Quilted Puzzle Play Mat- America's Best Craft Contest 2022

I need your vote!!

This summer I had the privilege of attending the H+H Americas show in Chicago as a guest of Prime Publishing. This was the first time this show was held in Chicago and was primarily textiles and fiber arts. If you know me at all, I dabble in most things creative but while I know how to sew, I don't do it enough to be proficient at it and as far as knitting or crocheting....lets just say I do "Ok" with arm knitting, but if you give me needles I make really good holes (and not intentional.) 

All this to say when I decided to go I wasn't sure what to expect. I just knew I had not been to a "Live Show" with my creative tribe in 2 years and I was missing them. I was so glad I went as I was blown away! The show was small but well attended. Vendors were not just eager to "sell" but willing to talk with you about ideas and products and projects. 

One highlight of the show for me was the Influencer Networking event hosted by Prime Publishing. There I was able to spend some one on one time with owners, designers, and marketing directors from several companies. Talking about what they were looking for and what I did in the creative world. Naturally there might have been a mention or two of my work with Operation Christmas Child :) 

As part of the event, every attendee at the Prime Networking Event was invited to create a project using at least one of the sponsors' products. This project would be entered into a contest to be named "America's Best Craft". Putting my thinking cap on and pushing myself WAY WAY (did I mention WAY )out of my comfort zone, I decided to design a quilting project for Operation Christmas Child.

Introducing the "Quilted Puzzle Play Mat" 

"Who doesn’t love driving their toy cars through the city? What if you could change that city every time you drove through it?? Created with colorful fabric, fusible interfacing, Velcro©, and some DIY iron-on appliqués, this Quilted Puzzle Play Mat is sure to be ever-changing fun for your little ones. The best part, it folds up to fit in a diaper bag or backpack! Little one doesn’t play with cars? Instead of appliquéing a city….How about a jungle scene with toy animals, a castle scene or alien planet to land on with your spaceship... the only limit is your imagination!"

 

I had so much fun designing this!  Colorful fabric from Clothworks. All the pieces are interchangeable thanks to Velcro© and creating the applique's was easy using Heat and Bond -Lite from Therm-o-Web. The cool part (I mean besides the fact you can design your own city.) this folds up to 5"x5" x4" perfect size for a shoebox!!

 All this to say, I could use your vote. The contest voting is open through September 14 and I would love your support! https://www.favecrafts.com/voting/Americas-Best-Craft . You can vote once per day through the 14th.

A huge thanks to all the company sponsors: H+H Americas, Clothworks, ViviLux, Craftmarker.com, M Creative J, Prym, Universal Yarn, and Prime Publishing!

 

 

 

 

No-sew Fabric Building Set

Operation Christmas Child sends gift filled shoeboxes to children in need all over the world. When packing your shoebox gift you decide on the age and the gender of the child you wish to pack your box for. Coming up with something new and different for boys shoebox gifts that doesn’t take up a lot of space is always a challenge. This simple fabric building set is a fun imaginative toy that allows kids to build “towers” and yet stores flat taking up little space, making it the perfect addition to a shoebox gift. 

Supplies: 

2- 8” x 20” pieces of fabric (cotton, or cotton poly blend) 

2- 8” x 20” pieces of  Therm-o-Web Ultra Heat and Bond Ultra Hold (Red Label) 

#1- 8” x 20” piece of Therm-o-Web HeatnBond Non-Woven Craft Fusible Extra Firm Stabilizer

Iron

*Board

*Silicone Mat-Plaid Crafts

Scissors

Ruler/pencil

Template (if desired, see below)

# While the stabilizer is fusible, it is only a temporary hold, thus the need for the ultra hold permanent adhesive.

* a regular ironing board can be used, but due to the thickness of the stabilizer, I found a regular board and silicone mat worked best. 

Directions:

1) Prewash/Dry and iron fabric 

2) Using the board and the silicone mat as your ironing surface, lay first piece of fabric face side down, place the Ultra Heat and Bond adhesive side down on the back of the fabric. With your iron set to medium (no steam)  press the adhesive to the fabric for 2 seconds, repeat until the entire surface is covered. Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat to make the project go faster. If you overheat the adhesive as it will “melt”  into the fabric vs. adhering to the fabric. This is one time when it pays to be slow and methodical. 

3) Repeat with other piece of fabric

4) Lay stabilizer on your ironing surface. Remove paper backing from fabric. Fuse the fabric to the stabilizer pressing for 6 seconds, repeat until the entire surface is covered. Check to make sure the entire surface of the fabric is bonded to the stabilizer. 

5) Repeat with the 2nd piece of fabric on the other side of the stabilizer. Again heed the warning about being slow and methodical 

6) Using a ruler and pencil to draw guidelines or the template, cut fused fabric into desired shapes Simple ones work best. Squares, rectangles, triangles, hexagons etc.  no See the template for ideas or come up with some of your own. 

