Musical Angels

Today my work is featured over at The Robins Nest blog.

I hope you'll come by and visit!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings 

Thank You - Butterfly Card

 Here's a Thank You card I made earlier this year for Family and Friends.
 I'm sure, by now, that's it's no surprise to most of you that I love butterfly's and vintage music sheet paper. :)
I stamped a background stamp with blue ink onto blue cardstock. I tried spritzing it with pink glimmer mist, but it kept jamming up, and would only drip . So I made the best of it and used a make up sponge to dab the thin ink around the paper. I used a Fiskars Threading Water punch for the side border. - If you don't already have this punch, get it today. I'm serious. This is my most used border punch and I uses it on everything, from cards to rosettes and tussie mussies.  - Even the roof on this Vintage inspired, Christmas House!

Next with a Fiskars Scalloped Circle punch, I made a template that I traced in the center of the card and carefully cut out with precision scissors. The butterfly are made with a Martha Stewart punch and I could not help myself in adding them to the inside of the envelope so it looks like they are ready for flight!

 I used The Robins Nest Mini- Dews for the center of the Butterfly's and some Diamonds Drops for the corner of the card. The music sheet was added to the entire inside of the card, and a  Fiskars Rectangle hand punch, made the slots on the top and bottom of the card to hold the pink and white bakers twine in place. A little bit of glitter glue accented the card and hand written "Thank You"

Thanks for coming by, I hope you like my card as much as I liked making it. :)

Succulents & Sea Monkeys



I just wanted to share with you my indoor garden. These are my succulents, which I'm very fond of.  Every Sunday, I sip my coffee and leisurely use tweezers to remove dead leaves and the mist them gently with water if they appear dry. Next month I plan to replant some of the smaller ones into some glass bowls to make terrariums. I can never resist getting a new succulent or two when I visit my favorite plant nursery. 

We also have these "Sea Monkeys". Dyllan earned them when he sold all his coupon books for Cub Scouts. They swim very fast, sometimes bumping into each other which is quite funny! I enjoy watching them, they look like angels when they swim, like they are flying through the water. This kit was $5 at Target and I read they can last for up to 2 years with proper care. I highly recommend them as a first pet, they are more fun to watch than gold fish. :)

Leslie Rahye's Earth Day Blog Hop - Star Wars wall clock!

 Happy Earth Day! And welcome to another blog hop hosted by Leslie Rahye!
We were asked to create a project through means of recycle or up-cycle as I like to call it.
Here I re-vamped a old bathroom wall clock for for my sons room. He is a huge Star Wars fan, so this clock blended perfectly with his room decor.

 To get started, you'll need a working wall clock, thin paper, (I used some leftover Clone Wars wrapping paper), a foam brush  Royal Coat Decoupage, red Dew Drops,  strong adhesive, a upside down bowl, and a surface for working on, (I used the inside of a cereal box).

 If your clock is dusty, wipe it down, don't worry about any nicks or rust stains. These will soon be covered up.

 Cut your pieces of paper to be larger than the side of the clock you'll be covering. You'll want them to over hang as you see here. Coat the outside of the clock with the decoupage, place your paper and then add some more decoupage on top.If some decoupage gets onto your clocks face, simple wipe it off with a damp cloth. Use your over turned bowl to prop up your clock as you work. If you have a lazy susan, even better. Then you can rotate it as you work.

 Once you have covered the outside surface, smoothing out any wrinkles with your fingers, let dry completely before this next step.
Here, you will want to apply the decoupage with the foam brush to the flaps of paper and them fold them down to secure them.

 Flip the clock over onto the bowl and add one more coat of the decoupage as a sealer. Let dry completely before adding the dew drops.
With your favorite strong adhesive, (I used Tom-bo) , apply a line of glue around the face of the clock, but not on the glass. Place all your dew drops. Let cure  a couple of hours, until the glue dries clear, before hanging up on the wall.

 Did you like that? If you did, please let me know here. I'm giving away these Stampendous clear stamps to one lucky reader. I will pick a winner sometime on Tuesday May 1st, 2012. 
Please make it easy for me to reach you in case you are picked.

Thanks for coming by, now please hop along to the rest of the designers. All of them have amazing Earth Day crafts and all of them have giveaways too! :)

Life is Good, Shadow Box.

Here is a peek of a shadow box I made over at The Robins Nest blog.
I hope you'll come over to see the rest of it! It's super cute! :)

Jewelry Holder made with Crazy Tackz!

 I'm so excited to be sharing with you this amazing new product I came across! Its called Crazy Tackz.
A push pin tack with a twist. Imagine being able to hang things any where, any time. Just as I did here!

 I made this jewelry holder by covering two cork trivets and 2 empty tomato cans with decorative tissue and mod podge. Then I glued them all together and attached Crazy Tackz where I wanted to hang my jewelry.

 The best thing about using Crazy Tackz for this project is that I can rearrange the hooks or add  more as needed. I love how I can easily see my rings and earrings. :)

 Crazy Tackz can also be used to hang awards, calendars, keys and so much more!
Are you excited? See more Crazy Tackz idea's in these videos here.

I know you are thinking of how you can use these Crazy Tackz right now, right?

Maybe you have some cords that need to be contained, dog leashes to be hung? How about a "Welcome Home or Birthday" Banner?

