Mel Designs

Halloween Drink Strirrers

Welcome to the Sticky Sticks Blog Hop hosted by the Designer Craft Connection. If you are hopping through the projects you've probably seen some really inspiring ideas for Halloween or other special occasions using Sticky Sitcks! Thanks for allowing me to share my idea for Halloween Drink Stirrers that morph into brooches.

Materials and Tools for Halloween Drink Stirrers:

Sticky Sticks

Fabric and black wool felt scraps

Buttons Galore and More Buttons (flat backed)

Laser Cut Wood Bird Shapes

Black acrylic paint

Pin backs

Inkjet fabric sheets

Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac

Tracing pencil (white), fabric marking pen, sewing machine and thread, hand sewing needle, paintbrushes, computer and printer, scalloped edged scissors

To create your own Halloween Drink Stirrers, use a circle and square template and the fabric marker to trace shapes measuring approximately 2 1/2" to the wrong side of the fabric. Cut out the shapes with scissors.

Trace 3" shapes onto the black wool felt with the white tracing pencil. Cut the circles and squares out with the smooth edged or scalloped edged scissors. You will need two of each shape for each Halloween Drink Stirrer you want to make.

Pin the shapes together. Use the sewing machine and thread to sew the shapes together.

Now comes the fun part! Embellishing your Halloween Drink Stirrers. I used inkjet fabric sheet to print out various Halloween sentiments.

Cut the sentiments out and fork the ends, then glue them under a button sewn or glued to the center of the shapes.

As an option, machine stitch the edges of your fabric sentiment. Embellish the shapes for the Halloween Drink Stirrers with painted black laser cut bird shapes and more buttons.

To create a Halloween Drink Stirrer that becomes a brooch, sew a bar pin to the backside of the embellished shape.

Now add the second un-embellished shape you cut from the black wool felt to the sticky stick.

Sticky Sticks are jumbo sized self adhesive craft sticks. This is a particularly great kids product because glue is not required. Just peel off the adhesive film to reveal the sticky part.

So I adhere my second wool felt shape to the stick and pin the embellished shape to that shape.

These Halloween Drink Stirrers that become brooches guests can take home as party favors will delight your guests!

Enjoy hopping along, just use the Designer Craft Connection gadget in the right sidebar of this blog to hop forward or back!

Happy Haunting,

Live Life Creatively,

Related articles

Halloween Door Decor

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French Provincial Jewelry Organizer

Halloween Door Decor

It's the first Monday of October which means its time for the Designer Craft Connection Hop.October also means all things creepy, scary and spooky which is why I decided to create new Halloween Door Decor using Walnut Hollow's Rustic Pallet line. This rustic pallet, measuring 14" x 24" immediately reminded me of one of my favorite Halloween characters, Frankenstein.

To create this Halloween Door Decor, I combined various wood shapes with paint. Here is what you will need to complete this Door Decor:

Materials

14" x 24" Rustic Pallet from Walnut Hollow

Two jumbo Craft Sticks

Two 3" Teardrop shapes

Two 1 1/2" flat backed black buttons

Four 1 1/2" ovals

One 2 1/2" circle

Three 2" circles

Two 3" squares

One paint stick (pick yup at a Home Improvement store in the paint section)

DecoArt Americana Acrylics in Olive Green, Black, Pumpkin, Grape Juice and White

Beacon Adhesives Premium Tacky Glue

Wiggle eyes

1" stamps and ink

Hanger of choice

Paintbrushes, sanding tool

The pallet will need to be thoroughly sanded. Use the sanding block and perhaps a nail file to get in between the slats. Start by painting the "top" of the rustic pallet black. The wood is very absorbent so have plenty of paint on hand. Paint the remainder of the pallet Olive Green.

Paint the other pieces black, grape juice, white, pumpkin (refer to the photo for specific shapes and colors.

Don't forget to paint in between the slats and also the back of your Halloween Door Decor for a more professional touch.

Stamp the painted paint stick with a sentiment of your choice. I liked "October 31."

Assemble the pieces and use a strong tacky glue such as Beacon Adhesives Premium Tacky Glue. Use a generous amount so the Halloween Door Decor will hold up to the outdoor elements. Let the glue dry thoroughly and attach a hanger of your choice to the back. I also included a purple hand dyed strip of muslin for a bow.

