Archives for April 2010

File Cabinet Before and After…

As promised, here is the result of my file cabinet makeover. I love her. She is perfect in my craft area. My embossing powders, stamp pads, acrylics and inks all have their own homes now.

I just cleaned her up with windex and an old rag. Removed drawer pulls, then sanded her lightly so the spray paint would have some roughness to latch onto. I used Krylon black gloss, 2 coats, dry in between. I cut scrapbook paper to fit and applied Matte Gel Medium (still my favorite) to cover the back before placing paper on the drawers. Smoothed out any air bubbles easily by hand. While this was drying, I painted the drawer pulls with Florentine Liquid Gold Leaf. I sealed the pulls with gold leaf sealant (3 coats), and the entire cabinet with high gloss decoupage sealant. Yippie. Thats it.
Here is a sneak peak at what is next. My craft storage hunt is complete. Just found this embellishment haven at a yard sale today. $3…
 

Craft Storage Solution Needed… Now! And Frugal…

Ok. Things are out of hand. Embossing powder, hole punches, hammers, brads, Mod Podge… all intermingling, making it impossible to find what I am looking for mid-project. My efficiency, creativity, and serenity all hang in peril. Time for action. This is hard for me because I would much rather be crafting than organizing. The good news is, it is yard sale season and there are fabulous storage solutions waiting to be created.

I found this file cabinet for $5 and knew it had potential. I liked it not just because it was cheap, but because the drawers are very deep and it’s width is small enough to fit in my craft space.

I went to town on this bad boy, and tomorrow you will see the result. For now, I will leave you with an awesome cheap DIY storage project I ran across at Make It and Love It. How do you maintain order in your workspace?


Handmade Marathon Key Chain From Sculpey…

My bubbly friend Megan will be venturing out on her first full Marathon this Saturday. What a huge endeavor and accomplishment. I was inspired to make her a gift, and out came this keychain and personalized tag combo. I used Sculpey, my cricut for the shapes, pearl FX for color. What a unique piece of marathon flare.
Falling more in love with clay daily. And making the tag was satisfyingly simple and quick. I used Ranger inks, acrylic stamps and embossing powder (for the text). The orange splatter is glimmer mist from Tattered Angels (tiger lilly).
I feel a keychain giveaway coming on…

Handmade Cross Necklaces With Sculpey, and My New Clay Obsession!

I am loving on some clay these days! I told some of you about these, so let me know about color preferences. I have circle triangle pendants as well, and can do custom shapes/designs too.

How annoying. I totally made this post and advertisement. I promise to be more informative and useful in upcoming posts. Just wanted to get these up here. Much more to come. Cricut is getting a nap since my clay adventures have taken over.

Ink Distressed Trinket Box & a First Time Clay Baker…


I have been at it again. My new obsession is distressed trinket boxes. And Matte Gel medium (where I would normally use Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the boxes). It is thick and doesn’t run, no air bubbles, and seamless adhesion. Box and paper become one. OK. Moving on. This box started out unfinished from Hobby Lobby. I painted the drawers with graphite spray paint, the frame with adirondack dauber acrylic. Cut paper to fit, and adhered with the gel.

The most exciting part for me… I made the knobs out of polymer clay from Sculpey. This was completely unexplored terrain for me. Me and clay… our first encounter. I baked my own round knobs. I feel really cool about now – sad, I know. Trying a new creative medium and loving the outcome… BLISS.
I wonder where my clay play will take me. Any suggestions? I foresee a you tube tutorial scavenge in my near future.
BE LOVE…

Art Inspired By How AWESOME God is… And my process shared!



This is a piece I did after the realization of Christ’s love for me, with all of its implications, reached my heart. I don’t know how to explain it. I later learned it was all about the Holy Spirit doing it’s thing, opening my eyes. If it has happened to you, you know what I am talking about. A moment of grace and love so amazing that your life is never the same.
What can I offer in return for this? Nothing. But I will vigilantly give what I have, to the best of my lil’ human ability. To God be the glory!
Here is the original sketch done in pencil, which I scanned into my computer.
Simple, I know. I carry a notebook and pencil everywhere, and when I get inspired, I put it to paper. Sometimes, I find the outcome something I want to play with in the all powerful photoshop.
Just a glimpse into how it works. Thanks for looking. Be love!

Framed Scrapbook Paper

LoveNow3

This is a frugal minded crafter’s ideal project. Garage sale frame. Scrapbook paper cross background. I used cricut with markers to draw the “Love is Now”. I also used embossing powder for the border grunginess. For one of the hearts I used gold leaf sheets, for the other, red sparkly embossing powder by ZING.
The only chance I have at being a source of love is in the present moment. Love is now…

Nuther Scrapbook Paper Decorated Wooden Box: Distressed with Ranger Inks…

goldbox2

 

Again, with the matte gel medium. Love that stuff. For the knob on this one, I inked a wooden bead with eggplant adirondack ink pad, then embossed with the same color powder. The gold sides are also done with gold embossing powder. The purple inside is acrylic paint with perfect pearls and a splash of water.

Matte Gel Paper Decorated Thrift Store Jewelry Box

boxdone




This project turned out to be more involved than I thought, but it was fun, and I love the outcome. Also, I got to use a product I had not tried before… Matte Gel. I love you Mod Podge, but this stuff rocks for adhering paper to wood. They became one… seemless. And the Gel is not sticky/messy. I am sold.
Here is what I did:
Remove original hardware and sand box lightly. Next remove drawer linings (I ended up stripping the inside of the drawers to get the old adhesive gunk out – and also took them apart to get in there. Not necessary if box is unfinished, or if you are not a perfectionist).
Paint box (burnt umber on frame, champagne on drawers.
Adhere paper cut to size in desired colors and prints, using matte gel. Once dry, sand edges. I inked distressed the paper edges using Ranger distress ink pads.
For the knobs, I use round wooden beads, attached with a nail, painted gold. Once all dry, I coated with gloss finish for shine and durability. More boxes to come…

Square Photo Scrap Album; Grunge style

 

Been a few days since I shared… I have been taking in every bit of this wonderful weather I can, while raking advantage of the return of yard sale season. Craft supplies getting replenished, for next to nothing. I scored – big time – on baskets today. That is for another post…

LOVIN on Ranger inks and embossing powder. Everything ranger, really. I finished this 6 in x 6 in mini album today for my step son’s 21st birthday. I am so excited about all the new techniques I am learning with this Tim Holtz line.
As we know, I am a grungy crafter. Into old hardware and metal anything rusty and junky looking. I have a lot of this type of embellishment on hand from scouring salvage yards and flea markets. The alcohol inks are a perfect way to enhance my metals. Like the key hole. No before pics, but that was one rusty thang.
I am most pleased with the grungeboard. It is like chip board, but way freakin better. I used it for the 26.2, and the tag the number is on. It takes a beating for those who like to distress, and it is flexible. I haven’t so much taken advantage of this fact yet, but plan to get down with a grunge board bracelet soon.
Miss blogging. So many cool projects to try. Yard sales to peruse, objects to emboss…
If I ever fall prey to boredom, shame on me.
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