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Whew!  Another week has passed and it is time to party.  What have you been creating?  Thanks for being here to share and see all the great projects.  If you are new, welcome!

LINKY STUFF:

How it Works: No giveaways, shop or links to your main blog, please. That way we know when we come to Thrifty Thursday, we will only encounter DIY projects and not end up sifting through a bunch of other links. Entries not related, or to main blog pages/shops/giveaways will be deleted.
Other stuff:
*Please add a text link or my button to your post!
*2 projects from the previous week’s linky will be spotlighted, so let them know they ROCK!
*Please visit the at least the 2 blogs above you and shower them with comment love.
*Leave me a comment and let me know you were here. I love hearing from you.
*Have fun and be inspired!
*My friend Nikki knows how to throw a great party too. Be there…

FEATURES:

How precious is this boutique flower headband from Shabby

Beach Nest?  There is a great step by step there.  I am crushing

on handmade flowers in a big way right now, and this is

on my to do list for sure!

When her doorbell broke, Holly at Life as a Thrifter got creative and made this burlap

framed sign as an alternative.  The best thing about it, besides that it

looks great, is that  her napping girl  doesn’t get awakened everytime

there is a visitor!

Cameron Homemade walks us through the making of

a lovely mantle with revamped Goodwill art.  I love

the framed glittered key, and the red and aqua!

PARTY!

As promised, here is the paper rose tutorial I teased you with at the end of

Monday’s rose embellished frame tutorial.  You can use any decorative scrapbook paper you want,

but it should have print on both sides.  I like to ink the edges of the petals and

leaves with distress ink pads.  The possibilities are endless, so raid those scrapbooking

supplies and lets make some gorgeous roses!

SUPPLIES:

SCRAPBOOK PAPER (double sided)

CRAFT GLUE

FLORAL WIRE

FLORAL TAPE

PETAL & LEAF TEMPLATE (PRINT AND CUT OUT)

SCISSORS

BAMBOO SKEWER

WHEN YOU ROLL THE PETALS, DO 3 AT A TIME BY STACKING THEM

AND ROLLING THEM TOGETHER.  SLIDE THE BAMBOO STICK OUT,

LEAVING A “TUBE” OF ROLLED UP PETALS.

STRAIGHTEN THEM OUT TO GLUE BASE AND FOLD

AROUND FLORAL WIRE IN NEXT STEP.

ADD LEAVES IN DESIRED POSITION

DOWN STEM WITH FLORAL TAPE

Aren’t they FABULOUS?

Mother’s Day gift… check.

PURPLE? 

Absolutely.

Best part… they live forever!

Head on over to Suzy’s Artsy Craftsy Sitcom

for SBLC’s up close and personal interview.

Join the international creative hop while

you are there, and look around at

Suzy’s amazing creations.

While taking in your favorite projects from your fellow craft bloggers, do you sometimes feel like the photos you see are above and beyond what you are capable of with your current camera and lens?  I have felt that way for awhile.  With the massive amount of photos I see daily as pins, I decided it was time to take action.  But what kind?

I am not a photographer.  I know very little.  I bought a DSLR when I got serious about blogging, and have never manually adjusted anything.  For close ups, I turn the dial to the macro flower icon, for portraits, the face silhouette.  That was all I needed for awhile.  Now my blog is my baby, and I want to make it beautiful.  The standard lens set that comes with my particular DSLR takes great shots, but I notice blur when I zoom in using Photoshop for a close ups of my jewelry and other projects.  From my research, I deduced I needed to buy a macro lens… not cheap.  I decided to stop in my local camera shop and ask someone more knowledgeable what they recommend.  That is when I learned this about the Photoshop high pass filter.

Digital camera sensors and lenses blur the photo.  They just do.  The effect is negligible to many, but when you want that perfect shot with pristine detail to grab your reader’s eye, it is significant. You can easily resharpen using the high pass filter if you have Photoshop.

Here is an image I shot on my DLSR’s macro setting in my lightbox, before and after correcting the blur with the high pass filter.
Pretty big difference for a few simple editing steps.  According to the camera guy, this fix can be more profound than a high end lens.

It is easy as pie.  Just duplicate your background layer in Photoshop, then follow the steps below.

This works best if you shoot in RAW vs. shooting in jpg, as there is more information in the RAW file, so more detail to work with when sharpening.  Most DSLRs have the option to shoot in RAW or jpg.  Shooting RAW with take up more space on your card, and requires software capable of handling the file type (which Photoshop is).  From what I have read, even if you don’t shoot RAW, you can still see improvement with this filter.
I am impressed with the difference and no longer feel the need to invest in a new lens.  Yay!  Thank you camera guy.

What are your favorite photo editing tricks?

If you want to learn more about this filter, and other sharpening methods, check out this informative guide to image sharpening at Cambridge in Colour.

Paper can be used to create stunning roses for embellishing cards, frames, gift packages and more.  The most time consuming and tedious part of the process is cutting the petal and leaf shapes, especially if you want detailed edges.  Paper shape punches have made getting great, consistent shapes easy and quick.  Now they even come in sets of shapes needed to create a variety of flowers and layered embellishments, like the rose set used in this project.