I would love to have an all green door like my sister does. We made her entire door into a Frankenstein for her Halloween Door Decor.

I guess my smaller version of Frankenstein will have to do for this year!

To hop to the next blog, use the icon on the right to go forward or back. You will surely see some amazing projects from the industry's most talented designers.

Thanks for letting me share my Halloween Door Decor with you!

Live Life Creatively,

Melony

Related articles

Recycled Wine Bottle Art

Repurposed Tap Shoe Pendant Using the Crystyler Tool

Indigo Dyed Stuffed Door Hanger

Around the 15th century, in the days of Chaucer and courtly love, lovers began the tradition of exchanging small tokens of love in the form of flowers, candy and cards which eventually became to be know as "Valentines."

In the tradition of the month of love, the Designer Connection Blog Hop brings you "Handmade with Love" where I am sure you will find tons of inspiration for creating special love gifts.

Gauging by the purchases from my etsy shop, Valentine gifts are not only for exchanges by lovers but also for giving between family members and special friends. I had a customer recently who requested a custom order for her sister and mother as it was in their tradition to exchange gifts every February 14th in lieu of Christmas.

If you saw my post on creating this indigo dyed bird pillow, you were introduced to the cool concept of indigo dying using Jacquard Product's  Indigo Dying Kit.

I played with this product extensively last Fall and made some really cool projects. If you have not used this product before, here is a short list of helpful tips.

- The kit contains everything you will need to dye several yards of fabric, t-shirts, etc. The only needed items to gather are a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, a stirring stick (long, I used a 1" dowel), and a small plastic container.

- Weather permitting, I would highly recommend you use this product outdoors. Do not try using it in a bathrub or shower as you will end up with blue stains that are very hard to remove (do you know how In know this?)

- Plan to dye several items at once. You can store the leftover dye with the "flower" removed and placed into the small plastic container if you would like to store it and use it later.

- If you dont want to dye your own fabric, visit my etsy shop where you can purchase tie dyed indigo fabric by the 1/2 yard.

- Jenny at Craft Test Dummies did a great tutorial on step by step dying with this kit that you can check out before you get started.

I started with 6" sqaures of tie dyed indigo. For the door hanger, you need two, one for the back and one for the front.

I used Lite Steam a Seam by The Warm Company which is my favorite fusible webbing, and an iron to fuse it to burlap. I cut the burlap to a 4 1/2" square, peeled off the paper backing and fused it to the center off one of the squares with the iron.

To create the design, you will need some additional fabric elements. I fused some of the indigo dyed fabric scraps to a die cut heart. (Note: fuse if first then die cut it) You also need to fused muslin scrap and a scrap of red ticking fabric. Once you have fused the muslin, use a solvent ink pad to stamp a sentiment and heat set it with the iron.

Peel off the paper backing from the stamped sentiment, fuse it to the center of the red ticking scrap and sew the edges with a sewing machine and thread. You can use a backstitch for this step if you would prefer as an option.

Use your sewing machine and thread to sew a tight zig zag stitch around the edges of the burlap. It will resemble machine applique. I used a straight stitch to stitch the heart to the burlap and a straight stitch to stitch the stamped label to the heart.

Next, turn two 6" indigo dyed squares right sides in and sew them together on the left, top and right sides, using a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave the bottom open for turning and stuffing.

Use an iron to steam the seams open and turn the door hanger right sides out. Tear two 2" strips from one of the 6" indigo dyed squares and use your sewing machine to sew knife pleats along the center. Join the two together with the center stitch to make the strip longer.

Turn the door hanger right side out, stuff with polyfil by Fairfield (my favorite since its high quality, soft and so easy to work with). Sew the bottom shut and sew the ruffled strip to the bottom of the door hanger. (you may need to trim excess from the strip with scissors)

Notice the addition of these pretty flower centers by Prima from the Dynasty Collection (Ivory) which are still available from Scrapbook.com.

I opted for a wire hanger which I attached by punching holes with my heavy duty hole punch.

These indigo dyed door hangers can be a wonderful addition to any home. Perfect as a little Valentines Day gift, they can be incorporated into a home with Americana decor as well.

