Something For Me Instead Of The House

This week I was pawing around in my craft supplies and trying to come up with another idea to post. I came across a bag of letter beads that I purchased from a dollar store a while back. They were too small to do a home decor project with so I decided to do something to decorate me. I've made fabric and mixed media pins in the past and so I began to play a little with some other supplies. This is what I came up with.

I made a pillow form about 3 by 1-1/4 inches finished with a stiff piece of interfacing inside to stabilize it. Trim was added to the outside and then the fun began. I picked out spacer beads to place between the letter beads which were sewn on swag style. Then on to my other embellishments where the basket and star metal stampings and tiny red heart were found and sewn on. Lastly a pin back was added.

I hope you'll try this idea too. Shalom!

In Anticipation Of A Future Journey

I, like many of my viewers, dream of a trip to Israel. The option isn't available to me at the present time but I thought I'd have fun with a little fantasy. I found an small and unfinished wooden suitcase at the local craft store. It measures about 3 by 5 inches with a depth of 1 3/4 inches.

I lightly sanded it and painted it with an acrylic base coat. Then the fun began. I made a copy of a map of Israel, shrunk it in size and printed it up on my copier. Next I typed up words in English and Hebrew on my office program and printed them up. I cut the border off of the map and cut the words out. Everything was glued onto the suitcase and sealed. I felt that it still needed something so I floated a darker color acrylic paint on the edges of the suitcase.

I may not be able to travel to Israel for now but this continues to wet my whistle for the Holy Land. And I plan to be packing a much larger suitcase when the opportunity arises. :)

A Substitution

After my last post about a project which I considered a flop, I've been working on a much better project. But alas, I realized I couldn't complete it in time for today's post so I worked up a substitute. I enjoy displaying little pillows of all kinds in our home. Sometimes they are displayed on shelves and sometimes in baskets.

If you've been reading my past posts you'll notice that I include words in many of my projects. By including words in Hebrew it helps me remember  how to spell them in Yahweh's language. The following counted cross stitch is my own design. Yes, I know the challah loaf doesn't look quite right so bear with me. It's the artist's interpretation that counts. 

Glass beads were added to represent candle flames.

Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

Reflections

While working on my latest offering I was pondering on how my tastes had changed. When we moved to our present home five years ago I was heavily into the primitive style of crafts and decorating. Not that anything is wrong with that but, since being in this walk, I have found that my preferences have changed from what they had once been. And except for some touches of prim in my kitchen I never really got started decorating our new home in primitive style.  I couldn't understand why I was going in a different direction. I think I may now have an answer to my query.

When the northern tribes of Israel fell into idolatry, Yahweh exiled them into the nations where they were assimilated. Their identity was lost hidden from future generations until these (the last) days. They forgot who they were and who they belonged to. They became like the commoners. They ate, dressed and acted like the common people. They surrounded themselves with the common. But the scales are falling off of the eyes of many of the decendents of that generation driven into the nations and they are waking up to their true heritage. I count myself among them.

And so, 'primitive' or 'common' is no longer a large part of my mindset. I now understand that I am no longer a commoner. I have a place Yahweh's Kingdom family. This change in style can be described in a number of words: courtly, cultivated, dignified, exquisite, genteel, graceful, luxurious, majestic, ornate, stately, refined, rich, sumptuous and so on. I tend to like rich brocades and paisleys in my creations along with gold and/or silver trimmings. Please don't think I'm trying to be snobbish or uppity here, just trying to explain why my work is changing. However, I am primarily a quilter although I dabble in many other creative endeavors. So I will still quilt and keep on decorating my kitchen in a farm-like motif.

Now for today's project. I have a narrow (under 6 inches wide) section of wall that needed to be filled. I'm delighted to share this wall hanging with you.

The base was constructed by adhering a piece of stiff interfacing (a item I've had knocking around my stash for untold years) to the back of paisley fabric with heat activated bonding tape. Interfacing that is heat activated on one side will also work. Then I sewed a backing material face to face with the paisley like you would a pillow and left the top opened. After turning it right side out I stitched the top closed.

Proceeding to the fabric that the letters would be adhered to I decided on the size, cut out top and back, sewed them face to face and turned them right side out. I sewed the edges of these 'tabs' closed after turning them under but I believe that was a mistake. On making these again I would just trim the tops with pinking sheers and top stitch closed because they will not show when the hanging is completed anyways.Then I added narrow gold trim around the tabs.

NOW THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT:  Next I drew the letters to be used on paper, turned the paper on the backside and traced the letters with a heavy black marker. I traced the BACKWARDS letters on the paper side of Heat and Bond. Then I cut out the letters with a safety margin around them and adhered the heat and bond letters to the BACK OF MY FABRIC. Next the letters were cut out, the paper backing of the heat and bond was removed and the letters were adhered to the front of the tabs.

Next I positioned and sewed on the M of  'Shalom', then the nest letter O. Then after measuring the spacing between those two letters, I spaced the remaining letters appropriately. this gives kind of a three dimensional effect.

A crystal bead was sewed to the point of each tab.  Lastly two rings were added to the top of the backing to hang my creation by.

An added note: For you non-sewers - each piece could be simply bonded together using a heat and bond type product. The hanging could be either made of fabric or felt. A blanket stitch could be used as edging, glitter paint could emphasize the letters, etc. Use your imagination and have fun with this. If you have questions leave a comment and I'll respond either by email or in the comment section.

Premier Post

Welcome to my first post. Grab a cup of coffee and sit down and explore the site. I will be posting twice a week, hopefully Mondays and Thursdays, and bringing you ideas to incorporate into your own crafting.

I will be showing you some of the things that I've made to spur your imagination and adding links if they pertain to that project.

The above picture is of a mug rug that I created with patchwork and a bit of embroidery. I'm on a  mission to create and incorporate items that display our faith in our home and to encourage others to do the same.

Future items that I'm planning to share are bookbinding, wall hangings, quilted items, garden crafts, art applications and on and on. Also I will be setting up a Flickr group in the future so readers of this blog can share their ideas and creations.

I've collected links to many other websites over the past few years and have posted them on this blog.  I will continue to add more links as I find them.

Feel free to Pin any of the pictures on this site to Pinterest but be sure to post the link to this site when you pin.