WOYWW: Tutorial-Cheap Flexible Molds!

Happy Wednesday folks! well, this week we have gone from 2 degrees to 50! You know what they say about the weather in Maine, if you don’t like it wait 5 minutes LOL! This week my desk is littered with clay, glass, stencils and moulds…why am I telling you this? because it is What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday (or WOYWW for short) before I show you my desk here are some molds I made from Sculpy Bake and Bend Clay, it s way cheaper than using the Ranger 2 part molding stuff, I made a video to show you how at the end of this post:

And here is my desk, I am a skitzo crafter today, making stencils and molds…I think I like making supplies more than creating with them LOL!

And just in case you think I don’t support the crafting economy check out my yummy new glass I just ordered from Devardi glass. I sorted it in a bill organizer I picked up a few years ago at goodwill for $2. It is perfect for the glass rods. I hope to try out this glass later today, since my toaster oven is out for clay anyway I think I will use it as a rod warmer (don’t worry, I won’t burn my hands off!) since the Devardi glass (which is dirt cheap BTW) might be a little shocky so I want to bring it up to temp before I put it in the flame, my studio is really cold so thermal shock might happen…I’ll let you know how it all turns out 🙂

And now my super cheap flexible mold tutorial. I used Bake and Bend clay which I bought on sale for $5 a pack of six 1 oz bricks but regular prices is $7 so still way cheaper than the two-part epoxy mold maker. What I really love is that it does not cure till you heat it so there is no waste. With the 2 part stuff you have to use it or lose it! You can even press the clay to textured surfaces and make rubber stamps!

I thought of another tip when working with clay: Remove your nail polish first because the clay will make it all freaky and gross:) Oh and the scrap clay rigid mold tutorial (which is like making them for free-love that!) is here.  Well, that’s it! I am going to brew a pot of coffee and head over to the Stamping Ground and check out other WOYWW crafty desks, won’t you join me? Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

tutorial: How to Cut a Wine Bottle (It’s AWESOME!)

OK, tell me you haven’t dreamed of the day you could turn all of those fancy wine bottles into vases, glasses and other home decor projects.

 

I remember seeing Carol Duval (I think) cut a bottle on TV years ago and ever since I wanted a glass bottle cutter. Well, last Christmas my husband bought me one. I couldn’t wait to try it out…an hour and a sink full of glass shards later I was frustrated and disappointed and the poor little glass cutter was on its way to cabinet where I put all the other gadgets I had to have but couldn’t figure out how to use, move over Ron Popiel Pasta Maker, you have company.

I did not completely give up hope though, I was watching a science video on you tube and a guy had the same G2 Glass Cutter that I had but instead of doing what the directions said (holding it upright and spinning the cutter) he laid the cutter on the table and spun the bottle, brilliant! Way less awkward! I was so excited after this worked that I made a quick video to show you all the steps in cutting a wine bottle, have a look:

OK, so you might have noticed that I changed my hair color, I was in such a glass cutting frenzy yesterday that I did not “fix” it so here is a photo of my new red hair:

 

Just like a deciduous tree I like to change my colors in the fall!

I can’t wait to play with some more bottles! I have friends saving me wine bottles now! I have a feeling I will be choosing my wine by the color of the bottle more than the contents for a while! Now…if I could only figure out how to use that pasta maker… Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

PS the G2 Glass cutter I used in the video can be purchased on Amazon for $20 😀

Tutorial: Elegant & Easy Placecards for Wedding and Holiday!

Because nothing screams “Elegant!” like Lindsay the Frugal Crafter…am I right? Here is an easy 2 minute place card I made with the new Mini Silhouettes and Monograms stamp set from Pink Persimmon.

 

You don’t need calligraphy experience just a 2.00mm felt tip calligraphy pen (I used one by Marvy Uchida) and a 4″x4″ peice of cardstock. If you have a scoring board that is handy but if not you can score it with a ruler and bone folder (or the smooth edge of a butter knife), Also you will need an old-fashioned circle cutter like Colluzle or Creative Memories (or trace around a quarter and use a craft knife. Well, enough jibber-jabber! Watch the video to see how it’s done.

Easy peasy right? You can mix up the cardstock, ink and pen colors to be as bold or elegant as you like! And you too can be a “classy broad” just like me! 😀 Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Glitter it {Just a Little Bit!}

Woohoo, It’s Friday and I’m playing with glitter!!! update on my coffeepot situation-the coffee maker is still not working BUT I rooted around in my basement last night and found my old espresso machine and I must say after 4 shots of hazelnut espresso I am feeling pretty optimistic! That, and I get to have lunch with 4 of my favorite people today, it’s gonna be a good one! Oh, yes back to the glitter, check out the glitteriffic glaze I made:

The glitter I used and the pots I put the paint in are from Papermart. The glitter is super fine and only .99 cents a tube! Look at the glittery goodness!

It is so simple! Here is a video showing how I made the paint as well as many other ideas on using glitter. I will warn you I am a bit giddy here, there might be some singing….If loving glitter is crazy I don’t wanna be sane!

So, do you want to play with glitter now? Here are the glittered cards from the video. It is nice to be able to do the glitter sheet technique without the adhesive sheet. I had a thought after doing the video that you could also use spray adhesive (aerosol spray glue) over the colored panel and glitter and not need the embossing powder, even better!

Well that’s it for today, I have Thai food in my future then it is off the set up games for the Halloween party at the school, the PTG put me in charge of games this year and I was a bit nervous but I think I have it under control…false sence of confidence? Yep, the caffeine is doing its job LOL! Have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Tutorial: How to Emboss Without a Machine!

