Making your own bias tape….

This is a “no-brainer” for some of you.

And for some of you, you are perfectly happy buying it pre-made.

But after my Applique Baby Bib post, I did get a few people asking questions, so here are responses to your FAQ’s, plus a quick how-to for making your own!

Q1: What exactly does “on the bias” mean?
A: Cutting fabric “on the bias” means to cut it on a diagonal. Let’s use quilting as an example. Typically, you cut your strips for quilting with the grain of your fabric. Your cuts either go from selvage to selvage or parallel to a selvage edge. When you cut on the bias, you’re literally going to cut on a 45 degree angle. Yes, it’s going to eat up more fabric, but it’s necessary in order for your finished bias tape to curve around the edges of your work.

Q2: Why would you want to make your own bias tape when it is so easily found in your craft store, and isn’t very expensive at all?

A: Sometime I do buy it! If I just need a solid color and I can find a perfect match, I do often just pick it up at the craft store. However, if I’d like a print (as in the applique baby bib post) then I make it myself.

Q3: Can’t you buy bias tape makers at the craft store?
A: Yup! You sure can! And by all means, go right ahead and pick one up! For me though, as soon as I buy a 1/4″ bias tape maker, I’m going to need a 1/2″ bias tape maker. Then a 3/8″. Then a 5/8″. Get the picture? By making your own from scratch, you aren’t restricted to any size!

Q5: What if I need a piece longer than my fabric is wide? What’s the best way to piece my strips together?
A: Now we’re ready for the step-by-step how-to!

1. Cut your strips 4 times wider than you’d like your finished bias tape to be. For example, if you’d like 1/2″ wide bias tape, cut your strips 2″ wide. If you’d like 1/4″ wide bias tape, cut your strips 1″ wide. Then be sure you trim off the short selvage edge from each end!

*If you’re going to need a length of bias tape longer than your fabric is wide, i.e. longer than 40″ inches long, you’ll need to piece two or more strips together. The best way to do this is also sew them on a 45 degree angle. Follow the steps below. If one strip of fabric will be enough for your project, skip down to step #4!

2.   At one end of each strip, draw a diagonal line on the back of the fabric.  Use the 45 degree line on your ruler as a guide. With right side together, place the ends of two strips perpendicular to each other (as shown in the picture below).

3. Sew on the drawn line. Cut away the excess fabric by cutting 1/4″ out from the sewn line. Press your seams open. Continue as many times as necessary, until you have a long enough pieced strip for your project.

4. Press your fabric strip in half longways, wrong sides together.

5. Open your fabric back up and now press the long edges in to the crease you made in Step 4. Again, wrong sides together, right side facing you.

6. Fold your fabric back in half on the line you originally pressed!

It’s that easy!

And now you’ve got perfectly matched bias tape for your next project!

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

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Chevron is out and quatrefoil is in…at least here in my corner of the crafty world!

I’m loving this simple wall art I created for my office using heat transfer materials. In fact, I love it so much I’m already making more. If you’re a friend of mine with a birthday coming any time soon, don’t be surprised if you find one of these wrapped up and tagged from me!

The how-to is below, but just a few notes first:

1. The piece was made using heat transfer materials from Silhouette, which are their featured products this month.

2. As usual, machines bundled with heat transfer materials (in this case, Silhouette’s heat transfer starter kit) are on sale.

3. ALL HEAT TRANSFER MATERIALS FROM SILHOUETTE ARE BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! You know I’m stocking up on all my favorite colors! And this includes printable heat transfer material!

So if you’d like to get shopping right away, head over to this page on the Silhouette site and use promo code STITCHES to get your discount.

More details on the sale are also at the bottom of this post, after the wall art how-to!

Oh! Did I forget to mention there’s a giveaway at the end of this post, too? Yup! There’s a Silhouette Portrait™ up for grabs! GOOD LUCK!!! 

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

Materials:

• Blank canvas
• Washi tape or any other “not too sticky” kind of tape to use just for marking
• 16″ square piece of fabric
• Silhouette heat transfer material – 2 colors
• Silhouette cutting system
• Spray adhesive
• Staple gun and staples

Directions:
Just a tip here before we get started! You can use any type of background fabric you like. The only restriction is that Silhouette heat transfer material does not adhere to nylon. Any other type of fabric, and you’re good to go!

What makes me love this project even a bit more, is that the background fabric I used, was actually just a plain old white cloth napkin I picked up from Target. I found a pack of 12 for I think $9. I created a stencil (yes, with my CAMEO) and just painted the quatrefoil design on it! When you can’t find the perfect fabric to use for a project…make it yourself!

