LESSology Challenge #64: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Why organize your warranty info in a plain old folder when you can make your pretty like design team member Mitra Pratt's take on LESSology Challenge #64: Let's get organized? 

I was in love with the cardboard three ring binders I got from a training class. So much so I'm still hoarding a couple!

This one came out to play with our challenge here at LESSology to get organized! In a couple of weeks I'll need this folder to store all the warranty info from appliances on the house I'm working on.

Enjoyed pulling out a summer paper packet and glamming it up with gold doilies, washi tape, and some sequins.

These little flowers were upcycled. I just cut them off the stems, dusted them off a little and added some gold paint to their edges. So pretty!

Look at how cool that looks! Not bad for a freebie folder! Now I kinda want to make another! Hope you get to play along with us this month at LESSology! HUGS!

LESSology Challenge #63: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

If you have some vintage music papers in your stash, why not use them like design team member Mitra Pratt did for LESSology Challenge #63: Musical chairs?

Living in upstate New York, I'm always surprised when the weather turns. It's like a switch and overnight we are putting the shorts away, grabbing hoodies, and getting the gardens ready for winter. Our leaves have just started to turn and the days are darker. With that being said, I'm ready to work with some fall colors and focus on interior projects!



I really enjoyed working on this lamp and using this awesome pumpkin colored vintage lace on a copper spray painted shade! The shade, light socket, and light bulb were part of a trade I made earlier this summer with another local artist. The canning jar was one I bought from the Corning ReStore for $3 and spray painted up. The one in the photo above was wayyyyy to small to be the right scale, so I did some painting and spraying on a clear one to get it to match my flowers.

See how awesome that canning jar is? I spray painted the inside with some clear mirror spray and the outside top with some turquoise. Love it! 

See how pretty it is all lit up? The Edison light bulb is pretty epic looking, so I decided to make the vintage music accordian bloom flowers removable so I glued all the flowers to magnets.

The nice part about paper with light behind it? Well, it's lovely and happy! Love vintage music paper! Hoping you love it too, so you'll play along with us for our newest challenge over here at LESSology where we're asking you to encorporate music notes in your upcycled project. 

LESSology Challenge #62: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Why not make someone's day a little sweeter with a handmade invitation for tea? Have a look at the pretty invitation design team member Mitra Pratt came up with for LESSology Challenge #62: Handmade invitation.

I must admit that this month's challenge had me a bit stumped: Make a handmade invitation. Create an invite to a special event. Think beyond a simple card.

In fact, this little tea cup came home with me from the Corning ReStore but wasn't for this specific project. I just liked the gold and the black. Suddenly I thought up making a tea party invite with this little vintage cup and some tea bags. 

Heck, you could even stick some pieces of special chocolate in the cup, or a biscotti. Yum! I happen to know for a fact that little vintage cups like this are quite common at second hand stores. Making the tea pot for the invite was super easy too. I used a cutting file from THE CUTTING CAFE called The Tea Pot Shaped Card Set.

I used a little printable for the actual invite. Added some clear vellum from a clothing tag to make steam coming out of the tea pot. Added some bling and a gold bow I had left over.

The colors were inspired by my tea pot & that gold tin that also came from Corning ReStore. I used gold embossing powder on the very top of the lid and the handle to match. So pretty!

Hope you get a chance to play along! A good start is something that catches your eye at a second hand store!

LESSology Challenge #61: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

 

I love to have decorated gift bags on hand for packing last-minute presents. Have a look at the decorated bag from designer Mitra Pratt for LESSology Challenge #61: Bag Collector.

Do you have a collection of little bags? I do and they seem to multiply when I'm not looking. Sneaky little things! It occurred to me the other day to use one as a tag after I prettied it all up with a huge hand made bloom and a doily.

This is one project that really didn't take all that long, used up one of those bags, and is useful! You could even put the card inside and the plant tag.

I had several large vintage leaves hanging around, that epic hand made white flower with rhinestone center, and a hot pink doily that matched the rose. It was as simple as hot gluing them on the bag. Since this pretty plant was our present for an outdoor wedding, I added the burlap around the bottom of the plant to match one of the flowers and some cool vellum sentiments. Angel scrapbooks with me, so there is NO DOUBT IN MY MIND that she will either reuse the bag in some way shape or form or the flower gets added to a page. ;-)

Angel's Wedding was epic. Even though it hasn't rained here in what seems to be months, it downpoured. It's my second outdoor wedding ever in the rain and both were cozy and romantic under the tent. Not to mention you could watch the grass get greener by the minute. Don't worry, I have tons of cool photos to share with you from her day, but I'm making a page...and you'll see them then!

Our current challenge here at LESSology is to use a bag and I bet you have a few hanging around, I'd love to see what you create!!

LESSology Challenge #60: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Ahhh...a decorated teacup can make such a lovely display. I'm always on the lookout for vintage ones at flea markets. Shall we check out what designer Mitra Pratt did with hers for LESSology Challnge #60: Mug Shot? 

It's entirely possible I have a thing for gold. Add in a vintage tea cup with gold accents and I'm smitten. However, I'm usually not inclined to actually use them for tea, although I can imagine a tea party with mismatched cups and fancy cookies and that makes me happy. I did need to eventually come up with a use for my addition! Thankfully Yvonne here at LESSology seems to read my mind and comes up with these cool challenges so I can stretch a little! So this time round we're decorating cups or mugs!

