I recently participated in Cloth Paper Scissors "Road Test" section, where they ask artists to make something with a particular product. They sent me a roll of red Kraft-Tex. I had experimented with Kraft-Tex a few times before. It's a fascinating product. It's paper, but you can wash it and sew it like fabric. It has some similarities to leather in appearance. It doesn't tear and it takes paint easily. A lot of people use it for bags and journal covers. If you know me, you know that I always want to do something different. I wanted to make something... Read more →

I shared the progress of this epic dresser redo a few weeks ago. At long last, it is done! After painting it, I waxed it: And I added new knobs: And it all came together! I love the painted drawer sides. I know that only I will see them, but they make me happy! All in all, I must confess, I think this dresser turned out even better than I imagined or hoped! Just in case you were wondering, I snapped these photos in my new house -- which is totally empty and clutter free. So, it makes for a... Read more →

I know that Easter has come and gone, but I wanted to share the eggs I made this year! I've shared before that I looooove pysanky eggs. I think they're beyond gorgeous. What is pysanky? In the simplest of terms: you dye eggs multiple times adding wax at each layer to preserve the various colors. If you can't quite visualize it, there's a clear photo step-out post on a Ukranian website here. Inspired by pysanky but looking for an easier process, I made these pysanky inspired Easter Egg Place Cards... ...for my Passover seder: I started with a carton of... Read more →

I love to make place cards. They're one of my favorite crafty projects for the holidays. Some oldies from the archives: Stamped Place Cards Pop-Up Place Cards Playing Card Place Cards City Skyline Place Cards Butterfly Place Cards I haven't yet decided on what this Thanksgiving's place cards will be. I feel like it will have some kind of leaf or nature theme. But, I'm not sure what. While I'm percolating on that question, I decided to go to pinterest for some inspiration! Here are a few ideas I really liked: magnolia leaves gold dipped leaves Printable Leaves Note: These... Read more →

You guys, I am insanely proud of this table: I bought it at a thrift store for a few dollars. The top was kind of banged up and had staples all over it. So, I used my ScanNCut to cut two colors of wood veneer to refinish the table with the look of inlay wood. Watch the video for the how-to: I love the way it turned out! Four coats of varnish darkened up the wood quite a bit and made the shine of the top match the shine of the rest of the table. You can download the file... Read more →

This year for Valentine's Day I'm staying home. On the one hand, I like going out and getting dressed up and all that jazz. On the other hand, I'm old and cantankerous and an evening at home sounds lovely. But, just because it's at home and I'm in my pajama pants doesn't mean that it can't still be a special event. Check out my fancy Valentine's Day Table for Two: Over the next few days I'm going to show you how to make the various elements in this photo. Today's we're starting with the felt roses. They're pretty fabulous! (That's... Read more →

This is one of those projects that didn't go exactly to plan. And that's okay. My original idea was to insert votive LED lights into these mason jars, but they didn't fit. So, I found a string of LED lights and inserted those inside, instead. This, of course, means that the jars are all chained together, as in the photo above, because it's a single string of lights shared between all the jars. I decided to try something different and fill the jars with stuff so that they could be separated. Then I placed the votive candles around them. Still... Read more →

Without any further ado, here is the finished table: I had originally planned on using the table in my studio, but after putting it together, I decided to make it my dining room table! And I love it! To answer some questions: Just curious what paints you used on the table and did you prime it. I used regular acrylic paints and I didn't prime it in any traditional sense. The first layer was indoor wall paint, which I reviewed here. Did you have a plan before hand of colors, flowers, etc? Not really. I knew that I wanted to... Read more →

There's a thrift store near where I live. I wandered in one day and there was a huge table with a price tag on it: $4.95. Really?! I walked past it a few times. I even asked the woman at the front desk if the price was really $4.95? She said, "Yep, but it's huge." I think that was an indication that they really just wanted to get rid of it. It's a small store. I figured that if I could get it out of the store and back home, it was worth the money. After all, a canvas that... Read more →

Here's what life looks like around here: As you can tell from the studio pics, things are a bit of a mess around here. I'm feeling a little bit chaotic right now as I get ready to head to Australia for a month and my home reflects that chaos. I always know that I'm in a good place when I start to organize and clean up. I feel like, for me, an organized home is a reflection of an organized mind. I'm hoping to have a chance to organize and clean up before I head out. It's so much nicer... Read more →