Adventures in blackboard paint

 
I'm loving blackboard paint.  I bought it for painting the front of display boxes for upcoming markets. But couldn't resist experimenting a bit too.
The snowflakes are made by simply painted icy pole sticks, glue together and add a piece of doily in the centre.(Still not sure it needs this - what do you think?)
Then chalk lines. I still need a bit more practice with the drawing - but that's the best part! Just wipe it off and start again!

The re-usable nature of blackboard paint appealed to me. So I've made these gift tags which can be re-used.

I used a game of dominoes. I told the kids if they didn't pick them up I would recycle them....they were warned!

Covering the wooden side with masking tape helped to keep it clean.

After one coat - drilling, then a final coat of paint. I used a chalk pencil to write on them and some letter stamps to decorate the wooden side.

What else can I paint with blackboard paint???? I like the idea of a blackboard thought bubble necklace so I can change my mind about what's written on it...
What's happening in your creative space? See other creative space happenings here....

Crafty links

Here are some links to good things I found this week!

 

 Paper snowflake curtain from bugs and fishes....
Fruit balloons from House that Lars Built
Glitter rings from Pippa at buzzfeed 
And this great gift idea - pom pom book marks from design mom 

Welcome Winter

It’s the first day of winter here so we’re celebrating with hanging a little snowflake  garland, made from felt, interfacing and doilies. Now when I say “celebrating” I should clarify that I really, really, don’t like winter. 

I am very sensitive to the cold! I seemingly feel the cold more than the rest of my family. And it’s not just the cold but those dull grey Melbourne skies. But what can you do? As the song goes, “you got to  ac-cent-tchu-ate the postive, eliminate the negative." Or as Machiavelli puts it, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Or simply “If you can’t beat ‘em, join em!”

As kids we had to catch an early bus to school. Oh! Those foggy, frosty mornings! Mum would put our shoes in the oven before we had to put them on! As a film student, our peak filming time was through the winter. For three years I managed to cope with outdoor shoots, night shoots and worst of all – outdoor night shoots – by wearing a snowsuit. The sound people would be very annoyed if I moved, but it was the only way I could manage to get through was by zipping myself into those overalls!

How do you cope with winter?

This first month will fly for the sister outlaws because we will be taking part in the Winter Artisan Market at the Northcote Town Hall! So we will cope by making and selling gorgeous wintry-recycled-felty-jumper-goodness!

Christmas craft: Paper

Well, it's finally time! December is here! And everyone is getting into the Christmas/Craftmas spirit here so I thought I'd share some of the things we are making at our place. In fact - the twins (aged 4) are so keen on decorating the house, that today they hung undies and kitchen utensils all over the house! Clean undies....but still... not recommended!

Garlands are my "thing" this year. And I'm still keen on reindeer. So I've made this template for a leaping deer with Adobe illustrator and I've used some vintage wallpaper to cut them out.

 I cut on the outside of the line to make it a bit easier. Once I have cut them out I glue them to a length of ric -rac just across the antlers. You could use any sort of ribbon really. I stitch little loops at each end for easy hanging.



I have also been making reindeer paper chains based on this template below which I also created on Adobe Illustrator. Cut out the template then fold the paper to size in a concertina and don't cut on the left side at the antlers and the right side at the back leg. I used old wall paper again - which was, quite frankly, too tricky! But it works well in lighter weight paper - crepe, tissue or even brown paper on a roll.

The template below I used for a felt decoration but it would work well in paper too! You could add a frosty layer of tracing paper for an icy effect!



 Happy Craftmas!