Mel Designs

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,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

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,

 

 

Painted and Sewn Flower Embellishments From Recycled Jeans

I hate throwing anything away. Especially old, worn blue jeans. It's hard to let go but once you decide that the old jeans are just too covered with paint, rips and other stains and such, you HATE the idea of tossing them. Blue jeans can be recycled into so many cool things. From hand bags to pocket organizers, the possibilities are endless.

I decided to cover an old pair with Jacquard's Neopaque and Lumiere paints, in random swatches.

I painted one color in random places, letting that color dry before moving on to the next one. I really didn't know where the whole process was going but I knew I loved the effect and color combination I used to make this Drip Art Painted Tote.

Once I had completely covered the jeans. I decided to cut them up and die cut them into layered flower shapes using my Sizzix BigShot die cutting machine and a layered flower die. Oh, I also threw in a pair of old leather pants that I haven't worn in a decade or so...

if you want to do this, alternate the leather pants (you could use an old purse or boots too) with the painted denim on the different shapes on the surface of the die.

Use fabric glue, such as Aleenes Fabric Fusion to glue the pieces together. Free form cut a circle for the center and place a pretty jeweled brad in the center to hold all the pieces together.

Boy! Does one pair of old jeans and leather pants make a ton of these flowers! Add to the whole effect by free form stitching around the edges of the flowers. You may need to trim the edges of the flanges of the brad so it does not hit your sewing needle if you get too close to the center.

I'll bet you can think of all kinds of things to do with these flowers created from painted and sewn pants. The first thing that came to my mind was fashion.

I sewed several to the neckline of a plain cotton top.

I made some cuffs by lining up three or four flowers and sewing them together at the edges.

I also created a statement necklace. Worn with the cotton top, its a look that is completely over the top.

What would you do with these flowers? Leave me a comment and let me know. I love hearing your unique ideas!

Live Life Creatively,

Polymer Clay Rosette Earrings

I love rosettes. They add instant softness and femininity to anything and everything. Whether worn as jewelry or on clothing or used to adorn home decor pieces, rosettes add that certain trendiness that we all like. It was with this in mind that I decided to create polymer clay rosettes using Cernit Clay by Jacquard Products.

Jacquard Products is the exclusive North American distributor of, non-toxic phthalate-free Cernit polymer clay. Manufactured in Belgium, Cernit clay has long been recognized for its excellent quality, durability and porcelain-like finishes. Highly in demand by professional artists and hobby crafters, Cernit 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.

I used white cernit clay to create my rosettes. After I ran the clay through a pasta machine several times, I flattened the conditioned clay to a very thin setting on my machine (1/32").

I used a metal clay knife to cut the piece to approximately 3" x 7."

I cut thin strips with the knife measuring 1/4" wide.

I twisted the clay using my fingers gently from one end of the strip.

Starting at one end, I rolled the twisted clay inward to create a realistic rosette.

If you plan to make charms from your rosettes, its important to remember to pierce a hole at one edge before baking. I added some leaves created from a press mold.

After baking and cooling, I painted them with sparkly lumiere in crimson and citrine.

When the paint has dried, use Neopaque in black and a toothpick to hightlight areas of the leaves and lumiere in metallic silver to enhance the rose. The silver paint will really call attention to the texture of the rose when dry brushed over it.

I glued tiny Swarovski crystals to the center with Liquid Fusion, glued the leave to the back of the rose with the glue and attached an ear wire to create earrings.

My Favorite part of this project is the presentation. What a great little gift these would make!

I started with plain shipping tags and sewed the edges about 1/4" from the edge to create a border.

I painted the tags Citrene Green. After letting them dry front and back, I layered various stamped images over them and added a french sentiment suitable for my rose theme.

Then I added embellishments such as fabric tape and rhinestones.

 

These embellished tags make the earrings all the more special. Tell us what you think- go to Jacquard Products Facebook page and like us. We have frequent give aways and fun tips that you will receive as our fan.

Live Life Creatively,

 

10 Ideas for Using Patterned Paper and Cardstock Scraps- Part One

For some reason, I can't break my addiction to patterned paper. I know that if I visit a store that carries it, I will walk away with what seems to amount to another ream of paper. That means lots of scraps. I do keep my scraps, but I prefer that the edges be cut neatly in straight lines, no random punched holes, tears, etc. I still haven't come up with a good way to organize my scraps, but I have come up with some nifty ways to use them. I made the above puzzle piece ornaments using large puzzle pieces glued to the wrong side of the patterned paper, then I used an x-acto knife to cut around the rounded edges, sanding the edges smooth. I decorated the ornaments with bits and baubles from my also ever growing embellishment stash.

