"Fourth" Project #1

For whatever reason,  I've never done a lot of decorating for the 4th. No conscious reason...maybe it's because we're not usually home but this year I was determined. So here's the first of we'll see how many projects! This started out as a table leg or banister part? Not sure which...I found it at my favorite salvage place for a dollar ( and of course bought more than 1):

I painted it red with appropriately named "Americana" acrylic paint, and then dry brushed it with white. I made a medallion for the center using crepe paper and a circle cut from a recycled cereal box covered with scrapbook paper. It needed something for the middle so I painted the center of a bottle cap with the red paint, put a gold "4" sticker from my sticker stash and then filled in the bottle cap with "Diamond Glaze" by JudiKins. This gave it a dimensional / enamely look:

I went around the raised areas of the leg/post thingy with a gold paint pen and then Mod Podged some scrap strips of the scrapbook paper. I originally thought I was going to put flags in the hole at the top of the leg/post thingy but that didn't work out so I Mod Podged a washer with more scrapbook paper and glued it to the top to make a base to support a votive candle holder and:

Not the best pic but here it is on my mantle ( next to my crystal candlestick I got for $4 to which I glued a piece of milk glass I got for $5 at the Salvation Army thrift store!)

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Save The Date...July 16...You're Invited!

 A special invitation to those stopping in from:

To what am I invited you might ask? To this I will answer:

Which will be my first ever link party! But it's in July you may ask? To which I may answer "We're crafters / and artists and foodies...literally butchers, bakers and candlestick makers" and Christmas has a way of sneaking up on people like us who plan to make all of this amazing stuff. 

So, I thought we'd have a link party to show off great ideas and projects. There are a lot of us new to blogging since last Christmas so don't worry if you may have showcased a project before.  Please feel free to share:

• Home Decor Items
• Cards
• Ornaments
• Gifts You're Making
• Recipes (especially chocolate!)

• When: Friday July 16, 2010 ( and the third Friday of August, September and October,  then weekly on Fridays  in Nov and December)
• Where: http://answerischocolate.blogspot.com/

I hope you'll come share in the fun, and please feel free to invite people and/or post about on your blog!

Father's Day: Wall Art

I didn't put this up earlier because I didn't want you know who to see it before he got it. But now that he's got it ( and likes it) here's what I made Mr. C. for Father's Day:

I'd been wanting to try out Sabby in Suburbia's photo transfer tutorial, and when my husband found a photo of a favorite childhood memory, his favorite bike, I thought it would make the perfect subject to use.  I've had this cabinet door I found on an excursion to a magical place called  Earthwise Architectural Salvage in Seattle, which I knew I wanted to use for a piece of wall art. Originally I thought I was going to do something w/ chalkboard paint on it but I decided the wood was too pretty as is. 

I converted the photo to black and white in my photo editing program and printed on regular printer paper. Then using Sabby's tutorial, I covered a plain canvas board with Mod Podge ( I didn't even paint it...it was already primed and gesso'd) , stuck the photo to it printed side down ( remember to print any text mirror image!) and let it dry for 24 hours. Then wet the back of the paper and rubbed it off. I then added a scrap of scrapooking paper:

I then spelled out his name and the word bike with some pewter letters I had on hand and superglued them to the canvas. I really like how aged this looks. 

I didn't leave the cabinet door completely alone...that's not what we do is it?!  I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the center panel and Mod Podge'd it on:

The sun  decided to make a rare appearance and mess up my picture, but you get the idea. And yay...another use for my still ginormous roll of carpet tape, which I used to adhere the canvas to the cabinet door.

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Here's his card, using images from The Graphics Fairy along with a transparent frame from Colorbok's Nocturne collection.

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To All The Bloggy Dads

and most especially, "Mr. Chocolate". I love you.


My Dad's gone and I miss him all the time.  I miss that he didn't get to walk me down the aisle, or that he never got to know the man I married, or meet his amazing grandson. Still, I know he's with me always...I catch a glimpse of him in an expression or gesture my son makes, or something he likes that I get to tell him his Grandpa also liked. My son is fortunate to have my husband's Dad, who's been a wonderful grandfather to him. Above all, my son has a Dad who has been and always be there for him. Who loves him unconditionally and proudly. My Daddy would definitely have approved!

And The Winner Is..........

Thank you first of all to all who enabled me to reach 100 followers. As I said in the post announcing the giveaway I didn't know what to expect when I decided to jump into the great big bloggy pool. So , without further delay....from random.org....out of 30 entries....the WINNER...is...

which means the winner is Jenni from Vintage Songbird !!!

Congrats Jenni. Email me through my profile with your address so I can get this on its way to you.

Card Tute

Welcome to those stopping in from  

Thanks for coming over and visiting my blog!


Here's a card that doesn't require either stamps or any cutting or die cut machines. It's especially easy if, like me, you're one of those people who picks stuff up when you see $.97 and $1.97 stickers on things so you have them on hand when an idea strikes. I use a lot of neutrals in home projects so when it comes to cards, I get to play with color a lot more and since I'm a bit of a paper addict ( a bit?) well let's just say I have pretty much every color in the rainbow and then some. Anyway, start with a basic card. My go to size is  5x7 because I buy A-7 envelopes in bulk when they're on sale. You can cut your own or buy a package of blank cards. I used to buy cardstock in every conceivable color but lately, I just use white or cream as my base card and let the colors come from the scrapbooking paper and accents. This is cheaper since you can almost always find white or cream cardstock on sale.

So there's my 5x7 ( which if you're cutting your own is 10x7 scored at 5 inches) and a package of scrapbooking borders I picked up for $1.97 at JoAnn's. When my husband is looking for me he doesn't call my cell, he just has them page me. Just kidding. Mostly.

I found a piece of scrapbook paper that coordinated and cut out a panel (6.75x4.75) with a smaller white panel (5.75x3.75).  I had some rub ons that I picked up guess where, and put corners on the white panel.

Top pic: Rub-ons and panels. Bottom pic: Two of the borders from the package cut to 6.75 and layered
For my focal, I used two paper flowers from packs I picked up at a stamp show, used one of the flowers from the border for the center and put an adhesive rhinestone in the middle.

Last thing I did, and these are something I always have on hand, took some clear alphabet stickers and spelled out "BIRTHDAY" on a scrap piece of paper, tore it to fit where I wanted and:

OK last last thing....some of the borders were left over so I put those on as accents in the top right and bottom left corners.  It's for a teenager,  young woman, and I was going for not too old, not too young, but fun. And if her mom is reading this, don't show her! It's going in the mail right now!

100 Follower Giveway Closes Tonight!

The winner will be announced tomorrow. Go HERE to see entry reqs and to enter!