New Dog Toy

I completely blame Pinterest for this one.  One day, while completely wasting time in the time-suck called Pinterest, I came across something about making dog toys using old t-shirts.  I thought it was an interesting idea but moved on to something else.  Probably a recipe for something completely wonderful I might never make or something made of pallets that I know for certain I won't ever create.

Recently while cleaning out the house for a neighborhood yard sale, I came across an old flannel-ish nightgown of mine I don't wear anymore.  It wasn't really in any shape to be sent to Goodwill so I set it aside because I hate just throwing clothes in the trash.  Then I remembered the dog toy I saw from recycled t-shirts!!  Problem solved.

Yesterday I finally decided to make this thing.  I cut the nightgown into nine strips. I separated them into three sets of three and, after tying all of them in a knot at the top, braided the sets together.  Once I was close to the end, I finished it off with a second knot.  It came out pretty well, I thought.  Today, I made another knot in the center since my pups seem to like an extra knot to hold it by.

I also cut the long sleeves off the nightgown, made a knot in the center of each and that was that!  Kind of like you do with old socks before giving them to the dog.  The best part was no sewing!!  I do not sew.  I tried it once or twice and discovered my craftiness does not extend to sewing.  I also didn't have to cut anything straight.  I just cut strips and it didn't matter if they were even or not.  The doggies certainly don't care.

I have to say this was one of the craziest crafty things I ever made.  I was actually pretty happy with how the new toys turned out.  Most importantly, the puppies like them too!

Happy Crafting!

Diane

Froggy Birthday Card

I recently discovered a fantastic website called DoodlePantry.  I am new to the whole digi stamp thing so I am still learning about sizing them and working with the images.  What I love about the images on this site (besides the fact that they are completely adorable images) is that they have the images colored or uncolored.  One of my goals for this year is to learn how to use my new Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers for coloring images as well as to pull out my Prismacolor pencils and start coloring images again.  I like having something else to do when I watch TV so coloring would accomplish that multi-task well.  They have some images that are completely free, some that are free with purchase, and some to purchase.  

Anyway, I needed to add some cards for my stash as well as add more cards to my Operation Write Home box.  I downloaded this fun froggy image from DoodlePantry and chose to use the pre-colored design to make some quick cards. 

I used some of my green Stampin' Up! card stock that I had on hand and my polka-dot Cuttlebug embossing folder to add a bit of dimension to the background.  The "Hoppy Birthday!" stamp is from My Pink Stamper.  I don't think her stamps are available anymore, but, if you can still get them, I recommend them.  They are decent quality and the sayings are very cute.  They were made mostly to be used with cards, so the sizes are perfect.

I think the next time I make this type, I will use a cute corner punch to help eliminate some of the white space from the image layer and add some dimension as well.

I am working on some other cards with images from Doodle Pantry and a few other fun projects too.  I can't wait to share them with you.

Happy Crafting!

Diane