My Doll

OK! I caved and bought a doll to wear the fringe boots that I fell in love with.  And what girl doesn't need a new outfit to go with them.  So I made the top and leggings to complete the outfit.

I still can't get over how cute those boots are!

I can see this is going to get way out of hand!  I already have plans on a fur coat, fairy outfit, pj's, and many more. The best part is I already have all of the fabric I need from the many other projects I've done.  And I'm sure it won't stop there!  Let's not forget the accessories and a way to store the clothes is going to be fun!  I already have my eye on an old suitcase I want to turn into a traveling wardrobe for her.

I can't believe I havn't given her a name yet...let me know what you think.

Check back and see what else I create for my new doll.

Keep creating!

just another,
Craft Fanatic

Leather doll boots

Welcome back! 
Another great weekend here in the heart of Iowa!

During my many hours of browsing on pinterst I came accross this site for doll clothes and fell in love with these boots...wish they came in my size!...who knows that may be my next project.

I let my inner child come out today and created these boots for an 18" doll that I don't currently have...may have to get one.  These were really fun!

I still need to finish to souls of the boots, but couldn't wait to share the cuteness of these boots.

You can find the pattern at www.dollclothespatterns.net/ .  The instructions were very easy to follow and I can't wait to finish the whole outfit!

Check back and see if I create a whole wardrobe for the doll...yet to be chosen.

That's all have have for this weekend...I'm off to buy a doll!

Keep creating!

just another,

Craft Fanatic

Water Mixable Oil Paints

Has anyone tried water mixable oil paint?  They're great!  I've only done a couple of paintings in real oils and found the smell terrible and messy!  I was at Hobby Lobby looking to buy paints and came across Winsor & Newton water mixable oils.  I bought a set and a few canvases and hurried home to give them a try.  I found that the water mixable oils were easy to work with and cleaned up with soap and water.  Now no more smell from the turpentine and cleaning up is much easier.

Here are a few examples of what I've created using this GREAT product.

Not my first attempt but after I purchased the Darrell Crow basic techniques DVDs I was able to produce this painting and many more that I have given to family and friends.  Darrell has a lot tips and techniques that make painting easy and fun!  I was soon hooked and went on to try other things.
Once I got the feel for how the paints worked and learned a few tricks from the DVDs I turned a few of my photographs of my husbands flowers into oil paintings   My husband loves his flower gardens so I have hundreds of photos of flowers and butterflies...which I love!

 

The monarch butterfly inspired me the most, since it's my favorite so I went on to create many more.  The butterfly painted in the above photo was painted on oil paper and cut out and glued to the flower painting that I was almost scrapped because I wasn't happy with it.  Now it's one of my favorites!

I loved how the monarchs popped against the blue sky on this set of four that I did.

 

When I got tired of working with the smaller (16x20 and 8 x 10) canvases I dug out a very large (40"x40") painting that I purchased at an auction for less than $20 and covered it with black paint and created what my family calls the toxic waste butterflies.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  The butterflies look like they're glowing.

I also gave it a try on a mirror.  The birds below were really fun to do. I had some leftover mirrors from my stained glass stash so I gave it a try and it turned out great!

Follow my blog and see what I come up with next...I don't even know what kind of craft project I'll tackle next.

Keep creating!

just another,

Craft Fanatic!

Chain Bracelet

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.  I woke up this morning inspired to make a bracelet.

Quick and easy!
Gather your supplies and create your own!  I got my chains and clasp at Hobby Lobby and Walmart.  It's not a good day until I've visited a craft department somewhere...even a hardware store will suffice.

• Variety of different chains.  I used a mixture of silver chains and rhinestone chains (w/ connectors).
• jump rings
• clasp of your choice
• jewelry pliers

I used 6 1/2" lengths of all of the chains.  Adjust to your wrist measurement.

When using rhinestone chain you have to add connectors to the ends.  I also added a jump ring at each end as well.

Randomly add each chain to one large jump ring  and then add the clasp to the other end of the chains and you'll have a beautiful bracelet in no time.

 

Keep creating!

just another,

Craft Fanatic

Craft Room Chaos

Well here I go!  No turning back now!  I wanted to give you a peak into my world.  It may look a bit chaotic but I love it!  Sure I'd love a huge craft area, but we make due with what we have.

Here's a look at where I go to create.  A simple spare bedroom that's not much bigger than a shoebox that I've managed to cram full of about any craft supply you can imagine.

 
I don't know how I can concentrate with all the clutter but it works for me.  I know where everything is....mostly. 

I've got fabric and stained glass in this cupboard.

I turn around in my chair and there's my sewing center.  Literally turn in my chair since there is barely two feet between the two work areas.  When I want to do stained glass I remove the sewing machine and serger and place a large piece of plywood over the top of my sewing table and presto I have a work area for my stained glass that won't harm the sewing table.

