Let There Be Light

Here is my craft room work space.  It's not quite set up yet, but I'm getting there.  I have been working at my table, but the only light in the room comes from behind me.  As you can see from the lamp shadow on the wall, it makes the space very hard to work in, especially after dark.  It needed another light, but my darling husband is very busy and I'll wait forever waiting for him to install one. 

When we first moved in, this corner was supposed to be a reading nook but when circumstances forced us to make this room an additional sleeping space, I turned that corner into my crafting space.

But the hook for a hanging pendant light was still in the ceiling.  When I was cleaning up the space a few weeks ago, I found a new swag light kit and after an evening of frustrated crafting in shadow yesterday, I decided to put the kit together.  I mean, really, how hard could THAT be? :D

I followed the instructions - which were super simple (basically strip the wire, tie a knot, wrap the ends around the screws, tighten and done. I attached a shade I had in a closet, and VOILA! LIGHT (insert angel songs here).

This was a super easy, job that took a total of 5 minutes start to finish! Soon I will decorate the shade to jazz it up, but for now I'm just happy to be able to see while I work!

Photo Transfer

I am looking for specific art for my master bedroom.  I want the room to be masculine and old world looking, but modern. I know, its complicated.  What I really have my heart set on are crowns and maps. While looking for the perfect images, I came across many blog sites teaching how to transfer images to canvas and wood using "gel medium".  WOW! There's no end to the things I can create with THAT technique.  So as I research it more, I discover that you can (apparently) use a multitude of products to actually do the transfer.

Not wanting to go to the store stupid uneducated I was waiting until I felt more confident before venturing off to the art store to get supplies.  But I'm impatient too.  I had a little bit of time on my hands today and I have a bottle of Mod Podge on hand and a few dollar store art canvas.  My research shows that this is a reversible project, in that, if it doesn't work, a new coat of gesso or paint, and the canvas is good as new as if it never happened.  Ha ha! Fool proof! My favourite kind of craft.

I was so excited to give it a shot, that I forgot to take some pictures, but here's how it goes:

I searched trusty old Google for Crown and found a perfect beauty over here at, of all places, a tattoo flash site.  Anyway...

I printed it on my ink jet printer, cut it to size so there wasn't a lot of extra paper because when it's dry, I have to rub off all the paper. 

I coated my canvas with a decent coat of Mod Podge. Not too much, just enough to coat the entire canvas. Even though my graphic doesn't cover the whole canvas, I want the entire canvas to have a uniform sheen. 

I placed my graphic on the canvas ink side down.  If using a text graphic, make sure to flip it to mirror image first!

Then I took my ruler and GENTLY scraped over the entire canvas starting in the center and working up, then down, then across from one side to the other.  That scrapes out any air bubbles, lumps, lines, bumps and other imperfections and it makes sure the graphic is adhered well to the canvas.

Now we wait for the mod podge to dry. Tick tock (this is where the magic of video would come in handy). So while I wait for it to dry, here's how it looks right now:

When the canvas is totally dry, you gently spray the paper backing with water and rub off the back layer of paper.  The ink part is supposed to stay adhered to the canvas.  How hard can it be right?

Well... remember before when I said this was fail proof, because if it didn't work, I could start over as if it never happened?  Good thing it's that kind of craft, because it totally didn't work!  That's what I get for being impatient!  But It wasn't clear on the interweb (as we call it around here for fun) if MP was a good medium for this.  I can now tell you emphatically, it is NOT the right product for this project.  It's great for many many things...but this is not one of them.  Let me show you what happened:

So it's been sprayed with water, and I started rubbing, and as you can see, the ink ran.







The more I rubbed to remove the paper, the more the ink ran, and eventually disappeared.

I can see the potential here, so I'm going to go find the proper medium to do this project.  It's going to be exactly what I have been looking for.  So now I know what not to do!

What I learned: 

1. While Mod Podge is a fantastic product with tons of possibilities, this is not one of them.
2. I used a stretched canvas.  With the amount of rubbing that had to be done, a flat canvas, or loose canvas will be better. 
3. Ink jet printing is not suitable for this project.  It has to be laser printing.
4. With the right medium, this is going to be a fantastic project with tons of possibilities. 

So now I'm off to the art store to find the gel medium, as soon as I send my files to Staples for printing on the laser printer!

The Autumn Wreath

One of my favourite bloggers is Thrifty Decor Chick.  She is a great writer, a talented decorator and a true inspiration.  When I'm searching for DIY decor things, I go to her blog before I even go to Google.  I found this lovely entry when I was looking for inspiration for an inexpensive and easy to store, but big enough to see from the street door wreath.

I never think of the Dollar Store for craft supplies.  I should, but I didn't.  Until I started reading DIY blogs.  I took my dear daughter to guitar lessons and had 30 minutes to kill. Lucky for me, the Dollar Store is right beside the music store.  I was pleasantly surprised to find everything I would need to complete my own autumn wreath. 

This one, was actually quite easy compared to the Christmas ball wreath that I copied from a retail display.  Here's how it went:

I had a left over piece of black foam core that I uncovered when I finally finished clearing, cleaning and organizing my craft room. 

