Crafting with the Family and Clear Scraps

Our family  (at least most of the girls in the family) love to craft.  So when we all get together at Thanksgiving we usually set some time aside for crafting.  I should mention that our Thanksgiving celebration begins Wed evening and lasts until at least Saturday.  This year's project was a Clear Scraps project featuring shapes from the mini-albums. (on SALE NOW!)  The project was appropriate for all ages and there was very little instruction needed - we just set out a buffet of supplies and let people dig in and get creative.

This project would be a great way to keep the kids busy over Christmas break.  These mini shapes are perfect for experimenting with techniques and colors -  anything goes!

Just gather some Clear Scraps mini album shapes, Alcohol Inks, Acrylic paints (metallic acrylics look great on Clear Scraps), Zip Dry Glue, Stazon ink, stamps, fun papers, stickers, ribbons, trims, glitter, flowers, buttons....basically anything.....and let the fun begin!  The idea is to make the shapes into gift tags that can then be used as Christmas Ornaments.

Here are some of our finished tags to get you started.  Fun scrapbook papers let people show their personality!  A little glitter and glam is great too!

Keep it simple.....

Or go all out.....

There are no rules!

For more Clear Scraps fun, visit the Clear Scraps Blog!

Happy Holidays!!

KC

Faux Snow Snowflake Ornament

This is a quick and easy ornament project.  It is very kid friendly.  These would be great as teacher gifts, or write a personal message on the back and use them as gift tags.  These paper mache snowflakes are available at Hobby Lobby.

I started by painting the snowflake white with acrylic paint.  After that dried I sprayed the front side with Helmar V2 Vellum Adhesive.  While the adhesive was still wet, I placed the snowflake on a clean sheet of paper and sprinkled on the Faux Snow.

I shook off the excess snow and put it back in the jar.  Then I sprinkled the ornament with Art Glitter Ultra Fine Glitter - Pearlescent - #183 Blue Angel.  The glitter filled in any spaces on the adhesive that the snow had not filled.

Then I used purple and blue printed card stock to stamp "Let it Snow" and glued it to a purple backing.  I used Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive (DDCA) to attach the card stock to the snowflake.  I finished with a swirl of rhinestones from Want2Scrap.  I used a little of the DDCA on the areas of the rhinestone swirl that extended over the "snowy" surface.

Thanks for stopping!

Snowflake Pendant

Christmas in August continues at Red Rubber Designs.  For this project I've used one of this month's featured stamp sets - Snowflake Set.

To make the pendant, I rolled out purple polymer clay and pressed my pendant setting face down into the clay to mark the outer border.  Then I stamped the snowflakes, without ink, into the clay.  To fill some of the empty areas, I used a dull pencil and added extra dots.  Then I used a clay blade to cut the pendant just inside the guide marks I had made with the pendant setting.  After baking the clay, I rubbed the surface with a rub-on silver, leaving the recessed snowflakes in purple.  I finished by gluing the clay into the setting and adding a jump ring and cord.

Christmas continues all month at Red Rubber Designs, but Pam's Birthday Sale only goes on for four more days!  Hurry and take advantage of some great deals!  50 items are marked at 50% off!  Free shipping for orders over $50.00 (continental US) and $5.00 shipping on orders under $50.00.  Plus all stamps have been marked down!

Little Crystal and Glitter Angel

I've been trying to keep up a Christmas theme on my blog this month, so this little angel was created as a Christmas ornament, but she would make a great guardian angel to hang from a rear view mirror anywhere else she might catch a little light.  This is a super easy project and would be a great project for kids too.  How cute would these be as teacher gifts this Christmas?

I used:  Felt angel from Creative Impressions Felt Ornament collection, Art Glitter Dries Clear Adhesive, Art Glitter Ultrafine glitter in Horizon, Angel Dust and Leather, Connie Crystal Beads: 1.5" French Cut, and 10mm Round.

I began by using a make-up sponge to dab the adhesive onto the "dress" area of the felt angel and then coated it with Horizon glitter.  I then dabbed adhesive on the wings and coated with Angel Dust glitter.  The halo was then done in Leather glitter.

I brushed the back side of the French Cut Crystal with the adhesive and positioned the felt on top - glitter side down - so that the top of the crystal lined up with the top of the dress section.  

I covered the backside of the exposed adhesive with Angel Dust glitter.

Once the adhesive was dry, I ran a clear beading wire through the hole at the top of the French Cut Crystal and ran both ends of the wire up through the 10mm round bead. 

 I tied the wire around the halo to hold the bead in place and then tied a knot at the end of the wire to form a loop for hanging.

I love the way the crystal magnifies the glitter behind it!  I think I'll be using this on more projects!

Have you checked out the new Connie Crystal Website and Blog?  The Connie Crystal design team posts a variety of crystal projects with great tutorials and "how to's".

And don't forget....if you have a store, you can set up a wholesale account with Connie Crystal!  If you don't have a store, Connie Crystals are available on Amazon!!

Glittering Snowflake Ornament

By far, of my favorite theme is Holiday decorating is snowflakes!  Today I'll be sharing one of what, I'm sure,  will be many snowflake-themed projects.  This is a super quick and easy project, not to mention fairly inexpensive.  These snowflakes are great as ornaments, embellishments for cards or layouts, or tie them onto your packages for a little extra pizazz.  Of course, the ornaments are cool, but glitter makes them great!

For this project I used:  a Snowflake from Clear Scraps Mini Snowflake album, Sizzix Snowflake Embossing folder, Sizzix Big Shot embossing machine, Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive (DDCA), and Art Glitter Ultra Fine Transparent Glitter - #86 Angel Dust.

Begin by placing the acrylic snowflake in the embossing folder so that the snowflake pattern is centered on the acrylic.  Run it through the Big Shot.

After embossing, remove the protective plastic from both sides of the acrylic.  Placed the snowflake on your work surface so that the embossed snowflake is face down and the recessed snowflake is face up.  Using a fine metal tip on your DDCA, begin filling the recessed areas of the snowflake

If you work quickly, you can fill the entire snowflake with adhesive and then cover with Angel Dust glitter.  If you work slowly, stop after one or two sections and add the glitter so that you can be sure your glue is still wet and the glitter will adhere properly.  Shake and tap off the excess glitter.

Run a line of DCCA around the outer edge of the snowflake and sprinkle on more Angel Dust glitter.

Lie flat to allow adhesive to dry thoroughly.  The glue is still wet and milky white here.

Once the glue dries, the glittered areas are much more translucent - like a crystal snowflake.  Add a ribbon for hanging.

This is another snowflake ornament that I have made using Art Glitter and Clear Scraps Acrylic.  It is a larger and slightly more involved project.  The full instructions are on the Art Glitter Blog today.  Please go check it out!