Faux Metal Mania! {got cardboard?}

Howdy friends! I spent most of today with sticks and twine and vinyl preparing for a cub scout project this weekend, the boys are earning their craftsman weblo pin and we are making badge and belt loop display boards to commemorate their years of cub scouting before they cross over to boy scouts. My friend Kathy J had the idea so to give the den leader a hand we decided to prepare the craft. I wish I snapped a photo of the prototype since this is a blog after all with photo capability LOL! Oh well, I’ll get a pic this weekend I guess:)  The other day I was playing in my studio with cardboard and hot glue and came up with two ways to make faux metal, first up pewter/silver:

And now grungy gold.

Try these techniques with the metallic paints you have in your stash, remember to use warm colors and browns in your warm metals like gold, bronze, copper or brass and blacks and greys in your silvers and cool metals. Have fun with it! Oh hot glue, is there anything you can not do? thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

One Sheet Wonderful!

Apparently I have been under a rock because I have never heard about one sheet wonder cards. Basically you chop up a sheet of patterned paper into a bunch of sizes and make a bunch of cards with it. It is a great way to stretch supplies or make the most of a favorite paper. Here is my first attempt:

Another thing I like about this clean and simple style of cardmaking is that it is a great way to showcase a focal point, in this instance some watercolor pencil stamped sea images from About Art Accents. I’ll show you a simple trick for cutting the sheet of patterned paper (we are going to dig out a moldy-oldie) and I’ll show you my latest method for using watercolor pencils to stamp. Have a look:

Here is the card from the video close up:

I had used up all of my paper before I made that card but hey, I think it is pretty without it. Sometimes I get carried away experimenting with my mediums and I end up with pretty little stamped panels but I have no way to use them all, this is perfect!

I keep all of my white scraps in a coupon organizer sorted by brand. I used my cheapest white cardstock for this (Gerogia Pacific) so I just kept experimenting on scraps until I got the result I wanted. This is my favorite!

I like this one too:

Since these cards are flat I can stamp a sentiment on them later with a clear stamp and have a custom card when I need it!

Or I can leave it blank.

I made some envelopes to match and put everything in a paper folder, both templates can be found at Green Sneakers.

Closed up, neat and tidy!

I made 12 cards in a sitting! Not bad.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Have a seat!

Hello friends! After filming my Mardens haul video yesterday I had a bit of a panic because I had two fabric projects looming in my future so I thought “Hey, I’ll replace the cover on my butterfly chair now because that will be a quick and easy project.” You can probably guess where this is going huh? You’ve probably even uttered those words at the start of a project. But it never goes as quickly or easily as expected. How hard can it be, it is basically a pillow case with flaps on the back to hook it to the chair. Or so I thought.  I decided in preparation for my jacket lining project I would use a seam ripper to take the cover apart and remove the cushion inside than trace the old fabric on to the new fabric. Well, there were more pieces to that sucker than I imagined, the seams would not come apart and I ended up just tearing the rip in the back (that is why I am recovering it BTW) to remove not one rectangle cushion but two asymmetrical cushions and I immediately forgot what way they went in as soon as they came out! Crapola, I have no clue how to even begin this project and I am beginning to doubt the 3 yards of fabric will be sufficient to finish it (I was too cheap to shell out the extra $3.99 for another yard.) I took a deep breath and pondered my lot. I grabbed some paper, a measuring tape and figured out a way to make the cover from scratch with re-enforced pockets to hold the cushion on the frame. I laid the old cover on my material a couple of times to make sure I could fit my pieces before I cut and I sewed that sucker good! What do you think?

This is my favorite spot to crochet. I like to sit criss-cross applesauce in this chair and crochet while watching TV. I’m happy to report that it works just fine! The kids have been in it a lot today but they have been warned not to jump on it for I will tolerate no shenanigans that cause another rip in the back. I am not sewing another one! I think that I will keep my eyes peeled (at Mardens of course) for a 40″ zipper so I can undo the top seam and insert a zipper so the cover and be washed but that can be done anytime. I am happy with it. My husband thinks the fabric looks like lawn furniture. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time we had lawn furniture in the living room! 😀 I see what he means though. So, what are you making this weekend? I hope it goes as smooth as you hoped for. Til next time happy crafting!

I bought it, when I saw it!