1. Find the center of your background fabric. Use washi tape to mark out exactly how big your canvas is. This will give you a better idea of the placement of each of your pieces.

2. Following the directions provided by Silhouette, cut your first design and adhere it to your fabric. (My first layer was a flower that you can find here in the Silhouette Online Store! It took some patience to weed, but was totally worth it!)

A few notes here:
*Silhouette has a few great video tutorials that answer any questions you may have about cutting and adhering your heat transfer materials. You can find them here:
Smooth Heat Transfer Video Tutorial From Silhouette

Flocked Heat Transfer Video Tutorial From Silhouette

Printable Heat Transfer Video Tutorial From Silhouette (For Dark Colored Fabrics)

Printable Heat Transfer Video Tutorial From Silhouette (For Light Colored Fabrics)

*Practice first! Definitely cut a small shape (something simple like a circle or a single letter) and do a dry run of adhering your design to your fabric. It will save you a lot of stress…and unfortunately I know this from experience. My iron must run a lot hotter than it says it does, because I burned my first heat transfer design. After some playing, I realized I didn’t need to heat set each piece for quite as long as Silhouette recommends, but like I said…I learned the hard way!

*Don’t forget to mirror your image! Especially if your design incorporates text! To mirror the image, select your design. Go up to the top of left nav bar in the Silhouette software. Select “Object,” then “Transform,” and then “Mirror Options.” From there, a sidebar will appear on the right of your screen. Select “Mirror Right.” A new, mirrored image of your design will appear. Delete the original! Cut the mirrored design!

3. Continue adhering the remainder of your designs, again following the directions provided by Silhouette. (My second layer was simply the letter N in the Sacramento font. The Sacramento font does not come in your Silhouette software, but you can find it online for free and just download it from there!)

4. Adhere your fabric to your blank canvas. First spray the canvas front with spray adhesive. Then use the washi tape to align the center of your fabric on the canvas. Once you have it in place, and any wrinkles smoothed out, wrap the fabric around to the back of the canvas, and use a staple gun to keep it in place.

It really is a simple project, right? And the possibilities are endless. You could do a really big canvas with a saying on it. You could do a cluster of smaller canvasses that kind of fit together to make one large design. You could do a set for your family…one canvas per person, a silhouette of them in the center, their first initial in the corner.

I like each of these ideas better than the last!

So who’s ready for sale details?

All heat transfer materials are Buy One Get One Free with promo code STITCHES.

For every Silhouette heat transfer product you buy, you can get another one (of equal or lesser value) free. This offer includes smooth and flocked heat transfer material, printable heat transfer material, and the heat transfer starter kit. Plus, you can mix-and-match however you like!

Silhouette Portrait™ Heat Transfer Starter Bundle: $129.99 (MSRP: $219.98)

Bundle includes:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Power cable/AC adapter
• USB cable
• Silhouette Studio® software
• $10 download card
• 8 in x 12 in cutting mat
• Silhouette blade
• Basic Instruction Guide
• Portrait instructional DVD
• Heat transfer starter kit:
  -3 sheets of smooth heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of black, teal, dark pink)
  -2 sheets of flocked heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of white and yellow)
  -Silhouette hooK
  -Exclusive download card good for 10 heat transfer designs
  -Idea booklet and instruction guide
  -Heat Transfer Instructional DVD

Silhouette CAMEO® Heat Transfer Starter Bundle: $269.99 (MSRP: $339.98)

Bundle includes:

• Silhouette CAMEOSilhouette®
• CAMEO® electronic cutting tool Power cable/AC adapter
• USB cable
• Silhouette Studio® software
• $10 download card
• 12 in x 12 in cutting mat
• Silhouette blade
• Basic Instruction Guide
• CAMEO instructional DVD
• Heat transfer starter kit:
  -3 sheets of smooth heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of black, teal, dark pink)
  -2 sheets of flocked heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of white and yellow)
  -Silhouette hooK
  -Exclusive download card good for 10 heat transfer designs
  -Idea booklet and instruction guide
  -Heat Transfer Instructional DVD

Ready to start shopping?

And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!

This offer is only good from 4/4/13 to 6/15/13!

And for those of you looking for the giveaway….here you go!!

Entering the giveaway couldn’t be easier! Just use the Rafflecopter app below. This giveaway is open to US residents only! (If you’re viewing this post in your email or through an email reader and can’t see the Rafflecopter box below, click here to be taken directly to the Nikki, In Stitches site.)

