Proclamation to the Family Photo Overlay Tutorial

I have this hanging up in my home and get asked quite often how I made it.

So...here's how.

I used Adobe Photoshop CS3, but this can be done in any version of Photoshop. The first time I made this was in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0.

1. In Photoshop, click File - New (Ctrl+N). Set the width to 8 inches and height to 10 inches, with at least 200 pixels/inch. (I like to do mine at 300 pixels/inch). Click ok. From now on I will refer to this as the project.

2. Open (Ctrl+O) a copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". (I got mine by scanning my paper copy and saving it as a jpeg file.) Using your move tool (V), click on the Proclamation, then drag it to your project that you started in step 1. Resize by grabbing the dots in the corner with your move tool. Make sure to hold down the shift key while resizing so the width and height change proportionally. You should now have your Proclamation all set.

3. Open (Ctrl+O) the photo you would like to use. Using the same method in step 2, drag your image onto your project, and resize as necessary.

4. Now you will notice that your picture is hiding the proclamation. We need to move it behind the proclamation. If you glance over in your layers palette, you will see something similar to this: (If you can't see your layers palette, click on window in the top toolbar and select layers).

To move layer 3 behind layer 2, make sure layer 3 is highlighted in your layers palette (if not, simply click on it in your layers palette), then hit Ctrl+[ (the key right above the quotation mark key).
5. Layer 2 (The Proclamation) should now be showing. Click on it in your layers palette. At the top of your layers palette is an option that says Opacity. Click on the button by 100% and start dragging it lower. You will notice your image starting to appear through the proclamation. Play around with the opacity until you have it the way you like it. I chose 40%.6. That's it! Now we just need to save it. Click File -Save As... (Shift+Ctrl+S). Name it then make sure to change the format to jpeg. Now all you have to do is print it off as an 8x10.You can make them in black & white, color, family, engagement, wedding, etc. They make great wedding gifts if you use the couple's wedding announcement photo! Have fun with it and don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any!

Shamrock Doormat Tutorial

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would show you how to make a fun shamrock doormat.

To get started you will need the following:

- Two carpet samples (check with carpet stores...most will sell them to you for $1 each or if you're lucky, they'll just give them to you)
- Scotch Carpet Seaming Tape (Found at any home improvement store)
- Heavy Duty razor knife

1. Print or draw a shamrock. If you want the one I used, click here to download. I printed off two of those, then three at 65%, and 2 at 45%. Cut those out, then arrange the papers on the front of a carpet sample to get your desired design.2. Once you have your design figured out, turn the carpet over and arrange the papers on the back in mirror image. Then trace around the cutouts with a permanent marker.Repeat on your other carpet sample.

3. Now grab that heavy duty razor knife and start cutting along those marker lines from the backside of the carpet. (I like to place another carpet sample underneath to protect my floor). Repeat on the other carpet sample.

4. Apply the Scotch carpet seaming tape to the back of the carpet where you just cut. Take one of the opposite cutouts and place it into the corresponding spot on your carpet. (In my case, I took a green shamrock cutout and put it into the neutral carpet). Press firmly in place to attach to the seaming tape. Repeat for all cutouts and on both carpets.

5.Trim any loose pieces of carpet and those plastic carpet strings, and you are done! You should have two shamrock doormats. The possibilities on these are endless. I've also made a personalized doormat with our last name. With so many creative minds out there, I would love to see what you come up with! Come back and leave me a link to see yours!

Authentic Dessert Roll Winner

And the winner of the Authentic Dessert Roll is....
#9: Heather who said, "Ya this is exciting!! I am a follower already!"

Congratulations Heather! Check your inbox for an email from me with directions for claiming your prize. Thanks everyone for entering! Don't worry, I'll be doing similar giveaways every now and then, so be sure to follow along!!

Moda Giveaway ***ENDED***

Some of you may have noticed that I have a button on my right sidebar that says I will be selling Moda Fabric soon. Well, I now have my account set up and am ready to start purchasing for you. To kick things off, I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway. What's the prize you ask?

