Showing posts with label Crafty Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crafty Things. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2015

Bee Happy!

Just in time for Spring is the wonderful new collection of Bee Happy stamps from 

I just love them all.  Between work, my student, getting sick, and having to study, 
I managed to put together this card.  I can't wait to make more. 

Here's another little piece I made using a tin can. I love upcycling cans this way. Perhaps I will give a gift in it. Hmm....





Oxford Impressions stamps come as a solid sheet of red rubber that you cut and 
assemble. You get so many stamps at a great price when you do it yourself. 
For my tutorial to mount the stamps, click here.

I am linking up with parties from these great blogs:
The Charm of Home
Ivy and Elephants
Rooted In Time

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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Washi-Covered Easter Eggs

I wanted to "color" eggs this year in a nontraditional way, so I pulled out 
my favorite washi from Tim Holtz, tore it into small strips, and covered some 
wooden eggs. I also painted a few with blush-colored acrylic paint and flecked 
dots on them. I plan to do a tutorial on the weekend for this quick "decoupage" project.
Do you have a favorite technique for "coloring" Easter eggs?







Laura
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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Tin Can Crafting

It seems that as I create more, I become more creative.
Some days, everything I see morphs into something else. That makes it really
 hard to get rid of anything that can become something useful or pretty--
which is pretty much everything...
Does this happen to you????

Since last Thanksgiving, when I made a lot of Southern casseroles with
 canned things, like creamed soups, I have been saving tin cans.
Now this was driving my husband absolutely nuts, and it pretty much got down to, 
"If you don't get these out of the kitchen, I'm throwing them ALL away!"

Well since I had found this holder at Goodwill, which was the perfect size for my cans, 

I couldn't part with them.  So I picked a few of the most special ones to store, and humored him by throwing some away. (I also had to prove to myself that I wasn't a hoarder!)

 My plan was to spray paint and then decoupage flowers on them, but that was more mess than I really wanted to deal with, so I just kept storing the cans. Then a couple of days ago, I 
found these paper-covered cans on Pinterest that I adored. I knew they would be quick to make and no mess! So I set to work with decorative paper and washi. I did spray one lid and glued a knob on. 

Wow! I am so happy with how they look in my holder:

This was SO quick, simple, and SO rewarding! Amy, of Four Corners Design, the originator of this craft made covered ones as gift containers. She added a little bit of shredded paper and nestled the gift inside. A little washi on either side would secure the lid. 

If you try this yourself, be sure to open the cans with a Pampered Chef can opener, which does not leave a sharp edge - pretty amazing actually.
Now off to make more!
Laura
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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Pin Money

It's hard to imagine that there was a time when woman didn't have money of their own. Some resorted to selling eggs or taking in sewing or laundry, but often that money went for shoes for the children or other necessities of life that couldn't be afforded otherwise. More fortunate women might be given small amounts of money on a regular basis, sort of like an allowance, that they could use for non-essentials, like hair ribbons, barrettes, gloves, and trinkets. Many called this money, "Pin Money." 

I first heard of this term from my mother-in-law, Katie, who kept pin money, and I have heard a few older women speak of it as well. The term is believed to have originated in the time of Henry the VIII:

      Catherine Howard, wife of Henry VIII., introduced pins into England from France. As they         were expensive at first, a separate sum for this luxury was granted to the ladies by their           husbands. Hence the expression "pin-money."

In the 1940s and 50s, special banks were made for pin money. The one below is pretty typical for that period:
I love the idea of keeping a little money tucked away just for little treats, so I decided to make my own bank for pin money from a Trader Joe's cookie tin. I have been obsessed with the "Cocoa Baton" packaging for a while (yeah, it's true). When they came out with this tin, it was a LOVE fest! (Did you ever buy cookies for the packaging???)
 I coated over most of the print with a coat of gesso and then pulled out 
my Character Constructions Cirque stamps and went to work.
 I just love making doll skirts from cupcake papers:

 

This will hold a lot of change from hubby's pockets!
What will I buy with my pin money?
Maybe some new perfume, or new pair of earrings...
I really enjoy just having it around.
What about you, do you save pin money?
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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Paperback Book Pumpkin and Inspired Sunday Blog Party!

Happy Sunday! The winds that felled a tree onto my car have died down, I have almost recovered from a mild bout of the flu, and dear son has moved out! Life is looking pretty good, as does my paperback book pumpkin! Have you seen these on Pinterest?  I fell in love with them about a week ago, and since the only thing I felt like doing yesterday was cutting things (paper with scissors), I found two old paperbacks that were headed to Goodwill and tried my hand at making a pumpkin. Here's the tutorial, and here's the finished product:


I think I'm kinda in love with it. Here's another view:

And another:

For the tutorial click here! Happy pumpkin making!

Inspired Sunday

I really enjoyed all the link ups this week and am so glad that you keep coming back even though this is a teeny weeny blog party.  I just don't have enough time to promote and build it at this point, but I am so happy that you keep joining me.  Perhaps one day I will really work on it, but for now, my hope is that we can really get to know each other better and possibly meet a few kindred spirits. 

