Make 2008 Your Year to Create!

WELCOME to a brand new year!! I have chosen a motto for myself and I hope it inspires some little fire within you.

I will make this year one to remember. I promise to be more giving, for one. I will use my blog as one of the vehicles for this new journey. In addition to the projects I post, I will include instructions. Some basic and some detailed. If you have any questions, just shoot me an email, cuz I know I'm not the best with directions! :o)

And awaaay we go! This first project is a post card. I'm hosting a Poetic Post Card trade on F.A.T. (waves to any F.A.T.T.I.E.S. who are checking this out!) and this is one of my entries. I know you can't tell, but this card totally sparkles! The top layer is vinyl, which is one of my favorite materials to use. It's kind of a pain in the rump to sew on, as your machine's foot does not want to budge a BIT on it. But I simply put some magic transparent tape on the bottom and it glides like my tongue on a Dove bar! (sorry - I'm trying to eat healthier and it seems to already be causing some problems...)

From top layer to the bottom, here is the lineup (pix to come later):
1. clear vinyl
2. star charm, words printed on paper, a shave cream marbled tag I chopped up, a couple pieces of shimmery fabric I trimmed off another post-card-in-progress, and the pièce de résistance is this beautiful "glitter" I got at Michael's. It looks blue in the shaker, but it looks all kinds of iridescent on here. I LOVE this stuff! Even the cat looks better with this stuff on him! (just kidding...) Aaaaanyway, this glitter is more like tiny pieces of cut-up cellophane. It works like a dream with the vinyl because it's all static-y and sticks in place whilst you're happily sewing along. Love stuff that's easy peasy. ;o)
3. and 4. fabric that's been fused to fusible interfacing (heavy weight)
5. card stock (I'll add a final piece of cardstock later when I know to whom I'm sending this post card. I'll prepare it for mailing on the computer, print it out, then add it to this piece, stitching all around the edge, and pop it in the mail.

To assemble, fuse the fabric to the interfacing (cut it to 4" x 6", the size of a post card). Place that on top of a piece of card stock and sew around the edge, with a long stitch length, just to secure it.

Add your embellies: (metal star was fusible, so I simply touched it with the tip of the iron and it stays for life) charms, words, glitter, beads, whatever. For the words, I glue-sticked them down with a dab in the middle. Just enough to hold in place until all is stiched. Lay your piece of vinyl on top. Oh wait - SIGN YOUR PIECE FIRST!! THEN add the vinyl.

You may want to stitch all around the edge once with the vinyl on there. You really need to grip that sucker tight, as the vinyl loves to shift! What I do is to cut the vinyl bigger than I need it. Lay it on top of my post card and stitch it to the card around the outer edge real quick. (NOTE: you're following the edge fo the CARD, not the edge of the vinyl!) Now trim the vinyl to the card. This prevents coming up short on any edge. Don't ask me how I know this.

Now for the fun part. Decoratively (or not so - whatever you'd like) stitch (I used clear thread, but you do yo' thang!) around the different objects. Why? Because if you don't, they will happily shift and run amok the second it's outta your hands and in the mail. Objects love to play with you like this. Don't give them the room OR the opportunity! ;o)

Zat's eet! I hope you do, indeed, make 2008 YOUR year to create!! Thanks for stoppin' in! B'bye! ~debmarie