Candice Windham Design Studio

--> I have always loved bins, cubbies, anything to stash and organize small items. That’s why I adore this Deflecto four-drawer bin. It makes it so easy to corral all the little pieces that are essential to my wo rk. These four-drawer bins have an added advantage: You can clip on  more bin sets to increase your organization abilities, thereby adding more storage to your work station. I decided to use some papers that I have been hoarding for a while (because I love them and what they represent) to personalize the units. The rulers and letterpress letters remind me of my dad; the pen nibs remind me of my first calligraphy efforts; the accounting sheets, my mother’s job as a bookkeeper; the train memorabilia, the train tracks that ran near my grandmother’s house; and the game images, the happy hours my sister and I spent playing Bingo, Old Maid and Checkers. Just having this on my workspace brings back happy memories, also reminding me of why I love to create

Open box to show clock (display mode). Box top, back and side detail Welcome to the February edition of the Designer Crafts Connection (DCC) Blog Hop. This month's theme is Handmade With Love/My Favorite Technique . I decided to combine the two and show one of the projects I made for the Designer Display window Beth Watson and I created at the Craft and Hobby(CHA) Convention last month. The window theme was It's About Time , referring to the new push to carve out time for the things we love, and we created 10 clocks using a variety of materials. The clock is not handmade, but the box that holds it certainly is. My favorite technique? Painting chipboard with Viva Décor's new 3D Stamping Paint. If you pounce it on, it has the feel of rusty metal. Love it, love it, love it! This is my version of Steampunk, Southern Style. The copper base paint gives a little bit of an  industrial looks, but the blue, green, rose and lavender colors make it soft like an ea

--> I love to make birthday cards. I don't always get them in the mail on time, but I still love the creative process of making them. This sentiment has been around for a long time in one form or another, but I can remember my Dad wishing me "Hoppy Birdie" when I was a child. I don't know where it originated, so if it came from you, please let me know and I will happily give you credit. Otherwise, all the credit goes to my funny, sweet father, who I am so thankful for and miss every day. This is an example of one of those times when a stamp just will not do. That’s why I am so thankful for the Duetica Lettering Arts Studio. I can get a very cool look, just using their fonts in basic form, but adding the ability to have a myriad of letter styles within each font family is the icing on the cake. Not only that, you can alter the colors in Photoshop or print out outlines of your sentiment and custom –color them with paint, markers or colored pencil.

Welcome to a middle-of-the-month blog challenge on the Designer Crafts Connection! This time, we're playing wi th Smoothfoam ™ , one of my new favorite surfaces. Smoothfoam™ is sturdy, resists chipping and crushing, paintable (no tedious prep work!), waxable, stampable - everything you want in a foam product. On top of that, it can be adhered with just about any adhesive, including glue guns. You can get out that dinosaur glue gun from the "olden days" when that was all that we had available, and not worry about whether you are using high heat or low. Both work fine on Smoothfoam™ (but you still need to keep it off your fingers). This stuff can be cut or carved as well. Be sure to click on the Designer Crafts Connection logo to the left to see what some great designers have done with Smoothfoam™. You can win the Smoothfoam™  Kit to make me! As you hop through the designer blogs, comment on your favorite projects. Each time you comment you'll be ent

I know I am behind on my posts, but I really do have a good excuse.A couple of weeks ago, I went to have a thyroid ultrasound because of dizziness. Well, my thyroid was fine. My right carotid artery wasn't, with a 90 percent blockage. I now have a very clean artery and a lovely new scar to wear to my class reunion. I'm thinking it might look good with a swirly tattoo.... This past weekend, I went to Jackson, Tennessee for Artiscape, a day-long event smothered in creativity, good friends and good food. I have to say this was the best ever and feel really sorry for those who missed it. The basis of the project I'm posting was the brainchild of Veronica (Ronnie) Goff, a very talented CHA designer member. Ronnie's project was all pink and blue and purple, but y'all know I can't leave anything alone, and I've never followed instructions well. I just have to give it my own special touch. Half of this project can certainly be called a Father's Day project,

Welcome to the May edition of the Designer Crafts Connection. This month, we are featuring jewelry. Be sure to hop through the blogs using the Designer Crafts Connection button at left to see all the amazing projects. I actually created a new piece for this hop, forgetting that I had already made a couple of samples, which were taught at the River City Stampers April meeting by fellow CHA designer member Ronnie Goff. I created the samples and kits, and Ronnie did a great job pinch-hitting for me to lead the group through the steps. The new piece I created is based on a music theme, very near and dear to my heart with my musician hubby. It was very easy to make for even the newest jewelry crafter. Here’s how I made it: Supplies Silver Foil (Walnut Hollow) Sterling silver square pendant (Nunn Design) Chipboard scrap Aleene’s White Tacky Glue Beadalon Flexible beading cord Assorted beads and Swarovski crystals Silver jump ring Silver clasp Text

Confusing? Not really. The Designer Crafts Connection is usually on the first Monday of each month, but with the holidays, everything was thrown off kilter. This month's subject is journaling. There are so many ways to journal and so many different types of books to use. I can't walk into Barnes and Noble without admiring the beautiful leather, paper or fabric covered book...and then spending most of the time there talking myself out of taking several home. And some journals aren't books, just a cigar box of scattered flotsam and jetsam to be searched each time you want to refer back to whatever it was you wanted to save. We'll hold boxes for another post down the road. Speaking of flotsam and jetsam, the origin of the term is early 17th century Anglo-Norman French, and it means ..'the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea..." or "...(figurative) people or things that have been rejected and are regarded as worthless.&