More Inspiration from ALL OVER.................

As you may know, I just finished my 4th Big-Ass book which will be out this October called 

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF BLING (Simon and Schuster)

It has over 150 jewelry and fashion projects with my own brand of crafty magic.  

I'm taking a small break from being trapped in my craft house for a year to introduce you to some amazing blogs and ideas from around the web and world.  I hope you enjoy these amazing people as much as I do.

Remember, I'm always around if you want to say hello.

Love,  Mark

 Gotta say, I love this wallpaper and I'm not a big fan of wallpaper!  It's a mix between English Country and Mexican Oil Cloth.

Seems to me you could cut apart one of those circular sisal rugs to and reassemble them to get a similar effect.  Or, you could make newspaper twine and make your swirls that way.  Then it would be totally recycled. 

Are you kidding me?! This is a fantastic use for the Arizona Iced Tea cans.  Emboss and cut in heart shapes and you're 1/2 way there.  From JMP Designs.

Saw this on www.smallgoodthings.com
and thought it was super cute.  Yup, super cute.

Finally, from www.thenextbird.com  A way to fix a bleach spot on your clothes with a Clorox Bleach Pen.  I'd say this was inspired for sure.

Finally, this tutorial from www.alittleglassbox.com blew me away. Such a fun lampshade and a terrific use of zip ties.  One of my favorite items from the hardware store.

Enjoy!
And remember, there are over 100 ideas in
THE BIG ASS BOOK OF HOME DECOR!

CHECK IT OUT!

Our 3rd Official Fiskars Friday!

Today is our 3rd official Fiskars Friday!  Make sure to enter because as you already know, FISKARS has incredible cutting tools and they might just end up in your craft room!  This contest is bi-monthly so look for our FISKARS FRIDAY banner and make sure to enter following our simple rules below.

Not only will you win fabulous Fiskars products, you'll get your own signed copy of

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS vol. 2!

Check out what our first winner (Jennifer Riker) received from Fiskars! 

Not bad at all! And what a generous prize package!

RULES

1.  LIKE and comment on the Fiskars FB page that I sent you!

http://www.facebook.com/fiskars
2. SHARE on your FB page about the contest.

3.  Leave a comment here letting me know what your favorite Fiskars tool is and I'm pretty sure we can get it in your prize package!

4.  Join my blog if you haven't

5. Tweet that you just entered Fiskars Friday on Mark Montano's blog (if you have twitter)

Good luck!

Reuseday....The 8th day of the week!

Here are some super fun examples of recycling that have flipped my wig this week.  Let's add a day to the week called Reuseday.  How about it?!

Uncle Jerry's in Silver Lake sold these for years.  They were made in Mexico from trash and they are a wonderful example of recycling.  Perfect for a kids room or play room.  It's easy to make the holes in plastic if you heat up a thick piece of wire on a flame.

LifeHacker.Com is one of my favorite spots on the internet.  I'm not sure who came up with this idea, but they have this lovely little tutorial there for a lunch box that blew me away. I'd use a real metal snap on it.  I think they used a velcro dot which would work well, too.

From StudioGBlog.com  This is a terrific modern way to use an old filing cabinet.  I have a huge patio that needs something just like this!

I truly love when people make objects from paper and cardboard just for the sake of it.  These shoes are just beautiful, don't you think?  Have you ever googled the words Paper Shoes?  Try it!

Remember, there are over 100 How-to home products in 

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF HOME DECOR!

Go check it out!

Some beautiful things to inspire you..........

Saw this in Pinterest and thought WOW!  Such a fun way to spruce up a clip board.  I'm sure you can come up with all sorts of things to do with yours!

Learned that lemon takes away hard water stains on your faucets.  I think it's worth a try, don't you?  

 

How fun are these little birds with crowns.  Print them out and make some terrific cards for your friends.

I may need to stack my books up somewhere because they are all over the place!  This might work.

 How about grabbing a leaf from outside and using a paper bag to wrap your next gift? I think any type of foliage would work for this except poison ivy.

