living on love

diy: pom.pom flowers.

these little flowers only took about 10 minutes to make & are perfect for spring time or for people with cats who like to eat live plants. i think they look so sweet & dreamy, i smile every time i see them... ran even noticed them without me saying anything.

supplies needed:

sticks or dowels cut to desired length

about 2 yrds of yarn for each flower

a pom pom maker... store bought or homemade

a small length of matching yarn or string

1. start wrapping your yarn around the pom.pom maker. i cut my yarn in two 1 yrd lengths & wrap them at the same time. you can make your own pom pom maker by cutting a circle inside a circle of cardboard. for this size pom pom (approx 1 3/4" diameter) the outside circle of the maker needs to be 1 1/2" in diameter & the circle in the middle is approx 1/2".

2. cut around the outside edge of the pom.pom maker.

3. use a small length of yarn or string to tie around the bundle of yarn.

4. trim any wayward yarn & fluff up the pom.pom so it looks all pretty.

5. slide it onto the end of a stick. you can glue it if you would like or if you dont glue, you can chnage pom.pom colors for seasons or holidays & dont have to worry about breaking the sticks in storage.

stamped fabric ribbon.

on sunday i mention making fabric ribbon & i wanted to share a quick how to on making some. its pretty easy & pretty addicting, so consider yourself warned...

supplies:

fabric... i am finding it a great use for all my scraps.

ink... i used versafine, which does not say its for fabric, but as long as your not washing the ribbon, i think almost any ink would work. if you arent sure test stamp it on a scrap.

stamps

scissors

iron

1. iron your fabric & tear it on all 4 sides. i tore mine down to a 13" x 10" piece... make sure at least one side is the length you need it to be.

2. cut little slits about an inch apart down one side of your fabric... i cut mine on the 10" side because i wanted my ribbon to be 13" long for scrapbooking pages.

3. rip the fabric where you just made all those snips.

4. pull off all the strings & iron the strips flat.

5. stamp your image onto the fabric.

seriously, that easy & i love it on printed fabric...

think of all the possibilities... scrapbooking, cardmaking, tags, gift wrap... personalize with a name, an age, a date (like for a wedding), a favorite quote, or an inside joke...

a "baby" mini book.

 a few days ago i mentioned how our friends had welcomed a baby boy to their lives & i wanted to share a mini book i made for them. it is pretty much as "non.baby" as i could make it... minus a couple details, it really could be used for a variety of photos.

it came together really quickly since the majority of embellishments are cut from the paper i was using... an old love, elsie line. i added a couple pockets, some rub.ons, glitter pen doodles, & was able to whip this little book up in an evening. 

lace + vinyl.

1. find a cool frame you like & 2 pieces of glass that fit the frame. i went to the thrift store & bought 2 frames for every one i was going to make... one frame i would use & the other i would only use the glass.

2. get some lace that you like & cut it to fit the frame. i layed my lace out, put the glass from the frame over the area i liked, & then cut around it.

3. clean the glass really well then layer glass, lace, glass & put in the frame. i used a few drops of glue to glue everything in & then used a staple gun to add a few staples around the edges... just in case.

4. add a vinyl to the front glass, although i think it looks just as pretty without the vinyl.

happy new year & 2012 planner diy.

happy happy new year to you! i hope everyone had a safe memorable new year & is ready to get 2012 going. i am. lots of planning & goal making going on around our home in recent days which led to the need of a calendar / planner. instead of buying one, i diy-ed it.

diy planner:

1.

download & print out the following pdfs.

january front, february / march front, april / may front, june / july front.

 

2.

now download & print these pdfs, but you need to print these on the back of the pages you just printed out... the pdf titled feb/march back needs to be printed on the back side of feb & march, etc.

january back, february / march back, april / may back, june / july back.

it might take a little work to figure out how to flip your printed-on-one-side-paper so that it prints out correctly on the back. you want it to look like this:

3.

score all the pages in half @ the 5 1/2" mark on the 11" side:

4.

then cut your papers in half @ the 4 1/4" mark on the 8 1/2" side:

5.

now find the big numbers 1-7 & stack them on top of each other in that order, 1 on bottom & 7 on top.

6.

if you want to decorate your planner, i recommend doing so before binding it. it makes it so much easier to stamp on when its a flat piece of paper. i used fun stamps to mark important dates, but left my planners semi plain so i can keep working on them throughout the year. hopefully by the end of 2012 i will have an art journal type of record of my year.

7.

when your done decorating then choose a binding method... you could stitch up the middle:

or you could punch a couple of holes & run ribbon, yarn, or embroidery floss through them, then tie in a knot:

another idea is to cut the planner in half, punch holes, add binder rings, & a chipboard cover... whatever you do, be creative & have fun with it.

are you looking for a simple hang up at home type of calender? i got you covered on that front as well...

jan, feb, march, april, may, june, july, aug, sept, oct, nov, dec.

 

 

fall yarn garland.

the girls over at the paper lovin' gals blog posted a new challenge. i think i forgot to mention that with these challanges you can make anything creative... cards, layouts, fiber pieces, altered pieces... whatever you want. this was the inspiration photo:

i was really drawn to the red & blue in the background, but when i started trying to come up with something it was all looking a bit too 4th of july for me & i really wanted a fall element. i ditched all previous ideas, started fresh, & ended up with a fall yarn garland.

you wanna make one? they are really easy... 

