Chalk Painted Jar of Flowers Card

I was trying to create the look of a chalk painted

mason jar "flower vase" for this special card

for a very special someone.

It was an experiment that didn't turn out half bad!

I heat embossed a jar image onto chipboard.

I chose to use chipboard since I was going to 

be painting it. It was tricky to cut out with scissors!

I heat embossed "happy birthday" in two

portions to stack the words on top of each other.

I wanted it to resemble to logos on masons.

I brushed on chalk paint, lightly rubbing

it from the embossing. I was trying to make it

look like the chalk painted mason jars that were so popular.

Numerous flowers were stamped, water colored and hand cut 

with scissors. They all have dimensionals behind them.

 

I tucked in some small die cut greenery and leaves. 

Twine is wrapped around the mouth of the jar.

It is held in place on back with tape and 

a bit of clear drying glue around the knot.

It's all mounted over a background that has had

Distress Oxide ink sponged onto it. 

Brighter than I intended, but it was the only 

blue I have in that type of ink. 

inside

There is a lot of dimension on this card!

It will be hand delivered,

but would require extra postage if it was mailed.

All Wrapped Up and Express Yourself  stamp sets,

 Stampin' Up!

Classic inks from Stampin' Up!

Crushed Curry, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip

Card stocks from Stampin' Up!

Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand

Broken China Oxide ink

Black embossing powder, 

Oyster chalk paint 

Stitched rectangle die

Greenery dies from Stampin' Up!,

but I don't recall which set I used

Dimensionals

Adhesive 

Twine

Thanks for looking, have a good day =) 

 

Merry Framed Vintage Christmas Lightbulbs

Today I am happy to share with you

my final creation as a design team member

for Love To Craft Challenge.
I've been with them since the beginning
and will miss creating projects for them,
but it's been a tough year,
I need to concentrate on personal things.
I have a never ending list,
always lengthening, of things I want to make
so I'll still craft and share as time allows :)

Anyway, we are a month long anything crafty goes challenge.
We ask that you keep your projects family friendly, please.

We'd love to see what you've created this
final month of 2019!





This months project was made with some items
that I found at a church rummage sale I
attended with my Mom this past Spring:
a bag of vintage glass Christmas light bulbs
and a slightly worn wooden multi opening frame.

I disassembled the frame then chalk painted
and lightly sanded it.

I hand painted letters on each light bulb.

I tied on stitched grosgrain ribbon bows.

The bulbs are attached with little screw eyes and wire.



Now to come up with something else to make
with all of those extra vintage light bulbs.....

Thanks for looking, have a great day !

Oui Book Page Bouquet - tutorial

Can you believe it is August,

which means it is back to school time for many.

With that in mind,

I was inspired to create this old book page bouquet

for the current anything crafty goes challenge at

Love To Craft .

I also repurposed a Oui yogurt jar,

thus the play on the word "wee" in my post title ;)

This is a fairly small arrangement,

just about 6" in height overall.

The roses themselves are about 1" in diameter.

We'd love to see what crafts you've made this month.

Anything goes, so long as it is family friendly.

Post a link to your project at Love To Craft

If you'd like to know more about my project, read on!

The roses are made with pages from an old dictionary.

I should have used thicker book pages

and not so old. They were getting quite brittle.

I managed to make several dozen roses successfully

to create this piece, but it was tricky. 

Using a spiral flower die makes the process

go faster, but you can hand cut simple spirals

with scissors. Simply roll them up then glue them

to a small circle - or cut a circle into the end of your spiral.

You can find oodles of ideas on how to do this online.

To create the faux mercury glass,

you need Looking Glass paint.

It must be sprayed on the inside of the glass container.

Once again, look online for how-to's.

You can simply layer the thin paint and

spritz it with vinegar water solution.

I've done projects this way, but I've also 

added a bit more worn effects details using paint.

I dabbed teeny bits of black glossy paint

as well as a clear varnish inside the jar using

a piece of sea sponge. I then spray painted

light layers of the Looking Glass paint over it.

I didn't have any large head corsage pins 

and there is no place local to buy them.

Rather than ordering some online,

 I decided to try to paint the heads of plastic

straight pins used for sewing. It worked well!

