Natalia's 'Before and After' Dresser Makeover

My youngest daughter has been asking for a bigger dresser for quite some time, so when I recently saw this dresser on Kijiji for a screamin' deal, I had to buy it!  It was a stained dresser with half the handles either missing or hanging off...not very pretty at first glance.  But, I saw the potential as it's a very solid piece, so I bought it with the intention of repainting it and sourcing some new hardware for it.

This is what it looks like now...

Natalia loves bright colours, so we agreed on this gorgeous turquoise colour.  It's called 'Taking the Plunge' by Dulux paints.  I removed all the hardware, primed it and then applied the turquoise melamine paint.  This is the first time I've ever painted with melamine paint and I've got to say, I really like it.  It covered so well that one coat was almost good enough, although I added another coat for added durability.

As you can see from all the Eiffel Towers, Natalia loves the Paris theme of her room and she absolutely loves her new dresser...I love the fact that I got it so cheap!  If you know me, then you know how much of a bargain hunter I am!  lol  :)


Thanks for stoppin' by! :)
 

Happy Birthday, Angela!

I created this card using a fun, retro, photostamped image of two ladies at a hair salon from the Those Were the Days 1950's stamp set by The Stampsmith.  I made this card for my friend, Angela, who's celebrating her birthday today.   I'm happy to say, this was before our time...but cute, nonetheless.  Happy Birthday, Angela!  :)

I don't normally decorate the inside of my cards, but I wanted to use more of this fun paper and the coordinating journalling cards, so added a little more inside the card.

Here's the rest of the stamp set...funny, eh?

Thanks for stoppin' by!  :)
 

TSC42: Tic Tac Toe Challenge

We have a fun "Tic Tac Toe' challenge for you this month over at The Stampsmith Challenge blog.  I opted to use a picture frame to incorporate the metal into my project, but you're welcome to do a card or whatever strikes your fancy.

Here's the Tic Tac Toe board...simple choose a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row and work with those three elements.  I chose Metal-Manly-Distressed for my project. A metal frame stand, manly image and design and a distressed crackle finish on frame.  In case you can't read the quote, it reads:

A question that 

sometimes drives 

me hazy: am I or 

are the others crazy?

~ Albert Einstein

Remember each project that contains at least one stamped image by The Stampsmith will qualify for the random draw for a gift certificate to The Stampsmith Store valued at $21.00.  I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with for this challenge since they'll all be so different. 

Happy creating!  :)
 

TSC41: Black and White with a Splash of Colour Challenge

It's challenge time again over at The Stampsmith Challenge blog and this time we're challenging you to create something using "Black and White with a Splash of Colour." 

I used lime green as my splash of colour, but feel free to use any other colour that you like, or several other colours.  Just be sure the bulk of the card is black and white.  Use at least one image by The Stampsmith to be eligible for the draw for $21.00 towards The Stampsmith Store online.

Here's a close up of the gorgeous couple from the Mon Amour stamp sheet.

I hope you decide to play along in the fun.  I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)
 

Victorian Easter Egg and Funny Eggs

I had fun making Easter Eggs with my girls the other day. I only ended up getting one done, but you can see their eggs at the bottom of my post.  We used the plastic eggs that you break open and fill with smaller chocolate eggs or Easter goodies.   We brushed them with Decoupage (sealer-glue-finish) and covered them with small pieces of tissue paper, reapplying more Decoupage, as needed.   I help them with the Heat Tool to make sure the egg was completely dry and then we each decorated them.

I chose to make a Victorian egg, using the sweet little angel girl, called Butterfly Kiss by The Stampsmith as the main focal image for my egg.  I stamped her onto to Copic paper and then crinkled the paper all up so that it would more easily form to the egg.   I stamped text onto tissue paper and then decoupaged it on.  The text stamp is called, Art, Life & Beauty by Hero Arts. I distressed the entire egg with Tea Dye Distress ink by Tim Holtz.  I free-handed the pearl flourish along the side, then applied a strip of pretty lace around the entire egg and bronze embellishments at the top and the bottom, finishing with a little polka dot bow at the top.  I used the small Butterfly Kiss stamp, but it also comes in a large version, as well.

Lace around the egg.

 

 Embellishment and bow on top of the egg.

 Embellishment on the bottom of the egg.

Here are the eggs below that my daughter's made.

 Bling Clouds, Stencilled Butterfly and Mohawk Funny Face by Alexandria Mutch, age 11.

Mohawk Funny Face and Watermelon by Natalia Mutch, age 9.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

TSC40: Spring Flowers & Colours Challenge

It's challenge time again over at The Stampsmith Challenge and this month we're challenging you to create something using Spring Flowers and Colours.  Simply upload your artwork to the blog linky and be entered into a draw for a free sheet of stamps by The Stampsmith! (a $21.00 value)  All projects using at least one image by The Stampsmith will be eligible. 

For my card, I used several stamps from the Paris sheet.  I love this sheet with so many great images.  Bottom left you'll see the Eiffel Tower, top middle you'll see Notre Dame, next to it, a Paris postmark and middle right you'll see a Paris map.

I hope you decide to join in on the fun.  I look forward to seeing all your creations!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)
 

Alexandria's Up Do

I just had to share this fun 'up do' with you all. I saw the idea on Pinterest, here, that provides a tutorial for how you create this look. It took me a little over an hour to do last night, and was pretty easy to do. I think it turned out pretty cute and Alexandria loves it. I don't think it will be an everyday look, though! I'm not that energetic to do this everyday!  lol :)

First, you section off her hair into rings, starting with the outer ring around the hairline.   Gather the inside hair into a clip or elastic to keep it from getting mixed in with the hair you're currently working on.   Make several little pony tails, and then with the second ring, take half of one pony tail and half of the odjacent pony tail along with a piece of the next ring of hair and put them in an elastic.  Move around in a circular motion until you finihs wiht one ring, then go on to the next ring.   It's a little confusing, but pretty easy to do.

Here's some other views...

My Sweet, Alexandria.

I braided the last bit and then swept it around in a bun.

The left side

The right side

After she slept with it in last night, a few of the elastics broke, so I tied little black and white grosgrain ribbon bows on the broken ones.  Quick fix and I think it looks even nicer with the bows in.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)