I’m in no shortage of these at my house so when I saw Somerset Life’s ‘Paper Roll’ challenge I thought I’d give it a try. And lest you think all rolls are created equal, I have to show you the difference. The sturdier tube on the right is Charmin. (Isn’t […]
Altered Art
Altered Travel Folder
I took a plain manila folder and altered it for our upcoming trip. I’m taking Knox to the UK f0r an annual retreat held for families with children affected by Cockayne Syndrome. This will be our first time to attend the conference. It’s going to be a special trip so […]
Inspired by Poe
Somerset Studio put a call out for art inspired by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe a few months ago. I decided to try make a small art collage inspired by one of my favorite poems. “The Coliseum’ is not one of Poe’s more famous poems, but I discovered it […]
Turning a Spool into a Pin
Here’s another gift idea using spools. Turning a wooden spool into a pin is fairly simple, but I want to share two things I learned making this one. First, wrapping a small rubber band around the base of the flower helped it to stick down into the hole at the […]
More Wooden Spool Toys
These little spool toys are so much fun to make! And they are much easier now that I bought my first power tool–a Dremmel, along with an EZ544 cutting blade….zip!, right through the spool! Just like the first one I made, I used copyright free clip-art images to make match-up […]
Vintage Wooden Spool Toy
I have a dozen or so of these old spools that belonged to my mother, so I went through them and tried to find one in good shape to alter. I wanted to turn one into a little match-up toy. I apologize for not having all the process photos for […]
Paper Bag Challenge for Somerset Life
I spiffed up these brown paper bags with varied paper media and duct tape. Each bag features one of the more recent fashion acquisitions at the Met. Duct tape makes a sturdy handle and the art elements can easily be torn off and saved. I made the flower by letting […]
A Technique for Aging Paper
I think old paper is so cool. The older the better. I’m sure there are one thousand blogs out there that show a thousand other ways to age paper, but here’s what I do: 1.) Give it a tea bath. 2.) Hang it up. 3.) Spray with Walnut Ink while the […]
Elmer Gets A Makeover
To my old faithful Elmer’s glue: You’ve been such a great adhesive over the years. There’s no telling how many projects you’ve held together for me. You’ve stuck around for years and I’m continually amazed at your versatility. However, as much as I rely on you week after week, the truth is, you haven’t aged […]