At Mardens! LOL! Happy Friday folks, anyone who has lived in Maine will know EXACTLY what I am referring to! I had a super fun day today shopping with my friend Kathy J. She wanted my opinion on some fabric she was buying to cover bulletin boards in a Montessori school she is opening and I needed some materiel to re line my favorite coat so off to Mardens we went! Well, my friends, I came back with more than 1 cut of fabric. I had been furiously knitting through my yarn stash before the holidays and I wanted to get some new yarn but I decided that I would just wait until Mardens got a good sale in, well, that happened today! Wanna see what I bought? Well, OK, as long as you are not married to me you can watch today’s video:

Crazy deals huh? they had a bunch of scrap booking stuff just in too and loads of beads but I did not really investigate that too much as I have a small bead hoard at the moment…make that fairly large stockpile. They had a lot of craft books too that I thought about picking up as gifts, I might have to go back…but then I’d look at the beads (they even had a pallet of boxes they hadn’t even unpacked yet!) oh, I definitely need to go back LOL! No, I really better not. Clearly my willpower is not the best at that store:) I did, however already recover the chair I bought the decorator fabric for, it turned out OK, I always think of ways I’d do it differently if I had it to do over but that’s the way it goes when you try something new! I’ll get a photo of the chair in the daylight to share with you tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed my shopping share and if you live near a Mardens you might want to stop in to see if there is any yarn you can’t live without (I have to say some was at the front of the store and the rest was near the fabric department, sneaky.)

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Ask a Crafter 19! I’m flying solo!

Hello friends. Well, Lorraine flew south this week so despite our best attempts (thwarted by Mother Nature) I had to host this episode alone. I did get to all the questions though! If you have a question for next weeks episode please leave it in the comments section of the Ask a Crafter 19 video. I am trying to streamline things in my busy bloggy life and that way I won’tr miss any (I hope!). Without further ado, here is this weeks Ask a Crafter!

I hope you enjoyed it and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Make Paper Drums!

Hello friends! What a busy week! For those of you expecting an Ask a Crafter episode it will be posted tomorrow or you can catch it shortly on my YouTube channel. Every month I teach a craft class for children at my local library. I really enjoy the January craft as we celebrate Chinese New Year, it is fun to work up a project for each years zodiac sign, 2014 is year of the horse. check out the fun paper drums I made:

I used supplies from Papermart, stamps from About Art Accents and a few general crafting supplies to make these, watch the video to see how:

As I mentioned in the video I like to choose supplies from Papermart that can be used for many crafts because they come in generous amounts. The rat-tail cord is beautiful in my handmade jewelry, top quality really, but it is cheap enough that I can use it for kids crafts too. The gold paper doilies add glitz and ribbon and raffia can be used for nearly every craft if bought in generic themes and colors. I hope you try this craft with your children or grandchildren. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

It’s a Circus in here!

Howdy friends! I have been digging through old supplies and putting my colored pencils back in the tins they came in rather than the racks I have been storing them in. I miss having them portable, especially in this cold weather when I’d rather curl up by the fire and color instead of being downstairs. What started this new storage project was coloring with a new set of 12 Derwent Coloursoft pencils:

I forgot how much i loved playing with regular old waxy colored pencils, the thing I like most is that they are semi opaque and really stand out on colored paper. Watch the video to see what I mean!

So after playing with that small tin of pencils I decided that ALL of my pencils and crayons need to be portable…that is until I decide I need them all out again, it’s madness I tell you. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint Orchids! {a free video tutorial & one for sale!}

Howdy friends! Well, here we are again, another snow day…er, make that rain day! It poured buckets today, it was crazy, I am so glad that we did not lose power today or my studio would have been underwater for sure. I always said I wanted an indoor pool LOL! Oh well, the kids had a good day lazing around playing with Christmas toys and I got a new tutorial in my shop! First I am going to share a free easy orchid sketch you can paint in watercolor pencils then I will show you my tutorial for sale if you want to improve your painting:

Here is the PDF tutorial available in my shop, it is watercolor paint and you will learn a lot of techniques while painting this easy orchid watercolor painting. You get a printable pattern to trace on your watercolor paper with the kit so it takes the guesswork out of drawing and you can get right to the painting! And, hey, it’s only $3. 😀

I hope you enjoyed the free painting video and might consider one of my many painting tutorials for sale at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Make fishtail earrings {or bracelets} with a homemade loom!

Howdy friends! The Rainbow Loom craze is still in full swing at my house and this is becoming the most popular stitch they like to make:

The best part is you can make your own loom (although the blue rainbow mini loom is the most coveted loom in the house!)

I prefer the binder clip and scrap of cardboard loom myself, watch to see how to make the fishtail style bracelet and earrings. If you are making earrings you will need a pair of earwires but you won’t need a c clip. Watch the video to see how:

Have fun making these with your kids and grandchildren! I have a couple more Rainbow Loom tutorials on my YouTube Channel if you are interested and while you are there subscribe so you don’t miss any videos!  Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!