Laura Griffin Designs

I think most papercrafters agree that it’s fairly difficult to come up with masculine card designs. We’re always wanting to stick flowers or glitter wherever we can. *lol* Here’s a quick and easy gender-neutral card design that can help you use up small scraps of paper and ribbon.

The star image features white embossing powder to give it some extra pop and I added a sewn border for added detail.

btw – This card made it’s way to my Dad earlier this week. (Happy birthday, Dad! You’re the best!)

I don’t know about you, but I always manage to misplace my sewing needles. Most of the time, they end up somewhere on the bottom of my magnetic pin cushion with all my straight pins and are never to be seen or heard from again.

When researching gift ideas for a friend who enjoys embroidery, I came across this felt needle book tutorial at Little Birdie Secrets. I loved the idea of having all your sharp and blunt needles in one place, easy to access and find again. I made a few adjustments to the tutorial, and then customized a book for my friend, embroidering her name on the front. After it was done, I decided to make one for myself too so I wouldn’t have to keep buying more needles!

These books were made with 100% wool felt from Magic Cabin. It’s a bit pricey, but the quality is better than any I’ve seen. It went through my diecut machine like butter (which is what I used to make the flowers on the front with an old Sizzix die). The flowers were sewn together for dimension, then glued to the front of the book with fabric glue. The cute little flower buttons are from Hero Arts. Lots of fun to make, and it didn’t take long to complete. Love these kinds of projects!

I recently decided to take down the old 80′s ceiling fan over my craft area and replace it with an upcycled chandelier. I visited my local ReStore (which is basically a thrift store for building supplies that supports Habitat for Humanity). I was expecting to find the old standard brass fixtures on the lighting shelves, but was amazed to find this crystal beauty, which I picked up on sale for only $50.

Now sadly, I failed to take a pic of the original which was pretty, but dark brown. I know – hard to tell the before and after, right?

To turn it “shabby chic”, I disassembled all the glass pieces and spray painted the base metal white. After reassembling, I added a home-sewn white cotton fabric sleeve to cover up the ugly chain at the top that goes into the ceiling.

My friend Sean graciously offered his services to help install it (knowing I’d probably manage to electrocute myself, if left to my own devices). I’m so happy with the results! It’s amazing the big difference a change in lighting can make in a room.

And how cool are the shadows cast on the ceiling when the light is on?!

Anyone else been re-decorating or renovating lately? Would love to see links to your projects!