A dessert roll from the Authentic line designed by Sweetwater:

This is such a beautiful line! Wait until you see what I'm making with it (hopefully it will be finished next week)!

So here's how to enter:

*Remember a separate comment must be made for every entry!

1. You must be a follower. If you aren't already, head over to my left sidebar and click to join. Already a follower? Simply remind me in your comment and you're entered.

2. Leave your email address (so I know how to contact you if you win).

3. Add my button to your blog. Head over to my right sidebar to grab the code.

4. Head over to Moda Fabric and browse through their selections. You can search by designer, in stores now, or future groups. Come back here and let me know which line(s) is your favorite.

5. Tell how much you would pay for a yard of Moda Fabric.

So pretty simple right?! That gives you a chance for 5 entries! You have until Saturday, February 20th midnight MST. I'll choose the winner Sunday morning. All right...ready, set, go!

Come Sail Away!

I had a custom order this past week for various baby items. They were for a little boy so the mom asked me to make some appliqued onesies. I did the usual tie, letter of name, etc., but she wanted several. Since other adorable images are copyrighted, I came up with something of my own...a sailboat. Isn't it cute? She liked it and I hope her little guy will too! Want to make one? You can download the image here.

WINNER!!!!

And the winner is......

#81 - Heather Gates said...
"I added your button to my blog: www.heatherscraftycreations.blogspot.com"

Congratulations Heather! Check your inbox for directions on how to redeem your $25 gift certificate!!!

Thanks everyone for participating in my first giveaway! Stay tuned....I'll be doing another one within the next month!

Valentine's Picture Cards

When I saw this idea last year, I bookmarked it and made a mental note to do it this year. These are the valentines my kids are going to pass out.
They've been all over the cyberworld this year, so you've probably seen a lot of them. I think they are a great idea and very simple to make.

Valentine's Chair Backers

Sewing group was the other night and this month we made Valentine's Chair Backers. Here's how mine turned out:
Found the tutorial over at Our Scoop. I made one for each of my children and love how they turned out. It will be fun to put little treats and notes in these for them to find Valentine's Day. The two with ruffles are for my daughters and the ric-rac one is for my son. I didn't follow the tutorial to make the ruffle part. Instead I made ruffles, pinned them in away from the seams and made the flap using the same directions as the ric-rac flap. It worked out well and made more sense to me. I love these and think they will be fun to use year after year!!!

Valentine's Bubble Skirt Tutorial

I am so excited to be sharing a new tutorial with you! It's a Valentine's Day Bubble Skirt with Heart-Shaped Pockets. I'm a brand-new "chef" over at Moda Bake Shop and this is my first "recipe".

It was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoy it. If you make one, I would love to see how it turned out so please come back here to post a link to it.

Full tutorial (originally appeared here on Moda Bake Shop February 6, 2010)

- 1 L'Amour Jelly Roll by Sandy Gervais
-1/2 yd coordinating fabric (for waistband, hem, and pockets)
-3/8 yd jersey knit fabric (optional for underskirt)
-coordinating thread
-1 yd 1" elastic
-1 yd 1/4" elastic


-Heart Pattern Pocket Piece (click to download)


*All seams are 1/4" unless otherwise noted.

