Decoupage + Altoids Tins: A Sort-of Tutorial

A while back I mentioned the possibility of using candy tins as a container for my resin magnet sets. I decided to try decoupage with a tin yesterday, and it was so dang FUN. Here's how it worked out.

This sort of shows how I did it. The images came from "Scuffy the Tugboad" (a Little Golden Book). I sealed them first with Mod Podge. Then I painted Gesso on the box. I used some old ledger paper as the background. Once the Mod Podge was dry on the little pictures, I painted more M.P. on the paper, let that dry, then more on the back of and over the images on the box. I finished it off with my new favorite product, DecoArt's Triple Thick Brillant Brosh-on Gloss Glaze. You can't really tell from the photo, but the top of the box is really shiny.


Next time, I'll spray paint the boxes first and that may eliminate the need for Gesso. Now it's time for a trip to Goodwill to find some more vintage story books!

The Big Bad Ass Book of Crafts & Book Club with Crafty Daisies

I'm so glad I came across this post on Crafty Daisies' blog. I ran out the same day and picked up this book by Mark Montano and it is the BEST craft book I've seen. Crafty Daisies have organized an informal book club in which you do a project from this book and post on their blog about it. The "meeting" date is Sept. 3...so this weekend I need to do one of the projects in this book. It's hard to choose! I encourage you to get this book; you'll be glad you did.

Thanks, MammaMade!

The very generous Rachel from MammaMade has been super-helpful in teaching us how to format images for Spoonflower fabric. AND she shared one of my fabric designs in her post. How kind! Thanks, Rachel!

Stuff that Rocks

There are so many things out there that are so great. Here are a few things that I saw or experienced today that were pleasing.

Kozy Shack tapioca pudding. Sooo good. Obtained from the dairy section of Central Market.

A college of Carolyn Gavin's designs from her blog and from her delish company Ecojot.


This completely kick ass Etsy Store cabin + cub. Vintage storybook image colleges on wood. ROCK.

Also from cabin + cub, Gocco printed notebooks. Love the GOCCO! And I just had to get myself one of these. I got the elephant. YAY.


A collection of Jessica Jones' fabrics. This is the Modern Flora Collection. Love the leafs. Yes, I said L-E-A-F-S. She also has the CUTEST ribbon ever, which can be acquired at jcaroline. God.


Here is a photo from Jessica Jones' blog showing her ribbon, made into luscious key fobs. The tutorial for this is here. Once I saw this, I swiftly composed a "cart" of items including this ribbon from jcaroline creative.


My brain then exploded with all of this greatness.

Mattel's 1976 Sew Perfect

Until I came across this on Ebay, I completely forgot that I had one of these when I was 4 years old!

The Vinyl Roller Foot Has Arrived

And it is glorious.
My 1970's Kenmore machine is what they call a "super high shank," you see. A vinyl foot was not made for the super-high shank. So I needed to get an adaptor to convert the super-high shank to a low shank and then acquire this lovely low shank roller foot. This is the result of 2 weeks of research. Victory is sweet.

Exciting New Resin Batch

I just popped a new batch of resin pieces out of their molds and they are oh-so-exciting. This batch is mostly magnets. Disclaimer: these are rough; they haven't been polished and it's midnight so the lighting is terrible. But H. is asleep, so I have to share it with SOMEBODY.

But I'm SUPER excited about these:
These chunky magnets are a great way to show off my little collection of vintage game pieces:


These hold vintage plastic layering beads which I've been itching to use on something:
These kitchy paper flower on green glitter ones make me think of those old astroturf doormats with the plastic flowers attached to them:

Some new skulls...actually some of the prettiest ones yet:

And finally, the STRAWBERRY MOLD!!
And just for fun, here's the whole gang:
xxxooom

Coloring Book Characters

A coloring book of just cupcakes seems incomplete. So I'm working on developing some characters to use in my work. I'm just calling them "Gerbil Friends" for now. I have no explanation for that other than it just popped into my head. Perhaps they are friends because they are united by a dislike for gerbils, prefer to eat gerbils, or are part-gerbil. This is yet to be determined.

FINALLY. Resin jewelry is in the shop.

More skulls in the shop. Of course. I tinkered with the formula a big to get quite a boost of glowy-ness, so these are called "Super Glow" to differentiate them from the other glow-y pendants. This is a very serious, complicated business.



And more are on the way. Magnet sets, too!

The candy pendants are running amuck on etsy, but out in the world I get compliments every time I wear mine, so I'm making 'em, too. Bargain prices!


