Las Vegas - 4 Weeks to go!

I don't think I've mentioned this... but just four weeks from now I will be making my first visit to Las Vegas, NV.  I can't even remember how the idea for this trip began, but it started back in the fall at a friend's wedding and has turned into what's bound to be a trip of epic proportions!

On May 14, Hubs and I will fly from Grand Rapids, MI, my younger brother Will will fly from Austin, TX, Hubs' younger brother Tyler will fly from wherever he happens to be at the time, and our friends Tim and Terri will fly from Washington DC and we will descend upon Vegas where we'll stay for four days of fun.

We have a six person suite at the Marriott Grand Chateau right on the strip, we're in the process of booking show tickets, and already have plans to do a tour/bar crawl of all of the festive hotel lobbies.  Yes, it's going to get a little crazy!

The trip is going to be extra special because we don't get to see either of our brothers, or our friends Tim and Terri very often at all, being that we all live in different parts of the country.  We can't wait to spend four days with them, make some wonderful memories that we'll cherish for a lifetime, and take a TON of pictures!


We've all been looking forward to this trip for months, and for most of us it will be our first time in Vegas.  To add to the excitement, I thought it would be fun to send everyone a little Vegas-y fun in the mail each week for the last four weeks leading up to our trip.

I got the chocolate casino chips at World Market, and used some cello bags from Stampin' Up! and the Top Note die for my Big Shot Machine to cut the toppers, and printed the image and text on my Mac.

How fun will it be to get these in the mail?!  I'll be sharing with you my Vegas countdown mailers as the weeks go by... be sure to let me know if you have any ideas for me!

Stampin' Up! products used:  Real Red & Whisper White cardstock, Big Shot Machine, Top Note die, 3 inch cello bags, Snail adhesive.  To purchase any of these products, please visit my SU store.

Earth Day Garland

It's been awhile since I posted a tutorial, so I'm extra glad to be sharing my Earth Day Garland with you today.  All you'll need to make this recycled garland is some ink pads in blue and green, sponges (any kind will do!), newspaper scraps, and your sewing machine!

Guest Post: Repurposed Clothes Collage Pillow

 I constantly find myself in awe of the wonderfully talented people I encounter daily - especially here in the land of blogging.  I share links to some of the fabulous projects I come across each weekend in my Week in Review posts, and now on (most) Wednesday's... at least for a awhile... I'm going to be going a step further and inviting one of those creative folks to guest blog here at Ready, Set, Craft!  

Today please welcome Ashley from The Creative Place.  I've featured Ashley's projects on my blog several times, she's so talented and I just love visiting her beautiful space on the web!  Enjoy!

Hello! I'm Ashley from The Creative Place and I'm so excited to be sharing a tutorial here at Ready, Set, Craft! I love Joanne's blog - she always has fun crafty projects that are totally inspiring, as well as all of those cupcakes she shares (they always make me drool and want to drop everything and head to the store to get ingredients to make some ;)).

In honor of this week being Earth Week (Thursday is Earth Day!), I wanted to share a tutorial about recycling/repurposing old clothes that are no longer wearable for whatever reason - too worn (like threadbare in places :)), rips or tears that aren't mendable, stains that even oxi-clean won't get out... you get the idea :). So, if you have clothes like this up in your closet, but can't bear to throw them out, this is the project for you! :) All of the clothes I used have some sort of special meaning/significance to myself or my hubby, so this was a fun project to develop! :)

Repurposed Clothes Collage Pillow by Ashley @ The Creative Place

Supplies:
- Pillow form (whatever size you prefer, I used an 11"x16" form)
- Buttons (optional- if you want to embellish- I ended up not using any buttons, but they're pictured below ;))
- 2 pieces of plain fabric (or more clothes pieces!), each 11" x 11½" (this is for the back of the pillow)
And of course,
- Your old clothes
- Thread
- Ruler, cutting mat and rotary cutter
- Sewing Machine
First, I took apart the clothes by cutting them up into pieces I wanted to feature in the collage (I have strategically avoided showing you the awful rust and/or marinara sauce stains on my white shirt below ;)). I used the majority of the necktie (never knew what the inside of a tie looked like!), the sleeve of a white shirt, a big plain area of one of my hubby's shirts, the cuff of some PJ pants (which I'm making into PJ shorts!), and the buttoned up section of a floral shirt.I loved how the floral shirt looked buttoned up, so I decided I wanted to somehow incorporate the buttons into the collage. I cut a section out (while it was buttoned) and sewed a straight stitch by the buttons so it wouldn't come unbuttoned (although, it might be nice for it to be unbutton-able, you could stash little notes or such about the ingredients of your collage pillow! ie- what clothes you used and why they have significance, etc)Once I cut all of the sections out (make sure all your sections put together are big enough to cover the pillow- and don't forget to allow for seams), I arranged them to my liking on the pillow. Ready to start sewing some more? :)
Pin two sections and sew a straight stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance.
Press the seams open with an iron and keep pinning and sewing the sections together.Voilà! A nice collage! Now, trim off the excess - trim the collage down to the size of your pillow plus 1/4" on each side. For example, my pillow is 11"x16", so I cut my collage down to a 11½"x16½".
Now let's work on the back of the pillow. I used white linen fabric, but you could use more clothes or any other durable fabric. Press a 1" fold onto the long side (11½" side) of each of the back-side fabric pieces. Sew a straight stitch down the middle of each of the 1" folds
Now, with right sides facing up (flaps will be facing down on the table), layer the two pieces so that the sewn parts are overlapping (see picture).
Now, put the collage front facing down on top of the back pieces you just overlapped with right sides facing up. Pin this together so you have a sandwich (with no meat or cheese, just the bread ;)).Sew a straight stitch all the way around with 1/4" seam allowance.Now it's time to flip it! Pull the corners from inside the sandwich to the outside.You're almost finished! :)Now put your pillow form into the cover :) Voilà! A fun-repurposed-clothes pillow cover! Thank you so much for having me today! :) Feel free to email me with any questions about the tutorial- thecreativeplace@gmail.com :) Have a fabulous day! :)

