Cartwheels In My Mind

Pendant Lamp Makeover

Question: Do you ever have like a GAZILLION things you want to create {or recreate} but somehow never follow through with what you know is going to be an AMAZING craft??? I know, me too. And do you have a corner of your house that's dedicated to the supplies you buy for this particular craft? YEAH?!? WOW. Me too!  Great minds must think alike! 

So, the other day {and by other day i mean other month(s)} I found this AMAZING makeover craft {from here } and I immediately knew it would be perfect for my guest room. It's a paper lantern that's been pretty'ized. You see, over here in foggy England town they don't believe in incandescent lighting. In fact, they're banned. This has something to do with saving energy costs or something like that. Look, I'm all for saving energy but when it comes to my ENTIRE house being illuminated by a light that burns my eyes somethings gotta give. So, when I came across this nifty craft I knew that this would help with the fluorescentness that burns the room. I WAS RIGHT! Now my guests wont regret turning the light switch on. :D

Wanna see it?

Cute right? I LOVE IT! Wanna see it from the bottom? 

Now, I'm sure you want the steps for it... don't you? Mhmm. That's what I thought. Okie dokie. Here you go:

  

 

That's it! This project is super duper easy. For all of you out there that are nervous about crafting then this is for you. Trust me, not much skill is involved here... just time. But, if you don't have enough time to finish it in one afternoon you can always do bits at a time and then come back to it later. 

Until the next craft,

  elizabeth

Scrapbooking: Noteworthy Mini Journal

Good morning everyone! I am so excited to share with you my newest "scrapbooking" article *and* also one of Etsy's best mini journal creators like EVER: Cindy Ruijgrok. (If you have a scrapbooker on your Christmas list this year, this would be the perfect gift...there are so many little surprises inside each of Cindy's albums that they can't all be shared in a few photos in her shop!) Cindy generously donated some of her super cool journals to our design team and I was lucky enough to get one! Mini books have always been one of my favorite things to make so when I got it I decided to do a "14 Things everyone should know about me" theme. There are 14 pages (hence the 14 things) of beautiful patterned paper in a huge variety of colors. Click on photos to see larger.

This journal was SO fun, super easy, and now I have a cute place to document things about me! Thank you, Cindy for sharing your amazing product with us! I can't wait to see how some of the other Cartwheel girls used their journals!

P.S. About that Christmas list with the scrapbooker on it (it's ok if that scrapbooker is you, we won't tell! :D)...Cindy is giving away one of these journals, so if you are interested in winning one, be sure to leave a comment on her give-away post here.

And The Handmade Stash Winner Is...

Hi Everyone! I'm just popping in super quick to share the winner of the Cartwheels feedback give-away handmade stash. 

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The changes are wonderful. I most love the part about DIY tutorials! I love when artists show you how they got to the final piece! Also love the idea of only one photo a day. Although I love the photos, I agree that they will be more special if only one is up a day! Change is always a great thing!

POSTED BY: RENAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2010 AT 10:58 AM

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Congratulations Renay! If you e-mail your mailing address to me at [email protected] I'll get your box out straight-away! :)

And I also just wanted to say thanks so much for all the feedback from everyone...I'm so happy to hear that you continue to be inspired by Cartwheels and I hope that you will like the new changes that are coming to us. (Just think double the inspiration and triple the DIY tutorials from guest artists with a new shop and some handmade embellies thrown in for good measure.)

Can anyone tell how excited I am? ;D

 

Felt Obsession :: Business Card Holder Tutorial.

Have you played with felt lately? If not, you totally should. Because it's like the magical fabric. So easy to manipulate, doesn't unravel, and forgiving of all your mistakes. All really amazing attributes for a piece of 29 cent fabric right? (and cheap too! add cheap to the list!) So the other week when I was looking through my felt pieces I decided to make a little business card holder for the new business cards I have bought but not printed yet (we'll get there.). And here's what I came up with:

Want to make your own? Here's how:

1. Place your business card on the piece of felt (or just measure it!) and then leave a half inch on either side for stitching.

2. In the bottom middle of the freshly cut felt piece, place stickers spelling out XO or whatever you want your holder to say.

3. Stitch around the letter stickers to create an outline of your wording, then peel the letters off to reveal a nice clean center for the words.

4. Glue miniature crocheted flower into the center of the O and let it dry for a few minutes (you don't want to move too quickly and then have a little glue drip through the felt and seal off the inside pocket).

5. Turn the felt upside down and then stitch a little heart onto the bottom of what will be the other side of the business card holder.

6. Stitch a button in the top middle of the section where you stitched the heart...make sure you line it up with the small top middle portion of the piece of fabric that will play the part of the protective flap. Cut a coordinating hole into the fabric in the flap so that the button can close while the felt is still lined up.

7. Fold felt into the shape desired and then stitch around the edges to hold it together and give it a finished look.

8. Put your cards inside and admire how fun they are inside their new little holder. :)

So fun, right? I especially love little projects like this because they can be completed from the couch while I'm watching my favorite shows. AND...it only takes about the time of one of those shows to make it. so fast and easy! :)

What are YOU working on this weekend?

Weekend Photo Challenge:: Attitude

 

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and I hope you are able to enjoy a long weekend full of some of your favorite things. I think you should take a break from all the left-overs and Black Friday craziness and make a date with your cameras though because this week's Photo Challenge is a fun one. The theme this week is "Attitude". Express yourself, capture it and share it with us. Your attitude can be expressed through your clothes, your art, your tattoos, music...there are no rules here. My photo: Little black Converse complete with flames, they just scream Attitude to me. Now if only these awesome little shoes came in my size!

~Amy

Reader Submissions.

 
Happy Black Friday everyone! For those of you choosing to skip the insanity of Christmas shopping to do a little art (or just searching for a little inspiration!) I've got some really amazing art to share from our readers that posted in the Cartwheels flickr gallery.

First up, this fun little scrapbook layout by Shaina Longstreet. Love the yellow journaling strips...and that photo of the leaf in her pocket is just awesome. love it all! :) 

Shaina: Created as a Design Team layout using the November 2010 ACCEPTANCE kit from ScrapbookingfromtheInsideOut.com, the Inspiration Source, Kit Club and Online Community all about scrapbooking your inner world.

And how sweet is this photo by Amber (theclikchick) using the always fabulous EyeCandy overlays? I'm so inspired to make a little graffiti of my own! And make sure you check out the rest of Amber's photos...she's a magician behind the camera. :)

Amber: http://vol25.typepad.com/

 

And how fun is this bag shared by Katie? So so cute! You can see her blog post about it and another bag she made using the same techniques (and check out her fun fun blog!!) here. 

and here's a layout that katie shared...so cool!:

And lastly, (but certainly not leastly!) check out this gorgeous December daily album by Miya:

Miya: Starting Dec 5th, I will be blogging the pages, as they are filled, here: 
ilovedirtylaundry.blogspot.com/

I just want to say thanks so much to each of you that posts in our flickr gallery. I get so excited each time I check it and there is something new and inspiring to share with our other readers. I have discovered lots of new blogs to follow and always love what each of you shares. :)