Valentine's Day calls for something a little special!

How do you change a drab black purse into something totally fabulous (in my opinion at least!) Add a gorgeous flower!!! Here is the before of a purse in my closet:

It works - but gets a little boring, don't ya think?? Todd and I are going to a Valentine's Day dance - a first for us. We usually don't really celebrate, but what the heck, right? He was kind enough to take me to Talbot's today to look for a sweater to wear (he did wait outside in the truck - so I did have to hustle a little!) I found a cute red cardigan with rhinestone buttons and it was on sale! SCORE!!

So, I came home and started thinking about accessories - I love purses. No, seriously it is an addiction. I knew I had this cute little number in the "bin" but it just needed a little something. TADA:
I constructed this "flower" out of some red raw silk fabric I had laying around doing nothing! I hot glued a pin on the back and added it to the purse. I just love it!!! Here is a closer look at the flower. If you want to know how I made it, just let me know!

Ok! Enough posts for today! Happy Valentine's Day.

Denise

Ummm, what time did you say it was???

It took awhile, but i realized I had no clock in my craft room - that can be a good and bad thing. Some days you can kinda forget that the kids like to eat meals - within a prescribed time frame!! I will be up there in my room, crafting away, oblivious to the sounds of starving children (yeah right) in the living room! So, to remedy the situation I made this clock. I started with a 10"x10" canvas frame (1/2 price at Joann's) I covered that with fabric (I think this particular piece came from Key West Fabrics) and then topped it all off with a clock kit (also from Joann's - used a coupon for that.) All told I probably spend about $10 to make this!

Denise

Sewing supplies organizer

Always looking for your scissors? I made this with a variety of scraps I have laying around. Took all of 30 minutes to throw this together! I think the ruffle on the bottom pocket took the longest.

Denise

Have a ball!

I know these glass balls are usually reserved for christmas crafts, but I was bored - stuck inside for the umpteenth day in a row and I decided to play around. I put about 20 drops of Green Galore re-inker from Stampin' up in the ball and swirled it all around. I then added some glittered acrylic paint and swirled that on top of the green color. Turned it upside down and let it dry. I used one of the Sharpie paint pens to paint my name and the polka dots.

Looks cute hanging in my craft room!

I have more posts for today - compilations of crafts during the snow days. Enjoy!

Denise

Another snow day?!?!?!?!?!

OK, Seriously, I live in VIRGINIA! This is our 3rd major snow storm of the year - we are all going to be a little stir crazy when this weekend is over. The latest estimates put the snow at possible 36" before all is said and done. Really - 3 feet!! Ugh! On the bright side - i am getting some crafting done. In today's post, I think you will see a trend emerging...It is the "Help me, I need Spring" theme. While all the snow is falling and we can't get out to the craft stores, the grocery stores or anything else for that matter, take a gander at these projects and think about Spring - maybe even summer and enjoy a little picnic in the warm sunshine. Can't you feel it on your skin right now?


Project one was all about the invitation! You are cordially invited to a picnic with me! Let's imagine what we would have in the basket - fried chicken, some coleslaw, biscuits, brownies - some lemonade for the kiddos and perhaps some wine for us big kids. I can hear the kids running around playing a game of wiffle ball. Right?? The stamps, solid papers & buttons I used all came from Papertrey Ink (the ant was a random stamp I have in the collection...and the picnic plaid paper I got a Joanne Fabrics)

Here is a close up of the ants marching across the picnic cloth. I love the "Let's do lunch" bit! I couldn't just leave this as the only picnic related project...I am totally in love with the next one!




Remember the recycling of my kids jeans that I have been doing? Well, I had some random "legs" left and I was trying to figure out what to do with them - so I came up with the cutest little napkin rings!! I got the overall button parts at Joanne's along with some adorable cherry fabric and some large white ric-rac. The red and white checked ribbon is just a random ribbon from my rather extensive stash of ribbons. I just love the way these turned out, can you tell? I added a couple more shots so you can see the cherry fabric too.

Hopefully, I will get some more projects done before the storm is over! Until then,

Denise!

New room, new inspirations

Now that I have my awesome new crafting space, I started to hit up on my new year's resolution - finish the multitude of craft projects I have had laying around for MONTHS!!

