Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop(e)

Sometimes I hear people say that the internet is impersonal. I say that's baloney. Especially, on a day like today, when we have a chance to come together in unified spirit in support of breast cancer awareness.  What a great opportunity to share projects with other crafters around the country for a common purpose!


Hopefully you're not lost, and are enjoying going through Michelle's wonderful Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop(e). If you need to go back to the beginning, please start here. My card was made with memories of my grandmother May, and our dear family friend, Mary Lou, both who have fought breast cancer. Mary Lou died of it last summer after fighting for almost 10 years. My grandmother died of regular little old lady causes in September after being a SURVIVOR for over 25 years. Her picture is below.

My card is made using Papertrey Ink stamps, paper and ink - with a little ribbon that I received from some sweet Zeta Tau Alpha sorority members who were passing these out at a hockey game (of all things) that we recently attended. I knew exactly what I was going to do with it!

To friends and visitors who are struggling with cancer, other health issues, financial issues, and the other curveballs life throws at us - please hold on to those little sparks of hope. Sometimes they are very dim, and lurking in the darkest places. I encourage you to find it and hold on tight. I've been doing this a lot of this recently. We've had several friends and family die or become very ill this year, not to mention my own recent scare with Olivia. Things are tough, but we are enjoying every day to the fullest.  Hang in there!


Next Stop: Vickie Y - - http://stuffbyvickie.blogspot.com/
I had a chance to visit her blog today and it's AWESOME!!!

Amy Butler Love:I Love It!

I really am "sewcrazy." (Blog title, duh) And if you read yesterday's vent you'll know that I've been thinking a lot about how I spend my time. I love crafts of any and every variety. Especially sewing and fabric. I've set it aside for the past couple of years as I finished graduate school and tried to take care of some things at home though. I had to leave my beloved sewing machine & tools in Indiana, which I'll be getting out of storage as soon as I possibly can. Believe me, once that happens I'll be sewing up a storm again!

In school, I was lucky to have two friends that were as obsessed with fabric as I was (xoxoxo Jenny & Rachel). We even had a blog! We'd spend the hours of constitutional law IMing each other links to various fabric sites. And I didn't really understand why law school required students to have laptops until then, it's really the only way to overcome the sheer mind-numbing boredom of the commerce clause without shooting myself in the foot.

So I was super excited today to come across the newest fabrics from Amy Butler. It's to-die-for gorgeous. Not only are her fabrics incredible, the patterns are great as well. Click here and here and here to see some older projects I made using Amy Butler.

And speaking of fabric love, check out the great Halloween projects (sewing & papercrafts!) from Heather Bailey and other bloggers this week.

I hope you're week is going well, and that you are inspired to revisit the activities you are passionate about as well!

Glow In The Dark Freezer Paper T-Shirt

Another freezer paper t-shirt made using Sure Cuts a Lot (SCAL) and my Cricut Expression. The font is Halloween Regular, available for free here.

I used the only glow-in-the-dark fabric paint I could find at Michael's, Tulip Dimensional Glow in Natural Glow. I probably could have used regular glow-in-the-dark acrylic paint, but I really love the texture of these Duncan fabric paints, and it was pretty much a sure thing. The only issue I foresaw was that the paint was labeled "dimensional," so I didn't know how it would out spread thin as I would have to do it to fill in the stencil.

After a little experimenting with applying the glow paint directly to the black t-shirt, I realized that the paint would have to be applied over white paint (over other light color) to work. So, I went ahead and painted in some white fabric paint, and allowed that to dry for about 8 hours. I then added a layer of the glow paint. I'm guessing the glow paint wouldn't need to be over a white layer if I had used it as a dimensional paint. However, because I needed to be able to spread it thin to fill in all the stencilled areas, painting it over white really seemed to do the trick. After drying, I removed the freezer paper stencil - and, voila! A custom glow in the dark t-shirt! And yes, it really did glow - I tested it out in the closet. :)

I might add a glittery pumpkin or witch hat to the shirt. These are so fun and the kids really love them!

