A Family That Crafts Together - Stays Together

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I thought in the true spirit of today it was a perfect time to announce that my father would a contributing blogger here at Sewing and Crafting with Sarah.  My dad, Paul Bartlett, is an excellent woodworker, awesome craftsman, and all around great guy!  He has agreed to showcase some of his crafts on my blog.  He is also now a designer a Crafts Unleashed.  His first post (ever!) is up at Crafts Unleashed; it is a heartwarming story of how he is regaining normalcy after their home fire in 2010.   

A fire is a tragedy for anyone but to be an artist and lose your life's artwork is very hard.  The wood carvings that he has left are the wooden decoys that I have at my home (along with carvings that other family members had at their home).

Please visit him at Crafts Unleashed to read his story along with checking out his "Love" Box he made for Valentine's Day.

Small glimpse of his surviving artwork:

Valentine's Day Purse

This duel purpose purse works as a Valentine's Day Card Holder for little girls as well has a purse to carry home all their Valentines.  Instead of decorating a cardboard box for my daughter to collect her school Valentines in, I wanted to surprise her with something special!

I designed the purse using stiff felt glued together with Fabri-Tac.  Stiff felt bends and cuts very easily.  Also because it is felt, Fabri-Tac glue works great to hold it all together.  

I added ribbon handles using Morex's Ribbon to Bead.  The Ribbon to Bead has a wire end that makes threading beads super easy.

Lastly, I made a bow using a Mini Bowdabra and the Hair Bow Tool and Ruler.  The Hair Bow Tool and Ruler comes with an interactive CD that gives step-by-step instructions on how to make 70 different hair bows.  For this bow I made a 4" wide Boutique bow with tails.

For free step-by-step picture instructions on how to make a felt purse, along with a matching hair bow, and ribbon bracelet you can download the pdf at Crafters 4 Kids.  I am a designer at Crafters 4 Kids, it is a non-profit site dedicated to bringing arts and crafts to children.  Scroll down to the bottom of their Valentine's Day page and you will see the Felt Purse Set (instructions also include hair bow and bracelet). 

With any left over stiff felt you can make a Valentine embellished with lace and buttons. (Instructions for the Valentine are also available at Crafters 4 Kids.)

Love Your Craft Supplies

 "Love your craft supplies!" How appropriate is that for Valentine's Day! Jenny over at Craft Test Dummies is having a linking party. Visit her and other crafters to see what products they love!

I LOVE the Bowdabra® Hair Bow Tool and Ruler. The Hair Bow Tool & Ruler fits over the Mini Bowdabra and allows you to measure your bows uniformly and symmetrical every time. The ruler is perfect for making hair bows, dog bows, cheerleading bows, and little baby bows. The Hair Bow Tool & Ruler comes with an interactive CD that gives you step-by-step instructions on how to make over 70 different hair bows.

I am the inventor of the Hair Bow Tool and Ruler and a craft designer for Bowdabra®. I designed the ruler because I wanted an easy way to make hair bows for my daughter. I knew if I as a craft designer was having a hard time making a perfect hair bow other people were having the same problem. I wanted a tool that would make it easy, fun, and allowed my creativity to flourish. I also created an interactive CD with step-by-step pictures instructions on how to make a bow from beginning to end.

The Mini Bowdabra and the Hair Bow Tool and Ruler can be purchased at Consumer Crafts or visit Bowdabra's Ribbon Store for all the Bowdabra products and a great selection of ribbon.

Baby Shower Gifts

Looking for free sewing patterns to make baby shower gifts?  I found a wonderful site called New Conceptions Sewing Patterns.  They have three free easy sewing patterns to follow for making footies, bibs, and burping cloths.  All things a new mother would need!

These baby items can be very expensive in the store but you can make them for the third of the cost you would buy them for.  They also make great keepsakes!