I looked at my facbric closet (oy!) and decided to start using some of it. I started with this cute fabric cube - it will hold some of the mountainous supply of fabrics that I own.



These purses I found 1/2 finished in a plastic bin the basement. Seriously only took me about 20 per purse to finish - why did I leave them just sitting there - for 3 years??? They turned out cute.


And finally, because I love me!! I dressed up this plain jane letter "D" with some of my ribbon stash.

Craft Room Makeover - the after pictures!

Here, finally is the room!! I would still like to paint, I have a light yellow called Shortbread, picked out. Just dont' have the energy to paint yet.

When you walk in the door you are greeted by the Stampin Up Armoire. Can you believe I got this at a yard sale for $10?? I painted it inside and out and put new hardware on it. But what an amazing storage piece for such a low price tag.


I finally have the storage space for all of my Stampin up stamp sets. I can really see what I have and start putting them to use again. I am getting excited to start doing some crafting.




The bed is dressed with a pink and white striped comforter and has a green and white polka dot blanket and pillow. Just girly enough!!! The french memo boards are one of my projects - there are three more that are almost done leaning over by the door. Just need to find the best buttons to accent them!


I do have quite a stash of buttons - they are all from Papertrey Ink and I got the cute little spice jars from World Market. They are the perfect size to hold the bag of vintage buttons. The shelf holding the buttons came from my Mother -in-law. It was a plate shelf she had in the attic. I painted it up and backed it with the blue gingham fabric. I think it is such a cute background! The white storage unit came from Target and I put it together and backed some of the cubbies with pink paper with white polka dots. Love it!
I got this storage cabinet from Target too. The ribbon holder above came from Michaels and so did the tool organizer on the top. I use this cabinet for storage for my cricut and other handy tools! Like my binding machine. Soon, my Letterpress set will go here as well. I got one for Christmas - but it is backordered until the end of January...patience!!
This is my desk. I got the desk on clearance from a kids furniture store. I think I paid $25 for it! The board on the back I covered with ribbon and it dressed it up just enough.


This unit holds all of my clear stamps and other non SU stamps that needed a home. It is full - so I may need another one in the future - Did I mention that I am going to Michaels today???

Craft Room Makeover - the before pictures

**WARNING** This post could scare you!!! These are the awful messy before pictures of my girl/craft room/mommy space.



Scared yet?? I didn't even get the full affect of how much stuff I really have. Oh, and yeah! I have a 60% off coupon for Michaels - and yes, I am going today!!

Sick day crafts

I guess there is something to be said about being home with a sick kid, I got some crafting done! Cody is now old enough not to want to sit on my lap all day when he doesn't feel good. As a matter of fact, he just took over the recliner and watched t.v. all day - in between his naps, that is! Ok...on to the good stuff.

This was the first project of the day. I bought these frames at either Michaels or Joanne months ago. They came in a 4 pack and I think I maybe paid $4 for them. I dug into my massive button supply and just started gluing. I needed a perfect frame for the picture my 8year old drew for me. In the picture, he is wearing a shirt with an arrow pointing to me that says "I love her." I have a shirt with an arrow pointing to him saying "I love him." He also added a picture of Yogi Bear and Boo Boo bear. So cute!!

When I finished that, I was so proud of myself I decided to try something else...

Here are the "ingredients" I used a small jar from some Classico Pesto sauce and some scraps of fabric, foam and batting to get the project under way - oh, and of course the very important hot glue gun!!



I cut out some circles of foam and glued them to the lid of the jar. Next, I cut a circle of batting and started gluing the batting on top of the foam - pulling a little tightly to make it "pouf."

After that, I glued the circle of pink fabric to the batting, trimmed it all pretty and tied it up with some striped grosgrain ribbon. What do you think about my productive day???

Happy New Year!

The holidays are over and it is time once again to start fresh! Will I be a better blogger? Will I post more than 5 times this year? That all remains to be seen.

Jon (my 8yr old) asked what my new years resolution is...I took some time and really thought about it and decided that it would be to finish some of the gazillion projects I found lying around in my craft stuff.

