Art-o-mat

    I first heard about the Art-O-Mat from my art professor in college. It is the coolest thing. They are these old cigarette dispensing machines, that have been converted to  art dispensing machines. For the low, low price of $5.00, you get an original piece of art. They are the exact size of a cigarette pack, the art is all made from different mediums. Some are wood, paper, mat board, ect. They are true treasure. They are located all over the country, seek one out! They are amazing. They are created by local and famous artists. No one knows which they will get, only the artist. "The experience of pulling the knob alone is quite a thrill, but you also walk away with an original work of art. What an easy way to become  an art collector".

They even accept submissions. Check out the website and find your nearest art-o-mat. A cool gift idea.

Happy mother's day! family tree

     I can post this now that I know all my mothers have received these family tree rings. These are so cute. It is based on my parents marriage and the family in which they have created. The children, the spouses, the grandchildren, all displayed around each other. To show your mom and dad what they had created.
    They are simple paper designs. Can be customized to any family of any size.

Close ups. The different colored leafs are based on age of children, and seedlings for grandchildren.

JAX does design: For those with a twisted sense of humour…

JAX does design: For those with a twisted sense of humour…: "…I give you Bent Objects … Marilyn Daddy Long Legs Adverse Side Effects Eggregation Pooperclip holder Breadbug Pizz..."

Duncans Doors

        Duncan's Doors is something I created when my son was born! They are themed door knobs, cabinet knobs and I just love them. They can be used for knobs, cabinet drawer pulls, even coat hooks in a child's room. I have over fifty designs. Here are a few of my favorites. If you like them, I can of course make them for you completely customized.

For the love of stencils

      Personally I have moved three times in four years, and trying to give my house a homey feel in an inexpensive way was difficult. I had to think outside the box. Most home decor can be costly, also indoor paint can be costly. I decided to do accent walls throughout my house with homemade stencils. I am an abstract color theory lover! My husband is a macho macho man who does not enjoy pink floral. So These are a few of the stencils I made. Put around my house and connected them with bright colors to liven up my boring military housing space. I created a flower drawing. I cut the stencil with an exacto knife and using dry erase poster board I bought at Wal-Mart as my plastic medium. It is malleable, and thin. This is the floral, I put in my dark hallway, to lighten it up.

This is my take on a fleur de lis, placed my son son's room with bright colors, our bedroom, and accent wall in living room in blue

I believe they make a statement and truly east to cover when we move, because only 5 walls in my house are painted. This is the way I did a red white and blue living room without making it cheesy. I love how this turned out.

diy lanterns for childrens room

I love the idea of paper lanterns, there is so much you can do with them. I am doing a conglomerate of different styles for my nursery.
materials include: decorative paper, scissors, elmers glue, tissue paper, paper lantern

This is the end product. These are from paper lanterns bought at walmart for a dollar! I got several white ones, and green ones too. I bought One overly large one from ikea for $5. Start with long strips of tissue paper.

You can stack round, square, heart, any shape to these lanterns, I chose circles and tear drop shapes. Simply glue from the bottom first and over lap toward the top of the lantern. I added simple circles to the very bottom to give it more from the under view, since these will hang from the ceiling with fishing line. I am creating about 5 of these sized, then ONE LARGE 10" lantern covered in colorful flags and pennants.

Other lanterns (flags and pennants):
Materials: 10" paper lantern, scissors, hot glue, differnent colored paper, ribbon, thread of any color.

I started by cutting out long strips of paper, different patterns

I cut them into 2"x1" triangles. Smaller ones to overlap as they are going to be on my 10" lantern.

next I lined them up on a ribbon, alternating patterns, using my hot glue gun I placed glue on both sides of the triangle. Then, pressed the ribbon binding the triangles.

As a detail I choose to hand sew brite blue thread through the orange ribbon. Along with this I also sewed the triangles, together.

I used sewing pins to position the flags. I draped and overlapped them in a few places. once I decided where to place them with the pins, I super glued flags down in only a few places allowing for the draping to be organic looking. VOILA! Your large pennant and flag lantern.

scrapbooking for the home

            I know everyone loves at least the idea of scrap booking. I personally loved the look, but the tiny pieces of paper, and honestly the cost of doing it can be great. All for the outcome of someone possibly opening the pages to adore for a few moments. Never made much sense to me, but still I was attracted. So, I decided for a wedding present for my brother I would make him and his wife-to-be a special page, like a scrap book page to frame for their home.
          So, I went to my local Micheals craft store for ideas. I bought some decorative paper, looked at the stencils (decided they did not look too hard) and returned home. All I used different themed and colored paper, elmers glue, and mat board. Just so readers know, I cut my own mats, one of my passions from Art school.
          I cut long strips of paper, folded them in half, and used a pencil to curve them. I used an exacto knife to free hand stencils of him and his bride, shovel, beach ball, and pale. It is actually really easy, but if you are short on confidence, find a black and white pic, trace it, then cut it, can save you about ten-twenty bucks.
         I glued pictures of them, and the kids, and started positioning on the details. I chose to incorporate a quote from my favorite author, E.E. Cummings.  I cut the mat board, removed the glass from the frame I bought at Wal-Mart ($5) and voila! A beautiful piece of art for their home, cost me about ($10). It was a smashing success.