Live Life Creatively,

Polymer Clay Vintage Ruler Bookmarks

 
 
When I scored these fun old rulers at a recent thrift shop going out of business sale, I left with so many ideas of how to use them. In an effort to preplan for the holidays I want to start organizing my gift giving for people such as teachers, co-workers, clients I would like to thank and friends, sans a big budget. I think these bookmarks will be perfect for the ladies on my list, as the materials are easy to come by (even the old rulers) and fairly quick to make in multiples. I will have to think about a man version- ideas welcome!

Choosing the Right Paints

Enter my favorite paints, Lumiere by Jacquard Products. These paints produce beautiful sparkly effects and really work well for producing antique results. The colors I chose for base coating and dry brushing are some of my favorites, Pewter, Crimson, Halo Violet Gold (fast becoming my fav even taking the place of my beloved Citrine) and Metallic Silver. Throw in some Neopaque colors like White and Magenta and you have the beauty that will make these bookmarks really stand out!  

So now the clay roses. Jacquard not only makes beautiful paints but they also carry a high quality polymer paint, Cernit clay, which is perfect for making both sophisticated and whimsical arts and crafts projects, including: miniatures, dolls, buttons, beads, jewelry, and for adding sculptural elements to any project, including bookmarks. 

Tips on Using Clay Molds and Conditioning Clay

The molds are from Mad About Molds, which carries high quality polymer clay bisque molds in so many themes and shapes it will make your head spin. I recently discovered their site and was unable to get away without $50.00 bucks worth of molds in my shopping cart. Delivery was professional, prompt and the molds more than lived up to my expectations. Surprisingly easy to use, they benefit from a light coat of cornstarch before placing the conditioned clay inside the mold. If you have never conditioned clay before, it entails working it with your fingers until it is soft and pliable. Clay that has been under-conditioned will result in cracks while baking. There are some tried and true tricks for quicker conditioning, including placing a small amount (about 1/4 of a block) into your pocket or even your bra. Regarding this last idea, I have been surprised more than once at the end of the day when I undressed and discovered a wad or two of clay on the floor, somehow forgotten about over the course of a busy day.

Once I molded and baked my roses, I gave them a couple-three coats of the Lumiere and Neopaque paint. Then I chose contrating colors of white and metallic silver to give the molded roses interest and depth. Dont forget the back! You want your rose to have that professional touch to them.

Cutting the Rulers to Bookmark Size 
"Vintage" (i.e. old advertisng rulers that can be found in some delightful colors) rulers are easy to find in almost any antique, flea or thrift shop. I used the no so colored ones since I did not want to compete with the beautiful molded roses.

Cutting the rulers is easy, you just need a hand saw (you may also want to wear safety gloves) and a cutting surface to protect your working surface from the obvious. I cut my rulers to 6" in lenth, which gives you two per 12" ruler (really?) or more from yard stick lengths (you do the math).

Assembling the Vintage Rulers 
Gluing the roses to the rulers is rather easy, the roses have a flat back. I also added these cute beaded scrapbooking embellishments by Recollections that I just love!

For a final vintage touch, dry brush the edges of the rulers with Neopaque in black.

 
A pretty gift a bookish friend will adore. They look great when paired with old torn books.

How to order the Materials or BookMarks

If you are interested in cernit clay, neopaque or lumiere, visit Dick Blick. For the truely time-strapped, I am offering these in my etsy shop. If you don't have time to put these these together, go to my etsy shop and order them!

Want to see another cool project using these products? Hop on over to my tutorial creating unique shadow box napkin rings.

Thanks for letting me share- remember...

Live Life Creatively,

 
 
 
 
 

  
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

ImpressArt Metal Stamp Blog Hop and Challenge

Happy Saturday! Today I am fortunate to be participating in a blog hop sponsored by ImpressArt. I have had little experience with stamping on metal, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me.

Once I got going, I was inspired to pull out some of my metal foil from Walnut Hollow and use it in my Frozen Charlotte Doll Bracelet. To make this bracelet I used the following ImpressArt products; 

-ImpressArt Design Stamp, Whimsy heart 

-ImpressArt Metal Stamping Hammer

-ImpressArt Steel Stamping Block

-ImpressArt Stamp Straight Tape

To start stamping, I cut small strips of metal foil and taped them to the Stamping Block using the Straight Tape.