Cricut T-Shirts Made with Freezer Paper Stencils - Tips and Questions

One of my very favorite things that I've done with my Cricut Expression since I got it is using it to cut stencils for t-shirt painting. The shirt on the left is an example of one I recently finished. (My daughter's BF is on the school's cross country running team.) I've made several so far and learn something new each time I do it. I still have lots of questions though (below), can anyone help?

The Basic Steps:

1) Cut out your design using your Cricut onto freezer paper.

2) Iron freezer paper to t-shirt.

3) Paint shirt.

4) Let dry, remove stencil.

That's it! Of course, I've learned several things along the way. Here are some my tips so far. If anyone has any tips, please let me know. I've also found several blog posts and videos which are inspiring and informative, and I'll share those links as well.

My tips:

• Double and triple-check your design before you cut. If you have text you need to make sure your words are flipped because you cut your design on the wrong side of the freezer paper. 
• I learned that in SCAL you have to type your word backwards, then check the "flip" box in order to have it properly oriented. I believe this is resolved in SCAL 2 however (waiting for MAC release!!!)
  
• Take the extra time to align your design on the t-shirt before you paint. I haven't worked out a good alignment method yet, but in the meantime I'm trying not to rush this step and just eyeballing it real good.
• Use Tulip Soft fabric paint. It has a wonderful soft hand and great coverage. Since I'm new, I can't speak to how it holds up from repeated washings. But I love how opaque the paint is, even on dark colors. In the shirt above I used platinum metallic and white paint, on a black t-shirt, and you can see how nice it covers. I did use two coats (really only necessary for the white paint). Click on the close-up at left to see how nice the metallic paint looks.
  
• Stock up on t-shirts at Michael's when they are on sale.
• Allow time for the shirts to dry before removing stencil. This is the most important step in getting a professional clean look. I let the shirts dry overnight.

My Questions:

• Has anyone used a transfer medium like vinyl transfer tape, magic mesh, or drywall tape to transfer the design? In the design above, it would have been very useful to use transfer tape because of the little tiny pieces in the word "Knights," but I think I would have had to cut it in vinyl because the design has to be flipped. Any thoughts on transfer tapes and their applications? Will using transfer tape help me when I have a design that must be cut in reverse and backwards - or must I use something that is cut in the same position in will be applied to the t-shirt?
  
• Does anyone have experience layering multiple colors? I'm interested in tips on masking, layering and setting up registration points on the shirt.

Inspiring Projects
A list of blogs and videos I've found which either have nice projects or helpful information. Not all are cut with a Cricut.

• Christmas with the Cricut:Hannah Montant T-Shirt
  
• Freezer Paper Stencils with Cricut
• Cardmkrleslie - She does great things with iron-on vinyl. 
• Clever Someday - Wonderful Cricut resource.
  

Tampa Bay Fashion Week 2009

There was a fashion week. In Tampa. Surprised? Tampa tries hard to be fashionable. We have two fancy malls less than a mile apart and even a fashion design school. (You'd think I could find a job here - but, nooooooo). Anyway, Lizzy and I attended the Friday night show last night on Visit Tampa Bay's dime. It was fun. It was free. We saw Judy Crowell and her husband Paul Deasy from QVC and HSN. We also saw Victorya Hong and her model Jacqueline from season 4 of Project Runway. We got lots of free crap goodies.

But don't worry New York and Paris, you are in no danger. From what I saw, Tampa won't be rocking the fashion world anytime soon, despite what Cloe Cabrera says. And don't scoff - despite my casual uniform of jeans and a t-shirt I did have a career once upon a time at Elle, so I know what I'm talking about, a little. ;) Designers went crazy with cheap trims and ribbon. And there were some unfortunate flashbacks to the '80s. I took a few pics of the outfits but you can see them better here - *tbt*.  (That's Lizzy rocking the red carpet)

Best outfit was from another designer, Bebe Ziegler, who makes really awesome designer t-shirts. Her show was the day before, but she was in the audience sporting her Jester t-shirt. "I die" (channeling Rachel Zoe. I had to get at least one reference in, sorry!)

Judy Crowell & Paul Deasy

Victorya Hong and her model Jacqueline from Project Runway, season 4.