WOYWW: Goodies!

Edit: Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s stamp set giveaway!

Happy What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday folks! I have some new stuff to share; some lovely supplies that fellow YouTube friend Stampyra sent me:

Can you believe all of those color dusters!?! I was not able to fit everything in the photo so here is a video of me unboxing all of the goodies:

Generous huh? I will put these all to good use. My kids are eyeballing the markers so I might lose them but as long as they are happily used I don’t mind. So, what is on your workdesk today? You can see more crafty desks on Julia’s blog the Stamping Ground. Thanks for visiting and til next time happy crafting!

Another AAA Giveaway & Technique Video!

Howdy folks, I have another stamp set to give away from About Art Accents, it is the Kokopelli word, image and two border stamps, wow! All on beautiful deeply etched red rubber. You can see all 4 stamps you get on the card:

I don’t often use Native American or Southwestern imagery in my art but I really enjoyed playing with these stamps. Kokopelli is a fertility symbol apparently…uh, I guess I won’t be using that stamp too often, I don’t want to tempt fate LOL! The last time I was pregnant I had twins! Here is a video showing you how I made the tags. The clay embellishment video is in yesterday’s post.

Another technique I wanted to mention is to get a stone look on the main image of the card I stamped just like I did on the video but then I ran it through my Big Shot with a grungy abstract looking embossing folder and swiped it with ink. I used glossy paper because when I tried it on regular cardstock the image did not stand out as much as i wanted.

Another tip I have is to save the white and cream cardstock strips that you get when you trim down paper, they are great for stamping boarders for cards or sentiments! Well that’s it for today. If you want a chance to win the kokopelli stamps from About Art Accents just leave a comment, I’ll draw a name next week! Just be sure to use the stamp with caution or the next cards you’ll be making will be birth announcements LOL! 😀 Good luck and happy crafting!

Easy Clay Embellishments!

Howdy folks! I hope your Monday is going well. Mine is! Remember the kitchen floor DIY job I dived into and completely botched back in May?  (If not you can read about it here.)  Well today I called in the professionals and I have a wicked sharp (pronounced “wikid shaaap” for those of you not in Maine) black and white checkered floor. It is totally 50’s diner and I love it. I’ll share a pic once I wipe down my white cabinets (which look infinitely grosser next to the new floor.) 😀 Just keepin’ it real folks. While the floor guys worked their magic I worked mine in my studio. i made some clay embellishments, it is totally easy, have a look. OK, in all honesty this video should only tale 30 seconds but I offer a lot of beginner tips, do’s and don’ts and what-have-yous.

Easy huh? Condition, smoosh, stamp, bake. I guess I didn’t need to make that video huh? Hey, be sure to check back tomorrow, i have a stamp set giveaway and a project using the clay embellishments. Til then happy crafting!

Resin experimentation {the results!}

Howdy folks! Yesterday I shared my bottle cap resin creations. The clear polyester resin took 3 days to cure at 69 degrees and 66% humidity. I used 15 drops of hardener to 1 oz of resin as the package directed for items 1/8″ thick. Today I am showing you my first cast resin pieces. I used the same ratio or 1oz resin and 15 drops hardener (catalyst) and I added a pea size dollop of green acrylic paint and some pearl ex to the mix. I think I was supposed to add the color and pearl to the resin before hardener but I forgot and added it after. No big deal, but the pearl-ex probably would have mixed in better, I had some lumps as you will see in the silicone mold. The cast resin took 5 days to cure, it was hard 24 hours after pouring but it was sticky for days. I tried a few different molds. The one that I liked the best was Casting Craft, it was smooth and the resin cured  quickest in here:

I had a duplicate mold of this one by Makin’s Clay so I decided to risk using it. It seems sometimes resin could be permanent in some plastics. This worked great and it took maybe 12 hours longer to cure than in the Casting Craft mold. I am excited because I have lots of this brand!

I LOVE the detail from the Martha Stewart silicone molds but they stayed sticky the longest. I know if the polyester resin is exposed to air (not touching the side of a mold for instance) it takes longer to cure or may remain sticky and maybe the matte finish of the mold affected the cure time. It has a slight tack to it at day 5 but it is getting much better each day.

Please note! Before I poured the resin in the molds I washed the molds, dried them, sprayed them with Casting Craft mold release/conditioner and let that dry overnight. Already this procedure is more work than anything I would ever cook, geez Louise, but I was determined to use up this expensive supply that has a shelf life 🙂 After all the pre-show prep I mixed the resin, poured it and left it alone. That is the hard part. Really. I kept visiting my resin (don’t do that) and touching it to see if it was sticky (hence the fingerprints on the back) and sometimes I’d take it outside and put it in the sun because I read somewhere it could speed up the process but I don’t think it did a lick of good. I feel like the weirdo who plays classical music for his plants. Really, you should pour the resin and leave town for a few days, that’s your best bet! 🙂 I’ll let you know if I discover anything else about this fascinating medium. I reckon the epoxy resin is a much more user friendly and forgiving resin but I will not be trying that until I use up this bulk can of ever-loving polyester stuff. That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Well, that’s something, all right…

…because nothing says “classy” like your very own wearable beer bottle cap accessories.

