How to Make a Pretty Holder

Easy DIY projects for the studio and home are fun.  Here I took an ordinary small glass and spruced it up with some gems.  Iy is now a great and cute candle holder.  I can also use this to hold water as I paint and hold my brushes after wards!  You too can do this.

All you need is some really good adhesive that will work with glass, some Dew Drops, a few embellishments, and some imagination.  I made this easy project for the Robin's Nest blog.  It is my last project for the Design Team, as my contract comes to an end, and it is time for me to move on to new and exciting adventures.  I might be done with my obligations to RN but I am still working hard on this blog along with some new projects.  You will have to check back to see what I mean.

To be sure you do not miss any of my creative adventures, just sign up to follow my blog in the side bar.  Every new follower I get makes me very happy and encourages to keep coming up with FREE content to share.

How To Make Interactive Cards

A card that moves is what I have to share with you today.  We have a new challenge going on over at the Blue Moon Creation Crafting Station:  "Interactive".  That is the blog where I am on their Design Team, and I get to use all those fun stamps they give me. That means the  participants are to make a card that moves or can be interacted with in any way!  Mine is a big fat ladybug with a spinning belly!  I do not know what this guy ate but he seems happy anyways!

To make him or her I used a beautiful digital stamp image from the Spiced Sunshine Stamps over at the Etsy shop for Blue Moon and Spiced Sunshine.  I used Copic paper and markers for the colours.  To make the spinning belly I used a punch the same size as the bug's belly.  I was lucky that I have a Creative Memories circle punch that matched the size of this bug's belly!  I pierced a small hole into the circle and the belly and attached them with a brad.

All the papers I used are scraps from my scrap box.  The red Dew Drops are from The Robin's Nest.
I also used my Fiskars paper edger punch with the red scrap.

I hope that I have inspired you to make a fun card too.

Thanks for stopping by.


Fiskars

Steam Punk Cage Dress Form

Re-Posting for Robin's Nest Design Team application:
http://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/main.sc

Altered Art for the Robin's Nest Design Team.  Here is my Steam Punk Cage Dress Form that I made for my project this month over at the RN blog.  It was fun to make this:

First I painted with a metallic acrylic paint all the pieces on both sides.  Once the paint was dry. I added some Distressed ink with a sponge dauber.  I covered the mannequin in a paper dress made from some Robin's Nest paper.  I added more ink.  All the pieces were assembled and glued together. The metal and paper decorations, glitter, and thread were glued on.  A final spray of some Shimmering distress ink was sprayed to give the piece an aged effect.

Supplies:
Robin's Nest:  12 x 12 paper in Brick-Glitter-Cardstock-

                          Dew Drops
                                  http://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/Fresh-Mowed-Grass-Dew-Drops
                                  http://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/Metallic-Gold-Dew-Drops
                          Embellishments http://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/Saffron-Straw-straw-   saffron.htm?categoryId=-1

Adhesive by Beacon
Bronze Glitter by Recollections
Copper Acrylic Paint by Liquitex
Thread
Chipboard Steam punk cage dress form from Gina's Designs.

Please stop by the Chattering Robin's Blog http://chatteringrobins.blogspot.com/2015/05/altered-steampunk-cage-dress-form.htmlfor lots more ideas.  Thanks for stopping by.

Thermometer for the Garden

Hi, today I want to show you how you too can take a simple wooden outdoor thermometer from the Dollar store and slightly alter it to fir your decor.  I made this with products from the Robin's Nest and I share how I put it together over at The Robin's Nest Blog.

So all you need is a wooden thermometer (I got mine at Dollarama)
Some white felt flowers (These ones were given to me by the Robin's Nest they are from Gina's Designs, I believe)
Kreinik Metallic Thread 6255 (also gift from The Robin's Nest)
Permanent ink markers in pink, yellow and blue.  (I  used Sharpies I had bought at Staples)
E-6000 glue (Michael's)

and of course beautiful Dew Drops and Mini Die-Cut Shapes from The Robin's Nest
Butterfly Dew Drops (available here)
Cherry Chocolate Dew Drops (available here)
Christmas Dew Drops (available here)
Azure Mini Die-Cut Shapes (available here)

Remember to work in a well ventilated area when using the adhesive mentioned or any similar product.

