Big times.
My Colors Quiet Book… a tutorial (again, with pictures).
2010
Remember awhile back when I blogged about this little crafty project? And I told you that I justified it by taking photos so that I could still post the details to my photoblog? Yeah… well I did it again.
I’m bitten by the craft bug. If you don’t believe me, just come & take a peek into my spare bedroom. It’s terrifying (slightly less so since I took the time to organize a bit a few days ago) to say the least. I have tubs full of fabric scraps. Ribbon, notions, buttons, fabrics (some of which are too fabulous to part with even the tiniest scrap of). I’m always looking for something to do with those scraps – some way to use them up and showcase their fabulosity. Most recently, I came up with the idea of making quiet books. This was my first attempt and I thought I’d share it here!
Materials Needed:
- Felt squares (I used 12 total for my book)
- Lots & lots of fabric or ribbon scraps, cute buttons, and a general imagination.
- Embroidery machine is optional, but helpful if you don’t want to include paper words (or don’t want to kill your fingers by cutting each letter out by hand)
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Needle
I don’t have photos of the actual steps I used in this process (only ones of the finished product), but it’s super duper easy.
- Cut your felt squares into the size you want your finished book to be. Be sure & cut enough for all of your pages plus the front/back cover (and a blank backer for each of those!). I cut 14 rectangles in total.
- Design your pages & attach your fabric/ribbon embellishments in the order you want them to be on the page. An important note: be SURE and remember that your pages are going to be attached back-to-back. This means you have to design half of them to leave space for the “binding” on the left side, and the other half with space on the right side. That’s so it doesn’t look stupid later. Trust me. I almost messed this part up. Good thing I’m a quick thinker, huh?
- Attach your pages together front/back (see above step) like a sandwich. Stitch around the entire border (this is actually 2 pages stacked on top of each other) to create a finished page.
- Sew your finished pages together (I was able to sew all of my inner pages together by machine, then hand-stitched the front & back covers on)
- Re-read these instructions because I’m not a very good teacher. And then probably google a little bit to figure out a better way to do this, or at least find more concise directions. Or email me. That’s an option.
Here are a few photos of my finished project! Oh and ps, for all the moms out there – this book really is “quiet”. As in it makes no sound. Making it perfect for church, weddings, or any other occasion where you need to busy the kid(s) but need them to be quiet!
Another reason to love my vehicle.
2010
Because I can get photos like this in the back of it…
And another fave from today.
Sucka.
2010
And THIS, my dear interwebs, is why I’m a sucker for a serious faced child.
Bestill, my maternal heart.
I like the night time.
2010
So I went on & on the other day about how fabulous the sunrise is… and last night, on my way home from the session )which I blogged earlier)…
I couldn’t not share this, too.
Early Bird
2010
I love being up for the sunrise. It reminds me of when I was a junior high school student & my girlfriends and I would stay up all night to watch that big ball of light come up, that was our cue to go to bed. It’s a shame more people don’t take advantage of getting up early, I think, because you miss out on seeing awesomeness and some of the best light ever invented.
Finally
2010
If you’ve ever met me (or seen me, ever) then you know that I’m a little freakishly fair-skinned. More like pink. Or red. I suppose it’s all up to interpretation. Regardless, you should know that I am pretty much the ONLY person in my entire family who suffers from a lack of pigmentation. It’s unfair – less so now that I’m in my thirties and can pretty much do whatever I want, but when I was a kid and we would take family vacations or go to the pool, I was always THAT girl. Amongst other reasons, my fair skin caused me to have to be the one who wore a t-shirt (always white) to swim and I was called out of the pool every hour to reapply sunblock, lest I turn into a lobster who had to bathe in aloe vera & Aveeno (no one likes that).
So, you can imagine my excitement when we recently discovered that my mom’s nearby neighbor not only has a pretty fabulous indoor swimming pool (ok, so we always knew she HAD the pool, we just weren’t sure how to touch it with our own hands), but that she also doesn’t mind the neighbor kids (that would be me) and grandkids (that would be the two adorable children shown below) swimming in it! Wooooot! Can I get a what-what from all my fellow fair-skinned peeps out there?
I didn’t think the lighting at the pool would be good enough to risk getting my *real* camera wet, so I was unarmed the other day when we swam… but I snapped these with my iPhone and I heart them, so I’m sharing them with you.
Next time, I’ll take a better camera.
See, mom, it IS possible to only get your head in a photo.
Something I don’t do enough
2010
Making a commitment to return to blogging more – which means that you will either have to scroll through my words to see the pretty pictures, or read them. Either way, it’s your choice. I like to offer choices to my peeps. (You’re welcome).
I realize all the time that I don’t take enough photos of my own life – my boys, my dogs, my world. I mean, sure I snap lots of iPhone photos (most of which are horrendous, but I keep them all anyway because I’m terrified of deleting things), but I need to make a better effort of capturing my own life, in between capturing yours.
My boy let me photo him yesterday. He is so much more mature than, well, me. He’s like a little man now (in some ways, he always has been) and I was sad about that at first, but now I realize how lucky I am to get to watch him grow.
