DIY Gelatin Plate & Prints!

Happy Friday, another rainy day, well it has been dry up until this week so I’m not complaining! Yesterday I played! I made my own gelatin plate inspired buy the expensive Gelli Plates that everyone on the “net” have been using. The two problems with those are: 1. They are expensive and 2. The stores around here don’t carry them. What’s a girl to do? Oh yeah, maker her own! And you can too, here’s the video!

True to from I liked the prints I pulled after I turned off the camera much better! Here are some still shots, here is the example with ribbon I pressed on the plate, look at the texture, it’s almost like a photo. I need to try this with leaves and plants!

This one was rubber bands! AKA “Elastics” LOL! (only one person will get that joke ha ha!) The little tag on the side was done with a mesh lemon bag.

I like this because it was printed 3 times with different colors. I keep printing on a paper until I am happy with it!

I mainly used stencils in my experiments today but you can use so many things, you can press cheese cloth, bubble wrap, plastic wrap, crinkled paper, yarn, twine, leaves, feathers and a myriad of this into the plate for texture. You can draw on the plate, paint on it with brushes and scrape soft tools (like silicone cooking tools) across the inked surface. UK MaryAnne has a great post about making your own tools on her blog that you should see too. Oh the creative possibilities this opens up! I know what i am doing on this rainy day! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy craftng!

DIY Super Sporty Socks!

Happy Monday! I just noticed when I went out to walk the dog (in the rain) that I left the socks I spray-died out on the picnic table and hey, great news, the colors did not run! I love a rainy Monday  it’s like some higher power is saying “hey girl, you just ease yourself into the week…go paint something and don’t worry about the sink full of dishes, they will keep.” Of course judging by the state of my house you’d think every day was a rainy Monday LOL! So, this weekend we decided to make some fun socks for my girls to wear for softball.

Cute huh? These would also be great for soccer, roller skating and hiking because you should always wear tall socks to protect yourself from ticks! They are so easy too, in today’s video I’ll show you how to make the more complicated rainbow design, the one color design is even easier!

And here is a photo tutorial for the one color socks, just remove the elastics (AKA rubber bands) when you are done and let dry.

If you prefer to use fabric die I recommend purchasing a tie dye kit with squeeze bottles. It should come with soda ash, you soak the fabric (after tying) in the soda ash then squeeze the dye on the wet fabric. The soda ash will help prevent fading. I like the acrylic fabric spray paint because it stays bright and will not run in the wash. I used this kit from Oriental Trading. If you have any questions on this project just leave a comment and I will get right back to you! Happy crafting!

A Baseball Birthday Card!

Howdy folks! My husband took our son to his first Red Sox game this weekend, he was over the moon about it! They both had a great time:) My son also had a baseball themed birthday party to attend this weekend so I made this card for the birthday-boy, also a Sox fan:

It is a double pocket card (tutorial here) and I used the Crafty Secrets stamps that I bought last year at the Heirloom stamp show, can you believe that it has taken me this long to get them inky?!?

I am keeping it short and sweet today but be sure to check back tomorrow for a giveaway! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

You Can’t Expect Perfection 10 Minutes Before the Party!

Howdy crafters! First off let me apologize for email bombing you yesterday. I had taken some posts down a couple of years ago because the artwork was being published in magazines and I forgot to republish the posts after the magazines came out. So yesterday I figured I’d put the posts live again and they would be filed in on the dates that I created them, which they did, but also they were sent out as new posts to all of my subscribers…sorry about that. But at least you can see how far my photography has come over the years and hopefully my crafting ability too….well, maybe not in the case in this project:

I love making last-minute cards, especially for kids. My husband asked me yesterday “Why do you rush around to make a card last-minute for a kid [Disclaimer-referring to kids in general, not the kid this card was given too, he is a sweetie!] who won’t appreciate it?”  ”There’s no point stressing out when you can just buy a card at the store.” OK, two things here, I am not stressed out by making a last-minute card, it is freeing, I use my latest stamps, I will try a new technique and play with color, I don’t worry about perfection because a child does not judge a card and I am getting something done, it’s a card, it is made, it will never have to be made again unlike the floors that need to be re-swept  dished that need to be rewashed and all of the other daily drudgery that does stress me out. Making cards is fun and the bit about kids not appreciating it, I think they do like the handmade card especially if it reflects their personality.

I had some matching paper scraps on my table left over from craft fair packaging so I layered them on the envelope, did some stamping and slapped on a couple of pieces of washi tape, done! I love to be able to spend an hour on a card but I probably love slap-dash crafting even more! There is no time to worry when you only have 10 minutes, if you make a mistake work it into the design. And most importantly happy crafting!

 

Stamp credits: Look & 10: Crafty Secrets, Others: Stampin’ Up!

I’m Having a Lawrence Welk Moment…DIY Bubble Wand Necklace Tutorial!

Happy Monday folks! Have you ever had so much fun making a project that you make, say 20? That’s what happened to me Friday when I decided to make a wire and bead bubble wand:

These really work too! I got the idea from the Jewelry Making Journal but I made mine longer and instead of pricier copper wire I used 18 gauge aluminum from the Hardware store (because it won’t rust) and acrylic (That’s a fancy word for plastic) beads because I love the sparkle and they are lightweight. They can also handle being dipped in bubble liquid over and over again!

Watch this video to see how I made them:

Wouldn’t they be awesome party favors or even wedding favors (way better than the tiny plastic bubble bottles!) You could even put a bowl of bubble solution in the center of each table at a party and folks can blow bubbles whenever the mood strikes!