I had to make something with my resin bottle cap experiments seeing that they all cured nice and glassy, well not counting the ones with my impatient fingerprint (and fingernail) marks in them. 😀

I made rings and barrettes…hmm, do adult women wear barrettes very often because no mother in their right mid is going to let their daughter wear a beer bottle cap barrette…they might be hard to sell…. where would one wear these creations?

Oh well…these might end up in my craft fair bargain bin but I bet the rings would come in handy in a  bar fight, hey! That is probably the perfect place to wear them!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out my glass bottle cutter and make me a set of fine beer bottle drinking glasses to match! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Fun OP-Art Project for Kids!

Hey parents, this project will keep the kids busy for a while:

You will need: A ruler, markers, a pencil and a piece of typing paper. Here is what you do, trace a shape on the typing paper using a pencil. You can trace your hand (now that’s handy!) or a dish, stencil or anything you can find, simple shapes are best though! Then use a ruler and a marker to make a line across your paper parallel to the bottom of your paper. Draw the line up to the edge of your shape but don’t draw through the shape, then draw from the other side of the shape to the other edge of the paper. You have a gap in the marker line in the middle of the shape. Draw an arched line (like a rainbow) within the shape connecting the first 2 lines you made. Now using this line as a guide fill in the paper with stripes in the same manner. This will take a while, your eyes might cross and I had to take an aspirin when I was done because my head was spinning a bit.

But the big payoff is when you lay the paper on the table flat and look at it from a distance, it looks like the shape is raised off the paper. Cool! One of my daughters said it looked like the hand was under a blanket.

The paper is flat but we created an illusion, a-la-peanut-better-sandwich! You are a crafty magician! Have fun with this project and til next time happy crafting!

How to make a ring from wire {and it’s fancy!}

Howdy folks! Does your art and crafts reflect your environment? Mine always seems to. My son was off to camp this week so it was just me and the girls during the day, we hung out in the craft room creating and watching the show “Once Upon A Time” on Netflix. They worked on dozens of pearler bead coasters and I made these:

Well a lot more actually, they are addicting and very easy to make. But if flowers aren’t your thing you can use whatever beads, charms or embellishments you like. Here is how I made the rings and earrings too!

I only used the leaf beads on one because I could not get them to hold tight without wiggling.

I think these will sell well at my next craft fair, they will look great with my enchanted fairy bubble wands I think! All the beads I used (except the leaves which were from a  kit in the dollar bin at Joann fabrics) were from Fire Mountain Gems.

And since I used acrylic beads the earrings are very light, light enough for children to wear!

I hope you give this project a try! Let me know if you have any questions and til next time happy crafting!

WOYWW Another Week, Another Mess!

Hello folks! For those of you following along in my resin adventure I am happy to report that after 3 days my resin is hard and glassy, it was bit dicey for a while and it didn’t help that I kept visiting my creations and poking them to see if they were cured yet. Note to self: KEEP YOUR GRIMY PAWS OFF THE RESIN! So for those of you at home who want specifics it took 3 days to cure my polyester resin (mixed per package directions) with a room temperature around 70 and humidity at 66%. Higher temperature and lower humidity would have taken less time I suspect. Hey, here is a fun fact, thicker pieces take less time to cure, it seems that resin makes it’s own heat that speeds it’s curing process, Good to know. Also, don’t stick your fingernails in the resin to see if it cured…just sayin. BTW it is What’s on your workdesk Wednesday! On my desk are some bottle-cap resin rings and barrettes I just glued, paint from a project I just finished and other assorted supplies…

But wait, there’s more! I can’t even sit down in here, it is madness I tell you!

Crafty fun madness that is:) Want to join the crafty fun? Head on over to Julia’s blog the Stamping Ground and see for yourself! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Old Office Labels and OSA Challenge #235

Good morning friends. The other day while digging through a  drawer I cam across a box of old office labels. I remembered a technique one when I painted across a bunch of them and used them on a card. It just so happened that they would be perfect for this weeks challenge at Oriental Stamp Art:

It is a really fun technique and easier than it looks too. You can use any stamp you like but I used this Panda motif from About Art Accents (it’s on sale for $4 too!) to make mine. Watch the video for full instructions on making the card:

Easy huh? I think I have a package of small rectangle yard sale labels around here somewhere, If I can find them I will try this technique on a “window pane” looking card. Of course I’ll probably get distracted by something else (probably something shiny) while I am on the hunt.

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!