Upcycled Recycled

Hipster Wall Decor or Upcycled Embroidery Hoop

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When I was looking at my new Fiesta Stamp Set I all of a sudden was thinking of those paper cut silhouette wall decors of the 18th century and I started thinking about how this could be translated into a modern form.

Here is how the stencil and the masks look like :

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And the idea was born for this Hipster Version ;) I mono printed the background by placing the two masks that are included in my Fiesta Stamp Set on top of the Mono Printing Plate and then rolled different colors on top and printed several times also imprinting the stamps themselves to give some texture.

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using Liquitex Iridescence Gold Acrylic Paint I stamped the Fiesta Stamps over the masks.

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I spray painted the embroidery hoop in black – which was easy peasy and fast and then cut out the paper so it would fit to the back of the hoop. Using a Journaling Pen I started loosely writing text into the silhouette figures. To make sure that I would really write loosely but not overwrite the edges I placed the stencil for the men and the woman on top to protect the background.

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I adhered the Paper to the hoop with double sided tape and voila ….done :) That was fun.

 

Here are the supplies I used

nSupplies


hope you like the Hipster Wall Decor :) 

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

Comments (8)

  • susan salyer

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    so many wonderful goodies went into the make of this . truly fabulous

    Reply

  • Mary Holshouser

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    I love silhouettes and your take on them is so unique.
    Using the embroidery hoop was a nice idea.
    The stamps made a great background.
    thanks for sharing a wonderful project.
    Illinois

    Reply

  • Viki B

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    This is such an awesome look! I love your designs.

    Reply

  • Sue D

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    Very cool hipster version!
    Sue in Ohio

    Reply

  • D.Ann C

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    What a cool silhouette variant and I’m in LOVE with that sumptuous background!! Sunny greetings from FL

    Reply

  • beverly

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    We like to get messy in Mississippi. Love the background paper.

    Reply

  • windinn

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    Love the fun and modern take with these stencils – it’s a beaut!

    Reply

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No Elevator…or…Stair Decor

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Our new apartment is spread out on two floors and my studio is actually located on the second floor. The stairs itself are not that bad – given the fact we used to live on the 6th floor in Hamburg with no elevator but those stairs are pretty step and remind me a bit of Amsterdam.

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I do love this saying ” There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs” and I think it is also a very fitting one to be on our stairs climbing up to my studio. And it makes the very clean and a bit boring stairs more ours. Here are some tips in case you want to try this yourself on your stairs:

1. don’t be scared – keep in mind the worst thing that can happen is that you have to paint white over it again. We will have to paint this when we move out- so what…in the meantime we have something we like as a decor.

2. Use a cosmetic sponge to apply the paint. Less is more – dab on…dab off…so that not too much goes underneath your stencil. I used acrylic paint.

3. It is ok if it doesn’t look perfect – it is hand stenciled!

4. here is how you can do the spacing easily:

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Prepare each word you want to apply – I used the spacing that the stencils provided. I applied a piece of masking tape throughout the whole length of the word on the bottom and on the top.

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Prepare and measure how much spacing you want from the bottom of the stair to the letters – and prepare a cardboard piece or sturdy panel that has that height. I was lucky and the green ruler in the picture was exactly what I needed. Flip the stencil word over and apply the spacer to the bottom masking tape making sure it lines up right to the edge of the letters.

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Put the spacing tool centered onto the bottom of your stair and apply the top masking tap – make sure it is nicely and evenly pressed down. Then you can easily remove the space-helper and press down the bottom masking tape- and voila an even and right spacing :)

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Then apply masking tape to the left and the right of the word- so that everything is nicely and flat attached to the wall. And then you can start. :) The taping work takes the most time for this project- take your time with it.

5. Have fun and enjoy your new stair decoration

Cannot wait to see how our visitors will like it :)

Here are the supplies I used

nSupplies

Have an amazing day
hugs

Nat

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Nat

Comments (12)

  • Minna

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    Wau! I would love to do something like this to our home!