Here is exactly what the winner will receive:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Silhouette Studio® software
• 50 exclusive cuttable designs
• Power cable, USB cable
• 8″ cutting mat
• Cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Basic Instruction Guide

PLUS, I’m adding in my Intro To Your CAMEO class for free!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today we’re talking raw edge appliqué, and I’m sharing a step-by-step tutorial for my super simple technique that I use for almost all of my appliqué projects. (If you missed the first part of this post, where I shared my how-to for creating your own appliqué designs without drawing a thing by hand, you can find it here!)

And we’re just going to jump right in, because I know many of you are excited to get to the fun of actually turning your drawings into fabric!

Note: Our little ice cream cone that we’ve been playing with would make the cutest quilt! Just make a bunch, all with different “flavored” ice cream, on 12″ x 12″ blocks, and then sew the blocks together. Couldn’t be easier…or more yummy to look at!

As always, if there are any questions, just comment here or drop me an email!

Nikki@NikkiInStitches.com

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

Materials:

• Steam-A-Seam 2 (This is my personal favorite double sided fusible to use, but you can use whatever brand you like. I like Steam-A-Seam because it’s easily found in almost all craft stores. There, you’ll typically find it sold in 5 packs of 9″ x 12″ sheets. You can sometimes even find it at our your local quilt shop sold on a roll, where you can pay by the inch, just like you do for fabric, but again any double sided fusible will work!)
• Background fabric
• Fabric scraps for your appliqué pieces (Fabric choice for appliqué is important! Let your fabric print do a lot of the work for you! You’re design will have more dimension, and you won’t have as much detail embroidery work to do afterwards.)
• Iron and ironing board
• Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies

Directions:

•  Trace the mirror image of your individual applique shapes onto the paper liner of your fusible webbing. A few important notes here:
  1. Some people like to create templates from mylar sheets. I do that only when I’m planning on making a lot of the same design. In this case, since I was just making one appliqué, I just put my design on a lightbox and traced it right there on to the webbing.
  2. Be sure you’re tracing the mirror image! The fusible gets ironed to the back of your fabric, so you need to draw your designs in reverse. If you’re using mylar templates, just simply flip them over before tracing! If you’re using a lightbox like I did, just flip your whole design over before you trace! It’s not hard to do, just easy to forget to do it!
  3. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions on your fusible if you have any questions. Most come with step-by-step instructions for transferring your designs to the product!

• Cut out the appliqué pieces from the webbing, leaving a generous 1/2′ all the way around. DO NOT cut out the exact pieces!
• Iron the fusible webbing to the back of your fabric.

• Now cut out the exact appliqué shapes!

• Remove the paper liner and iron your first appliqué shape in place. (Note: Since our pieces overlap some, I press one at a time, then sew that piece down, before moving on to pressing the next piece!)
• Sewing very close to the edge, stitch all the way around your first piece. You do not need to sew where the piece will be overlapped by the next piece. (Slow down! You’ll be happier with your appliqué if the curve of your stitches matches the curve of the piece as closely as you can get it. Be sure both your needle and presser foot are both down. Stop your machine. Lift your presser foot and adjust your fabric accordingly. Sew the next stitch. Repeat as many times as necessary to get a nice smooth curve!)

• Move on to your next piece by pressing it in place, and then again, stitching very close to the edge, all the way around. (If you need help with the placement of your pieces, you can put your drawn design on a lightbox and place your fabric overtop!)

• After all of your individual shapes have been pressed to the background fabric and sewn into place, add any embroidery details that you’d like! (That’s how I added the stem to my cherry! It’s just a simple back stitch. After all the machine sewing was complete, I again put my design on a lightbox, with the appliqué overtop. I very lightly traced the stem with a pencil, then just stitched right over it!)
  

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Last week’s appliqué baby bib sent my inbox into quite a tizzy!

There were lots of questions regarding my tips for finding appliqué designs online, requests for a more detailed tutorial on how to sew them, and even a few inquiries about making your own bias tape.

So I thought I’d take some time over the next few weeks to cover all of that, and more.

We’ll start with a two-part post on creating and sewing appliqués.

I’m going to go more into depth as to how I find shapes to work with online (I may be a seamstress, knitter, and paper lover, but I am by no means an artist!). Then, later in the week, I’ll give a step-by-step how-to for sewing raw edge appliqués, and all of this will be from scratch…no cutting system required!

Up first, creating your own appliqués….

As I said above, I am surely no artist. Drawing with a pencil by hand is probably one of my weakest crafty skills. So, I turn to basic shapes that can be found online, for free, to help me create my own appliqué designs.

