Monday, March 16, 2020

Spring Home Decor using Crafter's Companion sentiment stamp & inks & thriftstore frame

I had a little frame that cost less than $1 from a second-hand store.  I had painted and repainted it and threw it in a drawer multiple times until I received the Verse stamps from Crafter's Companion.  Using Spectrum Noir water colour ink jars, I made a quick background, stamped the image and remembered the sad little frame stuck in the drawer.  A little chalk paint, glue on some embellies from my stash and now it's one of my favorite new makes.  Such an easy way to upgrade your home décor for the season.

Fairy Dream Tag Caddy Night Light with Shadowbox Book in Drawer

Sometimes you wake up from an amazing dream and know that you don't want to forget it.  It's always good to have a little pad of paper and a pen handy to write down the details before they go fuzzy in the morning light.  I used medium weight chipboard to create this caddy that will hold several tags, a handmade paper pad, pen and has a fun fairy diorama night light to boot … oh and a little shadowbox hidden in a "book" that fits snuggly in the drawer, filled with mushrooms and fairies to take your imagination away to dream again in the land of the fae.  The paper and dies used  are  the Enchanted Forest line by Crafter's Companion, one of my favorite crafting collections.





Sunday, March 8, 2020

DT Margarita Glass Robin Nest Spring Home Decor

Have you ever happened upon an area where the earth is reclaiming an old once-loved property?  Seems like some type of magic is at play.  The paint has started chipping and becoming weathered, decay has set in; yet, little plants and moss have started growing in obscure places.  Forest vines and ivy are veining up bases and through cracks of structures.  

On my last visit to the Dollar Tree I was surprised to find a very thick Margarita glass, it looked out of place among the thin glasses on the shelves.  When I picked it up, the shape reminded me of an old, white iron bird bath I had seen on an abandoned property on the edge of a forested area.  Patina, dirt, vines and moss had over taken it, but a recent spring rain storm had left clear water in its normal murky basin.  Birds were once again flocking to it for a drink.

I tried to recreate the patina in my mind's eye using gesso, chalk paint, and ink wash.  Some dried moss and Baby's Breath with a few feathers made the plastic "robin" eggs look like a viable spring nesting spot for a happy bird.  

I didn't have vines and ivy, but I did have paint, twine, dried moss and … parsley.  Yep, right out of the spice cabinet:  Parsley.  Here is the end result.  It actually only took me a little over an hour to make, well, 2 .. but part of that was watching Supernatural reruns 👻












This is the BEFORE picture - Margarita glass and foam circles from Dollar Tree



Hershey’s Nugget Gift Holder Step Box using Crafter’s Companion Fairy Enchanted Forest

Need a cute presentation for HERSHEY NUGGETS?
Here's a link to the video tutorial (part of it is showing some I made and the other half of the video is the tutorial).   NUGGET Stepper Gift Box Tutorial .  They are actually fairly easy to make.  I had seen several projects using step boxes but they were always "square"- since Nuggets are rectangular I had to make a pattern  If you get one of these from me and you notice that it's mostly the toffee ones, don't judge! 😃 I can't resist the almond and milk chocolate ones.

Most of these in the images are decorated using #CraftersCompanion dies, papers, stamps.  But there's a little #TimHoltz and #MarionSmith products as well.