Winter inside the White House

It started out innocently enough  . . . I decided to go to a cooking retreat called the Sensual Sustainable Summer Kitchen.  One of the items on the packing list was an apron.  So, hey, I thought, "why don't I make an apron?"  That one apron turned into a series of aprons for myself- enough to wear a new one every day of the week-long retreat.  Those aprons for myself led to series of aprons for my family and friends this winter. 

To make this layout, I started out with photos - most of which were cropped to 2 1/8" squares or 2 1/8" x 3 1/4" verticals.  I then added fabric scraps from each apron pictured.  I mounted the fabric scraps onto a heat-activated adhesive backing paper, trimmed them to size using a rotary cutter on my Mosaic Moments mat, removed the paper backing and then ironed the adhesive backed fabric onto my grid paper (Yes, I used the lotus colored paper for this challenge instead of the next one!  We creative minds on the design team can't be bothered with the written guidelines, right?  LOL!) 

Now, here's where it gets fun!  Taking inspiration from my friends at http://www.simplystitchedscrapbooking.com/, I decided to do a little sewing on this page and combine the elements of my two hobbies. I used a variety of stitches to sew the fabric onto the pages. Now, mind you, my mother bought me my sewing machine for this very purpose about five years ago.  But, this is the first time I've ever used my machine for that purpose!

CREDITS - The sewing machine and measuring tape papers I used came from the My Minds Eye "Lost and Found Two" collection.  I also used a couple of stickers from Doodlebug Designs Nifty Notions sheet. The stamp that I used to create the apron on the left side page is from Lockhart Stamp Co.

But, the REAL credit goes to my mom and my grandmother who raised me in a home where anything I could dream up could be whipped up at their sewing machines - often as I slept through the night, so I would awaken to new clothes on special mornings.  I have always been inspired by their talent and creativity.