Working on the mural reminded me of my first painting professor and of the importance of brush cleaning. After 50 different people worked on the mural (awesome) all our brushes were trashed. Paint up the handles, crusted, dirty, and half dry. Is there any coming back from that? We had about 10 nicer brushes and some fine tipped brushes of mine that I was intent on saving from being paint sticks.

Sometimes taking the day off is the best way to refresh and get new ideas. “Well yeah,” you are saying. Like everything else in life, easier said than done. Yesterday I came to the point where I had to decide between going to my painting class or writing a post. (The weekend was insane. As [...]

This past year Diane of the CraftyPod and I decided to collaborate on a short and sweet little ebook on what to do with those leftovers related to giving gifts. Five months later, this amazing ebook has turned in to a 63 page resource on paper making, collaging with fabric, and combining that annoying curling [...]

One of the main projects in Diane’s and my new ebook Card.Paper.Ribbon. is taking wadded-up wrapping paper and fusing it to cloth, and then sewing into wallets and bags.

Do you remember awhile ago how I made the Crafty Buddy embroidery set? And the little freebie thimble guy? Well, I’ve had a lot of fun playing around in the studio lately and wanted to show you what I’ve been up to. I have to say, that I really wouldn’t have played around with the [...]

Two weeks ago I posted about the color dilemma with the basket. Dilemma 1: the basket is not a color I like. Dilemma 2: what color to paint it! I decided to go with the yellow over the red.  Often, with cheap spray paint (which is what I have), it’s so transparent you can actually layer [...]

Jason and I are always loosing our keys/phones/wallets/etc, we needed a solution. A key basket right by the front door was the perfect solution. The only problem is that it’s a little tacky. It looks okay, but is a little too… um… pink pastel for my liking. I was thinking an easy solution would be [...]

Last week I showed you the chair and table set I have out on my patio. I really wanted to go with bright colors and patterned seat cushions, but was torn with the more practical gray and bright cushions – more timeless, more options with less hassle - want a change, just whip up some new seat [...]

Last week I mentioned the chairs I wanted to protect against the rain. They are in reality dining room chairs, but both being pretty water damaged, I felt okay using them outside. They match the little table my dad and I made together (it folds up, pretty sweet right?), so I’m not sure how to [...]

After a few false starts I have finally finished up the kitchen tile redress project – and I’ve made the stencil templates into a pdf for you to print out and use. They are great for more than just tiles too! I was thinking they would look great to label things like the bread box, [...]