Eclectic Studio - Tammy Morrison-Koenig

Well this is a combination Halloween/ Christmas project for our home. I came across this pattern on raverly http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/erishkigal-skully-snowflake and because my husband loves anything with skulls on it, I decided to give it a try. I would rate this as an intermediate pattern as it did get a little confusing in places, but defiantly worth a try. I am still trying to figure out what blocking method to use. On a few flakes I tried the Modge Podge and water method but it filled in the stiches to much, any suggestions?  

I love the look of decorated Christmas trees from the past. They are not your typical cookie cutter, commercial trees. They were all decorated from items that family or friends have made and these items were passed from generation to generation. One of these decorations that I remember being on some of those trees of yesteryear were crocheted lacy snowflakes. Here are a few that I have made for our tree and for sale. These have been made from a variety of free patterns from the web but have all been modified in some way. Hope you enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family.   “For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Only 2 weeks left until Halloween so here are a few more last minute ideas you can use in your Halloween haunt. Build your own Coffin:  I built this one using a half sheet of rigid insulation. I didn't really have any measurements to work from. I just took a piece of paper, scaled it to the size of insulation that I had, drew out a quick plan and cut it out. I used duct tape to stick everything together. Step 2: I had some leftover red velour fabric from a Freddy Mercury costume from a couple years ago so I cut it to size and used some carpet tape to attach it to the coffin. Carpet tape is a very strong double sided tape that is weather resistant, permanent and won't melt the foam. Then I used a hot solder pen to melt the wood grain

Another beach inspired project that I put together this summer. I used a mix of heavy and light gauge wire to form the framework and filled in with some patterning wirework. It reminds me of doodling, just with wire instead of ink. I used an eye hook to attach it to some hand lettered driftwood. I really like the blend of industrial and natural elements in this mixed media piece.

This project was inspired by a 1950's ice chest and picnic basket that we found on our travels this summer, both of which are in the red plaid patterning. Both of these were created using the separator pieces from a wine crate. I started by giving the pieces a good sanding and 2 coats of primer. I free-handed the coffee sign and used some letter stencils for the Farmers market sign and then sealed them with 2 coats of outdoor sealer as they are hung outside. (referral affiliate link- all that means is that if you click on the image, and decide to purchase, I would receive a teeny tiny %. There is no cost to you by using my referral link)

Once upon a time I was a little nut and the older I get the more this quote couldn't be truer. This is another page in my inspirational art journal. My journey of what keeps me going from day to day. This piece is done on a gelatin printed background with some collage, ink and oil pastel.

On our travels this summer, I went beachcombing for some driftwood with a completely different project in mind. I love using natural items in my projects and with keeping the nautical travel theme for the boys' room, I designed this fish bones wall hanging. I found some slender twigs for the body and some bark for the head and tail attached it all with my handy dandy glue gun and voila.

Hi all, Its been a long while since I have been around to chat or share. This past year has thrown us for a loop and we have all had to refocus and re-evaluate life. When I last posted, I was working on a set of tangles, and during this, I started noticing that my vision was going a little funny. No big deal I thought as I am reaching that "age' when things start needing a little tune-up every once in a while. So Easter weekend I finally made an appt with my optometrist. That is all heck broke loose. The next thing I know is they are shipping me off to the hospital Easter Sunday for more testing.  I have been diagnosed with type 2 central serous retinopathy and a form of age-related macular degeneration, where my pigment layers are disintegrating. I'm not 40 yet and the last time I checked I wasn't a man either. As this is primarily a male dominated disease. There is no treatment at this time and it is progressive. :( This in combination with my youngest daughter deve

After the holiday I have been lacking any type of motivation. It is like the longest turkey hangover...ever. LOl So to start the year off I decided to give my kitchen and bath a quick update with new towels. By taking a teatowel and a pattern I found here http://www.momtastic.com/diy/172615-diy-hanging-dishtowel   I came up with this cute little stove towel.  I did make a minor adjustment by adding a button hole instead of just the velcro closure - just testing to see which one will be added to my Christmas gift list for next year.. ;) Hope you enjoy. :)

This painting practically painted its self. Using a value study as an underpainting to your watercolor is an easy way to paint any subject. This portrait used water-soluble markers to apply washes of color. by using color left on your water pen you can bounce some softer transitions this is also another way to control your hard and soft edges in a painting.  After applying the first washes of darks I went back in with a few washes of color to bring this lady to life. The best part is that the shading was already taken care of for you. I hope you take this opportunity to practice a variety of painting techniques. Hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas everyone.

