I Got a Virus...Yay.

When they say, "You get what you pay for", they've got a good point. Thusly 'free' blog templates may not actually be free.

Like when they come with a NASTY computer virus attached.

Now I can't say for sure I got the virus from the images I downloaded, but I took them down because that's the only weird thing I've done today that might have infected my computer.

So word to the wise...if it looks shiny and free...it may be tarnished goods.

I'd like to believe that there is a special place in hell for spammers...where they are chained to a keyboard and forced to delete pop ups for eternity. Insert my evil laugh here...

I'll get this place gussied up again when I can get back into my actual computer.
Love
Madge

TastyLinks Saturday!

Operation Deck the Halls has begun! I've been placing samplings of my collection of vintage mercury glass ornaments in a variety of repurposed clear jars and adding a plethora of fresh holly and pine accents and a variety of old and new decorations. So far, so good. When it's all finished I will share some pics...if I can get some good ones!

We're hoping to get the tree trimmed this weekend, but poor Dad Guy has fallen ill so I'm not sure how much we're going to accomplish without him. I sure hope he feels better soon...

In this week's video sampling from When Creativity Knocks host Ana Araujo shares some super cute retro 60s inspired greeting card ideas!

Here's what the Crafty Bloggers have dished up for your entertainment, inspiration and edification:

The Artful Crafter Whatever the holiday, make cute pop-up place cards to organize the dinner table and delight guests of all ages.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See a necklace and bracelet made from the same Blue Moon Beads pendant with a how-to video with me.

Mixed Media Artist Mixed media artist Nicolette Anderson shares her lovely work!

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Don't fence her in! Linda shares the story of her Fences and Ferns Quilt and how creativity can prosper even in dark times.

Cross Stitch at About.com The 2009 Holiday Ornament Collection is ready! Whip up some super quick back stitch ornies or cross stitch some more colorful ones.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy is making her first crocheted hat for herself. Now, hopefully it will be done by the time it gets cold down South!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside's got yummy pumpkin cookie and biscuit recipes, an inside peek into Bead Quilled Jewelry, eco friendly recipes for casein glue and an all-purpose cleaner, and starting Monday- The 19 Days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways starts, answer each day's question and you are entered to win a free book every day!

Aileen's Musings Aileen invites you to join a creative challenge with her called the Erosion Bundle Project. Take a peek at her pictures and find out exactly what erosion bundles are!

About Family Crafts Does your family have any creative Thanksgiving traditions. You can read about other people's Thanksgiving traditions and then share your own.

The Impatient Crafter Madge is ready for Christmas so bring it on! Check out this retrolicious frame she designed for iLoveToCreate

A Retrofabulous Christmas Crafabration with Madge!

Holiday Fun with the Potters 2008!

(Congrats to Pippirose for winning the prize package!)

I am not afraid to admit that I love Christmas....so there! Take that, holly haters! I love it because it is for those of us who miss the light this time of year, a way to bring the light inside of our homes, deck our halls, celebrate the joy of giving, sharing, laughing and loving. It's a magical time, if we allow it to be. It is like all things in life all about perspective. It isn't about the race for the cheapest DVD Player or the newest gadgets or games, it's about family and friends. Honestly I've been chomping at the bit here this year. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! Bring on the glitter, break out the glue guns, tinsel me up, baby!

I had a few not so fabulous Christmas experiences way back when and for many years it tainted things for me. I felt the holidays approaching and immediately started feeling stressed out and sad and disappointed in advance. We put a lot of pressure on these few days to make us happy. It's rather silly really. Happiness isn't an involuntary response to external stimuli, happiness is a conscious choice.

I dreaded Christmas for years and then I had a kid and she reminded me that it was about being in the moment so fully and completely that we couldn't help but choose joy...and that we could be sad too, but we didn't have to get stuck there. She helped me rediscover the wonder of the season. She helped me rediscover the magic of believing. She showed me the Zen of Christmas.

I choose not to get caught up in the buying of crap that people don't need. I choose not to feel pressured. I choose not to be sad about the disappointments of Christmas past. I choose to focus on the joy. The best gifts don't come in packages, they come from the heart.


I have recently acquired 16 sensational 1960s craft magazines. I am going to share with you over the next few weeks my version of some of the projects and remind you that a handmade gift can be ten times cooler than some random obligatory thing picked up on sale at the mall. It's a Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration with Madge! Game on!

xoxo
Madge

Giving Thanks.

Image Copyright Tamara de Lempicka

This is my final post for the Giving Thanks Blog Hop. Take a moment to visit some of the blogs of these wonderful artists! Just follow the link!

