Smile

What do you get when you combine some awesome scraps with a card base and a stamp? A really awesome card! 

I had this scrap of DSP from a previous project laying around on my table. At the time I was trying to use the ink pad directly onto the paper to get a nice smooth blend of color from lightest to darkest. Well the paper kept slipping or I dropped the ink pad and it tool three tries to get what I was looking for. I was frustrated and tossed the "bad" ones aside.

Well a couple weeks later after I got over my frustration I found these again on my work table when I realized how cool they looked. It's amazing what a few days without looking at something can do huh?

The chevron piece is actually a scrap of Silver Glimmer Paper. I was trying to get as many chevrons as possible out of this one strip and the remaining scrap that I would normally toss looked really neat so I combined those two pieces that were headed for the trash with a few more pieces and a greeting to make this fun card.

The greeting from Happy Day was stamped onto the DSP in Stazon ink. I used 2-Way Glue Pen to glue the chevron piece onto the left side of the DSP. That layer was glued onto a slightly larger piece of Night of navy card stock. Then that panel was added onto the Smoky Slate card front with a few Stampin' Dimensionals.

Finally I threaded some Whisper White Baker's Twine through the button and tied it into a bow. That was stuck onto the card with a Stampin' Dimensional. I also added a large Rhinestone onto the i in the greeting and added a spritz of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Sprtiz to the card to give it some more sparkle.

Have you made anything lately from something that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash?

Craft Storage Ideas Planner Blog Hop

Hi there, readers! Thanks for Hopping along on the Craft Storage Ideas Planner Blog Hop! You should have come from Kimberly’s blog.

We are so excited to share some great ideas for keeping your planner both organized and fun along the way. But first, I want to share some FANTASTIC PRIZES we will be sharing with lucky commenters along the route!

Craft Studio Tour

It's been quite some time since I've shared my studio and there have been a whole bunch of updates. In case you're curious to see what I started with and what it looked like last time I shared my studio just follow the links. Here is what it looks like now! (Click on any of the photos to make them larger).

Sweet Baby Quilt

If you happen to follow me on Instagram you might have seen the first two pictures of these lovely quilt pieces in progress. I was working on a quilt that is slightly larger than a standard crib size for my newest little nephew. Now that Christmas is past I can share what I was working on. I used the Sweets pattern from Growing Up Modern by Allison Harris.

The instructions are really easy to follow... that is if you actually follow them... What was supposed to be cute little squares ended up being cute little rectangles because I made a mistake when I was cutting my strips. But it still looks really cute in my totally biased opinion!

The finished quilt ended up looking more like a parallelogram rather than a rectangle, but I am still fairly new to quilting and I was using cheap polyester batting that likes to move all over the place. Yep, those are the excuses I'm going with. (grin)

I would like to say that the quilting lines are intentionally wavy and imperfect to give the quilt a whimsical feel, but in reality it was only a couple days until Christmas and I didn't have the time to go slow enough to make sure the stitch lines stayed straight. Can you say procrastinator???

But even with all the mistakes, it is still cute, and it will still keep the little guy warm so I call it a success! 

Check out Allison's book for more fun quilt patterns! Oh, and in case you're wondering this isn't a sponsored post or anything. I've been following Allison's blog for quite some time and just want to share her awesomness!

Paint Brush Storage

Last week I talked about paint storage ideas. So I thought it would only be appropriate to talk about paint brush storage this week. So here are some fun ideas from around the web!

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors has her brushed stored in vintage mason jars that are all lined up in an old drawer. How gorgeous!

Melissa at Mrs. Easton tucks her brushes away in a bamboo mat with some elastic. This would be a great way to roll up all your brushes and store them without damaging the bristles.

Pam at Tinkering Around shares how she turned a straw container into a fun paint brush storage option. It just goes to show that you can use all sorts of things for storing craft supplies. You just have to keep an eye out for things that will work and get creative!

Natalie at Natalme shares a tutorial to take some scrap wood, leather, and a mason jar to add some interesting wall storage.

Maya took some cans and used a little paint to dress them up, recycling them into cool usable storage.

Brittany at The House That Lars Built shares another version of a bamboo roll up mat, but this one has little pockets sewn on so it can be used for more that just paint brushes! Take a look at her wonderful tutorial here.

Now this one has larger paint brushes rather than small ones, but it is a really cool idea either way. Nothing like making your tools part of the art in your space! This was shared at Apartment Therapy.

Now here is thinking outside the box! Cyndy at The Creativity Exchange uses a tool caddy from the home improvement store to stow all her brushes and painting supplies!

Rich shares a tour of his painting studio in this post and gives us a glimpse of some inventive storage. Plumbing PVC pipe that was cut at different lengths and glued to a base. Very inventive. I bet this could be dressed up into some pretty fancy storage without paying a fancy price.

Now it's my turn to share how I store my brushes... I keep them all in this adorable owl vase I picked up from Kirklands. Isn't she the cutest? 

Now I challenge you to get your brushes in order in a way that works for you!

To see the other topics in the Craft Storage Series click here.

Do you have some awesome creative craft storage ideas you would like to share? If so add your link here! The only rules:

• It must link directly to the post, not your home page.
• It does not have to be related to the top of this post. The linkup on this post is the same as the linkup on all the Creative Craft Storage Series posts. 
• Link up as many different ideas as you would like.
• Links show up in a random order.

An InLinkz Link-up

DIY Dot Wine Glasses

I'm here to share another Christmas gift today! This one was a set of hand painted wine glasses for my cousin. They were so incredibly easy to do! Seriously, you have to give it a try!

~ Supplies ~

• Clear wine glasses 
• DecoArt Crystal Gloss Enamels: Turquoise, Blue, White, Crystal Glitter
• Pencil with a new eraser, paper craft stylus, rubbing alcohol, lint free cloth

This project is so easy that it in no way requires a tutorial. I picked up a package of four wine glasses from Walmart to make these. Super cheap and yet beautiful wine glasses are the result! 

So here is how it goes. Take your lint free cloth and use rubbing alcohol to clean off the wine glasses. You want to make sure that all the oils and such are off the surface. Pour some of your paint of each color onto a palette of some sort. Take your pencil eraser and dip it into the paint then press the eraser onto the glass. Repeat to add as many large dots of each color as you like.

Then take your paper crafting stylus and dip the ball end in the paint and touch it to the glass. Repeat to add as many small dots as you like.

Then just allow the paint to air dry for four days. Then place the glasses in a cold oven and heat it up to 275°F. Once at 275°F bake for 30 minutes. When your time goes off just shut the oven off. Do not remove the glasses. Just leave them in there and forget about them until the oven is completely cool.

You're done! Now just wrap them up and give them as a gift. Or keep them for yourself! If the paint is allowed to cure properly and baked per the instructions on the bottle you should have a dishwasher safe finish. I'm still chicken and wash them by hand though...

What do you think?