Final Class Gorgeousness

Our innaugural class could not have been more fun and fulfilling.  What an amazing group of creative women!  Thank you, guinea pigs!  Below are some of their fabulous creations, and stay tuned for the posting of the fall schedule.  It will feature some of the same projects, some brand new, and a multi-session class as well as several single-project classes.  We can't wait!

funky coasters made from a totally cool, really old book

Tom was not losing hope!

Action shot!  Wendy was so committed, she crafted with just one arm.

Gorgeous photo window

cool coasters using photos and stamps

beautiful coasters using decoupage paper

all crafts all the time

Class 3 was a crazy riot of craft projects!  We threw it all down in one crazy multi-project class:  decoupaged clothespins; coasters made from leftover bathroom tiles; four over four pane windows made into bulletin boards, photo frames, decorative fabric frames and chalkboards; and napkin rings from vintage fabric and buttons.  This is what it all looked like:

A chalkboard window faceoff.  Both Lisa and Mary decided to paint the inside wood frame a different color than the outside for a cool contrast.

Here's Mary's finished window - the lilac on the inside really makes the chalkboard windows pop, and sets the frame color off beautifully.

And then there were coasters.  Sarena went into coaster overdrive, first covering the coaster in decoupage paper and then layering pages of an old cool book over the paper:

More clothespins.  Always more clothesins.  Love the clothespins.

And Heidi, our resident speed crafter, whips through some gorgeous napkin rings...  

... and some coasters

And Wendy completes her gorgeous fabric window.  What a perfect selection of fabrics - they look as though they all came from the same fabric mama:

It's hard to believe next week is the final class.  We had a blast and are looking forward to putting together a fall schedule of classes.

chalkboard calendar from salvage window

I am on crafting fire.  I just finished the chalkboard calendar made from one of the salvaged four over four pane windows. 

It's a demo for class, so I did the stenciling in a variety of different ways.  I was concerned that stenciling directly on the pane wouldn't leave enough room to write on the pane, so first I abbreviated the day on the pane (see above), and then I stenciled on the frame below the pane:

If you look closely, you can see where the paint peeled away in the corners, a result of not removing the painter's tape in between coatings.  In order to make the window opaque, it took 5 layers of chalkboard paint, more than I expected. 

I was going to leave the frame unfinished wood, but then decided to lightly brush periwinkle blue paint over it, sanding after it dried to create an aged look. 

Finally, I affixed the Scrabble tile board to the lower left hand corner which provides a fun and convenient place to hold the chalk.  We also are thinking about using cute handmade burlap bags as well as short Ball jars to hold the chalk. 

Yay!