I thought I’d walk you through my process today, with a basic shape…an ice cream cone!

So, the first thing I did to create the appliqué shown above was a google search of the phrase “ice cream cone coloring page.” Of course, tons of images came up, none of which I loved 100%. That’s what’s great about this technique! I’m going to show you how I pick and choose which parts of each I like, and how I put them all together.

Back to that ice cream cone…

These two images caught my eye (Take a peek at my notes on each as to what I liked, and what I didn’t! You can click on the image to make it larger!):

So I kept the pieces I liked (and took away what I didn’t!) by simply printing these images out, and tracing the parts I wanted to keep! You can use a lightbox, or even just tape the print out to a window, then put a blank piece of paper overtop. Super simple!

Plus, I googled “free cupcake clipart images” to find that missing cherry! Here’s what I was left with, and again, take a peek at my notes!

To resize the individual pieces, I just ran them through my printer, and either reduced or enlarged them accordingly.

Put all the pieces together by tracing them one more time….

And that’s it! You’ve got an adorable appliqué ice cream design, ready to be cut out and stitched (again, we’ll cover that part in the next post!) and, as promised, it was created without drawing a thing by hand! Super simple, right?

I’d love see what designs all of you can come up with using this technique. Please feel free to experiment, and then send your creations my way! Just email them to Nikki@NikkiInStitches.com

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

PS…The make your own bias tape tutorial is in the works, too! No worries! Look for that coming soon!

NOTE: This appliqué is made by combining individual parts of free images found online. It is for personal use only. If you’re going to sell your finished product, or benefit financially from its creation, you should contact the individual websites where the images are found, and review their copyright policies.

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Babies and birthdays…

These are the two things that seem to be on my mind the most these days.

I think the babies thing is pretty self-explanatory. We’re in full prep mode over here considering our summer schedule is already filling up fast, and baby #3 will make his or her grand entrance in early September.

And birthdays because my birthday is this Saturday. I’m not one to make a big deal about my birthday…spending time with my friends and family for the day is my idea of a perfect celebration. But the last few years, as my children have gotten older and take part in the festivities more and more, my birthday has taken on a different meaning. To see their faces, full of excitement for me…to hear their whispers, as they plan surprises, secretly sign cards and wrap presents, and conspire with my husband to give me the most special day they possibly can…well, it makes my cherish my birthday in a different way. It’s become more a day for them, and I am lucky enough to get to sit back and enjoy every previous moment of it.

So, I guess it made sense to combine the two things I’ve been thinking about most into the project for this post, right? But there are lot more than just two things below! In fact, this post is packed goodies: a sewing tutorial, a tip for finding simple appliqué designs, a sale …and a giveaway!!…so be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom to get every detail!

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

1. Applique Baby Bib How-To

This baby bib is super simple to make. Yes, mine has an appliqué front, but you could use a solid piece of fabric, something you’ve pieced maybe using your favorite quilt block as inspiration, a reclaimed t-shirt that has a logo or phrase on the front that you just love…you get the idea. This is a great scrap buster!

Materials:

• Bib template (Click link for printable PDF pattern: Nikki In Stitches Applique Baby Bib Sewing Pattern)
• 2 pieces of fabric approximately 14″ square (Again, get creative! Cut into an old t-shirt, look through your scrap bin, piece together your favorite quilt block, etc!)
• 1 piece of quilt batting approximately 14″ square.
• Approximately 55″ of 1/2″ bias tape (I made my own for this project from fabric scraps!)
• Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies
• Velcro (Or whatever you’d like to use to keep your bib on your little one!)
• Scrap fabrics for applique (Only required if you’re going to add a design to the front of your bib!)

Directions:

• Prep your bib front. This will be different for all of you, depending on what you’re using for your fabric. For me, it was creating the applique shape. I used my CAMEO and a shape I found in the Silhouette online store. I adhered Silhouette fabric interfacing to the back of my fabric scraps, ran them through my cutting machine to cut them out, ironed them to my bib front, then just sewed around the edges with my sewing machine. A super simple applique technique! If you don’t have a Silhouette cutting system, you can still create your own applique shapes! This design is basic enough that you may be able to sketch and cut it by hand. Or, here’s a tip: do a quick google search for free clip art cupcakes. You’ll find a ton there that you can trace!

• Cut out the bib pattern three times, once from the quilt batting, once from whatever fabric you’ve selected for your bib front, and once from whatever fabric you’ve selected for your bib back.
  Sew Velcro to the bib pieces, one piece on the front, one on the back, as shown in the picture below, so that the bib lays flat when it is on your little one.
  Layer your fabrics wrong sides together, with your quilt batting between!

