"Camera Bag" and Camera Strap Wrap Tutorial

So, I bought a new camera the other day and I love it!  I have been thinking for some time that I need to make a camera bag.  Now I have two Canon cameras and a telephoto lens that I want to carry around and I had nothing that they would fit in.  I have looked at the stores for a bag, but they start at $50 and go up and I have not found one that I really liked.  For a temporary solution, so I can travel with my cameras and accessories, I did this:

It is a 16 can Coleman cooler bag that I added padding to.  Everything fits and it was less than $20.  When I do eventually get around to making the "perfect" camera bag, I can convert it back to a cooler!

I really wanted to make a strap cover for my new camera....and the old one too.  I love all the great tutorials out there on the internet, but I didn't want to have to undo my strap to put the cover on.  I often am out on hot, sunny days shooting pictures and I wanted to be able to easily remove the cover and wash it.  Sooo... I made a strap wrap!

Here's how I did it:

For a strap that is 2 in. wide by 24 in. long....standard Canon strap that will go just to the top of the black vinyl that attaches to the web strap.  I may make the next one a little longer..maybe 26".  You can measure and decide what works for you.

Cut 1 piece decorative fabric 6 1/2  in x 24 in.
Cut 1 piece of lining fabric 6 1/2 in. x 24 in.
Cut 1 piece of batting 6 1/2 in x 24 in.

You will also need a velcro strip approximately 22 in.

Take the hook side of the velcro and center it lengthwise and set in from the side about 1/2 in on the lining piece.  I use a glue stick to temporarily hold it in place so that I can sew it.

Once the velcro strip is sewn in place, layer your pieces.  Lay the lining face up (the side with the velcro strip).  Next lay the decorative fabric face down on top of the lining piece. (so they are right sides together).  Last lay the batting on top of the decorative fabric.

Sew around all side using a 1/4 in. seam allowance and leave and opening approximately 6 in. for turning.

Trim the corners at an angle so there is less bulk.

Turn right side out and press.  Press the opening with raw edges turned under.

Topstitch around all sides. This will also close the opening.

Align the loop portion of the velcro 1/2 in. from the side and centered on top of the decorative fabric.  This is done on the side opposite of the hook tape that was sewn to the lining.  Again I used the glue stick to hold it while I sewed it down.

Here is another picture so you can see clearly how the two velcro strips are placed.  This is the cover folded back on itself just for illustration purposes.

The "strap wrap" is now complete and ready to be attached.  

I attach mine with the velcro side toward my neck.   I wondered if the velcro would be stiff and uncomfortable and I am happy to say it is not!  Definitely get the sewn in kind though because I think it is softer.  

Hope this gives you some ideas!

My latest finished project!

This is a "stash buster" that I started because I wanted a hand project when we went on an Alaska cruise last September.  It is hand quilted using the "quilt as you go" method and everything but the binding was something I already had.  Hooray for that....I have waayy more stuff than I have time to use.  But it is such good "stuff". You know what I mean.

Of course I had lots of help.  J, our black cat, decided that this quilt made a great "cat cave" as it hung off the end of the ironing board while I was putting on the binding.

They both really seemed to like this quilt as they were on it every chance they could get.  Lucky I was keeping it because I don't let them near quilts I make for others.

Really enjoyed this process and probably will incorporate it into other quilts I make, because I actually finished this one.  I think it was because I could sit with my husband and work on it in the evenings while we watched TV.

On to other projects! D

Photo Frame

I know it has been a long, long time since I have updated this blog. Now that I have internet access on the same computer that I have my photo editing software I think it will be a little easier. Anyway, I am going to try again to be more regular.

My latest creation I made today for our Relay for Life team to sell at an upcoming fundraising craft fair. I though it would be cute in a little girl's room. I saw this idea here a while ago and have been meaning to try it. Here is the blog link where I got the idea: http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2009/12/easy-fancy-pants-frames.html

Here is my version:

My husband (who is my expert adviser) and I decided the pink flower was just right since this was for a Relay for Life event.

Here is another one of my "expert advisers" although I had to keep him from knocking the frame down while I was shooting the picture:

All of the items above came out of my stash. I am making a concerted effort to use some of my collection since it has reached the point where I have no more room. Time to move things out instead of bringing more in. There is some consolation that I am not alone in this particular affliction.....it seems to be part of the artsy personality. We just can't help it when we say..."Wait, I can make something from that".

Hope you are having an inspiration filled day!

