WOYWW 128

Pardon the glare from my new set of stamps, but I'm not allowing myself to remove them from the packaging until I've finished my December projects. Only I keep working on some older projects, so the stamps are still encased (Wizard of Oz stamps by Graphic45). The Winter Distress Inks have arrived and just waiting to be used :D. The little pink house and tree are Puffies going to be made into rings and there is a lot of scrap left over from yesterday's post (another mini banner). Lots of birthdays coming up as well as Christmas. Everything gets entered into my project log, first as the idea, then all the fleshing out, then I put it in my Gypsy (if it's got Cricut bits). Then it hits the workdesk. It keeps me from feeling overwhelmed (at least until I look at my Christmas Crafty Days countdown lol).

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander at workdesks from around the world! Better yet, take a photograph of your crafty space and join in the fun :D.

No Place Like Home Mini Banner

Everything for the No Place Like Home Mini Banner comes from the Club Ruby Designers So Thankful Kit except for the cotton twine and the Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue (LOVE this stuff).

I glued the twine to the Jubilee cut in 4 places, leaving the twine unattached everywhere else, that glue is strong btw and flexible. I put a small line of glue on the twine and then put the pennants on the glue.

Jubilee mat 9.43" x 4.26"
Mat 6.75" x 2" with corners rounded using 1/2" Corner Chomper.

The mini banner holder directions can be found here.

Chalk it Up to Experience.

You might remember the Magnet/Chalkboard project I posted a little while ago. I had one problem that would not go away. I kept losing the chalk lol. And it's difficult to keep a proper count-down if the chalk is missing.

So, I came up with this, a chalk harness. And all you need to make one is a piece of chalk and some string. So no more wandering chalk and the string can be undone and reused when the chalk wears down to the nub. Tie a loop at the end and put a hook up next to the board and no more lost chalk :D.

 Put the end of the string near the end of the chalk.

 Loop as illustrated, and slowly tighten to fit snugly around chalk. If you tighten it too fast and hard, the chalk will snap, you can guess how I know that lol.

Continue to add loops til it's near the top.

Making the Tiny Cuts

I'm the guest designer at The Bugbytes today! Today I made two Eeyore cuts from the Pooh and Friends cartridge into a pair of earrings using my Gypsy and Paper Layerz. I started with the large image and hid all the cuts that weren't essential on both layers. Then I shrank them to the size I wanted and cut them out.

I made a wash out of Dusty Concord Distress Ink by swiping it on my nonstick mat.

And then spritzing it with water. Only I was so close to the mat when I spritzed, so it made a spatter. Good if you want a spatter lol.

I used an Aqua Brush to paint over the cuts left to make them stand out and to edge everything. Repeated brush strokes to make some areas darker. Uniball White Gel Pen for the whites of the eyes. A tiny hole punch for the earring wires to fit into and after everything had dried Triple Thick Glaze by Art Deco as a finish (which is awesome because it doesn't cause the warping of a lot of other glazes). After I took the picture it occurred to me I could have flipped the image of one set lol. Something for next time :D.

WOYWW 126

I've been in a bit of a crafting frenzy. The tower of Distress Inks grows, they keep wandering out of their storage, which makes me think I need to re-think their storage. The Color Box chalk ink only gets to come out once in a while lol. The little house is scuttling about, today it's on top of the lazy susan, which reminds me I have to get working on another post.

And speaking of Distress Inks, did you see the new Winter Seasonal Distress Inks? To quote George Takei, Ohhhhh My!

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture of your crafty space and join in the fun!

Mini Banners as Home Decor

I love banners, but a full-size banner is not always practical. Mini-Banners can add a festive touch without the need for space that full-sized banner requires.

They can add fun to the refrigerator with clip on magnets.

Or to the table with this homemade set of banner holders, made with two large toy wooden wheels (2.5"), some marbles and some dowels cut into 7" lengths.  Tall enough to be decorative, short enough to be be seen over, and open enough for children to see through. I painted on sealer, then white acrylic paint, then more sealer. I'm going to try spray paint for the next batch.

I added all the marbled and then the glass drops so the banner holders would be resistant to tipping. Gorilla glue worked well to attach the marbles and glass drops.

The tops are made with eyehooks screwed into the dowel and then the open side of the eye hook gently twisted to the side to make an open hook.

Chalk it up to Magnetism!

I'm just tickled pink with this one, it's so versatile. It's a chalk and magnet board. It can be used as a countdown board, a menu board, a caption board. The photo corners are attached to magnets so the sign or photo is lifted away from the board about 1/4 of an inch. The American Crafts Chalk Paper is included in the October 2011 Club Ruby Designers' kit.

Board

Step 1. Cut a 12" x 12" square out of foamboard and paint it black. I didn't cut it with my Cricut by the way, it's just where I photographed it.

Step 2. Glue on galvanized tin step flashing. I used several sheets. I didn't go all the way to the edges because I wanted to make sure the paper was attached to the foam board around the edge.

The leftovers are very useful, so don't throw them out. None of my local hardware stores sold this, so I had to order it online. If you are shopping locally, it's helpful to carry a magnet with you to test for magenetism. Just don't carry it next to your credit cards, or other things that are affected :D.

Step 3. Glue on the Chalk Paper.

Step 4. Attach a hanger. I made one out of two pieces of grungeboard with holes for the string and attached them to the back of the foamboard with Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue.

Magnetic Photo Corners

Step 1.  Cut cardstock into 2 1.5" x 1.5" squares.

Step 2. Fold in half as shown.

Step. 3. Fold in half in the other direction.

Step 4. Open and apply glue in 1 quarter of the square and fold in half. If you glue more than a quarter, there won't be a pocket to stick the sign in.

Step 5. Apply glue to 1 quarter of the square. Attach magnet to back.

Supplies:
American Crafts Chalk Paper
ProMag Magnets
Galvanized Tin Step Flashing (used for roofing, but don't get the aluminium that is also used).
Foam Board Black Acrylic Paint