7) Cut “slits” into the pieces. A slight “wedge” shape can be used for ease of putting together. The wider end of the wedge should be towards the outside of the piece. Be careful when cutting out the slits that you don’t go past the 1/2 way mark. (See photo) 

To build- join the pieces by inserting one into another at a 90 degree angle along the slits.

If you are creating this to put into a shoebox gift.  Create a tower and snap a photo. Store the pieces in a large ziplock bag along with the photo to act as directions. 

Thank you to project sponsors: Therm-o-Web and Plaid Crafts for providing materials for this project

Please be advised that Plaid Enterprises, Inc. and Therm-o-Web,  have compensated the designer by furnishing product at no charge in connection with this posting. 

Project Template:

THANK YOU

WOW! The #CrazyShoeboxCrew would like to thank everyone that supported our basket raffle fund raisers this weekend

 With your help we raised $6609! That money will help us fill and send gift filled shoeboxes, that will bring hope and the good news of God's love to children in need all over the world through Operation Christmas Child

A special thanks to our sponsors: American Crafts  Art Impressions Rubber Stamps Betsy Burnett-Creative, Cat in My Shoe Crafts, Christian Youth Center of Morris, Creative Options, Etchall, FCC Morris IL (First Christian Church Morris IL)-Priceless Days, Glue Dots, Julie McGuffee, Ken Oliver Crafts, LIFE CHURCH Morris, Minnie's Travel Boutique - Michelle Peters Mudd Puddles - muddpuddles.net, Peddlers Den, Plaid Crafts, Stamp & Scrapbook Expo, Scrap Escape, Therm O Web, Viva Las Vegastamps! and Xyron Together we can do a whole lot of awesome!!!

Stamp and Scrapbook Expo

Be sure to stop by the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Schaumburg, IL to visit the #CrazyShoeboxCrew! We will again be running the free baggage check and having our fabulous basket raffles!

You can see a sneak peek of all the goodies on our Facebook Page ----> SNEAK PEEK


Tickets are only $1 or Buy 10 get 2 free, $20 gets you 24 tickets and a free gift! (Which are fabulous this year!) All money raised goes to help us fill and send gift filled shoeboxes through Operation Christmas Child. Last year we sent 3169 shoebox gifts to children in Togo (Africa.) I can't wait to see what we do this year.

We couldn't do this without our fabulous sponsors!!! Thanks to the following companies for their support!

American Crafts

Art Impressions

Betsy Burnett-Creative

Cat in My Shoe Crafts

Christian Youth Center of Morris

Crazy Shoebox Crew

Creative Options Crafts
Etchall
First Christian Church Priceless Days

Glue Dots

Julie McGuffee

Ken Oliver Crafts

Michelle Robinson Peters
Mudd Puddles

Peddler’s Den

Plaid Crafts

Scrapbook Expo

Scrap Escape

Therm-O-Web

Viva LasVegaStamps
Xyron

Roll-up Checkerboard

In the life of THIS crafter not only is March National Craft Month BUT as one that collects all year long for Operation Christmas Child "quality crafts" are the item of the month! What better way to celebrate both occasions than to create something for Operation Christmas Child!

I love creating items to put into my shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child. I believe I put a piece of my heart into every item I make. Who better to give a piece of my heart to than a child in need?

Operation Christmas Child typically receives the least amount of boxes for children in  the 10-14 year old age range. Having four kids of my own, my guess for this occurrence would be simply "what do you get (or make) a child that age?" For year round shoebox packers and filler item collectors I wanted to come up with a project that would answer that question.

This roll-up checkerboard fits the bill. Perfect for a boy or a girl it can even be personalized by the colors you choose, or the items you use for checkers. 

Supplies Needed:

Fabric placemat at least 12” x 18”

“Checkerboard” stencil from Plaid Crafts “Farm Life Collection”

Acrylic Paint (Folk Art Acrylics Shown)

Stencil Brush

Masking Tape

Paper Plate 

Peel and stick Fabric Adhesive Fuse Therm-o-Web

24” length of Ribbon

Markers, Buttons, tokens (12 each of 2 different colors) 

Optional:

Iron

VELCRO® 5/8" sew on coins

 .     

Directions: 

Make sure placemat is clean and ironed flat if necessary

With placemat facing you lengthwise, position the checkerboard stencil on one end of the placemat and tape stencil in place using masking tape.

Using stencil brush, apply paint to the stenciled areas, remove stencil and allow to dry. 

Apply 2- 2 inch pieces of Fabric Fuse to the non painted end of the placemat. Fold non painted end of placemat up to the checkerboard to form a pocket. Apply firm pressure to taped areas to make sure the adhesive bond is secure. 

