Pencil Rolls and Coloring Pages

04 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, art, Christmas, color, crafts, DIY, fabric, On my Worktable, photography, projects, Spoonflower, tutorial

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colored pencils, coloring, coloring books, DIY, fabric, pencil roll, photography, sewing, Spoonflower, tutorial

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. We did!

I made the girls Pencil Rolls and custom coloring pages for Christmas. They loved the sets.

Colored Pencil Roll

Pencil roll with special coloring pages

I used Julie 1971 fabric from Spoonflower.

Julie 1971, a fabric featuring houses made of felt, is available on Spoonflower.

The inspiration for Julie 1971 is a piece of artwork I made when I was 12 years old, in 1971. I made the little felt houses from bits of felt and glued them to the back of a piece of laundry detergent box cardboard.

The pencil roll was very easy to make. The lining, pocket and flap are linen, the decorative cover wrap is cotton canvas.

Felt Houses

Even after all these years, the cardboard is still in great shape.

The back of the Felt Houses artwork is cardboard cut from a box of All laundry detergent.

My father cut the picture frame from a single piece of wood. The Felt Houses art hangs in our guest room.

The original artwork is still vibrant and prints beautifully on canvas and linen fabrics from Spoonflower. Here you can see the original art next to canvas, which I have aged a little by machine washing it in warm water.

The pencil roll open, with flap folded over to protect pencil tips and keep the pencils from spilling out during transport.

Outer cover – made of a piece of decorative Julie 1971 fabric 17″ x 8.5″, sewed to a piece of linen 17″ x 4.5″ for the flap, to make a rectangle 17″ x 12.5″.

The outside of the pencil roll, with the flap open.

The outside of the finished pencil roll, with the flap open.

Lining – made of linen cut to 17″ x 12.5″.
Pencil pocket – two pieces of linen 17″ x 4″.

The cover piece with flap was sewn to the lining piece, right sides together, with a small opening for turning at the bottom. This cover piece was turned right side out and pressed flat.

The pencil pocket was made by stitching the two 17″ x 4″ pieces of linen together with a small opening for turning at the bottom. This piece was turned right side out and pressed flat.

The pocket piece was sewn to the bottom of the cover piece. Here you can see how simple the pocket is attached to the cover piece.

The pocket piece was stitched inside the cover piece at the sides and along the bottom.

To figure out where to stitch for the pencil pockets, I simply stuck pieces of masking tape vertically, all across the pocket piece, with a little margin between each piece of tape, and stitched between the pieces of masking tape. Several of the pockets weren’t exactly the same size but that was fine. That method of marking for the pockets was super easy and didn’t need any measuring or marking the fabric at all.

To keep the roll shut, I used what I had on hand – stretchy beading elastic tied in a loop.

For each girl, I made a custom set of pictures to color. I used Photoshop to alter photographs and printed the coloring pages on cardstock.

Some of the coloring pages I gave to the girls.

Boxes for pencils are nice, but there is another layer of artsy satisfaction when you unfurl a roll of creamy pencils tucked in soft linen.

Coloring with pencils

Here are two free coloring pages for you keep and print out.

Free coloring page – Do what is Beautiful and Never Give Up

Girl with Flowers in her Hair – a free coloring page for you.

Enjoy!

Latte Magnets for the Water Counter

24 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, DIY, On my Worktable, projects, tutorial

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crafts, DIY, health, magnets, refrigerator art, tutorial, water

“Did you drink anything today?”
“Yes… I think I did… I had a cup of coffee… maybe two…”
“Any water?”
One of my sons is keen on proper water consumption and I really appreciate his healthy diligence.

I keep a Water Counter on the refrigerator. You can check out the tutorial here.

To help curb my coffee intake, I made two Latte Magnets. From now on, it’s two cups of coffee a day max. Coffee is no substitute for water. In fact, caffeine actually dehydrates you and flushes fluid. So for each cup of coffee you drink, drink one or more cups of water to stay hydrated.

The magnets were first coated with gold acrylic paint.

The magnets are painted with gold acrylic paint.

Here you can see the finished magnets, as well as my test painting right on the tray.

For the test, I made a puddle of gold acrylic paint on the paint tray. Immediately after that, while the paint was wet, I used the tip of a toothpick to lightly dab on blobs of white gesso. The gesso was carefully dabbed on top of the wet gold paint, not mixed in. Then I used a toothpick to draw through the gesso and gold paint to make the design. The test worked great so I did the same thing on the magnets and let them dry overnight.

