Willow & Paisley

Technique Tuesday Tiles - Stencils!

 

Hey Everyone....well, since I'm not been doing much crafting these days I thought I'd pop in here to share a blog post that I did for the Technique Tuesday blog back in December.   Enjoy!  

{{p.s....I just heard about a thrift store in Calgary that I had no idea existed.  I'm not even sure how that is possible.  A co-worker told me about it and she said it's a good one!  Oh yes, I will be going there this weekend and hopefully I will have a thrifty post for you!!}}

 

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Hi Technique Tuesday Fans.  Charlene here and I have a fun little project to share with you.  I'm going to show you how I made Trivets using chipboard as stencils.  If you love chipboard you are going to have fun playing with these Tile Toppers from TT, I promise!

 

 

Here's the list of materials I used:

Technique Tuesday Tile Toppers ~~ both the Classic set and the Flora & Fauna set

Spray Paint including a clear coat

Ceramic Tiles

{{the previous homeowners left these but tiles are readily available and super cheap}}

Cork

Painters Tape

Glue and Glue Dots (which are not in the pic)

 

 

 

OK let's get started.  After choosing which designs I wanted to use I started to separate the pieces.   

 

 

 

I chose to use the "negative" portion of the Tiles as that is the areas that I wanted to be painted.  I used Glue Dots and 2 sided tape to adhere the image to the centre.   

 

 

 

Once I covered the edges of my ceramic tiles with painters tape I used the frame that I cut apart (see above) to create a border. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then outside we went!  {we as in me and my tiles...ha}  I took my chances and sprayed these on the deck even though it was a bit windy that day.  The painters drop cloth comes in very handy.  As you can see from my test sprays in the bottom right corner I couldn't decide on the Grey or the Orange paint but the grey won out in the end.  I did about 3 light sprays allowing about 10 mins to dry inbetween. 

 

 

 

Who else loves spray paint?!  I may or may not have several more cans in the basement.  I've recently heard that the fine line between collecting and hoarding is "dust".  Judging from the top of that stand I'd say I just crossed over the line.  Yikesa.  But come on people....I can't resist the temptation of picking up a new colour when I'm out and about.  {{Anyone else have these issues?  No?  Just me?}} 

 

 

 

Here are the ceramic tiles after removing the Tile Toppers and the tape.  The chipboard can be used over and over again.  The swirly frame didn't have as clean of lines but you would just use more Glue Dots in more areas to avoid that from happening.  As it is I like that it has a antique-y look.  These Trivets have also been sprayed with 2 coats of a clear sealer spray. 

 

 

 

My very last step was to cut some cork to fit and glue it on the bottom.  The E-6000 worked perfectly and that cork is not going anywhere.  

 

 

 

So there you have it.  My final product just waiting to be used at the dinner table.  While I plan for these to be used as Trivets I think they will look great displayed in the kitchen when they are not in use.  

 

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope I've inspired you to think of different ways you can use products that might originally be meant for paper crafts.  I'd love to know if you've "stenciled" anything lately.  If you have any questions at all just leave a comment and I'll pop in here to answer ya.  

 

 

 

 

Ornament Tree

 

Hey Everyone.  I want to share with you my very favorite Christmas decoration that I made this year AND my very favorite blog, Into Vintage, where the idea originally came from.  

 

This is my "Ornament Tree" and I think I just officially justified all those purchases of glass ornaments I made throughout the year by creating it.  Or at least that's my story!  Every single ornament is either vintage &/or from a thrift store with the exception of the little jingle bells.  Those are Martha Stewart (Home Depot) and I used them to fill in the small spaces.   If you ever spot vintage ornaments at Thrift stores you really should pick them up.  There are gorgeous compared to the "new" stuff in retail stores these days. 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE it!  I mean I really really love it BUT I am still IN LOVE with the original one that Amy created on her blog last December.  Hers needs to be published in a magazine.  Here it is below.  Isn't that amazing?!!

 

 

 

The "tree" is made by hooking ornaments thru the screen material on the back door in my kitchen.  I taped up some twine to get the shape and size I wanted and then just started adding the ornaments and filling in all the spaces. 