More Handmade Books

I have created a couple of new books. These are "recycle" crafts as the paper inside is blank plain copy type paper that is torn off of a printout at work. They tear the blank part off so there is not so much bulk to file. They were trying to find a way to recycle it instead of throwing it away and of course I said "Let me help you out with that". The covers came from work also. They were 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of cardboard. So I had to make something to prove that I was using it.

For some reason I got a picture in my head of pillow ticking. So I made a background in photoshop to resemble it:

The beauty of Photoshop is that you can now make it any color you want. I made a red book and a blue book.

I made the heart for this book out of kraft paper--the kind that comes on the roll to wrap packages in. This is a staple in my studio! I cut a piece big enough for the project I want and then take it to the sink and wet it. I then crumple the wet paper to give it texture (give it a good squeeze to wring out the excess water). Carefully flatten the wet paper onto a piece of freezer paper or plastic. Pick 2-3 colors of acrylic paint so there will be depth in the finished piece. I use a triagular make-up sponge to apply color (the flat end oposite the point) and I also use a little blending gel or floating medium. This keeps the paint moving and also helps blend different colors. On the heart above I used burgandy paint primarily and then just a touch of black used very sparing to bring out the texture.

Once my paper was dry, I glued a piece to cardstock and then cut out a heart. To add the trim I first poked holes evenly spaced around the edge of the heart and in about 1/4 in. I used crochet thread and blanket stitched around the heart. You could leave it at that, but I like frills and bling so I single crochet around the edge of the heart using the blanket stitch as a base. Once I had gone all the way around I did a little ruffle stich by chaining five and then a single crochet in every third base single stitch. I added a little crochet flower and a button to finish it.

For my little blue book I created the star in a similar fashion except I used some of my husband's gasket material. I had read about using this a while ago and can't remember where, but they had used it as a book cover. You can get this in automotive supply stores and my husband says it's not bad in price, although he doesn't recall how much it runs. To describe this material it is like the kraft paper in a way, but much heavier and stronger. I wet it and purposely tried to tear it and I could not. This has much potential. There was some printing on one side, but I just lightly sanded it and it came off. If you are painting over it you probably don't even need to do that.

I prepped the gasket material the same as the kraft paper. It is a little harder to crumple, but I just did what I could to create texture. I painted this with a brown paint, copper paint and again a little black. Once it was dry I cut out the star. This cuts very easily so no problems there. I then poked holes in a decorative pattern using a large tapestry type needle. I painted the edges with black. I layered a piece of black cardstock creating a mat to give the star a little pop. The center element is made of polymer clay using a mold made from a button.

Hope you give this a try! Thanks for visiting--Denise

Where have I been?

Work got very hectic for me at the end of September. I was preparing for an inspection which occurred on 10/6. The very next day I came down with the dreaded flu which was probably of the H1N1 variety (Our whole county was declared a state of emergency during that time because so many people had it.) I was home for 7 days and consideraly slower than usual the next 7. So then I had to play catchup. Needless to say there wasn't much art happening!

I am very happy to finally be back to normal and my latest endeavors have been in fabric. I have decided to make a quilt for our queen sized bed since I can't seem to find just what I want. I had three thrifted sheets in the colors I am going to use in the bedroom, so I needed a design for a 3 color quilt. I wanted my husband's input, but I have to show him pictures, so I was headed for the graph paper and colored pencils when it dawned on my that I could do it faster in Photoshop. So I was able to lay out several choices for my husband and he picked the one he liked the best. Here is the start of the quilt:

This is a big project. Each block takes the better part of an hour, though I have worked on my sewing area so that I can sew and press without getting up. I also made a small flannel board to build my blocks by taking a dry erase/magnetic bulletin board and cutting up an old vinyl flannel back table cloth and using strong magnets to attach the tablecloth piece. All items I had in my stash. It is wonderful to have a virtual craft store of your own! My husband is keeping count...after I showed him the first 4 blocks together he said "that looks great, now only 45 more blocks to go!"