Sweet Pea Stitched Felt

When it comes time, as it does several times a year, to say goodbye to one of Stampin' Up!'s mini catalogs and welcome in a new one - it's both thrilling and saddening!  I'm always excited about the new products coming in - and this year's Summer Mini Catalog (which begins May 1) has some wonderful stamps and accessories, no doubt about that!  I've really enjoyed the Occasions Mini Catalog this year, though, which ends April 30.  And the item I will miss MOST?  The Sweet Pea Stitched Felt!

These sweet flowers and leaves are a fun and EASY way to dress up a card, and at 52 pieces per package and $7.95 a package they're a sweet deal, too!  You can bet that I'll be stocking up before these darlings retire at the end of this month, that's for sure!

Here are a few cards I made using the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, complete with how-to instructions.  Enjoy!

I love these tall and skinny cards - they have such a unique look to them!
 
Supplies:  
Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, Melon Mambo Cardstock, Old Olive Cardstock, Pretty in Pink Cardstock, Very Vanilla Cardstock, Pretty in Pink 1/4 inch Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip ink, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set, Circle Punch 1 3/4 inch, Small Glue Dots, Snail Adhesive.


How to:  
1)  Cut a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock 6 & 1/2 square and fold lengthwise to form card.
2)  Cut a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock 2 & 3/4 inch wide by 4 inches tall and adhere to front of card.  
3)  Stamp greeting as shown above.
4)  Cut a piece of Old Olive cardstock 2 & 1/4 inches wide by 3 inches long.  Punch a circle of Very Vanilla Cardstock and adhere to Old Olive piece.
5)  Attach Sweet Pea Stitched Felt to circle using small glue dots. 
6)  Tie a piece of ribbon around the Old Olive piece of cardstock, below the circle.
7)  Attach Old Olive piece of cardstock to front of card. 

This is actually a card inspired by my upline Kristen Bryant, which we made at my April Stamp A Stack.

Supplies:  
Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, Old Olive Cardstock, Whisper White Cardstock, Old Olive 5/8 inch Grosgrain Ribbon, Old Olive ink, A Little Birthday Cheer Stamp Set, Small Glue Dots, Snail Adhesive, Big Shot Machine, Texture Plates.

How To:
1)  Cut a piece of 8&1/2x11 cardstock in Whisper White in half and fold to form card.
2)  Cut a piece of Old Olive cardstock 5&1/4 inch wide by 4 inches tall and a piece of Whisper White cardstock 5 inches wide by 3&3/4 inches tall.
3)  Emboss the piece of Whisper White cardstock using the Big Shot Machine and Texture Plates.  Adhere to Old Olive piece.
4)  Cut a 15 inch piece of ribbon and tie around both pieces of cardstock.  Use Snail Adhesive to adhere if necessary.
5)  Cut a second piece of Old Olive cardstock 2&1/2 square and a second piece of Whisper White cardstock 2&1/4 square.  Adhere together.
6)  Stamp greeting on bottom of white square and attach Sweet Pea Stitched Felt using Small Glue Dots.
7)  Attach square to card front as shown.

These are my favorite!  I love 3x3 cards!  Perfect little notes to slip into packages, lunches, and more!

Supplies:  
Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, Very Vanilla Cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set, Small Glue Dots.

How To: 
1)  Cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock 3x6 inches and fold to form card.
2)  Attach Sweet Pea Stitched Felt with Small Glue Dots.
3)  Stamp greeting as shown.


You can order the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, or any of the items from the Occasions Mini Catalog until April 30 - don't wait to stock up on your favorites.  Click on the link to your right to view the Occasions Mini Catalog, or head over to my Stampin' Up! store to shop!

Happy Tuesday!

Cupcakes = Love

A chocolate cupcake is a great way to say "I love you"...

...but a chocolate cupcake lathered in cream cheese frosting?

...and rolled in Toasted Coconut?

That says "I really, REALLY love you"

(These cupcakes were hubs' request this weekend, and I was happy to oblige!)

I hope that you had a great weekend!

PS)  I did a bunch of test-baking for the Cupkins collaboration this weekend... you're not going to want to miss what Meg and I have in store for you in May and June!  YUM!