Personalized Flower Markers!

I'm having some friends over for a Spring inspired crop at my home on Sunday. So I thought I would make each person a personalized Flower marker. I am going to tie each one to a napkin and put on their place setting for the event. I think it's something they will enjoy. :)

Supplies used:
Water color lavender, water color ocean, and daisy stripe teal cardstock from The Robins Nest.
Olive green glimmer mist, sizzix die- flowers layers w/leaf, brown ink, Popsicle sticks, punch out letters and tacky glue.

I spritzed the sticks front and back with the glimmer mist and set aside to dry. I used the sizzix die to make the flowers, then distressed the edges with inks and adhered them to the sticks.

Lastly I added a letter for each first name.

Super easy...super sweet!

I hope you have enjoyed this simple craft and will be inspired to create your own!
Please visit The Robins Nest blog for more inspiration!

"Spring is Here!" - Hair Clips!

I have a serious case of Spring colors on my mind
and because I was in need of some fresh
and pretty hair adornments, I thought I'd whip up a batch for today's blog hop!

I made these was just a few simple things.
Pinking shears, scissors, assorted fabrics cut into 4 varying sized circles, hair clips, buttons, rhinestones, thread, needle and glue. (chap stick optional) :)

I just layered circles upon each other,
sewing all the way through using a button as my marker.

Because these are for my enjoyment, I did not worry about stitches showing on the backs.

I think they turned out totally cute and will look so pretty in my hair,
clipped to my blouse, even on the tops of my shoes!

If you have enjoyed my contribution for this months
"Designer Challenge - Blog Hop", please click the (hop forward) button found on this logo here...
at the right of this blog. ------>
Some of the designers are hosting giveaways, last month was a cricut expression!

Comments Welcome!

Tuesday Tutorial- "Beaded Eggs!"

For this weeks Tuesday tutorial, I thought I'd show you how to make a beaded egg. So incredibly simple, about one 1/2 hour per egg and the results look like you slaved over each one!

To get started, you will need:
1. Eggs. I used paper mache', but you can also use wooden, Styrofoam or even plastic.
2. 26 gauge floral craft wire- found at ant any craft store.
3. Seed beads. The more assorted the colors, the more unique the result.
4. Jewelry pliers or small scissors.
5. Tacky tape. The kind with the red backing. For once double stick tape will not work, it must be tacky tape, the wider, the better. You can google tacky tape, find it at craft stores or even at walmart.
6. A small bowl to hold the beads, a tray to work over to catch run away beads.
7. Ribbon, if you want to make a egg ornament. (optional)


Begin by covering the top 1/2 of the egg, narrow end, with the tacky tape. Before removing the backing, warm the egg in your hands. That little bit of heat will make the tape adhesive be more sticky. Refrain from using a heat tool, as this can damage the egg or make it too hot to handle.
Remove the backing and add the ribbon if desired. Add some more tape on top of the ribbon, where it covers previous tape.
Adding beads to wire can be unpredictable as the wire will not stay put, so cut off at least 36" to start with. Secure a bead at the end of your wire.
Then take the other end of your wire and make a slight curl. Scoop the curl right into your bowl of beads. 3 scoops and this is what I got. It's easier than doing them one by one. Also if you have one of those automated bead spinners, then you can do it that way too!
Once you have about 12" of beads on the end of your wire you can begin to coil it onto your egg.
Make sure that you are keeping the beads close together with no major gaps of wire. Press down to make sure the coils are stuck to the adhesive. And then continue string more beads, attaching to the egg and removing the tacky tape backing as you go.

When you are working with shorter lengths of wire, you have more control, but you also run out faster and need to attach more wire as needed. Just twist the old end with the new end together and snip with your scissors or jewelry tool. Push the wire as close to the previous coil, as close as possible. Turn the snipped tail down onto the rest of the egg, add a piece of tape if desired and just coil over it.
For the end, take the wire and push it under 2 coils and back through the end, like tying a knot. Snip and you are done!
Warm up the eggs in your hands again, huffing on them like you would if you are cold. Smooth your hands over the egg, pushing down any beads bumps or aligning some crooked coils. Let Eggs "cure" over night so the tacky tape can fully set and become permanent.