The magnet sets are kitchy and unique, fun little presents. They have super-powerful magnets that just fly toward anything metal, no matter what direction you are trying to direct them. Trying to glue on the magnets this morning was an adventure. Hopefully they will be ready to list tomorrow!

I'm working on upcycling mint tins as storage boxes. Decoupage, perhaps?

Dessert Themed Zipper Pouches and a FREEBIE!

There are 2 new zipper pouches in the shop! One is a cake with a slice "removed" and the other is the classic cupcake.

The first person to buy a dessert zipper pouch will get an awesome freebie... this super-cute measuring tape I got in Portland:
Just mention that you read about the freebie offer on my blog when you check out. xxxooo

Fabric, Pendants, Other Fun Stuff

My long awaited order from Pixelbypixel came in: a customized rubber stamp, labels, and these cute erasers with my logo. These are for Etsy freebies.


The first resin pendant is in the shop! More are curing right now. I had a heck of a time getting an image of this one "glowing" in the dark, but there it is.


I'm slowly working on my coloring book project. Here are some prototype sketches. I want the images to be big and chunky, and a little subversive but still friendly for all ages.

My fall fabric order has arrived. Well, most of it...I'm waiting for one more chunk from superbuzzy. Here's what's in so far. Now, all I need is a sewing machine in my possession! Has it only been one day since I dropped it off?!?


Note the SPECTACULAR coated cotton fabric. It's really soft; much softer than fabric with iron on vinyl. I can't wait to turn this into bags.


Thanks for visiting! xxxooo

Lego Love

These are covetable. Found at the Lego website.

Today

This little drawing pretty much sums up my day. I'm so sad to be without my sewing machine, but it is getting a much-needed tune up and by the time it's ready, I'll have a VINYL ROLLER FOOT to whip out those vinyl pouches, yahoo! There's a stack of them ready to be stitched up and listed in the shop.

O.M.G. it is a nightmare figuring out how to get things professionally printed. It is totally blowing my mind.

I've been trying so very hard to get the resin pouring thing right. Everyone says it's so easy, but...maybe it's the climate here...they seem to either stay sticky or if not, something else goes wrong. I'm pretty happy with these babies, though. Once I figure out a safe way to polish them, they will be transformed to pendants and listed in the shop, too. NOTE the glow-in-the-dark glitter!! YES.

Before I took my machine to the doctor, I did some experimenting with creating appliques from sketches I did years ago. I am still learning how to get the stitching just right. I am so excited to make these a reality - zip pouches with giant yummy appliques. Did I mention I miss my machine?



Finally, yes, I am radioactive thanks to Iodine pill #1 to treat my thyroid cancer. For the next 10 days, I have to isolate myself...hmmm...not so hard for an obsessive full-time crafter! But let me tell you something: never take any hugs or doggie kisses or kitties in your face for granted! WAAHH! Okay, I'm fine now. Off to lay for an hour in a loud me-sized tube (edit: it wasn't loud) to have my body digitally sliced into a million bits. xxxooo

P.S. I want to make my own coloring book.

Shoe Love

These amazing shoes are from Fluevog. I'll know I've made it when one of these babies is in my closet!

Borders, Ready Made, and Vintage Board Games

This was an awesome first-day-of-the-weekend!

I completed 2 custom orders and mailed off my first etsy sales this week. Thank you to my supportive family for giving me my first 3 sales!

1) One of the owners of the very cool Yachats shop Raindogs suggested that I check out the magazine ReadyMade, which I had never heard of (bad grammar, I know). I found it at Borders today and I am loving that magazine. Yes I am.


2) Also, thanks to Borders: a slew of Paperchase goodies. DARN that Paperchase and at the same time, I exhault Paperchase. AHHHH! Below, their vexingly low-priced "mag bags" and one of their new lines of paper products called "Pet Chopz." It is very cute indeed. The bags are cute, but the vinyl on the straps cracks over time (painful) and there are no pockets like MY bags. But still, they are very desirable and functional.

3) An update on the vintage game collecting:

Today, a 1956 Chutes and Ladders game arrived. Check flickr for photos of the growing collection and what the parts become when I dismember them!

4) I discovered Re-Ment and Cram Cream. Lord help me.



5) Finally, after much deliberation and MANY hours of searching, I have selected six fabrics for fall bags. Amy Butler and Robert Kaufman are 2 of the familiar (to me) designers in this bunch. Also included are Michael Miller and Alexander Henry. I am quite pleased with the final selections! Here is a peek at the fabric swatches:


Until the next time...xxxooo

Line Sheets

A week ago, I had no idea what a line sheet was. But now I have one, and hopefully I got it sort of right. It was fun making it!