• Open your bias tape and pin the raw edge all the way along the outside of your bib, being careful to match the curve of the bib pattern. You may need to use a lot of pins around the curves! That’s ok! (NOTE: To get a nice finished edge, fold over the first quarter inch of your bias tape. Then, once you’ve gone all the way around, over lap the beginning and end of your bias tape about 3/4″. This will give you a clean edge that will blend right in and won’t be visible.  If you need any help, refer to the pictures below!)

• Sew in first fold of bias tape, all the way around. Be very careful around the curves to keep a consistent seam allowance. (It should be 1/2″ since you’re using 1/2″ bias tape!) 

 

• Fold bias tape over to back side of bib and hand stitch in place, using the machine stitches sewn in the previous step as a guide for placement. Put the bib on  your little one and snap a few quick pics of how adorable they look!

2. Silhouette Interfacing Is On Sale!

You guys know the drill by now! Fabric interfacing is the featured product this month from Silhouette. You can pick some up if you already have a cutting system. If you do not have a Silhouette cutting system, but are ready to jump into the fun, the fabric interfacing is also bundling with the machines…all at a discounted price.

The graphic below has all the details:

Ready to start shopping?

Click here to head over to the Silhouette site and get going!

And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!

This offer is only good from 5/23/13 to 5/31/13! 

3. Giveaway Time! It’s A Silhouette Portrait™!!!

As I said earlier this month, you are all loving the Portrait giveaways, and because your response has been so overwhelming, Silhouette has given me another one to give away! Woo Hoo!

And, as always, I try to make entering the giveaway a easy as possible! Just use the Rafflecopter app below. This giveaway is open to US residents only! (If you’re viewing this post in your email or through an email reader and can’t see the Rafflecopter box below, click here to be taken directly to the Nikki, In Stitches site.)

Here is exactly what the winner will receive:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Silhouette Studio® software
• 50 exclusive cuttable designs
• Power cable, USB cable
• 8″ cutting mat
• Cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Basic Instruction Guide

PLUS, I’m adding in my Intro To Your CAMEO class for free!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone entering the giveaway!

XOXO

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Each year, about this time, I start dreaming of a luscious garden, filled with veggies and herbs, that will keep my family healthy and full throughout the summer.

Each year, about this time, I sneak away to the nursery down the street, and stock up on seedlings and potting soil, then convince my children that it will be fun for us to spend the day digging in the dirt, getting our hands dirty, planting these little seedlings that will soon grow into fruitful plants, bearing delicious vegetables for us to enjoy in the coming months.

And each year, about three months from now, I sit outside, surrounded by my containers, and look at the once green plants that I had such hopes for, and see them looking more like a shade of brown, and feel an overwhelming wave of disappointment when I think of how less than fruitful they were.

This happens every year. (Trust me…every year. How do I know? Because each year, about this time, my husband enjoys reminding me, in a completely loving way of course, about what happened to last year’s garden ♥ )

Until now.

I am determined this year to change this cycle.

So, where did I turn to for help?

Pinterest, of course!

I created a board full of tips and tricks for planting a container garden, and then keeping it green throughout the summer. You can see all of the pins here, (and feel free to comment about which ones you think are best!) but the pictures above are some of my favorite ideas. Here are a few details on each:

1. DIY Stamped Silverware Garden Markers from My So Called Crafty Life Where are my stamped jewelry lovers? You’ve already got all your supplies! The full how-to is in this post!
2. Hanging Herb Garden from The Telegraph This idea behind this is pretty simple. Not sure if you really need to swing by the post, but the author does provide great advice for some readers struggling with their gardens. You might be able to pull a few tips and tricks from her, too!
3. Indoor Garden from Urban Comfort Super simple idea that is absolutely beautiful. PS…There are a few tips in this post for creating your own terrariums, too!
4. Garden Markers Made From Wooden Spoons from Nikki, In Stitches I used these last year to mark all the herbs and vegetables in my garden! I used my CAMEO, but you could certainly make them without a cutting system. Just grab some scrap paper, scissors, mod podge, and alphabet stickers!
5. Mason Jar Herb Garden from Camille Styles DIY mason jar indoor hanging herb garden…This one could be my fave! Full tutorial is in the post!

If you have any other tips or tricks for keeping your container garden green throughout the summer, please feel free to share them below.

I could certainly use them!