I used a cake plate to trace the inner circle. Then I tied a string to a pen and pinned it to the center of the inner circle. I stretched it out and traced a circle to make the outer ring. Then I cut it with a sharp knife.  Don't stress over trying to make it perfect.  No one will ever see it. 

The supplies I picked up from my new favourite craft supply store needed to be cut apart and sorted.  I borrowed DH's wire cutters but I will have to get my own.

I used my trusty hot glue gun to glue everything down.  The trick here was to not fuss about it. Just stick it down.  I had 3 shades of orange/red and 1 pile of green/brown.  I used the biggest orange ones first, then filled in randomly with the others.  It was so difficult to be random!  I thought it looked like a hot mess!  But I propped it up on my peg board, stepped back and looked at it from a distance.  It's so much different when you're not looking at your project from 2 feet away.  Then I placed the green leaves where they needed to go to break up some of the orange, without looking to contrived. 

I tried placing the "berries" on too, but they just didn't look right.  I've never seen berries on a maple tree so I decided to leave them off. (They were part of the wire garland thing I bought at the Dollar Store).  Besides that, berries seem more winter to me than autumn. 

So I stepped back and looked at it a few times and placed the sunflowers on the way they go traditionally.  That 2 here, 1 there asymetrical placement. I liked it, but I didn't love it.  I was trying to not take it all too seriously.  I wanted it to be random, not perfect.  I also didn't want it to look like a DIY project but I didn't want it to look like a factory made wreath either.  It's SO hard to not fuss over it.  I just kept reminding myself that if it was horrible, it was ONLY $10 spent.  So I left it for a bit and cooked dinner.  I came back to it and tried a bit of ribbon. It was too much.  Then I remembered I had some rafia.  I first tried weaving it all around.  Yuk.  Tried a bow, too predictable.  While I was fussing with the rafia though, a few strands fell on the table, and were lying just under the wreath. What a wonderful accident.  It was just the little pop of something it needed.  So I glued it down, added the ribbon for hanging, and Voila!  My autumn wreath!

Not bad for $10.71

The Spring Summer Wreath

We are undergoing a bathroom renovation, so I've been pre-occupied with shopping for tiles and fixtures and paint.  What fun.  Luckily, my husband is "in the biz" so we have a great crew working on the space, meaning I don't have to do the work!

In the meantime, spring is trying hard to arrive, but winter just won't let go.  It's April, but we've had snow!  Then I realized that while I had taken down my winter wreath, I had not put anything up in it's place.  So off to Michaels I went.  I wanted something different from the norm that really screamed Spring and Summer (because let's face it... once my pool opens, I doubt I'll want to be crafting).  I found some great green and white ribbon, some big clip on daisies, and a hot pink clip on butterfly.  This was going to be an easy peasy project. 

I had a old gold frame at home that wasn't being used and currently doesn't match any of my current decor.  The idea came together quite easily, now would the execution of it match?!

So given that this one is going on the sun porch in the heat of summer, I didn't think the glue gun was the best tool this time.  So I worked with the staple gun.  FUN!  I started by removing the glass from the frame and simply wrapping the frame with the ribbon until all of it was covered.   The corners were a bit tricky, but with persistence and clever folding on the back, it all got covered. There are little hints of gold picking through at the corners but that adds to the charm. 

I clipped the flowers and butterfly on because I might want to change it up a little later.  I doubt it, but you never know.  Besides, I didn't want to use hot clue, and couldn't really figure out how else to attached them.  I saved the glass from the frame, and other than a few staple holes in the back, this project can be undone and remade, or reused easily.

I love how it turned out!  It took less than an hour, cost less than $25 and I think it looks great!  This project was super easy!

If the sun would come out, I would be able to take a picture from a little further away.  It "pops" against the white door.  From the sidewalk it is eye catching.  I just wish the weather would match the feeling of the wreath! Soon though.... soon.

Today's Challenge... Gourmet Pizza. It's left overs and prepared crust, how hard can it be?

Switching gears today from crafting to cooking.  I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal.  I don't have a lot of confidence in the kitchen.  I don't have a lot of recipes that are tried and true.  What I do have is a picky teenage daughter, a boring palette and a husband that loves experimenting with food and tastes.  So to go out on a limb in the kitchen is very brave (stupid) of me and it could go very well, or very very bad. 

I am trying to avoid going to the grocery store so I looked in the fridge to see what I had and then tried to find something to make with those ingredients.  I have left over chicken from yesterday's dinner, some goat cheese and flat bread pizza bases.  So gourmet chicken, goat cheese and carmalized onions it is! Here goes nothing!

The Winter Wreath

I love love  love the Nate Berkus Show.  Nate mentioned this decorating blog on the show one day and it immediately  became a favourite.  I then started searching for other diy blogs and sites and came  across instructions for these beautiful luminaries.  The best part was that I had now learned the secret to wintery glitter!  Oh the fun I can have now!!!

The Inspired Wreath

I have been known to get myself into a pile of trouble thinking something is a lot easier than it is in reality.  Since closing my business and having time to think (which is a very dangerous thing) I have uttered the words "how hard can it be" several times.  I think it frightens DH when I say "honey, I have an idea".  But it's not always bad!

Take a recent adventure for example.