Lisa Truesdell

Hi!  I’m Lisa Truesdell and it’s my turn to give you a little peek into my crafting life. =)  I live in Omaha, NE with my husband Matthew and our three boys – Alex is 7, Ben is 5, and Sam is 1.  We live in an old house is a close knit neighborhood in midtown.  I love the character of the houses here, the old trees, and the relationships that we have with our neighbors – but the tradeoff of living in an 80 year old house is the lack of SPACE!!  We are lucky – somewhere along the line a previous owner converted part of the front porch into a small room that opens into our dining room.  Now, at 8x10ft it’s tiny – but it’s a perfect little space to hold my scrap goodies and some of the boys’ toys.  I even have a big window that faces the front yard so I can see my big boys outside playing with their friends.  My biggest tip for crafting in a small space is to go UP!!  I have wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves along side my desk and they are a lifesaver!  Also, I gave up some storage space to have a good sized desk – it was a priority for me.  Since my workspace is big, I have room to keep my must have tools in pretty flowerpots right in front of me.   It makes completing projects so much easier when I have them within arm’s reach.

My favorite tools in the Fiskars lineup are anything scalloped.  I love the Threading Water border punch, the scallop and cloud decorative edgers, the scallop blade for my rotary trimmer, and most of all – the new scallop squeeze punches!!  I’m not picky, just give me a pretty scallop edge and I’m happy.  I used most of these tools on this page about my littlest son’s love of our garden.  Heidi Grace’s Reagen’s Closet line of patterned paper and embellishments fit this theme perfectly – and I’m always happy when I can sneak some pink and flowers onto pages of my little guys!  The scallop edges soften the clean lines of this layout, and the stitching (another one of my obsessions) adds a cozy, homey feeling.

One of my favorite sewing tools from Fiskars is the SoftGrip Pinking sheers.  There is something so satisfying about the way they cut through fabric, and I love that they give me a no fray edge – it saves me a lot of fussing around and making sure my edges are perfectly finished. I made this little project after losing one too many needles (and usually finding them on the floor by stepping on them – OUCH!).  I took 2 small pieces of chipboard (about 2.5x3.5) and attached adhesive magnet sheets on one side and quilt batting on the other.  I put the chipboard between two scraps of fabric and then stitched around the edges and in between them.  Next, I grabbed my pinking sheers and cut just to the outside of my stitching.  I stitched some ricrac into the middle seam and now I have a little magnetic needle book.  It can lay open on my desk, or I can tie it up and tuck it into my tote for a crop.  Since I frequently stitch buttons or other accents onto my pages, I’m glad I won’t waste so much time looking for a needle.

I hope I’ve inspired you to put a decorative edge on your next project.  Scallops or pinking sheers – either way, it’s bound to be perfect!

By Lisa Truesdell