I don't believe in luck, but I do believe in magic. I think luck is something people invented so they'd stop taking responsibility for their lives, it's much easier to tell ourselves that happy people are lucky than it is to accept that life is about choices. There is preparation and there is opportunity, luck is an illusion. Life is all about perspective. Every moment we can choose sorrow or we can choose joy. I believe that in each of us is an endless well of joy. You can keep tapping it over and over again and you will never run out. The glass is neither half full nor half empty, because the universe gives free refills.

Seriously.

Why are you even worried about the glass?

The more we focus on what we don't have and we didn't get, the less we are able see the abundance that is always there for us. At any moment we are free to erase the past and reinvent ourselves. We're only a victim if we choose to be. I choose joy. When we choose joy, the magic happens.

Life is not about the money or the stuff or the awards or the accolades, though all of those things are nice and it's okay to enjoy them fully. Life is all about the love we share and just like joy there's an endless supply.

I am thankful that somewhere along the way I realized that I was the captain of my own ship. I realized that I could take the wheel. I could choose to be sad about the things that happened in the past or I could focus on the moment. Every moment is an opportunity for joy and for grace and for love.

Thank each of you for visiting me here at this little blog of mine. Here is my advice, for what it's worth: Try to love more and judge less...that applies to you, your friends, your enemies, complete strangers...and to your artwork. Love is the key to joy.

Be in the moment, it is all you have.

Carpe Gaudium.

Seize joy.

Love,
Madge

iLoveToCreate Teen Retro Christmas Photo Frame

iLoveToCreate Teen Retro Christmas Photo Frame
Grandma’s Gift Idea
Copyright Margot Potter
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”

I’ve been collecting vintage goodies for over 26 years now. Much of my collections have been pared down due to the lack of storage here at our little school house and my many moves. The one collection I can keep expanding and justify for my work is my ephemera. That’s a fancy word for vintage paper. I just scored a little stash of 1950s era Christmas cards and I knew I had to use them for an iLoveToCreate project. (Truth be told these aren’t much older than me...which of course makes me vintage but I’m in denial.)

This frame cost a buck and the rest of the supplies are very affordable. You can find lots of vintage cards on Etsy or eBay. They’re super cheap and super fun for your artwork. My daughter finally fessed up to knowing the 411 on the jolly old elf, but we’ve known for a while she had it figured out. I just wanted to keep that Christmas magic alive as long as possible. This is a great holiday pic of Avalon from a few years back and I thought it could make a terrific gift for one of her Grandmothers or for us to use in our regular holiday décor. Teens can have a lot of fun with this project, and they get to enjoy a little bit of Christmas past if you use vintage cards. (Note: Don’t scan and copy the images from the cards and use them again, these images are under copyright. You can cut them out and use the physical card, but you can not reproduce the images. US copyright protection lasts 100 years.)

Materials
One wooden frame with heart shaped opening
Wired tinsel
Image from vintage greeting card
Text from vintage greeting card
Green cardstock
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Liquid Fusion
Crafty Chica Little Paints White
Tulip Fashion Glitter White Pearl
Archival ink jet black
Adirondack ink red pepper
EK Success clear snowflake stamp
Inkadinkado flourish stamp
Dimensional foam stickers
EK Success metallic writer pen in silver

Tools
Martha Stewart lace edge punch
Scissors
Paper cutter
Tracing pen or pencil
Paint brush


1. Paint frame white. Sprinkle a fine layer of glitter over paint. Shake off excess. Allow to dry.

2. Randomly stamp snowflake over frame (try not to overlap) using archival ink in jet black.

3. Randomly stamp flourish over frame (try not to overlap) using Adirondack ink in red pepper.

4. Select image you like for bottom right corner of frame and cut it out. Use writer pen in silver to accent parts of image.

5. Spread a thin layer of glue on parts of image you’d like to coat with clear glitter. Sprinkle glitter on image and shake off excess. Allow to dry.

6. Cut out words you want to use. Using cardstock make a frame for the words. Use the scallop edge punch to decorate the edges of your frame. Adhere words to paper frame using two dimensional foam stickers.

7. Run a thick bead of Liquid Fusion along edge of frame. Place tinsel on edge, cut off excess. You can put some small glue bottles on the tinsel to secure it while it dries.

8. Adhere Santa to bottom right of frame using dimensional foam dots with a layer of Liquid Fusion under them.

9. Adhere text to top left of frame using dimensional foam dots with a layer of Liquid Fusion under them. Allow glue to dry overnight on images, text and tinsel.

10. Select and size a picture to fit the frame. Keep the cardboard insert to trace and cut image to fit inside of frame and to secure image inside of frame.

