A Glittery Tutorial

Hi!  I'm here today with a tutorial on how to make glittered ornaments.  I apologize for the terrible pictures in advance, I didn't realize they were turning out so bad until today! :(  The materials you'll need for this project are clear glass ornaments (not the iridescent type), fine glitter, and Pledge Tile and Vinyl floor cleaner, yup you read that right, lol.  You'll also need something to protect your surface with and a towel to clean up spills.

Step 1:  Carefully remove the top part of the ornament taking care not to crack it.
Step 2:  Squirt a liberal amount of Pledge into the ornament and very lightly swirl it around making sure you coat the entire inside.  Don't shake it, this will cause bubbles that will mess with the finished results.

 Step 3:  Pour the excess fluid back into the bottle and let it drain slightly.  If there are any bubble lightly tap the ornament or pop them with a q-tip.

Step 4:  Fill the ornament about 1/3 of the way with glitter and shake until all the sides are coated.

Step 5:  Pour out the excess glitter, carefully replace the cap back on the ornament and admire your handy work.

That's all there is to it.  Easy peasy, right?  I hope you enjoy making your own glittered ornaments!  If you have any questions, post them in the comments section and I'll try to answer them quickly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hey Chickie

Happy Saturday, ya'll!!  I'm back today with a little somethin' from Prickley Pear.  Their latest release has some great images for Spring and Easter. 

This little candy bar wrapper came together so quickly!  I stamped some yellow paper with the large and small nest flowers from this set.  Then I went back and filled in the gaps with the tiny nest from this set.  I stamped my chickies on some more yellow cardstock and shaded them in with my copics.  To keep the wrapper closed I added some velcro dots to the inside of the flap.  And that's it, easy peasy!

These little wrappers can be easily made assembly line style and you'll have them done in no time. :)  Thanks for stopping by!!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Ack!!  Christmas is just around the corner and, as usual, I've left holiday shopping until the last minute.  It's time to start getting organized and making my To Do lists.  So to help me out, I decided to make a little notepad holder.

I made the cover just a smidge longer and wider than the notepad so the edges won't get yucky on the notepad.  I also added a small pocket to the inside for tucking in receipts, cards, etc.

I used my new Graphic 45 and Pink Paislee Christmas papers for my front panel.  My snowflakes were made with MFT's Let It Snowflake die-namic using red felt and white cardstock.  A pair of tiny bells finished out my bow.  The girl's boots and earmuffs are covered in chocolate flock and I added liquid applique to her hat.

Now I'm ready to do some Christmas shopping!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supply and Demand...

That's the theme of this month's MFT Guest Designer challenge.  We were challenged to base our project around a office/school supply theme.  Here's what I came up with:

I stocked up on several pencil cases during back to school time earlier this year.  I plan on using them to make gift holders for the holiday season.  I thought this pink one would be perfect for my project!  I cut a piece of black cardstock, punched the edges with my MS star border punch and layered some Bazzill swiss dot paper.  I tied a large bow with some wide stripped ribbon.  I added some doodles to my Maya Road library card pocket with my white gel pen.  It still seemed a bit plain so I added some pink stamped stars around the library card.  My main image is from MFT's I{heart} books stamp set and her book is paper pieced with some of my favorite SEI paper.  I die cut my image and ran a copic around the edge to add some dimension.  Our little bookworm's glasses were glossed with a Sakura glaze pen and her headband was blinged out with the help of a stardust pen.  A couple of paperclips and a library clip finish out my project. 

I love using pencil cases as gift holders, they're the right size to hold small items such a mittens, a tie, candy, beauty supplies, or you can fill the case with some tissue paper and nestle a gift card in there.  And, the container can be used again and again by the recipient.  They're perfect for those last minute small gifts for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, etc.

Thanks for stopping by!

Prickley Pear Blog Hop

Welcome to the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog Hop! We have 4 beautiful new Fall and Holiday sets we are so pleased to announce.
Our Cardinal, Pumpkins, Ornaments and Trees sets!

Visit the Design Team’s daily releases and our blog over the
next 4 days to have chances to win one of these beautiful sets.

Today's Prize Package includes the Cardinal set and Matching die.

Each day you have more than one chance to win. Start at the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog. Simply post our logo onto your website, become a follower and leave a comment on the Prickley Pear Blog for one chance to win. Then hop on over to the day’s release blogs and make comments there for more chances to win. Sounds easy enough. And the bonus is that you’ll see some fabulous paper projects featuring the new sets.

Today, you will need to visit Tracy and my site and leave comments!

For each release, you’ll have 2 days to participate…you’ll have until midnight the night AFTER the release day to enter comments. Please just one comment per blog.

 

 I took a small hinged tin and altered it to make a gift tag holder.  I covered the lid with Pure Poppy cardstock and Indian Summer paper by Basic Grey.  I stamped the cardinal onto clear cardstock with black Staz On ink and used diamond glaze and glitter to make this cute bird sparkle.  A small paper flower embellishment complete the outside.  