 

Because it's on my back door it really is quite temporary so I'd have to re-make it each year.  I won't mind doing that but then again I'm actually considering just storing it "as is" in the basement.  In a safe place, of course.  We never open that side of the door and the screen is always in storage anyway as I find it makes the kitchen look dark.  Maybe we will just carefully remove it and cover it with a sheet. 

 

 

 

 

Now the only reason I'm going to inundate you with a way too many photos is because I really suck at taking pictures.  I probably took 100+ photos at different times of the day and still none of them really do it justice.  I'll share some taken in different light. 

 

Thanks so much for looking and I hope you likey!  

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technique Tuesday Printable Blog Hop

 

Hi everyone!  As you may know (or not) I’m a Stamping Tech for Technique Tuesday, and I’m excited to be taking part in a blog hop today with my fellow stamping pals!

 

 

 

 

Today, all of us are playing with the new Printables that Technique Tuesday recently debuted at the scrapbook conventions they go to. These three printed sheets (Candy Cane Wishes, Harvest Time and Hocus Pocus) consist of designs you can cut up and use to decorate cards, scrapbook pages and other fun paper crafted projects. They will be available through TechniqueTuesday.com soon.

 

 

 

 

I'm always buying different and fun bottles of pop to have on hand (I'm not sure why since I only drink Diet Pepsi. Ha.)  Think Jones Soda, Pick a Pop and now these "Frosties".  The blue soda (oh how healthy are we in this household!!) seemed like the perfect choice for the "Witches Brew" label don'tcha think?  I'll save these decorated bottles to give to my neighbors kiddo's for Halloween {{note to self:  check expiry date on the pop}}.

 

 

 

 

I also threw together a card with the cut out printables.  This card took maybe 5 steps and I love how fun it turned out.  I'm gonna need to go out this weekend and buy some candy......now that I'm in the mood for Halloween, ya know!

 

 

 

 

From the comments received on all the blogs, we will pick one lucky person to win Technique Tuesday’s Verbose stamp set. 

 

This is our way of saying thanks for your comments! You don’t need to comment on all the blogs to be eligible to win. But the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

 

Comments must be posted by midnight on Sept. 2, 2011. The winner will be announced on Sept. 3rd sometime on the Technique Tuesday BLOG.  <<<--------come visit us there mmm...kay? 

 

Thanks for joining us today!  Be sure to check out the creations of these talented ladies.  I've seen a sneak peek of a few and you are in for a treat!

 

Tanis

Ashley

Daniela

Tobi

Laura

Sharyn

Kris

Jaclyn

Teri

 

 

My Next DIY Projects

 

This week I received happy mail!  I received my order of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and some Anna Maria Horner fabric for my next DIY projects.  I can hardly contain my excitement people!  If you've never heard of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint you really need to check out this post on the Perfectly Imperfect blog.  Watch the videos!!  Trust me......you will want to place an order as fast as I did once you do.  One of my all time FAV blogs for sure.  That girl is a do-er!

 

I have 2 pieces of furniture that I am going to paint.  One is a fugly curio cabinet that was destined for the donation pile and the other is a dresser that I got for free on Kijiji.  I'm hoping the curio will turn out great and I can actually use it.  The peachy sheen finish on it now is horrid.  So 80's but yet I bought it in the 90's.  Ha.  {{I'll be sure to show before and after photos once I actually do these projects.  I'm just not sure when that will be}}.

 

I won't lie.....this paint costs a pretty penny.  It is about $40 for a pint (+ shipping) but the price is well worth it to me because I will be saving time by not having to do any prep work.  This paint must be magic because no sanding or priming will be required to the furniture before I paint it.  Um, yeah.....SOLD!   If you live in Canada the only current stockist is The Melon Patch in Ontario.  Just contact Elizabeth and she will take care of you.

 

 

 

 

 

Next.  Remember this stool that I bought at a thrift store for $2.00?

 

 

 

 

I ordered this Anna Maria Horner print from Etsy to recover it with.  Oooooh it's purdy and I think it's going to look smashing!  Did I mention I have NO idea how to actually recover anything?  Come to think of it I don't know how to paint either but that's not stopping me.  Huh, how hard can it be?  Now where's my staple gun? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little stool opens up.  How cute, right?  