To make the design, I dabbed on two small blobs of white right next to each other for the heart and long thin “smilies” under, for the leaves. It only took one sweep of the toothpick down through the center to make the design.

White gesso is dabbed on a puddle of gold acrylic paint. A toothpick dragged down through the center of the wet paint creates the cute Latte design.

Little Latte Magnets.

Now when the water counter on the refrigerator just has two cups of coffee in it… that means drink more water!

Plastic wine glass Water Counter on my refrigerator with water, juice/wine and Latte Magnets. Today it’s one glass of juice, one cup of coffee and two glasses of water… need more water.

Sneak peek of her doll dress

11 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, sewing

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All Sparkled Up, crafts, granddaughter, sewing

It’s her own design. She sketched it in her sketchbook one day while I was busy in the kitchen.

The dress is done and now we’re working on the throne and crown.

She drew the design in her sketchbook and I sewed it for her. Complete with the “flat collar piece that goes around the back” and “those lines in the fabric when it goes like this -WWW-” in the skirt, which I learned she intended as pleats.

I’ll post color photos soon.

Drink more water!

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in allsparkledup, crafts, DIY, tutorial

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All Sparkled Up, crafts, fridge, magnets, water

That’s what I’m trying to remember these hot summer days. I rarely get thirsty so drinking water is something I have to do intentionally. I’ll get to the end of a day and realize I didn’t drink enough of anything, especially H2O!

To help remember, I made a little drink counter for on my fridge.

Water Counter on my fridge – made from a plastic wine glass cut in half with marble water counters.

I cut one of these plastic wine glasses in half.

I used a craft saw to carefully cut the cup top and base in half.

Actually, I wanted a little less than half on my fridge so I cut just a smidge off center. It was easier than I thought using a craft saw. I didn’t rush the process and cut the top of the cup first, then the base to match.

Once the top and base were glued together, I used E6000 jewelry glue to attach a strong magnet to the back of the base.

The drink counters are half-marbles from the floral department at Michaels. I recycled old magnets from my fridge by painting them white, including painting over rickrack that was glued around each magnet. The half-marbles were glued on with E6000 jewelry glue.

Half a wine glass on my fridge! It looks really cute with the marble counters in it.

This is the first water counter I’ve ever made that actually works. It’s easy to see that I haven’t been drinking enough throughout the day. And the cup looks cute filling up with marbles.

Wine Glass Refrigerator Water Counter – to remind me to drink more water!

What??? There is only one water drop in that cup? And I took all the photos and posted to my blog? Time to drink more water!

On my Worktable… continuing teacup cross stitch and embroidery

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in art, crafts, On my Worktable, projects, tea time, words

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crafts, cross stitch, embroidery, On my worktable, projects, teacups

Cross stitch nearly finished. The words will be embroidered. Then adding more embroidery and seed beads will be the really fun part.

2015 – A Year of Finishes

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, tea time

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crafts, cross stitch, embroidery, New Year, projects, teacups, teatime, time

That’s what my plan is. Over the decades, I’ve accumulated scores of projects. I have most of the supplies to complete them all but never had the time. So this year, I prayed a short & sweet New Year’s Prayer.

“God, you own time. You can hold it back or speed it up. Right now, I’m pretty sure it’s shortened. … You said unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Well, I’m not asking for more time, I’d just like enough time to finish. Please let me have just enough time to finish everything. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I realize “everything” is quite expansive. And I’m ok if “Everything” might not include all my scores of projects. But I’m confident that this will be the Year of Finishing. Woohoo! Yes!! I want to actually finish things, especially the old things.

The other day I found this cross stitch while rummaging in my closet. It was started around 1994 from a kit by Candamar Designs. It must have been a popular design because Teacup Stack is still being sold.

I made slight changes to the design, including some color changes. One change was a mistake, using a thread much too red to make berries. The teacup looked too much like a Christmas teacup.

Teacups cross stitch – the red was too bright so I cut out all the stitches.

So a couple days ago I cut out the colors I didn’t want and added new. I’m really liking the colors so far.

Teacups cross stitch, with pretty purple berries and a softer bow on the pink teacup.

I’m not sure how I’ll finish it. I probably won’t stitch the pitcher or creamer on top and bottom. The teacups look balanced as they are but the pitcher seems much too unrealistic. I do want to add some words around the border though, something about “my cup runneth over” and maybe a quote about service to others if I can find a good one.