Inside, I added a divider using more Pure Poppy cardstock and filled one compartment with twine and tiny clothespins.  The second compartment contains Christmas tags for this years presents.

Thanks for stopping by!

PPRS Fall Stamp Sneak Peeks

Prickley Pear is releasing new rubber on Saturday and I've got some speak peeks to show you!  Saturday's release is full of great, versatile fall images.  Ready to see some in action? Lol.

I used some orange designer paper to cover the spine of this mini composition notebook.  Two cream panels cover the front and back of the book.  I stamped the trees in brown ink and added some copper glitter to the trees to jazz them up a bit.  A big fluffy bow and an orange hot air balloon completes the notebook.

I also made a quick mini card.  I always find myself needing small cards to attach to gifts or to send a quick thank you.  This card is just the perfect size.

I colored the pumpkin with prismacolors and OMS, added some pumpkin colored glitter to the design, and sponged with pine needle distress ink around the edges.  I added a craft panel embossed with a cuttlebug folder and sponged with distress ink.

Be sure to stop by the Prickley Pear blog, they *might* have something special going on over there, *wink, wink*.

Notebooks and Swaps

Today I have two cute projects to share.  The first one is a small composition notebook I made using some scraps I had lying around.  It all came together in about 10 minutes! 

I have a story about the swirl design on the bottom.  Last month I went to one of the local scrapbook stores and noticed a layout that had a gorgeous swirl embossed on the corner.  When I asked one of the girls where I could get the stamp, she refused to tell me!  She said that it was a personal stamp she had brought for the class and the class was no longer being offered.  Oh well.  Then, later that day, I went to Jo-Ann's and found the stamp!  It's from Inkadinkadoo and is part of a flourish stamp set.  And, the stamps just happened to be on sale that day.  Lol, how cool was that!  So much for secrets, huh.  Now, don't get me wrong, the lady was very nice and sweet but she just didn't want to share the information.  Maybe it's a store policy, I don't know... I'm just thrilled that I found it. :)

Anyways, I also have a card to show today.  I made six of these for an MFT swap that's being hosted on Splitcoast Stampers.  Reading Flopsey is one of my favorite MFT stamps, so I just couldn't resist using him for the swap, lol. 

Flopsey was colored with color pencils and OMS.  The library card and notebook page on the notebook and the card were made using Microsoft Excel.  They were so super easy to make and format.  Now, I have them ready to go and I can just insert phrases or journaling as needed. 

That's all I've got today, have a great weekend!

Bon Voyage

Hi!!  Boy it seems like my blog entries get further and farther in between!  Lately my stamping time feels just as scarce! :(  Well, hopefully things will get back to normal soon.  Anyways, enough about that! Lol.  I've got a few things to show you over the next few days.  Today I've got a journal and card I made for a lady at work that has accepted a new job out of town.  I thought I would keep the journal quite flat to avoid losing any of the embellishments while it's in use.

To make the journal, first I covered the spine with brown cardstock, then I covered the front and back with blue cardstock and some designer paper.  I kept the verse panel simple but added some depth with some sponging around both layers.  The large blue swirl is chipboard inked up with metallic pigment ink.  I covered the chipboard with UTEE, but left it uneven for added texture.  Everthing was attached with scor tape to keep it nice and secure.

I used MFT's Going Places stamp set to make her a good bye card as well.  The girl is paper pieced with the same dp used for the back ground.  I weaved the thin brown ribbon through the holes of the lace and layered it over brown cardstock die cut with MFT's large scallop border. 

That's all I've got for today, be sure to stop by tomorrow for a Prickley Pear sneak peek!

They say it's your birthday...

Hi guys!!  Welcome to Kim's Birthday Bash!!  Us MFT'ers are so thrilled to be able to help celebrate Kim's birthday and her AMAZING design team put together a blog birthday bash.  Below are the links to the other participants blogs, be sure to stop by and check out all the awesome projects that were created in honor of The MFT Lady's b-day.  Ready to see what I did?  Well, I've got to admit, at first I was stumped as to what to do, then it hit me Kim needs a place to store her favorite things, right? 

I covered a recipe box with patterned paper, added plenty of bling, some side panels ( I forgot to photograph them!!!  Doh!), and spelled out "My Favorite Things" using some very cute glittery black letters.  And here's what I put inside:

The small monogramed note cards are just right for that last minute tag to accompany a hostess gift, appreciation gift, etc.  The notepad holder is just perfect for writing those inevitable to do lists and has a cute pocket inside.  And, of course, plenty of bling! :)

And of course, I had to make a birthday card. 

Lots more of that hot pink and black combo, some more bling on the bottom of the card (right underneath the border punch peaks), and a WTG birthday cake to help top off the celebration!  Kim, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!  Eat lots of birthday cake!!

