Snuck in another 4th of July finish – just in the knick of time as we enter the last week of July.  Fourth of July Sampler by The Humble Sitcher 🥰.  Such a cute piece – I’ll be giving it a quick dip into a cozy tea-bath and fashioning it into a pillow tuck 💕 ✂️ ☺️.

Hope you carve out some hobby time in your world – creativity is a health attribute, let’s harness it!

I spent the day yesterday doing one of the things I enjoy most in life . . . crafting.  Here is what awaited each of us at our assigned seats.  INDEED YUMMY stuff in that pie tin!  And I didn’t even get my bag filled with more delectables in this picture.

Charlotte Lyons hosted and taught a fabulous class on making felt cottage houses.  Here is one of her gorgeous master pieces.

Here’s mine . . . not nearly as fully decorated as Charlotte’s.  But these cottages are a work in progress.  You add to them here and there to your heart’s content.  I’m loving my choice in chimney construction, for sure buttons are a girls best friend especially in the cream color family!!!  Gosh I’m thinking I play it too safe with my choice in colors or lack there of!  I should let loose and craft something in a wild saucy color pallet.  Yeah I need a little sauciness added to my play it safe personality.

As if having the opportunity to meet and be taught by Charlotte Lyons wasn’t enough, we were served a delectable breakfast, lunch and snack by Charlotte’s good friend Suzanne who I just read is a former Vogue food editor and gourmet chef.  Oh my can she bake and cook all the while keeping her vogues on the down low.

Oh wait, one more thing . . . I won this as a door prize!  I was skipping with glee when my number was drawn for this piece!  It’s hand made by Elizabeth Williams who sells her goodies on Etsy.

Hey all my crafty friends.  I couldn’t resist posting my most recent projects.  I’m taking an online vintage paper arts class were you learn how to re-purpose, re-think, and re-invent things.  Meaning thinking outside the box to re-use otherwise thought to be useless things.  Ya’ll know I love vintage things so this class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking taught by Jenni Bowlin was the perfect match.

My first challenge was to make a journal where I jot down miscellaneous notes or brilliant thoughts I may have.  HA!  Imagine that 🙂  Vintage items on this journal are the clock hand and the round cream colored poker chip under the doo dad that says “create”.

Next challenge was to make an inspiration board where you pin up items that give you inspiration.  I made two boards and am currently adding one item per week until class is over in September.

I was then challenged to utilize vintage milk caps.  I decided to use one for the center of my gigantic flower or perhaps it’s a tree?  Cute non-the-less!  Also used one flipped upside down as my sun.  Had to utilize vellum on the flower/tree as well thanks to Keisha Campbell’s gorgeous use of this product (love her design)!

I MUST share the easy-peasy tuturial for you to make your own inspiration bulletin board.  So here goes 🙂

Step 1:
choose a frame.  Keep in mind size as you look.  Decide how much space you have to work with, i.e. a 4 foot frame would be hard to display in a closet.  If you would like an antique/vintage frame, you can easily find one at any flea market or antique store.  If you don’t have a vintage shopping location close by, you can find options galore at Ebay.  Just search for “vintage picture frame”.  You can also very easily use a new frame and can purchase one at any mass retailer such as Target, Walmart, or Hobby Lobby.

Step 2:
Assemble the rest of the materials:
•     Large    cutting    mat    and    ruler
•     Matboard    (available    at    any    craft    store,  or use extra thick poster board or a scrap piece of chipboard).
•     Craft    knife

•     Cork    tiles    (find    them    on-line    here or at Hobby Lobby or other major craft chain.)  A roll of cork will also work cut to size, although rolled cork is usually not as thick as the tiles.

•     Remnant    piece    of    fabric
•     It    is    best    to    keep    your    fabric    a    neutral    color    without    much    pattern    (if    any    at    all).  I have used old grain sacks, tablecloths, and homespun fabric.  choose a fabric that is not too thick (you will have to wrap this around the cork) but not too thin either (you don’t want to see the cork through it).
•     Duct    tape    (any    color    will    do)

Step 3:
cut piece of matboard (or alternative) to fit inside the frame (not too tight as you will be wrapping the fabric around this later).

Step 4:
Trim corkboard to fit onto matboard and use adhesive foam tape (usually included with the cork tiles) to adhere the cork to the matboard.  At this point, lay the cork/matboard piece in the opening of the frame and make sure there is still room for the fabric.  Trim a little bit off of each side if necessary.

Step 5:
Lay cork/matboard piece on top of the wrong side (if there is a wrong side) of fabric remnant.  Trim fabric to
approximately 3” around cork/matboard piece.

Step 6:
Begin wrapping the fabric onto the cork/matboard piece, starting with the top edge, then the bottom, then the right and the left, pulling the fabric tautly as you work and securing with the duct tape.

Step 7:
Add covered piece to the opening in the frame and cover the backside with duct tape to secure.

Step 8:
Admire your finished board!