Easy Altered Clipboard

 

I wanted to share with you an easy project to transform those boring and ugly office clipboards into something really fantastic!  You may remember I posted a while back a few clipboards that I altered to hang inside my ironing board cabinet.  You can see the post HERE.  Well, these are done in a totally different way, with a totally different style.  I love the old timey look of them. 

 These clipboards are easily found at garage sales and thrift stores for under a dollar.  The best part is since you are covering it it doesn't really matter if it's in bad condition.  You will see that in the video.  The Tim Holtz Idea-ology Melange Tissue wrap was perfect for this project.  I love the collage effect that the paper has built into it with the beautiful butterflies, text, music and architecture.  If you are interested in another project using the Idea-ology tissue wrap check out my Magnet Board idea. 

       

The clip on top got a make over too with some Alcohol Ink and some awesome metal embellishments that I also attached with the Matte Multi Medium.

 Since I used legal size clipboards I had a few inches at the bottom extra after the paper was attached.  I tied on some twine and added a few adornments to make my creative soul happy.  Now I have a place to tuck in a business card or a few loose notes and leave my writing surface free of clutter.

Idea-ology Tissue Wrap Melange	Matte Medium Claudine Hellmuth Studio	Alcohol Ink Applicator Adirondack	Alcohol Ink Adirondack	Metallic Alcohol Ink Adirondack
Label Pulls Idea-ology	Ornate Plates Idea-ology	Trinket Pin Idea-ology	Muse Tokens Idea-ology	Locket Keys Idea-ology

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Woodland Table Centerpieces

My best friend Julie, is almost due to have her baby.  I was more than happy to help in the preparations of her baby shower.  Since her nursery is going to be a woodland theme I thought it would be appropriate to incorporate that into the decorations of the shower.  I created the favors, centerpieces, a banner, wishing tree and a few other surprises I will share with you in my next few posts.  Enjoy!

 I created the birdhouses from plain birdhouses I found at my local craft stores.  Each birdhouse was uniquely decorated.  I used my Ranger paint dabbers to paint the houses.  Each house was decorated with it's own combination of decorative papers. Most got additional details added with paint, die cuts, embellishments, etc.  I then used a strong epoxy to attach them to a candlestick I painted to match.

The woodland animals I cut from the Cricut cartridge Give A Hoot.  Our area was hit hard with storms and I was able to use some fallen trees for the pedestals for my creations.  My wonderful Dad help me cut the wood into the sizes that I wanted and then I used some heavy adhesive to attach the top to the bottom.  A few pine cones and other nature elements added to the centerpiece. 

Because I wanted the centerpieces to look great no matter where you were sitting at the table I added mason jars filled with flowers and greens.  Not just ordinary mason jars though, I painted these with the delicious colors from my Ranger Paint Dabbers.  I simply poured a little into the jar added a little water and used a brush to coat the sides and bottom.  The outside of the jars remained the beautiful shiny glass but showed the gorgeous color that coordinated with the decor.  Lovely!

I will be selling the bird houses along with many of my other creations at my next show 

36th Annual ALL NIGHT Flea Market

August 18th, 4 PM - 4 AM

Yes, you read that right

4 o'clock PM till 4 in the morning!!!

DuPage County Fairgrounds

2015 Manchester Road ,Wheaton, IL 60187

Table 1 Centerpiece

 Table 2 Centerpiece

Table 3 Centerpiece

 Table 4 Centerpiece

 Table 5 Centerpiece

 Tables 6 and 7 Centerpieces

Game On Configuration Boxes

I am working my way through Tim Holtz's amazing Compendium Of Curiousities vol. 2 book.   I'm sure you've heard me talk about fabulous, Linda, over at Studio L3 who is hosting the Compendium of Curiousties challenge.  This weeks challenge is all about configuration boxes.  These were made for our vintage insprired game room. 

