Cynthia Shaffer

Coastal Crafts : : Decorative Seaside Projects to Inspire Your Inner Beachcomber

Look what just arrived from Amazon! Coastal Crafts! 

I'm so excited to share this book with you! 

I feel like I gave birth to this book years ago ... seriously, it feels like a lifetime ago that I was stitching fish garland and painting seashells! 

Here's a few fun facts about this book ... First, it's a multi craft book ... so it's not just sewing, or gluing or painting ... it's all crafty things in one book! And second, I intentionally created every project from supplies and materials that can be purchased at your local craft store like Michael's or Joann's! How fun it that? 

Yup, I painted shells all nice and white to make this heart shaped hearth wreath ...

 

These candlesticks were one of the first projects I created for the book and I think they may be my favorite too! 

 

And I covered these chuncky letters with glue to adorn my front porch! 

Here are just a handful of other projects offered in the book to really get you into that beachy, coastal mood ... you know, cause summer is here, right, and who doesn't like a little coastal craftiness in there home during the warmer summer months?

LOVE this lampshade covered with the antique nautical map! LOVE!

And ... Nautical flag garland anyone? Yes, PLEASE!

And of course ... Linen pillows with huge stenciled shells are the perfect coastal touch for any window seat with a garden or beach view!

Oh, and a little embroidery on a few dishtowels make just the perfect hostess gift! 

Or how about a little plaster and sand memorabilia!

Ok, so ... what are you waiting for ... seriously ... grab your copy of Coastal Crafts here on Amazon or anywhere craft books are sold, and get your craftiness on! Also, check out this nice post that Lark Crafts has up on their site today! 

Enjoy!
 

 

Glitterfest ... Did you go? It was Great!

I'm thinking this is the 5th or maybe 6th time I have attended Glitterfest ... and I have to say it never disappoints! The artists that work for months, days, and hour upon hours to bring to the show the best of the best!

I am always blown away by the jewelry that Kerri Smith creates for the show ... She has a tyle that is so recognizable ... I almost always come away with a new favorite piece! I'm thinking these are this years new favs! 

Oh, I don't know, maybe this one is my new favorite? 

And every year this vendor is here at Glitterfest! I have yet to shop at this booth  because I know I would probably drop a few too many bills, or be so inspired and then take up a new craft! (BTW ... Do u see something funny going on in this photo?)

And then there's Lisa Loria's fabulous work! I have been stalking her art all week long, leading up to today ... seeing her pieces in person ... wonderful! 

Unfortunately I didn't get the contact information for this booth ... but I do so love the tied button necklaces! 

So, stay tuned for the next Glitterfest ... the October show will not disappoint ... It never does!

Gifty Ideas : : Handmade and Homemade

It's that time of year isn't it ... you know, gifts are exchanged, sometimes with people that have everything. You know who I'm talking about ... anyways, I had the opportunity to photograph Aimee Ray's Sweet & Simple Jewelry book (Lark Crafts) a while ago and I remember thinking how fun and doable so many of the jewelry pieces were. Well, when I received my copy of the book in the mail,  I decided to try and make the beaded bracelet that's on the cover!

Ok, so easy, so fun and so beautiful.

Of course I couldn't make just one bracelet, oh no ... Off to my local craft store I went to buy even more beads and waxed thread to make a few variations!

And I loved digging in my button tin, searching for the perfect button of the closure.

While I can't give you all the steps to making this bracelet, I'll share a few photos I took of the process so that you can see just how doable this project is ... perfect for that person on your Christmas gift list who has everything.

This bracelet is just one of so many fun and easy jewelry pieces offered in this book. Truly ... there is soooo much information packed into these 132 pages ... It's a great resource for crafter and jewelry designers of all skill levels. I even learned a ton just taking the photos of the projects ... and while shooting the basics section!

Cheers to holiday crafting!

And stay tuned for yet another Amiee Ray book coming in 2016

Mixed Media Essentials ... Giveaway and Tutorial!

I'm so excited to finally get to show everyone these super fun rubber stamps by Roben-Marie Smith and even more honored to be considered part of a design team that includes some super talented artist!

So there's a little blog hop going on right now ... come along and check out the art that everyone   created using Roben-Marie's rubber stamps. You'll soon see that the art is among the best I've seen in a long time ... and the variety is vast and great!

April Cole

Carissa Paige

Danielle Donaldson

Jen Osborn

Kristin Peterson

Lorraine Bell

Roben-Marie Smith

Sandi Keene

These are the samples I made using the rubber stamps ... One thing you'll notice is that the stamps are really big and so much fun to use in mixed media, shrink plastic and for embroidering on clothing or napkins, or ... well just about anything!

I was channeling my inner Roben-Marie when I creating this tag.

Here's the GIVEAWAY >>> This 6 arrow shrink plastic necklace ... leave a comment, or even just say "Hi" and I'll toss your name into the pot and on May 8th I'll pick a winner! 

The shrink plastic necklaces were just too much fun to make ... I couldn't stop ... It's one of those addicting kind of crafts!