Giving Thanks Blog Hop Free Project AND Blog Giveaway!

(Click on image to view close up)

Continuing with the Thanksgiving theme and the Giving Thanks Blog Hop, I'm cross posting a project I created for the Beadalon blog. Enjoy the project AND if you'd like to win the plethora of paper crafting swag seen in the pic at the bottom of this post, just leave a comment explaining the significance of these particular names together (this is a trivia question) and I'll announce a winner randomly selected from the folks who answer the question correctly on Friday.

Fall Harvest Place Card Holders
Margot Potter for Beadalon

Colourcraft copper wire is coiled into a faux flower and ‘planted’ in a painted miniature clay pot. Make up a bunch of these for any occasion, simple change the color scheme to suit your event. These would be delightful as wedding favors!

Materials
Miniature clay pots
Sage green raffia
18 gauge ColourCraft copper wire
Decorative ribbon
Ranger paint dabbers in gold, copper, lettuce and sunset orange
Liquid Fusion
Hot Glue Sticks
Small glass pebbles
Glue dots

Tools
Paint brush
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Round nose pliers
Wire cutters
Nylon jaw pliers

1. Paint your pots and allow to dry. Paint a second coat if needed.
2. Glue decorative ribbon around edges with Liquid Fusion.
3. Cut a 5” segment of ColourCraft wire. Bend one end of your wire with pliers to create a small stand that fits inside of your pot.
4. Use round nose pliers to start a flat wire coil and continue using nylon jaw pliers. Make this a loose rather than tight coil.
5. Cut off a 10” length of raffia.
6. Hot glue your wire base into the pot, add a small glass pebble and more glue and your raffia. Allow glue to dry.
7. You can use “glue dots” to secure these on the table and prevent them from tipping over. Add your own festive place cards. I use a fabulous Fiskars squeeze punch to get this scalloped edge square shape on cardstock.

TastyLinks Saturday Giving Thanks Edition

I was thinking about the word Thanksgiving and it occured to me that it's an interesting compound. There's the 'thanks' part and the 'giving' part, obviously. What's interesting is the order of the words and also if you think further the words themselves, and whilst contemplating these things I had a small epiphany. One can give thanks figuratively, but one can also literally give...give something freely as a way of spreading our 'thanks' or gratitude to others. So today in gratitude for your support, I'm sharing with you a permission free image from my personal collection. This is a vintage Clapsaddle postcard, this particular postcard line is highly collectible. I have been collecting ephemera for many years and I find it endlessly fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me to hold a piece of vintage paper in my hands and think about the people who held it 100 years ago. This is a postcard sent in 1910 from Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Davis of Minneapolis to Miss Elsie Munson of Minneapolis. It's in excellent conditon and is embossed and artist signed. You are free to use this image in your design work. On a side note, I had to wonder if this turkey is really all that glad for Thanksgiving...what since he's probably the main course.

FYI-not all of the images on this blog are free for the taking, but this one is. Remember if you do click and save my blog images that they are all under my copyright or the copyright of the artist I've attributed. Everything on the internet isn't free...but this lovely postcard is!

This is part of my contribution to the blog round robin in which I'm participating this week. Please do click on the links and visit the blogs of the participants.

Without further ado, here are this week's Crafty Blogger Links. We're all of us grateful to you, our readers, for your support and encouragement. May you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

About Family Crafts Do you play with clay? If so, please take a moment and share your favorite stories, projects, recipes, techniques, and more.

Aileen's Musings Aileen is offering Vintage freebie images for you to download and use in your art. Get started on those digi holiday cards using some of them.

Cathie Filian Cathie has lots of Thanksgiving recipes, crafts and family activities posted. Plus tips for a smooth Thanksgiving!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Over at Craftside you can enter to win a Mixed-Media Doll by Linda O'Brien, Co-author of Who's Your Dada?, download a free intricate leaf paper cutting pattern, get a fun how-to on making a paper cupcake and a pretty pair of fall leaf earrings.

Crafty Princess Diaries Mix up altered books, glitter, and teenagers, shake well, and voila! You have a fun day of art combined with writing.

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitch a Simple Hanukah Menorah Motif for a card or ornament. Suitable for knitting or crochet projects too.

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Linda shares one of the first quilts she designed and tells the first of many stories about lessons learned.

Mixed Media Artist Cyndi has finished a second Garden Quilt and is offering her tutorial!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Sweater Surgery attacks t-shirts and cuts them up into some cute gathered tops with the help of Generation-T Beyond Fashion.

The Artful Crafter Check out Eileen’s latest craft finds: lots of free stuff and free advice – well that’s usually free, isn’t it? LOL.

