New Crafty Adventures

Lately I've been working on some different crafty things here and there. I'm so thrilled how they both turned out and wanted to share them with everyone....

Toothbrush rug

I made this one for my new craft room and I just LOVE it! I found out about Toothbrush rugs while scouring the web for homemade rug ideas. These are so easy to make, no sewing, no special tools! The rug is nice and thick and "cushy" and completely washable. Here are links to a couple sites I used for reference.
Aunt Philly Toothbrush
Rag Rug Cafe

"Quilted" Altered Naked Album

Recently I got a couple "naked" chipboard albums and have been dieing to alter them. Last weekend I was blessed enough to go to a wonderful scrapping retreat with Susan and some other friends so I thought that would be the perfect chance to work on the album. I decided to make a quilt block on the front of this one. I scoured the web looking for quilt blocks I could replicate using my Gypsy and E2. Here's a link to the original post showing this square: The Prfait Cafe  (found this one on Pintrest).

 I covered all the bare chipboard with Tim Hotlz Picket Fence Distress Stain - love this stuff! I made a file on my Gypsy to recreate the diamond shapes as best I could-this was the hardest part of the whole project, but it wasn't bad. Once I had all the pieces cut out I inked around their edges and added pen stitching. I mod-podged the pieces onto the cover, I know they aren't perfectly aligned but none of my projects ever are! I used my E6000 glue to adhere the button to the center because I wanted it stuck on there really good. I used scor tape to adhere the the ribbon and lace to the binding, the ribbon wraps around to the inside and overlapped to finish the ends. I'm very happy with how this turned out and can't wait to try something else on the next one.

Thanks for looking and have a very blessed day!

Masculine Birthday Cards

Hi Blogger Friends! Last week I was able to make a birthday card for my uncle and brother (at my mom's special request.) I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and how easy they were to make. I sure don't have a lot of time to craft anymore, but this was a great challenge for me.

This is the card I made for my uncle (my mom's brother). The picture is an actual family pic he sent my mom, I just printed it off my computer and inked it up a bit. It was so much fun using a "real" vintage picture and I know it means a lot to Uncle Ken. I used some old buttons I've been collecting, twine I dyed myself, a page from an old book and the base of the card is some Core'dinations embossed paper that I sanded.

This is the card for my brother. He lives, eats, breaths, and dreams fishing...need I say more?!! Thankfully I found the fish image at the Graphics Fairy (her site always comes thru for me!). I printed it off on some tan textured paper, inked it up and it was as easy as that! I've done every kind of fish card I can think of and this was such a nice change. The other papers are from my collection of Basic Grey goodies.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a very blessed day!
Connie