And to the right of that is my Stained glass area which is temporarily holding the microwave that I recently acquired to do glass fusing...not to mention the toaster oven that I also dug out of the kitchen to use for Sculpy clay. 

My supplies have spilled over into other rooms too, for example, I have a roll away little organizer I keep a lot of my jewelry making supplies in that doubles as an end table in the living room.  So if the mood hits me while watching TV (happens a lot!) I can just roll it over and create!  It won't win any awards for style, but it works for me. 



There are supplies in other parts of the house as well but I'll leave that for another time.

If you have any questions or trouble with a project you're working on feel free to ask...chances are I've tried it and can help.

There's a saying on Pintrest that I can relate to, "I'm just one stack of shit away from becoming an episode of hoarders".  My husband whole heartily agrees with that!

Keep creating!

just another,

Craft Fanatic

Project Runway Inspiration

Welcome back,
I'm an avid Project Runway fan!  To say the least...I even watch the reruns over and over again.

The show inspired me to dust off my sewing machine again and give it a try.  I've sewn on and off again since high school...which has been more than 30 years now!  Wow!

I headed off to my favorite fabric store (Hancock Fabrics) and found a hounds tooth print fun fur and  Simplicity 2311 pattern (which was inspired by Project Runway).  But while cutting out the pattern I realized that I didn't have enough of the hounds tooth fabric for the whole coat.  Since the fabric store was closed (due to the fact that when a project overtakes me it's usually late at night) I improvised with a black leather fabric I had and used that on the sides of the coat.  As it turns out the coat turned out great!

I'm a fanatic for lime green!  Maybe fanatic is to light a word.  If you continue to follow my blog you'll notice a theme of lime.  Even my car is green...Lime Squeeze Ford Fiesta...even my toothbrush is lime green.  So when I saw a lime green batik silk I used it for the lining. Heaven! 

Thank you for letting me share this project with you and I hope it inspires you to create something fabulous!

just another,

Craft Fanatic

Cell Phone Cover

Cell Phone Cover

Surprise...another project from Pintrest!

Couldn't resist another easy and fun project to add a little pizazz to my phone!

I went to the local cell phone store and purchased a clear cover and came home and used the cardboard insert that came with the cover to make new inserts from scrapbook paper.  In minutes I had four different inserts cut.  Since I have an overabundance of scrapbook paper I can change my cover as often as my mood changes.

Enjoy!

Since that was such a quick project I thought I would introduce you to our dogs.

First (left) we have her royal majesty Princess Penelope, Roxi, and Izzy.  This picture is a couple of years old and Izzy is a little bigger but just and cute and cuddly!

Sorry time to treat myself to a little Words with Friends time!  I'm addicted to that too!


just another,

Craft-Fanatic

Alcohol Ink

Another Pintrest project!

I saw this alcohol ink project and just had to try it!  I hope this will inspire you to try it for yourself.

The basic supplies are:
alcohol ink (Hobby Lobby)
blending solution
alcohol
felt pad (which I made by attaching a felt rectangle to an old rubber stamp)
Any non-porous surface.  I've used glazed tiles from Lowes and miscelaneous glass vases that I had filling up my kitchen cupboards.
Clean the surface with alcohol and then put a drop of the alcohol ink onto the surface and watch the magic begin!  Use a drop or two of the blending solution and watch the colors move and mix.
That's all there is to it!
You can then glaze it with a water based sealer.  I've used a product called Triple Thick and Modge Podge and they worked well.
I started with making coasters, but how could I stop there?

I soon moved on to refridgerator magnets.

I found a sheet of glazed tile at Lowes to make my grandkids magnets with their names so they can hang up their own artwork.

I then went on to make a candle holder and vase....

And again I didn't stop there either!  I had some washers left over from a metal stamping project so I applied alcohol ink to them as well.  Someday I'll put them into a bracelet or maybe a necklace...not sure yet.  I'll keep you posted.

Well, I better go and see what else I can apply this wonderful application to.

Enjoy and get inspired!
and feel free to share your ideas and creations... I'd love to hear and see them!

just another,
Craft-Fanatic

Crayon Melting

I saw these on Pintrest and just knew I had to try it!

With two boxes of crayons, a blowdryer, and two canvases...and the use of a glue gun, I spent a couple hours creating these.


I had a great time!

I embelished them a bit by adding some artificial flowers.

As you can see by the quilt that I designed, dyed, created, and had published, that I like bright colors and bugs. (that's a whole post in itself...get to it later.)

I'm a sucker for bright colors!  And I'm also a sucker for craft supplies and tools.  Could be classified as a craft supply collector.  I always seem to buy way more than I need to make just one project.

So of course there were alot of the artificial flowers left over so I pulled the petals off and popped them on the ice cycle lights that were still up from Christmas.

This has been fun, but I have to see what I can do with the rest of those flowers!  Like I said sometimes I get a little carried away when it comes to supplies.

Enjoy!

from just
Another Craft Fanatic