated for Christmas and we're starting our winter celebrations.  Don't you love this time of year and how cozy and joyous it is? 

It's once again time for our stitch-along, and this is the last one!  In case you missed it, I announced four weeks ago that we would be doing a Christmasy plastic canvas stitch along!  It will be a pattern given out in four parts, one a week for four weeks.  All of the required materials for the entire project are posted on that announcement page I linked to, so if you want to join us, click on that to see what you'll need to finish the entire project.  If you can't get started right away, I'll post the pattern in its entirety at the end of the stitch-along so that you can do it at your leisure!

Week #1: Snowman Body
Week #2:  Hat and Carrot
Week #3: Scarf and Holly Leaves 

Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging Week #4

Skill Level: 

Beginner

Materials:

• All stitched pieces from previous weeks
• Hot glue
• 18 Gauge black craft wire
• Wire cutters
• Two sets of needle nose pliers 
• Six 7mm red pompoms
• Eleven 8mm black beads
• Black sewing thread
• Sewing needle 
• Black craft cord 

Instructions:

1. To make the arms, cut six 7-inch pieces of black craft wire.  Use three pieces of wire per arm.  Use one pair of pliers to hold three wires 1/2 inch from the end, as shown:

2. Use the second set of pliers to begin twisting the wires, as below:

3. Continue twisting until you are left with 1/2 inch of untwisted wire on both ends, like in the picture below:

4. Repeat for second arm; set arms aside.
5. Attach the black beads to the snowman body using the black sewing thread and sewing needle according to the graph at the end of the instructions.
6. Using the hot glue, attach the scarf, hat, carrot nose, holly leaves, and red pompoms.  Use the picture above and the close up shot below as a guide.

7. Bend the arms to form the shapes in the picture below, and attach as shown using hot glue.  To make sure arms don't detach in the future, be sure that the hot glue goes all the way around the wire by adding a little on top and smearing it to the sides.

8. Cut a 4 inch piece of craft cord.  Use hot glue to attach the cord to the back of the snowman, using the graph below as a guide. ♥

Click the images above to see them larger.   

You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own.  Please link back if you share this pattern.  You may sell items made from this pattern.  However, you may not sell this pattern.

Congrats!  You now have a finished snowman wall hanging to decorate your home with or to give away as a fun Christmas present!  I hope you enjoyed our Cheery Snowman Stitch-Along as much as I did!  Check back next week if you want the whole pattern put together as a PDF.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Holly Leaf TBC

Happy Monday, everyone!  Oh how I love Monday.  Am I the only one?  I love that it's a fresh new start, that there's a whole week ahead where so many good things can happen.  And I love that I can get back to work on my designs, too, which is exactly what I did today!

I finally got my new pattern finished this morning.  It's simple but elegant, and I thought it would be the perfect addition to anyone's Christmas decor (including mine).

Holly Leaf Tissue Box Cover pattern, $4 on Etsy

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead! 

Free Friday: Cheery Snowman Stitch-along #3

Happy Friday, everyone!  Isn't Friday a wonderful day?  It's the end of the week, you can relax knowing the weekend is coming (assuming you don't work weekends that is), life takes on a more chill feeling.   At least that's how it is for me.  The weekend is when I get to really spend time with Chad, my beloved hubby.

Well, I guess I should stop rambling and get on with the stitch-along pattern!  In case you missed it, I announced three weeks ago that we would be doing a Christmasy plastic canvas stitch along!  It will be a pattern given out in four parts, one a week for four weeks.  All of the required materials for the entire project are posted on that announcement page I linked to, so if you want to join us, click on that to see what you'll need to finish the entire project.  If you can't get started right away, I'll post the pattern in its entirety at the end of the stitch-along so that you can do it at your leisure!

