Nature Inspired Jewelry - Stone Cottage Adventures

Hello! My name is Marci.  I am the Master Mind of  Stone Cottage Adventures .  ;-)

Our home is an old rock farmhouse built in the 1930s. There are two greenhouses, a vegetable garden, herbs, several flower beds, lots of hobbies and too many pets. Thankfully, our neighbors love us!  They say being our neighbor is like living next door to Old MacDonald and Martha Stewart!

It is such an honor to guest post for Inspiration Cafe !  I love the diversity of their creative posts!  The question "What inspires you?"  is frequently asked at  Inspiration Cafe . 

I am inspired by my heritage and the craftsmanship of my Ozark Mountains.  Many of these skills are taught at  Ozark Folkways .  You might enjoy this post about it .

 Have you met my gourd decorating teacher, Linda Ashmore ?  

I've written about her before  here !

  Let me show you why she is the teacher!  
Here are some of her creations!

She participates in the Silver Dollar City Harvest Festival and 

also has space at a shop in Eureka Springs.

This group of spectacular gourds are available at 

Ozark Folkways  near Winslow, Arkansas.

Today's class focused on jewelry made from gourd scraps 
and an interesting paint technique.

For the paint, Linda layered glops and sputters of paint on parchment paper.  Then she swirled this hodge podge of paint with a broken paint brush, just enough to blur any harsh lines.  The paint is allowed to dry a couple of days.

The dried paint is then peeled from the parchment paper.  It's pliable and can be cut with scissors, similar to wallpaper.  Have you ever seen anything like it?!

Linda also brought a table full of doo dads!  

With her expert direction, we went to work!

Classmate Rebecca created this wonderful flower!  She kept her gourd project mostly natural with just a touch of bling.  It looks great against her red sweater!

She plans to wear it as a pin, but the glue was not yet dry!

I was able to finish three pieces. The one on the left 

incorporates turquoise and copper wire.

Gourds have naturally occurring freckles and dimples.  The round piece had an interesting heart shaped blemish in the center, so I painted it purple.  Then noticed a second, smaller heart.  So it was painted, too.  Next, I glued the dried paint wallpaper around the edges to frame the hearts.  That blurring of color is just fascinating to me.

 For the square piece, I simply layered the dried paint wallpaper for an interesting effect.  Using Loctite, pin clasps were glued to the back of each gourd scrap.

How you would style these jewelry pieces?

Spending time with Linda is always a treat!  While this class was not at all what I was expecting, it certainly brought new ideas, which brings new sources of inspiration! 

What inspires you?  I'd love to hear all about it!

;-)  -Marci

Stunning Christmas Tree by The Thrifty Rebel

Have you seen anything like this glittering, jewel topped Christmas tree before?  I sure haven't!  It is a sparkly show stopper, isn't it?  It would make a great centerpiece for a Christmas party or command attention on a Christmas mantel.  

Tuula put this together with "just a few" inexpensive items, some paint, glue and glitter.  Even the tree topper is a thrifty treasure!

Tuula's tree crafting supplies!

Visit The Thrifty Rebel to see exactly how Tuula took these everyday items and turned them into this beautiful Christmas Tree.  

Thanks for visiting Inspiration Cafe today!

Remember, we are looking for great projects and blogs to feature and guest post.  

Just click on Guest Post to find out more.

Christmas Inspiration ~ Affordable Christmas Decorating

Ornaments

These paper tree ornaments can be found at Alderberry Hill.    Sarah shows you how easy it is to make these out of double-sided scrapbook paper and a few well placed embellishments.
(I've got plenty of both hanging around here already!)

These are perfect for adding some color and sparkle to the Christmas tree this year.

Speaking of having supplies you need...who doesn't have some spare toilet paper rolls?

Natalie @ NorthShore Days created these sparkly flowers out of them!  And if it seems a little funny to decorate your Christmas tree with...mm hmm...flowers ~ Christmas is in the summertime in New Zealand.  Ever thought about having a BBQ for Christmas dinner???

 Aren't these Silhouette Christmas Tree Ornaments darling?   This project was so simple and turned out so beautiful.  I probably would have been sitting with my scissors cutting out silhouettes for hours!!!  It's a good thing Andrea shows us how to make these the easy way.  Go visit Andrea @ Willow Wisp Cottage to see how it's done.

Decor

Danni @ Silo Hill Farm has created this beautiful Framed Christmas Art.  This would look great in a Christmas vignette on a mantle, a shelf, or a counter top.  It's so nice to add little touches of Christmas all over the house! 

Danni's not the only one making Christmas Art!

Mary of Sweet Little Bluebird crafted up some elegant Christmas frames last season.  (And she doesn't think she's crafty!)  It's amazing how Pinterest can inspire us.

And while we're talking about frames for Christmas decorations, you should definitely check out this mini frame wreath from KariAnne of Thistlewood.  KariAnne always has such compelling stories she shares with her projects...it's such a treat to visit Thistlewood Farm and get inspired by her! 

I saw a ton of frames similar to these at the Dollar Tree recently too.  I wish I would have known then what pretty wreaths they would make!!!  I would have bought a whole bunch.  What a wonderful gift this would be for grandparents too.  Stunning.

What about offering your guests a treat when they visit? Like this hot chocolate station found at Pondered Primed Perfected last Christmas.   Using a tray made from a cabinet door, a few Christmas accessories, and all the makings for hot chocolate we had a warm way to welcome guests for the season.

