CS Kit Club April - Hope & Penant

Have you checked out the April Kit from Clear Scraps Creating Made Easy Kit Club.  The colors in the kit are soft and neutral to easily work into decor.   Here are two projects I've made with the kit.  Visit the Creating Made Easy blog for more inspiration from the kit!

The first project is done with the Large Pennant Piece from Clear Scraps.  (not included in the kit, but available through the Clear Scraps store)   I layered two papers behind the acrylic and glued them in place using Beacon Zip Dry Adhesive.

 I used two of the Clear Scraps Flower shapes as a base for the flower section.  These were colored with Silver and Blue alcohol inks and then run through my Sizzix Big Shot machine in embossing folders to give the a little texture.  The border of the Pennant is dotted with pearls using a Viva Decor silver pearl pen.  (Note that Glue, alcohol inks and pearl pens are not included in the kit)  The swirls of pearls ARE included in the kit!!  The pieces was further embellished with die cut flowers and butterflies, and flowers and buttons from the kit.

The second project is done with the Clear Scraps Large Word - Hope.  The letters were traced onto two of the patterned papers from the kit.  After cutting the letters out, they were attached to the back of the acrylic, using Beacon Zip Dry adhesive.

I used Stazon Brown ink and a dauber around the edges of the letters for a more antiqued look.

Then bronze pearl "studs" were added using Viva Decor bronze pearl pen.  I finished by added some die cut flowers and butterflies, along with some of the flowers from the kit.  I used the bronze pearl pen to add centers to the flowers and some highlights on the butterfly.

I hope you enjoy the April Kit! 

KC

Clear Scraps Haunted Castle

Happy Halloween All!!

When I was a kid my favorite scary movie was Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein.  I actually re-watched it last week....too funny!!!  I thought it was so scary when I was younger - now the only thing I find scary is the acting!

But I was still inspired by the classic black & white horror flicks to create this Haunted Clear Scraps Castle.  It was on the Clear Scraps blog last week, but in case you missed it, I wanted to share it here as well..

For this project I used Clear Scraps' Sandcastle Acrylic Album.  

When I originally got this album I had imagined something very frilly and sweet, but when I started to gear up for Halloween, this album just cried out to become a Haunted Castle.  And since my kids share my love of Halloween and odd sense of humor, I had a perfect set of photos to fill it with and keep the theme.

As luck would have it, I had recently left the lid off my Black Stazon Ink and dried out the ink pad.  This did not make me happy at the time, but it was perfect for creating the shadowed edges on the acrylic pages.  

After inking all the pages, my castle was already taking on a creepy look.

I went around each piece with a black sharpie to add more definition to each of the layers.

Then I took a fine-line Sharpie marker and added shingles and other architectural elements.  I am a natural-born doodler so this step was a lot of fun for me.  I may do an album just completely covered in doodles or Zentangles.  

Here's a closer look at some of the details.  If you are not a great doodler or free hand artist, here is a really great thing about Clear Scraps....THEY'RE CLEAR!!  I used a printed boarder for the square scroll pattern and simply traced it.  I also used a line grid behind the acrylic to make sure my shingles stayed fairly uniform or at least fairly straight.

The rest of the album was all about pictures.  I took some of the old Halloween pictures and edited them to black and white and printed some titles, years and captions in some fun fonts. 

There are a few splashes of color, like the red glitter "blood" on the Count's page.

I used some bling and ribbon trims from Want2Scrap and added Viva Decor Silver Pearl Pen "pearls" to accent the outline of the castle pages.

These Clear Scrap Albums are so much fun to put together!  I hope I've inspired you to try one!  

Be Safe and don't eat too much candy!!

KC

"M" is for My Daughter

I can't believe my baby is turning 20 next week!  She's away at school and moved into her first apartment this year.  But what really shows me that she is growing up is that she has finally moved beyond zebra stripes in her decor!  She actually picked a very "grown up" comforter for her room, so I am making an "M" for her wall.

