Design by Night

Every time I go to the hardware store I am drawn to all the paint samples and their rainbow of colors. For years I've thought that there is some craft opportunities in those paint chips but haven't done anything about it until now. My last trip to the hardware store I picked up a fistful of swatches in a plethora of colors in the hopes of coming up with something crafty. Here is my first (and very simple) use of the paint swatches. Since Valentine's day is approaching I decided to make a Valentine's day bookmarks using rubber stamps. These bookmarks could easily become a cute accessory to the normal Valentine's day cards (or with a little extra work even become the card itself!) On a side note look at them names of swatches...some of them are really cute and could lend themselves to certain occasions. Some of the swatch names that I chose are Love St. Valentine's Day , True Royal Love and Young April Love, all perfect for V-day. To make these bookmarks you will...

Last year I posted a series of Valentine's Day cards that could be downloaded and printed to give to your loved ones. This year I would love to do the same thing but I need some help. Last years cards included pirates , zombies , squirrels and Mr. T ....I know, I know, how in the hell can you top Mr. T? Well I have some crafty followers and I think it can be done! So what I need are some good (and kind of stupid funny) Valentine's day card ideas. Please post a comment with your ideas. If the idea makes me laugh I will turn it into a downloadable card and post them the week of Valentine's day. Please keep in mind that I like raunchy however I would like to not be blatantly pornographic, be crafty I love some good innuendo.

Last week and I messed up an order that I was making which at the time totally cheesed me off. Like an adult I totally had a tantrum and chucked the feather base onto a shelf, screamed then started over. After a calming girls weekend away, I entered my craft room last night with a new perspective. "What would Bob Ross do?" As a child I would love to watch his show on PBS and to this day I think he is part of the reason I even attended art school. Bob Ross never threw a tantrum. No, even though his Jordache Jeans were so tight he probably lost circulation in his manly areas and even though he painted the same landscape for 20 years (just with in different seasons), he would never let a mishap get him down. Hell no, he would have had a "Happy Accident." So with a new lease on my mishap I busted out the Jordache Jeans, teased my hair into a fro and got to work. I have decided to share my "Happy Accident" below:

If you can't tell by my posts from the past 30 days or so, I am trying to use a stash of felt that I found in my fabric box. At some point I bought quarter yards of a bunch of different felt and never really used it. Well it is the new year and one of the things that I do (and everyone else tends to do too) is try to organize my life—yeah like that is possible. Even though I do it every year and it only last a month or two I still find myself trying to be organized come Jan. 1. Oh well, I have gone off on a tangent. Back to the tutorial, basically I have been trying to figure out what I can make with this stash of small pieces of felt so you might be getting a few more felt flower projects until I use it all! I hope you enjoy the sunflower. Supplies 1/4 Yard felt* Button (preferrably a shank style) Hot glue gun Scissors Needle & Thread (I would use a heavier duty thread since it the flower needs gathering) Pin back *I used two different colors and honestly from a quarter of a ...

It is a new year, new beginnings, new projects, and new diets! But one thing hasn't changed with the new year, my obsession with making flowers continues. I am pleased with how this one turned out. It is very easy to make and cute with all the loopty loops...enjoy! Supplies Felt, 30" long x 4-5" wide Button (preferrably a shank style about and inch round" Hot glue gun Scissors Measuring tape Pin back Cut a piece of felt 2" wide by 30" long. Fold the felt in half widthwise and hot glue the bottom open edge of the felt. Make small cuts long the folded edge of the felt (roughly an eighth to a quarter of an inch wide). It will look like fringe. Make sure to leave about a quarter of an inch uncut along the unfolded edge. Put a line of about an inch long of hot glue along the bottom (unfolded) edge of the fringe and start to roll up the felt into a circle around itself. Continue gluing and rolling the fringe until the felt forms a circular shape. Push b...

In October I posted a tutorial to make leather earrings . Well for Christmas I revisited this craft and made a few other designs for a few people at my work. This is one of my favorite tutorials because they are so easy to make and the earrings are light and easy to wear. I liked the new designs so much I thought I would share the pattern for them. To view the full set of instructions on how to make these leather earrings, click here . To make one of the two pairs shown, download and print the updated pattern below (the bottom row are the new designs):

Need a last minute gift? Make this no sew felt flower brooch. Supplies 1/8" yard of felt for flower Pin backer Hot glue gun Scissors Printer Print out the pattern below and cut out 14 petals, 1 pin cover and 1 base from the felt. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Take a dab of hot glue and place it at the bottom middle of the petal and fold down the right hand side. Place a second dab of glue in a similar area and fold the left side so it forms the shape below. Note the concave edge of the petal is the bottom. Repeat step with the remainder of the petals. Take four of the petals and glue them on the outside edge of the circle backer in a north, east, west, south manner (like the points of a compass). Take four more petals and glue them between the "compass" petals. Take the remaining five petals and glue them closer to the center of the backer, arranging them in a circle. Cut a strip of felt 12" long by 1" wide. Fold in half an...