Tray tutorial

I love this Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Bar from Jenn at Clean and Scentsible.  It has such a rustic, inviting charm about it, don't you think?  Jenn provides a link so you can print your own tags if you're interested in making something similar.
.

Have fun decorating and enjoy the festive season!

Thanks for visiting the Cafe.  We would love to hear how you make your Christmas season special.  Leave us a comment or send us a link to your Christmas projects.

Sherry ~ Contributor at Inspiration Cafe
Author at Pondered Primed Perfected

Thrift Store Decorating for Christmas with Fox Hollow Cottage

We are thrilled to introduce you to Shannon of Fox Hollow Cottage.  Shannon has taken a neglected 1920's cottage and turned it into a light-filled, warm, swoon-worthy cottage.  Her photos are definitely magazine worthy.

She's got an eye for detail, and a knack for taking thrift store finds and making them look like high-end decor.  And it's impossible not to like her personality, warmth and charm. 

There are so many projects you don't want to miss at Fox Hollow Cottage.

  

Like Shannon's Cottage Style Kitchen Makeover:

(Just wait until you see the rest of her kitchen...not to mention the BEFORE photo!)

Or this Harlequin Table Makeover:

(This is quite fresh, isn't it?)

Table refinished using La Craie Chalk Paint

And since Christmas is quickly approaching, we are loving the great ideas she shared in her 'Decorating with Thrift Store Finds {Christmas Edition}' post.

(Just in time for us to get some thrift store shopping done too!) 

Isn't this Christmas scene just gorgeous?

Wait, did we say 'Thrift Store Find Decorating'?

How on earth did she pull this off with Thrift Store finds???

Lucky for us, she shares some of her best tips and step-by-step explanations on how to create such stunning looks on her blog, Fox Hollow Cottage.  

Like this:

I don't know about you, but Shannon has really made me want to take a trip to some thrift stores this weekend.

To see how Shannon pulls off all of these dazzling Christmas looks

click on the image below:

Fox Hollow Cottage

You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or visit her Shop.

Once you've created the perfect thrifty Christmas projects, you're going to want to link them up at the 

"Dollar Tree Christmas" Link Party too.

Co-hosted by Fox Hollow Cottage and DebbieDoo's:

Thanks for visiting today!

We hope you've found some Christmas Inspiration while here.  See you again soon~

NorthShore Days Blogiversary Giveaway...

Today is my blogiversary - wow I know right, a whole year has just flown by ....

For my blogiversary I would love to reach 200 Facebook likes by the end of my day here in New Zealand....I'm soooooo close!

So please pop on over and like my NorthShore Days page and be in to win this awesome Winter bracelet, it would make the perfect Christmas gift....and I had so much fun making it.

Hope you're all having a fab day 

Take care

CHRISTMAS COMES TO THE INSPIRATION CAFE!

Hello everyone, Danni here from Silo Hill Farm and I am a crafter!


This first series we are talking about what inspires us to create.  This is an easy one for me and my answer is two-fold.  My original inspiration and the beginning of all of my crafting comes from my best friend Judy.

When I first moved to Montana some 17 years ago, I knew no one and had never crafted a single thing in my life.  I met Judy, and she was all about crafting.  If I was going to hang out with her, I was going to have to learn to craft!  I didn't believe I had a crafty bone in my body.  I couldn't have asked for a better craft mentor.  The winters are long and cold in Montana and crafting saw me through all of the 8 years I lived in the mountains.  Thank you to Judy for giving me some skills that would get me through a lot more than just some snow and cold!

The other half of my inspiration, comes from YOU!  All of you out there in the craft blog world!  After a 10 yr. hiatus from crafting when I moved back to Missouri, I finally unpacked all of my craft stuff and started a blog.  If you look back at my blog, in the beginning, it was not much about crafting....but then, I stumbled on to all of you and your amazing projects and my inspiration was rekindled and then caught like wildfire.  So thank YOU...all of you!

Having said all of that, I would l like to show you how to make a project that Judy and I did together when she was here last week for 11 glorious days of crafting!  Check it out....

 I love the rustic look of it and Judy keeps me from overdoing it sometimes with the "less is more" reminder!  

To start out with, you need a star made out of sticks of the same size and either wired together or nailed together.  (Mine is nailed and I would recommend pre-drilling first.)

 Then, attach some faux evergreen branches, snipped to size, (mine are leftover from another project) with some floral wire.  I liked putting them in just the center so the sticks would show, but you can do the whole thing if you like.

 Of course, embellishing a project is my favorite part and I had this metal star and silver jingle bell.

 You may remember seeing that star before.  It first made it's debut on my blog back in July.

Old Glory Picket Fence

 We attached the tin star and jingle bell to the back of the wreath using a thin piece of jewelry wire.

With that little bit of embellishment, our wreath was finished!

 As with most of the projects I make, this wreath can be disassembled after the holidays and all of the parts used for something else!  Stay tuned...you may see that stick wreath form again!

If you enjoyed this holiday project, it's just the first of many that Judy and I worked on during our 11 day Christmas Craftathon and if you are a follower of Silo Hill Farm, you'll be seeing the other 10 awesome Christmas projects starting right after Thanksgiving!

Thank you to my dear friend and craft mentor Judy, all the awesome girls from the Inspiration Cafe, who lend encouragement and support unendingly, and to all of YOU for the amazing amount of inspiration you bring to my craft projects!

Linking up to any or all of the fine parties listed HERE and HERE. As well as......
Funky Junk Interiors:   Saturday Nite Special