For this project I used:  A chipboard "M" (you can use the letter of your choice :)  Scraps of paper in her color scheme, Helmar Decoupage Paste, Helmar Gemstone Glue, Art Glitter Ultrafine Glitter - #249 Woodberry, Reusable stencil from Plaid, Embossing ink (Versa Mark) and embossing powder (Mardi Gras from Globecraft Memories).

Start with a chipboard letter

Tear scraps of paper and arranged them loosely on top of the M making sure everything will be covered and that you have a good balance of colors.

Use a sponge brush to brush a thin layer of Decoupage Past on the chipboard and lay the first piece of paper down.  Then put more paste on top of the first piece, just where the second piece would over lap and make sure you have enough paste on the letter to hold the second piece in place.

Continue until you have the entire letter covered, with the papers extending beyond the edges.

Let dry completely.

Use an Exacto knife or razor knife to cut the excess paper away.  Turn the letter upside down on a cutting surface and work from the backside.  Don't try to hold your knife flat against the edge of the letter to cut.  You will end up cutting into the chipboard.  Hold the knife so it is at a 45 degree angle from the edge and follow the bottom edge of the letter.  If you are impatient, like I was, and don't wait for your paste to be completely dry, your paper may not cut straight or may wrinkle or tear.

Brush the front of the letter with a generous coat of Decoupage Paste and let dry completely.  If there were edges that came up during the cutting process, put a little paste under them and press them back into place.

My daughter loves Fleur de Lis, and I happened to find this pack of stencils from Plaid that had the Fleur de Lis on the front of the package.  It was meant to be....

Tape the stencil in place with painter's tape.

Use a small sponge brush or stencil brush to stencil Gemstone Glue.

Remove the stencil and cover the glue with Art Glitter Ultrafine Glitter.  Tap the excess onto a clean sheet of paper and pour back into the jar.  Once the glue is dry, use a soft brush to brush any excess off the Letter.

I finished the "M" by adding some rhinestone Fleur de Lis from my stash drawer.  Then I stamped and heat embossed some flourishes in the corners.

Please be sure to visit the Art Glitter Blog for more glittering creations!

Thanks for stopping by!

KC

Connie Crystal Pumpkin

I got to spend last week at the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) Summer Show in Chicago.  There were lots of fun new products to check out and play with.  But one of the most dazzling booths was the Connie Crystal Booth.  Of course, I am distracted by everything that glitters and shines, so all that glittering crystal in one booth was right up my alley!  I was also very honored to have a few of my pieces on display there!

My Suncatcher on the left, and Christmas Ornament on the Right, with Kristi's  mixed media piece in the center

My Key with Bling, along with Connie's beautiful pieces

This Fall Pumpkin was also in the booth, but somehow I neglected to get a picture of it there.  I was probably distracted by all that shiny crystal :)

Here are the instructions for making the Copper and Crystal Pumpkin.

You will need:
Copper Wire in 16 and 20 gauge, thin copper sheet (like foil, but copper), brown card stock, Leaf Stamp (the one I used is from the Fabulous Fall stamp set from Red Rubber Designs), Black Stazon Ink, and a mix of 6 or 7 fall colored beads from Connie Crystal.

Cut 3 pieces of 16 gauge wire about 2' long.  Use round pliers to create a loop at one end.  Wrap the wire around a round rod.  I used the sharpening stick from my old knife set.  You could also use a mandrel if you have one, or wood dowel, or even a larger pencil or pen. 

Remove the wire from the rod and stretch it out so that it is still wavy.  

Thread the end of the wire through the beginning loop and close it with your round pliers to form a large loop of copper.

Repeat with the other pieces of copper

Lay the copper loops so that they overlap and form a pumpkin.  Bend and stretch the loops as needed until all three loops are approximately the same size and shape.

Using the 20 gauge wire and needle nose pliers, wrap small sections around the intersections of the wire loops to join all three loops together.