I do have to take a break from this and I have also been working on surface design. This all started when the local WalMart was "upgraded" and they decided to get rid of half of their fabric and craft departments. Withdrawal set in---I cannot afford to collect fabric at $9.00/yd. I loved WalMart for their choices that were $2.50 -$5.00/yd. Luckily they still do have some fabric and they have kept the basics. So one recent experiment I did was an inkjet fabric transfer to muslin. Here are the pictures:

While not entirely "perfect" that does not bother me as transfers have that quality. I am pleased with this technique because the ink does not run and it is quick (waiting for things to dry is torture for me and I have ruined many pieces with my impatience). Here is the link for how I did this: http://www.dotcalmvillage.net/nowwhatzine6/djfamilytransfer1.html

Sorry about the lighting. I take these outside to photograph because the natural light is usually better than in the house. However it is now heading into winter and the light is not as good. I really need to build small portable photo area. Any one have any ideas on this?

I did these in the center of a 5 in muslin square and now the thought is maybe to create a crazy quilt block. I have also been working on another idea for adding designs to fabrics, but I will save that for my next post when I have pictures.

Thanks for visiting, Denise

Playing with my food!

It's a busy time in the garden these days. We have many tomatoes and crookneck squash. The tomatoes were my idea. I love a good homegrown one. They have so much more flavor than store bought. However my husband is not such a tomato fan. He will occasionally eat a slice on a hamburger, but that is about it. Therefore I had way more tomatoes than I could eat so I began making marinara sauce. To begin this process you have to blanch the tomatoes to remove the skins. As I am doing this and tossing the skins into my "garbage bowl" ala Rachel Ray, I notice how vibrant the colors are (one of my plants is a pear tomato which has a bright golden skin when ripe).

This leads me to the "playing" part. I belong to an online yahoo group called "The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art". Cindy Powell, one of the owners of the group, posted on tutorial on creating digital kaliedoscopes. Well, that got me started and of course when I saw the beautiful colors in my bowl it lead to this:

And this:

And this:

You can see how this could be a wee bit addictive. Kind of like snowflakes--no two come out alike. These were all made from the top photo.

So what does one do with these? Well, my mind has gone on quite a journey answering that question. Some of the ideas are still just ideas, but here are a couple of examples:

I happened to have some Daisey D paper that matched the orange kaliedoscope perfectly. The teal is also from Daisey D. The background paper on the purple card I made on the computer to match the kaliedoscope. Here are some close up photos:

I printed the images 3 times; each time a little smaller. I then cut them out. They are layered together with 2 layers of foam tape for dimension. I made the purple one last and got the idea to cut "petals" on the second layer. I really like this effect. I then added some sparkle (which unfortunately does not show up so well in a photo) with Stickles in a coordinating color.

This was not on the "To Do" list for this weekend, but oh well. :) Sometimes I create my best art when I go with the spontaneous projects.

Thanks for visiting, Denise

My pincushion sampler

I didn't mean to be gone so long, but work (real work) has been very busy. I have been working longer days and this cuts into my art time! Sometimes life is like that.

My 89 year old grandmother is moving to So. Carolina/No. Georgia area. It is about as far away from where I live as you can get in the continenal US. It has made me sad, but I keep thinking about the wonders of technology such as the internet, web cams, and cell phones, so I plan to make use of all of these to keep in touch. She has lived with my younger brother and his family for several years now. The economy in the small So. Oregon town my brother was working in is always hit very hard every time there is a recession. He found a better job back east and so Gran decided to make the move with his family.

My grandmother is the person who taught me how to sew, crochet, knit, and how to be creative in general so she is very much a part of who I am. Because of the move she has given me what she had left of her material and her sewing machine. The sewing machine I have been using is the one she taught me to sew on when I was in the fifth grade. That means it is somewhere in the range of 35-40 years old! I had'nt stopped to think about this until I recently wanted to purchase a free motion foot that would fit it. Sometimes it is just better NOT to figure these things out.

The "new" machine is about 25 years old. These are both Husqvarna/Viking machines which I will say are work horses. The new machine is computerized and changes stitches at the push of a button. State of the art for it's time. All that said finally leads me to the project I am posting today.

I have been practicing free motion stitching. I am still not that great but will keep at it. The change of machines has meant that I have to re-learn how to set the machine up for this. I was practicing the other day on some 5 inch muslin squares. When I finished one I thought I would sew another square onto the "sandwich" to finish the edges and see if I could make something of it. Once I turned it right side out I had the cutest little pillow--so I thought pincushion. As I was looking at the muslin color though, I thought all of my pins are white headed, so it is going to be difficult to see them. So, I grab some turquoise fabric paint and dry brushed it on -- not entirely solid as I liked the texture. I then appliqued a flower and some leaves on the center and finished with a bright sparkly button.

