My thoughts on Martha and bloggers...

I finally had a chance to watch the Martha Stewart interview that is making waves in the blogging community. In the interview Martha {yes, we are indeed on a first name basis} questioned "who are these bloggers?  They aren't trained editors at Vogue magazine." This comment had me curious.  Was Martha an editor at Vogue? What is her degree in?  According to biography.com Martha Stewart has a degree in European and Architectural history {a degree I would probably steer my kids clear of, because really, what does one do with that?}.

Martha Stewart is a gourmet cook who taught herself the skill from Julia Child's cookbooks.  She used this knowledge to start a catering business and then turned her skills at entertaining into publishing books on the same topic.  She's a smart business woman, who by all accounts is an expert with life experience, but no formal training. I think that Martha seems intimidated by bloggers taking over a niche that she once was so darn good at and ultimately seemed to have cornered.   Martha Stewart is a brand.   She's a company, she's got many people who work for her and who appreciate and scour non-expertly written blogs.  {Her people have stumbled upon my blog more than once.} She features bloggers on her show and she caters to them.  We provide revenue for her, we support her products, we test them and then we pimp them out.  Martha even features something called Martha's circle which showcases the latest news from her community of bloggers. For her to downplay how important bloggers are in our social media driven world is a bit one sided when in the interview she just talked about how Twitter is a good business move for her.  Supporting bloggers and these everyday moms and women would have been a better business move for her than trying to discount how important talented every day people are who just so happen to have the guts to put themselves out there and write about the process.   Her comment is very Martha Stewart.  She's not known as a sensitive caring individual.  She's known as a cut throat business woman.  I used to TiVo her show and when I watched it, I always felt like I was watching a train wreck.  There was more than one occasion that she made her guests feel awkward on the show {so much so that I was cringing at home} .  Martha Stewart isn't the most humble person.  She looks out for herself and is happy to plow down anyone who gets in her way. People are mad at Martha.  I'm not mad at Martha because her comment isn't out of character.  I never really liked her as a person.  She's a smart business woman with great style and talent, but I would never want to go to coffee or spend time with her. {probably a good thing because I'm cutting out all of my chances to  be a guest on her show by writing this} To say that I respect her less would be more like it. What do you think?

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Martha Stewart Decoupage market bag

Yesterday, I shared with you the project that I made with the new Martha Stewart decoupage fabric line.

Today, I want to show you how I made a canvas market bag with the same supplies.

I picked up this canvas tote bag at the Dollar Store last year.

Such a score!

I used the Martha Stewart fabric die cuts, decoupage and brushes.

The fabric decoupage die cuts are amazing!

There are 50 pieces inside that little package with so many possibilities for coordinating projects.

Brush your Martha Stewart decoupage directly to the bag where you want your fabric die cut to go.

Then fully cover your die cut with a thin layer of decoupage glue

Smooth in place

making sure to remove any air bubbles and extra decoupage.

Wipe your excess decoupage off with a damp paper towel.

Allow your project to dry for 1-2 hours.

When completely dry brush a smooth layer of decoupage over the top to finish and seal the edges of the fabric.  Let dry 1-2 hours.

Once your bag is dry, you are ready to head off to the market!

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Martha Stewart Decoupage lace locker organizer

Today, my daughter starts middle school. The one thing she has been most looking forward to, is getting her own locker. We spent weeks looking at all of the various locker organizers, mirrors and caddy's, but she couldn't settle on one that she just loved, so we made one. I think her decoupage lace locker organizer turned out far better than  anything we could have found in the store!

We used the fantastic new line of Martha Stewart decoupage products and a linen pocket bag I found on clearance at my favorite local craft store. Lace is huge this season, which is why I loved the new Martha Stewart lace trim. It is just gorgeous! There is also fantastic fabric die cuts you can use  {check back tomorrow to see how I used those} with this great washable matte finish decoupage. All of these Martha Stewart supplies can be found at your local Michael's.

Let's get started!

I covered my lace in a thick layer of decoupage.

You really want to saturate it since it's such a heavy material.

I pressed the lace in place on my linen pocket bag and held it down 

for a few minutes to help it adhere to the pockets.

Let your lace dry for 1-2 hours.

When it is mostly dry, apply a thin layer of decoupage over top of the lace to secure the edges.

I used a damp paper towel to remove the excess decoupage.

Let dry for 1-2 hours and repeat the process.

To cure your project, let air dry for 72 hours.

Once it's cured, your project can be machine washed on the gentle cycle.

Decoupage is such an easy way to really update the look of any plain items you have around.

This locker organizer has everything Isabella needs quickly all in one pretty little place.

And the Martha Stewart products are durable enough to last the whole year 

{and longer!}

To make sure you don't miss a thing you can follow the complete line of Plaid products and get up to date information and inspiration here:

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Check out some of the other great projects made with this great Martha Stewart decoupage collection.

disclosure: this post is a sponsored post written as part of a campaign with Blueprint social.  All opinions are 100% mine.  I don't endorse anything I don't love.

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