I drew lines with a pencil to indicate where I would be stamping the hearts. In the end, I decided to completely cover the metal foil strip with the heart stamp.

I happened to turn over the metal foil strip and noticed it made beautiful embossed images on the opposite side, which I really liked.

I am mad about wrist cuffs. I am not a huge fan of wearing bracelets that dangle, but cuffs feel so much better on my wrist. This is why I decided to use the embossed/stamped metal strips on a fabric bracelet cuff. I had some pretty orange colored fabric I used on a previous project for Rit Dye. I really liked the color of the dyed fabric, so I am so glad I kept these scraps.

First I fused a strip of fabric (warpped to fit my wrist) with fuseable interfacing to give the bracelet more body. I added some pretty script fabric and sewed that together.

To secure the stamped metal strips to the bracelet, I used liquid fusion and some brads inserted in both ends of the metal foil strip.

As a focal point, I chose this Frozen Charlotte Doll and a pretty embellishment. I glued the doll on and them secured with a few stitches.

 

Stamped metal adds a unique touch to your projects so I am looking forward to doing more with ImpressArt's products.

ImpressArt is offering a giveaway in conjuction with this blog hop!

The Grand Prize is valued at up to $120.00 and contains:

1- ImpressArt alphabet set of the winner's choice

1- ImpressArt Steel Stamping Block, small

1- ImpressArt Metal Stamping Hammer

1- ImpressArt Stamp Straight Tape

An Assortment of metal discs

To enter go to the following link and follow the directions: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ImpressArt/155664424487844?sk=app_194975693850063.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I did with the products and will continue to hop through the remaining 19 projects from some of the industries most talented designers. Simply find the Designer Craft Connection logo on my right sidebar and hop forward or back! Happy hopping!

Live Life Creatively,

Melony

 

Quick and Easy Postcard Charms

Welcome to the May edition of the Designer's Connection Blog Hop! Our theme this month is quick and easy jewelry.

I love vintage postcards. Sometime not long ago, I found some old letters and postcards at an estate sale that had that old feel and look you just can't duplicate. I scanned the postcards in and used them to make everything from pillows, t-shirts, placemats and lately, these little postcard charms.

I added them to my etsy shop and got a pretty good response. But I longed to make something with them and finally, last week, I got the chance to create a sweet little bracelet along with some clever packaging for gift giving.I must confess, if you are willing to search out old postcards (can be pricey, but bargains are out there too- you just have to find them), scan them as a photo file and size them correctly, they are pretty easy to make. Here, I show you the basics:

 
Purchase a 1" wide (or 1 1/2" for wider charms) wood strip from your local craft supply or home improvement store. Choose a soft wood like basswood or even balsa, that can be cut with your handy dandy hand saw. If you have a dremel tool, consider using that. I have one but truth be known it scares the dickens out of me. Measure and cut the pieces so that they are rectangular, resembling a letter or postcard. Sand any uneven edges and wipe pieces with a tack cloth.

 Next, choose from pretty colors to compliment your postcards. I picked DecoArt Americana Acrylics Paints in Boysenberry, Antique White, Bahama Blue and Warm White. Paint the wood pieces, front and back.

Once your pieces are painted, print out the scanned and sized postcards. Remember to scan both the front and back of them as you will want to finish the front and back of the charm. Also, choose heavy, good quality paper which will make the images look better and be easier to work with when decoupaging. Additionally, I usually size my postcards just a little smaller than my wood piece, you will see why later.

Cut them out with small sharp scissors. Here is a photo of them cut put plus the original in the background so you can see where I started from.

Now it is time to decoupage. I like to use Aleenes Collage Pauge, along with a foam brush.

Once you have applied the postcards to the front and back of the wood, dry brush the edges using DecoArt's Lamp Black. This is why I leave a little border so I can add a little finish to the edges. If you dont feel comfortable dry brushing, you could also use dark chalk ink on the edges.