I am not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination but I can thread my machine and sew a straight line, which is exactly what is needed for this project. I already had the material and lace on hand so I didn't have to go out for anything, which was even better. Last year I bought 3 yards of this burlap for only 3.99 and the lace was a grocery bag full of assorted lengths and widths and colors for 2.00.. Trust me I was doing the Happy dance with that deal.  There are still alot of these supplies left over for any other projects that tickle my fancy. This finished runner measures 13 * 64 inches.  So i cut my fabric 1/2 inch larger than my finished size, folded over 1/4 inch, iron then fold over again 1/4 inch iron. When you come to the corners all I did was clip the corner at a diagonal, to reduce the bulk and iron down and sew down with a simple straight stich.  Next pin your lace onto your fabric and sew down with a straight stich. There are alot of variations on the

One thing I really try and keep alive is the "Magic of Christmas". I want my kids to believe in Santa for as long as they can and now that they are in school it is going to get a little harder every year. So this year I made up these quick Special Delivery bags from the North Pole. I know they are not perfect but Santa's elves are really busy with the millions of bags they have to make every year. They came together so quick. I just worked up the image in my word processor printed it off on the burlap fabric, You can find a tutorial for printing on fabric here and then sewed it on to the pre-made Dollar store gift bag. These are going to be perfect for my little monsters. Hope you enjoy them too.

Christmas - My second favorite time of the year. Every year we try and add some homemade decorations and after perusing Pinterest I saw this awesome image of Santa and just fell in love with it. Pottery Barn did theirs in silver glitter and Bower Power did theirs in red glitter. Hmmm. 2 young children and a bowl full of glitter is just asking for problems so I did his image in the traditional red and white. I love how he turned out and a wonderful addition to our Christmas decor. He is quite large measuring 2ft * 2ft on a 2inch gallery stretched canvas. Hope you enjoy

A quick project to dress up an empty wall. These are aprox. 15 inches each and were done with 2 different sizes of craft sticks, my handy glue gun and a little paint. Enjoy.

Halloween is my favorite time of year. We spend weeks getting our yard and home decorated all for the night when the little ghosts and goblins come out to play. ;) B started school this year and within her school, they don't do a Halloween per say, they have an orange and black day. So in order to kill 2 birds with one stone, we decided that she is going to be an orange crayon. So with an old t-shirt and a little black felt fabric, this is what I came up with. I think it turned out Awesome! And the best part is that it was a no-sew project. Supplies needed:  1 t-shirt in the size required. 1 box of orange fabric dye (because they didn't' have any orange t-shirts in her size) 1 wooden spoon 1 large container for dying remnant black fabric. I used black felt because that is what I had on hand. 1 pattern for the Crayola font - I used this one Crayola pattern  and made the size adjustments accordingly when I was printing it out. For the crayon label banding, I just wi

This week I decided that our family photo wall needed some updating and maybe a little color so I got to work on these 2 photos of my babies. Somewhere between a scrapbook page and a journal page done with a black and white copy of the photo mod podged to a 4* 6 canvas board. I embellished these with puffy paint, markers, acrylics, stamps, paper cutouts and some mod podge. Hope this inspires you to have a little fun with those family photos.

I dont know how many of you are in the situation of sending your little one off to kindergarten but we have just sent our baby girl off to face the big unknown world. :( We were so worried about separation anxiety and the only anxiety has come from me pacing the floors not know what to do with myself. :o lol So after doing all of those "ill get to it projects" like playing name that food from the freezer and reorganizing the boxes in the basement - which btw was more like Christmas ;) I made a list of projects that have been put on the back burner for the past few years, like the kids scrapbooks. If you have done any scrapbooking or journaling in the past you know how expensive stamps can be, so this is my cost effective versions using just some cut up paint sticks for the backing and the kids fun foam sheets for the designs. The possibilities are endless :) Hope you enjoy

Love was definatly in the air yesterday. The kids and I spent the day putting together cards the lovely little framed project for our end table. There is nothing better then spending the Day of Love with the People you Love. We put this together using an old phone book, Cardstock and a few chip board letters Oh and of course my handy dandy Glue gun. Love Pure and Simple.. Hope you enjoy

Inspired by some twine ornaments that I made up last week. 6 of these in 3 differant sizes for under $3 Gotta love that :) So I thought I would carry that rustic whimsy tree theme we have going this year and make up some wee-folk inspired mushroom ornaments. These are so very simple to make. What you need: styrofoam balls twigs or dowels cut to 1.5 inch long twine beads - any color small scrap of ribbon glue gun Step 1: Cut aprox 1/3 off the bottom of the ball Step 2: Fold ribbon in 1/2 and insert into a small hole in the top for hanging, glue the twig into the bottom. Step 3: Starting at the top, glue a starting point with your twine. and start wrapping glueing as you go. Keep wrapping all the way under the cap. Once you get to the bottom just cut, tuck and glue. Step 4: Add your embellishments. I simply glued some med sized beads for a little color, But you could go in with some acrylic paint and also add color that way. I found these cute ladybug thumbtacks and thought

With snow on the ground and the temps dipping it's beginning to look alot like Christmas. :) :) :) I thought it was a little too quiet for this time of year and I guess I was right. lol A last minute commission has come in and I have to design and paint up some custom made treasure chests for 3 little princesses. Just sent off the draft off for approval and hopefully I can begin final layout tomorrow. So until then I thought I would get some new additions for the tree whipped up while I still have all the stuff pulled out. These are made up of some simple supplies: wire, seed beads, pearls and a plucked feather boa. Hope you enjoy.