New Favorites!

We found a couple more favorite on our fall trip.

Loved getting off the interstate and getting a taste of the rural New England; looking forward to returning and exploring the beautiful back roads.

Stenciled using contact paper on Silhouette Cameo

Handy Randy and I love craft beer which led us to Ashville, N.C. where we found a new favorite. (We stopped in again on a recent trip to Wilingham; definitely a favorite!)

I was pleased with my attempt to recreate the Burial logo

Logo on a sticker

using 651 Vinyl cut with the Silhouette Cameo. The sickle was freehanded. South Slope was a contact paper reversed stencil.

In a few days we will be leaving on our winter trip to explore again in the southwest. Yep, I will be packing project supplies!

You can keep up with our travel adventures over on our retirement blog, Living Richly in Retirement.

Which way do we want to go?

Quite often we are asked about our favorite places in our travels. So, on a post here they are.

The signs are made from recycled fence pickets, stencils cut from contact paper using a Silhouette Cameo and painted with all-purpose craft paint.

Latest Prayer Flag

Having become involved with the Sew Powerful Purse Project, it seemed only fitting that I hang a prayer flag in the garden to remind me to offer prayer for the young girls in Zambia and for the team that works tirelessly to keep them in school.

I like using the prayer flags as a way to try out new techniques and products. Hanging out in the elements where they will eventually decompose and where no one will see all my little boo-boos makes for pretty much a stress free effort. Having read about using Terial Magic as a fabric stabilizer before cutting with the Silhouette Cameo, I gave it a try. I like it!  The fabric was very much like paper and didn’t fray with the cutting. According to the bottle it also works to stiffen fabric before printing fabric with the computer; I haven’t tried that yet but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. According to the instructions, the stabilizer washes out leaving a soft fabric. (Since this will be hanging in the garden, I saw no need to wash it.) 

Following the directions from the Silhouette School Blog, I ironed Heat ‘N Bond to the fabric before cutting the letters with the Cameo. There was one little glitch, the letters did not adhere to the black fabric. Hmm….I bet that is because I didn’t prewash the fabric as instructed. So fabric glue to the rescue. This stuff works really well; again it gets tested in the elements quite often.

I will post more about the Sew Powerful Purse project after I have more purses to show. In the meantime, I have found what I think will be an excellent resource for improving my sewing skills; and it is free! More about that later.

If you would like to see more of the prayer flags that are currently in my garden as well as those that have been retired, there is a link at the top of this page. More information about the Prayer Flag Project and directions for making prayer flags can be found here.

And my 2019 One Word is

I know, it is about six months late, but there is a reason for that.

In case you don’t know, One Word or Word of the Year is a concept where one chooses a word on which to focus or inspire throughout the year. It kind of replaces the New Year’s resolution. I put my word on a sign and hang it on the steps that lead to the studio where I will see it every day (at least on the days I am home.)

I actually chose my word earlier in the year, but am just now getting my sign made. If you have been following our retirement blog, you know we were on the road the first three months of the year, home in April to host for Quilt Week and on the road again for three weeks in May. Handy Randy (aka Captain) says there is not enough room in our little RV for the craft supplies I might need, (actually there could be enough room if we removed the wine cellar, but we won’t go there) so the sign had to wait.

I chose “fearless” as my word for 2019 because, well I am going to die. Yep, no way out of it. I don’t know when or how, but I am certain this body will die. While it is a non-negotiable fact, I do have some control as how to live until that appointed time.

I can make myself comfortable in our little bungalow, waiting for a cancer diagnosis or heart attack. With Google, I can research what could be a devastating symptom. I could put my doctor’s phone number on quick dial just in case Google isn’t conclusive. I could insist we move into a one level house to avoid the risk of falling down the stairs (or more likely, have a heart attack climbing up the stairs.) I could avoid making left turns when driving. Regardless of all the precautions I could take, it doesn’t change the fact; I am going to die.

So, do I want to spend so much of my allotted time obsessing over dying that I forget to live? Nah, I don’t think so. I want this “fearless” sign to remind me to go on an adventure, hike a mountain trail, push Handy Randy around on the tandem, dig in the garden and be free from fear and worry.

“Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?” Matt.6:27

Now, what to do with all these signs from years past? 

Recycle? Maybe. Or perhaps I should hang them on the back fence to create a little curiosity conversation piece. 

This is what I use to make the signs:

Scrap wood

Silhouette Cameo

Dollar Store contact paper for stencil

Craft Paint

  

Yeah! You got a Silhouette for Christmas!

Looking at my Facebook feed it seems as though a lot of Silhouettes showed up under the Christmas tree this year. If you are one of the lucky recipients, I know just how excited you are (because that is how excited I was 3 years ago when I received my Portrait.) Two of my great nieces are a couple of the lucky ones, (they both got the Cameo 3, I am so jealous!) so I want to share with them a few tips and photos to help them get off to a great start. The rest of you can read along if you want and certainly share some of your tips in the comments below. So here we go.

The best advice I can give, if you have not already done so check out Silhouette School blog; my go to place for finding information quickly (Melissa and her crew know everything about Silhouette.) This is where I learned about using freezer paper for stencils on fabric

I was looking into the sun when photographing (I know, that is a no, no.) The colors are a lot more saturated than it looks. 

and contact paper for stencils on wood. (A tip from me, buy that ugly contact paper you often see at yard sales for about 50-cents a roll.)

After a frustrating experience with craft store vinyl tearing, curling and not sticking well, I discovered, via Silhouette School, Oracal Vinyl. Last summer I used the 651 on an outside door as well as a coffee mug that is washed every day; it looks as good as the day I did it.

(I have successfully used blue painters tape instead of transfer paper on small projects.)

Speaking of painter’s tape, when your mat needs to be replaced but you just haven’t gotten around to it, you can use the painter’s tape to hold vinyl, fabric, contact paper or whatever in place. (Painter tape is a must have in my studio.)

My nieces each have a daughter (yep, I have great-great nieces) so I know they will be putting cute little appliques on little girls clothing. I have had great success using Heat’n Bond (available at craft stores and Amazon) for appliques. Fuse cutouts with Lite for stitching, Ultrahold if not stitching.

I used Hean'n Bond Ultra Hold and did not stitch on this flag.

Oh there is so much more you will do with your new Silhouettes! Print and Cut, Heat Transfer Vinyl, Etch, Set Rhinestones, and the list goes on. I am looking forward to seeing the projects of my nieces. (Confession time; I am hoping my Portrait will soon die so I can justify upgrading to a Cameo 3!)

Don’t forget, freezer paper, contact paper, painter’s tape, Hean’n Bond, and Oracal Vinyl. 

Bonus tip, Silhouette School blog is celebrating their 3-year anniversary with chances to win some awesome Silhouette related gifts. Information on their blog, Facebook page and Instagram.

No, I have no affiliation with Melissa or Silhouette School blog; I just stumbled onto her site and became a groupie.