To create holes to insert the jump rings, I used a piercing tool, but you could also use one of those small hand drills, found at your craft supply store. They are very inexpensize.

I added flat backed Swarovski stones to my postcards. I chose very small pieces, ranging from 2mm-4mm to keep scale with the postcard.

Of course, I had to create some super fun packaging for this project so I painted (warm white) a small paper mache shadow box from C and T publishing and stamped the sides of it, dry brushing the top. Create a little custom tag for your bracelet, it makes a great gift.

 
 
If you dont recognize the metal flower embellishment on the tag and want to know how I made it, hop over to my post on updating old scrapbooking supplies you very well have in your own stash.

Click here to see these postcard charms on my etsy shop

Live Life Creatively,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Westcott Brand Cutting Tools- Duck Tape Cuff Bracelet

Its the first Monday of a brand new month which means its time for the Designer Crafts Connection hop! To hop forward or backward to the other 32 designer's fabulous creations using Westcott Brand Cutting Tools, Duct tape and Velcro, use the Designer Craft Connection logo on the right sidebar of my blog here.

Here are some cool facts about Westcott Brand Cutting Tools who is the official sponsor of the hop.

 

Westcott Brand® Scissors are the WORLD’S FAVORITE SCISSORS™ meaning Westcott sells more scissors than any other manufacturer in the world!

Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors are the BEST Non Stick Scissors on the market that never get stuck and can easily cut through Sticky Back VELCRO®, Duck Tape and multiple layers of fabric and other materials!

Titanium bonded blades are 3 times harder than stainless steel and never need sharpening!

Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools have the best performance! The 3” scissors can even cut through 5 layers of fabric!

Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools are ergonomic and come in several different color options!

Since October is Brest Cancer Awareness Month, we are making pink projects. I decided to make a simple cuff using the The Duck Brand® Solid and Patterned Duct Tape Rolls in gold and pink and black zebra striped pattern. To begin, I used the Westcott cutting mat to measure two 10" long strips of duct tape. Then I cut the strips with the 8" straight Titanium Non Stick Scissors.

Place the two strips together, sticky backs in to form the cuff. If your wrist is larger or smaller, you may want to adjust the measurements of the strips.

Next, cut the zebra striped tape with the Westcott Titanium Bonded Blade Paper Trimmer at 1/2". You will need two of these strips to line the top and bottom edges of the cuff.

I used the velcro to create the closure for the bracelet.

To create the flower embellishment, cut strips of zebra printed duct tape to 2" with the Titanium Non Stick Scissors.

 Fold the strip in half long ways...

Fold the long strip in half again, like this...

Adhere the bottom of the open ends together with a small strip (approximately 1/4" x 1/2" ) cut with 3" Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors.

Cut tiny corners off of the edges uisng the 3" scissors.

Repeat making petals, lining them intoma circle, placing tiny strips of duct tape between each petal.

Layer another smaller circle of flowers on top and glue an interesting embellishment in the center to finish.

Next, glue the flower to the center of the cuff.

 
 Win a Deluxe Westcott Cutting Tools Prize Package Assortment!
  

Westcott Giveaway: To win a fantastic Deluxe Assortment of Westcott Cutting Tools, go to . http://westcottbrand.blogspot.com/2011/10/designer-crafts-connection-charitable.html and leave a comment to win prior to November 1st (actual prize package may vary slghtly, US residents only please). You can also get an extra chance to win by leaving a comment about the hop on the Westcott Facebook Fan Page.

 
Live Life Creatively,

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Message in a Bottle Halloween Party Invites or Favors

Happy Labor Day! The "un-official" end of Summer makes us think of what's ahead. Falling leaves, cooler weather, lots of football games and then before you know it- HALLOWEEN. My most FAVORITE holiday in the world. Today, the designers participating in the Designer Crafts Connection (see logo at right of page to hop forward and back) are bringing you various ideas for party favors OR anything else they want to.

I thought these small wine bottles (recycled, emptied, thoroughly cleaned out and labels removed) would make the perfect Halloween party favors. Filled with small treats, they would be the perfect spooky addition to your bash or just to make for those special neighboorhood friends or co-workers. Fill with seasonally colored m&Ms, skittles, jelly beans etc.

