FABRIC and BUTTONS….BLOG HOP!
HOW VERY COOL...the designers from the design team at Buttons Galore and More have used my fabrics from General Fabrics (PIRATE ISLAND and ONCE UPON A FAIRYTALE) and custom dyed buttons from Buttons Galore to match in creating fabulous projects!
If you are new to blog hops, here's how it works! A blog hop is a bunch of blogs sharing a theme. The blog “host” shares the links to other blogs on their page, along with the Blog Hop rules. As the viewer, you hop around like a bunny rabbit from blog to blog checking out the projects!
Rule to this hop – Visit each blog, leave a comment if you want. Come back here to the main blog. Leave a comment on this post saying what is your favorite project and if you would want the BOY prize or the GIRL prize. It is that simple. The HOP ends on Wednesday, April 11th at 8 am so get going.
Here are a few of the projects:
The designers and blogs that are participating in this hop are:
Laura Bray www.katydiddys.blogspot.co
Cristal - www.blueyecicle.blogspot.c
Keri Lee - www.pinklemonade.typepad.com
Laura E - www.lauraevangeline.blogspot.com
Niki- www.nikimeiners.wordpress.com
Jen- http://www.100directions.com
Allie -http://welltrainedpaper.blogspot.com/
Ann - http://www.creativitystirsthesoul.com/
Elise - http://mamacowcreations.blogspot.com/
SO, check it out. The projects are outstanding and amazing and awesome and fun AN YOU CAN WIN A PRIZE for participating!!!
HAPPY HOPPING,
Laura
Fun in the Filming Studio
What can I say, I love Kirk and Jeff at MVP in downtown Cedar Rapids. Being on set under bright lights feeling pressure has never been so fun. Today was GREAT!
First we rearranged the set and got things ready.
Then added the details that make it special...and the supplies and materials for the day's projects including Sharpie markers, Westcott scissors and the new kid of paint I really like, Americana by DecoArt!
Then Kirk messed around with the lights and the sounds to get it "just right"!
I filmed lots of great new episodes for expressionery, creating some super fun projects. I wish I could share them with you but you will have to wait until editing is completed and they launch to find out what they are. They are worth the wait. HINT...save your old note cards and memo pads. Super Hint, order something with the Paper Faces!
Meet the guys...Kirk is the filming dude and Jeff is the producer. He looks like a producer, don't you think? They are both so much fun to work with. I feel LUCKY!
I can share this...a before and after! I LOVE SHARPIES! That's all I have to say about that for right now! I think that a great big wall of white paper and a handful of Sharpie markers is like being reborn...an entire blank canvas to create your dreams. That is what I did! When this giant doodle grows into its destiny, I will write about the elements in it...can't wait.
BEFORE
AFTER
DOODLED WORLD OF EXPRESSION
And after that it was time to head out for the weekend and spring break!!! I left my pink boots in the studio where they live...until next time!
Have a great weekend!!!
Cheers,
Laura
Shiny Egg of Tinfoil
Now this was a fun one...turning a ball of tinfoil into something bright and fun for Easter.
I think my little pink chickie is adorable in my beautiful daffodils that I got from my friend Suzanne!
And now, how you can do it yourself... I took a piece of tinfoil and shaped into an egg.
Then I dipped it into Mod Podge and rolled it in little pieces of pink tissue. To seal it all up and cover the entire surface, I used a brush to apply Mod Podge.
I also covered a surface of parchment paper with the same pink tissue paper to use for the chick's wings.
I left it alone for a few hours so it could dry thoroughly then cut wings out of the dried parchment paper pink tissue with my Westcott scissors.
I then dug through my collection of buttons from Buttons Galore to find yellow ones to stack into legs and pink ones to use for polkadots. I attached them with a hot glue gun and am happy to say that I did not burn my fingers this time around.
I cut a beak out of yellow grosgrain ribbon shaped like a diamond then folded it in half and glued it to the chick. I also cut a short piece of pink and glued it on as a hanger.
And then last but not least, I used my favoritest permanent marker of all times, SHARPIE medium tip, and doodled on eyes.
Ta Da...a pink polkadotted chick!
Happy Getting Ready For Spring and Easter!
Laura
SHOP LAURA KELLY DOT COM LAUNCHED!
I have spent many years doodling and designing....and dreaming of a magical website where people could take my work and create their own products!