Thank you  for stopping by, and keep on crafting.

Altered Bird House

Birdhouse for rent!  Beautiful and cheerful little cottage decorated by AnnMakes for The Robin's Nest.

Hello, thanks for coming to my open house to check out this one room beauty that I altered with some pretty products from the Robin's Nest.

I used the Plaid® "Outdoor Mod Podge" to make sure the papers would stick and stay stuck outdoors!  I also used "Quick Grip" adhesive by Beacon which is a super duper glue that withstands the rigours of the outdoors. I do intend on hanging this beautiful bird house in a relatively sheltered area outside, perhaps under the roof's over hang of our house.  Close enough to a window so we can see if we get renters!  And also to entertain our indoor cat. :)

The instructions are fairly simple and involve some basic painting, cutting and pasting.  I list the steps  and the links to the papers and  Dew Drops over at the Robin's Nest blog.

Here are a few more pictures of different angles of the project.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave a comment, subscribe to my blog, Youtube channel and follow me around on Twitter!  Nothing creepy though. Have fun crafting this Spring.

Thanks also to Robin's Nest, Beacon, and Plaid® for their contributions.

Altered Cigar Box Project

Hello,  today I am sharing with you another one of my altered projects made beautiful with the gorgeous Robin's Nest Papers and Products.  As I continue to clean and organize in my studio I found a stack, yes I said stack, of empty old cigar boxes.  Now these are perfect for storing in my already stuffed studio.  But, the boxes are pretty much worse for wear!  So I am sprucing them up one at a time.  Here is a picture of the after alterations:

Supplies:
Robin's Nest Papers:reverse of Wedding Cut Out Item #: cswedcutout; Rosy Chevron Cardstock
Rosy Ribbon 
Metallic Pink Dew Drops 
Black Herringbone Cardstock 
Brass Label Holder
Brass Mini Brads
Beacon Adhesives

Here are some pictures of the before:

and

Not very pretty, right? If you want to read how I altered this cigar box just go over to the Robin's Nest Chattering Robin's Blog.

This is a picture of what the inside looks like after.

You may be wondering what I intend to use this particular box for?  Well, I think I will use it to store those little odds and ends I collect to use in my altered projects.

On March 31st the Robin's Nest Design Team will be doing a Blog Hop whereby each of the Designer's will be sharing their talents on their individual blog, and some prizes!!!  So come back to visit.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Altered Art Photo Tree Sneak Peak

Handmade home decor items are trending right now but can be a little pricey.  Today I have such a project with you that will be easy on your wallet.

It is my turn to share an Altered Art Project over at The Robin's Nest Blog.  I love working with their products, especially all those yummy and precious looking gems called Dew Drops.  I turned this plain looking wooden photo tree into a pretty piece for my home by using the Cowboy Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest.

Other supplies included Metallic paste in dark brown, strong glue, Rub ons "Family" by the Robin's Nest.

To see how I transformed and made this project you will have to follow the link over to their blog.

Thank you for stopping by, and come back soon!

Some of the Best Things...

Hi, today I have a sneak peak of the project I made for the Robin's Nest Design Team blog.  Below the picture I have included a list of supplies I used.

Supplies:

The Robin's Nest scrapbook papers:(Flame Swirls,Honeycomb fleur, Glitter Numbers, Red, Grey)
The Robin's Nest dew drops:( Mini Dew Drops, Tear Drops, Dew Drops)
The Robin's Nest dew dew glue
Square canvas 5" x 5" (altered canvas purchased from Value Village)
Crafter's acrylic Paint in Light antique white by Decoart
Mod Podge in matte by Plaid
Tim Holtz Distress ink in Vintage photo by Ranger
Liquid glue Mono Multi by Tombow
Sanding block (Dollar Tree)
Double sided adhesive and Sticker Maker by Xyron
Semi-hard pastels by Gallery Mungvo
Embossing tools by EK Success
Cutting blade/knife by Fiskars
StazOn® solvent ink in black by Tsukineko
Punches/ Die makers Hearts, small 5 petal flower, and puzzle shape by Creative Memories;  Butterfly by Martha Stewart, 8 petal bloom by Fishers, Large 5 petal flower Blossom by EK Success for Stamping'  Up!
Stamp: What do you see Donna Downey Studios by Unity Stamp co.
Scotch 3M Glue Dots--/extra large

Over at the Robin's Nest blog you can find the instructions.