    Reply

  • muriel

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    I love your stairs; more generally I love decorated or customized stairs. I have stairs in my house and I have been wanting to customize them for…….years! But I know the day will come.

    Reply

  • Lura Brown

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    i just love what you did with the stairs cant wait to see the rest of the apt. and studio. please???? xoxo

    Reply

  • Laura

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    I love this project.

    Reply

  • Amante del Papel

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    I need stairs! jajajja Love this!

    Reply

  • Melisa

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    Wow this is such a great idea!!!!! Now I wish I had a stairway in my home lol thank you so much for sharing this idea with us:)

    Reply

  • Naomi

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    Just fabulous!! Now I almost wish I had steps in my house.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Very cool and the quote is perfect for on the way up to your studio.

    Reply

  • Madeline Rains

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    I absolutely love this. I am going to pin it.

    Reply

  • Jennifer Palmer

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    Nat
    You are just brillant

    Reply

  • Irma

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    Love your stairway to succes!!!
    Have agreat start in the weekend – Irma

    Reply

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Heel Porsche or…Put an Elephant on it

Let me introduce you to my newest little helper…my Heel Porsche :)
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That is actually the nickname of those shopping bags literally translated from German. I love my new Heel Porsche. We don’t own a car and the next bigger supermarket is a couple blocks away- close enough to walk but for bigger shopping trips long enough to make my arms feel miserable carrying stuff. I did a lot of research on these rolling shopping bags and finally I fell in love with this Rolser Bag because it folds easily and you can carry it on your shoulder and it also unfolds like a charm. It comes in all kinds of patterns and colors but I chose it so that I could add my own little twist to it.

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I used Liquitex Professional Markers and Liquitex Professional Spraypaints with my Arabesque and Elephant March Stencil on the flap and on the bottom. Here you see it folded together.

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and from the other side- which is the bottom

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It was such a fun and quick project and it also works like perfect – 6 big bottles of Water, a Gallon of Milk, 2 Gallons of Orange juice, and a lot of other stuff…and I had no problem rolling this thing back home on uneven pavement.

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In Germany a Heel Porsche is really uncool- but hey…I think even in Germany that one would work – and actually …I guess with 40 I am kind of over that being uncool-problem anyway ;)

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What image would you put on a Heel Porsche?

Have a wonderful day!

Huge hugs

nat

 

Nat

Comments (26)

  • Rolser

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    Hi Nat!

    I contact you from Rolser, the company that produce your shopping trolley and we are glad with the success that the trolleys have in the US.
    Nat, we are very happy to help you on your day-to-day task!
    Regards ;)

    Reply

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Map it Or…Simple Gift Wrapping Idea

Love using old maps for accents on gifts.

Hearts for Birthday presents, stars for a Thank you Gift or just a little flower showing the home town city on a Souvenir from home present.

 

Some Craft Paper, Stamping and Twine is needed too. 1, 2, 3 …Done. Easy Peasy :)

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

 

Nat

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Advents Calendar Make Over

I could of course have done this post in mid October as this seems to be nowadays the time to be able to buy advents calendars in German stores- but quite frankly I was still dwelling on my sunny fun time in Italy at that time and there was no way I could have thought already of winter, christmas or other holidays. But ok…now is the time….I posted this advents calendar make over last year already- but I think it might be still new to some of you- so I dare to repost and I hope you don’t mind ;)

Originally posted on November 30th, 2011

The origins of the advents calendar come from Germany to count down the days till christmas  starting December 1st – and therefore- as we Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December…there is only 24 doors on our advents calendars :) The coolest advents calendars contain of course 24 minigifts – and I used to make those a lot for hubs…who…well…loved it….but this year – ahem – I really had no time to make a fancy cool 24-gifts containing calendar for him. But how to make an effort to make still a cool unique one? I show you how :)

Sometimes you get this ad-presents – or there are like really cheapy cheesy advents calendars. And this one has yummie chocolate from a well known Switzerland company inside- so not too bad- but who would hang this UGLY calendar on the wall besides an employee in the office of this company???? (sorry for bashing)

What about then this version of this calendar?

