SPELLBINDERS GRAND CALIBUR GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I was invited to make a few felt crafts with my Spellbinder dies and do a little review for CRAFTGOSSIP.COM in the felting crafts section.  I made a Kindle cover, a heart shaped treat holder and an owl all from Spellbinders die shapes and felt. 

Hop on over to CRAFTGOSSIP.COM to get a closer look at the projects and ENTER THE CONTEST!!! The winner will receive a GRAND CALIBUR MACHINE AND THREE OF THE NEW EDGEABILITIES DIES!!!

This giveaway will run from today January 23, 2012 through February 6th. Good Luck!

LINK PARTIES

BATHROOM CURTAIN

When I was on vacation I decided to redo the bathroom decor.  It went from purple and olive to aqua and brown.  I am not really loving it though so it may go through another metamorphosis.  The rugs were falling apart though so I had to do something and I got some pretty aqua rugs on sale at JC Pennys.  I couldn't find anything I liked for a curtain so I found this fabric ( I think at Joann's but I am not sure now) and made a simple one for the time being.

I jazzed it up a little with some pretty rose ribbon.

Quick and easy and in the "it'll do for now" category. I am always so grateful that I learned to sew (thanks mom)it comes in pretty handy some times. Hopefully with the success of Project Runway it won't continue to be a dying art. Speaking of PR, I just adore Austin. So talented and so much quirky fun to watch!

SIDE TABLE RE-DO

This is a painting project I did last fall.  I needed a little side table for our entry way and I found this little table in a re-sale shop.  It was a dreadful maroonish color which had been layered over numerous other colors.   I new it would be some work to get it where I wanted it but it was the perfect size and shape. I also had been looking for quite a while for something that would fit and that didn't cost a bundle. 

Not sure what happened to the top but it looked awful and was uneven from the paint and chips.

I had to sand that baby down to the raw wood with an electric sander.

The bottome part wasn't as bad so it just got a once over with some hand sanding.

I used a coat of Rustoleum's  Ultra Cover 2X primer in grey.  The top was painted in heirloom white and the bottom dark walnut.

This is my fancy paint set-up, a cardboard box, so I don't paint the grass.  The bottom got 3 coats of the walnut color.  It is a really pretty rich and  deep brown. 

To paint the top, I taped off the edges in green frog tape and wrapped newspaper around the base.

The top got three coats of the Heirloom white.  It is a sweet, creamy, off white that went very well with the walnut.  I also distressed the edges a smidge with some fine grit sandpaper.  I went over the entire piece with clear Fiddes and Sons wax.

I was pleased with how it turned out considering this was only my second furniture painting project.  I want to add some print to the top eventually but that may have to wait till next summer's vacation. 

IN THE MEAN TIME.....

I have been busy on a couple projects and trying to get my daughter ready for college next year so I haven't spent much time blogging.  I forgot how many things are involved in getting ready for college- tours, housing, financial aid, etc., etc. In the mean time, to (hopefully) keep you amused, I am going to show some stuff I did last fall but never got around to posting. 

I made this hands free purse to lug around a book and camera to my kids events.  It is big enough to carry all the stuff I need but not too big.  It is sort of like a back pack too in that it goes over the shoulder so it doesn't keep slipping off like a regular purse.  Love this pattern and the fabric I found at my local quilt shop.

I modified the strap by making it a sling as apposed to what the pattern looks like.  It was easier to make and easier to wear.

The front has a little pocket for my phone, another for my chapstick and change and a zipper pouch.  I also added velcro along the inner edge of the top so things wouldn't spill out. 

I have gotten a lot of use out of this and I used the leftover fabric to make my kids advent stockings.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

PERSONALIZED THANK YOU

I don't know what happened but I had to re-post this. The scroll feature on blogger disappeared??? Sorry about getting the same thing again but I didn't know how to fix it other than deleting and re-posting.

This is a Thank you card ( for all those Christmas gifties) featuring my kids.  I have a tutorial on how it was made at THE HYBRID CHICK. 

Sorry again if you already saw this!

LINKY PARTIES

A FLOWER 4 U (oh yeah and happy new year)

WHEW....... That is a huge sigh of relief that the holidays are over. I apologize for being a grinch but I don't love this time of year.  I wake up every morning with a thousand things on my to do list. There is just too much too.  Too much running around, too much stress, too much commercialism, too much shopping (did I mention I hate shopping).   Now I can get back to waking up with only a hundred things on my to do list!

I do wish you all a very HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR though because you all deserve it! And I want to THANK YOU for visiting my blog and especially for your kind and supportive comments they are always greatly appreciated.

The flower above has been one of those things on my "to do" list for a very long time and I finally had time to give it a try.  Not totally satisfied with it but it was a decent start.