A DIY Spring Wire Board

Yay! It's Spring! I really do love the cold & coziness of winter, but I am ready for everything springtime. How about you? 

So, in celebration of the new season, I'd like to share one of the projects I made for CHA 2015 in Anaheim, CA back in January. This darling DIY board was on display in the me & my BIG ideas booth. It started as just a plain wood square with chicken wire in the center. After adding some mambi paper, stickers, and embellishments it had a whole new life. :)

Here are the steps I took to fancy it up. I am sure you can still find the plain wood base in a craft store near you. (I found mine at Joann's.) 

First, I painting the wood edge with white acrylic paint. After it dried, I added pink and white chevron border stickers from mambi to the sides. I placed some Mod Podge on top of each sticker to make sure it didn't go anywhere. (I also added Mod Podge around the rest of the sides so the finish was the same)

While that was drying, I began working on making paper flowers using various pieces of 12 x 12 paper. I like my flowers to look varied and unique. In other words, I just start cutting random flower shapes and hope they turn out OK! :) 

See, I just cut flower shapes by hand and then continue to cut smaller ones to set inside. I rough up the edges a bit and then hot glue them together. That is it! I also punched out a bunch of butterflies to add to the flowers and board. 

I love these little die cut banners so much. The pattern on these cute yellow ones are my favorite. I added them to the flowers in a couple different spots. I also made a quick twine banner to attach to the top. Super cute!

I also used a big, gold sticker that says Be Awesome in the lower corner. I backed the sticker on a piece of scrapbook paper to give it some form to stand on. I think if I were to make this again, I would try it with some acetate. I think it would look great if the background was transparent. Hmmmmm, maybe I need to make another one! :) You can see all the large mambiSTICKS right HERE.

All I had to do was add some inspirational quotes and a picture with mini clips. It came ready to hang, so now to the wall it goes. Such a perfect springtime project!

Happy Creating!

Scrap Wood Mini Canvas - Bloom

Look at this cute little bloom doodle on wood! So cute, right? And...just perfect for spring. I have been working on a commissioned collection of three larger floral panels painted in this style. But, this little cutie came from the "trash stash" that I keep handy in my garage. Between my hubby and I, there is always bound to be some kind of project going on. So, I like to keep a plastic bin ready in the garage to collect any extra wood pieces. Initially, I was using this small piece of wood to test stain color. It measures smaller than 4 x 6. Super adorable! I needed to add some bits of sunshiny spring in my house and thought this would be perfect. I doodled this bloom using acrylic paint and my Uni-ball pen. It stands on this DIY (thanks very handy Hubby!) picture ledge (post coming soon!) in our front room.

Want to make one of your own? All you need is a scrap piece of wood (any size will do), acrylic craft paint (my faves - Americana & Martha Stewart), a white uni-ball pen, and some MinWax wood stain. That's it!! The wood stain comes in several different colors and I picked mine up at Lowe's. After you stain your wood canvas, follow the manufacturers suggestion for drying time - then get doodling! Don't bother drawing out a sketch with a pencil. Just go for it! I start with the white acrylic. Sometimes I will need to go back over it a couple of times to clean up my lines. BUT, I am totally OK with things not being perfect. :)

Once I am happy with the white, I add more happy colors. Typically on these pieces I have been using aquas, yellows, pinks, and corals. I like to add varying sizes of dots too. I just dip the end of my paintbrush into the paint to create the circles. I press my tip onto the wood using varying pressure to get different sizes. Q-tips, pencil erasers, and golf tees work well too. I make tiny dots and the really thin lines with the white pen as well. I love the look of the pen and there are so many things you can do with it to add visual interest!

These are supper fun to make and would make a sweet gift for someone special too. So, go grab some scrap wood and get busy! :)

I am going to make a bunch more to stick in my shop too.

 It needs some springy joy!

AND be sure to enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Happy Creating!

From Cardstock to Journaling Cards - Project Life, Smashing or Anything!

Recently, on one of my many trips to Michaels (Seriously. I know. It's like I go every week. I don't. Usually.) I spotted a "last chance" bin of some scrapbook papers. At 14 cents a sheet, I couldn't help but rummage through it. I grabbed some great patterned paper, but also spotted some plain white card stock. Ahhhh! So perfect for making some of my own Project Life journaling cards. SO fun! The cards could also be easily used for other journaling, stuck down in a Smash Book, used for cards, or attached to gifts as a tag. If you are not familiar with Project Life, check it out right here on Becky Higgins site. I am joining the PL tribe this year, and look forward to writing more about it here on my blog!

So I took this plain white paper...

Used my good ol' Fiskars paper cutter (I think I have had this longer than I have been a mom - so like, 8 years! Love it!) and cut down the 12 x 12 pages. The Project Life system (which is SO easy for the non-scrapbooker, total newbie - ME!) uses sheet protectors with little pockets that are about 3x4 inches. I cut the cards a little smaller than 3x4 so they slide easily into the pockets. I used a card from one of Becky's kits as a guide.

After I cut a bunch of 3x4s, the mixed media artist in me needed some larger pieces for a few messy spring canvases. :) So I also cut a 5x5 and a 5x7. I thought it would be fun to paint a few spring themed pieces to frame, then add to my house. I know I am ready for some spring around here! How about you???

I keep a little journal to jot down ideas for Project Life cards. There are SO many wonderful card designers out there. I love looking around Instagram and Pinterest. I can not believe the creativity out there. Seriously! Amazing!! Here are a few of my sketches..

So referring to my sketches, going with the flow, using my creative mojo, and grabbing some of my favorite washi tapes...I started to make my cards. I can see how this could be very addicting! I do LOVE all the different things that the various paper companies have out on the market right now for journaling and Project Life. But, it is super exciting to make some things on my own. I know I will continue to do both - buy some pre-made cutie stuff and make my own.

Look at this beautiful tape. Be still my heart. Washi = Love. 

Lol. Please, tell me I am not alone in the love of washi? :) The mustard yellow chevron washi and aqua stripe came from Michaels (no big surprise there). The yellow stripe was a gift from my uber creative friend Toni from Five. The yellow polka dot washi came from a package of four tapes that I scored from Target on clearance! I sure do love a crafty deal!! Washi tape is perfect for smashing and Project Life too. 

See, just a little hint of aqua and white polka tape peeking out from that "right now" sticker looks great. I stamped the zig zag with a $1 stamp. Then added that adorable Heidi Swapp striped butterfly. (She is another favorite of mine!) Now all I have to do is journal a bit in the white place or add a little picture. Then slide it into my PL binder. Easy Peasy. :)

I need to go get busy on making more cards!! It was so relaxing to just sit and create these little beauties. I have tons of ideas swirling around in my head. Of course I am going to spend time painting too.  I have the 5x5 started...and will hopefully find some time at my studio table this weekend.

WIP 5x5 Mixed Media

Background - washi tape, book pages, Basic Grey paper

I'll come back and show you my little spring 5x5 and more Project Life journaling cards as I make them. I am looking forward to sharing all this creative goodness right here on Sadie Inspired. Yiippee! :)

How do you share all the pictures you take?

I'd LOVE to know!!

Almost...

It is almost here...

Can you feel it?

I can, and I can't wait!

Doodling in my journal with Sharpie & watercolor

What do you like about spring?