Week #1: Snowman Body
Week #2:  Hat and Carrot
Week #4: Putting it all together

Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging Week #3

Skill Level:

Beginner

Materials:

• Scrap 7-count plastic canvas
• Red Heart yarn in colors listed in key
• Plastic canvas needle
• Hot glue

Instructions:

1. Cut and stitch plastic canvas according to graphs. *
2. Overcast holly leaves with Paddy Green yarn.
3. Overcast scarf with Paddy Green and Hunter Green yarns, matching yarn to nearby stitches.
4. Trim fringe to 1 inch long.  To keep fringe from unraveling, put small dabs of hot glue on the back side of the knots. 

* If you need instructions on how to do a fringe stitch, Krafty Kat has a very nice tutorial.

Click the image above to see it larger.   

You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own.  Please link back if you share this pattern.  You may sell items made from this pattern.  However, you may not sell this pattern.

Now you should have the snowman body, hat, carrot, scarf, and holly leaves made.  Next week, we'll be making his arms and putting it all together.  Are you excited!  Make sure to check back next week for our final week of the stitch along.  Have a great weekend!

Snowman Baskets

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I hope you're all doing well.  I'm finally getting back into the swing of my creative life and have a new pattern to show for it!

Snowman baskets, plastic canvas pattern, $4 on Etsy

These cute little baskets are just the right size for gift giving this Christmas.  The little one would even make a lovely little ornament!

I hope you're all having a good week so far! 

Cardinal Wallhanging

Happy Fall everyone!  Boy, it's been a long time since I last posted here.  I have a lot going on in my life lately, but I'll spare the story and get right onto the new pattern!

I made a lovely new wall hanging that I just LOVE and I hope you'll love it too!  And I even posted it in time for you to make it for this Christmas season!

Cardinal Wall Hanging pattern, $4 on Etsy

I hope you're all having a lovely fall so far!  Are you out there enjoying the lovely scenery and crisp fall air? 

Free Friday: Maple Leaf Coaster

Happy  Friday, everyone!  I hope you're all having an amazing summer.  I love this time of year.  For me, it means the season is slowing down, the air starts feeling a little cooler, and the crickets are singing.  Autumn is right around the corner, and although I love and will miss summer, I adore fall and can't wait for it to be here.

So because I'm feeling so excited about autumn, I decided to make an autumn pattern to share with you all!  I hope this is a good sign that I'll be able to get back into my designs again now that summer is slowing down!

Maple Leaf Coaster

Skill Level:

 Beginner

Materials:

• 7-count plastic canvas
• Three colors yarn: White, a leaf color, and a a color slightly darker than leaf color
• Craft Felt
• Hot glue
• #16 plastic canvas needle

Instructions:

1. Cut and stitch plastic canvas according to graphs.
2. Overcast edge of coasters with yarn that is the same color but slightly darker than the leaf color.
3. Cut out one piece of felt for each coaster, using coasters as a guide. Trim 1/8 of an inch around all sides. Use hot glue to attach to back of coasters. ♥

Click the image above to see it larger.  You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own.  Please link back if you share this pattern.  You may sell items made from this pattern.  However, you may not sell this pattern.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Quilted Tissue Box Cover

Hi guys, happy August!  I'm still kicking, even though I've been very quiet all summer.  It turns out life has gotten very busy and I just haven't had the time or energy to work on my designs, and I apologize for that.  I will be back though, I promise! 

And look, I even managed to get a new pattern made and put up on Etsy!

Quilted Tissue Box Cover #3 Pattern, $4 on Etsy

I need to get going, though.  I have several pounds of tomatoes that need canned.  Catch you later, when life slows down a bit!

Fall Jars Wall Hanging

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far!  Well, I got my Fall Jars pattern finished, and I have to say I'm very pleased with it!

Fall Jars Wall Hanging pattern, $4 on Etsy

I plan on making one for every season, too!  I guess the truth is that I just love mason jars, and the hipster in me wants you to know that I loved them before they were cool!  