If you have a lot of cardstock to use up, make some of these cute origami cup folded treat totes in a Halloween or Christmas theme. I used a simple circle punch to make the characters and paper punches for the handles. For a tutorial on making origami folded cups, see my post here.For the cup part, you will need a 8" square of double sided paper that gives easily, such as origami paper, or even contruction paper. Raid your cardstock stash for different colors of cardstock that will make up a penquin, polar bear, santa, snowman, etc.  

Use your patterned paper scraps by pairing them with your recycled items and create some elegant tube favors. Paint the tubes inside and out, close one end and machine sew shut. Cut a piece a patterned paper to the length and width of the tube and wrap around. Embellish with pretty crochet flowers, a stamped sentiment, self adhesive gem stones, etc.  Cut the top with scalloped edged scissors. Wire makes cute handles for these patterned paper scraps favor tubes.

Another idea for using your patterned paper and cardstock scraps is to create decoupaged jewelry. Here, I used tiny flower punches, wood shapes and coordinating beads to create a turquoise and copper jewlery set. 

The beauty of this idea, is that you can vary your paints and beads to match whatever colors of patterned papers you might have an hand.

Another great gift idea that involves using your patterned paper and cardstock scraps is to create "custom flowers" to give to a friend who enjoys paper crafting, cardmaking and/or scrapbooking. Punch or die cut flowers from scraps and give them away in an embellished recycled jar.

Like the idea of creating custom embellishments with materials you already have on  hand? How about punching out tiny motifs to glue to buttons, then lining the images with stickles?

How do use your patterned paper and cardstock scraps? Leave me comment and tell me. Stayed tuned for part two of this article coming soon!

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,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Winner of Clay Pendants!

Jenni of kissedbyafrog.com is the winner of the two clay pendants featured in a recent blog tutorial. Several of you have asked where to find the mold to make the zinnia. It was made by my good friend, Niki Meiners. Go over to her blog and offer some words of encouragement. Thanks to everyone for your kind comments on my pendants. Stay close by for more giveaways!

Live Life Creatively,

Pretty Clay Pendants and Giveaway

This is a project that is so easy, you will be turning out pendants left and right for gift giving now and into the holidays.

You will need the supplies pictured here in addition to some jewelry findings of your choice such as a chain or rope necklace with a clasp, in addition to some jump rings that are 16mm or larger and a headpin and bead. You will also need the appropriate jewelry tools such as wire nips, chain and round nose pliers.

Start by painting the 1 1/2 wood circle with Jacquard's Neopaque paints in black. Paint both sides a couple of coats.  

 
While the paint is drying, punch 1" circles from the pages of a vintage book such as this dictionary my Mom snagged for me at a yard sale for $.50.

Use a paper adhesive to glue the punches to the center of the circle on one side only.

Use some heavy duty tacky glue to adhere gem stone trim to the edges of the circle. It can be hard not to get excess tacky glue inside the edges of the trimming. Use a toothpick or q tip to remove the excesss glue.

Now it's time to play with clay. I used Jacquard's Cernit Clay in white to make a zinnia from a hand made clay mold. This hand made mold was a gift from my good friend, Niki Meiners.Cernit clay is a phthalate-free (non-toxic) polymer clay. Manufactured in Belgium, Cernit clay has long been recognized for its excellent quality, durability and porcelain-like finishes. It was perfect to make my little zinnia.

I pinched off a dime sized piece and conditioned by hand. (Hint: if the weather is as hot and humid where you are as I am- go outside- it makes conditioning a lot faster). Then I rolled it into a ball before pushing it into the clay mold.

Push the clay out of the mold and you have this adorable little zinnia.

Now bake in the oven at 265 degrees on a clay dedicated baking sheet for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Now choose some bright prretty colors of Jacquard's Lumiere and paint the zinnias. I dry brushed the top of them with Lumiere also.

Once the zinnias are dry, glue them to the center of the circles.

 
I drilled two holes at the top and bottom of my circles for insertion of a jump ring to hold the necklace and a droplet on the bottom.

 

If you liked this post, here is another jewelry pendant post using recycled furniture casters.

Now- details on the Giveaway- leave me a comment by July 31st, 2011 at 12 PM Central and I will send TWO of you one of these pendants (zinnia clay) in color of choice shown (US residents only please). Leave as many comments as you would like, I will one person at random and announce the winner on my blog on August 1st. Good Luck!  

Live Life Creatively,

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

My New Etsy Shop and Coupon Code for You

I have officially opened my etsy shop featuring handmade embellishments you can use for your card making, scrap booking, jewelry, altered art, wearable art, gift giving and home decor projects.

Many of these items can help you jump start your art projects and give them that special touch. You can save time and money by adding special details to your art that you don't have to make yourself!

Most of the items are extremely lightweight which makes them perfect for creating a special card or layout.

 
As a special thank you for my blog friends, I am offering a coupon code good for free shipping ANYWHERE in the US. This code expires July 15th so hurry in and place your order or custom request! Enter MelDesigns1 at checkout.

 

Live Life Creatively,