Creativity Box

My niece Becca is in her second year of college.  She is intelligent, beautiful, fun, and tells me I'm a good cook so I officially want to adopt her!  (Sorry Candice--I need some girls!) 

Last week I made her a creativity box.  She was complaining that she didn't have any art supplies at college to be creative with and I told her I'd make her something.

This KIT has a little of everything in it: some stuff for painting, drawing, journaling, collage, sewing....

To make a creativity box,  just glue book paper to a cigar box and paint it (I used acrylics).  I was inspired by a technique I saw on Pam Garrison's blog that she uses to make her journals.  I also used some washi tape on the edges so the paper wouldn't come up, but you could also seal it with decoupage glue.

Inside, glue papers to the top and bottom of the box.
DId you notice I used Julie's idea for making a little sewing kit out of an altoid's box? I also made her a sketchbook out of a manila envelope.  Make sure you fill it with lots of fun, creative things!

What does your creativity box look like?  We'd love to see!

Happy Day!
Amanda

FOR THE LOVE OF JUNK

     Last time I posted about some of my favorite places to go junking in Salt Lake, and now I'll show you some of my cool new treasures I found at one of those places! Georges Salvage  Georges shop isn't open only but a few hours a week but I just happened to have a Saturday off work so we ran up. It's definitely an odd shop of sorts  that has isles jam packed to the ceiling with old doors, windows, hardware, lighting parts and many unexpected odds and ends mixed in. I think you'd have to visit fairly often because new items arrive daily. Just ask George what you're looking for and he might know where to find it! (If not, he'll search till he does.) Definitely worth a look see, and definitely worth a chat with George himself! He's quite the character! Well anyway enough about George, here are the treasures/junk I found there.

I needed lighting and a chair for my work room, and who can resist old lettering?

I thought this would make great storage space for sewing notions, and I always love vintage lighting.

I got this great architectural door jam to hang for a decoration over my bed.

This shows some of the amazing detail in the piece.

There were a  ton of these bright feed sacks with zippers and handles (For carrying more junk, lol).

Finally I got this cool door/mirror for my hallway.

 My tips for going to Georges are to, 1- wear grungy clothes because it's a bit dusty. 2- prepare to spend a lot of time rummaging through piles and aisles of stuff. 3- Don't hurry. 4-If you have something in mind but can't find it, ask George. 5- go again if you didn't find that special something you were looking for because chances are he just hasn't pulled out of some pile yet, and 6- Make sure to have a chat with George, he's a fun and interesting guy!
Happy Junking!!! Love, Shannon

Tag...you're it!!

 I wish this were my own idea...but they are not. I purchased these at a boutique and just fell in love with them. You can save all of your ribbon scraps for this project. Since purchasing these, I have made quite a few more. Whom ever you are out there that created these....huge kudos!!!

The technique is simple. Purchase a bunch of large tags from the office supply store. Any color of thread on your machine will be fine. Line up a mixture of ribbons down the front of the tag and sew down and then up the middle. Trim the ribbons and add a cute striped hanger. Sewwwww EZ!

Hugs,

Lori Gardner

For The Love Of Paper

I know I am not alone when I say that I have a love of vintage paper.  Old book pages, torn and tattered maps, discarded love letters, sheet music and wall paper, I love it all!  These vintage relics with their worn pages and musty smell have a story to tell.  I love adding bits and pieces of these found papers in the art I create.  Scrolling through Pinterest and Etsy I found so many lovely paper arts giving these vintage papers a repurposed life.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 Paper Butterflies

Paper butterfly by idemakeriet 

Paper Nests

Nest tutorial found here @ Treasures Of The Heart

Paper Hearts 

Maisy And Alice

I LOVE these Paper Flowers 
by Rebekah Holquin

The Pretties

Paper Chains

Paper Boxes

The sweet box was made for me by 
Michelle Louise

Paper Wrappings

Vintage With Laces

Paper Cones

My Lovely Things

Paper Moths

Paper Wreaths

Rose Flower 48

Paper Freebies

Viola From Germany

With the holidays coming these paper arts would be wonderful gifts to share.  Have fun creating!

xo Lorraine

Paint

It is amazing what you can do with a little paint.  I love to decorate and change things up in my home.  One of the easiest ways I know how to do that is with paint.  Over the past few months I, with alot of help from my son-in-law,  and some cans of paint have changed the look of my kitchen and great room.  In the process I discovered an amazing brand of paint called Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  

I used this paint on a shelf that no longer matched the decor of my great room.

One thing I loved about the paint is that I didn't need to sand the item before hand.  You also should only need one coat of paint to cover just about anything.  It took me less than an hour to paint the entire bookshelf.  Once it was dry I sanded the edges a little to give it a distressed finish. 

 Then I coated it with the clear wax to give it a protective finish.

I highly recommend this paint if you have some furniture you need to paint.  I've painted alot of furniture in my day and this was by far the best paint I've used on furniture.

Have a wonderful day

Sherri

JUST KICKIN IT IN MY HANDPAINTED SHOES

 

This is such a fun and quick activity to do with family and friends. All you need are a few simple supplies. Most importantly, a pair of tennis shoes.  

 

Along with some paint pens

 

 

 Iron on sequins

 

 

And Acrylic Paint

 

 

 Begin by painting a thin basecoat of acrylic paint on your shoes.  When paint is completely dry, you can then begin to design your shoes.  I thought it was easier to free hand a simple design directly on the shoe before filling it in with the paint pens.  You can also use stencils or carbon paper to trace a pattern.  Once you have your design then you can use your paint pens to fill in the design or write words.  When everything is completely dry, add your sequins.  All of the supplies are available at craft and fabric stores. 

 

 

handpainted by Maxwell

 

 I think you will love making them. Thanks for stopping by :)

Diana Camomile Peck

vintage.clementine@gmail.com