That was fun to make :) I used  eco-friendly Acrylic Paints as this calendar contains food and although the chocolate is wrapped I wanted to make sure that I do not kill hubs slowly in 24 days by weird chemicals going through the wrapping ;) as I really love him dearly- LOL

Supplies: Advents calendar, Acrylic Paints, Prima Mask, Crafter’s Workshop Stencil, Brush, Number Stickers, Ribbon

—————-

I guess it is time to create a new calendar soon, I am a bit late again…

Are you creating an advents calendar too and how will it look like?

Have a wonderful day

Nat

Nat

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Oldie But Goodie: Inspirational Fridge Magnets Tutorial

This is a tutorial I actually originally posted on June 7th, 2010 *- but with all the Mixed Media stuff out there and using spray paints…I thought some of you might like to see it either again or for the first time ;)  *I edited some of the wording and content to fit into 2012 :)

*Inspirational Fridge Magnets*

Supplies:
I used Tattered Angels:
Glimmer Mist: Turquoise Blue, Cosmos, Meadow Green, Delphinium, Pearl – you can use other  water based spray paints too that are translucent and have a shine to them
Chalkboard: Evergreen, Cornflower – you can use other spray paints that are opaque
Glimmer Glam: Golden Goddess, Chandelier, Bordeaux
Regal Glimmer Glass
Framed Fonts Butterfly and Traveler
Glimmer Screens: Elegant Emblems and Fanciful Screens – you  can use any stencils for example Crafter’s Workshop Stencils since Tattered Angels doesn’t produce Stencils anymore

Other:
Cardboard
Crafty Secrets Fairy Sheet or other Vintage Images
7Gypsies Paper Tape or Washi Tape
Ranger’s Crackle Paint, Sepia Archival Ink Pad and Glossy Accents
Tim Holtz Tokens or found objects
German Borders
Posca Marker
SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L™

Magnets

half pearls- unknown
Acrylic Paint
vintage music sheets

Cut out a house shape out of Cardboard. Paint with acrylic paint.

add some stripes of paper (I used old music paper – old book paper would be also good) and/or tissue paper or washi tape

 

Place a stencil over the house and start spraying with chalkboard. Set aside to dry

Take a Frame from the Frame Fonts  and spray with two different Glimmer Mist Colors

go over the frame with an archival ink pad and paint with clear crackle paint. Set aside to dry.

Paint Houses with Glimmer Glam which is also going to work as a sealer. You can use two different color – one for the roof and one for the bottom of the house.

Now take the Pearl Glimmer Mist and spray over the House – heat it up – don’t burn it with the heating gun and move the liquid around with the heating gun. Once everything is dry, spray it again and repeat. Do several times until you get a mother-of-pearl like look.

Do this until you are satisfied with the look

You can now dress up your houses – doodle with markers around the edges, add scraps and fairies, some nice inspirational sentences and the frames.

 

Attach strong magnet to the back – and take a walk to the fridge ;)

And there you go – a nice little present or to keep for yourself – an inspirational Fridge magnet.

 

I hope you had fun with this Oldie but Goodie :)

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

 

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New home for Korki or…Neighbors don't call the police, please!

Despite the fact that I do not possess a green thumb, there are plants on our roof garden that seem to like us…or maybe they just developed unbelievable survival tactics.

There are two of those plants…I think the number says it all- LOL.  We gave them names. There is PJ- our maple tree, named after PJ’s pancake house in Princeton, NJ where my hubs took me on a date once ;) and Korki in German a “Korkspindel” and in English…a new word for me “Winged Spindle or Burning Bush”.

