Evolution of the Soldered Charm

Just a quick post to show you how my crocheted and soldered charms from yesterday have evolved. For these two, I ended up wrapping them onto etched sheets of metal. The one on the left is a chocker and the one on the right is a bracelet. Love them.

I put these two little ones onto a piece of ribbon. Sort of a mommy and me necklace. Believe it or not, the hardest thing I did yesterday was crocheting the teeny tiny flower with thread and encasing it in the tiny 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch glass squares (shown on the right).

The rain has stopped and I'm fully refreshed after a good night's sleep so I think I might go for a walk/jog after I gather my thoughts for the small talk I'll be giving tonight to the amazing group of women. Then onto paper clay and more crochet and soldering.

I was thinking to myself last night that with soldering, I feel that I've learned something as significant as sewing. I have so many ideas of other things to solder and imagine that I'll have my soldering iron close by my side in my studio when I get home. (I'll just have to remember to unplug it when not in use.)

Hope you're having a wonderful, creative weekend. :)

Boo! Jars :: Enamel Paint Tutorial

Check out my Boo! jars ... Big Boo and Little Boo ...

I first made orange dots with orange enamel paint by Plaid Crafts and a pencil's eraser. 

Next I made tiny pink dots with enamel paint and the back of a paintbrush.

When you use these enamel paints, you can either let the paint cure for 21 days or bake it in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. Once fully cured, I placed a bit of black masking tape on the front of each jar and wrote the letters with a white gel pen.

I suppose you could fill the jars with licorice and candy corn. But I kind of like the way my chalk and white charcoal pencils look in them.

Happy creating. :)

Embellished Sticks for Girls' Night Out

Had so much fun last night. It was a much overdue girls' night out with Heather, Amy, and Pam. We all decided that we would exchange gifts ... for so many reasons ... to celebrate and to congratulate. These bundles are what I ended giving each of them. Wanna see what I put inside?

Inspired by the sticks I made for my daughter, I painted sticks and then crocheted flowers and nailed the flowers with buttons to the sticks.

I also nailed little felt hearts with buttons to the sticks and added their names with a dip pen.

I figured these sticks would go well with the stones I made for them for a previous occasion. 

My favorite part of preparing these gifts was being able to enclose tiny typed notes in the bundles ... to express gratitude for their friendship and support. Good food, good drinks, good laughs, and good conversation. Just what I needed.

Milky Heart Jar :: Enamel Paint Tutorial

I love jars. And I love upcycling used jars for new purposes. Like this upcycled frappaccino jar that I painted with enamel paint.

I first made a heart template using Con-Tact paper and adhered it onto the jar. More details on Con-Tact paper here. Next, I applied a coat of FolkArt enamel acrylic paint by Plaid.

Next, I peeled off the stencil. So cute, right?

To cure the paint, you can allow it to air dry for 21 days or bake it in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.

Once cured, tie a length of Baker's Twine at the top, fill it with milk, and enjoy.

Studio Explorations :: acrylics on fabric + white charcoal pencil + graphite pencil + black ink

.. Studio Explorations ..
acrylic paints on fabric, white charcoal pencil, graphite pencil, black ink 

Studio Explorations :: acrylics by PLAID, graphite pencil, white charcoal pencil

.. Studio Explorations ..
Toasted Vanilla and Deep Tomato Red acrylics by Plaid, graphite pencil, white charcoal pencil 

 

In Love with Deep Tomato Red & Toasted Vanilla by PLAID

Check out my favorite new acrylic colors: Deep Tomato Red and Toasted Vanilla by Plaid.
So yummy.

Goes on smoothly straight up, layers nicely, and also waters down into lighter intensity when mixed with water.

So for this piece, I started with Toasted Vanilla, straight up. 

... and then added shading with a graphite pencil and white charcoal pencil, and lots of dit dots with a tracing wheel, and lettering with a dip pen and ink.

Here's to letting it shine. :)

DISCLOSURE :: Plaid Crafts sent me paint samples. These two are my favorites.
POLICY :: Of all the products or books that are sent to me, I only review the ones for which I can honestly provide a positive review. In other words, if I can't say anything nice, I won't say anything at all. More on this here.

Studio Explorations :: yellow pages, blender pen, bone folder

.. Studio Explorations ..
yellow pages, Chartpack blender pen, bone folder

Place torn yellow pages onto surface, with image to transfer touching the surface of the paper. Rub back of yellow pages with blender pen. Burnish with a bone folder.

Does it transfer onto painted acrylic? Yes it does.

Con-Tact Paper Washi Tape Tutorial

Washi tape is so the thing right now, right?

I was really inspired by today's Totally Hot feature that offers a tutorial on how to make washi tape using fabric adhesive tape.

So I used that concept but with a different material: the very affordable and very available Con-Tact paper. You can find Con-Tact paper in the grocery aisle near all the shelf liner products. If your grocery store doesn't carry it, you can find it at Target. Con-Tact paper is basically sticky vinyl that people sometimes line their shelves with. Just peel off the paper backing and place the sticky vinyal onto whatever surface you like.

To make washi tape, cut strips of Con-Tact paper and color the strips with Copic markers.

You can also leave a strip uncolored and just doodle little flowers on it with a permanent black marker and white gel pen. So cute, right?

On the strips that you do color, you can further embellish with a black permanent marker or white gel pens.

You can also use scallop edged scissors to scallop an edge!

Peel off the paper backing and use it just like tape! And if you're feeling generous, wrap a length of your custom washi tape onto spools, secure it with a white dot sticker and give it to a washi tape-deserving friend.

Happy washi. :)

Tracing Wheel on Fabric with Lettering and Stitching Tutorial

Check out my latest.

Started first by making dit dots with acrylic paints using a tracing wheel on a piece of drill fabric.

Then I lettered the words using a bamboo dip pen.

I made a second one that I attached strips of fabric and paper to.

And finished with some free motion stitching.

Happy. :)