McCall"’s M6956 Pattern Becomes Vocaloid Cosplay

For those who read my blog you all know that my daughter is a huge Anime fan. Not only does she love Anime she also cosplays.
She’s going to cosplay this year for Ani-jam as Megurine Luka from Vocaloid and asked if I could make her the dress. This is the dress she wants.

And this is the dress she got.

First I tried making the dress without a pattern. Hey it looks easy. Yeah right. Big fail!! So off to the fabric store I went. My daughter thought that this pattern is as close as we can get.

This is McCall’s 6956 pattern and I used option B without the ruffle on the bottom of the skirt. Notice how the pattern says easy on it? If you’re new to sewing do not buy this pattern. It’s not that easy.
I haven’t sewn any clothing since my daughter was 3 years old and I was really nervous about this dress. It’s not perfect but I’m kinda proud of myself. Plus she’s only going to wear it once. I do hope it doesn’t come apart.
Thanks for stopping by
Laura

My New Color Station

I am so excited to share this! I have been really unhappy with my color pencil and marker storage situation. I had them all in different containers and it was so hard to find anything. So when I would sit down to color my digi’s there would be containers all over the place. What a mess!
Well this past week Michael’s had their Recollections Craft Storage on sale for 60% off. I couldn’t pass that up.

The Marker Storage Organizer is awesome! It holds all my color pencils and markers. It has two small drawers to store all my other goodies. The top piece of the unit is removable which is great if I want to take my pencils and color somewhere else besides my craft table.
The Cube with Magazine Holder holds all my watercolor supplies. The magazine holder next to the cube actually came inside the cube but I decided to take it out for extra storage. It works great for all my printed digi stamps.
Both pieces cost me a whooping $26. I had my eye on these for so long. I’m so glad I waited for the sale.
The Marker Storage Organizer was regularly $44.99 and on sale for $17.99. The Cube with Magazine Holder was regularly $19.99 and on sale for $7.99. I would have been crazy to pass that up right?
I am so happy with this. I have everything in spot now. Woohoo!
Thanks for stopping by
Laura

Christmas Cards 2013

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. Where does the time go?
Last year when I made Christmas cards I decided that everyone was getting a unique card. I made 16 different cards. PHEW! Way to much work. So this year I decided to mass produce 4 different cards. Much easier and less stressful.
Here are the cards I made this year. I made 4 of each.




Papers used are from a couple of years ago from Recollections and DCWV. I used the Snowflake embossing folder from Darice and embossing powder from Recollections. The reindeer and Christmas tree stamps are from the Fiskars Holiday Frolic stamp set.  The Christmas Owl clipart is from MissKateCuttables.com. Everything else is from Recollections.
Thanks for stopping by.
Laura

Happy Halloween-Treat Cards

Happy Halloween! Today I have a few treat cards I made for my daughter’s friends. I got this idea from Getting Inspired on youtube. You can find the video here. The cards were so much fun and easy to make. The only hard part was to stop making them. They’re addicting!
On this first photo I used papers from Recollections and Me&My Big Ideas. The digi stamps are from the Cuddlebug Cuties blog, Ladybug from Pink Cat Studio,Witchy Kitty from Some Odd Girl and Hallobean from the Greeting Farm. Unfortunately Ladybug and Witchy Kitty are both retired.


On the next two photos I used the same paper packs and clip art from Miss Kate Cuttables. I love the fact that Miss Kate Cuttables sells each file in .jpeg, .png and .svg  for a very low price. So you could use the file as clip art or use your cutting machine. Awesome! I love that website!
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Here’s what the backs look like. A full size candy bar will fit in the pocket but it’s much more fun to get more than one candy.


Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the inside of the cards but I assure you that they’re very cute.
I hope you have a very happy and safe Halloween.
Thanks for stopping by,
Laura

McCall’s Messenger Bag

Ever since I stopped selling on Etsy I haven’t really sewn that much. I really miss sewing bags. So I decided to make a messenger bag from a pattern I bought years ago. Patterns have always intimated me so I usually make my own and roll with it. But today I faced my fear and went for it. I used McCall’s 8705 pattern option c.  Unfortunately this pattern isn’t available anymore so it’s a good thing I haven’t lost pattern pieces, ripped it or even burned it for that matter. Sometimes accidents happen.

 

I made some adjustments on the pattern like making the flap 2” wider. The flap on the pattern is just to small. I also didn’t use bias tape on the flap like the pattern suggest. I sewed the flap front to the lining right sides together then flipped it inside out and did some top stitching. I also added swivel clips, d rings and an adjuster for the strap.  I had to make loops for the d rings so that was added as well. Adding the hardware really made the bag pop.

I’m very proud of how my bag turned out. My daughter loved it and now wants me to make her one and my husband said “That’s sharp looking babe!” I love it when my family loves what I make.

Thanks for stopping by,

Laura

Flirty Anya Birthday Card

Oh my gosh! Is she not the cutest! I had so much fun using Flirty Anya from The Greeting Farm. It’s my niece’s 19th birthday and  Flirty Anya reminded me so much of her when she was little. Ok so a lot of The Greeting Farm stamps remind me of her. She has grown up so fast (reaching for tissue).
For the background papers I used The Citrus Stack from DCWV. I love the colors in this paper pack. For the greeting I used Fiskars clear stamps All Year Greetings. I added some Recollections rhinestones and a cute pink heart button I had on hand. I also did a scallop edge on the pattern paper with a EK Success Edger punch.



Some readers have asked how I color my stamps and digi’s. I use Artist Loft colored pencils from Michael’s and also Prismacolor pencils. I blend it all in with odorless turpenoid which I get at Michael’s. Here’s a really good video on how to do that.

Thanks for stopping by,
Laura

Chipboard Box with Dividers

Happy Friday everyone! I have a box I wanted to share with you all. I’ve been slowly collecting journaling and Project Life type cards and needed a way to organize them. I came across a video on Youtube on how to make a box out of chipboard. You can find that video HERE. I decided not to have a lid so I skipped that part. The box measures 7.5”w x 7.5”L x 4.5”D. I used K&Co Berry Sweet paper stack to cover the box.  I also created some dividers with the same paper collection and laminated them. I used Microsoft Word to print up labels and adhered them to the dividers. Now I can go to one spot and not scramble through my supplies to find my cards. Makes things a lot easier.

Thanks for stopping by,

Laura