I simply dipped the heads into gold acrylic craft paint

then poked the pins into styrofoam to stay upright while drying.

I stitched a long running stitch along the edge of 

a scrap piece of lace then gathered it to create the ruffle.

It was hot glued into place on the top edge of the jar.

The styrofoam ball is hot glued in place on top of that.

I say hot glue, but I was actually using a low temp melt glue.

Pin or glue the flowers in place on the styrofoam ball.

I used pins only so they could be re-positioned if needed.

The finished size is approximately 6"tall

A closeup of the faux mercury glass jar

Wee book page roses with painted pin head centers.

I also added small squares of tulle pinned in place

scattered among the flowers. 

The rose on the left is made with one die cut spiral.

The rose on the right is made with two spirals.

I used just the single spiral size rose on this project.

That's about all there is to share regarding how I made this project.

It really isn't difficult, just time consuming. 

Aren't most crafts labors of love and time, though ? 

Thanks for looking =)

Have a great day !

NOTE:

This project and post were written much earlier in the year,

well before our area experienced historic flooding.

 We are recovering, slowly but surely getting back to normal.

Although it was a tough go for us trying to save 

what we could of our home and property,

we know we are lucky. Grateful to everyone that helped

and thankful that the flood wall held so damage 

and losses were far less than they could have been. 

We didn't lose everything like so many people did.

I still am not crafting anything, no time or desire.

This will be the last post from me again for a while.

Families Are Quilts Frame

I'm sharing this project with you today

as my design team project for 

Love To Craft.

We are a month long anything goes craft challenge

(so long as it is family friendly)

We'd love to see what craft(s) you made this month!

I came across the plastic collage frame (above)

for $2 at the local thrift store.

The glass pieces were missing,

there were a few tiny scuffs on the

black plastic and the back cover was well worn,

but I thought it was worth it.

It had potential.

I started by base coating the frame with a light gray

chalk paint. Once that was dry, I brushed on white

acrylic craft paint. I wasn't going for total coverage
or keeping it nice and neat.

In even did a bit of sanding on some of the raised areas.

I wanted it to look worn, old.

I made my own digital word art to fit the round frame.

I added a small silver paper punched and crimped heart

in the space below the printed words.

A small piece of quilted fabrics was put in another opening.

The fabric was mounted over chipboard with batting in between

                                      Photographs will be added to the remaining three frames.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!

I'm entering my frame in the May Anything Goes challenge at Crafting By Designs
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2019/05/may-anything-goes.html

Gorgeous 3D Botanical Embossing Folder

I recently received a $10 electronic "debit card" reward to spend. I thought I could use it as a partial payment towards a new chair mat for my craft room, but the online store would't accept it for partial payment. So what could I find for $10 online that I could actually use and it wouldn't cost just as much to ship ? Amazon to the rescue! I found this stunning embossing folder for $7.99 and it was shipped free with their Prime feature! I've never heard of these folders before, sometimes online shopping and "suggested items for you" works well ;)

Sizzix 662716 3-D Texture Fades Embossing Folder Botanical

These are much thicker than regular embossing folders,

so you will need to adjust your embossing machine "sandwich". 

Here is the first thing I made with it,

a simple sympathy card

I used old paints I had on hand to create it,

brushing on the teal glaze then lightly

rubbing on the gold with my finger.

I started with black card stock.

NOTE: I think the moisture from the paints

made the embossing relax a bit,

it doesn't seem to be as bold now. 

The white test piece had silver rubbed onto it:

Stop by tomorrow to see the wedding card I made.

Thanks for looking, have a great day :) 

Repurposed CD Tin

Remember the days of receiving compact discs in the mail from

 internet providers trying to get you to sign up for their service ?

Sometimes they came in metal tins.

I saved those tins!

This is the most recent reuse of two of them.

I painted the edges with gloss acrylic craft paint,

covered the tops and bottoms with

gift wrap paper then added die cuts to the top.

Fun way to reuse "trash" and to give cash.

 I was having fun finding more uses for the
roll of plaid gift wrap I bought this year.
I still have a lot of it left,
I'll probably be using it for years to come!