The Crochet Dude Drew kicks off the holiday season with a crochet pattern event!

The Impatient Crafter In this week's teen crafts blog for iLoveToCreate Madge makes a stunning mixed media necklace. You might just want to sport this one yourself!

Giving Thanks Blog Hop 2009!

It's a virtual cornucopia of crafty inspiration!

Welcome to the Giving Thanks {Blog Hop} 2009...

Thanks to some very amazing artists, over the next week, you will be able to hop around the web and find some amazing projects celebrating Gratitude and Creativity. We are very excited to be bringing you a cross-section of artisans, sharing their stories, creations, and thanks with all of you. Not everyone will post something everyday, but, there will be something somewhere everyday. You will just have to hop around and see what you can find. Each person participating has the full list of attendees posted, so you can hop from each one to another. We hope you find something that inspires you, sparks your creativity, or reminds you to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

From our house to yours, please enjoy your week and our gratitude...

Debbie Hodge

Kelly Purkey

Lisa Dickinson

May Flaum

Patti Milazzo

Stacey Kingman

Stephenie Hamen

Margot Potter

Lain Ehmann

Margie Romney-Aslett

Rhonna Farrer

Wendy Smedley

Jodie McNally

Liz Hicks

Becky Novacek

Jennifer McGuire

Allison Kreft Abad

Up, Up and Away!

Image Copyright Devorss

I'm out of the studio until Friday, so there won't be any new blog posts until then. Do forgive, I don't have fancy iPhones or other new fangled gadgets and my laptop is as slow as molasses! I'm off to New Mexico to shoot three episodes for the PBS Show Creative Living with Sheryl Borden. I'm excited and I think I'm actually incredibly prepared, knock on wood! I'll have a full report and hopefully a photo or two for you when I get back.

Until then...craft on with your bad selves!

xoxo
Madge
PS:

It's coming...

Nov. 19th-25th

iLovetoCreate Teen Crafty Rockstar Necklace

Teen Crafty Rockstar Necklace copyright Margot Potter for iLoveToCreate

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafty Rockstar Necklace
by Margot Potter
"Mom Crafted, Teen Approved."

Fall is upon us and winter isn’t far behind. I was thinking about fall friendly jewelry for teens and this idea popped into my head. I love the unexpected addition of soft blue with the traditional fall colors. You could easily make this same idea in other color palettes, but I really liked these earthy tones. My daughter Avalon thought this was super cool, and I trust her sense of teen style implicitly. And just for the record, I’d sport this myself in a hot second...in fact I may just sport it today!

Think about this for Christmas with holiday themed charms and papers...

...I’m just sayin’!

Materials
Traci Bautista’s Collage Pauge Glossy
Aleene’s Liquid Fusion Glue
Crafty Chica Little Paint Pack Paints Red and Yellow3 Tim Holtz Acrylic Fragments charmsDie Cuts With a View The Rockstar Stack
8 frosted orange Lucite leaves (The Beadin' Path)
5 frosted green Lucite leaves (The Beadin' Path)
8 8mm olive green moonglow vintage Lucite rounds (The Beadin' Path)
2 frosted orange Lucite flowers (The Beadin' Path)
6 6mm cracked blue Czech glass rounds
Silver plated rolo chain
Silver plated swivel lobster
13 silver plated head pins
3 10mm silver plated jump rings
21 6mm silver plated jump rings
Flourish stamp

Tools2 pairs chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers
Wire cutters
Foam brush
Paint brush
Pen or pencil for tracing shapes




Place pendent over segment of paper you desire and trace. Repeat for all three pendants.
Cut out papers. Spread a thin layer of Collage Pauge on pendants and adhere paper. Gently press on the back to remove any air bubbles. Paint collage pauge on back of tile. Allow this to dry for several hours.

Mix a small amount of red and a much larger amount of yellow Crafty Chica paints to create a warm pumpkin orange. Stamp into paint and stamp flourish on edges of your pendants. Allow to dry.


Attach an orange flower and a blue bead on to the top left corner of the largest pendant using Liquid Fusion. Allow to dry.

Create coil topped dangles for your blue and green round beads. Thread a blue bead, a flower and a green leaf on a head pin, then coil the back and bend it flush to the back of the leaf to create a small pendant for the back of your chain. (See this video for a quick and easy head pin coiling how to!)



