A Paper Cut Holiday!

What a lovely shop I've discovered on Etsy! Sarah Louise Matthews is a textile surface design graduate, living in Nottingham, England and has a beautiful shop dedicated to paper art. Wouldn't these mittens fit perfectly around the house this holiday!

Click on the images for instant gratification!

The Washington Post Crafting Contest

A friend recently pointed me towards a fun holiday crafting contest being held over at The Washington Post online site. They invited crafty readers to share an original holiday or winter themed creation with them and I thought I would take on the challenge. While perusing my local thrift shop, I came across some lonely mismatched vintage plates that needed a new life. I thought I would help them out a bit by snazzing them up and including them in our home's holiday decor!

Its amazing what a gold leaf marker can do to an old tired plate! If you have a moment, I'd love it if you could take a second to vote on my craft! Just head over here and "like" the dishes. It makes it easy because they are the last submission and therefore the first on the list! The judges will pick the contestants to vote on Dec 10. 

What crafty project have you been up to? 

Check out my craft, Martha! Silkscreened clock

 

I've been chosen to participate in Michaels Craft Month campaign with Martha Stewart Crafts! Each week in October, Michaels is offering a different coupon on Martha Stewart Crafts paper, yarn, and paint products. Martha has launched a pinterest board showcasing all the wonderful crafts you can create using her crafting supplies! To kick off the launch she's hosting a crafting design challenge. I am a huge fan of her products so I happily took on the challenge and created a silkscreened clock using her stencils and paints.  Her multi-surface paints are the best out on the market because there are so many ways you can use them. They go on anything- including glass! She also has come out with a line of easy to use silkscreens that have an adhesive coating on the back which allows you to place them on any surface. And clean up is a breeze! Here's how to make the clock...

 - 12 inch embroidery hoop

- 12 inch round piece of foam core

- Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic paint 

- Floral Doily silkscreen 

- Squeegee tool

- Linen fabric (enough to be able to fasten in the hoop)

- a clock kit (I got these)

- painters tape

- exacto knife

Step 1:

Place your hoop on the fabric and center the screen in the middle of the hoop.

Step 2:

Secure screen with painters tape. I doubled the width of the tape to make a 2 inch border around the screen.

Step 3:

Apply a line of paint to the top pf the screen. Make sure you go all the way from one side to the other.

Step 4:

Using your squeegee, apply gentle pressure to the paint and squeegee it all the way down to the bottom of the screen. Do not be very hard pushing down as this may cause the paint to smear.

Step 5:

Immediately remove screen and hang fabric to dry.

 Step 6:

Once the fabric is dry, iron over it to set the paint. Secure the fabric to the embroidery hoop and gently push in the foam core round that you cut (12 inch round) into the back of the hoop. Make sure it is snug.

Step 7:

Using your exacto knife, make a hole big enough to insert the clock kit mechanism.

 I hope you take on the crafty challenge yourself because you can apply this technique to most surfaces. Next up my filing cabinet...

To see what the other crafters have done with their challenge, search #CheckOutMyCraftMartha on pinterest. I've been so inspired I know you will too!

Mugtails

Mugs with tails. I'm pretty much all over that. 

Available here. Be sure to check out the hare too!

Heather Ross workshop NYC

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of attending Heather Ross' weekend workshop in New York City. It was a whirlwind of a time packed with more visual stimulation than I could even process. The workshop was held in the craziest fabric store imaginable where I literally shopped my tuchus off. Jem is located in the financial district and a must stop if you are sourcing fabric. All kinds of fabric. And trim. And buttons. And everything else.

This is not your mama's fabric store! I had so much fun catching up with friends I met at the first workshop I attended in Palm Springs. Heather's new book, Prints is available now and we were also lucky enough to attend her book launch party. Seriously, the book is gorgeous and Heather has provided her prints with the world so you can create your own projects using her beloved characters. As if that was not enough of a weekend I also got to meet one very special lady- Amy Sedaris. Swoon!