Old book made into a portable craft carrier

Hi!! I have something so simple and amazing to show you. Have an old book sitting around, turn it into a craft carrier for when you are traveling.

Here is what you need: old book, fabric, sewing machine (you can use a hot glue gun only), glue gun and purse handles (I tore the handles off an old purse I had sitting around, well, actually my daughters, but don't tell her)

First you remove the inside pages, make the spine more secure by adding chipboard. Here I used a paint stirrer but chipboard will work. Then I cut my material to the size I needed and hemmed it. I then sewed in some pockets to hold my craft items and sewed on my purse handles. When that was completed (and believe me, I am no sewer, I had to look up where the reverse button was) I hot glued the fabric to the inside of the book. Now depending on the book you used, you can leave it as is on the outside or make it look however you choose. Ta Da Done!

Here are some pictures, please don't focus on how messy my desk is LOL but we all know how we are.

 I will probably redo the front of my book, but not sure how at the moment. I got my idea from Pinterest, you can find tons of inspriation there.

Paper bracelet and pendant

Hello, I have been into making jewelry again. I got away from it for awhile. I go back and forth with things alot. But this is something I found on Youtube by an artist called realisticart, you should go check him out, he makes beautiful jewelry with paper. I  made mine a bit different, since this was my first time, I thought I would go the easy route, LOL.

I first started  out by glueing the layers of paper together, used elastic band so it would fit any size and added beads to my bracelet. The pendant I just put on a simple chain. If you have any questions, please leave them below. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

I used the same method he did for making the holes for the elastic to go thru, except I did not put mine in the oven to melt out the was, I just poked it out with one of my jewelry tools. I then coated all pieces with  Crystal Lacquer, Because I didn't seem to have any regular lacquer.

Wooden shabby chic plaque

Hello, Last night I started a project that I have been wanting to do for some time now. I did it on a small piece because I didn't want to have my first piece huge and then screw it up........I forgot to take pictures during the process, but I will walk you thru it.

First, I purchased an oval wooden plaque at Walmart, sanded it down some so there were no pieces poking out that could give someone a sliver. I then put a coat of gesso over it, you can use whatever you would like at this point, white paint or you can stain it or even leave the wood bare. I let that dry and then added a coat of Americana Decor chalky finish in Smitten, when that dried I put down a coat of Americana Decor chalky finish in Refreshing. (I love those 2 colors) after it was completely dry, I then sanded it and "roughed" it up some to look vintagy (I love vintage :) )I then found a french image on the Graphics Fairy page, you should check them out, they are lovely, put a piece of wax paper in my printer (ink jet printer....and yes, it did work :) ) and then immediately took it to the plaque layed it down and rubbed with an old credit card until the image transferred onto the wood. Be very careful at this point, because you do not want to move the paper or get it wet because  the image will blur. Then I sprayed it with Patricia Nimocks clear acrylic sealer after I let it sit for a bit to make sure the ink was dry. Last thing to do add a wax to it, I used Amaericana Decor Creme Wax to seal your work.

I don't think I am ready to start on anything huge, but we have a night stand in our bedroom that is just screaming for me to do something with it.

Take a look...

    

St Patricks Day Banner

Here I have a banner for St Patricks day. First, because for some reason I am into using Polyform Model Air Dry clay, I made the shamrocks using a mold I made. I left them to dry overnight and then some. Because they were so thick it took a while for them to completely dry. I then took some scrap pieces of material and made the banner part. I used chenille stems for the bodies of the leprechauns and an image from the internet for the heads. When the shamrocks were dry, I painted them  with Americana Irish Moss (perfect name for them, don't you think LOL) and then used a varnish and sprinkled on some gold Recollections glitter. The posts of gold were images I used from the internet also. I glued the pots of gold and the leprechauns onto the banner using my hot glue gun. I then used twine to thread them all together to make the banner. Hope you like me and have a great day!

I am taking a class called My Color Is Beautiful with Tiare Smith and lots of other talented artists. Our first lesson was called Art Angel. I'm do have to admit, I struggle with drawing faces. I used acrylic paints, Inktense Pencils and some charcoal for highlights. Can't wait to see what the next lesson is. This one was very fun. Thanks for stopping by.

Good morning :) today I want to show you a project done with Twinkling H2O's and clay.

First of all you are going to need to find some rocks, doesn't matter what kind of rocks. Just any shape or form for what you have in mind. I picked ones that could be used as paper weights, or put into a cactus garden ( I love cactus and succulants, and have a small container of them in my house) or just use them as motivational rocks that sit on your crafty desk if you want. You could also use them as gifts depending on what you put on them.

Ok, so lets get started. Get your rocks, Twinkling H2O's, paint brush or foam brush, gesso, and anything else you may want to put on them.

First step: gesso your rocks. I put approximately 4 coats on each one. But it is up to you if you want the color of the rock to show thru or not. I waited in between each coat to let them dry or used my heat gun to hurry the process. (I have no patience some times) then pick your colors from your Twinkling H2O's that you would like to use. I used, Sweet Alfalfa, Blue Zircon, Autumn Butternut, Rose Gold, Mustard Green, Black Cherry, Mango Mamba, Cedar Wood, Persimmon and Pearl Red.

This is how they look after being gessoed and painted with the H2O's. You can't really see the shimmer in the picture, but believe me, they are yummy looking. I said after I put on the first color "Ohhhhh, I love that" and then said it for each one after. LOL

I kept adding layers until I was happy with the color. I love how the grooves in the rocks give them character. I left them to dry between coats.

I then made some clay pieces to add to them and painted those with the H2O's also.

  Here are the clay pieces I made to attach to them. I used E600 glue because I did not want the pieces falling off.

Here they are finished. I did add some rub ons that I have had from Stamping Up that I used on them.

And here is a close up. They turned out so pretty. I just love them. 

So, gather your rocks and Twinkling H2O's and have a go at them.

Twinkling H2O's are a ColourArt Product and you can find them here http://www.colourarte.com/. They have new products you MUST check out, so go and visit their website. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you give this awesome project a try.