One thing I will mention about the hardware store aluminum wire is that there is a thin film of oil or something on it. It’s not a big deal but after making 20 of these suckers my fingertips were black with the grease. It washed off and I could not see it on the wands because it was such a small amount but if you are thinking of making jewelry out of this stuff I would wipe it down with rubbing alcohol to remove any grease first.

I hope you give this project a try, it was a lot of fun and a great way to practice your wire wrapping skills. I’ll leave you with a few more photos of these whimsical wands. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Easy Paper Easter Baskets!

Happy Saturday folks! Tomorrow is Easter and if you have 3 minutes I’ll show you how to make these cute paper Easter baskets:

I used 6″x6″ double sided paper from My Mind’s Eye for these baskets but you can use any size square you like. If you want a big basket use a 12″x12″ piece of heavy cardstock and score it in 3rds just like I did here. Watch the quick video to see how easy it is:

Fun huh? I think these would be cute with some crayons inside perched atop a paper place-mat to entertain little ones waiting for Easter dinner! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Eco-Friendly Reusable Gift Bags!

Howdy folks! I love green crafting! I find myself rummaging through my recycle bin all the time looking for something to repurpose for crafting. I also like making things that will do a good turn for the environment like these reusable gift bags:

I started with cotton drawstring bags from Papermart. I used the 5″x6″ size and they were 39 cents each (you can’t make them that cheap!) Then I used my newly made spray inks, clear stamps and pigment ink to decorate them.  Watch the video to see how!

Easy huh? Another idea is that you can personalize a gift bag. Kids love stuff with their names on them and if you have an unusual name (like Lindsay, at least in the 80′s when I was a kid) it is hard to find personalized products.  Well, you can grab your letter stamps and make a bag that had anybody’s name on it, neat! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Video Tutorial: How to Marbleize Paper & Eggs!

Here is a fun project you will want to try today. It is quick, easy and inexpensive and what’s more, your kids will love it too! I’ll warn you it’s a bit messy (that’s what it’s so darn fun) but the results are stunning. Check out this Easter card I sent my sister, I made the background paper. I stamped the rabbit (About Art Accents) with black pigment ink and heat embossed so it would stand out on the marbleized paper.

Looks fancy and store-bought right? Nope, I marbleized it with shaving cream! Watch this quick video to see how, I’ll even show you how to use this technique with eggs!

See, told ya it was easy;)

Tips for marbleizing eggs:

1. I recommend you use blown out eggs, you can use hardboiled eggs 
   (swap out the liquid watercolor for food coloring) but I worry the shaving cream might give the eggs a soapy taste.
2. White eggs (or wooden eggs painted white) will show the technique better (but since I raise free-range hens that lay brown eggs-and cannot bring myself to buy factory farmed white ones-I used those.)
3. After you blow out and clean the eggs you need to dry them. Microwave them 30 seconds ( for a dozen) , then dip them in vinegar and nuke them again for 30 seconds. The vinegar locks the color!

I hope you try this today! It is a great outdoor project to do with the kids to and you can just hose everything off when you are done! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Beginner Sewing tutorial: Reversible Paperboy Bag

Today I want to share a project that my daughter Lila designed. She wanted to make a reversible bag with a rounded bottom. When it was done it reminded me of the bag paperboys used to carry to deliver papers on their bikes. We went shopping for fabric and had the bag made in an afternoon.

You will need: 1/2 yard for the outside of the bag, 1/2 yard for the inside and 1/4 yard for a strap. I used 45″ wide cotton. As you can see the project rang up to about $5, not bad eh?

This is a no waste project (although you might need to trim your fabric a bit if the person who cut it at the store was sloppy.) Step 1: Press 1″ down on each finished edge of the fabric. Fold the fabric in half right sides together (matching up the pressed edge) and press. Trim one of the bottom corners off at an angle and use the scrap as a template the trim the other side.  Sew up the sides with a 1″ seam allowance. Repeat for other 1/2 yard of fabric.

Step 2.  Trim the seams to 1/2″. This will make the bag lass bulky.

Now you have two bags, here they are shown right-side out.

Hold them together and see if one is a bit smaller, if so, take the smaller one and turn it inside out and place it inside the other bag lining them up at the seams. Pin the bags together. You should be able to see the right sides of both fabrics with no raw edges.

Step 3. Make the strap! Follow the instructions in the photos for pressing, then stitch down the edges.

Step 4. Pin the strap to the bag by sandwiching it in between the two bag layers. If you want a shorter strap you can sink it in there farther or trim it first. This will give us an elegant invisible join!

Step 5. Stitch along the edge of the bag being as neat as you can. You will have your bag and strap sewn together in one pass!

There you have it, a finished reversible bag with no waste. You can start off with different size fabric and make any side bag this way. My daughter was so pleased with the results!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Kid’s Craft: Clay Shamrocks!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! I just wanted to pop in with a quick craft that you can make with your kids today: Polymer clay shamrock pins!

I taught this to the children in my library craft class last week and they all turned out great. Here are the supplies you need:

Here’s how to make these. Condition 1-2 oz of clay (depending how big you want your shamrock.) Divide the clay into 8 equal sized balls. Take 2 balls and gently press them together then pinch them together on the bottom to make  heart and pinch the bumps at the top of the heat flat to make a leaf. Make 3 more leaves. Stick the leaves together by the points. You may want to make a small disk of clay to attach them to. Try to keep the pin about 1/4″ thick throughout. Dust the shamrock with gold eye-shadow or pearl ex. Add details to the brooch with a toothpick if desired  Bake per clay package instructions, cool,  and glue a pin finding on the back.

Note: I recommend Tacky Glue for gluing the pin on but it takes hours to fully cure (it will turn clear as in the photo when cured) but if you want to wear it today just use hot glue for now and re glue with tacky glue later if needed

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and as always Happy crafting!