Supplies:

• Paper for petals and leaves (card stock used in this project)
• Paper glue like Glossy Accents
• Floral Rose Paper Blossom punch set by McGill (got mine at Hobby Lobby).  At amazon (click linked text) you can get the punch for all 4 petals for $12.  The set includes 3 punches (one with the 4 petals, one with the leaf shape and one snowflake for the base) and costs $40.  Had I known this, I would have gone for just the petals since they are there are so many of them for each rose.  The leaves and base would be easy to do by hand since it is only a few shapes to have to cut.
• Stylus
• tweezers or bamboo skewers or toothpicks

Instructions:

• Cut six sets of the 4 petals, one snowflake base and 2-4 leaves per rose

• Now you will use stylus and tweezers or bamboo skewer to shape petals

Now you have gorgeous paper roses to add that special touch of spring to your projects!  I used 3 of mine to embellish a frame for my niece’s high school picture.  I love how the orange roses bring out the orange in her skirt.

Make sure you come back for Wednesday’s tutorial,

another paper rose that you don’t want to miss. 

Sneak peek…

Have you had the chance to see a yarn bomb in person?  I have been fascinated with these urban landscape upgrades since I first ran across a post about them, not only because yarn art is just beautiful, but because of the commitment involved in installing these things.  If you have knitted or crocheted, you know what I am talking about.  While it can be meditative and relaxing, lets face it, it is time consuming.  I admire the selflessness of someone willing to give themselves in this way to beautify their surroundings, fiber style.

How thrilled was I when on my visit to downtown, I parked my car next to this tree cozy on Friday?

It sits in front of a splendid local yarn store, Yarns Unlimited.  I decided to go inside, and see if I could locate those responsible for this particular yarn bomb, and wouldn’t you know it… there they were!

The central knitting table was surround by six ladies, needles moving, conversation and laughter flowing.  “Did you do that?”, I asked pointing to the stylish tree.  They explained there were several contributors, each knitting a piece that was unique to their particular style.  One loves chunky yarn, so her contributions were thick and made with huge needles, another crocheted her part, and another used multiple colors.  Together they pieced their portions around the tree, commemorating their individual uniqueness and group unity, while brightening their community.

Bravo ladies!  How I would love to have participated.  I may just have to join their cozy table and hope they plan a 2nd bombing.  If you are local or ever in town, be sure and visit this store.  There are amazing pieces of fiber art, from footstools to wreaths, even wire crocheted pendants and hanging yarn globes… a definite yarn lover’s paradise.  They offer several classes, even some for free, so go on over and treat your creative self.   You know you want to see it in person.

Wait!  Don’t take out the recycling just yet.  Did you know you can turn your empty tin cans into lovely flower vases in a snap?  In just a couple of easy steps, you will be on your way to gorgeous, simple, chic decor. I think these would make great mother’s day gifts, filled with her favorite fresh florals.  How about centerpieces for that upcoming dinner party or summer barbecue?

When I say easy, I mean easy.

Supplies:

• Wall texture spray; I got mine at the local hardware store in the paint section
• Tin cans
• Distress Ink Pad by Ranger in Rusty Hinge

Instructions:

• Remove labels from cans and clean inside and out will with soapy water.  Rinse and dry with lint free cloth

• Spray cans with wall texture per can instructions on protected work surface.  I did mine with the nozzle set to fine.  I don’t think it really matters.  When you are happy with the coverage, let dry.  I let mine dry overnight. 

• If you want the rusty look, run your distress inkpad lightly over the surface of the can, randomly to achieve the desired effect.   I did this on one can, and love the look…

The End!  This is my first time ever using spray wall texture, and it was pretty darn cool.  You have not seen the last of it around here.

Have you upcycled your tin cans another way?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Working on a summer wedding’s centerpieces has gotten me in a mason jar mood.  I hope you are as inspired by browsing this list as I was by making it.  I will never look at a jar the same again!  Enjoy…

<a href="http://savedbylovecreations.com"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/johnnie231/ThriftyThurs.png" width=125 alt="ThriftyThurs Thrifty Thursday Week 62" width="125" height="125" title="Thrifty Thursday Week 62" /></a>


<a href="http://savedbylovecreations.com"><img src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304/johnnie231/FeaturedAtSBLC.png" width=125 alt="FeaturedAtSBLC Thrifty Thursday Week 62" width="125" height="125" title="Thrifty Thursday Week 62" /></a>

LINKY STUFF:

How it Works: No giveaways, shop or links to your main blog, please. That way we know when we come to Thrifty Thursday, we will only encounter DIY projects and not end up sifting through a bunch of other links. Entries not related, or to main blog pages/shops/giveaways will be deleted.
Other stuff:
*Please add a text link or my button to your post!
*2 projects from the previous week’s linky will be spotlighted, so let them know they ROCK!
*Please visit the at least the 2 blogs above you and shower them with comment love.
*Leave me a comment and let me know you were here. I love hearing from you.
*Have fun and be inspired!
*My friend Nikki knows how to throw a great party too. Be there…

FEATURES:

Kim at Made in a Day crafted this gorgeous wreath from burlap, inspired by the book page wreaths that have become so popular.  I love this version!

Bulldogs and Bullfrogs shared this lovely burlap wall art.  Check out the full tutorial there!

Missy at Lookie What I did shared this burlap covered box, to keep with this week’s burlap love!  Great tutorial over there.

PARTY!

There is nothing quite like the excitement that comes over me when I find that perfect thrift store frame.  As soon as my eyes landed on this little ornate thing, I knew exactly what I was going to do to it, what picture was going to go in it, and where it was going to sit.  That doesn’t happen for me often, so this was a treat!

Here she was as is…

I just cleaned her off with soap and water, dried her with a lint free towel, and spray painted her with Valspar for plastic in white.  Once dry, I put my pic in and placed it in this little vintage vignette.

Do you love the iron grate thingies?  I got these at a thrift store a couple of years ago.  They sat in my closet until now.  Aren’t they cool?!