Nikki, In Stitches 

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Every time I share Pick Your Plum‘s cupcake stand deals, it seems like they’re a huge hit, so I thought it would be fun to share with all of you how you can really make them yourselves, and use up a lot of scrap papers at the same time! I cut mine out of chipboard with my Silhouette CAMEO®, but as you can see from the picture above, you could easily create them yourself and cut them by hand or with punches you might already have in your craft arsenal.

And just to make things even more fun, not only is the chipboard from Silhouette on sale, but I’m also giving away a Silhouette Portrait™ again this month! (Just a little note here: All of you should be very proud of yourselves! I get to keep giving away Portraits because so many of you enter and share the giveaway love! “Woo Hoo!!” to every single one of you and thank you so much for all of your excitement over the giveaways! You are all awesome and make me smile from ear to ear!) So scroll down for the cupcake stand how-to, the chipboard sale details, and of course…the entry form for the Portrait!

Good luck!

Nikki, In Stitches

1. DIY Cupcake Stand How-To

As I said above, I cut my cupcake stand out of chipboard with my Silhouette CAMEO®. It was actually a design that I found in the Silhouette Online Store, so within minutes I had it downloaded, cut, and was ready to embellish it. (You can find the shape in the online store here, or experiment with cutting your own. The top could easily be punched with a scallop paper punch. The legs might take a bit more to cut by hand. You could actually use an adjustable circle cutter to get the perfect size curve!)

I cut the design twice, first from chipboard, then from scraps of decorative scrapbooking paper. I then just used mod podge to adhere the two layers together, “covering” the chipboard. After the mod podge was completely dry, I just sanded the edges a bit and rubbed a bit of brown ink into the paper. (These last two steps, the sanding and inking, are completely optional. I like the “aged a bit” look, but if you prefer clean lines, you can stop at the mod podging!) Glue the pieces together, and you’ve got a super simple and super adorable way to display your cupcakes and dress up your table!

2. Chipboard Sale…and Cutting Systems Are Discounted, Too!

This month’s featured product from Silhouette is their chipboard. This project was actually my first time playing with it, and I loved it. It’s heavier than any scrapbooking papers you’ll find, which gives it the weight you need for a project like the cupcake stand. You can paint it, age it…you name it!

If you already have a cutting system, you can simply get the chipboard and a $25 download card. If you’re ready to make the jump into the cutting system fun, you can also get the chipboard bundled with a machine (plus the discount card and a dust cover for your cutting system!) all at a discounted price!

Here are the sale details, as well as the promo code you’ll need to get the discount:

• 25 sheets of 12″ x 12″ chipboard, plus a $25 download card: $19.99 (MSRP: $34.99)

•  1 Silhouette Portrait™,  1 pack of chipboard (25 sheets), 1 grey dust cover, and a $25 download card: $129.99 (MSRP: $221.97)

• 1 Silhouette CAMEO®, 1 pack of chipboard (25 sheets), 1 natural dust cover, and a $25 download card: $269.99  (MSRP: $341.97)

Ready to start shopping?

Click here to head over to the Silhouette site and get going!

And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!

This offer is only good from 5/8/13 to 5/15/13! 

3. The Silhouette Portrait™ Giveaway! YAY!!

As always, entering the Silhouette Portrait™ is easy! Just use the Rafflecopter app below. This giveaway is open to US residents only! (If you’re viewing this post in your email or through an email reader and can’t see the Rafflecopter box below, click here to be taken directly to the Nikki, In Stitches site.)

Here is exactly what the winner will receive:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Silhouette Studio® software
• 50 exclusive cuttable designs
• Power cable, USB cable
• 8″ cutting mat
• Cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Basic Instruction Guide

PLUS, I’m adding in my Intro To Your CAMEO class for free!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to all of you!

XOXO 

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Chalk designs….it’s hard to not see them pretty much everywhere you look these days. And to be honest, I can’t get enough of them. (Want a peek at some of favorite chalkboard design ideas? Here’s my newest Pinterest board: Chalk Dust On My Finger Tips. Can you tell I was once a teacher?)

But if I’m going to put that kind of time into a design, whether it be a framed piece in my living room, or a monogram for my door, I want it to stick around for as long as possible!

So, below you’ll find my how-to for making permanent “chalk” designs….no actual chalk required!

But wait! There’s more!

I have another Silhouette Portrait™ to giveaway!

And, if you’ve already got a Portrait or CAMEO, and you’d like to stock up on vinyl, now is the time! I’ve got a promo code good for 25% off your order!

So take a peek at all the goodies below, and enjoy!

Nikki, In Stitches

1. First Up: How To Make A Permanent “Chalk” Design!

(Just a note here about my stencil: Please don’t be intimidated by the complexity of my stencil, or turned away from this project because I made mine with my CAMEO. Sticky-backed stencils are becoming easier to find. There are a few brands available in your local craft store, and there are even shops online that will create a custom stencil for you.)