I simply covered the bottle with scraps of patterned paper, added some layered punches and a stamped motif and a pretty/coordinating piece of beaded bling and fabric scraps. For the lid, I painted the lid with white acrylic paint, varnish and Krylon webbing spray to give the Halloweeen Party Favors  that special touch.

 These bottle would also be PERFECT for housing a Halloween party invite, message in a bottle style. Here is how to do that easily.

 Use an invite stamp to stamp some info with StazOn ink.

Use a black permanent marker to fill in the scary details.

Roll up, tie with black string and make sure the rolled tube shape fits into the opening of the bottle easily.

Insert a glue dot or a small piece of double sided adhesive tape to the inside of the lid. Tape the end of the string to the tape. This will allow your recipient to remove the Halloween party invitation once they unscrew and remove the lid.

Replace the lid and allow your invite to dangle inside.

To mail, and inexpensively I might add, purchase a plain white bubble mailer and spray with the webbing spray. I purchased my mailer from Office Depot for about $1.75 and it can be mailed with the bottle inside for under $2.00. Make sure you use clear packing tape to secure the mailing and return address.   

To see more clever ideas hop around on the blog hop today. You will pick up some great inspiration! If you would like to see another idea for a Halloween Party invitation, see this post on cadboard tube owls.

Julie McGuffee, who hosts this blog group, has something special this month

 - a set of Scrapbook Soup, Series 100 DVDs!

Scrapbook Soup is now airing on your local PBS TV channel.

Check your local listings and if it isn't listed,

call the station and request it!

Program managers always like to hear

from their viewers and what they want to watch.

To enter to win,

list the names of the

Designer Crafts Connection blogs

where you see the Scrapbook Soup logo

To see all the blogs,

click on the "hop forward" or "hop backward"

button wherever you see the blue

DCC logo in the sidebar

(mine is located on the left side).

Keep on hopping and you will end up back

where you started....then go to Julie McGufee's blog to

add your comment.

The winner will be announced on September 15th.

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Postcard Charm Bracelet

I love vintage postcards. Sometime not long ago, I found some old letters and postcards at an estate sale that had that old feel and look you just can't duplicate. I scanned the postcards in and used them to make everything from pillows, t-shirts, placemats and lately, these little postcard charms.

I added them to my etsy shop and got a pretty good response. But I longed to make something with them and finally, last week, I got the chance to create a sweet little bracelet along with some clever packaging for gift giving.I must confess, if you are willing to search out old postcards (can be pricey, but bargains are out there too- you just have to find them), scan them as a photo file and size them correctly, they are pretty easy to make. Here, I show you the basics:

 
Purchase a 1" wide (or 1 1/2" for wider charms) wood strip from your local craft supply or home improvement store. Choose a soft wood like basswood or even balsa, that can be cut with your handy dandy hand saw. If you have a dremel tool, consider using that. I have one but truth be known it scares the dickens out of me. Measure and cut the pieces so that they are rectangular, resembling a letter or postcard. Sand any uneven edges and wipe pieces with a tack cloth.

 Next, choose from pretty colors to compliment your postcards. I picked DecoArt Americana Acrylics Paints in Boysenberry, Antique White, Bahama Blue and Warm White. Paint the wood pieces, front and back.

Once your pieces are painted, print out the scanned and sized postcards. Remember to scan both the front and back of them as you will want to finish the front and back of the charm. Also, choose heavy, good quality paper which will make the images look better and be easier to work with when decoupaging. Additionally, I usually size my postcards just a little smaller than my wood piece, you will see why later.

Cut them out with small sharp scissors. Here is a photo of them cut put plus the original in the background so you can see where I started from.

Now it is time to decoupage. I like to use Aleenes Collage Pauge, along with a foam brush.

Once you have applied the postcards to the front and back of the wood, dry brush the edges using DecoArt's Lamp Black. This is why I leave a little border so I can add a little finish to the edges. If you dont feel comfortable dry brushing, you could also use dark chalk ink on the edges.

To create holes to insert the jump rings, I used a piercing tool, but you could also use one of those small hand drills, found at your craft supply store. They are very inexpensize.

I added flat backed Swarovski stones to my postcards. I chose very small pieces, ranging from 2mm-4mm to keep scale with the postcard.