Thank you for your patience while I was away. I’ve missed posting but will catch up. Keeping current with this blog is part of my commitment to Finishing! That’s a happy thought indeed.

Crafts and Tokyo on my mind

20 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, family, grandkids

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craft, crafts, Japan, princess costume, princess hat, projects, Tokyo

I’m packing today and I’ll see my daughter and her husband soon! In Tokyo!

NC to Japan

Despite all the trip preparation, I still fit in crafting time. My granddaughter had her heart set on a “Princess cone hat” so here is the hat I made for her to wear with her princess costume this year. We worked with the materials on hand… a poster board cone, pink acrylic paint, plastic gems and pearls, and an antique silk handkerchief. The ties are made of a multi-stretch fabric, I can’t remember the name right now. It’s the kind of fabric used for bathing suits and worked beautifully for a comfortable fit.

Princess hat made of poster board, fabric, gems and pearls.

She loved the hat!

Granddaughter in her princess cone hat.

Sugar Bonnets

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in cake decorating, candy, crafts, food, recipe, tea time, tutorial, Uncategorized

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cake decorations, DIY, food, pressed sugar, recipe, sugar, Sugar Bonnet, Sugar Bonnets, sugar cubes, sugar decorations, Sugar Hats, sweets, tea time, tutorial

Sugar Bonnets, made with just sugar and water and a tiny bit of food color for the decoration. Each one is about 1 teaspoon of sugar.

I’ve been making these Sugar Bonnets for many years and used to sell them to a local tea room. Now I just make them to keep on hand for guests. They can be used for cake decorations but I just use them as sugar cubes to sweeten tea. Recently I made a batch for a Dessert Tea.

The Dessert Tea was so much fun! The tablescape was actually my entry for a Dessert Tablescape Contest by Rosanna Inc, which I will post about soon. Every year Rosanna has a terrific tablescape contest and the entries are beautiful. I seriously adore Rosanna’s style and look forward to seeing the entries every year. This is the first time I’ve entered and I’ll definitely be doing this again.

Oh my goodness, I had so much fun setting the table and baking all the treats! I’m looking forward to sharing photos with you soon.

I didn’t have a smaller table for my entry so there was a lot of table space to fill. I spread things out a bit and placed all the desserts on the front of the table but the back of the table had tea items, including a dish of Sugar Bonnets for the tea.

The back of the Dessert Table had items for tea, including a dish of Sugar Bonnets.

This is the recipe I wrote a long time ago for making Sugar Bonnets.

This is my recipe for Sugar Bonnets, written over 15 years ago.

This is my recipe for Sugar Bonnets, written well over a decade ago. I can’t even remember!

Each bonnet is about 1 teaspoon of sugar. The ingredients are just sugar and water. Perhaps with a little food coloring if you want other colors. They dissolve quickly in a cup of hot tea.

I do confess it takes dexterity and patience to make these but the effort is well worth it. And they keep for several years in an airtight container between layers of wax paper, perfect for on the tea tray.

I created the hat form from a cake decorating lily nail set, matte board and packing tape. There is a piece of packing-tape-wrapped matte board wrapped around the nail to form a small smooth edge, which becomes the hat brim. I’ve replaced the matte board and tape only once and it has held up amazingly well, even with a quick wash and air dry. Some day I’ll cut a piece of PVC pipe to replace the matte board piece.

The tools I use to make the Sugar Bonnets include a Lily Nail that I’ve adapted with tape and matte board.

The bottom of the lily nail, showing how the matte board has been secured to the nail.

I use a small baby spoon to spoon damp sugar into the lily nail. This is how I hold the nail while spooning in the sugar and making the initial “press” with the top of the lily nail. Holding the nail this way helps the sugar stick together around the “brim” of the hat.

Holding the custom lily nail before spooning in the damp sugar.

After spooning the damp sugar in the mold, the top of the lily nail is pressed down on the damp sugar and then the excess sugar is scraped off around the edge.

I’m sorry that I don’t have actual action photos since I didn’t have time to set up a tripod and remote. Holding a heavy camera with one hand to take a photo of your other hand sure isn’t easy! So I’ve reenacted a couple of the important steps. Here I’ve placed a dry sugar bonnet back in the mold. If the sugar were freshly pressed, it would fit tightly in the mold and the lily nail would be a tight fit on top of sugar.

The top of the lily nail is removed. Note: if the sugar sticks too much to either piece of the lily nail, wipe them clean with a damp cloth, dry them and then brush on a little bit of cornstarch with a clean paint brush. The amount is so small that you can’t even see it but it makes a difference.