Well, the folks over at Crazy Tackz are offering the readers of my blog a special.

If you purchase 3 packs or more from their website, you can save 20% of your entire order with coupon code: FDD20F

You can also get Free shipping on 5 packs or more!

What a sweet deal!

If you already use Crazy Tackz, I'd love to hear how you use them too!

A Pewter Rose Ring made from Amazing Mold Putty!

Today I am featured on the Amazing Mold Putty blog!
I hope you'll come by to say Hi, and see how I made this Rose Ring!
Thanks!

A Visit from Santa....

Today I am featured over on The Robins Nest for a Festive Friday blog hop.
Come by and say Hi!
:)

A Upcycled Toothbrush Holder

 Recently I found this office supply holder at a garage sale for .50.
I thought it would be perfect for Dyllan's bathroom necessities, and I was right! :)

The timers base fits nicely in the larger hole and now everything has it's place.
Sometimes he puts a fake flower in the tall skinny compartment.

 Goes to show that you don't need to buy anything expensive to help organize your child's bathroom, you probably already have it in your studio/office!

What's your favorite upcycled piece?

SteamPunk Easter Basket - Leslie Rahye's "Hippity SteamPunk Easter Blog Hop"!

 You must know by now that I have a fond affection for all things SteamPunk! So of course I was excited to participate in another SteamPunk blog hop with Leslie Rahye.
Here I made a SteamPunk inspired Easter basket with  a tutorial to show you how you can make your own!

 For a basket this size, you will need a 9" x 9" paper. I used The Robin's Nest, Silver Paisley on black cardstock. Score your paper every 3", all the way around. Then cut as shown above.

 Bend your squares at the score lines, then add a bit of glue as I did on to the first flap.

 Leave the center flap for the inside.

 Bring the two outside flaps together at a point. Hold for 10 seconds or more before letting go.

 Add a bit of glue to the inside flap and adhere to the other two. Hold again to make sure it's secure.
Repeat on the other side.

 With the smallest hole punch you have,  go as far as the punch will go to make your hole. Repeat on the other side.

 Cut a strip of the leftover paper to be 1 1/2" x 10". Insert punch at both ends to make the brad hole.

 Attach the handle from the inside with your brads, Then secure the handle just a bit more with a little glue on the inside.

 Then have fun decorating! I added vintage trim, lace, shredded Kraft paper, some chicks and these beaded eggs I made last year.  I also used some clock stickers and made some cut outs from The Robins Nest new line called, "Classified"!  You can see a mini - basket version here.
 Thanks for coming by and seeing my tutorial. I hope you have enjoyed it! I'm giving away these "spring" acrylic stamps from Stampendous. Brand new. For your chance to win, just leave a comment. Let me know what you like about Spring, or SteamPunk, or both!

Then don't forget to "hop" along to the other bloggers and see what SteamPunk creations they dreamed up. Some are also hosting fun giveaways! I will select a winner sometime on Wed, April 11th, 2012. Good luck!
(International Welcome)

A little bit of bracelet love...

I made these  leather bracelets last month at a little demo taught by Cheryl Waters. She's a amazing friend and amazing teacher. The top bracelet I wear daily, I painted the inside turquoise and love how youthful it makes me feel. I made "Rock Star" for Dyllan. I'll give it to him on the last day of 2nd grade and I know he'll love it as much as I loved making it for him. You can find the supplies I used to make these bracelets here.

April Showers Bring "Spring Flower's" - Hair Clips

It's the first Monday of the month and time for another Designer Crafts Blog Hop Connection!
The theme for this month is "April showers, bring May flowers", so I thought to show you how to make these adorable flower hair clips and a ponytail holder or two. :)
Lets get started, shall we?

 You will need the following:

• Large silk flowers, ( I found these at my local craft store on sale for 40% off).
• Assorted colors of sewing thread, thimble and a strong needle..
• Buttons.
• Small felt flowers, I used this Sizzix flower die.
• Alligator hair clips and a few ponytail holders.
• Extra circles of felt and tulle.
• Crayons (trust me on this).
• Assorted colors of stickles or your favorite glitter glue with a fine tip.
• Beacon Fabric-Tac

 Begin by removing your flower from it's wire stem. Then remove the center (yellow part), the bottom (green part) and the middle plastic, (pink part).

 Hold your flower together and stitch your felt flower onto the center.

 Then add your button. Use a thimble to push your needle through the petals if the layers are too thick.

 Using your Fabric glue, adhere a circle of felt to the bottom of the flower. Then place another circle of felt inside the hair clip as shown.Add glue to the felt and place the hair clip.

Open the clip and firmly press down the felt to fuse with the glue. Hold for about 10 seconds.



 Then use a crayon to prop open the hair clip so it does not accidentally glue shut while the felt is setting.

 Above you can see how easy it is to substitute a ponytail holder instead of a clip.

Complete your flowers with as much or as little of glitter glue as desired. Then let dry completely before wearing.

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Thanks for coming by and seeing my tutorial! I hope to have inspired you to make some for your self!
Now please hop along and visit the many more amazing "Spring" inspired crafts made by The Designer Crafts Connection group. They are all talented, super crafty, and some of them are having fabulous spring inspired giveaways! Happy Hopping and Happy Spring!

Designer Craft Connection

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