Of course, I had to create some super fun packaging for this project so I painted (warm white) a small paper mache shadow box from C and T publishing and stamped the sides of it, dry brushing the top. Create a little custom tag for your bracelet, it makes a great gift.

 
 
If you dont recognize the metal flower embellishment on the tag and want to know how I made it, hop over to my post on updating old scrapbooking supplies you very well have in your own stash.

Click here to see these postcard charms on my etsy shop

Live Life Creatively,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Tulip Beads in a Bottle Fabric Scrap T Shirt and Fab Giveaway!

If you are following today's Designer Connection hop, featuring Tulip Beads in a Bottle, you have probably been enjoying seeing some outrageously clever projects using this amazing product.  

i Love to Create has released a brand new product- Tulip beads in a Bottle!
30 designers were chosen, and asked to create something to help inspire you!
In turn, Tulip is hosting a FABULOUS giveaway on their blog!

Beads in a Bottle is a self-rounding fabric paint that you can use to create beads on a fabric surface. It is extremely easy to use and the results will amaze you. Just think of all the bling you can add to your fabric creations for a fraction of the cost of hard embellishments! To see a really quick video of Beads in a Bottle being used click here.

Since I am seriously into embellishing summer t shirts right now, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with my bottles of bling when they arrived in the colors above. For starters, I used Tulip's One Step Color Die kit in Turquise to color a white t-shirt. I thought this would be the perfect backdrop for my fabric squares embellished with beads in a bottle. Tulip® One-Step Dyes™ come in an easy applicator bottle so all you have to do is add cold water!

Once I had my t shirt dyed, I went to work deciding on fabric scraps from my vast array of fabrics leftover from large projects. Do you hoard fabrics you love? This is a great project for you and can be used on a decorative pillow, table runner, fabric cuff or other fun fabric surface.

 

 Using a 3" sqaure made from a cardstock square, go to work cutting out various fabric patterns marking with a disappearing fabric marker on the wrong side of the fabric. I used a 3" sqaure so I could gave 1/4 seam allowances on all sides which ultimately will make my sqaures approx 2."

Once you begin cutting your sqaures, use a steam iron to turn edges over 1/4" all all four sides. Then begin to pin your sqaures to the t-shirt, spacing evenly across the front of the t shirt.

 
 For a fun mixed media look, use a machine, straight stitch and black constrasting thread to sew the squares in place.

 To sew four rows of four squares in place on the t-shirt, it will take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, so dont be alarmed at how long it takes you. The good news is- once you have your squares in place- the REAL fun begins!

I used wool felt die cuts, fused in place with fusible webbing and stamped applied to fabric with staz on or pigment ink, just remember to use your iron to heat set the ink to the fabric. Notice how some of my sqaures ended up being a little crooked, or as we say in the South, "caddy wombess." If this is a look you would rather avoid, use Aleenes Fabric Fusion to temporarily hold the sqaures in place instead of straight pins. Fabric Fusion is the only clear, water-based, urethane adhesive that is also nontoxic, machine-washable and dry cleanable. It’s the perfect choice for a wide variety of surfaces and embellishments. Fabric Fusion® does not string while you apply it to fabric.

For the hard embellishments I added to the shirt, I find that Aleene's Liquid Fusion works remarkably well. I usally hard wash embellish t's of this nature but never have had an embellish pop off during washing or wearing.

I glued things such as vintage buttons since I thought they would coordinate beautifully with my Beads in a Bottle.

Once you have little themes for each fabric square, set to work using your Beads in a Bottle.

 
 
To add soft embellishments to the t shirt, like this vintage photo I printed on inkjet fabric, use Fabric fusion, and machine stitch the edges.

I call this t shirt "so me" because I really thrive on colorful, busy, details.

  So now for the details of how you can win fantastic package of goodies from I love to Create.

 Along with this fantastic new product, Tulip is including other fun fabric embellishment goodies such as their fabric sprays and tie dye kits - go directly to their blog page and see the details on how to enter to win this super fun package of products. Good luck- remember to keep on hopping by using the Designetr Connection blog hop link on the sidebar of my blog to see more eye popping creations!

Live Life Creatively,