Mel Designs

Elmers Cork Foam Board- Creative Space Organizer

Elmer's ® has a new innovative surface called Cork Foam Board. It is the perfect solution to getting
better organized in your home office or creative space. I got lucky recently
and was sent some Cork Foam Board Sheets to "experiment" with. I came up with this organizer project using the Cork Foam Board along with Elmers's Foam Board and of course their adhesives. It was stenciled with Crafter's Workshop Stencils and Elmer's Painters ® Paint Markers. The Cork Foam Board is lightweight and features a sturdy construction which makes it a great alternative to heavy cork boards. It is 3/8" thick so it will withstand push pins without them going through the
back of the board.

I placed my stencil on the surface of the Cork Foam Board. I used Painters Paint Markers in Black, Brown and Green to color in the birds, branches and leaves respectively. I loved stenciling using the
Painters Paint Markers because the medium point of the pens allowed perfect
precision.

The surface of the Foam Cork Board was smooth and easy to use the paint markers on. I stenciled on one side of the board to use for tacked notes,fabric swatches, inspiration photographs, found objects, etc. The other side I plan to use to organize some of my creative supplies so I constructed some
lightweight yet durable boxes from Elmer's Foam Board.

To construct your own organizational boxes, determine the desired finished size of the box. So for pencils, I thought 5" x 6" box with an open top would work nice. So I marked and measured that on the Foam Board and cut out the pieces with an X-Acto ® knife on a self-healing cutting mat. Next, determine what sized pieces you need to use for the sides and bottom of the box. Cut those pieces out with the knife.

Construction of the box is easy. Just place Craft Bond ® Tacky Glue on the edges and join the two
pieces together. To hold in place, insert some straight pins into the sides. You can remove them once the glue sets. Or, you can leave them inserted, just make sure they are pushed all the way into the foam so you will not stick your fingers when you use the boxes.

Color your boxes with the Black Painters Paint Marker or your color of choice. Plan to use two or three coats and let the coats dry in between. Note that I also stenciled designs onto these boxes.

I divided my organizer into sections by adding a Foam Board strip colored with black.

 

If you want a smaller version of this organizer, the Cork Foam Board cab be easily cut into smaller sections.

Ths is one creative way to organize your space. What is your favorite way to organize your creative space?

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

Painted Wood CardKeeper Box with Canvas Die Cut Embellishments

Use Jacquard Products Neopaque and Lumiere paints to cover a variety of surface including Sizzix layered die cuts. Follow along with me on this tutorial as I show you how I did it...

You will need the following supplies:

Sizzix BigShot Machine and Fringed Flower die and Tim Hotlz Alterations Heart with Wings

Jacqaurd Products Neopaque and Lumiere paints in colors of choice (I used Neopaque White, Neopaque Black, Lumiere Metallic Gold, Lumiere Crimson, Lumiere in Metallic Olive Green)

Walnut Hollow CardKeeper Box

Ranger by Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas Sheets

Dritz  Button Covering Kit- for four buttons

Crafters Workshop 12 x 12 stencil-Birds TCW185

Script Stamp, dream stamp or another sentiment you would like to use, Staz on ink in black

Aleenes Liquid Fusion

Scrap of muslin fabric

Misc supplies- paint brushed, stencil brush, sanding block and tack cloth, sewing machine and thread, scissors

Die cut flowers from sticky backed canvas. Paint the large and small flower Neopaque White. Paint the medium flowers Lumiere Crimson.

Use the inkpad and stamp to stamp across the surface of the white flowers.

L:ayer the flowers together. For the leaves, use the winged shapes on the dies cut wings from the canvas which will become leaves for the flowers. Paint the leaves Metallic Olive Green.

Sewn the small fringed flowers in a free form pattern on the edges of the die. Remove paper backing from each of the pieces and layer together as shown.

Create the polka dotted pattern by painting one side of the fabric Crimson. When dry, use the end of a small paintbrush dipped in Neopaque white to make dots. You will need an approximate 6" square to cover buttons.

Use the button cover kit in the following manner to cover four buttons.

Refer to the instructions on the back of the package to cover buttons. Cut am approx 2" circle from the polka dotted fabric for each button.

Sand the wood box and wipe clean with a tack cloth. Base coat Lumiere Metallic Gold, inside and out. Use the stencil, stencil brush and Neopaque Black paint to stencil on birds and leaves, branches. 

Glue the buttons to the center of each flower embellishment with the tacky glue. Let box side on appropriate sides when paint is drying and glue from button sets.

This is what the top of the box looks like.

 Here is the completed box.

I added a teardrop wing, painted white and stamped with the script stamp, some self adhesive embellishment rows and a stamped sentiment directly to the box.

These adorable boxes were meant to house A2 sized cards and envelopes but I'm going to put it in my bathroom to hold various items usually just randomly laying around the sink.

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.

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

Machine Dyed, Stenciled and Stamped T Shirt

 
 
Turquoise has always been and will always be my favorite color. I used Jacquard's Idye and Discharge Paste to liven up a stained plain t-shirt. I liked the way the shirt fit, but white t's only look good so long before they look tired and stained.

