A Creative Life

Mod Podge Monday: Recycled Purse

2012-02-20T07:00:00-05:00

Instead of throwing away those cereal boxes and donating your old bandannas to Goodwill, with a little Mod Podge, ribbon and lace, you can turn them into something spectacular! Like this Recycled purse...This is just one of the recycling projects I designed for Plaid's website.

You can use any fabric really, or even paper! I happen to have quite a collection of old bandannas because I had this really cool idea of making a Bandanna quilt. But, the probelm is, I always have more project ideas than time to do them! Yes, that's a topic for another time :)

This was so much fun to make. Young girls will love this project! And you can make your purse larger or smaller, depending on the size of the cereal box. Go here for my complete instructions.

Happy Creating!

More on Chico, Our Little V-Day Puppy

2012-02-16T07:00:00-05:00

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day Celebration! My hubby and I had a date at home that started in the kitchen... we cooked together then enjoyed our special meal with music and candlelight. Ahh! The entire evening was wonderfully romantic!

~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~ XO ~

Now for a little puppy love, since it was Chico's birthday on Valentine's Day and I did, in my previous post, promise to tell you more about him! Chico is now 7 years old and around our house he's still considered a puppy! We got Chico while we lived in Mexico; he was only 15 days old. He's a Schnoodle, a mix between Poodle and Schnauzer. His eyes had barely opened and he still couldn't walk. The sad story is...his mom died after eating a chicken bone. But, but, but that wasn't the end of his story!

Our daughter Sarah bottle fed Chico warm milk and even rolled him around in a baby carriage. As Chico grew, she carried him on her hip and he would lay his head on her shoulder. He often got special oatmeal preparations with apple and potatoes. Even homemade dog treats and cakes on occasions! I would say, spoiled is the word!

Our son Nick taught him how to sit and gave him his exercise with "rough play". Chico likes to keep Nick's bed warm too! In fact, Nick's bed is the only furniture he's allowed on, however, Chico seems for forget that on occasion. Humm, Humm....

This is my favorite picture of Chico. I took this one on Christmas day about 4 years ago when he was nice and groomed.

Nick is Chico's personal groomer now-a-days...and well, he pretty much is always sporting his fur coat. And no, he probably really didn't need his red sweater. But he looked cute and the kids thought he needed it. He has since chewed a hole in his sweater after carrying it around like a rag when he wasn't wearing it.

Nick actually does a very good job grooming Chico. It's a big job and with all that hair it take about 4 hours.

Chico's favorite thing to do is drag his many toys out of his toy basket and carry them all over the house. It seems like I'm constantly picking up after him. His favorite is a stuffed Pluto. Yea! for garage sales, can't beat 25 cent toys! When he rips open his stuffed animals, Nick sews them back up. I knew I taught my son to sew for some good reason!

This was his birthday outfit two years ago. I made him a Party hat with a matching scarf.

Happy Birthday Chico!

Oh yes! we have a spoiled little puppy...and I only told you part of it!

Mod Podge Monday: A Plate of Puppy Love

2012-02-13T07:00:00-05:00

I decoupaged this plate with a picture of our dog Chico since his birthday is on Valentine's Day! It's hard for me to believe, but this cute little guy is 7 years old this year.

A clear plate could be Mod Podged with any picture and is so quick and easy to do!

Here's how...

You will need:

Mod Podge
Clear glass plate
Tissue Paper (Patterned and plain)
Photo
Templates (Round objects such as jars or lids)
Rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner (To clean your plate)
Foam Brush
Sand paper

What to do:

Use a template, a size slightly smaller than the inside center circle of your plate to trace and cut out your photo.
Find another template a tad bit larger than your photo and use it to cut out a circle of the solid colored tissue paper.
Lay the plate on top of the patterned tissue paper and trace around it one inch larger than your plate.
Clean the back side of your plate really good (Yes, the back...you will be applying everything to the back).
Lay your plate upside-down and apply Mod Podge to center back circle part of your plate with your foam brush. Quickly place your photo, face down, onto the center of the plate. Press and smooth out all air bubbles with your fingers. Wipe away any excess dried up glue that is on the glass around the photo.
Apply Mod Podge over the back of the photo where the solid color tissue paper will be placed. Place the paper centered on the back of the plate and carefully smooth it down (It rips easily so do this very gently).
Repeat with the patterned paper and allow to dry for about 15 minutes.
Use the sand paper to sand away the excess paper. Sand downward in one direction.
Give the back of the plate a coat of Mod Podge to seal and let it dry.

