Thursday, September 30, 2010

C-R-E-A-T-E a Banner

Good day to you! I recently became enchanted with banners. Why? Mainly because I didn't get to take a Halloween Spooky Banner Class from my friend Cindy, so I decided to try my hand at one, and guess what ... I'm in luv with my banner that says one of my favorite words:
C-R-E-A-T-E .
First I started with corrogated box board cut to desired size. I swiped the grooves with an Adirondack Paint Dabber (color - Juniper) ... just enough to give it an aged or worn look. (An aged or worn look is a very good thing on crafts ... but not on me - hah!)
The bottom trim on each of my banner pieces was my attempt at NOT buying expensive fancy lace ... yet giving it a fancy lace look. First I cut the largest size of Spellbinders Labels 5, then embossed it with the Damask Cuttlebug Folder, then lightly inked the raised embossing with various ink colors (each one is different.) The tuffs are pleated crepe paper.
The banner is assembled with white jute at the top, and bows were tied with black tulle. Looks pretty cute as a window topper, don't ya think?!
The flowers were made from old sheet music. I used two of the largest spellbinder scallops, and sprayed one with glimmer mist. Then my favorite part ... scrunch it up like trash! Unfold and layer together, using clear-drying adhesive. These scrunchy flowers are SO FUN to make so be warned -- they are addictive!

I hope you have a chance to C-R-E-A-T-E something today!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Altered Art - Got Green Bean Cans?

Inspired by this tutorial, look what I came up with ... More altered cans ... more fun ...
It was so much fun to embellish each one in a different way, using all manner of goods from my stash ...
Chipboard pieces and buttons and flowers ... oh my!
Seam binding and pearls - be still my heart!
Notice the matching Little Book of Big Ideas for each altered tin can? $1 each from Hobby Lobby. I found them in the area with brown cardboard type items ready to be altered, such as big letters and cute sizes of boxes, etc. Next up, some fun with pleated crepe paper ...Some nifty flower topped pens to add to the mix ...
And now some close-up's of the little books ...

I used lots of modge podge on this project ... I even applied another layer on TOP of the embellishments (buttons, pearls, etc).
First I painted the books with acrylic paints and modge podged. Then stamped with staz-on inks. The words were computer generated and cut into pieces, glued, then outlined with black or gold Krylon Pen.
Do you know how much fun I had doing these? There are no words!

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Moments We Share

Do you have a bunch of rub-on's in your craft stash? I finally cleaned up my beautiful mess of a craft room and it inspired me to make these cards with rub-on's. I guess you could say I was in the moment! Moments are memories, am I telling you the truth?I confess ... I was cleaning up for the cleaning lady who is expected today! Does anyone else do that? What an oxymoron. But clean makes me happy, and happy makes me creative, and we all know that Creativity is Good! Maybe today's moral of the story is this: go clean?
I hope you have a beautiful moment today! Find it. Make it a memory. And come back here and share it with me. Or ... if you have a mess, then make your mess your message. Either way, we'll be enjoying life's journey together and that part is so fun!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Presto ... Card Sewing Made Easy

Recipe for cute sewing on cards: 1. Buy paper with sewing already on it. 2. Use that portion of the paper on your card. 3. Cut out the cute scallop border. 4. Enjoy! So fun and easy peasy! Someday, I'm going to learn to sew on paper for real, with my mom's sewing machine that I inherited (without a foot?!). So I really need to go foot shopping. Did that sound funny to anyone else but me?! Anyway, the moral of the story here is this - and yes, I have one. USE UP some of that beautiful, gorgeous, rock star paper you have in your stash and be happy!
I want to take a mushy minute here. My bloggy friend Mary wrote a beautiful post about sharing God's love through creativity ... my creativity! It would be worth a mushy minute of your day to read it because I SO want to share the blessing! To the crafty creative peoples in the bloggy world out there, be encouraged! I was. SO .... VERY ... MUCH!