Day 2, broken coffee maker. Nuff said. I did manage to hot-wire a cup by pouring boiling water over grinds in a filter again and it is nice to know that during a zombie apocalypse I will still be able to make a decent cup of coffee, because hey, without the caffeine my brain wouldn’t even be fit for a zombie. I am a regular pioneer woman! Speaking of making do without a machine I am going to show you how to emboss paper without a die-cutting or embossing machine. It will be a good skill to have when the zombie apocalypse happens…or if you just don’t want to shell out the money for another expensive craft gadget. Here is a card I made with paper I embossed by hand:

 

So by now the 90% of you who have die-cutting machine are thinking “see you later, I’ll just use my machine thanks!” But wait, if you are embossing old-school you can emboss paper larger that what will fit in your machine, like, um, say a scrapbook page. Grab a cup of coffee (If you are lucky enough to have one) and check out my video tutorial…if I seem mellow today…it would be due to lack of caffeine 🙂

Easy huh? If you have any questions leave a comment and I will answer them. I’m off to fix my coffeemaker, apparently the ‘leaving it alone and hope it straightens itself out’ method  is not working. Til next time happy crafting!

WOYWW: Check out my rack!

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter! Geez. 😀 I’m talking about my watercolor crayon/pastel/pencil rack! I mentioned last week how my friend snagged me 2 of these beautiful display racks from a gift shop going out of business and ever since I received them I wanted to fill one with my watercolor crayons, pastels and Gelatos. I haven’t been using these supplies much lately and I find when I rearrange my supplies I am more inspired by them.  Since it is Wednesday (albeit LATE, but it is STILL Wednesday in the States) I decided to share my share my creative chaos with the rest of the What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday world or as I love to call them my “craft hoarders enabling group” LOL!

Well, the rack worked, I couldn’t wait to play with my crayons (what am I, 5?!?) and I did and made a video tutorial on how to use watercolor crayons and water-soluble oil pastels. I use the Portfolio Oil Pastels by Crayola, they are a steal of a deal (I paid $8 for a 24 pack on Amazon) and the work like a dream! The watercolor crayons I use are by Caran d’Ache and are pricey but I’ve had my set for over 10 years, I’ve used them quite a bit and they hardly wear down at all.  This video starts with a basic sketch, coloring and blending with a wet brush. Anyone can do this! 🙂

What do you think? Are you ready to give it a whirl? Typically when I work with watercolor crayons I take quite a bit of time but I wanted to show you some basic stuff you could do quickly and easily. The frame I made for the painting is also a snap and I made a quick video on that too but you will have to wait til tomorrow to see that (I have not even taken the video off the camera yet!)

Let me know if you have any questions and til next time happy crafting!

A video tutorial by request…

Happy Monday folks! Last week a reader asked me to do a video on using the Inkadinkado Stamping gear to make cards, well, I could not disappoint, here is the completed card with the background I made on the video.

 

And here is a quick video on stamping a small background with the Stamping Gear.

How’d you like that smooth transition a the end? That’s me, smooth 🙂 Here is a close up of the glittered focal point that I showed you on Friday’s video, I am really into glitter now, I hope to have some glittery decor projects for you later this week, til next time happy crafting!

 

Get your SHINE on!

Sometimes there is nothing better than glitter…am I right!?! I had seen some lovely cards around the blogosphere with what looked like stamping done on a sheet of glitter. When I was tidying up my cardstock stash the other day I came across 3 packages of Score Tape sheets hiding under a pack of cream cardstock! I grabbed some cardstock, a stamp and some markers and started experimenting and came up with this:

 

I tried this a few different ways but the result I liked best was when I stamped on the cardstock, then placed a sheet of adhesive on top, sprinkled with glitter (and rubbed it down good with a bone folder) then colored it with Sharpie markers. Here is a video to see how it’s done:

Here are some close-ups of the glittery goodness:

 

I’ll have another video for you tomorrow (am I on a roll or what!) Til then happy crafting!

I’m a Chalk Chick & WOYWW!

Boy, I love Wednesdays because I get to snoop around to other crafters desks and not feel one bit self conscious of my housekeeping skills! 😀 Yes, it is time for my weekly “Craft Hoarding Enablers Group” AKA What’s on your Workdesk Wednesday! Last week I was taken aback by some beautiful PanPastel work done by Jackie at Scrap Bang Wallop (love that name!) and I wanted desperately to get that look…the problem being that I do not have Pan Pastels. They are expensive and they look absolutely brilliant but alas, the do not reside in my stash. No worries, I have regular pastel chalks though so I decided to try to get a similar look with them:

The trouble I was having with my cheap student grade pastels (SMI brand I paid $15 for a box of 48) was that they would not stick to my smooth cardstock (well, duh, I always use pastels on rough paper) so I had to use fixative (OK ,I used hairspray 🙂 ) but the color was still not bold enough. I reckon the pan pastels are just super saturated and they would color anything but I never tried them. So I decided to play around with a damp sponge and it worked! Check out my video to see the technique…I’ll warn you, I’m a little more giddy than usual in this video!

Was that fun or was it just me? You can also stamp with clear embossing ink and use a dry sponge or pom-pom to apply chalk over the stamped image and it will stick to the stamping, that technique is called poppin pastels. Also you can stamp an image and pick up color with a water based blender pen and use that to pick up chalk and paint with it. Chalks are awesome! Here is a look at the chalk backgrounds I made:

 

Thanks for stopping by and if you want to see what other crafters are up to check out WOYWW! Til next time happy crafting!