The lily nail set with a sugar bonnet pressed in between.

The top of the lily nail is removed to show the shaped sugar piece.

The hardest part of making these is tapping out the fragile, freshly pressed sugar bonnet on the wax-paper lined cookie sheet. The sugar usually sticks a little in the mold so I hold the lily nail right above the cookie sheet and tap on the handle of the nail with the spatula and the hat drops right out.

The bonnets can not be moved for at least 15 minutes. Then I’ll carefully slide the barely dried ones in neat rows to dry further as I make more. They must be dried overnight to be strong enough to be handled.

If the sugar breaks as it’s tapped out of the mold, I just push the broken pieces aside.

There will be broken pieces. Even with a very light dusting of corn starch, the sugar still sticks a little in the mold.

Some broken pieces are inevitable. They can be reused if you mix the sugar immediately back in with the damp sugar. If they are even the tiniest dry on the edges, they can not be reused.

When the bonnets are dry, they are surprisingly sturdy. Once all the bonnets are drying, I make the sugar decorations.

Royal icing doesn’t melt in tea so the decorations are made like the bonnets, just sugar and water, perhaps colored with a little food coloring, then pressed into flower and leaf molds.

Sugar Bonnet decorations made of sugar, water and a little food coloring.

To make the decorating process more efficient, I line up all the decorations as they will be used on each sugar bonnet.

The bonnet decorations are attached using a drop or two of “sugar paste” which is simply sugar and water mixed together. I crush a bit of the sugar grains up with the back of the spoon while stirring in the water. The consistency is thick, but not dry.

Sugar and water are mixed to make the gritty “sugar paste” to attach the sugar decorations.

Small imperfections and cracks in the side of the hats aren’t a problem since decorations can be glued over the holes.

A small bit of sticky “sugar paste” covers a crack in the side.

Even a large hole can be covered using a decoration.

It’s so satisfying to see an entire cookie sheet covered with drying Sugar Bonnets.

The Sugar Bonnets are decorated and drying.

The only sweetener better than a sugar cube is a Sugar Bonnet.

The birthday girl drops a little Sugar Bonnet in her cup of tea.

It quickly dissolved.

The Sugar Bonnet quickly and completely dissolves in the cup of hot tea.

If you want less than one teaspoon of sugar in your tea, simply break a Sugar Bonnet into pieces.

Aren’t Sugar Bonnets sweet? Please let me know if you make them!

My granddaughter hold a little Sugar Bonnet before dropping it in her tea.

My granddaughter holds a little Sugar Bonnet before dropping it in her tea.

On my worktable – beads

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, dolls, family, grandkids, On my Worktable, sewing

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beads, crafts, doll dress, grandkids, Joan Russell

…and a doll, Sarah, with her girl. I made the doll for her three years ago, following a wonderful Indian Dolls pattern by Joan Russell. (Woman’s Day magazine, 1966) Sarah was showing signs of love and needed a new dress.

I wasn’t up to sewing so I sat in the rocking chair and cut out pieces to make a “no sew” doll dress out of non-fraying stretchy, shimmery fabric. We cut a rectangle with a small slit in it big enough to fit the doll head for the bodice and slid it over the doll’s head. I cut narrow “ribbon ties” in the side of the bodice and tied it at the doll’s waist.

The skirt was a long rectangle with tiny slits across the top through which I threaded a long pink fabric sash and tied the skirt around the doll’s waist. Doll dress made from three rectangles and no sewing. That was fun!

But a girl has to have beads, right? So we strung beads together to form a necklace and made loops of beads to put over the skirt sash.

Sarah looked lovely in her stylish, beaded ensemble but of course a girl with imagination won’t let a tray of beads go to waste. So a tiny stone was the friend of hundreds of little beads…

…which kept piling on top of her and looking like snow…

Children have exquisite imaginations!

Shelle Hill’s bird

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in art, community, crafts, Etsy, home decor

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bird, crafts, decor, Etsy, home decorating, little bird, Shelle Hill

The eggs got put away and I had a little nest with no bird. Then I saw my friend Michelle’s sweet little birdie, all bedecked with a beaded crown. I can almost hear bird song from the tree now!

An adorable little bird from Shelle Hill on Etsy.

The bird was going to perch on one of the library shelves in a different room. So I will have to visit Shelle Hill on Etsy again and get another bird for the library. A bird with words is the perfect bookshelf visitor.