Mel Designs

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,

 
 
 
 
 

  
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

Mixed Media Bird Necklace

 

Mixed Media Jewelry is becoming more and more trendy. The idea of mixing various components together using different techniques is fun and liberating since the old "rules" of creating jewelry go out of the window. When I ran into this mixed media pendant on the popular social networking site Pinterest, I knew I had to take a stab at creating my own.

I recently purchased these adorable wood finches from an etsy seller. I decided to pair it with a few more unfinished wood pieces.

I used Jacquard Products Neopaque paints and Pearl Ex to create a shabby chic look to my pieces.

First I painted the pieces in White and Black like the above.

When the pieces were dry to the touch, I applied wax randomly to the pieces. Then I painted them the opposite color.

Let the pieces dry to the touch again and then lightly sand the surface with a sanding block or nail file. Areas where the wax was applied will sand off easily to reveal a distressed finish.

Next, mix a little Pearl Ex Varnish with pearl ex in Pewter until you have a slightly creamy consistency.

Dry brush the Pearl Ex across the surface of the wood pieces with a paintbrush.

Once the pieces are dry, you can begin to assemble the pieces using a strong tacky glue, such as Aleenes Liquid Fusion.

Now the real fun begins. Embellishment!

Attach some rhinestone chain to the edges of the wood circle, using wire nips to cut the chain as needed for the appropriate length. Place a thin line of liquid fusion to the edge of the circle and glue the pieces on.

Now add various embellishment such as a pretty flower to the wing and some flat backed gems, secured with tacky glue.

At the last minute, I decided to add an eye painted on with a thin brush.

I added small computer printed sentiment to the tail using a foam brush and collage pauge.

Cant wait to wear this- either at the CHA Summer show or another fun event! If you lile this necklace look for it in my etsy shop.

Jacquard Products is offering a great giveaway. Go to their blog, leave a comment you saw it here, and we will send you a FREE bottle of their new Lumiere 3D paint and adhesive. But hurry, the offer ends at midnight, June 1st Pacific Daylight time.

How does the mixed media trend inspire you? Are you incorporating it into your fashion or home decor? Leave me a comment, I would love to know it you are as inspired by it as I am.

Live Life Creatively,

 

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,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Last day- Post card Charms 40% off at Gigis Petals

 

Many of you have inquired about my postcard charms as featured in my etsy shop. I have great news for you today- Today only, I am offering them at a 40 percent discount through GiGi's Petals.

These come in a set of six miniature wood postcard charms perfect for jewelry making, cardmaking, scrapbooking and altered art. Each postcard is 1 3/4" x 1 1/4" and finished on both front and back with inked distressed edges. The front and back represent the actual vintage postcards. *Necklace is an example of how the post cards can be used (necklace, pearl, and flower not included).

Predrilled holes make them perfect for charms. Antique postcards found at flea market.

 

Click on the GiGisPetals Logo above and create an account by entering your email address. It will take you straight to today's deal! My postcards deal  will be on the bottom left! Dont wait! Last day...

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

Spring Celebration Favors- Etsy Coupon Code (BIRDFAVOR20)

It's getting so close to Spring and time to celebrate wonderful things like new babies and weddings. If you are looking for a special favor for baby showers, wedding showers, wedding favors or easter brunches, these unique bird nest favors may be just what you are looking for.

I am currently offering these in my etsy shop.

Each favor has an adorable bird and script stamped on 3 1/2" x 5" glassine bag. The bag is stuffed with shredded kraft paper and five jordan almonds in your color of choice (blue, green, yellow, beige, white, pink or a custom color). We embellish the bag with a custom label with in a font of your choice and add hand dyed ribbon to coordinate with the candy color. We finish it off with corrugated cardboard and a tiny floral.

As a special offer to my blog readers, I am offering these an early bird special. By entering a special coupon code, you can get these favors at 20% off until March 30th, 2012. Go to my etsy listing for further details and enter:

BIRDFAVOR20

at checkout for a 20% percent discount on your entire order.

Colors include:

Beige

Blue

Green

Lavendar

Pink


White

Yellow

Here's to a beautiful Spring Celebrations!

Live Life Creatively,

Wool Felt Bird Wedding Decor

Wedding season will soon be here! I loved creating bird themed wool felt ornaments using an older Sizzix die last Christmas so much that I knew I had to re-create these sweet little feathered friends in a more spring friendly version. Click on the link above to go to a tutorial that shows how to sew up some birds in no time.