1. cut a piece of yarn or string to the length you want you garland.

2. cut a lot of pieces of yarn to about 6-10" in length.

3. tie the smaller lengths of yarn in knots around the long piece.

4. repeat until the knotted yarn runs the length of the longer piece.

i strung some paper feathers / leaves on a seperate piece of string & hung it front of the yarn garland. 

here is a slightly different version...

how to: lino block carving.

supplies you will need:

- a carver... it normally costs about $12 for one that comes with 5 different tips.

- something to carve... it can be a lino block like the ones shown, a soft rubber block, or even an eraser.

1. put your image on your block. there a few ways you can do this... draw it directly onto the block, print out your image & then immediately place image side down into the block & rub with a spoon to transfer, or cut out your image & trace around it. just remember... the image needs to be backwards on the block so it will print forward.

2. start with the smallest carver (these may have technical names, but i have no clue what they are) & carve around your image.

3. take the next bigger carver & re-trace the image. try to keep one edge of the carver in the trench you just made & the other edge cutting away excess linolium.

4. when you are done going around your image take the largest carver & start getting rid of all the excess linolium. you may even have to go around your image again so that you are carving the excess linolium down evenly. another trick to getting a more even surface (not so many mountains & valleys) is to turn the carver to the side & use the edge to carve down the "mountains" like in this photo:

& here you can see how much of the linolium is carved away (usually about 50%):

5. you may have a few little areas left around your image where the linolium is sticking up too much (see the arrows). use the medium carver to slowing trim away these parts. if you dont it is highly likely that ink will get on them & print that area. if you are going for that look then by all means, leave them be.

6. once your block is all trimmed up you are ready to print it!

so i know i am doing these all totally out of order, but hey, when you dont plan things out thats what happens. i am working on a tips & tricks post that will also have a few more details about printing, but you can see the basics of printing in this post.

printmaking.

it feels like forever since i have done any linocut prints & it feels so good to do some (you can read about when i first started doing these here). this past week i carved 2 new larger blocks, 2 small blocks, & i am getting ready to start another larger block. i also went on a printing spree... i spent all saturday night & sunday afternoon pulling prints & hanging them on my fridge to dry.

as i was printing one of my newly carved blocks i took some photos to share the process.

using a brayer evenly ink up the block...

place your paper over the block & press it down then take the back of a spoon & rub all over the back of the paper.

once you are sure the image has transfered lift one corner of the paper & pull.

when you see the print (especially for the first time) it makes all the time spent carving worth it.

 

how to: "stained glass" jar

supplies needed:

- alcohol ink

- empty jar... be green & use empty spaghetti sauce jars or pickle jars

- ribbon, fabric, paper... something to decorate the rim of the jar with

1. choose 2-3 colors of alcohol ink

2. with one color drip a litte ink straight down the side of the inside of the jar

3. turn the jar a little bit & drip a couple more drops down the inside... when turning keep in mind you are going to be doing this same thing with the other colors so space out the drips.

4.repeat with the other colors.

5. start rolling the jar around to coat the entire inside of the jar with ink.

6. let the jar sit for a few minutes & then check to see if all areas are still covered, if not roll the jar around some more (all the excess ink will have gathered at the bottom of the jar).

7. repeat until ink has started to dry.

8. when the inside is completelt dry (i let mine dry overnight) you can decorate the top with fabric, ribbon, or whatever you desire.

these jars look really pretty sitting in a sunny window or put a dry* fall arrangement in it... obviously i put sticks & rocks in mine.

*if you notice the jar in the before picture is not the same jar as in the after pictures... well that because i put water in the first jar & that didnt end up too well so i would recommend only putting "dry" arrangements in it.

how to: fabric tape.

supplies you will need:

-wax paper

-masking tape or brown craft tape

-sand paper

-glue... i used aleen's craft glue, but mod podge or any similar glue would work too

-fabric cut into strips slightly wider than the tape & as long as desired. smaller patterns tend to work a little better as far as being able to see the design. bigger patterns turn into abstract shapes of colors.

-scissors

1. place strips of masking tape onto wax paper, sticky side down. make sure to leave enough room between each strip of tape for fabric to hang over the edges.

2. lightly sand the top of the tape to roughen it up a bit.

3. squeeze a thin of glue down the middle of the strip of tape.

4. smear the glue around evenly on the tape paying close attention to the edges. the first time i tried this i did it with a paint brish because i hate having stuff on my hands, but it was hard to tell how evenly the glue was spread. now i use my finger... i can feel which areas needs glue & its worth getting my finger all glue-y.

5. hold the fabric at one end & place it over the tape evenly. press the fabric down & get rid of any wrinkles... using a bone folder or something similiar can be helpful. also make sure you cut the strips... dont try to put a big piece of fabric over multiple strips of tape. it wont work & will end up in a big wrinkly mess... just trust me.

6. repeat steps 3-5 for each stip of tape you have.

7. let it dry completely... this is important. dont try to rush the process & start "peeking" early... you will be sad because it will ruin the tape. trust me (again)... i now let mine dry over night.

8. when its dry, flip over the wax paper & cut along the edge of the masking tape.

9. make all sorts of fun things...