 Enjoy!

And remember, there are more than 150 projects in 

The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2!

Lots of new inspiration.................

Friends! I've just finished writing another Big Ass Book which will hit stores in October of this year.  Yes, right before the Mayans come down and take us all away.  Thought I'd better get it done as soon as possible, don't you think?  Anyway, I've been taking a small break from creating and hopping around the internet (that's what you do right before Easter, HOP).  I've found some amazing projects out there that incredible people are making and I thought I'd start sharing them with you.  Enjoy! Be creative! And THANK YOU for always popping in to say hello.  A reminder, Fiskars Friday is this Friday!  

 What an terrific way to funk up your patio or back yard.  Admittedly not for everyone, but a super cool project to say the least!

 I really love this door way.  Makes me rethink my bookshelves and wonder if books around my doorway might save some room in my house?  Just a thought.

Mixture of different colors together.  I saw an entire floor once done with duct tape in different colors like this. Can't imagine how they finished it, but it was beautiful.

 These images remind me of my baby books.  The books my mom kept with locks from my first haircut and photos of me looking cuter than I will ever look again in my life.

Saw this on Pinterest and thought it was a really fun way to remake a shirt.  Could be fun in the back, too.  Or even a bit smaller.  

INSPIRATION.................

These are a few things I saw this week while hopping around the internet.  I thought you might like them for inspiration.  Happy Saturday everyone. Thank you for all of your support and for all of your wonderful comments this past year.  I truly appreciate you.

The best use of plastic spoons I have ever seen.  Doesn't this make you want to start gluing spoons on a plastic jug? 

How about keeping the flies out of your drinks this summer?   

Crystal chain, pearls and antique brooches would make an amazing chandelier 

 Any object covered in text looks amazing to me.  Copy calligraphy pages and go to town!

Kind of an amazing lampshade made with an assortment of buttons.  My hot glue gun is already warmed up!

These projects caught my eye today........

HOPPING around the internet today I found some really fun projects that I thought I'd share with you.  These caught my eye and I think you will be able to make versions of them quite easily.  Have fun!

 Thought these were really fun. Made from polyester zippers and a lobster claw for a closure.  You could use Dritz Fray Check for the edges or you could singe them carefully with a tea light.  Just be careful!  

 This, I found out, was made from a vintage Tupperware Jello Mold.  Great light fixture.  use a cool wastebasket from the 99c store for a similar project.  Just make sure to use the energy efficient cool light bulbs to avoid melting and burning!

Easter is here and it's time to stock up on those fancy little plastic easter eggs you see everywhere.  The day after easter they will for sure be half price.  This is a terrific centerpiece for summer lunch or celebration so grab those eggs now!

And the winners are..................
MY LIFE 101 *That's all I know about her! Won FISKARS FRIDAY!
AND
Heather Grontkowski is the winner of yesterday's GLITTER BLAST TUESDAY! Congratulations to you both!
Please contact me with your mailing information.

THE AMAZING GLITTER BLAST TUESDAY IS HERE!

As promised, another
GLITTER BLAST TUESDAY!
It's time for you to enter to win a set of GLITTER BLAST spray paints with an ongoing contest every other Tuesday from here to eternity. Rock on Krylon!

Winners not only get my NEW book,
THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2,
they'll get all of the colors of glitter blast sent right to their front door.
 Just a few simple rules to enter.

GOOD LUCK!

And may the glitter be with you....

RULES
1. SHARE this on your FB page (by pressing SHARE)

2.  LIKE and COMMENT on the KRYLON FB page that I sent you!

KRYLON LINK

3.  JOIN my blog.
BLOG LINK (Wait, you're here!)

4.  COMMENT here that you've done it AND what your favorite spray paint project is.

5. Join me on TWITTER if you haven't.
TWITTER LINK

Keep an eye out for the winner.  I'll post it here and on my FB page.  

It helps if you can leave a way for me to contact you, too!