For this version, I thought to myself, instead of ornaments, wouldn't it be fun to create some wedding favors that could double as guest place cards for the wedding table? After I decided on a neutral palette, perfect for almost any shabby, cottage or a Victorian inspired nuptial scene, I immediately knew I wanted to add elements of burlap and hand dying. I dyed the clothespins in Cocoa Brown by Rit Dye and added a tiny snippet of burlap.

The beautiful script fabric I used for the wing was designed by Micheal Miller and can be purchased from Fabric.Com. I have used it for many projects I have posted here. It adds so much flavor to any style of mixed media.

So, now how about some table markers for the guest tables. I dyed a small thin dowel, a vintage spool and some wood circles and glued them together using Aleenes Liquid Fusion.

My favorite thing about these table markers is that each side (front and back) looks the same. So if the guests approach the table from different angles, they can still view the hand stamped number as well as the bird since I added the wing, beak, eye and embellished both sides. Speaking of embellishments, Prima's Dynasty Flower Flower in Ebony, which was purchased from Scrapbook.com provides the perfect finishing touch.

Often, wedding table markers are paper or another less durable material, which means the wedding couple discards of them once the wedding celebration is over. These can be saved and displayed on a shelf adding a shabby collection to the new home! For a detailed tutorial on how I create these stuffed birds, check this link out. Otherwise, see my etsy shop for details on how to purchase these adorable wedding table decor pieces.

Live Life Creatively,

Things to do With Paper and Fabric Scraps Part Three

In my continuous search for cool ideas to make the most of the patterned paper ad fabric scraps you have lurking in your creative stash, I rounded up some super innovative ideas from here and around the web. While ironing a new stash of hand dyed ribbons last week, I had an idea.

 

 

 

 

 

Idea #1- What if I took coordinating fabric scraps, ironed them to Lite Steam a Seam fusible webbing and cut them into little triangles to resemble bunting flags? Super easy. I ironed the flags in a repeating pattern to hand dyed ribbon and added a simple straight stitch across the flags to secure them in place. This bunting ribbon can be purchased from my etsy shop and would be an adorable addition to wrapped packages, gift bags, cards, scrapbook pages or other art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idea #2- While poking around on Pinterest the other day, I ran across this adorable idea for creating a lampshade from fabric scraps.

If you like color, you have to check out The Color issue. It is a delightful blog filled with the most amazing and stunning color that will surely inspire you. I cannot wait to try my hand at creating this lampshade from my fabric scraps!

Idea #3- And while we are talking about fabric scraps, don't fail to overlook the possibilities of old garments such as t shirts and sweaters when cleaning out your closet this Spring. Everything from rolled fabric bracelets, like these "Jersey Bracelets" from U Create Crafts to handmade bathrugs can be created from torn strips of t shirts that have seen better days and may end up in your "toss" pile.

Idea #4- We all love and know paper beads. By cutting simple strip shapes from paper scraps, we can use a decoupage medium such as Collage Pauge to create custom beads. I like this spin on paper beads from Mixed Creations Jewelry Blog. The creator used jewelry wire and round nose pliers to secure the bead inside wire wrapping for a definite mixed media feel.

Idea #5- If you love using paper punches as much as I do, then you will love this idea from the Crate Paper Blog. Various shapes were punched from leftover scraps of patterned paper and sewn together to create a string of scraps and finally wrapped around vintage spools for storage. How awesome is this? These would be a unique addition to your workspace decor, they are just too darn cute to hide in a storage bin.

Idea #6- Its all about color these days. Don't be afraid to display a mix or prints and solids in lots of different patterns. This cool arrangement created from paper scraps cut into leaf shapes and attached to gathered fallen tree limbs is a terrific example of making the most out of your paper scraps and having fun in the process! Visit Everyday Mom Ideas where the designer gives you a tutorial on how to make this and adds that this idea could be adapted to weddings, showers, spring celebrations, the possibilities are endless.

If you are as passionate about using fabric and paper scraps in your projects, see part one and two of this series. I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to use these items and would love to hear your ideas.

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

Mosaic Pillow- Loaded with Handmade Embellishments

I love to create handmade embellishments. You can see my full line of them in my etsy shop. When I created some fabric, metal foiled and ticking stripe embellishments recently, I racked my brain to create a project that would best showcase them. That's when I decided on creating a Mosaic pillow loaded with my handmade embellishments.