Besides Pinterest, several of your clever ideas inspired me this week.

One was the very brilliant way that Debby Ray of My Favorite Things made her own dried hydrangeas for her Fall decor. This idea was genius! You just need cheap hydrangeas, spray paint, and a fire stick-- but just be careful playing with fire!  lol!  Don't these look fantastic?


Another brilliant idea was Penny's use of Scotch tape to keep her roses in place.  Like her, I love flowers in my kitchen but sometimes can't get them to look nice in a vase without taking tedious measures like running out to purchase Oasis foam or using pounds of glass pebbles that end up getting nasty from the rotting stems and leaves.  She used the Scotch tape to make a grid for the flowers to fit into--kinda like the way an old glass flower frog worked.  Thanks for this easy peasy and inexpensive tip, Penny! Visit her at Penny's Vintage Home to get the full scoop. I'll warn you, you might leave her blog  with kitchen envy!


Now let's see what you're up to this week!  If you join the party, I would like for you to follow me. (I will also follow you.) In addition, please be sure to link back to my blog from your blog.  Thank you!
Laura

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Tweak it Tuesdays at Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesdays
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Creative Things Thursday @ The Vintage Farmhouse 
Blog Stalking Thursday @ The Crafty Blog Stalker

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Halloween Travertine Coasters

Halloween is oddly enough my favorite holiday. Perhaps one reason is that it seems to be the one holiday that requires so little and gives so much in return. There is so little pressure to meet expectations, and that lets me be free to enjoy and do what I feel like making or doing (or not)!  I love the dark evening, the cool air, all the Halloween folk art and colors, the neighborhood sounds of laughter and music, and the 80 or so little guests all dressed up for festivity who come only expecting a piece of candy!  What's not to love?

 So to kick off my Halloween crafting, I made these coasters with new Danse Macabre rubber stamp sheet from Oxford Impressions at the Austen Gallery.  These stamps come as an unmounted rubber sheet that you mount yourself (tutorial here).  The macabre images work well on travertine, which looks like crumbly old cemetery stone.  All in all, this style is a little creepy for me, but I think perfect for those with edgier tastes.

So what do you think? Are they your style or do you know someone who would like them?
                                                                                                                                                  Laura
I'm linking up with these parties:
Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life
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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Index Card A Day (ICAD) Swap

I recently participated in an international swap with other paper crafting artists. Our challenge was to make ICADs (3x5 index-sized cards) and holders and mail them to the assigned people. I finished mine today and sent them off and just couldn't wait to share what I came up with. (I did warn the recipients that they might not want to view my blog and ruin the surprise.)  I embossed and cut the frame for the front of the holder and tied it with seam binding. The bird stamp is from Oxford Impressions.

After you open the front panel you see the sentiment on the right, also made with stamps from Oxford Impressions:
The inside of the holder looks like this, with collage stamps of music, butterflies, and flowers:
The ICAD fits inside the holder:

And here is the singing bird ICAD with torn bits of a French book and 
the back that I made with an image from the Graphics Fairy:
I hope you are having a wonderfully creative week or at least finding some beauty to enjoy!
 I'm linking up with these parties:

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Tag Tuesday: Window Shopping

A few years ago I designed a window shaker card. I have made these for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and now I've made one for a tag.  This was not my most creative week, but here it is:

The stamps are all from Oxford Impressions .  If you tilt the card, paper hearts and heart glitter fill the window:

Do you think this young girl is window shopping and dreaming of what womanly clothes she will wear one day?  Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm linking up with these parties:
Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life
                                                                                                                                  Laura
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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Inspired Sunday and Another Pink Starbucks Treat

Well, I warned you! 
this is me.
Maybe it was the color that got me--Stampin' Up calls it "Blushing Bride."

Or maybe it was the French signboard lettering in my favorite white type.

Or maybe it was the crispness of the slightly transparent bag, or 
the dull earthiness of the pink on the corregated cup holders. 

 Whatever it was, these pink Starbucks things have really gotten me inspired!

Everyone knows about my nutty little addiction, so now people are saving cupholders for me. The barrista now recognizes me as the "paper crafting lady," so he gave me a few pastry holders to play with. I went through my craft stash and found some cute assessories:

to make a holder for this 3-D window card that I made with 
an image from the Graphics Fairy.

I folded the doily, taped it on, fan-folded a medallion, added some ribbon:

And the holder was ready for the card :

It's kinda trendy right now to use this type of bag for gifts, 
and you can find them at craft supply places and Stampin' Up. 
How fun though to repurpose! 
(Guess you can't get a messy pastry, or just wrap it in a napkin and take the bag as a bonus!)

 You can see my Starbucks treat cup here and 
my staging for a French dress tag using the pink papers here.
-Laura

Inspired Sunday

This week I enjoyed a mini "vacation" in Germany compliments of Brittany at 
The Rococo Roamer. I loved the portraits on the wall  of the Munich Residenz in 
gilded rococo frames.  (My 3-D card has some similarities...)

