Thursday, February 7, 2013

Crafty Sisters Chevron Heart Flower Garden Stakes

Hello it's Candace and Nicole from Crafty Sisters! It is good to be back!  
We missed working with the WYLTC ladies, but sometimes life can get so crazy and busy. 
We were excited with chevron as this month's theme so we decided to combine chevron with hearts in honor of Valentine's Day and made Heart Flower Garden Stakes! 
Creating intricate chevron patterns with tape and paint is a little tricky...so we decided to stick with cute patterns of paper and Mod Podge instead.  There are SO many choices of chevron paper in the scrapbook section.  It was almost everywhere we turned!

The paper we used comes from American Crafts ( Funny Valentine) and last year's Basic Grey (Better Half). 
The heart flowers fit perfectly in empty pots waiting eagerly for Spring to come!

The flowers are so simple to make and are a great beginning project for those learning how to use a scroll saw or a jig saw.  First we found a heart shape that we liked. A large heart (about 7 inches) for the flower and a small heart (about 3 inches) for the stem. You can make these any size you want based on your needs. We traced the heart onto wood and cut with a scroll saw.

Supplies:
1 inch Pine Wood
1/2" wood dowels
Heavy Wire (fencing wire works great and you can get a roll for under $5)
Craft Acrylic Paint
Paper & Mod Podge
Glue

On each large heart, we cut a straight edge at the bottom where we later drilled a hole and inserted the dowel. We also drilled a small hole at the bottom to fit the wire in each small heart leaf.  Next, we painted the hearts, dowel and wire. After painting we Mod Podged scrapbook paper to each wood heart. Finally, we glued the hearts to the dowels, and twisted the wire around each dowel to create leaves. 

Our hearts are under a covered porch and should hold up with a coat of Mod Podge over the top and edges of the paper. We suggest using paint instead of paper and a sealer if they are exposed to wet weather. 
                 
Super simple!  We love the whimsy they add to the front porch.  There's nothing like some pink to brighten up the cold month of February! Thanks again ladies for the fun theme and for the "push" to get up and create something! Make sure to tune in for next month!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Craft Goodies--Frames with a Dash of Chevron...

Hello to you all!
{Sorry for the late start of this post, I had to remember how to do it}
Now that I think I have it figured out let me start by saying it's GREAT to be back!
It's Wendy here today, and I can't think of a better place to be...
 
When Melinda shared her idea for a theme with us I knew exactly what I wanted to do:
Pinned Image
(card image from catchmyparty.com)
 
 I had pinned this back in December while trying to find the "perfect" Christmas card with the idea of making it into a large wall frame.
I have to say, this is on my top 5 WYLTC projects, want to see?
 

It went together pretty simply with stuff I had here at the house and a quick trip to the dollar store.
 
The dollar store provided the 11x14 inch frame and foam-core board for the backing.
The wood planks were given to me from my in-laws--they are building a new house and these strips were in between the cedar logs they are using on the house face. I used the foam core for support because they are so thin and flexible.
And last, the pieces with the chevron pattern are cut to size 1/4 inch MDF.
 
 
1. The planks measure 5 1/2 inches wide--the same as a fence board, which is what I would have used if I didn't have the other. I sanded, stained and then did a black wash over each board before gluing them down to the foam board.
2. The picture frame is an 11x14 that opens from the front, so I just glued it into place too. The glass pops out if and when I want to change out the pictures--super easy and only $1!
3. These pieces are 1/4 MDF cut to 7 inches by 7 3/4 inches. I taped off the pattern and then painted, sanded, added the same black wash, and then glued them into place as well.
 
I like it so much, I actually made two! It's just enough pattern and color to not overwhelm your eyes and brain, and accents the color of my craft room so nicely.
 
 
Thanks Melinda for getting this one off of the "to-do" list and on to the wall.
Happy crafting to you all-
 


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Chevron "Love"- Sassy Sanctuary

Hello!  It is so good to be back!  Sorry for the crickets over here.   Sometimes life gets in the way but I think I can speak for all the WYLTC ladies in saying that we are so happy to be back!

Isn't Melinda's chevron sign adorable?  Love it.  When I was given the assignment to make something chevron I went to good old Pinterest to see if there was anything on my project "to-do" list that I could interpret with a chevron twist.  I been wanting to make a love sign like this for above my bed, and with Valentines just around the corner it seemed perfect!

(I can't source this image... I appears that it was from an Etsy shop that is no longer in Biz. Although there are many Etsy shops with similar signs if you are looking for something similar.)


Here is how mine turned out with its chevron spin...


And I "love" it!  hehe

The Chevron pattern is fairly subtle (but not so much as the pictures make it out to be.)  But it really adds a fun texture to the peice and is a great addition to my bedroom.


(Sorry for the funky lighting.  The morning sun was shinning in.)

Here is a better representation of the color and pattern.


It was really simple to make.

I just got a big old peice of wood and drew on my word.


Cut it out with a jig saw.  Broke the "L" in half on my last cut and had to glue it back together.  Sigh...


Painted some chevron pattern in black.


About gave my husband a heart attack because it is so busy it makes you go cross-eyed.  Assured him I wasn't done and to trust me. 

Then covered the whole thing with dark brown stain.


I think I'm going to actually put a high gloss finish coat on it, but until I get around to it I'm happy.


Thanks for reading!


Monday, February 4, 2013

Chevron Heart from Under My Umbrella

Hey crafty ladies.  We're back!  We all needed a little break to spend time with our families over the holidays and to finish up various projects.  It's good to be back!  I emailed the ladies of  Wood You Like to Craft with an assignment of doing something with the chevron pattern.  The possibilities are endless.  It's everywhere from clothes, rugs, curtains to even fingernails.  Chevron and wood seem like a perfect fit and  I've been wanting to play around with this pattern for a while so I'm thrilled to share what I came up with everyone.




Whatcha think?  It's perfectly me!  As usual, couldn't find my camera and I'm using my cell phone. I was hoping for a little sun to help out but no such luck :)  Here's how I did it.  I grabbed some wood from my garage that has been sitting there just waiting for me to use it.



 I traced a heart in the middle of the pieces of wood.  Then I googled to find a free chevron pattern.  I found a great one over at billie monster's blog.  I printed it off and enlarged it on my copier. Then with a pen I traced the pattern on the wood.  At first I thought I wanted tight smaller pattern and then changed my mind.  It happens all the time!  I then used my scroll saw to cut the heart out.


I grabbed yellow paint and hand painted my chevron pattern onto my wood.  Super easy!


Before I started this project I knew I wanted my project to have that reclaimed wood look and the wood I had was brand spanking new.  This next step is kinda funny but I set my wood outside on my back porch and  let the rain do it's stuff.  I live in Washington state so there is no shortage of rain!  I only wish I had a little more time for it to sit out there and "reclaim" itself.  My mom recently moved in with our family and actually thought one of the kids put my project out there and brought it back in.  Hahaha!  It gave me a good laugh.  After some rain treatment I brought my wood back inside and let it dry  (once piece is taking forever to dry.  That's why it looks a different color).



Glue it together with Gorilla Glue.  Let it dry.  I have this great frame that has just been waiting for me to use it.  I framed using the Gorilla glue.  I'm a fan of simple, easy but cute projects.




I'm super excited to see the fun stuff the WYLTC ladies come up with.  Stay tuned for the next three days to see three different chevron projects!