I don't know if I'll get into making free patterns again yet.  I might.  Most important for me is to get back into a rhythm of designing patterns for my shops because that's very important to me to be creating.  But keep your eyes peeled!  I might just surprise you :)

Christmas Block Patterns!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Long time no see, eh?  I've been so busy with my spring projects that I have barely had time to do anything else lately.  But I did have some time to make a new pattern!

Christmas Quilt Decor Pattern, $7 on Etsy

Christmas Quilt Coaster Pattern, $4 on Etsy

Christmas Quilt TBC Pattern, $4 on Etsy

Actually I made a couple patterns!  I love turning quilt blocks into plastic canvas pieces, and these were so fun and easy to make.  Don't you think these would look nice on your table at Christmas time? 

Well, I'm off again.  I have some planting to do and some canning.  Maybe I'll have enough time to blog next week!

Happy Fall Wall Hanging

Happy Monday, everyone!  I have a new pattern up in my Etsy shop this morning!

Happy Fall Wall Hanging pattern, $4 on Etsy

Phew!  It took me forever to finally finish this one.  I'll be happy to start a new project!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Tuesday Progress

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Are you having a good week so far?  I certainly am.  It feels really nice to get back into the swing of designing and crafting again, although I have to say it's hard for me to keep focused when I'm out of my routine.  The way I would like my day to go is to eat breakfast with my husband, do my daily meditating and writing until 9am, then work on my designing and blogging until noon, eat lunch, and then do my house cleaning and such until about 4pm when I start making dinner. 

Well of course that doesn't always happen.  We don't have children, but we do help with my elderly parents and that can sometimes feel like being a parent.  My mom called and asked me to help her go shopping this morning.  She has a bad hip and back, and has a hard time walking around the three miles of Walmart to get everything on her list.  Afterwards, she wanted to go get coffee so we could catch up.  I'm glad I went.  I'm so grateful that I'm able to help her and to spend time with her still and that we're so close.  Yes, my morning got messed up because I was out until 10am, but I can't let that stop me from doing the work that needs to be done.

So once I got home, I got back to work on my fall design!  It's coming along.  I'm just starting to get the pieces finished off and soon I'll be able to glue it all together.

I like it.  I think it's a cool rustic piece that will fit in my home pretty well.  I'm going for a kind of country rustic design in our home.  We have several barn stars in the living room, and we have one on our front porch too!  I think they're really cool. 

Tomorrow I plan on posting more about how my life's been going since I took a break, so I'll see you then!  I need to go get my lunch made and then I'm off to get the house chores done.  Have a great day!

Refreshed and Ready to Go!

Hi everyone, happy Monday!  Did you all have a good weekend?  Mine was really good, except for the fact that it was 30 degrees and snowing!  Now I live in a cold area, but that's ridiculous even for us.  Usually this time of year it's in the 50s and I'm getting my garden ready for planting.  I saw yesterday that Home Depot was having their mulch and other garden things on sale, and my first thought was that their sale was WAY too early!  But then I realized, this is when they usually have their sale!  It's just that it's so unusually cold and yucky this year :(  But the good news is that after today the weather is going to start warming up to a more normal temp!  I'm very excited.

Well, it's been several weeks that I've been on hiatus, and I realized yesterday that I'm so ready to get back to designing and blogging again.  It was very nice to have some time off to focus on myself and my home and family, I won't deny that.  I got my house back in order, I spent some time doing fun things with my husband, I did a bunch of sewing, and I'm well on my way on my diet too.  But I realized this weekend that I was starting to get bored, and although I like a peaceful slow paced life, I don't think anyone likes a boring life.  It's time to start being creative again!

I might change things up here at the blog.  I don't think I'm going to post a free pattern every week like I used to, because that's very demanding.  First of all, coming up with a new pattern every week is hard enough, but that's on top of making my paid patterns too.  I think instead, I'm going to make free patterns when an idea strikes my fancy, rather than trying to force it.  I'm always open to requests, by the way, so if you have any good ideas, just send them my way and I'll see what I can do! 