I cut a bunch of music paper roses and rolled them onto gold pipecleaners using hot glue. When they cooled, I then pushed them into a piece of foam I had hot glued in the cup so I could make a bouquet. Everything in this cup with the exception of the little white roses with gems & pearl branches are upcycled.

I had added a ribbon at one point but it made it really hard to see the cup, so I changed it up a bit, but think of the possibilities!

What does one do with a tea cup bouquet? I imagine they would make a nice "card" if you added a tag sentiment or a name card at a place setting. I'm enjoying mine on a corbel I painted up the other day.

Hope you get a chance to play along with our cup or mug challenge! You folks are really creative out there so I can't wait to see what you make!

LESSology Challenge #59: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Hello there friends! Are you rummaging through your stash for some bright and vividly coloured objects to play along with LESSology Challenge #59: Neon-inspired? Shall we have a look at what design team member Mitra Pratt came up with?

Lately I've had angels on the mind. I have also been working a lot with cloches since the Corning ReStore has a stash they have been selling. I decided to combine the two! 

Paired up this glass plate and candle stick I got at Corning ReStore the other day and spray painted them with copper & black paint. I used Epoxy to glue the candle stick to the plate. As you can see below, they are actually three seperate pieces.

Love that you can take it apart in case you want to use the base, angel or choche seperately. It's always nice to have versaility in a decoration. ;-)

The little angel on the upcycled cardboard spool is made out of a ceramic sink handle. The hair is the top of a seed (like an acorn top) while the wings are cut down flower petals and some pearl branches. I opted to go with a neon pink sticker for the base & brightly colored hand dyed seam binding as we're having a neon challenge this time round here at LESSology. In fact, that is why the base has a lot of black as it looks good with brights!

Love the decorated bottom of the cloches and the very top. I made the latice from bright metallic duct tape over cardboard which I cut out with my Big Shot. 

I also cut some aluminum tape and dyed it to match. Love that it's already sticky!

Leaving you with one more photo of my sink handle angel! Make Today Amazing and play along with our challenge!

LESSology Challenge #58: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Have you seen pretty jars with faux chalkboard labels? They are fun to make as seen in design team member Mitra Pratt's project for LESSology Challenge #58: Chalkboard Fun! 

The faux chalk board label was easy peasy to make when you have a white marker. I cut one label out of the sticky backed copper foil by Ranger and another from scrap cardboard. The cardboard piece got a quick coat of black spray paint and then was cut to fit inside the copper one. I wrote "Spice of Life" on it with a white marker and then hot glued it in place.  Added some prima and petaloo flowers to decorate.

Check out how cool of a sticker that copper foil makes! Love that die too. It's Fancy Tags 2 by Spellbinders.

Since the top is sealed & a stopper, I might just store tea in here at work....right now I'm enjoying looking at how pretty it is!

Hope you get a chance to play along with us here at LESSology or even give that copper foil a try!

Happy Thursday!

LESSology Challenge #57: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Hope you guys haven't been stalking the mailman for some envelopes to use for LESSology Challenge #57: Snail Mail Revolution...*winks* Let's check out what design team member Mitra Pratt did...

The other day I was working with some cards I had made and I came across an envelope that had gotten a bit messed up. Instead of tossing it in the bin, I decided it would make a great pocket to hold some memorabilia. 

I used one of my favorite stamps with some white embossing power and then inked it up with some ink pads. Then I glued the envelope down on the page and started filling it.

Recently I went through some stuff from my Gram and found a couple of cool things that I was saving for a page like this. One was a list of paints and another was a piece of note paper from her desk. I paired that up with a brush that was a bit injured (you shouldn't use the other end of a brush for prying, but hey you probably knew that). Voila, an arty look for my budding artist, Miss Lexi.

Lexi in her leather coat and cool scarf was looking arty in that photo. I think it's funny I caught Luke in the background too too. It's just one of those random photos you talk of your kids that later you look at and love.

Hope you get a chance to hang with us here at LESSology and participate in our upcycling envelope challenge. I am positive you have one that isn't all that nice in your stash that needs a bit of love. If not, just wait a day for the mail to arrive and snag one before you toss it!

LESSology Challenge #56: Creative inspiration of Mitra Pratt

Are you rummaging through your stash to find something fun to incorporate on your project? Why not check out what design team member Mitra Pratt cooked up this month for LESSology Challenge #56: Hand-lettered Love?

Everything in this little sculpture is upcycled with the exception of the two blue roses and that spanish moss. The faucet handles were pulled out of my hardware stash, the gold tulip shape came from a candlestick, the glass base was previously a votive holder (and was flipped upside down & spray painted) and the light bulb was one that was headed for the trash and previously lit a fish tank. Gotta love turning all that junk into something motivational!

Since this is the handwriting challenge here at LESSology, let's start with the bulb that was painted with glass paint and a bit of gold spray paint. I used epoxy to attach a finial to the top. Who knew a sharpie would write on glass paint...had to try! Accented it with a white chalk marker. 

It says:  A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

It's been my motto these days. 

 I really do think that lamp finial is the rock star on this piece. It really added the extra umph I needed and took away the phallic look I had going! Of course the blue and green faucet pieces paired up with a paper accordian flower are pretty cool too.

I've been enjoying this in my window all month and I'm glad I finally get to share my creation with you! Maybe you'll have a chance to play along with us at LESSology!