Attach the largest pendant to the center of an 18” length of rolo chain using a 10mm jump ring. Move over 4 links and begin to attach elements on every other link using 6mm jump rings for beads and leaves and 10mm jump rings for the pendants, make sure they’re all falling to the bottom of your chain. The pattern on both sides is: orange leaf, green bead, green leaf with blue bead, green bead, orange leaf, pendant and the same pattern established in the first section of beads and leaves. (For a quick and easy tutorial on opening and closing jump rings see this video how to!)

Attach a lobster clasp to one end of your chain using a 6mm jump ring. Attach the flower pendant you created to the opposite end using a 6mm jump ring.

(Most of the products used in this design were donated for promotional purposes with the exception of the scrapbook paper and the rubber stamp.)

I Schmoozed with Suze!

Kecia Frazee Deveney, Suze Weinberg and Me!
Sally Lynn McDonald was a delight as were all of my wonderful students! That necklace she was wearing was amazing!
Look! We're having fun in Madge's Class! The lovely lady in Black and White is Sallianne McClelland of Art is You Retreat, I loved her Victorian take on the concept!

Yesterday Drew and I drove to Tinton Falls, New Jersey for my class at Suze Weinberg's studio. Suze is an amazing woman with an endless reserve of energy and creativity. I think she's the bee's knees!

I realized after arrival that the medium I'd planned to use to stabilize the magazine images was not going to cut with the punches I brought, so there was a last minute quick trip to the craft store. Oh and being the amazingly anal retentive and organized person I am, I also forgot to pack the clasps. Doh. This is why it's best to make up kits, which I usually do but last week got away from me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Yet another example of why I need a personal assistant or team of magical helpers...who are willing to work for glitter and beads! Luckily the students were fine with cutting the shapes with scissors and I was able to pick up clasps, so all's well that ends well. Everyone had a great time and they all personalized their designs, which made me really happy. I love to see people take an idea and make it their own.

It was a lot of driving and I was feeling a little under the weather...today I'm not 100%...and MY ARM still hurts from the incident with the grumpy phlebotomist. What the h-e-double hockey sticks did she do to me?! My gut reaction is to go toss a rubber biscuit at her head, but my mature side feels a formal complaint is a better pathway to resolution. Though the rubber biscuit would be far more satisfying.

I'll be here tomorrow with a new free Teen Craft project for iLoveToCreate and then I'm off to New Mexico to shoot my PBS segments. Until next time...craft on with your bad selves!

xoxo
Madge

TastyLinks Saturday!

I'm heading to New Jersey to teach a mixed media jewelry class tomorrow at Suze Weinberg's studio. This is the project which I've shared here before. It's a recycled fashion magazine necklace with sealed paper charms layered with inks and paints. You can use any sort of paper that catches your eye and you can of course make this in a smaller scale if you prefer or use different shapes. I've been obsessed with paper jewelry for several years now and I imagine that obsession will continue!

Here are your weekly crafty links. I'm sad to report that the aforementioned grumpy phlebotomist actually injured my arm with the rubber tie, I don't know what the heck she did but it still burns. I'm officially registering a complaint. I don't allow people to abuse me. Period. So there.

Enough about that for now, I'll be back next week with more fun filled ideas! Until then...craft on with your bad selves.

This week's When Creativity Knocks video is all about the Houston Museum Holocaust Butterfly Project, which I've mentioned here before. Go check it out!

Vickie Howell-Craft.Rock.Love Make cool, graphic wall art using Ed Roth's Stencil Decor kit and a little imagination!

The Artful Crafter Eileen shares directions for some lovely polymer clay Thanksgiving napkin rings. You have a choice of one embellished with a cute clay turkey or a more formal looking ring stamped with a fall motif.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery How to make a Sweater Surgery Light up Christmas tree inspired by The Lampshade Lady's Guide to Lighting Up Your Life

Mixed Media Artist Would you ever do an art show where you knew you wouldn’t sell anything?

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style How did you get introduced to your hobby? Linda shares the story on how she learned to quilt and where those skills have gotten her.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy reviews a new book full of unique and earth-friendly ways to wrap your gifts this holiday season using scarves.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Over on the Craftside blog there are how-to ideas for casting and making a silver metal clay wing necklace and a recycled wool sweater Christmas needle book. There’s an Mail Art Call Out to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, tips for making a vintage rosary style necklace and a little Jimi Hendrix thrown in.

Cathie Filian Cathie shows you how to make a kids felt book. The book are perfect for airplane trips, car rides and rainy days. They make great gifts!

Aileen's Musings Aileen's on a mission to win a trip to NYC and to see the Martha Stewart show! Check out her under $20.00 Christmas project on Michael's craft site and rate it to help her win!

About.com Cross Stitch Connie's added a new pattern collection - Four Ways to Say Peace. These designs will make great holiday ornaments.