Thanks for looking ;)

Cardinal Glass Ball/Painted Acetate Ornament

I made two of my painted acetate ornaments

with the intentions of giving them to my

cousins who just lost their Mom.

The image is from Stampin' Up!
It was stamped with black Stazon ink
onto a transparency sheet.

It was cut out into a circle.
with a tab at the top to hold it in place,
to fit just inside a glass ball ornament.

I painted it with indoor/outdoor
acrylic craft paints.

After allowing it to dry well for a day,
 I carefully rolled it and inserted it
into the glass ornament, keeping the
tab in the neck of the ornament.

I printed a saying onto white card stock,
cut it into a banner and attached it

with a gold eyelet

"If a cardinal should appear,

a visitor from Heaven is near."

A red grosgrain ribbon bow
hot glued into place finishes it off.





Thanks for looking   =)


I'm entering my ornament in the following challenges:
Merry Little Christmas
Use Your Stuff
Crafting By Designs
613 Avenue Create
Love To Scrap

Angel Sympathy Cards - Painted Acetate

Two of the most difficult (emotionally) cards I've made:

a special Aunt of mine passed away.

It is so heartbreaking..... sniffle.

Sadly I've come to the realization that I

need to make Sympathy cards to have in

 stock at all times. I've sent so many out this year.....

The angels are stamped on acetate with black Stazon ink

then painted on the back sides with acrylic craft paints.

The sky was created by sponging blue and white paints.

They are backed with white paper

then layered onto gold card stock. 

The image panels are attached to the 

card fronts with dimensionals.

The white card fronts have been 

embossed with Texturz plates

then mounted to gold card stock.

Organdy ribbons, gold cord,

mini brads, photo corners finish them off.

I printed a poem and mounted it to 

gold card stock inside the card.

These are 5" x 7" cards

and required extra postage to mail. 

Thanks for looking.

I'm entering my card (first one with brads) in the following challenges:
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes Dec 11th
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

DIY Gel Air Freshener Oui Jar

Another simple thing to do with empty glass jars 

(the cute little Oui yogurt jars in this sample)

is to make home made gel air fresheners !

I made some years ago for a Christmas bazaar using baby food jars.

This particular jar was hand painted to resemble a peppermint candy since

I used a peppermint scent, perfect for the season.

The glass was painted with acrylic craft paints, the indoor/outdoor glossy type.
It took three coats of the white to cover.

Red and white baker's twine, a snowflake die cut and red button finish it off.

Embellish the jar however you like: 
paint/etch/add die cuts/etc to the outside of the jar. 
I've not done it personally, but you could probably
try to tint the gel if leaving the glass clear. 
Maybe even add small items inside 
before pouring the gel ?

If giving as a gift, you will want to wrap plastic wrap 
around the top of it before gifting.

DIY Gel Air Freshener

-small clean glass jars
-2 cups distilled water
-1 oz. unflavored gelatin such as Knox (4 envelopes)
-2 tablespoons salt (or a splash of vodka) to deter mold growth
-fragrance    NOTE: I didn't include an exact amount 
because depending on the scent you are using, 
you may need to add more or less to your liking

Pour 1/2 cup of the distilled water into a glass mixing bowl, preferably one with a
spout to make it easier on yourself when pouring into the jars. 

Sprinkle the gelatin over the top of the water. Let sit while bringing the remaining 
1 1/2 cups of the distilled water with the salt in a saucepan to boiling.  
Stir until the salt is dissolved. 

Immediately pour the hot water and dissolved salt mix into the bowl with the gelatin.

Stir well until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved.

Gently add in the fragrance, stirring until well mixed.

Carefully pour the liquid into the clean jars. 

Once they are totally cool, decorate then cover tightly with plastic wrap until your are ready to gift/use them. 

NOTE:  you can decorate the jars ahead of time, but be aware that depending on what you use on them, the warm gel inside may effect the decorations -
or there is the chance of spilling the gel as you are pouring. When I made these types of crafts years ago, I painted mine first. I painted my jars with the indoor/outdoor type paint then "set" the paints in the oven according to the manufacturers instructions. The gel air freshener mix was then added with a pour spout mixing bowl to the cool, painted jars with no problems. 

Thanks for looking =)