Wire Crochet necklace

I have been wanting to try something new for a while now with my jewelry. I have been making Japanese Chiyogami paper pendants since 2009 and I was getting a bit bored of them. At the Art Gallery of Peterborough a while back I saw a necklace that looked like it was knit with wire. I knew that if I had the chance I wanted to try it. Through a fluke I found a class in Toronto that was teaching how to crochet with wire. I took the first class last night and really enjoyed it. 

A day at the Zoo

My best friend Alida came yesterday with her three boys Nigel, Khol and Dylan. We went to the Peterborough Zoo which is free and awesome. The boys loved watching the otters get fed and they loved playing on the playground. My favorite thing was watching Khol chase the meerkat back and forth from the other side of the glass.

Milk Paint coffee table

I wanted a new coffee table that was colorful and fabulous. The one I was using was very brown and it made my living room look drab. I had bought a coffee table on Kijiji for $10 that I was going to refinish and sell. I painted the top white and then lost motivation because my other coffee table that I stenciled only sold for $5 more than I had paid for it.

 Last week I was still thinking about how I could get a new coffee table with minimal money and I thought why not paint over the white one with milk paint. I still had some left over from a package of Miss Mustard Seeds milk paint in the color Kitchen Scale. It turned out just as I was hoping colorful and fabulous. 

Inspiration Boards

I had a bunch of loose papers kicking around my art room and I didn't know what to do with them. They were things like ideas I had found in a magazine or tutorials that I printed out. I thought I would create inspiration boards that I could clip these papers too. The best and cheapest solution was to buy clip boards and hang them on the wall. But I wanted to make them pretty and functional. Solution: cover them with wallpaper. I got the wallpaper from a discontinued wall paper book from Benjamin Moore. 

I put double sided tape on the clip board, put the wallpaper on and then wrapped the paper around on the other side like a present. I took an exacto knife and cut around the clip part at the top. Then I put letter stickers on the top to indicate what the board was going to contain (Home, Holidays, Tutorials). You can make yours whatever category you want.

Then I just clipped my loose papers to them and voila they were no longer in my way. Easy, cheap and an awesome way to keep your creative space clutter free. I only made three because that was all I needed right now but you can make as many as you want. 

Happy Crafting!

Stenciled Pillows

I wanted to make a change to my living room decor but I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I just felt the living room was too brown. I remembered that I had some cream colored pillows in my closet and wondered if I could stencil them or not. It was worth a shot and they really turned out quite lovely. I think they are kind of Shabby chic or maybe Farm House Glam, who knows.

I took acrylic Martha Stewart craft paint and used my Martha Stewart stencil and I stenciled them on the pillow cover. I took out the pillow insert and put cardboard in the middle while I was stenciling so that the paint didn't go through. I think they turned out pretty good.

I also wanted to change the artwork in my living room, again it was too much brown. I decided to hang up a wood carving/ painting I got in Olinda, Brazil. Then I filled the four frames with patterned paper. 

Lastly I have always wanted a rice paper or patterned paper lamp. I found a hook up from a friend, did a little babysitting for them and voila I have a lamp. 

I feel very blessed to have a beautiful space. I am living in a rental so it is hard sometime to know what I can do to make it beautiful. But I think no matter where you live it is important to make your space look beautiful. It doesn't always have to take tons a money. Sometimes it's about using what you already have, re purposing something or even bartering with someone. 

Happy Easter!

We had a great time with the VanDerHerberg clan on Good Friday. It was actually warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. 

My favorite thing was playing soccer with my nephew Emanuel and deeking him out. Who says Auntie doesn't have soccer skills? I know he is a little kid but still. 

Here are the cousins sitting together on the couch. William has awesome hair in this picture.