About Family Crafts Come play along with this Make-It-Over craft challenge! What can you make out of candy? This is a great way to use up any left over Halloween candy.

The Impatient Crafter Madge makes a festive Patchwork Paper decoupaged letter for your teen's bedroom door in this week's post for iLoveToCreate

The Grumpy Phlebotomist and The Creative Living Contest Winner!

(IMAGE COPYRIGHT MARGOT POTTER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!)

I've been moving into a new category at QVC. It makes sense since I'm a crafty gal to be selling novelties and toys, so it's a good fit. Plus I'm a big kid at heart and now that my kid is getting bigger, I'll still have an excuse to have toys around. And yes, I still get as excited about them as I did when I was five. Tee hee.

I had to get up at 4am to get ready to go on air this morning with an adorable set of three Disney Themed storybook pillows and I just got back home after stopping for some blood tests on the way home. This is the second time I've met up with a grumpy phlebotomist. Though I understand that it stinks to be overworked, underpaid and understaffed...I'm just a gal who hates needles and has to get this dang test done for my doctor. I don't really want to hear about how much your job sucks the entire time I'm giving you my blood and I really don't want to be jabbed extra hard with a huge needle merely because you're disgruntled. Is it just me?

Aren't you all glad I've blathered on about how much my blood tests sucked? Just be glad I don't have a needle...I'm just sayin'...

I promised to announce the winner of the Totally Creative subscription! Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati...email me and I'll connect you with the folks from the e-zine! Congratulations!

So after no sleep and the aforementioned evil needle jabbing...this little piggy is taking a well earned nap. Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

Enchanted Adornments

This is a design I created upon request for artist Cynthia Thornton's exquisite new mixed media book Enchanted Adornments. This book is packed with techniques, ideas and absolutely stunning jewelry pieces. I was honored to be invited to create a piece for the gallery. This design uses some of my favorite Green Girl Studios coins, a netsuke mermaid, an antique chinese coin, a tiny glass vial with Art Glitter Institute glitter, Beadalon polyester chain, Thai hill tribe gold plated pendants and CRYSTALLIZED-Swarovski Elements in ocean themed colors all suspended from a lovely antique brass hammered chain. I added little wire mesh elements to mimic seaweed. The story is that this mermaid has collected a little treasure trove of items from the ocean floor she finds intriguing. I had the pendant for several years in my stash and was really happy to find a home for it.

If you love fantasy and magic, you'll love this book. If you love narrative design, you'll love this book. If you're looking for new tricks for your mixed media skill set, you'll love this book. It's beautiful, engaging and thoughtfully written. Cynthia's delightful illustrations are scattered throughout the pages of the book along with her extraordinary designs, a fairy tale and lots of great tips for the mixed media artist. Metal clay, polymer clay, mold making...there's so much here to explore.

I believe there is a palpable magic in the power of creativity and the Thornton clan seems to be particularly in tune with it. I highly, highly recommend this book for every jewelry designer's library. It truly is enchanting.

iLoveToCreate Teen Room Decor: Patchwork Paper Wall Letters

iLoveToCreate Teen Room Décor
Mixed Media Patchwork Paper Wall Letters
Margot Potter Teen Crafts
“Mom crafted, teen approved.”

Teens love to personalize their rooms and this is a fun and easy way to do that in a flash. You can make an entire word to fill a wall or just an initial like I’ve done here for a door. I really fell for these retro themed papers, but you can use any papers you like including recycled scrap stash papers, wrapping paper and magazine pages. You don’t have to save this idea just for your teen’s room; these would be adorable anywhere in your home. I love the idea of seasonally themed words done in this patchwork style. Avalon squealed when she saw this, so I'm pretty sure it’s a winner!
MaterialsWood letter or letters
K&Company Carolyn Gavin Scrapbook paper (or other paper of your choice)
Liquid Fusion Glue
Traci Bautista’s Collage Pauge medium in matte finish
Vintage or new coordinating button
Tulip clear crystal to fit inside of button
Wired tinsel
ToolsPaint brush
Scissors
Exacto knife
Pencil


1. Select your papers. Place your letter on the paper, hold it down firmly, trace and cut with your Exacto knife. (If there’s a little overlap you can trim it later.)

2. Cut the accent papers (I made a small border with a coordinating paper and cut out a coordinating paper flower.)


3. Adhere the papers using an even coat of decoupage medium and paint a coat of medium on top. I love using a brush because it gives you texture, but you can opt for a foam brush if you prefer. If you get bubbles, wet your fingers and gently work them out. (Don’t fret, they will deflate when the medium dries. I promise!) Allow medium to dry.
4. Paint a second coat of decoupage medium over surface and allow to dry.