Egg nestled in lemon thyme.

Egg hanging in a hydrangea bush

3 eggs in some french oregano

*************************************************************

This weeks give away will be 3 plain paper mache' eggs for you to paint, bead, glitter
or alter in any way imaginable!
Every Tuesday for APRIL I'll show case a tutorial for Spring/ Easter.
On the 1st Tuesday of the following month, I will pick a winner.
The winner will receive ALL 4 projects made from the previous month.
( Please leave your e-mail address in comments or make sure your blog sign in is not private, If I can't reach you easily...you can't win)

Please visit last weeks tutorial here. :)

Thanks for coming by and happy beading!

Pretty Little Bird House and Card

This week for The Robins Nest, I decided to make a pretty little Bird House and card!

For the card I used The Robins Nest reversible Classic Roses.
I cut what I needed for the card and then right away started to bend and scrunch up the corners so I could distress it with some brown ink. I use mini chalk inks for these projects because it's easier to handle and I don't get my fingers messy for little projects like this.
Then I used my sanding block to rough up the edges for a vintage feel. If you don't have a sanding block (which protects your finger nails) , then some fine sand paper from the hardware store works just as well too.
Tacky tape or double stick tape is a must in your supply list! The uses are endless! Here I put down a strip for my music sheet ruffle. I cut copies of vintage music, making sure they were close in size, and lightly inked the top and bottom edges with the brown color.
Then I folded down the end of the first strip for a clean end to start with.
I placed the first piece on the tacky tape, folding as I went, over lapping and careful not to make a mistake as tacky tape is extremely unforgiving.
When tying the bow, I always find it easier to turn the project upside down, and then I always end up with the perfect bow tie! For the bird, since it was mostly see through, I used about 7 large glue dots until I was happy with the depth. The flowers are Prima and the inside jewels are Silver dew drops from the Robins Nest.

For the Bird House, I used the following materials:
Silver Dew Drops
White Tear Drops
Classic Rose Cardstock
Glittered Red Rope Cardstock
Teal Glitter Cardstock
and...
A wooden birdhouse, tacky glue, craft wire, white acrylic paint, Kraft paper shredding, brown ink, scissors, foam brush, paper trimmer, scalloped border punch (threading water- fiskars).

First I primed the birds house front, back and sides with the paint/ foam brush and set aside to dry.
~I paper trimmed 1" strips of the teal paper and with the scissors cut them into uneven triangles. I inked the edges of all of them and set aside.
~I used the border punch on the roses paper and trimmed them down to size of the roof width. I cut same size strips of the glittered red rope papere and trimmed around the design.
~I applied a generous coat of tacky glue to one side of the house, spread glue evenly with my finger and them started placing the teal triangles, making sure they were flat, secure and not touching. Giving off the appearance of broken china. For areas too small for a standard triangle, I just trimmed a few down and inked them before adding to certain spots.
I repeated this all the way around the bird house.

For the roof, I started at the bottom and worked my way up. Icoated one side of the roof with glue, spreading evenly and then placing the layers of paper. I finished with the silver dew drops in the center of each rope design.

 
I made the nest just twisting some wire and the kraft shredding. Then I attached it to the bird house perch with tacky glue and added the white tear drops for eggs.

I've been Published in ARTella!*

I'm very excited to announce that I've been published in the newest issue of Artella!
I have a 4-page spread featuring ATC's!
I'm so happy!
My first publication!
I've been drooling over Artella's e-zines and publications for a long time.
They are the perfect place to keep your creativity inspired!
On top of that...check this out!

Marney Makridakis from Artella is presenting a fun, inspiring,and nicest of all, free :-) teleclass called ARTsignments in Action: A Fun Romp Through the ARTbundance Sandbox!
It's a full hour of "getting messy" with some really fun and unique self-exploration tools that are infused with creativity! You can get more info and sign up here