So I was able to practice my free motion stitching, and hand applique which I had not done before!

This was one of those projects that just happened--I had no idea I was going to make a pincushion yesterday and at the end of the day there it was. Each step played off the step before and if I hadn't made the first step it wouldn't have happened at all. So the lesson learned for me is just take a step, any step, and you never know what will happen.

Hope to be back soon! Take care, Denise

Look what I won!

Hello everyone,

Hope you are having a great holiday!

Just wanted to show you all what I won from Dawn at The Feathered Nest celebrating her 1000th blog! She has a lot of beautiful things there and now I will have a piece of her art for my very own.

I didn't get much done today. We have been having several days in a row of 100 degree weather here in So. Oregon (and you thought it rained all the time!) so I have been very lethargic.

Will post more projects soon.

Take Care, Denise

Projects, projects, projects!

Here's what I have been up to recently. During this month I had a week off of work. Why does it go by so fast?! We went camping over the 1st weekend, came home for a few days that I spent making things, cleaning carpets, working in the garden and then went camping again.

I had planned to work on some polymer clay projects and experiment with silkscreening. Is that what happened? Of course not, I got off on a completely different tangent (several to be exact) and here's what I made:

First, since I was camping I had to bring along some projects. I usually pack a plastic drawer and then a sturdy tote that my husband now calls the "100 lb tote". I had the urge to do some hand work and had never done any embroidery to speak of so I decided to try that. I went online and read up on stitches. Then I decided to use one of my drawings to see what would happen. This is the drawing I went from. I have had this made into a rubber stamp and I use it all the time.

And here is how it turned out:

I was pleased with the results. I think it looks rather vintage and now I have a million and one ideas for embroidery. I did this on muslin and backed it with fusible interfacing. It did pull a little because when I started it I did not have a hoop. When I got back to town after the first camping trip I ran to the thrift store to solve this problem.

I also got on another handmade book kick. I wanted to spend some time trying to solve an issue I have had when making books with sewn signatures. I have not been able to glue the pages into the book and have the book close properly. This has driven me crazy for some time. I think I have finally figured it out but not until I had made the second book. I still have to make more to see if I truly solved the issue, but here are the two I made:

This is one of those cases where you start out with one idea and end up with something totally different. I gravitate toward vintage looks. I was thinking I wanted to make something in the color scheme of pink and muted green. I painted the background paper and when I was done it looked rather anemic. So I stamped in a darker green with one of my hand carved stamps. The center silver medallion was an experiment with a cuttlebug folder that was laying on my workspace. I laid out the center design and ribbon and showed my husband (who has had quite the education on "art"--I'm sure he never imagined all the projects he would influence). I said "it just needs a little something more" to which he replied "Why don't you put a little thingy hanging down". I told him he was brilliant and ran to finish my book. I am so blessed!

So I actually finished the second book today. I had painted the cover paper thinking I would go for the deep red leather look. Wasn't really happy with that either, so it sat around for several days. For some reason it seemed to come together today as I was trying different papers and fabrics.

I happened to find some fabric in my stash with roses on it that matched the color. I have just been reading the new Somerset Studio Art Quilting book and wanted to try working with some fabric collage. I cut out the flowers and reconfigured them into a design that would fit the book cover. The light colored background is tea dyed muslin and a little cheesecloth for dimension. A button on the lower left and a wire charm I made at the top finished it up.

The other thing I had on my agenda was to make a tote I could use as a purse. I had been carrying a perfectly good black leather purse, but the lining torn and it was a mess inside. I could never find anything. When I finally changed things out I had to laugh at all the things I carry. I must have been a Girl Scout as I would never be accused of being unprepared. I picked up 2 panels at one of my thrift stores (It is called Home for Good and they use their profits to fund an adoption ministry -http://www.hfgf.org/) for a dollar a panel and used them to make my tote. The pattern didn't call for a lining, but I put one in that has 6 inside pockets. I cannot believe how much of a difference this had made. It is much easier to find things and I am still outfitted like a Girl Scout.