Couldn’t be easier, right? And now you don’t have to worry about your beautiful “chalk” design smudging after you’ve spent so much time working on it!

2. Next on the list: Discounts on vinyl and cutting systems!

By now, many of you know the drill: Silhouette picks one product a month to feature and discount. If you just need supplies, this is a great opportunity to stock up. But on top of that, if you don’t yet have a Silhouette cutting system, you can get either a Portrait or a CAMEO on sale this month, bundled with the selected product. Make sense?

This month’s featured product is vinyl…one of my personal favorites, and what I used to make my stencil for my chalk design above!

Here are the sale details, as well as the promo code you’ll need to get the discount:

• All premium vinyl is 25% off with promo code STITCHES. (Here’s a quick note about this offer. Silhouette recently reduced the price of their vinyl to $9.99 a roll. With the STITCHES promo code, you’ll get it 25% off of that price! That brings it down to $7.50 a roll…that’s a steal!)

•  1 Silhouette Portrait™ + 1 roll of black vinyl, 1 roll of white vinyl, and 1 roll of transfer paper: $139.99 (MSRP: $229.96)

• 1 Silhouette CAMEO® + 1 roll of black vinyl, 1 roll of white vinyl, and 1 roll of transfer paper: $269.99 (MSRP: $329.96)

Ready to start shopping?

And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!

This offer is only good from 4/18/13 to 4/26/13! 

3. I saved the best for last: THE PORTRAIT GIVEAWAY!!!

Entering is easy! Just use the Rafflecopter app below. This giveaway is open to US residents only! (If you’re viewing this post in your email or through an email reader and can’t see the Rafflecopter box, click here to be taken directly to the Nikki, In Stitches site.)

Here is exactly what the winner will receive:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Silhouette Studio® software
• 50 exclusive cuttable designs
• Power cable, USB cable
• 8″ cutting mat
• Cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Basic Instruction Guide

PLUS, I’m adding in my Intro To Your CAMEO class for free!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So many goodies packed into one post! Good luck to all of you entering the giveaway fun!

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It has been brought to my attention that I haven’t posted a project or DIY for my jewelry making readers recently…and you are absolutely correct!

I looked back through my recent tutorials, and it has been too long!

I do have a guest post coming up, that I’ll be sharing a link to here, but I couldn’t let all of you jewelry lovers go a minute longer without a little love. Scratch that..without a lot of love! You’re going to LOVE this giveaway!

Today I’m giving away approximately $125 worth of jewelry making goodies from Cousin Corp. (You can get a quick glimpse at some of their products by clicking here, but if you’ve roamed the aisles of your local large chain craft store, I’m sure you’ve seen their jewelry making supplies!) There are beads in the goodie box, findings, crystals, charms, tools….pretty much a whole lot of everything!

Below, you’ll fing a complete list of everything included, as well as the Rafflecopter entry form. (If you’re reading this through a blog reader or in your email inbox and can’t see the Rafflecopter box below, click here to be taken right tot the Nikki, In Stitches site.) You’ve got until Sunday, April 14th at midnight to enter and feel free to share the giveaway details with anyone you’d like…this giveaway is open to everyone! (Yup! “Everyone” means everyone…even those of you that don’t live inside the continental US, too! XOXO)

Good luck!

Nikki, In Stitches

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Complete list of everything included in the goodie box:

• 6 piece tool set (includes flush cutting pliers, needle nose pliers, round nose pliers, bead reamer, jump ring opener, bead sizer)
• 6 piece set of glass and metal beads in purple and yellow flowers (from the Cousin Corp Trinkettes line)
• 5 piece set of glass and metal purple and crystal beads (from the Cousin Corp Trinkettes line)
• 6 piece set of blue pearl beads (from the Cousin Corp Trinkettes line)
• 1 8.75 inch Trinkettes chain (this is a bracelet base that can be used with the Trinkette beads listed above)
• 36 metal puffed heart beads
• 145 piece starter pack in silver (includes head pins, jump rings in various sizes, earrings bases, chain, various toggle clasps)
• 6 sterling silver fish hook earring bases
• 16 6mm sterling silver open jump rings
• 8 piece set of metal heart and circle charms (4 heart charms and 4 circular charms)
• 1 silver heart accent piece
• 8 piece set of metal charms
• 3 piece metal accent set
• 46″ of silver chain
• Assorted purple glass beads
• 34 piece set of 4mm violet bicone Crystazzi Crystals
• 21 piece set of 4mm and 6mm pink and lilac bicone mix of Cystazzi Crystals
• 4 piece set of purple gemstone beads
• Assorted pink gemstone beads
• 2 sets of large silver toggles
• 100 2mm crimp beads

That’s a lot of goodies, right? Good luck! XOXO 

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Happy Spring, Everyone!

