I can see the future?

Ok so I really can't, other than the fact that whatever I post after tonight is going to involve some of the awesome polymer clay things using some new Martha Stewart silicone molds I got on sale today. Here is what they looked like before they went in the oven... they look pretty much the same now just, well... harder. Yes I am aware that I shouldn't cook polymer clay in the same oven I food with, but once isn't going to kill us. I am picking up my toaster oven for further endeavors.

So the other thing I bet you are wondering what those Glimmer Misted lollipop flowers look like now that they are dry. In a word, AMAZEBALLS. So great that I used one on this fantastic little birthday card I put together. Now before you ask I have no idea what any of the paper is, it just came out of the pile of scraps in my disaster and there were no identifying marks of any kind. What I can tell you is that this is another fabulous stamp from Kraftin Kimmie Stamps wonderful Three Wishes Set. I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black and heat set the image.

I then coloured her with Copics

Skin E00, E02, E11

Hair E13, E17, E18

Veils B12, B00

Body B28, B29, B32 (with tip touching)

Background BV08, BV13

Now I wanted to tie in the colour from the flower a little bit more, so I used the same spray on a light piece of paper and some of my new templates from The Crafters Workshop. The bling in the center of the flower is a bling button from CTMH. Then I stacked it all up and wrote a really sappy letter inside. Enjoy!

Little Bit of Flower Making fun

Ok so the project of the day is lollipop flowers. What you will need to make these is very minimal. You need a few scraps of either polyester or nylon fabric. Definitely nothing natural! Natural only burns, not melts which is what we are looking for. You will also need some sort of either needle and thread or glue dots of some form. And finally a source of flame. I started using a barbecue lighter, but it was a lot of lighting so I switched to a  candle. A word of caution, have an ice water bath nearby just in case!!

The first thing you are going to need to do is cut out an array of different sized circles (they don't have to be close at all) from your fabric, even really small ones. I liked the idea of having a lot layers, so I did about 2 in many of the sizes. The next step is that you will run the edges CLOSE to the flame, not in the flame or it will catch on fire. These fabrics burn fast and this is how burns happen. While you do this you want slowly move the fabric around. You will see the edges melt, and on the smaller ones the circle will start to pucker which will give the finished product depth. If you do have a small bit catch fire, it should blow out easily but you definitely want to keep a close eye on things as you do this

The edges cool almost immediately so you can now move right on to stacking them up. You can then either stitch them together, or use some glue dots. On a few of them I sewed on some button centers. On some of the other ones I sprayed some with Glimmer Mist. Now you have to leave them to dry on their own because a heat gun will completely melt them! The glimmer mist colour will be muted once they dry because the sheer fabric I used won't hold a lot of the dye, but it will have a nice hint. So keep this in mind. You other option is to you know use different colours of material... but really who has money for that sort of shenanigans?

Once they dry you can use them on anything! You can make custom sizes with different materials to suit any project.

Super Easy Christmas Card

Hi All,

So everyone has a huge list of people that they would like to send Christmas Cards to, but if you are like me you have a few people that don't appreciate the awesomeness of your cards as much as you would like to. I always try to make some quick cards that still look great for those people. This is one that I made the other day that doesn't take too long to come together.

First I stamped the snowman image on cardstock, I used Staz-on but not required when using chalks to colour. Step 2 was to fire on some colour, and it went on as quick as make-up with a few little strokes. To keep the chalk in place there is a splash of Glimmer Mist over the top. I then used a circle punch to punch the image out. The card base it made using the Dahlia Spellbinders Nestabilities, with one edge up off the edge of the paper where the fold is. I then stamped one of the new Heartfelt Creations stamps (They are made to match up with spellbinder dies, how fabulous!!). I then covered the front with Sookwang tape, and obviously there was then a need to cover it with Glitter Ritz. Remember that the Glitter Ritz is fussy about adhesives, so I used liquid glass to stick on the snowman.

What do you think?

Sweet Pea Next Card Designer Challenge

Well if you have been following, you are aware of my recent addiction. I have finally gotten my new ones mounted and I got one all chalked up for this contest. I was really inspired by the soft lines and the floating bits, I could just imagine them glittering down around them. So glitter it is!!

I created the card base using CTMH paper, and covered it with some sookwang tape and transparent Glitter Ritz.

I used soft chalks on the image and set it with a little bit of Glimmer Mist. I mounted this on this super fantastic velvet paper that my LSS just got in. The large butterfly is also cut out of this. You have to get some, it feels great and cuts like butter. I cut 2, and mounted one on CTMH's new Roxie paper, and the other one is flat on the background. The top one is only attached in the center, and it gives a great 3D effect. The small butterflies are CTMH, as are the jems and pearls used.

The rosettes were cut using a sizzix die and rolled and shaped by hand. The leaves are done using a cuttlebug die.

Everything is attached using Glossy Accents as the Glitter Ritz can be termpermental with adhesives.

Sorry about the icky picture, there was some stickles that wasn't dry so the scanner wasn't an option. I will rescan when it finishes drying. Long day curling, didn't get to finish it until now. I love all the other cards I have seen though, Sweet Peas you are going to have a tough choice. Come back soon, I have an amazing technique I just learned from a friend with alcohol inks and a lighter that will be up soon.

Chalk it up.

Good Evening All;

I hope that people are getting their colouring entries ready for me, Friday will be the deadline. A friend asked me to show how I colour with chalk so today that is our topic. Let's get started.

First stamp your image. I am using another fabulous image from Sweet Pea Stamps today. I have stamped using Staz-On , but it isn't neccessary.





Get your chalks out and ready to go.



Option one for colouring is to use little eye shadow daubers.




Option 2 is to use a cotton swab. I always remove some of the extra cotton so that I have more control with the colour. I give a little tug, then cut off the excess. When you have picked up the chalk on your dauber of choice, give it a little blow just like you would do with eyeshadow before you apply it. This just gets rid of some of the extra little dust that comes up and will prevent it from falling where you don't want on your image.

Again I always start with the lightest colour and work my way to darkest. I don't usually worry much about shading when working with chalks because it doesn't really show up. I like to use a light pressured, circular motion. Keep in mind you can always add more colour but taking away is harder. You will have to blow excess dust off your project every so often, welcome to the world of chalk.

Move on to your next colour, this time I am using the cotton swab. Don't try to put more than one colour per dauber or clean off the eye shadow ones, it just results in a mess.

Once you have coloured your image completely it will look something like this.

To set the chalk you will need to burnish the image. For demonstration only, I used a muffin paper. Don't do it this way. Put a piece of scrap paper down overtop of your image and use a bone folder or your finger to burnish it.

Now you can stop there, your image will hold up just fine. Personally, being a glitter nut I like to spray a little glimmer mist overtop. This is diamond glaze, and just adds a touch of glimmer, it isn't overwhelming or easy to capture using a picture.

This is my totally finished image. There is a little chalk outside the lines from my muffin paper burnishing. If you use the paper method you won't have this.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. Don't be afraid to get out those chalks, they are inexpensive and easy to use.

Tomorrow I am going to be posting some of my submissions for design team calls... we will see how it goes.