Owl Corkboard

I started a project last night, with the intention of having it as my first made-for-blog project, but it looks like it's going to be quite a bit more extensive than I'd originally planned, so I thought I'd use the space today to show off some of my favorite cards and projects.



This little corkboard was so much fun to do - when I picked it up in the Target $1 Spot (favorite place to find alterable items and cheap embellishments), it had a distressed white finish with an anchor or something painted at the top - kind of a nautical theme.

For this kind of project, I really love Making Memories scrapbook paint. It's acrylic paint that's formulated to dry faster than regular acrylics, and I have 24 of their colors. I painted the whole outside of the frame with Cornflower blue (if you're unsure of your ability to keep it neat, it's really simple to hold a piece of paper against the inside edges so that the paint doesn't get on the cork), then stamped the clouds from a travel set by Love, Elsie in Stampin' Up! white craft ink. This is a perfect occasion to use craft ink, because it's thicker and "sticks" on the surface of the cork. It does take longer to dry, so I used my heat gun to set it.

For the topper, I cut the detail out of this gorgeous Sassafras Lass paper - I've been ekeing out that one sheet for quite a while, because their stuff is so cute, it sells out really quickly when they get it in at Scrapbook Barn. I used my Fiskars finger knife for this one, too - it's so great for teeny tiny details.

Then it was simply a matter of adhering the owl and putting together a little stack of Prima flowers (I have way too many of those - I can't resist them. They're so cute!), bound together with a brad and stuck on with a glue dot. I'm keeping this little board for myself - as soon as I get a chance to rearrange my craft room, it's going to go up on the wall.