This is the latest one that I did. It is the top right box. I love the little whistle that I hung just below the lid. I used 3 marbles as "balls" for the boy that is actually a game piece to be kicking. And I just love the mini Cootie. Those of us that are old enough to remember when Little People weren't a "choking hazard" have fond memories of these little guys. The green hand came from the game Mouse Trap and there are some game parts from Clue in the box next to that. I love the old wooden game markers so I put some of them in another box. Like the others that I designed I flipped a couple of them over to place ads and pictures. This one I did the same. I used two small square boxes to place the playing card ad on and the other I put this cute bicycle riding monkey. So fun and quirky.

Here are photos of the previous ones I have posted.

The Top Left Configuration Box is just below.

Click HERE to see the post.

This is the lower right Configuration box and is the first one that I created.

You can click HERE to see the post.

This Configuration box is on the lower left side.
Click HERE to see the post.

A $2 Transformation!

This weekend I had a show at the DuPage Expo.  Since I just started doing shows in October of last year I am still very much of a newbie.  

 I needed some new displays for this show so I created one out of an old lamp I found at the Goodwill for $2. 

I was looking for one with a strong wire shade and a decorative bottom, also the shade needed to be supported by a harp (the metal thingy instead of clamped on the light bulb).

I first stripped the shade of all it's stained fabric.  No need for that.  I sanded down where they had glued it to the metal frame. 

I Then whipped out my Claudine Hellmuth Studio Black Gesso Paint.  In ONE coat I covered the  base, the metal shade, and the harp!  Can you believe it only took ONE COAT! Love this stuff. 

 And I will let you in on a little secret.  The black gesso can double as chalk board paint :) 

 How cool is that!!!

Once dried I had the perfect place to clip some of my items on.  I love it!  I loved it so much the hardest part was cutting the cord on it.  I almost wanted to keep it as a lamp and not a display piece.

 I also made the boxes in this last photo the same way except I used cardboard boxes from my Project Life and painted them black.  When it was dry I created a thin wash using Espresso Paint Dabbers and water.  I adorned the fronts with Tim Holtz Ornate Plates

Recycled License Plates

I was super excited to see Tim's new Idea-ology line.  Especially the license plate paper and stickers!!! I have created these two signs out of ACTUAL license plates.  Some are vintage.  They add so much character to our game room.   I love them.  I am so excited and my mind is spinning with the possibilities of what I can do with these stickers.  Hey Tim... How about a stamp set???  

 New Tim Holtz Idea-ology Destinations Paper Stash

One of my favorite pages...just one, I have many...

  Part of New Tim Holtz Idea-ology Destinations Salvage Stickers

Designer Book Covers

When I was camping this past summer I found that the covers of my puzzle books were taking a beating!  I found an easy, and I mean EASY, solutions to my problem.  I created a video tutorial showing just how easy and durable my books are now.  I love them now and especially love that they match my car! I keep them in the passenger door so whenever I'm bored (which isn't often) I can pull them out and keep me busy. 

Great for gifts...think of all the stocking that could be stuffed or Easter baskets!  Birthdays, party favors...the ideas are endless.  Plus, it's a great way to use up all that extra paper.

God Bless Kyler Banner

I preparing for little Kyler's Christening I wanted to create some simple, yet elegant decorations.  For this banner I turned to Lettering Delights.  They have two perfect SVG collections that were just perfect!  I used the Accordion Fold Rosettes and the Pennants to cut the perfect size every time, quickly and easily. (There is a picture at the bottom of the page of the size and what it looked like before I cut it out).   Along the edge of each pennant I used the Tim Holtz mini rosette die and pleated it to create a beautiful trim along the edge. The lettering if from the Cricut Storybook cartridge.  I cut the white shadow twice.  I placed one white shadow letter on the rosette and added dimension with foam tape raising the rest of the letters up a bit.  The finishing touch was a clear dangling teardrop gem that I added to the bottom of each pennant.   I hung the entire banner over the curtain rod going out to our back yard.

The Accordion Fold Rosettes from Lettering Delight come with 18 different rosette patterns so I had plenty to choose from.  I like this one and made it nice and large so I could fit my letters on top of it. 

 I put the pennants on on it's side so I could fit 2 on each page saving time and paper.

Tim Holtz Mini Rosettes