French Stenciled Crate

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

It's been so nice getting back to work creating in my craft room, after such a crazy summer. Boy, did I ever miss it!

So today I thought I'd share with you one of my latest creations, that I made for my Etsy shop.
You know how I love all things French. And aqua is one of my favorite colors.
Well, combine the two, along with some stenciling, and what do you get?

 Viola!  A fun and Frenchy aqua crate!
To the front I hand stenciled one of my favorite designs.
"L'Auberge" means inn or lodge.

 I added the number 4 to each side, representing the street address.

I used my favorite shade of aqua chalk paint by DecoArt.
So cheerful, I think!

 My grandma's antique treadle sewing machine made for the perfect backdrop for my photo shoot!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a great week!

Turning a Small Wood Crate into a Cute Petite Serving Tray

Hi everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you one of my latest creations, a project that I completed for DecoArt.

As a designer for DecoArt, they submitted a challenge for those of us who wanted to participate.

The challenge was a "mystery box". Everyone would receive the same exact supplies,

but it was totally up to us to decide what to do with them!  It was a "mystery", as we had no idea just what they would be sending us!

Of course I find it hard to turn down DecoArt projects;

(disclosure:  I do receive compensation and products for participating.  The opinions I share are totally my own.)

The opportunity to create and do what I love is just too irresistible!

But, I was afraid that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew, with our upcoming move.  Well, the project ended up turning into a blessing in disguise, what with our moving fiasco.

Not only did it help take my mind off from things, but I had fun in the process!

I will show you a peek of the finished piece, then share with you what items I had to work with!

I guess you could say my theme was

cute, cottagey and colorful!

 Ok, so here is what was in the mystery box............

 This small shadow box like wooden crate, and the acrylic paint that you see below, as well as decoupage medium.

It was totally up to us what to create, we were given free reign, we just had to use all of the supplies in the box.  Now those are the kinds of projects that I love!

We could use additional items or supplies.

 When I am waiting for inspiration to strike,what works for me is to just look at an item or supplies for a little while, and usually an idea will come.  The first thought was a cute little serving tray!

I just love trays, and have created many over the years, so I could hardly wait to begin.

So, off to the craft store I went, and came home with this pretty pair of iron drawer pulls, some small wooden dowel finial covers (that would become "feet" for the tray), pretty scrapbooking paper......

 and piece of clear glass, which I had cut at my local lumber yard.

 I really wanted to keep the handles their original color of aqua (love aqua!!), but decided to paint them black and distress to show a bit of the aqua below.

I then painted the cute little feet this bright and cheery green.

 I was more than happy to see they included this beautiful shade of aquamarine in the box,so I painted the underside and outside of the box in that.

 Since the pink paint in the mystery box was much brighter of a look than I was going for, I mixed it with the white paint, til I achieved this pretty light pink.

 Then after a bit of distressing around the edges, I began the fun part: decoupaging!

 I found the neatest scrapbooking paper that looks like a distressed barnwood with gorgeous roses, in pinks and aquas.  Perfect!

I cut the strips just a bit narrower than each slat, to fit the inside bottom, and around the outer sides as well.

 I loved mixing the patterns for a coordinating but not "matchy-matchy" look!

 Then I glued the cute little feet to the bottom at each corner.

 I placed the glass inside, added the handles (handy hubby drilled the holes for me), and, viola!!

 A cute, cottagey colorful petite serving tray!

 I think the tray also would be cute in a bathroom to attractively store pretty bottles of lotion, shower gel, etc.

 Or it could be used on a dresser in a bedroom to corral jewelry, photos, and display mementos.

I hope my tray project has helped you to see outside of the mystery box!

Thanks so much for your visit, have a great week!

When All Else Fails, Just Add Glitter!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are having a great summer.  I sure didn't intend to take such a long break. But I am sure you can relate when I say that sometimes life gets in the way of blogging!

When I last wrote, I shared how we had found a home in North Carolina, and we had sold our home here in Michigan.

Well, life sure has a way of throwing us curve balls sometimes.

Less than 4 hours before we were to close on our home here, our realtor called and said that our buyers were backing out!

What the heck???

I thought for sure that this must be his idea of crazy realtor humor, 'til he informed me that he was totally serious.

Unreal!  We had been under contract with these people for 2 1/2 months, and they backed out at the very last minute?

To say that we were shocked was putting it mildly.
I honestly don't understand how anyone could do this to others!!

I was a strange combination of relieved, but yet disappointed at the same time.

We had been packing.  The movers were all set to come.

We were going to be moving into the new home 10 days later.

We had sold a ton of our stuff.

So now, we are back to square one, with our house back on the market, and not sure of what the future holds.

Boy, I sure am more than ready to get off from this roller coaster ride of the last 4 plus months!!!

So, I took a much needed break from all of the stress and broke out the glitter!

It seems like forever since I've been able to take the time to play with some of my favorite materials such as cute graphics, glitter glue, and crinkly seam binding.

 I had so much fun creating these tags.  I found all of the images on Pinterest.  Aren't these little birdies just the sweetest?

I thought the ones below were pretty neat too with their French accent.  Of course I just had to add tiny rhinestones to their crowns for some added bling!

 I always like to tuck a little surprise in with my Etsy orders, which is what I'll be doing with many of these tags here.

Some of them I mounted on extra heavy chipboard.

Others were just mounted on a backing of scrapbook paper.

 I used my favorite glitter glues for some sparkly fun.

I was feeling better already!

 Boy, buying and selling a home sure isn't nearly as easy (or fun!) as they make it look on HGTV!  Let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart!

So, while not knowing what the future holds is driving me beyond crazy, I will just have to remember my old saying..............

"Glitter makes everything better!"

In the mean time, I look forward to getting all caught up with you.  I have SO missed you all!

Have a great week:)