Make your own envelopes

There are a lot of envelope templates out there, some you can even buy - now why would you do that when you can just copy any old envelope on your own? Here is a brief tutorial on how I copied my favourite envelope size. It's 6.5" by 9.5" and it's a good size for mailing photos or fat quarters (more later).

You will need:
pencil, scissors, ruler, double sided tape.
an envelope that you want to copy.
a piece of scrapbook paper.

1. Carefully open the envelope to be copied along all the glued edges until it is a flat piece of paper.
2. Trace the envelope on the back side of the scrapbook paper. My envelope was slightly wider than the scrapbook paper so I took an inch off the front panel width and a half inch off each back flap. This was done by first tracing one side, then shifting the template over an inch and tracing the other side. The finished envelop is now 5.5" by 9.5".
3. Cut along lines and fold all flaps - use a scoring tool if you have one or just fold flap over your ruler and press with finger.
4. Place double sided sticky tape along long side edge, peel and seal. Place another piece of tape along bottom flap, peel and seal. Place a third piece on the top flap, don't peel and seal until your ready to use it!
That's it - so each and so pretty to receive in the mail don't you think?

These envelopes are filled with fat quarters to send to my Sew Mama Sew fat quarter swap partners. I will also receive 4 fat quarters in the mail shortly - can't wait!

The Trunk Show is Coming!

7 lovely ladies have been hard at work to fill a suitcase or 2 of their art and crafts to share with you. Come by the Chocolate Claim for a snack and a browse of this spring's loveliest locally made jewelry, soaps, watercolours, quirky handmade dolls, women's tunics, and pottery to name a paltry few!

Mini Messenger Bag - fresh batch for the Trunk Show

I started a little collection of vintage pot holders this winter while on vacation in Portland, Oregon. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them but they are so pretty, so much work went into them (double thickness crocheted) and I doubt that anyone will use them as potholders anymore. In fact I wonder if these were ever used, they're in such great shape - the owners probably couldn't bear to pick up the overflowing crock of baked beans with them. At Christmas I designed a mini-messenger bag that completely sold out. This batch with potholder embellishment turned out really nice, almost like a big flower on each flap. For more photos click on the photo to go to my flickr site.

A Quilty Pant Set for a Special Boy

My best friend called to order a pair of quilty pants and matching onesie for her good friend in Winnipeg who is expecting a very special boy very soon - if not already! This zippy car will travel from the Yukon, to Guelph and halfway back again to Winnipeg. I hope this set enjoys lots of travels with it's new owner. Thanks K!

Spring Time Tea Towels

I've been wanting to do a tea towel with "dingo balls" for quite a while so here they are finally! I almost chickened out though. Once the patchwork was finished they looked so nice, even without the fringe, but I went ahead and le voila! I'm loving these greens, I don't think I sew much green! They are so springy - limited edition available at the Chocolate Claim sometime tomorrow, just in time for Easter!

More Monster Chunks

The Making of Monster Chunks!

Hello again. I've been on holidays. And now it's birthday boy week! This year's treat for all the guests (see here for year 2 and 3 treats) is a treasure hunt ending with a Monster Chunk treasure to take home and love. Rebecca Danger generously posted this free pattern and I've been knitting non-stop monster chunks for the past 2 weeks. More photos to come before they're scattered across town I hope! Rebecca has a great sense of Monster style - check her patterns for sale on etsy, I've bought a few and made a few - not as many as I would like, hopefully more will come to life on my needles soon!

I"m hoping to post soon about our trip and all the lovely Japanese pattern books I found as well as some Liberty of London prints. And then the Handmade and Preloved Trunk Show is coming soon! Details to follow!

The Flat Tote

A new batch of stylish totes for a new retail venue for me. The Birdhouse Eatery and Cafe called a few of us local arts and crafts folks to provide goods for their racks and shelves. The newly reno'd cafe is a fun, bright place to have coffee (or crepes on Sunday - yum yum!). Lara's artwork looks great on their walls and I'm happy to have Flat Totes, Market Bags, Quilty Bags and Garden Goodness bags there too. I keep forgetting my camera but hope to have photos soon!

Happy Homemade Vol. 2 Pattern Book and Pirate Pants

Once again, I couldn't resist a really cute pirate print on a Japanese linen/cotton blend. Nor could I resist this amazing Japanese pattern book for children's clothing. The pants are shorts pattern "l" but I just lengthened the legs with pants pattern "o", which is actually the same pattern piece provided in the back of the book. They're a wide leg, bell bottomy kind of pant that are really cute in my opinion. Luckily for me our little guy will wear anything - so far! This is a great book if you are in need of cute duds for the post-toddler years. More for girls than boys, as usual but really nice styles nonetheless! Click on the photo to see a few more pics of the pants.

Topsy-Turvy Times Two!

Here is my version (30 years later!) of a Topsy-Turvy doll my mom made me. Once again I had big dreams of making four of these (that's 8 faces!) and managed to talk myself out of that and make 2 instead. They will be off in the mail to be a tad late for a birthday party for twin four year olds. I hope they like them - and I hope the dolls are sturdy enough to take 4-year-old love!