This mouse pad was created for Lisa, my fun friend who teaches elementary school on just that. At long last after fifteen years, that dream is a reality and I am overwhelmed with delight every time I think about it. The neatest part about this website is the amount of love, support and teamwork it has taken to create it. I am so appreciative of my awesome first husband and my two sons for their patience and support all of the years that it took to create the designs and build my customer base!
And speaking of customer base, a big round of applause for my number one fan...Veronica White! This is what she has to say about all of this jazz. "Custom isn't the word that I would use, it's much more personal than that. Working with Laura every year to create our family Christmas cards is a way to capture that space and time in our lives as a family. They are portraits of who we are. We look back at them year after year and smile. As a result she has become a part of our family. The process of creating them is always easy, fun, creative and never disappointing. She works with me to ensure that I am always happy with the final product. And it is with great pleasure that I recommend and highly encourage using Laura for any size custom job." The fun thing is that now everyone can create and they don't have to wait for me to do it. They can do it at shoplaurakelly.
I am thankful for the failed attempts of the first three web development companies that made promises they couldn't follow through with which led me to Overcoffee and in that process took me down a new path in my life journey.
Here are a few of the products that were created on the website for friends and family.
The personalized placemat was made for Jordan, one of the princesses in our family.
The note cards and memo pad were created using the new Me and My Peeps characters. You can create your family including skin tones, hair and clothes colors and hobbies. A big shout out to Ryp and Dan at Overcoffee for their programming expertise!
And how fun is this...a puzzle with your custom family! You can get playing cards too.
The flat notes are great for quick correspondence. These were created for Christine, my soon-to-be sister in law!
And of course the fantastic luggage tags...made of a hard plastic! I am not so sure my 13 year old is going to really use this design. I think it is cute. He thinks it is for boys much younger than he. LOL.
I would also like to acknowledge my cousin Priscilla who was shoplaurakelly's first online customer...ordering massive amounts of Me and My Peeps products for family...mugs, blankets, aprons, playing cards and more! Check out these fun photographs from the gift exchange.
So, if you have a few minutes, check out the new site. If you love the way it is bright, cheery, crisp and fun, you can join me in being thankful for Andy...the creative genius at Overcoffee who does that piece.
Signing off with much gratitude on this lucky St. Patrick's Day!
Laura
Upcycled Wine Box Crates
I picked up some wine box crates at our local wine store, Barley and Vine, for $5 each and brought them home to make something fun with.
I decided to redo a corner in our family room where I like to keep some of my "Favorites" so I cleared off the crowded black antique repainted desk of its clutter.
stacked the crates and reorganized lots of my most loved thing.
I LOVE IT! It was easy and fun.
And now a little about me...
I love to read! My favorite book of all times is REBECCA by Daphne DuMarier. I have bunches of copies. This is my favorite OLD copy. Sometimes I open it just to smell the pages.
I totally enjoy watching movies over and over again...sometimes just to hear the story while I am busy doodling with my Sharpie Markers!
I love mysterious ways of looking at our world including trying to read rune stones...which I keep in a special little heart box.
I love creative ways of putting words to feelings about life and the journey and I am on...
and I love WORDS...especially ones that remind me that it is okay to just "BE". The tree is my prized possession from Lori Todd for senioring NC 42, a fabulous leadership team and the books in this crate are some of my journals filled with words and pictures.
The pictures are of my favorite people in the world...my two sons and almost stepdaughters, my niece and nephews and of course my Ryp and ME. Yes, I am one of my favorite people. I am glad that I finally okay with that!
I bet you have a wine store near you that has leftover box crates waiting for you to come in. I say GO FOR IT!
Happy Creating and Upcycling and Loving (thing that are special starting with yourself!)
Laura
A Little Bit Of Fabric Goes A LONNNNG Way!
I decided to use the fabric that General Fabrics sent when it arrived in their warehouse but was faced with a challenge, I can't sew. I think I did a pretty good job. Now I just need Lisa Levey to whip me up some curtains and pillows with the rest of the fabric. I will write no more and let the pictures do the talking.
Happy Creating,
L
Ahoy Matey – Welcome To Pirate Island
I had so much fun designing the collection titled Pirate Island and now that the fabric has hit the marketplace I wanted to share a little.
I often get asked, how do you do your designing? Is it on a computer? Here is the answer...