First, I cut 2 1/2" squares of various fabric scraps, steamed the edges under and sewed them to a mustard colored square for the pillow front. I opted for contrasting thread to give the pillow that homespun, raw look that is so popular right now. The fun part was embellishing each of the squares. For me, the sky was the limit, I even added this metal foil flower embellishment created from die cut foil and colored with Jacquard Products Pinata Inks.

I also love these stamped muslin and ticking fabric embellishments because there are so many delightful details on them! People ask me all the time where I got the script fabric. It is called Micheal Miller Script on Beige and it can be purchased from Fabric.com. I have used it on so many projects I have posted here!

I also used black and white polka dots and various colors of ticking for the fabric mosaic squares.

These adorable rolled ticking flowers are my favorite. They have sentiments stamped on their muslin stems plus wool felt leaves.

Other things you can decorate your squares with? Buttons, crochet flowers, die cut images, little dolls (glue with strong adhesive then sew a few stitches around the doll), little miniatures, etc

These adorable embellishments are all available for purchasing in my etsy shop and can be used in so many different ways. Here are a few ideas:

- Cardmaking, Scrapbooking

- To embellish handmade clothing (soft items recommended)

- To embellish other home decor pieces such as lampshades, tea towels, napkin rings, place mats

- To adorn party favors such as a cute glassine bag or a plain brown bag

- As gifts to artsy friends- how adorable would it be to present them in a handmade gift box?

What would you do with them? I am always so inspired by what you come up with!

Live Life Creatively,

 

Things to do with Paper and Fabric Scraps Part One- Sewn Paper Mosaic

If you are any type of crafter who enjoys sewing and/or paper crafts, chances are pretty good you have a great collection of scraps. Follow along with me as I show you how to create some great projects using these scraps.

This technique is sort of like creating a mosaic, minus the messy grout. First, choose some coordinating colors of patterned paper and use a pair of scissors to cut them in random shapes. I chose to cut mine into shapes with straight edges.

I chose a black, white and cream color combo to create the bird napkin rings shown above. After you have plenty of cut pieces, glue them to the surface of a piece of cardstock with a paper adhesive such as Zip Dry Paper Glue by Beacon Adhesives.

Completely cover the surface of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet, overlapping pieces as needed.

For the fabric sheet, I chose cotton fabric, burlap, a netting type of fabric for added interest and printed canvas.

Here is the final result. Instead of wet adhesive, I fused my uncut fabric to Lite Steam a Seam with an iron and then cut the pieces into "tiles." I used the iron to fuse the fabric pieces to the cardstock sheet after peeling off the paper backing.

Now that you have your paper and/or fabric mosaic sheet completed, use a sewing machine and contrasting thread to free form random lines on the surface of the sheets with a straight stitch.

Ok- so these are interesting but what can we do with them, right? I used a Sizzix Big Shot Machine to die cut my favorite bird shape from the sewn paper mosaic sheet.

For the wing, I used a recycled cardboard box to trace a simple teardrop shape. I cut it out and peeled the top layer away to reveal corrugated cardboard. Ink the wing and add a pretty embellishment and voila!

These Karen Foster sparkle brads were purchased from Scrapbook.com. To adding some extra durability to the bird shapes, die cut a bird from the recycled cardboard box and glue the pieces together with the paper adhesive. Then, use Collage Pauge to coat the sewn surface.

I love to create napkin rings, they are a pet project of mine. I used a recycled cardboard roll to create a ring and mounted the bird to the ring with Aleenes Tacky Glue. If you want extra durability for the cardboard ring, consider adding some fabric tape to the outer ring. These can also be purchased from my etsy shop.

What did I do with the sewn fabric mosaic? I used it to adorn the front of a journal cover, to capture all my inspirational thoughts and ideas when the moment strikes.

Since I have plenty of paper and fabric scraps laying around, I am looking to introduce you to a new technique once or twice a month. What do you do with your paper and fabric scraps? I would love to hear your ideas!

Live Life Creatively,

 

Rustic Canvas Bags

For a fun party favor, create mini canvas bags using Canvas Corp's burlap and canvas sheets and some odds and ends from your craft stash.

In various themes, these bags will be the hit of your gathering or a fun way to present a small gift. Perfect little works of art, these bags are easy to create from two matching sized pieces of cut canvas along with wool felt, muslin and scrapbook embellishments.

Don't have the time to make them yourself? Visit my etsy shop to purchase these sweet bags..

Live Life Creatively,