Fill the pocket with the pieces you have decided to use for checkers and roll up board. Mark area on back side you wish to place the ribbon tie. Remove checkers. Apply 1 1/2 inch piece of Fabric Fuse to middle of ribbon (you might have to trim or fold over the adhesive depending on the width of your ribbon.) Place ribbon unto area marked, and apply firm pressure to secure adhesive.


To play: unroll mat and remove checkers

For storage: place pieces inside of pocket and roll up. Tie ribbon to secure. 

Optional: 

Once rolled up most normal sized tokens being used for checker pieces should stay in place for storage. For bulkier pieces apply a VELCRO® 5/8" sew on coin along the edge of the pocket using fabric fuse.

A HUGE THANK-YOU to Plaid Crafts for providing the stencils, brushes, and paint, and  Therm-o-web for providing Fabric Fuse for this project!

Would you like to learn more about Operation Christmas Child and how you can pack your own shoebox gift for a child in need? Check out their website for more information.  How to pack a shoebox! 

Check out the #CrazyShoeboxCrew on Facebook

Key Cabinet

I am so blessed to be a part of a wonderful group of bloggers associated with Prime Publishing. This past January we were invited to a fabulous blogger event during the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show. At this event we mixed and mingled with some amazing manufacturers all wanting to send us product to create with! 

Once again there was a contest involved, and with my mind awhirl I set out to create. 

I always am loosing my keys, which is really kind of funny because I LOVE collecting vintage keys so I thought how cool would it be to create something fun and functional. Taking a wood tray and frame from the thrift store, I set out to upcycle them into an adorable key cabinet!

Instructions:

Remove glass from frame and hardware if necessary. Lightly sand all wood surfaces.

Apply base coat of paint (the color bamboo shown) and allow to dry.

Base Coat

Apply crackle medium on all wood surfaces. Use smooth strokes. The thicker the coat the deeper the cracks when finished. Allow to dry.

I opened my paint to find it smiling on me

Apply top coat of paint (Ceramcoat Chalk in Raven shown.) Use long smooth strokes for best results, allow to dry. 

Just like that the magic happens!

Brush on Ceramcoat wax to entire painted surface allow to dry and then buff with a soft cloth. 

Cut 4 pieces of metal ribbon slightly longer than inside opening of of frame. Lightly sand and then rub on Stazon ink and wipe immediately off. Ink will settle into recesses of the ribbon and grooves made by sanding to give an "aged look" Heat set in being careful because the metal gets hot. Staple metal ribbon in place on back side.

**Pausing for a moment to say this metal ribbon is AWESOME!!! It comes in several widths, has fabulous detail both embossed, and die cut. It's heavier than foil, but not as rigid as tin. I've only seen it at Hobby Lobby in the spool ribbon aisle by the wedding stuff. $4.99-5.99 a 9ft roll. 

Cut wire mesh to cover the backside of frame. Using staple gun, staple into place.

Cut burlap to fit inside wood tray, using a brush, apply Fabric Fuse to inside of tray, glue burlap to inside of tray, smoothing out fabric. Slightly fray edges of burlap if desired. 

Trying to get the keys to hang straight

Line up frame with wood tray, Making sure to center frame over wood tray. Using drill, install hinges so the frame becomes the door of the cabinet. 

I found out after the fact
do the burlap before the hinges!
(Messing up first so you don't have to!)

Install knob to front of cabinet, install latch to close, on side of cabinet.

Install cup hooks inside cabinet to hang keys, install hangers on back of cabinet to hang on wall. 

Volia' an adorable key cabinet! Hopefully it will become not only a place to store the vintage key collection, but a place to remember to put my keys (where I can see them!) 

Notes:
When working with the crackle medium, a smooth thin coat will produce tiny cracks, a thicker coat will produce cracks that are wider exposing more of the undercoat. Remember to wear protective eyewear when cutting the wire mesh, the tiny pieces fly everywhere. Use a drill to predrill holes for hinges especially on softer wood (or particle board.) This will help keep the wood from splitting.

Supplies used:

Plaid Delta Ceramcoat Chalk Paint-Raven, Plaid Delta Ceramcoat Select Multi Surface Satin-Bamboo, Plaid Delta Ceramcoat Crackle Medium,
Plaid Delta Ceramcoat Wax-Clear, Wood Tray (from thrift store), Wood Frame large enough to cover edges of tray, Piece of burlap fabric to cover inside of tray, Therm-o-web Fabric Fuse, Hinges from hardware store, Wire mesh from hardware store, Staple Gun and Staples, Wire Cutters, Metal Ribbon enough to line inside of frame-Hobby Lobby, Knob-hardware store, Latch-hardware store, Paint brushes in assorted sizes, Cup hooks, Protective eyeware, Needle nose pliers, Drill and bits, Screwdriver, Heat Gun, Sandpaper, Black Stazon Ink

This project is in the "Best Blogger Craft contest" over at Fave Crafts! I would LOVE your vote!  You can vote once per day!

 http://www.favecrafts.com/voting/Blogger-Contest/