Thanks for stopping by and subscribe to my blog and my youtube channel to keep up with my craftiness.

Oh Baby Blue Project Life

I had heard so often about Project Life that I thought I should look into it and see what all the buzz is about.  Well, I get it now, and it is a great idea for us veteran scrap book makers with not enough time to make full albums of double page spreads that preserve the history of our lives.  Also, it is a great idea for the newbie to initiate them to this scrap booking addiction.  But as I seem to own an impressive quantity of scrap booking materials (amongst many other hobbies),  and since I love making things, I thought I could come up with my own Project Life by shopping in my own studio.  So I dug up this old and never been used scrapbook binder, several packs of baseball card pocket clear pages, many random left over photo album pages, and regular clear page protectors and assembled my very own and original P.L album. 

 Then the really fun part: the decorating of the said album and of course the making of some inserts for those baseball card pockets, finally I also needed to make a cute box to store my homemade cards and inserts until I need them for those memories I want to keep. I used a downloaded digital stamp image from Bugaboo Stamps"Chase Your Dreams" ( our sponsor over at All that Stickles), printed onto white paper.   Which I painted with various water colors from Luminarte H2O and Faber Castell  gelatos.  I added some Baby Blue Stickles ( see the challenge over at All That Stickles). I also added some gorgeous Dew Drops and a pretty tag from our other sponsor:   The Robin's Nest.   The vintage lace is from my collection and the labels were made with a Dymo label maker.

Now for the little box that holds my handmade Project Life journal cards and inserts.  I re purposed a small cardboard box by first painting it with white gesso, once dry I sprayed on several colors with Tattered Angels Glimmer mists in the following colors: Coffee Shop, Chalkboard, and Decadence. I also used Perfect Pearls mist in Forever Violet and Ditto Glimmer in Green.  I also re purposed the crystal type knobs from some old shower curtain rings as feet for the box.  The top of the box was decorated with a scrap of printed beige and green card stock, which I stamped with a Prima clear Background stamp: Firefly #560799 and Memento Dew Drop Rich Cocoa Ink.  The bird is a die cut from the Tim Holtz Sizzix die collection.  I colored the bird with Faber Castell coloring pencils and some Baby Blue Stickles.  The bird's eye is a Dew Drop from The Robin's Nest, other Dew drops are from my own collection of vintage flowers, and the stamped background.  The flowers and card stock piece are also distressed and inked with Color Box Chalk Ink: Creamy Brown.  I used more of my vintage lace all the way around  the top of the box.  The ribbon around the sides of the box cover is also from The Robin's Nest.

Lastly, I searched the Internet for some free printable journal cards, printed some onto card stock, others I designed free hand, and some I made from some more goodies from The Robin's Nest, such as the tags and stickers.  Of course I just had to bling up some of the journal cards with Baby  Blue Stickles, and a few more  Dew Drops.

So there you have it,  an Annmakes Project Life hybrid.  If you would like to see more of my project life attempts, stay tuned.  If you have any questions or comments please leave them below, I will get back to you.
                                                                                                        Don't forget to challenge yourself with some fun Stickly project and go see the All That Stickles  Blog Linky Party  , this weeks colour is Baby Blue. There are some nice prizes to win, courtesy of our very nice sponsors: The Robin's Nest ( giving a variety package of Dew Drops),  Bugaboo ( their prize: 7 Digi stamps), Tabitha's  Designs (giving: 2 Digital Paper Packs), and Fresh Brewed Designs (5 digis).
                                                      

                                                       
                                                      You can also follow me  by adding your email on the left.

                                                      Thanks for looking.