I have become a big fan of using Jacquard's idye packages to machine dye fabric. iDye comes in a packet that dissolves in water - no handling of messy dye powders. You can use iDye for natural fabrics with a top loading washing machine. Just throw the dye packet in, add salt and run through the wash cycle. I chose #418, turquoise to create this blank canvas ready to embellish.

Using this 12 x 12 damask template from The Crafters Workshop, Jacquard's Discharge paste and a stipple brush, create a fun background like the one above.

Discharge Paste from Jacquard is a resist product that will remove most fiber reactive colors, direct dyes and acid dyes from fabric once is is ironed with steam and washed out.

To create a background, I used a white fabric pencil to mark the corners of the damask pattern. This will allow you to stencil on the paste in the position you want the images to appear on the shirt.

 Once you make all your marks. place wax paper, parchment paper or kraft paper inside your t-shirt to keep the paste from bleeding through.

 
Use a stencil brush and pouncing motion to apply a generous amount of paste to all portions of the stencil. For tips and hints for perfect stenciling, click here. Remember this design has a Bohemian feel to it so a mistake here and there will only add to the art appeal!

As you move your stencil from one position to the other, you will be able to see a watermark pattern as the paste starts to penetrate the fabric.

While you are waiting for the paste to dry. Stamp an image in the center of each motif using Staz on ink.

 
With an iron set to the lowest steam setting, iron over each motif and stamped bird. The color of the dye will begin to disappear as you continue ironing with steam (this will also heat-set the ink).

Use a strong adhesive to further embellish the shirt by adhereing crystals to parts of the damask stencil.

When the adhesive is set, it is time to rinse the discharged dye from the tshirt. Do this with a mild detergent under luke warm water. (this is also how you should care for the shirt in the future). Hang or lay flat to dry and iron carefully as needed.

Live Life Creatively,

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 

 

Dipped "Dyed" Stenciled T Shirt with Rosettes

 

 
I love silhouettes, and after I received an awesome package of stencils from Crafters Workshop, I knew that I wanted to pair them with some Jacquard products I recently received to make this mixed media t-shirt.

Here's how to do it.

To make the dye bath, I used Dye-Na-Flow, which is really a liquid paint from Jacquard the is easy flowing and perfect for fabric painting. It leaves your fabric really soft.

I used Salmon and Sulphur green. First, one a large 8 container to mix 2 cups of sulphur green with 4 cups very hot water. Do this in a sink wearing latex gloves for less mess.

Use you get your dye bath mixed, immerse your white t-shirt into the water. You may want to buy a plain white t-shirt from a craft store or thrift store in a size larger since cotton tends to shrink a little in hot water.

Next, remove the t shirt and set it aside. Empty the container and wash it out thoroughly. Mix a bath of 3 cups of Salmon dye-na-flow to 3 cups very hot water.

Dip the top third of the wet t-shirt into the dye bath, leaving the bottom third out.

Remove the t-shirt after 2-3 minutes. Your color will be fairly intense at this point.

To remove excess paint, roll the t-shirt in an old towel, which will remove much of the excess paint and water and leave shades of color that are more like sherbert colors.

The final result should resemble something like this...

Let the shirt dry, iron to set paint, and you have a nice background canvas to complete your tshirt masterpiece.

To create a little interest in the background, I used a script font rubber stamp and staz on to randomly stamp front of t-shirt.

 
To stencil on the bird silhouettes, I used this awesome stencil from The Crafters Workshop and Neopaque paint from Jacquard.

 
 

Now, I am not the best stenciler, so I mixed some baking powder to the paint to make it a little thicker and less likely to run under the stencils. I mixed the paint to the baking soda in a 1:1 ratio. Cornstarch would work well for this as well.

So carefully, using a stencil brush, stencil on the birds one at a time. I have a few pointers for stenciling:

1. Use a brush especially made for stencils

2. Resist the temptation to overload the brush.

3. Use a pouncing motion in lieu of a sweeping motion. Keep pouncing until the desired color intensity is reached.

4. Wash and dry the stencil on both sides each time you move it to another location on the fabric. Use plenty of paper towels to make sure you remove and dry off all remnants of paint spots.

5. Ideally, let the stenciled areas dry before moving to the next area, but if you need to work faster, a heat tool will speed dry the paint as well as help set it on the fabric.  
 

Keep going with the stencil and paint until you have a pleasing collection of stenciled birds on branches.

Let your shirt dry, while you create the rosettes. For these rosettes, I used black cotton fabric and fabric glue. If you are unfamiliar with creating these simple flower shapes from scratch, click here. You can use purchased rosettes as well, if you are not up to making your own.

I glued my rosettes temporarily to my t shirt using fabric glue and also glued acrylic gems in the centers using tacky glue such as E-6000.

Once you have all your rosettes on the t-shirt, use a needle and black sewing thread to sew them in place.

 
 
 

 
 After your paint dries, heat set on low setting with an iron and you are ready to go. I would hand wash this masterpiece in warm water and a gentle soap. To dry, hang dry and iron as needed.

Live Life Creatively,