And another mini "vacation," this time not from Brittany, but in Brittany, brought to us by Magali at The Little White House on the Seaside:

Once off vacation, and back in the craft room, :-), I found Debby Ray's plastic floor mat turned wrought iron wall hanging to bring an expensive and exotic look to 
any well-traveled lady's home.  Check out her post at My Favorite Things to 
see how to make this 7.00 wall hanging!

Now let's see what's inspiring you this week!  Please be sure to put a link on your blog back to mine. Also, I would love for you to become a follower if you haven't already.


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Sunday, August 4, 2013

A Little Pink Starbucks Obsession

I have a confession...
It's my little obsession, with these:
All through this tiring and difficult week, my daily walk to Starbucks with my sweet friend and thoughts of what I could make with these kept me going...

All my friends said "You're so funny!"  And I think my excitement made them smile.

I couldn't quit thinking about just how darn cute my idea was going to be.

So I got started today with making a few things and buying the perfect candy:

And found the perfect Starbucks green vintage button for the trim:

And came up with this for my walking friend at work, who makes my day happy!

Do you think she'll be surprised to find this on her desk tomorrow?

I'm linking up with these great parties:

Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Inspired Sunday!


Hello everyone. I feel like I'm meeting up with dear friends.  Hope your week has been good. I have had a crazy week full of work, work, work (ending with a terrible migraine!)  To relax I hit Goodwill or The Salvation Army at lunch for about 4 days in a row.  Saturday I went to a yard sale and another thrift shop.  I had some great finds, which I will share another time. One thing I bought was this very pretty, but not-so-high-quality silver tray:
I knew it would be just perfect for a small chalkboard, like the kind that we see all over Pinterest right now.  I protected the trim with blue tape, which you have to tear into small pieces
                                                 to make it curve around the tray:
I added exra tape to cover all the silver so the overspray from the Chalkboard Paint wouldn't reach it.  This Krylon chalkboard paint is my favorite.  It makes such a smooth writing surface and goes on so evenly!
I sprayed one coat, lightly sanded with a fine sanding block, and then sprayed again.  Once it had dried for about 30 minutes, I carefully peeled away the tape, pulling the tape away from the painted area:
I let it dry over night, rubbed a piece of chalk on in it to season it, and then wrote with a chalk pen.  The pen I used was for smaller projects. I will have to go out and get the wider nibbed one! Love the pen though! The chalk ink doesn't smear, but comes off easily with a wet paper towel.  Check out the great pens and videos at chalkink.com.
Our Marker Tips
                                   Here is my finished "chalkboard" on the table in my entry:
I'm really pleased with the result, although I just quickly freehanded the lettering to get a photo.  I will definitely rewrite with care!
Inspired Sunday!
So much inspiration from our party goers this week!  Where to begin?????  We are just really getting into the hottest part of the summer here in California and will be enduring summer through the end of October.  So I chose posts that represent the best parts of summer for me.

 Debbie at Debbie Dabble shows us that after a sweltering day of blistering summer heat, there's no calmer or cooler place to be than in a garden at night time. Sometimes I open all the doors, turn off the lights, and burn candles to bring this atmosphere indoors.
Dawn, at We Call It Junkin,' reminded me that sometimes the movie theater is the only cool place to be when the thermometer passes 100 degrees.  If the movie has antiques in it like she shows on her blog, I'm there--even if I don't care what the film is about.  (Perhaps that's why I never remember the plot of a film?  head scratch...) 
Screenshot (1)
Christina at PennyWise wrote a lovely post about the refreshing qualities and uses of lavender. Some summers, I've used lavender bath products exclusively to relax and refresh, but she shows so many other wonderful ways to enjoy this divine plant in recipes, vignettes, and mini indoor gardens!
If you can't stand the heat in your kitchen, ha, you might just decide to take a long trip--OVERSEAS!  Brittany from the Roccoco Roamer is living the life I wish all young marrieds could--living in Germany with her husband of one year and traveling all over.  What wonderful memories she is creating!  (My husband and I traveled for a year all over the East Coast and up to Montreal when we were first married.) Her photos are wonderful and she shares many intimate venues that we wouldn't really see otherwise.  The respect for America's soldiers that she captures in some of her photos is truly inspiring.
Aimee at Refresh and Renew shared my favorite part of summer as a girl--picking wild blackberries and making dessert and jam with them!  This memory is really a fiber of my being!
If you do have A/C (not so common everywhere in Southern California), you might just want to stay indoors and come up with clever ways to document the wonderful times in your life through scrapbooking. Newcomer Laura, from live. love. scrap. came up with the absolute cleverest way to document the adventures of her two young sons!  Her mini-album is brilliant, and put a smile on my face!

Sorry for the long post, but now you see how truly inspired I was by your posts! I had a hard time stopping--chuckle, chuckle!  If you've been featured, please grab my button on the right side bar and put on your blog!  Thank you!
                                                                                               Laura
Metamorphosis Monday
Dwelllings' Amaze Me Monday
Weekend Showoff Party
Time Travel Thursday
Inspire Me Tuesdays at a Stroll Through Life
Knick of Time Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
Share Your Cup Thursdays
Grace at Home
Show and Tell Friday
Sweet and Simple Fridays
Feathered Nest Fridays
Now let's see what everyone has going on this week!

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