5. Run a thick bead of Liquid Fusion along the edge of the letter and above your borders and adhere the tinsel wire. IMPORTANT: Do not smash the wire into the glue or it will flatten and lose its dimension and sparkle. Just gently lay it into the glue bead. For the longer pieces you can place something small (like small glue bottles) on each end and the center until they’ve tacked into place and then remove them and allow the tinsel to dry overnight. This is kind of like using hot glue without worrying about the heat melting the tinsel or burning your fingers.

6. Attach a button to the center of your flower using Liquid Fusion. Attach a Tulip crystal to the center of the button with Liquid Fusion. Allow to dry.

Short and Sweet

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date...

The fab folks from The Beadin' Path just sent me a YUMMY stash of autumnally appropos lucite beads. If you've not seen their stash of vintage beads, you simply must go look! I'm absolutely mad for the frosted lucite leaves and I'm scheming up some cool designs that I hope to share with you soon.

I've been a busy, busy gal here lately and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. So today's post is short, sweet and mostly to the point. I'll be back tomorrow with a brand new free teen craft project for iLoveToCreate...until then...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

Sunday TastyLinks and our retooled Crafty Cabaret Cruise!

Yet another week has flown by and suddenly Christmas is approaching at a frightening pace! Where does the time go? I simpy do not know!

Because many of you asked, we've retooled the Crafty Cabaret Cruise! It's shorter and less expensive but still jam packed with crafty goodness! Please join Brini Maxwell and me for a fun filled festive cruise to the Bahamas with a Crafty Cabaret stage show, crafty classes, a 24 hour craft room, cocktail parties and tons of fabulous prizes and swag! Check it out!

The fine folks from When Creativity Knocks have a new video for your edification and entertainment they shot at Maker Faire! This week they're sharing some adorable paper crafter Robots!

Here's what the cool kids from the crafty blogger gang have dished up this week:

About Family Crafts Sign up for Sherri's 12 Days of Christmas... Crafts email newsletter and you will receive a variety of Christmas related craft ideas delivered top your email box every day for 12 days - everything from advent calendars to Santa Claus crafts!

Cathie Filian It is apple craft time! Cathie is stamping up napkins and a simple apron. She also has a delicious recipe for apple crisp.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Over at Craftside there is a free Japanese wave print and a how-to make pocket ATC with it, Latte Art, a sneak peek into Pam Sussman's studio from Lynne Perrella's new book, a call for entries for a cake decorating book, and good questions to ask yourself to help for a business/design plan.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy is super busy and "somethings gotta give!"

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Two very different quilts from the same pattern and Linda shares the story of them both along with a story on getting one of the quilts published in McCall's Quick Quilts.

Mixed Media Artist Have you ever wanted to learn how to weave? Cyndi's got a book giveaway going on that could help you out!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Two fun necklace designs featuring charms made with a Faux Scrimshaw polymer clay technique from the book Enchanted Adornments by Cynthia Thornton

The Artful Crafter Make some sweet, goofy, felt and feather Tom Turkey Place Card holders for your Thanksgiving table.

The Impatient Crafter Madge shares a sneak peek of the ad campaign she shot with her lovely daughter AND the instructions to the Cupcake Glitter Shirt Avalon is wearing in the ad in this post for iLoveToCreate!

Totally Creative Magazine Review

Editor Patti J. Ryan emailed me recently with a sneak peek of a new online e-zine created by some of the top designers in the craft industry. Totally Creative e-zine is published six times a year sans paper and if you're crafty and eco-minded that's a very good thing. It's chock full of great ideas to kick start your creativity.

I particularly loved the article on studio organization written by designer Madeline Faiella. I think every crafter who dabbles in various mediums eventually reaches studio overload. It can be totally daunting trying to figure out how to effectively store you stash.

The magazine had articles, project ideas, tutorials and plenty of full color pictures to illustrate each project. There was a full variety of techniques and mediums explored. The roster of designers is impressive and with fourteen of them there was plenty of variety in style and aesthetic. Lots of food for crafty thought to digest here. I really appreciated the little extras like Designer Variations and Designer Tips (I always try to include these in my projects and books.)

If you're looking for a little inspiration, check out Totally Creative e-zine! Leave a comment here to toss your name in the hat to receive a free one year subscription! I'll announce the winner here next Thursday.

I'll be appearing on QVC tomorrow at noon, so I won't be back until Saturday. Until then...craft on with your bad self!