Last winter Korki’s home broke…and I can assure you, carrying up huge flower pots that cost gazillion of Euros and lot’s of dirt is not our most favorite task every spring. But apparently carrying down huge stone plates from an old torn down chimney on our roof wasn’t a favorite task of the craftsmen working on our roof last year either. They secretly pushed five of those super heavy stone plates underneath our terrace…..

So my husband had the idea of using those plates and create a new home for Korki…and then he asked me to spray paint it. Which I was first a bit hesitant- but then on a nice sunny hot afternoon, I got my evil graffiti-spray outfit on ;)

wearing my army pants and a tank top, took out my Golden Montanas and my Stencils- including the awesome Crafter’s Workshop Stencils by Julie Fei Fan Balzer and started the fun

Funny thing is, as soon as you start shaking those spray paint bottles, people start showing up at windows and balconies around looking at you…one of these days the old couple across the street might call the police- I think they don’t know what they should make out of me- LOL.

It was lot’s of fun although a bit intimidating since I wasn’t sure if that was what my husband had in mind when he asked me.

Well- he liked it very much – it brings some fun colors into our roof garden and he even said we should do more of those. Can you believe that I am the conservative person here, saying…mmhhh- have to think about it? LOL

I so love the texture and how the colors glow…and Korki…Korki really seems to enjoy its new home…

What do you think, should I add more crazy color to our roof garden or is one crazy pot enough?

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

Nat

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Artsy Advents Calendar – easy peasy :)

The origins of the advents calendar come from Germany to count down the days till christmas – and therefore- as we Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th…there is only 24 doors on our advents calendars :) The coolest advents calendars contain of course 24 minigifts – and I used to make those a lot for hubs…who…well…loved it….but this year – ahem – I really had no time to make a fancy cool 24-gifts containing calendar for him. But how to make an effort to make still a cool unique one? I show you how :)

Der Adventskalender ist eine deutsche Tradition :) Na ja und wie Ihr wisst sind die coolsten schönsten Kalender die, die 24 Minigeschenke enthalten- und normalerweise habe ich das auch oft so gehalten mit meinem Liebsten – aber die letzten Wochen waren leider zu verrückt- also musste eine schnelle Lösung für einen besonderen Kalender her. Ich zeige Euch welche :)

Sometimes you get this ad-presents – or there are like really cheapy cheesy advents calendars. And this one has yummie chocolate from a well known Switzerland company inside- so not too bad- but who would hang this UGLY calendar on the wall besides an employee in the office of this company???? (sorry for bashing)

Manchmal bekommt man ja diese Werbegeschenke – oder halt ganz billige Kalender. Nun dieser hat zumindest yummie Schokolade von dem “Wer hats erfunden Land” inklusive- also nicht zu schlecht ;)  – aber nun mal ehrlich wer außer Mitarbeiter dieser Firma in ihrem Büro, würde diesen HÄSSLICHEN Kalender aufhängen????

What about then this version of this calendar?

Wie wäre es mit dieser Version des Kalenders?

That was fun to make :) I used  Eco Green Crafts Acrylic Paints  (don’t think the company still exists) as this calendar contains food and although the chocolat is wrapped I wanted to make sure that I do not kill hubs slowly in 24 days by weird chemicals going through the wrapping ;) as I really love him dearly- LOL

Es hat wirklich Spaß gemacht :) Ich habe Eco Green Crafts Acrylic Paint für den Kalender verwendet, da dieser ja auch was zum Mampfen beinhaltet. Obwohl die Schokolade verpackt ist, wollte ich sicher gehen, das ich meinen Liebsten nicht in 24 Tagen um die Ecke bringe- denn ich lieb ihn ja sehr ;) – LOL

Supplies: Advents calendar, Eco Green Crafts Acrylic Paints, Prima Mask, Crafter’s Workshop Stencil, Brush, Number Stickers, Ribbon

Wishing you a wonderful day today

Nat

Nat

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