Painted or stenciled, you can have some extra summer seating for a song with a few thrift store finds. I grabbed these for $5 each and I love how they gave life to my back patio. Love it! I used my Cricut and permanent vinyl to make the designs BUT you could just paint and stencil, it's up to you. Just have fun, use lots of color and MAKE YOUR MARK!
Watch how to make them here!
This Ryobi sander saves my life EVERY day! Make sure to give your seats a good sanding before you begin. Trust me on this!
I mixed two colors together for the seat, but one is fine, too!
I have nieces who look perpetually bored. Come on! I have a craft room filled with literally everything you can imagine and they still want to stare at their phones. Drives me nuts! I made these art prompt cards and for an hour or two, they actually come to life for a little while. Art prompts inspire you to jump into a blank page without hesitation. No more "what do I draw?" or "I don't know what to do!" I even love using them when I de-stress in my art journals. Check out the video below and the links to my digital downloads, too! Have fun and Make Your Mark!
Watch how I use my art prompt cards here!
Link to my digital download set: https://etsy.me/3OTbsxI
A few of the pages I created using the cards! I promise, they are really
fun to use!
Have fun and MAKE YOUR MARK!
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
When I was a kid I got wallet kits for Christmas almost every year. When you come from a very large family in southeastern Colorado, leather tooling is a thing and apparently I was supposed to learn it. I never did. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I got another wallet kit and was stumped again. Fortunately there is leather paint and stencils and colorful synthetic sinew to make your leather projects amazing! This wallet has the perfect mix of boho, cowboy and me! Check out the colorful waxed sinew from John Bead...I mean this stuff comes in NEON colors! Now get out there, my amazing friends, and MAKE YOUR MARK!
I love that I didn't have to learn how to tool to get this effect! I call it my dollar hauler!
Watch how to make this gorgeous, boho/western wallet here without tooling and only leather paints and colorful sinew!
You can also watch it on YouTube here (and see some of my other videos)
John Bead Synthetic Sinew:
Amazon.com - https://amzn.to/41fyPob
Amazon.ca - https://amzn.to/3KMbSC6
Wallet Kit: https://amzn.to/3Nsb4Fs
Leather Paints: https://bit.ly/2N9O7W2
MY AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/markmontano
Have an awesome day! xo, Mark!
Thursday, May 11, 2023
I save everything...envelopes, newspaper, cardboard tubes, plastic & glass containers and burned out light bulbs. I boarder on hoarder BUT I do try to use everything I save in my craft projects. These pears were my desperate attempt to use up a few of the bulbs I have been saving over the years and I'm so happy with they way they turned out. When I was finished I thought of 100 other ways to decorate them, but that's for another day. Upcycle, recycle and reuse as much as you can my awesome friends! Now get out there and Make Your Mark! xo
I used decorative paper but book pages would look beautiful, too!
Some of my decorative papers
The foil helps smooth out the screw thread area but it's not 100% necessary!
Watch how I make them here! I used a Xyron Creative Station which turns everything into a sticker, but regular white glue would work, too. I find my Xyron makes it easier and less messy!
When I stare at a blank canvas or blank page in my art journal, sometimes I have no idea where to start. NONE! About a year ago I decided to start writing down my favorite techniques for mixed media, painting and collage, and before I knew it I had a set of 189 prompts to help me get started. For fun I added dice to make it a real game of chance. All you have to do is print them out on cardstock (or stick them to a deck of cards) and you'll never run out of ideas and combinations to create art. Have fun and MAKE YOUR MARK!
I finally have 2 guest rooms to decorate and I'm going nuts with fun projects so that my friends are comfortable and happy while they visit! For my friends who love to read before bed, I grabbed a stack of thrillers from the thrift store and turned them into something beautiful. I will use decor transfers on almost anything and WOW did I love figuring out how to put them on these book spines. I'll leave links to everything I used for this project right under the video below. Happy decorating and don't forget to Make Your Mark!
Put the covers on the inside so they know what they're reading and they can use it as a bookmark!
A scented candle is always nice, too! Don't forget to have a piece of paper with the wifi password, too!
Watch how to make these beautiful books here OR watch this and other videos on my
I know it's a little late for this but still had to post it because Valentine's day is around the corner and these would make beautiful hearts! Happy New Year everyone! I swear I'm going to try to blog a bit more this year. It's been hectic moving into this new house but I'm almost ready to show it.
A little wire and some leftover beads (from John Bead of course) and you can make the most amazing ornaments, or hearts! Love you all!
MAKE YOUR MARK!
Aluminum wire is one of my favorite things to work with!
Happy mail is one of THE BEST THINGS...I love it so much! I love sending it, getting it, making it and collecting it. Mostly I love making it. Now, like many of you I have a box filled with extra stuff from projects. It's my catch all box and I use it for everything from art journals & jewelry making to these FUNKY CHUNKY POSTCARDS. The rule about making these postcards is that there are no rules. You just keep going until your content with the final result. Transfer, spray, decoupage, glue, glitterize, spray some more, embellish and then keep going. Check out the video below for my particular process. Have fun and don't forget to Make Your Mark!
I can't wait to send these out!
This one even has fish tank rocks glued to the edges!
Watch how I make these here AND if you want more videos,
Printing out vintage botanicals on watercolor paper is a wonderful way to create beautiful art for your home. I LOVE how much beauty they can add to a room. In fact, my entire dining room is filled with botanical drawings and big plants and it makes me VERY happy! These works of art started out as dollar store frames and with a little decoupage and hot glue, you can have something AMAZING to show off. Check out the video below to see how it's done and then get out there and
MAKE YOUR MARK! xo
Dollar store frames and hot glue...Yup!
Crumpled tissue paper glued to almost anything always looks amazing!