Hope you all have been having as much fun as I have. I will leave you with a photo I took while camping. It is a beautiful wild rose. This photo is destined for a future project of course! Thanks for visiting.

lastest art projects

I have been busy lately making several new items. Here's a couple. The first was inspired by this photo I took:
It was taken a year ago April. We went on a camping trip here in Southern Oregon. The day we left was sunny, but the next morning we awoke to snow. I have to explain though that we are no longer what I call "hard core campers". We do not tent camp. We have an 8 ft camper that has it's own bathroom and we can turn the heat on when it get's cold.... so I don't know if you can really call it camping but we love it! This particular trip we spent surfing the web, watching DVD's, reading, and I was doing artwork. (We still call it "camping"). Anyway the first day I took a walk and shot many pictures of flowers, bees, birds and nature in general. The next day I got the idea to do the same walk and take the same pictures with the snow. Got some great shots and have been working on a book documenting it, but that is still in progress.

I recently decided to paint a picture from my photo and this led to the following collage: I used my ripped up Reader's Digest technique for the background (see earlier post) and then made two copies of my orginal painting. The first I glued down directly and the second I cut out the bird and the branches and attached them with raised foam adhesive to give the image dimension. I then added the swirls and words on the edges using a graphite pencil (spray with fixative after this step to seal and prevent smudging). Then I glued on a birds nest bead I had made. I know this looks more like a winter project, but sometimes I end up going down a road that takes me to an unexpected place.

The next project is the card I made for my Grandmother's 89th birthday. We celebrated it last weekend and this card just popped out of my head! I made it in about an hour. I don't know about you, but I almost never beat any speed records when I am making something. The only way things go fast is if I am making a duplicate of something I have already made and usually I get bored with that, so it doesn't happen often. Here's the card:

I mentioned in an earlier post that I love Photoshop and this is why; I started this card with white cardstock and the bright pink cardstock. That's it besides my computer and printer. The drawings I had done awhile back and had the images in my computer. I made the dotted paper by using the pattern function in Photoshop. The roses were scanned into the computer already colored.. I just printed them and cut them out. For the bird I used the brush function on some blue patterned paper I had made. Again I printed and cut him out. Made the faux twill ribbon and typed the words on and cut out. Glued it all together and the last thing I took a black fine tip marker and doodled the scroll. She loved it!

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for visiting. Denise

Time does fly!

I have thought of several posts since my last but getting them from my head to the computer has been a challenge. Winter in Southern Oregon is very rainy. I mention this because taking pictures of my project indoors just doesn't work very well. Outside natural light is much better, however it can be difficult when it is wet.

Anyway, spring is arriving and hopefully that will help in getting decent pictures of my projects. Right now I will start by showing a few Christmas presents I made. (I know Christmas was 4 1/2 months ago. Sorry!)

The first was a necklace for my sister-in-law. The design was based on this necklace I had made while playing around with soldering:

I tend to wear more silver, but she loves autumn colors and they suit her so I wanted to make something simliar in goldtone. I still haven't figured out how to use solder on gold tone jewelry, so I used polymer clay to make the medallion inside the box (same as above) and I used it to make the box.

These pictures were taken indoors, after all it was a Christmas present. There is glass on the front of the pendant, so the odd angle was to avoid glare. I made bead links for the chain; one chain with smaller beads and one with larger ones. Anyway, I think she liked it.

The next present I made was for my friend and best crafting buddy, Jackie. It was a tin message board, that started as one of those cheap, (ahem... inexpensive) silver trays from one of my favorite craft sources The Dollar Store. Here's how it ended up:

After using gesso to prime the tray, I painted it with an off white. I then used Vintage Photo ink by Ranger to lend an antique feel. Once that was dry I glued the paper down. The top paper I designed from scratch in Photoshop. Love, love, love, that program!

The magnets I made from vintage photos that I found at another one of my favorite craft sources, The Salvation Army Store. I really scored when I found a whole pile for 25 cents each. Yeah!! I scanned the photos into my computer, cropped the faces and made them all a similiar size. Then I printed them so they would fit on the flat backed glass marbles. I always spray my printed images with Krylon Workable fixative or Matte finish to seal them so that when I glue them to the marbles the ink won't run. When they were dry, I did the beading around them and added magnets. I just made up the beading patterns as I went, so I really don't know how to explain the process. Don't know if I could repeat it at this point, although I did keep a prototype to look at it case I get the urge. Here are the close ups:

The heart design at the top of the board was going to be the hanging mechanism, but I found it would not hang straight. So, it became a decorative element and I used epoxy to attach a picture hanger to the back of the tray. Epoxy is my new go to product--another post on that later.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed. I have been up to several projects lately so I will try to get them posted in a more timely fashion. But for now I will leave you with the photo I took this afternoon in my back yard as proof that spring has sprung!

Happy Crafting! Denise