Craft from the Past – Valentine's Day Tote Tutorial

This DIY Heart Stamped Tote bag project is perfect for the Valentine's Day season. It's an easy, satisfying project and I put together a complete tutorial telling you how to make one yourself. The tiny hearts are made with the eraser end of a pencil carved into a heart shape. Super easy and fun!

My favorite part of this bag is the contrast handles. If you ever hesitated about bringing in a contrast fabric I think this one will convince you to go for it. So in case you missed it the first time or are just in the mood to make your self a "love"-ly tote, go check out my DIY Valentine's Day Tote Tutorial.

Related:
Totes Posts

Tutorials

Crafting on Pinterest

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Free Printable - Crossed Arrows Valentine

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching which means it's time to start making valentines. I've always loved making my own valentines, cutting out paper hearts, making treat boxes and such. Last Friday I featured the font Berimbau as a nice pick for a Valentine's Day graphic. I adapted that design into a sweet little card free for you to download and print yourself.  

Font Friday - Berimbau for Valentine's Day

Today's Font Friday is Berimbau, available from My Fonts. Berimbau is a tall and thin, handwritten font. So, even if you have less than stellar handwriting, this font can transform your valentine from a scribbled mess to a tender, hand-crafted love note. And most of all, you want a valentine to look sincere don't you?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tutorial - Heart Stamped Tote Bags

I've been wanting to try stamping on fabric for ages and I had some red fabric paint on hand. so, in honor of Valentine's Day, I made a couple of heart stamped tote bags.


Heart Stamped Tote Bag Tutorial

Supplies:
wine corks or new pencil eraser to make stamp
fabric paint
2 pieces of fabric 13.5 x 25 inches (one is the body and the other the lining)
4 pieces of contrasting fabric 2 x 25 inches for straps

Carve the stamp(s)
To make the stamps I carved hearts into a couple of wine corks and one on the end of a pencil eraser. I tried using a carving tool and found that the blade attachment worked best. An exacto blade would also work well. Above is a diagram of the design I cut from the pencil eraser. This turned out to be my favorite stamp.

Stamp the fabric

For this bag, the fabric is folded in half, with the fold making the bottom of the bag. Fold the fabric in half, so the short ends meet and wrong sides are together. Mark where you want to stamp using a temporary fabric pen and grid ruler.

 

Place paper in between the layers of fabric to prevent bleed through and stamp away.

 

 

Stitch the bag
After the paint is dry, fold in half with right sides together and stitch the side seams. The fold is the bottom of the bag and the finished size will be square. Finish edges.

Make corners
Fold at the corner aligning the side seam with the bottom fold. Mark a 2 inch line perpendicular to the side seam.

Stitch along the marked line. Trim the excess.
Repeat side seams and corners for lining.

Make the straps

With right sides together, stitch the long edges of two strap pieces. Turn right side out and press. Repeat for second strap.

Baste straps to right side of bag, one on each side, spacing evenly.

Attach lining

Stitch the lining to the bag along the top edge, leaving an opening about 3 inches long. Turn the bag right side out through opening.

Press and top-stitch top edge to close opening.

Voila! The finished bag. I really like the look of contrasting fabric for the straps. I used vintage scrap fabric for these.

For the bag with the center strip of stamping, I skipped the lining and just folded in the top edge like a hem. I then top-stitched the straps to the outside for a decorative look.

Friday Faves - Feb 10

Font: Mishka from My Fonts

Valentine's Day Crafts

Cross-stitch Valentine from dandee (via craftzine)

Felt Candy Hearts from The Purl Bee

Hand Stamped Valentine Kit from Design*Sponge

How to carve a heart stamp from A Beautiful Mess (Check back here tomorrow to see more stamping!)

DIY Scratch off Photo from Photojojo (think diy scratch off lotto ticket!)

And, perfect for Valentine's Day, (free!) music from the band Sweet Hearts.

Free Printable – I Like Like You Valentine's Day Card

 

This week I have two tongue-in-cheek Valentine's Day cards free for you to download and print yourself. Connect with your inner teenager with the "like-like" card or channel your inner valley girl with the "like love" card.

Click the images below to download. Print the card on 8.5 x 11 inch paper and cut out using the crop marks. Make sure to print with Page Scaling set to "None". The finished size of the card is 4 x 6 inches.

Click here to download the "I think I like-like you" card.

 

Click here to download the "I think I like love you" card.