Take a smaller - around 10" - piece of 16 gauge and wrap it around the rod.  Then stretch it and bend it to form the "stem".  Wrap the ends around the wire at the top of the pumpkin to secure in place.

Stamp 4 leaves on the copper sheet

Cut the leaves out and trace onto brown card stock.  Take a piece of 20 gauge wire - about 8" long and bend the top about 1/2" down into a loop or "U".  This will help keep it in place.  Glue the wire between the copper sheet and brown card stock.  The card stock will help give the leaves some stability.

Thread 10" lengths of 20 gauge wire through the Crystal Beads and twist the wire to hold the bead in place.

Wire the leaves and beads in a random patterns around the top of the pumpkin.

Have you checked out the NEW Connie Crystal Website and Blog???  You'll find all of the Connie Crystal Products and lots of great projects and ideas!

Red Rubber Designs - Autumn Wonder Card

Red Rubber Designs continues to celebrate fall with the New Release Stamps for July.  I have combined a couple of these stamps for this Autumn card.  I used the "Every Leaf" stamp on thin copper sheet for the shiny leaves a the top.  I used the "Autumn Swirls" stamp for a background on the yellow section of card stock from the Amelia Pattern Cardstock.  I also used the Autumn Swirl stamp for the "Autumn Wonder" section.


I am loving working on these fall projects!  Check back again for more projects from the featured Fall themed stamps!

Every Leaf Wine Glass Candle Cover - Red Rubber Designs First Thursday Blog Hop

Welcome to RRD's First Thursday Blog Hop!

Today, each of the design team members are presenting a project made with the July Spotlight Stamp Set - "Every Leaf".  I am so glad to be working on a fall project!  It is my favorite time of the year, and since we are in a record spell of consecutive triple digit temps, I am REALLY looking forward to cool, crisp Autumn days!!

I have made a wine glass "shade" for a votive candle, using vellum paper and the Every Leaf stamp set.  I began by printing the pattern below on white paper.  Then I laid a piece of vellum over it so that I could use it as a guide for stamping.  I stamped the leaves in embossing ink and covered with gold embossing powder and then heat set it.  I love embossing on vellum.  Since the embossing ink doesn't absorb into the vellum like it does on paper or card stock, you get nice coverage and a thicker, raised design.  You do lose some of your detail in your stamps, but since I was going for a gilded leaf effect, that was OK.  I then used multiple shades of brown and a little orange Copic Marker to color in the leaves on the back of the vellum.  

Once this was dry, I placed the vellum back on the shade pattern and penciled in the rest of the pattern so that I could cut it out - cutting around the leaf edges that extended beyond the pattern piece.  I used some shape scissors to create a scalloped edge at the bottom and then went around the top and bottom edges with brown Copic marker.  Then I simply connected the two edges by running a line of double stick tape (made for vellum) down one side and over lapping the second edge onto the tape.  Two things to note:  1.  You may have to adjust the size of the pattern depending on the size of your wine glass and 2.  Since heat can sometime have unpredictable effects on pigments and adhesives, I recommend using a battery operated votive candle instead of an actual flame.

Shade pattern - print full size on 8 1/2 x 11

Here's the rules for this hop:

Each blog on the hop (except the Red Rubber Designs Blog) has one word that will complete a phrase somewhere in their blog hop post. Once you find all six words (that's a hint!) put them together to form a phrase. You may have to rearrange them a little bit!

Note: The word you need from each blog will be obvious if you read carefully.... it looks just a little different from the rest of the letters!

Once you figure it out, email the phrase to contest@RedRubberDesigns.com and be sure to putyour name and email address in the email with the phrase. Every correct answer will be entered into a drawing for the featured stamp set - "Every Leaf" - and one winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

Contest ends Sunday, July 8th at Midnight (US-CDT).

Red Rubber Designs http://blog.red-rubber-designs.com/ (There will be a post with contest details)
Sarah
Paula-Kay
Louise
KC (you are here)
Kate
Diana