Deflecto Craft Solutions for You!

I am proud to announce that I am part of a new team of designers working with a Craft and Storage company called Deflecto! As a fellow crafter you know that we love anything to do with storage!
Deflecto has amazing product and they want You- the Crafter, Scrapbooker and Artist to know that their product is not just for the office use.

So now, through this new design team, posting on their blogs (last Monday of every month)  and on the  Face Book fan page, you'll see various craft storage ideas to inspire you in more ways than one.
Welcome!

  Here are some of the new Acrylic Frames by Deflecto.
Perfect to dip lay art, use in boutiques, and in teachers classrooms.

 For my son's artwork, I used this 8 1/2" x11" double sided sign holder.

 

 This 8 1/2"x11" wall mount frame holds a photo of our sons Great-Grandfather. He was the original engineer of this Big Boy 4014 locomotive. It used to be on display at the Los Angeles fairgrounds. Now its in route to Wyoming for restoration.
 Pi
Deflecto also carries sign holders for your fridge!

Thanks for coming by!
Please visit me every last Monday of the month for more storage solutions and don't forget to visit us on Face Book !

Composition Journal Cover

Today on The Robins Nest blog, I have a journal cover tutorial!
Enjoy!

Home-Office-School- Collapsible Paper Tray DIY

Today you can find me on The Robins Nest blog with a fun DIY "Collapsible paper Tray" craft!
Use them for home, office, school and the craft room!

 

You can view the project here.

Enjoy!

Lego Mini-Figurine Wall Display

Our son loves Lego's.
 Whats not to love?
 They are easy to create with, following instructions or making something up.
He also loves the mini-figurines. Mostly Star Wars but we also have a mix of classic characters.
I wanted to display the characters...so I started looking around the house for something I could work with.

I had a blank cork board and some acrylic paints.
I painted the entire board with black paint. It took about 2 coats to evenly cover the cork.

Then I researched the internet for images of galaxies. I chose galaxies because we love anything  Star Wars.
Following the color pattern of the galaxy image I found, I used a texture brush to apply the paints.

I tried to follow the swirls of the online galaxy image I found.

For the stars, I dipped a old toothbrush into white paint and dragged my thumb across the bristles. This created splatters of white paint. Like faraway stars.
Some of the splatters were uneven or droopy from lots of paint, so I used a fine paint brush to make them into close up stars.

When I was done painting, I took the board outside and sprayed with a clear sealer. While the sealer was still tacky, I scattered some some iridescent glitter onto the board for extra glitz.

Next we went to our local Lego store and purchased a small tub of 2x4  bricks.  About 50 bricks in all. I adhered flat back tacks onto one end of the bricks with crazy Glue and let set until fully cured.

 Then we began placement of the mini-figurines!
Now we have a perfect piece of wall art that is both beautiful and functional.
Our son likes to play around with adding the figurines and taking them down for actual "play".

Thanks for coming by, I hope to have inspired you!

 Please feel free to leave me a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Materials used:

Cork board

Plaid acrylic paints

Crazy glue

Texture brush

Fine paint brush

Tooth brush

Clear spray sealer

Fine glitter

2x4 lego bricks

Tacks

Lego Mini-Figurines

Galaxy image

Melt-Beads Backpack Charms!

 This months creativity is all about "Back-2-School".
So I decided to show off some backpack charms I made with melt-beads, also know as Perler beads.
To begin, you will need the following:

• Melt beads
• Clear peg boards in a various shapes and sizes.
• Parchment paper
• Standard iron for ironing clothes - craft irons take 'forever'. Set iron to polyester, never steam.
• Heat proof surface- I used 2 layers of cork boards.
• Volume 3 All Seasons, pattern pad. Great patterns plus blank templates in the back to photocopy and color in!
• Assorted crayons, colored markers, a pencil and a white out pen.
• Paper piercer
• Elastic twine, 5" long and clips.

 When working on the rose from the pattern book, have most of your bead colors out and ready to apply. Then place your clear peg board on the design, aligning the best you can. Start at the top and work horizontally, one bead at a time. If you need to check your progress, never pick up the peg board. Always slide it or you may risk bumping the beads apart!

On a heat proof surface, gently place your filled in peg board and cover with parchment paper. Iron in circles 10 times. You should be able to see which beads have begun to melt and which ones still need some heat. If you are still not sure, carefully peel away the parchment paper, -Warning- the beads will be *hot*! If you see any loose beads, lay the paper down and add more heat. The more heat you apply, the more melted the beads will be. Set aside to cool for a minute then peel off paper and remove design from peg board. Flip design over onto heat proof surface (melted side down) and repeat parchment paper and ironing steps.

Cool completely.
To attach the twine, simply put one end through a open bead and tie to make a loop. If the bead you want to use is partially closed up, a paper piercer will help open that up for you!

For this flower, I started the beads in the center and worked my way out.

 

If you Google melt beads/perler beads craft...you will find tons and tons of images.
When you see something you like, you can make your pattern from the blank templates.  Simply count the finished ideas 'beads' and color code them on your template. Working horizontally will ensure you don't make a mistake. but if you do...the white out pen is a true lifesaver!
Anything that is supposed to be "white", write a "W" with your pencil so not to be confused with no-color. You could also write a "C" for" clear beads"

For the Storm-trooper, I aligned his pattern in the top corner of the peg board so I could fill in the empty space with other designs later. For large designs like this, always work color by color, bead by bead - horizontally. Don't be tempted to fill in one color because you may bump the beads with your fingers when filling in the rest and have to start all over.

Here are some other designs I found online, colored in and created!
I Love the Ewok! He's so cute!

While I was making the purple light-saber, my 10 year old son made up the double edged light-saber!

Are you excited to make some backpack charms for you and your kids?
 If you don't know where to start, visit your local craft store and buy a bucket of assorted colors.
Its a better value. I only buy the packages of one color if its a color I used more often than others.
Then dump some of the beads onto a velour bead mat and begin sorting.
Do this at a table while you watch a movie or listen to a audio book.

I first sort by general shades. Then I individually sort each pile.
The reason I sort the beads is that some colors have shade variations that are hard to see when all in the tub. So I sort then use a spoon to scoop beads into my storage box.

I try to keep the beads with like minded colors.
Makes it easier to create with.
I don't recommend to use the bead cases that have removable sections because they tend to come undone, messing up your (color-coded) system.

Anytime I finish a project, I try to sort some more colors so I'm ready for the next inspiration.

Here are some more ideas.
(Above) - I used no pattern. Just played away. :).
 The Mine Craft charms were made from images found on the web and colored onto the blank template. I have also used design ideas from cross stitch patterns.

Here are some fun  "Mario" themed charms.

Thanks for coming by, I hope I have inspired you to create some fun Back-2-School charms!