Home Decor: Tile Coasters

Hello all my lovelies,

I'm back with another home decor inspirational share. I really like getting the most out of my craft supplies.  And to be completely honest, so does my hubby.  He finds a lot of enjoyment out of my home decor items that I created using my supplies.  Even it I got the idea from somewhere else, it doesn't matter, it's just super cool I can make nice stuff for our little home.  With that in mind, I thought I would share some coasters I made a little while ago with you today.

I love them.  Just love them.  I made a matching set of 4 with marble tiles that I got from the hardware store.  The hardware store sells them in boxes or separately for very cheap.  So when I went I got a whole box!  You can get ceramic or marble, and I have made coasters using both ceramic and marble - I like the ceramic ones better, the rough surface is easier to work with and in my opinion looks better.  But never the less, I love how these turned out.  These were also made with the intention of trying out a new stamp set I had gotten from Stampin' Up!  I love the stamp set, I love the coasters, I'm just in love with them.  Every time I look at them on my table, I am happy.  I got the idea from this Tile Coaster Tutorial over at SplitCoastStampers.  Oh, and the beauty?  All 4 took me about 15 minutes to do!  I LOVE IT.  Super fast and easy!  And in case you are wondering, yes they are color fast - I have soaked these puppies and wiped them dry and the ink doesn't go anywhere.

Supplies:  Marble Tiles; Ink (Staz On Timber Brown, Staz On Jet Black, Staz On Cactus Green); Stamps (Stampin' Up! Sense of Time)

A New Beginning: Art Journaling

I know that I have been missing in action lately. Primarily because my life has just been that out of control! But have no fear I will be posting and updating regularly again and plan to be on the ball by the end of the weekend! With that said, some of you may be wondering what I have been up to. Well let me share:

This page is not finished.  I'm waiting on some new crafty goodness to get here, AND the journaling prompt is very personal and not very appropriate to share.... which leads me into why I've started Art Journaling....

I have been thinking of starting an art journal for some time. I am in love with the idea and it aligns nicely with many of my life philosophies. I love my scrapbooking but sometimes there are thoughts and feelings that just. Don't. Go. In. Scrapbooks. They are personal moments of thought. And well I used to keep a journal but to be truthful no matter how cathartic I found it if I have to choose between time writing even more and crafting I'll choose crafting. No questions or second thoughts! So I decided that an art journal in which I combine both journalist and art would be the best fit for me.  If you are curious about this, I would suggest checking out the lovely and talented Rachel over at Artful Evidence.  She was a huge inspiration in my trying my hand at art journaling. 

Supplies:  Paint (American Crafts, Apple Crate, Golden Gel Medium); Ink (Tsukineko Staz On, Ranger Archival Ink); Stamps (Stampin' Up! Sense of Time, Hero Arts); Sizzix (Tim Holtz Alterations Gadget Gears);  Tissue Paper (Celebrations)

I'm Back!

After 6 weeks of being away and spotting posting, I am back! Spending time with my family was wonderful and filled with fun and happy times.  But at the same time, I am glad that vacation is over and things can commence as "normal."  With that, when I arrived home late Wednesday night, I have several packages waiting for me.  I'll be honest I did not take a photo of the packages, which I normally would have done because I was too tired.........  None the less, I did want to share some of the beautiful crafty goodness that was awaiting me.  Here is what was in one of those packages:

That's right the stick pins I received from the swap I did a little while back.  You can find my pins in this post. Seriously, I was so overjoyed when I got these.  This little package really brightened the end of my long and emotionally draining day.