One important thing to remember: Wipe your plate clean with a damp cloth and don't submerge it in water :)

This is a super easy project and so fun to create!

I'll tell you more about Chico's story during the week and show you how he's grown...Stay tuned :)

ps. You can now read more about Chico here.

Valentine Tags - Made with Lots of LOVE!

2012-02-03T10:15:55-05:00

I've been playing with lots of sweet ingredients (and the best part, zero calories!)....

Red glitter

Red felt hearts

Red rhinestones

Vintage book pages

Little charms

Manila tags

Stamps

Inks

and lots and lots of LOVE!

An explosion of sweetness!

A creation of lots of fun layers and beautiful textures!

Red Glitter of course!

Cute little skeleton keys

Vintage book pages

and who doesn't love little felt hearts?

I garnished each tag with fun fibers!

Now available in my E tsy Shoppe!

Made with lots and lots of LOVE xo

Linking up with my friend Jennifer at Studio JRU. She has an awesome heart garland tutorial this week.

Mod Podge Monday: Girl's Monogrammed Box, So Sweet!

2012-01-30T06:00:00-05:00

Last week I featured Treasure Boxes I made for my nephews. This week, I want to show you the sweet box I made for, Isabella, my little neice. Sparkle Mod Podge is one of my favorite formulas!

I'm now selling these adorable boxes in my Etsy Shoppe.

Mod Podge Monday: Treasure Boxes

2012-01-23T06:00:00-05:00

This year, my nephews and (one of my nieces) got special little treasure boxes as their Christmas gifts from our family.

I always make some kind of handmade gift...so this year, treasure boxes it was! An heirloom they can treasure forever. They were so much fun to make too, once I finally settled on my idea. And of course, Mod Podge all the way!

Gifts for boys always baffle me. I can think of a million things to make for little girls, but these boxes ended up being a real hit with my nephews. Whew! now I need to get my brain in gear for next year!

I transformed simple wooden boxes into something special!

I filled each one with chocolate coin candy along with a little toy.

Since these boxes were such a hit with my nephews...which range from toddler to pre-teen, I thought, other little boys might like to have their own personallized treasure boxes too! Easy enough...these special boxes are now available in my Etsy Shoppe as a custom order!

Linking up with:

Skip to my Lou

Mod Podge Monday: Sparkly Winter Gift Box with Matching Necklace

2012-01-16T07:00:00-05:00

Whew! last week was a whirlwind. I was working on Mod Podge projects for Plaid's booth for the winter CHA show which will be in Anaheim CA this year. I saw the pre set-up booth and WOW! it's going to be awesome...and oh how I wish I were going! I can't show you my projects just yet, but very soon!

Here's a project I created some time ago... and since it's been soooo cold here in Atlanta, I thought this wintery box and snowflake necklace would be great to feature for Mod Podge Moday!

Have you ever used Sparkle Mod Podge? If not, you've got to give it a try...there's something...well...so...sparkly about it. I know I've said this before, but I love to use it on "girly" projects.

I designed this cute little Winter box using Sparkle Mod Podge. Snowflakes must have sparkle, right? And, notice the doilies?

Have you ever thought about Mod Podged jewelry? Well, here it is! I created a necklace using wood snowflake cutouts. Drilled some holes, doctored them up with some paint and Mod Podge, added jump rings, beads and chain. Ta-da! Aww, the variations are limitless!

You can get my complete instructions here:

Download Sparkly Winter Gift Box with Matching Snowflake Necklace

Also, just a reminder, Shannon's fundraiser ends this Wednesday, the 18th. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read about it in my last post here.

I think I'm gonna go grab a cup of hot tea and warm up by the fireplace!

Linking up with:

Skip to my Lou

sumo's sweet stuff

My Heart is Moved...Her Name is Shannon...and there is Hope!

2012-01-09T07:00:00-05:00

Last week I met a beautiful family, the Shpak family, who's hearts long to bring their little girl home. Shannon is living in an orphanage in Bulgaria. Money is the only thing that stands between her and her family. Sad.