Ironically, as I’m typing this, we’re gearing up for 5 – 8 inches of snow here in the north east, but as you can see, I’ve got spring weather on my mind. And Silhouette is bringing you another great promotion this month to help take your spring crafting to a whole new level. The featured product this time around is their sketch pens. You’ll find the details of the sale below, along with a promo code to use, and pricing (yes, the actual cutting systems are discounted this month, too, if you buy them bundled with the sketch pens!), but first I wanted to give a quick and simple technique you can use with the sketch pens that I think you’ll love!

See that cute “Happy Spring” ribbon in my photo up top?

That’s just plain old grosgrain ribbon that I wrote on…wait for it…with my sketch pens!

Here’s how simple it is:

• Cut the ribbon a few inches longer than needed, just to be on the safe side.
• Put the ribbon on the cutting mat, at the very top.
• Type “Happy Spring” in the Silhouette Design Studio Software, and resize it to fit on your ribbon. (My ribbon was 5/8″ wide, so I made my text about 1/2″ tall.) 
• Reposition text if necessary, so that is also is at the very top of the drawing area, and will fall on the ribbon what you put it through the machine.
• Replace the blade with a sketch pen.
• Select Silhouette Sketch Pen in the “Silhouette Cut Settings” window.
• Click cut!

Now remember, it’s not going to actually “cut” your ribbon. You have the sketch pen in there, so it’s going to draw your text (or even an image if you’d like!) right on your ribbon!

Pretty neat, right?

Now, a few things to note:

1. I’m not sure if this is washable. In fact, I tend to doubt it. I still need to play a bit, but for now, I’m sticking to using this technique in projects I know won’t need to be laundered.

2. I used grosgrain ribbon in my project above. Surprisingly, the grooves of the ribbon didn’t effect the clearness of the text. I’m sure there are some ribbons that will work better than others. If any of you decide to play a bit, and find some that work really well (or find ribbons that don’t work well and we should avoid), please share with the rest of us!

3. Just as in the note above, there certainly are combinations of ribbons and sketch pens that work best. Light colored ribbon and dark colored sketch pens are probably best. I’m not sure if a light colored sketch pen will show up on a dark colored ribbon.

4. If we can write on our ribbon with the sketch pens….why wouldn’t we be able to write on fabric with them? That’s what I’m playing with next!

So, if this little trick has got your crafty wheels turning, take a peek at the sale details below. Like I said at the beginning of this post, you’ll find a sketch pen started kit on sale (that contains 24 pens!), plus the pens bundled with the cutting systems.

If you already have a cutting system, you can pick up the sketch pen starter kit  (MSRP $19.99) for just $12.99.

The kit includes 24 assorted sketch pens:

• Regular — black (2), white, lavender, red, light blue, blue
• Neon — pink, orange, green, yellow
• Glitter — magenta, gold, bronze, peach
• Metallic — plum, lavender, maroon, navy, light blue, green, charcoal, grey, copper

If you’d like jump into the cutting system fun, you can get a Silhouette Portrait™ plus the sketch pen starter kit (MSRP 219.98) for $139.99.

The Portrait™ bundle includes:

• Silhouette Portrait™ electronic cutting tool
• Silhouette Studio® software for Windows XP and higher, and Mac® OS X 10.6.8 and higher
• 51 exclusive cuttable designs
• Power cable, USB cable
• 8″ cutting mat
• Cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store
• Basic Instruction Guide
• Sketch Pen Starter Kit (includes the 24 sketch pens described above)

Think you need a larger cutting system? You can get a Silhouette CAMEO® plus the sketch pen starter kit (MSRP 319.98) for $269.99.

The CAMEO® bundle includes:

• Silhouette CAMEO® electronic cutting too
• Power cable/AC adapter
• USB cable
• Silhouette Studio® software
• $10 download card
• 12″ x 12″ cutting mat
• Silhouette blade
• Basic Instruction Guide
• CAMEO instructional DVD
• Sketch Pen Starter Kit (includes the 24 sketch pens described above)

Ready to start shopping?

And be sure to use promo code STITCHES to get your discount!

This offer is only good from 3/26/13 to 3/31/13! 

Happy Shopping!

Nikki, In Stitches

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