Have you used or purchased Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?  Do you love it?  Besides Anna Maria Horner {{of course}} my next favorite fabric designer is Joel Dewberry.  Who is your favorite fabric designer?  Do you DIY?

 

 

 

Loonie Stampers - Thickers

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!  This week Regan chose our challenge and it is to use THICKERS.  I can't imagine there is a paper crafter in the world who doesn't have at least one pack of these (ok so maybe not the entire world) but I'm sure plenty of us have our fair share. 

 

Wendy actually bought me 2 packs of Thickers which is what the birds, hearts, flower and "dreams" is from.  One pack was all pinks and the other browns.  They are a Dear Lizzy collection and I love them which she knew I would.  (Thanks BFF!)  Seriously.....how cute is it that the hearts fit perfectly into the wing space?  To. Die. For.

 

 

 

 

I made these for my 2 youngest nieces bedrooms.  The blue will be for Ryann and the green for Camryn.  Now let's just hope I get these to them before they are teenagers (they are 4.5 and 3 yrs old now) and look at me funny for nailing these to their walls beside the poster of whichever pop star will be discovered in 10 years. 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait to see what the girls did with Thickers!

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 
 

 

 

 

And hello.....can you believe I finally spray painted something???  I've been saying for well over a year that I'm going to spray paint this and that.  I've been collecting frames like they are becoming extinct and bought at least a dozen cans of spray paint too.  Don't think of it as "hoarding".  Think of it as "preparing".  It finally took me being inspired by this AMAZING project that Steph did to get me out to the back yard with paint (Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze and Krylon Ivy Leaf) and frames in hand.  So easy and so fun! 

 

 

 

 

OK I'd love to know....which one is your favorite?  The green or the blue?? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loonie Stampers Challenge - A Journal

 

 

 

As I was scheduling this post I realized it is Friday the 13th!  Frea-ky!!  {{How fitting that it was Wendy's week to come up with our challenge.  lol.}} 

 

 

 

 

Using script/text....Love it.  I made some embellishments using punched out flower shapes from the pages of an old book.  Then I stitched on an assortment of buttons and felt die cuts with embroidery thread.  The kraft journal is from Michaels dollar bin and it had a design in the centre which I covered with embossed cardstock.  I don't know about you but I am a LIST girl.  I make list after list and I cannot have enough journals.  But this one will be a cute little gift to someone when I need it. 

 

 

 

 

 

As for my big plans for the weekend I'll be heading out garage sale-ing with Steph on Saturday morning and we cannot wait.  If I find any good junk I'll be sure to share with you all on Sunday.  Here's hoping you have a fun Friday not a freaky one. 

 

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loonie Stampers Challenge 141

 

 

 

Hey everyone.....today's Loonie Challenge is to use BIRDS!  Um, ok....that just happens to be one of my most favorite things to do so I was stoked.

 

But then I have to tell you I was really inspired when I saw that Tanis made THIS!  I absolutely fell in love with it and then kept seeing more of these embroidery hoop creations.  See HERE and HERE (those are 2 of my most favorite blogs BTW....you must check them out).  That's a roundabout way to tell you that I just happen to have these.......

 

 
 

So I made this..........

 

 

 

I bought a stack of these embroidery hoops at a thrift store for 25cents and 50cents each.  I thought I might frame some really cool fabric in them but that hasn't happened yet.  {{I always seem to have grand plans that never actually happen}}. 

 

 

 

The birds are Spellbinders dies.  Can you see that I stitched the wings?  That was not easy people.  I had to use tweezers to hold it on the sewing machine.  Crazy.  The flowers are the tinyest rolled rose die from My Favorite Things and the denim is just from an old pair of jeans.

 

 

 

So there you have it.  My bird project.  Hope you likey.

 

Let's check out my DREAMY girls to see what bird goodness they came up with.

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 

 

Oh....speaking of really cool fabric.....check out my newest purchase.  Gorgeous fat quarters of fabric.  What will I do with these?  Hoard them and love them, of course.  What did you actually think I would do with them?

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Spools of Twine Goodness

 
 Hey everyone....HOW WAS YOUR CHRISTMAS?  Wonderful I hope!  I wanted to show you the gifts I made for my local crafty girlfriends.  I am part of a monthly card party with the best friends a girl could ask for.