1. Measure child's waist.For every inch, you will need 1 strip of fabric from your jelly roll. Ex: my daughter's waist is 20", so I will need 20 strips. Narrowing it down was really difficult. I couldn't decide so I ended up using 11 pieces, two times each, to get 22 strips. It's okay because this will just be gathered so one or two extra strips won't hurt. Lay out your design. Cut your strips to length. I'm making a 4T, so I cut mine 9 1/2". Add or subtract 1/2" per size. Ex: 3T - 9", 5 - 10".
2. Sew strips together RST (right sides together) along long edge. Finish seam by serging or using a zig-zag stitch. Press open seams. If serged, make sure your seams are all laying the same direction. Topstitch. You should have one long piece now. 3. Measure the long piece. Mine measures 41" x 9 1/2". Cut a piece of jersey knit this measurement. This will be the underskirt and is optional. I like it so all those seams aren't rubbing up against my child's legs. We are also going to cut a hem piece at this time out of our coordinating fabric. For sizes 6m-2T, cut the length of strip piece x 6". For sizes 3T-10, cut the length of the strip piece x 8". Remember I'm making size 4T, so I cut 41" x 8".
4. Layer hem piece right side up, then strip piece right side down, and lastly, knit piece on top, with all three pieces' long edges lining up along the top. I recommend pinning all three together along this top edge to hold the jersey knit in place while we are sewing. *Note: my hem piece (red), is actually shorter than the strip piece and underskirt, so with the top edges all lined up you wouldn't be able to see it. It is showing in the picture just to help show the layering order.
Stitch along pinned edge. Serge or zig-zag stitch to finish seam. Press seam towards underskirt. Topstitch. (You should be stitching along the strip piece).
5. We are going to get our lower casing of the hem piece ready now to create the bubble part of the skirt. I think it is easier to press now before we sew the sides up. So go ahead and fold the long raw edge of the hem piece 1/4" down towards the wrong side of the fabric. Press. Fold another 1/2" and press. Fold entire skirt in half RST, ling up short sides.Be sure to unfold the pressings near the seam before stitching or you won't be able to get your elastic through later. Also, I like to pin where the seams meet to ensure they line up when sewn. Stitch short sides together. Serge or zig-zag stitch to finish seam. Press seam so it's going in the same direction as the seams on the strip piece. Topstitch. (Notice by pressing as directed above, I am able to topstitch on the same side of the seam as the topstitching on all the strip pieces). 6. Repress unfolded part if necessary. Stitch around casing leaving a 1" gap. Measure around child's legs just above the knee. Add 2", then cut a 1/4" piece of elastic that length. Ex: my daughter's measurement was 15", so I'm going to cut a 17" piece of 1/4" elastic. Attach a safety pin to one end of the piece of elastic, then feed through gap. Once all the way through, overlap both ends of the elastic and securely stitch together. Release the elastic into the casing and stitch that 1" gap closed.
7. Sew a gathering stitch along top, raw edge of the strip/underskirt piece. Set aside.
8. Grab your coordinating fabric again and let's cut a waistband piece. Your piece will be your child's waist measurement + 5" x (6m-24m: 5", 2T-5: 5 1/2", 6-7: 6", 8-10: 6 1/2"). Ex: my daughter's waist measurement is 20" and I'm making a 4T, so I will cut a piece that is 25" x 5 1/2". Fold RST, lining up short sides. Stitch. Serge or zig-zag. Press. Topstitch.
9. Divide waistband into fourth's and pin, using seam as one pin location. Do the same with the skirt. Match pins up (making sure seams line up and the topstitching is on the same side). Pin RST. I like to have my waistband on the inside, and the skirt on the outside. Gather evenly between pins and pin frequently to hold gathers in place. Stitch together. Serge or zig-zag. Press seam towards waistband. Topstitch. (Stitching on waistband).
10. Let's make the casing on the waistband. Fold raw edge towards wrong side of fabric 1/4" and press. Fold another 1 1/2" and press. Stitch casing leaving a 2" gap. Cut 1" elastic 1" smaller than child's waist measurement. Ex: 20" waist =19" piece of 1" elastic. Feed elastic through with safety pin the same way as in step 6 above. Overlap elastic ends and securely stitch together. Release elastic into casing. Stitch the 2" gap closed. You now have your skirt and should be to this point. 11. Time for pockets! If you haven't already, download and print off heart pattern piece. Pin piece to fabric and cut out 2 hearts. Mark on the top of your hearts with pins the opening for the pockets. Stitch between pins along the top. I used a simple straight stitch. If my sewing machine had a blanket stitch, I would have used that. A tight zig-zag would also look really good. Place pockets on skirt where desired and pin in place. Stitch to skirt ONLY where not already stitched. LEAVE THE TOP OF THE POCKETS OPEN!!! Guess what?! You are all done! You now have one adorable Valentine's Day bubble skirt and one happy little girl!Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

-1 Jelly Roll can make several skirts. Other materials listed make 1 skirt, sizes 6m-10.