Time Card Holder for the Craft Room

I love using repurposed items in the craft room. My parents, knowing this, sent me a wonderful old time card holder. I love the letters and numbers on it. I hung it on a skinny wall in the craft room and placed some photographs, postcards, old letters and atcs in it. I think it looks great! Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Display

I seem to be in the middle of all kinds of projects lately, so I currently have no new art to post. I sent out a couple of swap items yesterday, though, so I can show them in a day or two after my partner receives them.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this silverware tray, which is hanging on the wall in my studio. I love things with cubbies, so I was excited to spot this tray at a flea market. I love how beat up it is, the graphics on the side, and the fact that it's red, which I knew would look great with my turquoise walls. Right now it's filled with vintage blocks I've picked up here and there, but I tend to keep changing it up and putting different things in it. It's a great little display case.

Here it is from the side, so you can see those awesome graphics:

I really like hanging interesting, unexpected things in my studio. I find myself wishing I had more wall space.

7Gypsies Reproduction Ticket Holder

I just realized I never got back to you on the reproduction ticket holder I recently purchased. The first thing I noticed about it was that it looked brand new, so I took some sandpaper to it to rough it up a bit. I also banged out some of the sharp edges with a hammer. When I finished beating it up, it looked like this:

Then for the fun part~ I gathered some of my favorite ephemera, including a letter written in the early 1900's, an old flashcard, a blotter, an art tag, an old receipt, a soap coupon, a milk cap, some dairy coupons, a couple of old stamps, and the photograph we found in my furniture I mentioned here.

The thing I love about this is the fact that it can be constantly changed. I think I'll change it up for major holidays like Halloween and Christmas.

Circus Print Canvas Frame How-To

I fell in love with this 4" by 4" circus tent art print by elgerboart on Etsy, and ordered it last week. It arrived in the mail yesterday, and it's gorgeous! I want to sit it on a table top, but didn't want to just stick it in a boring frame, so I thought I'd mount it on a canvas instead.

I painted a 5" by 5" chunky canvas black, and then lightly painted the front edges with the green, red, and yellow found in the print. Here's one of the advantages to hoarding scrapbook paper: I found some great striped paper with the perfect colors to match the print in my stash. For the sides of the frame, I cut three pieces about 1/4" smaller than the area to be covered, and then edged them with black ink. I glued them down with a little tacky glue, and then gave the entire frame a once over with Mod Podge to seal it and make it a bit shiny. I added a decorative knob (Tim Holtz) on top, and used four bead caps (found in the jewelry section of Michaels) for little feet. I love how this turned out!

The photo is attached to the canvas with clear photo corners. The corners are sticky, but I added a little dab of E6000 glue to the back to assure they won't fall off. I also used a few removable glue dots on the print itself to help keep it from buckling. I like knowing that I can remove the photo and re-frame it if I ever get tired of it displayed this way. Here's a view of the side:

And, I always feel it's important to make the backs of my art pretty, even if it's likely that no one will ever see that part. It just gives things a more finished look. For this canvas, I glued the same striped paper to a piece of shirt cardboard, inked the edges, and then glued it to the back. I've made frames for photos of my family before, and have glued a little surprise there, like a fortune cookie from a Chinese restaurant, which I think is fun. This one I left plain for now.

If I ever find the perfect fortune, I'll add it later. 

These frames make great gifts if you need a little quickie homemade gift idea. I put this one together in a little under two hours this morning. Maybe you should make one for your Dad for Father's Day!

Hanging junk&stuff

I'm always attracted to displays of any kind. I love busy shelves where there's lots to look at. 7Gypsies makes this great shallow tray that resembles a printer's box. Mine is a work in progress, but it currently holds atcs, altered matchboxes, and little trinkets and knick knacks. I made three of the atcs, the red matchbox and the little house shrine sitting on top, but everything else was made by some good friends at Craftster.org and Alpha Stamps. I love this because I can add, subtract, and move things around whenever I feel like fiddling with it. It's constantly changing.

I wish I could remember everyone who sent cards, but I do know that there is art there from knickertwist (the lovely "in the woods" tin on the top row, and the little cat block next to it) and  amaryllisroze (the crazy housewife atc and the altered matchbox on the middle row), plus there are atcs from Stifflersmom and goatgoddess, among others. The "celebrate" star was a gift from my sister. Thanks, everyone!