And then at some point late one night, I grabed bits of odds and ends and created this little collage masking off one of the rubber stamp to show just one little cross.

And then this happened ... a little bit of embroidery on a panel that was stamped using three of the rubber stamp images and black StazOn ink and then stitched to a onesie!

Ok, I have to admit ... my pieces are a bit out there, but as I was telling Roben-Marie, I am so in love with these stamps that my mind kept jumping from project to project and I my hands couldn't keep up with my ideas!

Here's what I did to make the above shrink plastic arrow necklace: 

• Grab a sheet of shrink plastic and using black StazOn ink, stamp three arrows

• Cut out around the arrow shapes and punch small holes into the 4 corners on 2 of the arrows and 2 top corners of the third arrow.
• Using a cotton swab, lightly brush on three different coordinating chalk colors.

• Place the arrow into a pie tin and using an awl and a heat gun, shrink up the plastic.The side that was stamped on and colored on will now be the backside.

• Apply a thin coat of white gesso to the back of the shrunk arrows.

• Sand the sides of the arrows to smooth out any sharp points or edges.

• Add edge of black around the arrrows, using a black Sharpie marker.

• Link the necklace together with jump rings.
• Add a clasp to the back and then you are done!

 

 

 

Corry and Dylan

Just a few photos of my oldest son Corry and his girlfriend Dylan ... all dressed up and heading out to the homecoming dance. Notice the corsage and boutonniere I talked about in this earlier post.

 Sooo cute don't you think?

As it turned out, I was taking Flora's painting class while my husband was snapping away here, hence the slightly silly photos!

I'm not kidding here ...

I don't think he snapped a single photo of them looking somewhat serious.

And apparently they were just killing time here and making each other crack up over absolutely nothing. 

Really! Now this is a proud mom moment!

And of course as it would turn out ... Corry has a broken finger, just like last year, same time, same place ... oh wait, of course ... it's football season!

Oh my how I love these kids ... so comfortable in their own skins and having sooo much fun during these last few months of high school! 

Soldering : : My First Attempts!

Had a little impromptu crafting night with a friend and here are my first attempts at soldering. Ok so, don't look too close, I know the tape isn't lined up even and the jump ring is leaning  slightly off to the  left side, but I Love It!

Thankfully  the trend in some soldering circles is this messy kind of chunky look ...

Because without much experience here, chunky and messy is what happens. It is definitely something to experiment and play with and, learning a few tricks of the trade will help.

Still playing here and as you can see, the sky is the limit. Truly there are no limits to the things you can solder together or in-between a couple of pieces of glass. 

How fun is this? A  little free motion stitched and quilted piece I sandwiched between some chunky glass I bought way back when.

So from the looks of my soldering station you would have thought I'd been dong this for years ... no, no ... You see a few months ago a friend of mine (Laurie Crutchfield) passed away and she was a crafter like none other. There really wasn't a craft that she had not tried and mastered. Her friends had a private  sale of all her supplies and so I helped myself to all her soldering supplies. Oh, and bunch of other stuff including bags of yarn that I used here. 

Happy Soldering!

 

Macrame Elevated : : Bracelet Tutorial

I remember as a kid making things with macrame all the time. It was what we did during the hot summer months. I always had a project going ... I was obsessed. I also remember using some really icky yarn, rope or string and pretty ugly wooden beads.

 I was just playing around here ... grabbed my hemp yarn, some clear glass beads and hand dyed some rayon ribbon, and sat down to try and elevate the art of macrame.

Quick, simple and yet so sweet.

You may remember here where I mentioned this little macrame trim I made and glued onto the outside of my journal.

Here's what I did ...

Without thinking too much, or planning out my knots and pattern, I just start by cutting long lengths of the hemp yarn. I read somewhere that the length of the yarn should be 10 times the finished desired length of the project. Since I was aiming to make a bracelet, I cut these pieces about 60 inches. The ribbon in the center was cut at about 15" long.

Next I knotted them together at the top and clamped them down on this clip board. Notice I have marked the board at the 3 1/2" point. This gives me a mid point for my bracelet so I know when to repeat the pattern if I want.

 

You'll notice that every once in a while there's a little glass bead threaded on the hemp. To keep the bead from slipping around on the hemp I place a knot before and after the mid point of the outer loops. Here are instruction on the basic macrame knots.

And here's a little trick to making this open macrame more secure. I mix Elmer's glue with water, about 1/3 water to 2/3 glue and then paint it onto the back of the bracelet. I do wipe it off the beads, then shape it a bit and let it air dry!

Sky is the limit here!

Happy Macrame!

Ok ... So i get lot's of questions about the circles, and how I made them ... It's not rocket science here. Make a typical square knot ... lots of tutorials out there ... except when you make the first half of the knot, leave some space between this half knot and the previous knot, (don't push it up snug to that previous knot) then make the second half of the knot and pull it tight, close to the first half. The hemp I used here is kind of sticky and stiff and holds it's shape really well to allow these circles to stand out to the side. The glue mixture that's applied later really helps to maintain the loop/circle shapes.