My heart was moved to help...I donated one of my art prints for a fundraiser, which will run until January 18th, to help bring this precious child home to her family. Myself, along with many others, donated handcrafted items to help raise the remaining money for Shannon's adoption through Reece's Rainbow.

Isn't she beautiful? I love her bright and beautiful smile. Shannon is a Special Needs little girl with Down Syndrome.

There is more to this family's story! Ethan was adopted a year ago. He has Down's Syndrome and a complicated Esophageal Atresia with no hospital that can repair it. He's been to three so far. They are racing against time to try to get him to Boston where they have the only EA/TEF clinic in the world!

He's adorable and enveloped in the loving hands of his siblings; but sadly, Ethan's condition has deteriorated since this photo. It's been a long and hard road.

To follow the Shpak family's adoption journey and to participate in Shannon's fundraiser go to:

Faith Set Free

You can find out more about Ethan's story at:

Little Wonders.

I have donated a print of my Hope painting mounted on wood towards Shannon's fundraiser. I sell these in my Etsy Shoppe.

ok, I know this is not one of my typical "Mod Podge Monday" posts, but hey, it kinda works since I use Mod Podge to mount my prints on wood :)

Please pray for this family and if your heart is led, allow God to use you by helping them financially...there is Hope and a Future for this little girl...and her brother!

New Painting...Captivated!

2012-01-04T13:00:11-05:00

I pray each of you had a beautiful and very Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last wrote a post...yes, the busyness of the season got the best of me, leaving me with no time to tend to blogging about my creative life! But boy, let me tell you, I was like a little elf, working non-stop on so many handmade gifts. As the weeks go by, I'll share what I made.

But for now, I want to share a mixed-media painting that I recently finished. It's titled "Captivated" and that is my heart's desire for 2012...To be Captivated more and more by the amazing love of Jesus! and I long for His love to spill out into every area of my life with more and more fervency! Oh yes Jesus! sanctify me in Your truth, Your word is truth...John 17:17. This is my heart's prayer for 2012, what's yours?

I created a background with hand written prayers, printed scripture. hymnal pages, and even a few Bible pages.

I added color and used lots of different techniques to create the mood I wanted, then I painted over that with the figure of a women on her knees, worshipping and reaching for more of what her heart longs for...she is captivated!

My heart longs to be completely captivated by His love - I hope yours does too?

Happy New Year!

Ps...One of my Christmas gifts this year was a flatbed scanner and also a photo printer! Yea!! I'm so excited. Now I will be able to offer prints of my larger paintings in my Etsy Shoppe. I'll let you know as soon as they're available! : )

Linking up with my friend Jennifer at:

and

Artists in Blogland

Mod Podge Monday: Cookie Swap Party

2011-12-12T10:30:05-05:00

If you've ever been to a Cookie Party Swap, you know just how much fun they can be! It's awesome to actually try so many different kinds of cookies especially when you hear special stories behind some of the recipes...like, grandma has been making this one for years or what about an old favorite with a new twist? I have so many great cookie recipes, some my mom used to make every year when I was a kid. Yes, our neighbors always got a cookie plate from our house.

Well, recently, Plaid asked me to design several Cookie Party Swap theme ideas using Mod Podge! Last week my projects were featured on their Great Gift Ideas webpage.

These projects are very economical! I got most of the main supplies from the Dollar Store and used one of my favorite go-to supplies...empty cereal boxes, for the little tags.

My friend Kia over at Plaid wrote an article about how to Host a Cookie Party! It has lots of great ideas.

Here's a cute Christmas Cookie Swap Party Invitation. You can find my complete instructions here.

How about some tins for all those Christmas Cookies? You can get my complete instructions here.

Or maybe a really cool plate to display all those beautiful cookies? You can find my complete instructions here.

"Cookies in a Jar" is a fun gift idea! You can find my complete instructions here.

I love this one...a Chalkboard Tray! It's even magnetic! I didn't use Mod Podge for this one, but if you haven't tried Plaid's Chalkboard Paint or Extreme Glitter, this is the perfect little project to get you started! You can find my complete instructions here.

Have fun making your Cookie Swap Party special!

If you're like me, you still haven't finished your Christmas shopping. Check out my Etsy Shoppe for handmade gifts!