I'm going to start writing more about my life and my creative pursuits, because, well, who doesn't like talking about themselves?  I'm going to try to be open and honest about the things I do well but also the things I totally mess up.  It's so frustrating to me when I see those blogs that make it look like the author's life is perfect and all their projects are master pieces, because my life isn't like that at all.  I want to remind people that everyone messes up, and that's ok.  And I hope by doing so I can connect with other real folks who are also flawed. 

I think that's it for today.  After I finish posting this, I'm going to get back to work on a project I put down a few weeks ago, a very cool rustic fall pumpkin sign.  I think I put it down for so long because there's one thing I really hate doing with my designs, and that's designing the words on a sign.  I'm not bad at fonts, but I don't like doing them because they're really challenging :(  But I just need to push through and get it done, so I can move on to something else! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday, everyone!  I'm so glad to be back!

Life is Sweet Wall Hanging

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  I don't have a What's Up Wednesday this week because, well, life is too busy for me to sit and write about it.  I will however run through some good things that have happened:

• I FOUND MY RING!
• My husband's job is secure!
• My first snowdrop opened yesterday!
• I got an email from Annie's asking for more patterns!

That last one is why I'm so busy.  I need to get some more patterns done to send to Annie's!  That's a good kind of busy though if you ask me.

Anyway, as part of that, I finally got off  my butt and finished my summery watermelon wall hanging!

Life Is Sweet Wall Hanging Pattern, $4 on Etsy

Hopefully you'll be seeing more patterns from me lately.  I'm so ready to get back to a normal life after all the craziness this year! 

Have a great rest of the day, everyone!

Free Friday: Simple Earring Holder

Happy Friday, everyone!  Did you have a good week?  Mine was pretty messy.  We got the water issue taken care of at my mom's house, but I still haven't found my wedding ring :(  I'm sad, but I'm trying not to let it consume me.  I have some charming (ok, not really) obsessive qualities about me, so as you can imagine, that's a very hard feat.  I made a very long and comprehensive list of places to thoroughly check, and once I'm done looking in every single place on the list, then I'll start thinking about getting a new ring. 

But enough about depressing subjects.  This week, I got a comment on my blog from someone who said they'd like to see some earring holder patterns.  In case you weren't aware, I do have a very lovely earring holder pattern up in my Etsy shop.  It's one of my best sellers!

Posy Earring Holder pattern, $4 on Etsy

However, I realize it's a fairly complicated pattern and not everyone wants to do one that fancy.  I ended up giving that earring holder to my Mother-in-law for Christmas the year before last.  She loves it!  I, on the other hand, have a very simple earring holder for myself.  This comes from a terrible disease I have called Lazy-itus.  Yes, that's right friends, I have the lazies.

Simple Earring Holder

Skill Level:

Beginner

Materials:

• Wooden frame
• Plastic Canvas
• Hot glue

Instructions:

1. If your frame came with glass and a backing, remove those.  
2. Carefully cut plastic canvas so that it sits inside the lip on the backside of the frame, but isn't too small to fall through.
3. Lay the plastic canvas inside the frame.  Using the hot glue gun, apply a thick layer of hot glue on top of the plastic canvas.  Use the nose of the got glue gun, or a wooden skewer, to smear the glue around, making sure it sinks into the holes in the plastic canvas and up the sides of the frame lip.  Use lots of glue.  Go over it twice if you need to.  The point is to create a thick layer that is attached to the wood that will hold the plastic canvas in.  

Here's a picture of the back side of my earring holder to give you an idea.

And that's it!  You can prop this up on a dresser, or attach a wire to hang on a nail.  I just hang mine using the frame lip, though that's not very stable.  Again, I have the lazies.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my simple little pattern today!  Have a wonderful weekend!