Mug Cozies, Birthdays and More!!

Happy Saturday! I'm still trying to get back into a routine after my vacation. We have lots of yard work to do - we've had cooler nights and many of the annual flowers are looking kind of "droopy"! It's a good time to start planning for  fall and winter 'crafty' projects.

I've seen a variety of "mug cozies" on different blogs, but most have been felted fabric with instructions for covering a coffee shop paper cup. My sister-in-law gave me a great pattern book (Cider Mill Road: Art to Heart by Nancy Halvorsen) for quilting and applique. It has several patterns for a mug cozy that will fit around a regular 10" china mug. So.. I decided to make her a few for her birthday, along with a card and a few other treats! 

I made 4 cozies with two different applique patterns. Each design was traced onto a fusible webbing and then ironed onto the fabric. Once positioned, I used a blanket stitch on my sewing machine to stitch around each design. The buttons are used for decoration - Velcro holds the ends together at the handle.

Here they are wrapped around the mugs, all ready for a 'spot' of tea!

The birthday card uses a Stamping Bella image Content-to-be-a-bella that I coloured with water coloured pencils. All of the coloured "scallops" around the main image are actually little circles that I punched and then arranged on the back of the oval. I added a little pink flower with a pink ribbon and some Stickles" and the sentiment from a Close to My Heart  Birthday stamp set.

My SIL is a great photographer, so I decorated the envelope for the card with a variety of stamps from my stash, to create a collage effect.

Along with the card and envelope, I wrapped a box of photo card paper with paper that I made with stamps from CTMH Picture Perfect set.  The little box on the left  was made so the mug cozies would lie neatly inside. I covered the box with birthday paper from my stash and added a paper flower and ribbon.

 NEW HOME & HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My niece and her husband bought a new house recently, so I thought mug cozies would be a great housewarming gift. They live in New Zealand and shipping small items is always a good choice.  I used the same basic pattern as above for the cozies.

The card uses CTMH set Around the Block. I coloured the house with water colour pencils and added a red ribbon and little Stamping Bella Dots. The 'smoke' from the chimney is liquid applique.

 Here's a close up view of the two cozies. It uses a 'leaf' design with little red buttons as flowers. The green button shows the position for the Velcro closure.

 Since it was Kristen's birthday, I also made a birthday card to include in the package. I used the Stamping Bella image Cecily Cinnamonsticks. I cut the white card stock from the inverted scalloped Nestabilities and then sponged the edges. A little pink button and ribbon from my stash finishes the main image.

Card Details:

Birthday Card #1  Content-to-be-a-bella

Stamps: Stamping Bella; CTMH Happy Birthday,  Picture Perfect; SU Scene in a Garden, Pocket Silhouette, Garden Whimsy

Inks: CTMHGarden Green; SU Pixie Pink
Paper: from my stash
Other Supplies: Stickles, pink flower, ribbon, markers, water colour pencils.

New Home Card

Stamps: CTMH Around the Block
Inks: CTMH Black 
Paper: from my Stash
Other Supplies: Stamping Bella Dots, Liquid Applique, water colour pencils, ribbon, Nestabilities

Birthday Card #2 Cecily Cinnamonsticks

Stamps: Stamping Bella; CTMH Sweet Treats
Inks: CTMH Black; SU Pixie Pink
Paper: from my Stash
Other Supplies: Stickles, water colour pencils, markers, Nestabilities; mini pearls, button, ribbon


Have a great week-end and thanks for looking!!