Who's Laughing NOW, Cow?

Ahh, if only cheese had everlasting life! I love all things dairy, and every now and then, I grab some of my fave little low calorie cheese snacks from Laughing Cow. French Onion is my favorite.

And one of the coolest things about Laughing Cow cheese is their packaging. Their brilliant little triangular wedges that you can zip free with just one little motion, and, of course, that irresistible round cardboard box.

Well who can resist a round cardboard box? Not THIS crafter!

I painted my little box with a Ranger Shell Pink dabber, and then applied matte gel medium to the top. I attached a 4" circle of Stampin' Up! Candy Cane fabric to the gel medium, swiped a bit more of the medium on top, and then sprinkled that with Dazzling Diamonds glitter and set it aside to dry.

Then I colored my sweet little Starving Artistamps Juniper Elf (new holiday release!) with Copics, and attached teeny pearls to her outfit.

The greeting is attached with silver cord to two circles - one punched out of Candy Cane DSP with my 2.5" circle punch, and the second cut with Nestabilities™.


The box is filled with this year's yummy find that I've enjoyed crafting with :) - Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark squares - they are half peppermint bark, half dark chocolate.

That's darn near as good as cheese! :)

Hope you enjoyed todays reanimation!

All Washed Up

Got a toolbox in the garage that's filled with small pieces of hardware you'll never use? Or, do you have washers and hex keys and all sorts of stuff left over from those Ikea bookcases that you can't bear to toss?

Well make jewelry out of them!
I made these washer necklaces back in December for a special project and you'll just faint when you see how easy they were!

First, measure your washer and the hole in the center of it. Then find two circle punches about those two same sizes. Punch the smaller hole first, then center the larger punch around that hole and punch the larger circle.

Paint a thin layer of gel medium onto the washer and gently place your paper on the washer, smoothing it if necessary.

When that is dry - and gel medium dries quickly - seal the necklace with a clear dimensional glaze - I used Stampin' Up!'s Crystal Effects, or you could use Judikins Diamond glaze or something similar.

I used a japanese book page from a book I got at Half Price Books for one, and some designer paper from Stampin' Up! for the other.

You could make about a squillion of these for a dollar.

Since we have a handmade only rule for Christmas gifts in my family, I gave these to the girls for Christmas.

Give it a try! It's great recession jewelry!

Password Book Tutorial

I know - it was only the first project EVER on this blog, but finally I have a video tutorial for my Password Book!

And I'll be back later this week with an AMAZING transformation on an old dictionary, so don't stray too far...


Take care.

Happy Birthday and Thanks for all the Bills..

NOT. But speaking of junk mail, there are a few things you can do with it.

After you're done being mad about your bills, look at the inside of the security envelopes. They're all different. I got some super interesting ones this week. Not bills, envelopes.

I thought I'd use them for a birthday card for my friend Lisa.
Stamps: On Your Birthday, Musical Score Paper: Graphic 45 Communique, Whisper White, Kraft
Accessories: Big Shot, Embossing Folder, Butterfly die, Butterfly punch Ink: Basic Black
To purchase Stampin' up! supplies, click here.

She's the one who sent me the GORGEOUS Graphic 45 paper the butterflies are made of.

I punched circles from the envelopes to serve as the backdrop for the butterflies. The larger two were cut with the Stampin' Up! Bold Butterflies die for the Big Shot. The smaller one was punched with my Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

To read more about Lisa, click here. Happy birthday, chickie!!

Foofy Phonebook Flowers

Say THAT three times fast!!

Anyway, I'm enjoying both scrunchy and foofy flowers lately - even some fabric flowers, but more on that later.

I've been really mad about my junk mail lately. I don't understand why my trashcan gets smaller and more expensive, and why we are all supposed to drive glorified tic tacs and quit using hairspray, but companies can still fill my mailbox every day with pounds of unsolicited garbage that I have to throw away. And PHONEBOOKS. Who in the world uses a phone book? And why are they dumped on my porch when I certainly would say no if I were given the option?

But I'm not. So if the world gives you phonebooks,
Stamps: Vintage Vogue Ink: Summer Sun Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Phone Book
Accessories: Sending Love epoxy brads, Vanilla satin ribbon, Sizzix takeout box die

give the world foofy flowers. Hmph.

I saw a tutorial for these here, so I won't recreate it. Hers is beautiful.

(PS - I do NOT have the shredding scissors - I just used regular scissors!)

Make some. Foof it up!

Speechless

This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. If you don't see a video player, click here.