Faux Moustaches

Every once in a while, you meet someone who you have a crafty connection with, and Kelly Georgette is one in a million. I met her in Nashville, and she said that she remembered watching me with her gramma every day at lunchtime when I was a host on Aleene's Creative Living. She was so excited that she was meeting someone that loves to craft as much as she does. Well, as an intern at Simplicity Creative Group, she was our go-to gal. Anything we dreamed up, Kelly could do it. Her quick wit and fast crafts made my work easier in new product development, and she also kept the office happy with her cute outfits and new crafty ideas.

I just love her Kelly Georgette Etsy store and the cute moustaches and decoupage plaques there. If you go buy something from her, tell her Pattiewack sent ya...

Tomato Art Fest

I forgot to post about the fun and artsy fartsy Nashville Tomato Art Fest last month! I found the photos today when I was searching for something else, and thought I may as well put them on my blog because they are so darn cute. Scott and I bought a poster that looks like the front of this t-shirt, and framed it to hang above our piano. Love that. The artist is Sheila B. and her website is a hoot! You HAVE to check it out at SheilaBware.com to see what a crazy and amazing artist she is from the Nashville scene.

There was so much art to see, and the crafty art caught my eye, like this big paper bowl made from a roll of tickets. I would love to make one of these myself.

This wall of bottle caps was outrageous, with a different image in every single cap. Think of the work!

I can remember eating at Big Boy restaurants when I was a little girl, so the big guy brought back a few memories for me. Waffles, burgers, grilled cheese sammies, yummmmmers.

A gang of Wrights buds met there, including Chant and Robyn who are graphic artists. We hung out in the art gallery soaking in all the tomatoey vibes.

I'm crazy for collage, and this art doll collage is fabulous! Check out the sassy little bottle cap used for a hat!

This graphic artist decided to use an itty bitty tomato as the priceless setting for an amazing tomato ring. That's a little saucy I'd say. wink-wink

Ah, collage. This wooden box was the best collage ever. The clock is real, and the metal items are real, but the rest is paper.

The artist couldn't stop with decoupaging the outside of the box. The inside was just as fun, with a mirror inside and a felt lining to make it complete.

Oh the drama. It's not every day that we have the opportunity to spend an evening looking at tomato art. Big thanks to Teresa (the greatest APM in the world) for taking the pics and sending them to me. I'll be back next year for the continuing saga of the life of tomatoes turned into art.

Trunk Love

I went crazy when I saw this trunk on Free People!  Omg, I want it, but I want to make it myself, ya know?  So, I'm on the hunt for an old trunk that I can cover with vintage papers and line with fabric for my lingerie.  Now you know what I'll be doing this weekend!

Christmas Decoupage Platter

One of my all time favorite projects I've ever done was this Christmas platter. I wish you could see it up close, because my entire family is on there. My mom and dad are there in the foreground and the kids, grands, brothers, aunts and uncles are all behind them. It's done in reverse. In other words, I glued it all from behind in layers on a clear platter. So first I made photo copies of everyone and cut them out. Then I glued mom and dad face down on the back of the platter. Next I glued my family around them. I cut out snowflakes and glued those around the edges. Last, I glued Christmas wrapping paper over the entire back of the platter. This is one of those things I'll keep forever.

Now it's to bed with me. I'm feeling kinda queeeeezie, after a big yummy dinner with Scott tonight. We had fabulous fish and sweet potatoes with curry. Yummm-o as Rachael Ray would say. But, maybe it's a case of nerves since I've got a speaking engagement with the Ventura County Garden Club at their Christmas luncheon tomorrow. I made 50 goodie bags for them! In their bags they will find a cute little craft with all the pieces to make a magnet that says CREATE! I'll be sure and take some pics to show you all tomorrow. I'm going to take a big gulp of pepto and call it a night.

Cute As A Button

You've never seen "buttons" like these before! I used just ordinary wooden plaques from the craft store and decoupaged them, drill holes in them to turn them into buttons, and then sewed them into the pillows. What do you think??

Materials Checklist:
Drill
Two(5" or 3-1/2")wood discs for each pillow
Sandpaper
Acrylic paints (coordinating colors)
Acrylic or sponge brushes
Aleene's Instant Decoupage glues (Matte)
Decoupage paper, gift wrap or greeting cards
Paint pen (gold metallic)
Pillow(s)
Cording or ribbon (narrow enough for upholstery needle)
8" upholstery needle

Steps:

• 1. Drill two "button" holes in each disc. Sand wood discs.
• 2. Paint disc and allow to dry.
• 3. Apply decoupage paper onto disc with Instant Decoupage. Let dry. Embellish "button" with gold metallic paint pen.
• 4. Sew button on front and back of pillow with ribbon, using upholstery needle. Tie ribbon into bow on back.

Tip: Other ideas for decoupaged buttons...old photos on tapestry pillows, nursery rhymes on gingham or plaid pillows, cartoon characters - on primary colored pillows or snap shots on denim pillows.

Gone Crafting

We are shooting my craft video segments for www.LifetimeTV.com next week, and I am in a crafting FRENZY! So sorry I haven't been posting every day, since it's hard to sew, paint, bead, paper craft and decoupage while I'm blogging. I promise to bring you more crafty things, so do come back and check me out. Today I'm working on circle books, re-crafted 6-packs turned into organizers, and sassy invitations to a girl's night out party. Ta-ta-for-now....

Scary to Lovely Luggage

I have some very scary luggage from years ago when my crazy friend Darsee and I were decoupaging everything in sight. The photo shoot for the book that we were writing on decoupage was a hoot, with me dressed in vintage clothing and standing on the railroad tracks looking longingly for someone special to arrive on an imaginary train. Pretty funny now, huh? *giggle*



The book "Distinctive Decoupage" was written by the two of us while I was co-hosting on the Aleene's Creative Living show. We decoupaged luggage, frames, trunks, a vinyl chair, lampshades, boxes, glass table tops, and even ceramic pillars!






Well, I took that old luggage and made it new again. First of all, I had to start with covering up all of the old paint and photos from the first makeover. Gesso to the rescue! It was perfect for major coverage and it gave me a blank canvas. The next step was to spray paint it all white. Now I was ready to decoupage and pick my paper. I have some fabulous new paper from EK Success that is to die for. So I used it for my decoupage and it turned out soooo pretty. I am going to use the new luggage to organize and store craft supplies in my studio. I'm lovin' how fresh and sweet it looks.