Anniversary Banner

Last week my husband Dale and I celebrated the 25th anniversary of our first date. I made a little something special for him. Here's how:

I started by finding a nice heart shape and cutting it out of cardboard. I used this as a template to trace and cut 10 hearts out of burlap.

Because the burlap frays easily, I "painted" some Mod Podge on the edges of the backs of the hearts. This glue dries clear, so it can do the job without being seen.

Next I chose my felt. I used two shades of pink, two shaded of purple, and red. I made another heart template about a half inch smaller on each side than the burlap heart. I traced the shape with a black Sharpie on the back of the felt.

I cut the felt hearts out with pinking shears for a nice effect.

I pinned a felt heart to the center front of each burlap heart. As you can see, the Mod Podge, seeping through from the back, hadn't completely dried yet.

Then I strung a piece of twine between the felt and burlap. I alternated the heart colors as I threaded the hearts onto a single piece of jute twine.

Taking my hearts to my sewing machine, I used a long stitch to sew the felt to the burlap down the center of each heart. While doing this, I tried to keep the twine about an inch and a half from the top of each heart so that they would line up evenly.

The double layer of fabric was a bit heavier than I'd anticipated, so the twine wasn't quite doing the job of holding the hearts in place. So I slightly overlapped the side edge of the hearts, pinning them in place. Then I hand stitched / tacked the hearts into place with tan thread, couching the twine in the stitch.

The banner was complete! If I were to use this for Valentine's Day, It would be ready to hang.

But since this banner was for our anniversary, I added one more bit. I went to the computer, found a font I liked, and printed out the words "25 YEARS." I cut out the letters, then pinned them to the center of the hearts (I pinned between the two layers of the hearts so the pins wouldn't show, nor would they scratch the furniture). This way I can easily remove the letters and use the banner for Valentine's Day next year. 

I made simple slip knots to hang the banner from the headboard of our bed.

It was a nice romantic surprise for my Dale.

I was inspired by a couple ideas I saw on Pinterest:

and this
 

Valentine Soup Surprise

I made some homemade chicken vegetable soup with a little surprise in it for my husband. Here's how:

 Peel a carrot. Cut a v-shaped groove in one side.

Make a diagonal cut on each side of the carrot to form a V at the bottom.

This will form the shape of a heart if you look at the end.

Now make little quarter inch slices along the length of the carrot.

Now you have your hearts to drop into the soup!

It's a happy little surprise for your loved one. A truly "heart-y" soup for body and soul.

I found this idea on Pinterest:

Birch Bark Challenge

Back in April 2012, Dale and I took a trip to Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada to celebrate our wedding anniversary. While there, we took a little hike on Zuckerman's Island along the Columbia River. We hunted a geocache, and enjoyed examining the unusual little Russian Orthodox Chapel that was built on the island back in 1935.

All along the trails among the evergreens were stands of birch trees. Many were fallen and many more had piles of white birch bark at their roots. Since we don't have a lot of birch in my neighborhood, I scavenged some of the bark knowing that it can be used in craft projects. My daughters and I divided up the birch bark later that year, but we haven't gotten around to presenting this challenge until now.

February's AuralArtists challenge is to use the birch bark to make any kind of craft project you wish. I have a Pinterest board where I've started to gather ideas on how the bark might be used. I think I may make a heart-shaped key fob or zipper pull. Or maybe I'll use my bark to make a Valentine gift. Once I begin, we'll see where the muse takes me.

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Inspire Your Heart with Art Day!

I'm barely hanging on to the last threads of January, 
but I thought it might be appropriate to complete this challenge on Inspire Your Heart with Art Day.

I started with these supplies:

*Scissors

*Star hole punch

*Pencil

*Round object (I used a $1 coin)

* Envelopes from cards received in years past

* Notebook, purchased for $1 from a closing sale

*Glue

Trace around the edge of the round object on to the envelopes.

Cut out the circles.

Punch star holes in the middle of the circles.

Glue on the notebook. Done!

It's a cutie, huh?   :)

Gratitude Journal

For my January journal challenge, I decided to decorate the cover of my new Gratitude Journal. I began with a simple 6" x 8" brown notebook that I bought for $1.00 at a going out of business sale.

I gently removed the back cover. Because I wasn't going to be able to decorate around the comb binding, I colored the edge with a marker.

Next, I cut a piece of fusible web to size and ironed it onto the cardboard on the outside back cover. Then I cut a piece of fabric about a half inch larger on each side than than the cover. I pressed the edge next to the comb under. Then I fused the fabric to the fusible web.

I flipped the back cover over, then folded the fabric to the back. I used a glue stick to hold the edges in place.

Next, I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to size. I glued the center with a glue stick, and used double-sided tape to make sure the edges were secured. Then I used my roller to make sure everything was adhering well.

I replaced the back cover, removed the front cover, and colored the comb edge as before. Unfortunately, my photos for the next steps didn't come out. What I did was measure the finished stitchery, cut two strips of the red fabric, sewed the strips to the top and bottom of the stitchery, and adhered the stitchery to the front cover in much the same way as how I adhered the fabric to the back cover. 

The piece of scrap paper I had left was about 1/4" too short for the inside cover, so I had to improvise. After adhering the paper to the inside, I covered the edges (inside and outside) of the front cover with some grosgrain ribbon. Once the cover was finished, I put it back on the comb.

The heart is a piece that I stitched in February 2005 called Love and Roses by Just Nan. I really love everything about this little heart - the colors, the bling, the beads, and the pearls. Normally, I wouldn't finish needlework with glue. But since this has been waiting patiently for nine years to see the light of day, I thought I'd rather go for a finished item instead of worrying about it being an heirloom finish (no glue, all acid-free, etc.) 

I'm going to enjoy using this as my new Gratitude Journal for 2014.

New Year, New Art, New Rules

www.berkshirebach.org

It's been a while since our little collective was active, so it's time to start anew. Over the holidays, a couple of the artists got together and mapped out a new plan. Even this is a bit late getting started, but every day is a new chance to jump in, right?

Instead of taking turns posting a challenge, and waiting until all artists have contributed before the next challenge is created, we'll have monthly challenges. If we have the time and the energy and the creativity to do a project, we'll post. If not, no harm, no foul ... no waiting.

Here are the year's challenges:

• January: Journal covers
• February: birch bark
• March: clothes pins
• April: artist trading cards
• May: vase/candle holder
• June: shrink plastic 
• July: origami/paper art
• August: paint chip art
• September: buttons
• October: beading
• November: dough art (salt, play dough, polymer clay, pastry, bread)
• December: wreaths 

I've created some boards on my Pinterest account that are filled with ideas for each art medium. Scroll down to the bottom of that page to find the boards marked "AuralArtists." Ideas from Pinterest can be used if you wish, but mostly the boards are jumping off points for inspiration.

For January, I plan to make a cover for a new Gratitude Journal. How 'bout you? 

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Noodle It Out

I was washing out a container that held the remains of my homemade vegetable noodle soup. Just as I was about to wash the bits down the drain, I saw this noodle remnant in the bottom of our stainless steel sink.