Friday Faves - Feb 3

Font: Anodyne from My Fonts

Valentine's Crafts:

Mini Heart Garland from Sah-Rah

Crocheted Edge Valentines and Heart Elbow Patches from One Sheepish Girl

Vintage Undergarments (with downloadable directions) and "In the Boudoir" patterns from BurdaStyle

Glitter Jar DIY from A Beautiful Mess

Heart and Arrow Pincushion from The Purl Bee

Free Printable – Circle of Hearts Valentine's Day Card

Here's a little card that I designed last year and completely forgot to post. The card is 4 x 6 inches when cut and folded. Print the design on letter size paper. Make sure to print with page scaling set to "None". Click here to download or the image above. I hope you enjoy it!

Free Printable – I Love You Like Valentine's Day Card

Here's another Valentine's Day card free for you to download and print yourself. Simple and to the point, the design uses the Ostrich Sans font from the League of Movable Type.

The size of the finished card is 4 x 6 inches when folded. Below is an image of the pdf with crop and fold marks. Click here or the image below to download.

Free Printable – Happy Valentine's Day Cards

The perfect accompaniment to any card is a cute little box of candy. Instructions to make origami boxes are from this book.

I've designed two Valentine's Day greeting cards free for you to download and print yourself. There is just one pdf to download, with one of each card per 8.5 x 11 inch page (see below for a preview). Click here or image below to download.

Simply print it out, cut along the dotted line and then fold in half. Each finished card is 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Make sure to print with Page Scaling set to "None".

If you have a lot of valentines ;) or are just looking for something different, stay tuned because I will be posting more designs as the holiday approaches. Also, check out last year's free Valentine's Day card.

Friday Faves – Jan 20

Font: Ostrich Sans Rounded

My favorite font of the week, from The League of Movable Type, is simple yet bold. I used it in some Valentine's Day cards that I will be posting soon (check back in on Monday).

 

This stuffed penguin from the Purl Bee is so adorable (photo from Purl Bee). I can't wait to make one. I just finished making a knitted kitty-cat that I will be showing you soon (so cute!). I'm afraid making little animals could become addictive.


More things to check out:

Elegant Paper Wreath from Stylelist
Downton Abbey on PBS.org (Seriously good. I feel sad every time an episode ends.)
Yarn covered wire letters from Family Chic (via Stylelist)
McCall's sewing patterns M6512 and M6520. These patterns are basic, beautiful and provide lots of options.

Book Review – Modern Paper Crafts

 I received Modern Paper Crafts by Margaret Van Sicklen for Christmas. It features a variety of unique and inventive paper projects. The photos are beautiful and the instructions are clear. The spiral binding is also ideal for reading and crafting.

 I love the subtle beauty of the Chevron Wall Decor from the folding chapter.

 The Pleated Lamp Shades are amazing. 

 First off I made some Treat Boxes. I've made this kind of box before. They are fun, easy to make and a bit addictive (so much so that I once used them to wrap Christmas presents). You can use a smaller piece of paper to make the lid so that it still shows the sides of the bottom box (see the two boxes on the bottom of the stack above). Sizing the lid to fit the bottom of the box can be a little tricky. I haven't figured out the perfect ratio of paper size and folds so it's a game of chance but is based on folding the sides short of the middle.

I also made a few of the Organizer Trays using scrapbook paper and card stock. When completed, these boxes show both the right and wrong side of the paper. Choose a double sided paper or make one using the instructions in the book.

The boxes were easy to put together and the perfect inspiration for cleaning up and organizing a messy drawer. Before and after above.

Friday Faves - Feb 11

Font: Loverboy from dafont.com

These vintage style sweaters from Vogue Knitting Winter 2010/11

Valentine's Day craft projects from PhotoJojo

Fabric Covered Shoes from BurdaStyle

Friday Faves - Feb 4

Font:
Heart Sweet Heart from FontRiver.com (available for free)

Valentine Crafts from Martha Stewart:

Sign of Love Cards (pictured above)
Lace Print Stationery
Crayon Hearts
Heart Doilies


Knitting & Crochet:
Big Herringbone Cowl from the purl bee
Crochet Coasters from Pardon my Chaos (via whip up)
Shelburne mittens from Knitty

Free Printable Valentine's Day Garland Card

In honor of Valentine's day, I made a pretty little card, free for you to download an print yourself. This card is 6 by 4 inches. The illustration is my own original and the font is League Script available for free from The League of Movable Type.

Click here to download.