I draw my designs first with my all time favorite medium tipped black Sharpie marker. After I finish drawing all of the elements needed to complete a collection (icons, background images, borders, etc.), I scan them and send them off to my graphic design team to prepare for layout. They do a fantastic job of making sure the lines stay smooth and crisp. Nope, I am not a graphic designer!!! I direct the collection by sketching out how I would like things to look and where they should be places. Sometimes I do part of the designing myself in my very old Corel Draw for them to use as a template of sorts.
Once the collection is complete, it gets printed for my portfolio and uploaded to the top secret part of my website for licensees to see and determine how and if they can use it on products they manufacture.
I know, cool, right?
The Pirate Island collection currently being sold on fabric from General Fabrics at Hancock Fabric (in stores and online) in both apparel cotton and polar fleece. To buy this fabric online, visit Hancock Fabrics.
The matching buttons are made by Buttons Galore and More which help complete fun projects like the bulletin board I made for my son's room.
You can also buy custom products like this luggage tag on www.shoplaurakelly.com! Check it out. You can create lots of great personalized things there with my designs. FUN!!!
Visit the website if you want to order your own personalized products at SHOPLAURAKELLY
And now just for fun...a few pirate puzzles. You can download these as PDFs on the website too!
Ahoy mateys...have a great day!
L
Mixed Messages and Mixed Media
I have been thinking a lot today while painting and Mod Podging a mixed media canvas work of wonder and art (which is not done yet but looking good so far). At one point found myself waking up from a far away place in those thoughts. That happens sometimes when the creative part of my mind takes over! I was pondering the many mixed messages that surround us, especially the one that I used earlier in the day. I was in a conversation with Ryp and it didn't go the way I wanted it to go, my way that is. Instead of being honest and loving, I found myself frustrated and pretty icky. We went back and forth with thoughts and worked through things but I was in tears and sort of worn out from the drama of what could have been a simple discussion. He wanted to talk it through how we could have handled it all better and I said, "Go away." He respected my words and he did. I didn't say what I really wanted to say.
Luckily, he is very connected and loves me. He circled around the downstairs and met me back in my studio and hugged me. I am glad he knows me. I am thankful for him and probably should tell him. I just wonder how many people I send mixed messages to that might not hear me through my reactions. I plan to slow down and be more careful about what I say.
I am thankful for my paints, my Sharpie markers, my colored pencils, for forgiveness and for LOVE too. Together they create a great place to learn and grow.
Here is a blank one for you to print and fill out! It made me feel better. Maybe you can use it one day.
Peace,
Laura
PS: I am thankful for my friend, DeeAnne, who used to have John Mayer's song "Say What You Mean To Say" on her cell phone message a while back. Every time I hear that song I think about her and how lucky I am to have her for a friend and the messages she sends me through her actions and choices.
LOVE JOURNAL – Spread the LOVE
If you are looking for a great idea this Valentines Day...how about making journals out of composition books or notebooks??? You can decorate the covers with fun papers, photographs, ribbons and OF COURSE, buttons too. I used Mod Podge to adhere the papers and tacky glue for the buttons.
On the first page, write a love letter to your true love (if that is who the journal is going to) or a message to your bestest friend, your child or whoever you are making it for.
Here are a few ideas for a LOVE JOURNAL:
Spread your love around! The love in your heart wasn't put there to stay...love isn't love until you give it away.
XOXOXO,
Laura
Twas the night before the show opened…
Craft Paint Craft Sew Craft Buttons Craft Mod Podge Craft Wood Craft Glue Craft Craft Craft!!!
What a busy couple of days it has been...getting projects completed, things packed up and everything safely across the country to California! The Craft and Hobby Association's winter show starts tomorrow and the Anaheim convention center is buzzing with CREATIVE energy. It is that magical time when the companies that make the fabulous craft products out on the marketplace come together with the buyers for the stores who carry them AND the designers who use them to make things.
If you are attending the show, be sure to stop by the License and Design section of the show and say hello to my art friends. If you are feeling crafty, come visit me at Buttons Galore where I will be demonstrating these fun project creations.
It is going to be a great next few days! I will take lots of pictures and share whatever fantastic things happen!
Cheers from sunny California,
Laura
Recent Posts
- FABRIC and BUTTONS….BLOG HOP!
- Fun in the Filming Studio
- Shiny Egg of Tinfoil
- SHOP LAURA KELLY DOT COM LAUNCHED!
- Upcycled Wine Box Crates
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