 

I purchased the 240 yard spools of twine on-line in 8 colours.  So cost effective to buy those large spools (about 0.5 cents a yard!) and I have so much left over it'll last me forever!  Plus they just look great displayed in my craft room.  hehe.

 

 

 

I was not eager to wrap twine around 80 spools and thankfully I didn't have to.  Mike has the brilliant idea to use his cordless drill.  He stuck the spool on the end of it and spun that twine around each one in no time.  That was such a time saver ~~~ especially since he did them all for me. 

This photos shows the first 4 sets of 8 colours that were complete.

 

 

 

I bought 80 empty vintage spools on Etsy.  They are SO awesome and with shipping to Canada they worked out to be about 50 cents each.  That was enough spools to make 10 sets with 8 different coloured twines.  That might seem expensive for a spool but it was only $4 per set plus the cost of twine per spool (which really couldn't have been more than another 50 cents if I had to guess).  So for about $8 (if that) per gift I was thrilled!  Last year the girls got a $10 Starbucks gift card and this is so much cuter, don'tcha think?

 

 

 

Here's how I packaged them up.  I think the girls really liked them.  Now I have to think of something just as fun for next Christmas!

 

 

 

 




 

Embellish Magazine - My Time Made Easy

 

 

If you know me then you know I am scared to death of anything digi or techy.  I am totally computer challenged.  So I'm kinda smiling that I actually....printed and used a template and digi paper.  I know...I know....not rocket science but still......Yay, me.  {I'm trying to forget that it took me 5 hours, however, to make this}} 

Our fabulous sponsor is none other than My Time Made Easy.  I'm sure you all know Lauren Meaderand how wonderfully talented she is.  Well, she has this really great on-line store with acrylic stamps, digi stamps, digi papers and brilliant templates.  Seriously....the girl is brilliant and I am in awe that she creates these templates.

 

 

 

Here is my project.  I used Carry It template, Dashing Through the Snow stamp set, and Darling Dots 2digital patterned paper.  I can't believe how really easy it was to print the template on the digi paper and make the box but the real fun was in the decorating it of course.

 

This little box would be perfect for packaging up some Burnt Sugar Almonds for a gift.  {I am so making these almonds.....and then eating them myself}

 

 

 

We'd love for you to play along.  It's as simple as creating a holiday themed project (anything goes....cards, scrapbook page, template etc) using the colours noted in the polaroids of the graphic above.  Then go ahead and link up your project over at Embellish Magazine for all to see.   You stand a great chance at winning stamps from My Time Made Easy.

 

 

 

Here's a quicky card I made with bits and pieces I had leftover after playing.   Have a wonderful day everyone.

 

 

Embellish Magazine - It's in the Bag!

 

 

I'm really excited to introduce you to our newest sponsor.....It's in the Bag.  Not only is it an Etsy store that carries a great selection of bags but the owner is Michelle Phillipi who's blog I follow ....because quite frankly the girl cracks me up!  She's super talented, funny and she can coupon like nobodys business (something we can't do here in Canada so it intrigues me).  I didn't connect the 2 until I saw who our sponsor was and was thrilled to make the discovery.   After you go check out her Etsy store be sure to check out her uber fun blog!

 

 

 

I chose to use the Kraft Window Coffee Bag to alter today.  I love this bag.  I purposely left it empty but the sky is the limit what you can fill it with.  Especially all you crafty bakers out there.  How nice would it be to give your neighbor or co-worker a sweet baked treat in a great kraft bag like this?  It's totally lined with the cellophane....oh excuse me....it's a "Laminated poly liner".  Totally food safe!

{sorry about the pics.....it is not easy to take a pic without glare from that window people!}

 

 

 

Now it's your turn to play along with our little challenge!

Theme:  Bags - decorate a bag, make a bag, die cut a bag.  Did I mention the theme was bags?  lol.

Colors:  Dark Pink, Black, Light Pink, Gray

Make your fabulous creation and then head on over to Embellish Magazine blogto add it to Mr. Linky....for your chance to win a prize of course.  I can't wait to come and check out every single entry.  Good luck everyone!

 

 

 

 My frame is one of Technique Tuesdays Tile Toppers.  I spray painted it in a glossy white but I'm not sure you can tell in the pics.  Awesome chipboard I tell ya!