Springtime Bunny Coin Purse + a few tips!

Spring is finally here and I got inspired to make a springtime bunny purse! Papertrey Ink has released the best stitching dies and it has been so fun to do some hand stitching and make coin purses.

I used PTI's felt colors in: Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold and Vintage Cream. The ribbon is Berry Sorbet saddle stitch. I backstitched around the edges, used a running stitch for the hops, and whipstitched the bunny's tail (and thanks to PTI, a couple of weeks ago I wouldn't have even known the terms for any of those stitches!)

To create the hopping stitches, I taped a cut out stencil of the PTI Birthday Style confetti dies to the coin purse and used the negative as a stitching guide. (And then I'm using the positive cut outs of the confetti lines for another purse.) This technique could probably work with a lot of other dies too.

The zipper is a 4 inch Mango Smoothie zipper from the Etsy shop that Erin Lincoln (who designed the dies) recommended here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/zipit. It is so fun to stitch in zippers of all different colors!

I also used Erin's tip to add fabric tape to the inside of the purse to hide the zipper stitches. It's a cute addition, and you just have to be careful to apply the tape so it doesn't buckle.

Here are some zipper matches I've found so far with the Zipit zippers and PTI felt:
Mango Smoothie (lighter but coordinates) = PTI Harvest Gold
Copen Blue = PTI Blueberry Sky
Beige = PTI Classic Kraft
Mauve = PTI Autumn Rose
Ocean Blue (lighter but coordinates) = PTI Hawaiian Shores
Red = PTI Pure Poppy
Peach = Melon Berry

At least for me, there has been a learning curve for these purses and I thought I'd share a few tips for stitching the coin purses that seemed to work. Fortunately, it does seem to get easier as you do more purses.

Zipper tips:
1. To backstitch around the 4" zipper uses about 4 feet of floss.
2. It's easier to use a thin strip of sewing tape to attach the zipper then pins. It keeps the zipper in place and aligned and is much more pleasant to stitch. Just avoid putting tape under the actual stitching holes.
3. Align the zipper cut out and begin your stitching at the very start of the zipper (where the zipper head is located when the zipper is zipped), to ensure that it lines up properly. Otherwise you will have an open hole in your purse (learned this the hard way!)
4. Stitch vertically, not horizontally. You have more control if the stitch is facing towards you.
5. Stitch and pull slowly and gently, not only to avoid tearing but so that you have more control over how the stitch looks.
6. Sew the zipper zipped open for a 4" coin purse or closed for a 6" coin purse, to ensure the zipper lies flat properly (this worked for me anyway, is there a correct method for whether a zipper is open or closed?)

And if you are a sewer or have other tips please list them in the comments! :)

To make things a little easier, I also made a swatch ring by cutting a 1 inch swatch of each PTI felt color and diecutting a stitch line to use as reference when making new felt/floss projects.

I took the felts swatches to the craft store and found some good DMC floss matches for the PTI felt colors. Some of the felt colors vary from their cardstock matches, so it was helpful to find new matches with the felt. I will list the felt color matches and show pics of the floss and felt matches in my next post!

Thanks for stopping by today and hope your day is sunny! :)

Post-it Note Holder

I made these note holders awhile ago, but realized that I never posted them. They are super simple but fun to make, and they work great slipped inside your purse or bag. 

I cut these note holders out using Papertrey Ink's lunchbox note die (if you have been to my blog before then you might know that it's my favorite PTI die!), and then I stamped a simple design using PTI's Take Note stamp set. 

For the inside, I cut strips of post-it notes to fit inside, and there are 12 notes of each of the 5 colors (12 is the most that my trimmer can cut at one time, and the ideal amount before the lunchbox note gets too thick). The measurement of each strip is 1/2" wide x 2-1/2" long. You could also make them a bit wider and include just a couple of colors instead. These can be used as bookmarks, reminder notes or tags.

I bought a pack of 18 full size post-it note pads at Staples for $5 so it's very economical to make these and include as flat little gifts to put inside a card that you mail out. Just a little something extra to make someone smile when they open their card! :)

That's all for today. Have a great and sunny (and soon to be Spring) day!

Welcome to the World!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted lately. I have several posts coming within the next few days so I will be posting more often. I also need to catch up on commenting on all of your blogs too! I just took a little break for awhile after I found out some good news recently. My husband and I are expecting our first child! I am due in September and am very excited. :) It just so happens that I also have a baby card to share with you today too.

A couple friends of mine recently had a baby boy, so I wanted to make a card for them! They were going with a jungle theme and non-traditional colors, so I wanted to make something a little different for a baby card, but still keep it cute and simple.

I just love the sentiment, "Welcome to the World". :) It's from PTI Night, Night Moon, which is such a cute baby set! The frame is from WMS Frame-It and the animals are from PTI Tiny Treats Birthday.

I decided to wrap their present to coordinate with the card too. I bought them a book about getting babies to sleep that I thought they might find useful. :) I wrapped it in brown kraft wrapping paper and tied it with Fine Linen ribbon. I'm so sorry for the slightly blurry picture. I had already given them the gift by the time I uploaded the pics.

I colored the lion lightly with colored pencils to give him some dimension. The stamp is from Mat Stack 4 stamp set and Bitty Baby Blessings.

They liked it and I was very happy to meet their new son too. He is very sweet! :)

Have a wonderful sunny day!