Cheers,
Madge

Creative Living on PBS

Pretty in Pink Mixed Media Frame Copyright 2009 Margot Potter
Lazy Daisy Mixed Media Bib Necklace Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

I’m heading to New Mexico in two weeks to tape three segments on the PBS show Creative Living with Sheryl Borden. I’ll be sharing tutorials for a pair of wire wrapped earrings, a mixed media necklace and a mixed media frame. The frame I used cost a dollar! There’s a sneaky peeky of two of the projects above.

It could be up to 18 months before these segments go live...so I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve got some other video appearances that should be going viral in the near future and I’ll share them as they do.

I've got the first round of edits to do on my new book Bead Chic so I must away, but tune in tomorrow for more crafty goodness here at The Impatient Crafter™. Oh and I'll be on QVC this Friday on Q-Check in the noon EST hour with a very cool set of 5 mini flashlights from Stanley...check it out!

Cheers,
Madge

iLoveToCreate Glitter Cupcake T-Shirt

iLoveToCreate Glitter Cupcake T-Shirt
Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter™ Teen Craft
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”

My mission was to make two coordinating fashion items using Tulip Fashion Glitter and Stencils for a print ad going into teencentric magazines. I took the resident teen to the craft store. Avalon loves muffins and cupcakes, so when she saw this cupcake stencil she simply had to have it. We decided on black long sleeve t-shirts and did a black, pink and silver look. I love the way the cupcakes pop against the dark background. Tulip has a huge array of fun stick on stencils from which you can select the one that suits your style. Here’s how to make the cupcake shirt! (Mine is a simple variation on the theme with two flame heart stencils.)

Bad Shirt Prototype One: Circus Clown Chic!
Bad Shirt Prototype Two: So many colors, so many wrinkles, so little style!

Before I got to the ‘Mom’s shirt is going to be black and match’ final version, I thought maybe Mom’s shirt should be white and contrast the black. Alas these two incredibly horrid 80s inspired t-shirts above were the result of said bad idea, I think I can save one of them but I’m not quite sure yet. E...gads. I managed to mess up the first version of the black shirt with an unfortunate glue globbing incident just as I was dabbing on the last bit of glitter, sigh. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and realize that design is a process and even good designers sometimes go horribly, horribly wrong.

Materials
Black long sleeved t-shirt
Tulip Cupcake sticky fabric stencil
Tulip Fashion Glitter Bond with applicator sponge
Tulip Fashion Glitter Silver
Tulip Fashion Glitter Black
Tulip Fashion Glitter Pink
Tulip 3D Fashion Slick Paint Poppin’ Purple
Tulip 3D Fashion Glitter Paint Ruby
Tulip 3D Fashion Pearl Paint Peppermint

Tools
Sea sponge or bubble wrap
Tulip Fashion Form

1. Pre-wash your shirt to remove sizing. Put shirt on cardboard shirt form and pin arms
together in the back.
2. Use a sea sponge or some bubble wrap to dab layers of paint on the left side of the shirt. Use one color at a time building up the layers. The paint will look much brighter when wet, allow to dry.
3. Decide where you want to put your images. We selected three cupcakes moving down the left side of the shirt. Adhere your stencil to top area (the stencil has a sticky back so just place it where you want it and smooth it down.)
4. Use sponge to apply adhesive to open areas on the stencil. Take care not to get glue on outer edges of stencil.
5. Generously sprinkle glitter on areas you wish to glitter spreading it out to fill area with your fingers. Allow to set for several minutes before dumping off excess.
6. Clean your stencil and dry and repeat two more times.
7. Allow shirt to dry overnight and shake off any excess glitter.
8. You can use a lint removal brush to remove any stray glitter after the shirt has dried.

Our Ad for iLoveToCreate!

My lovely daughter and I were invited to be in a new ad campaign for iLoveToCreate! As you know, I post weekly teen craft ideas here and Avalon helps keep me from veering off into 'not cool' territory. Isn't this fabulous?! They did an amazing job! Avalon is most definitely a 'fashionista in training' but I'm not quite sure I qualify as a 'mature style maven.' Am I that old already? Good GOD I hope not! I like to think of myself as having an eternally childlike sense of wonder and style. Galdangy that's my story and I am sticking to it. Though this 'soccer mom' hair definitely needs some funkification and I'm going to have to get my gal on that stat!

This fabulous ad will be appearing in the teen mags like Tiger Beat and Bop this coming January 2010. We're super excited and absolutely love how this picture turned out. Tomorrow...I'll share a 'how to' on the shirts and also a 'what not to craft.' I blew out three shirts before I got to one I could wear in public!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new Teen Craft post for iLoveToCreate! Until then...craft on with your bad selves!

xoxo
Madge