I have moved into a new crafting space and haven't even begun to make heads or tails out of all of my "Junk." Right now it is just a HUGE mess. I will post a little later the before / after shots of the new space. The before is really a little scary. Who knew I had that much stuff???

I have this picture posted...doesn't he make you happy?? He does me.

For a friend...

It is always hard when your friends move away. When I was growing up, my dad was in the Navy and it was usually me who was moving. We lived in 7 different places before I was in 7th grade! I always had numerous pen pals and I guess that is where my fascination with stationary and cards began. Last month one of my best friends from college left the great state of Virginia for new opportunities in the also great state (not as great as Virginia, but who is??) of Ohio. I have made the card to send her along with a little box of goodies.

I also got lucky enough to have a business trip in Dayton, OH last week. Do you know how thrilled I was to learn that Dayton and Columbus are only and hour away?? Well, that sealed the travel deal for me and I pulled off the BIGGEST surprise by showing up on her doorstep. Her husband was in on the plan with me - but she had no idea. I loved it and got to spend almost 24 hours with them.

Here is the card I am sending:

I used a Stampin up! set (Branch Out) for the tree, bird & swing. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink's set (Boards & Beams).

I used SU! Read red, chocolate chip, black, and various shades of green for the colors. The button is also from Papertrey Ink's vintage

button collection.

My favorite part of the card is definitely the "rope" I used for the swing! I decided to try and use twine (also from Papertrey ink!) and using an embroidery needle was able to sew the twine on to look like rope! I really do like the way it turned out. What do you think?

Recycling at its craftiest!

I have to say, most crafters out there are natural recyclers! We save everything, always with the notion that one day I know I am going to use that again. Well, I also have 2 sons and boy do they grow out of clothes SO FAST. Everytime I am bagging things up to send out to Goodwill, I think - gosh this is nice stuff, how can I use this??

I finally found another way to recycle old jeans. I posted pictures of the jeans purse I made awhile back - here now is the Ohh la la Denim French Memo Board

SO, do you have any creative ideas on how to recycle your kids old clothes into beautiful craft projects??

Latest Creation

Months have gone by and I haven't posted any of the stuff I have been doing. This is the latest. Jon has finally grown out of his size 5's (yes, he is almost 8). So, instead of sending them off to good will, I cut them up and made purses out of them! This is the first one I have completed. When I showed Todd, he said that it is probably the best thing I have made. Here are a couple more shots...

What do you think? Cute, huh? Well the kids are fighting and the dog needs to pee - I better head out!

February has gotten me into the total organization mood - all those great mags that come out in January must have done it!

I have to take pictures of my new crafting space. It is almost where I want it to be. Just a couple more cabinets and I am good! Both the boys rooms have been re-organized and really look great. I am starting to get the home office together and I will post photos of everything once I am done.

I recently uploaded several old pictures to my facebook page - here is a really great one -

this is me and my big brother - circa 1970??

Anwyay, I will be better about posting. More to come soon.

New Year - time to try new things

OK - it has only been what, 7 months since I have posted...I am going to try and be better about that. We will see. I have many new things I am going to be using/trying this year -

I got a Cricut for Christmas. I hope to make some fun new projects with that.
I got a mini stepper for Christmas. Let's hope I can make my muffin top dissapear.

So far this break (yeah I took 2 weeks off of work!!!) I made curtains for the den, a cute little purse (pictures to come) from my 7yr old's old jeans, and I addressed birthday cards for everyone all the way through May!

Has anyone else out there tried Tastebook.com? I am going to be trying to create my own cookbook from all the recipe cards and written pieces of paper rolling around in my cabinet. It's pretty easy and I hope the results are as cool as they look.

Lisa Banner

Ok, can you tell that I am a little bored! Of course I have SOOOOO much I should/could be doing - but hey, this is OJT, right? My friend Lisa owns a cute little boutique in Lynchburg, Virginia and just to play around I made this for her.

Watermark for photos

This is my first attempt at creating a watermark to put on my photos/cards before loading them to my blog. Simple, clean look. Photoshop takes a long time to figure out, but I am getting there! I am going to try this for some other things as well. Who knows!