• Alex Maldonado
• Alma de la Rosa
• Amy Sheffer
• Barbara Anders
• Beate Johns
• Bonnie Ratzloff
• Carole Burrage
• Carolyn King
• Cassie Trask
• Chris Veneruso
• Christina Fischer
• Cindy Haffner
• Dawn Barghorn
• Dawn Easton
• Erin Smetak
• Frances Byrne
• Gabrielle Howey
• Gretchen Belknap
• Jen Davis
• Jen del Muro
• Jenn Balcer
• Jessie Rone
• Joanne Basile
• Jodi Collins
• Jody Morrow
• Joy Stagg
• Julie Dinn
• Karen Motz
• Kelli Hull
• Kerry Johnson
• Leigh O'Brien
• Leslie Rodriguez
• Lisa Henke
• Lori Craig
• Megan Lock
• Melody Rupple
• Michele Boyer
• Michelle Lanning
• Sherrie Siemens
• Susan Liles
• Tammy Hershberger
• Wendy Bond

Don't forget to stop by Kim's blog and wish her a very happy birthday!

Big Thoughts

Well, I'm back from my trip to Austin.  I had a great time learning what to do during a public health deployment!  Before I left, I started working on a small project for Prickley Pear and I just finished it this afternoon.

I just love this stamp!  I chose pink and black because the carstock happened to be sitting right on my desk, hee hee.  The edges of the main panel were inked in hot pink in and then dipped in glue and glitter for a fun sparkly edge.  Instead of using a magnet, I decided to use some twine to hold it closed.  Inside is a small 3x3 post it pad.  Just the perfect size to write down your big thoughts.

That's all I've got today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
pink and black cardstock, black and white twine, MS score board, crystal glitter by PK Glitz, Small Pleasures rubber stamp by Prickley Pear

Altered Puffy Box

I've been trying to use more stuff from my altered items shelf.  When I was rummaging through my shelf, I found a clear puffy box just waiting to be altered.  So, out came the Prickly Pear stamps and my PK Glitz and here's the result:

The box is just big enought to store several A2 sized cards.  Just perfect for a small stationery gift.  The red paper was stamped with black ink and the edges of the flowers were glittered up with black glitter using a quickie glue pen.  The white paper was stamped with red ink and glittered up with red glitter.  The center of the prima flower was covered with black glitter and crystal effects.

There's so many cute items waiting to be altered in my closet.  What's on your altered item shelf?

Gift Holders

Hola stampers!  Does everyone else have a shelf or two full of alterable items in stashed away somewhere?  Please say yes, it'll make me feel so much better. :)  Well, I was looking for something the other day and I accidentally knocked down some pencil holders that I purchased last year intending to use on some project or other.  I had a sudden lightbulb moment and came up with the idea of using them to hold a gift, like a tie perhaps...

It was the perfect fit!!  I tried placing one of Aldo's ties in there and it fit just right!  Yay!  Dad guess what you're getting for Father's Day?!?!

Now, the pink one was calling out to me and just beggin to be altered too, so I went to work adding some pizazz to it and came up with a feminine version for a graduation gift.

Isn't that raspberry color just perfect?!?!  I'm thinking of nestling a gift card in some white tissue paper so it won't rattle around in there or perhaps filling it with candy, or an ipod, or a new phone, or...  well, you get the idea.  I plan on getting more of these in holiday colors for Christmas.  They will be perfect for small gifts, or to fill with treats for friends.  Ack, I just love it when inspiration strikes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Prickley Pear Blog Hop

Good morning sunshines!!  Today is the perfect day for a blog hop, dontcha think?  So without further ado, here it is:

Welcome to the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog Hop to introduce a new line of coordinating die cuts and clear stamps.

Visit the Design Team’s daily releases and the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp blog from May 18 until May 21 to have chances to win one of four prize packages worth $50 in PPRS products. Of course each of the prize packages will feature one of the new release sets: Build a Bird, Hibiscus, Build an Owl and Butterfly.

More than one chance to win.

Each day you have more than one chance to win. Start at the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp Blog. Leave a comment on the blog for one chance to win. Then hop on over to the day’s release blogs and make comments there for more chances to win. Sounds easy enough. And the bonus is that you’ll see some fabulous paper projects featuring the new sets.

For each release, you’ll have 2 days to participate…you’ll have until midnight the night AFTER the release day to enter comments. Please just one comment per blog.

Release schedule:

May 18th Build a Bird Clear Stamps and Die Cut featured on PPRS Blog, Frillions by Eli and Tesa's Scrap by Tesa

May 19th Hibiscus Clear Stamps and Die Cut featured on PPRS Blog and One Krafty Cat by Jenny, Paper Talk by Leslie (that's me!! :)

May 20th Build an Owl Clear Stamps and Die Cut featured on PPRS Blog and Life is What You Make It by Anya and Random Vintage Finds by Jennifer

May 21st Butterfly Clear Stamps and Die Cut featured on PPRS Blog and Frillions by Eli

Thanks for stopping by!!
 
Card details: Craft cardstock was stamped with white pallette ink and ightly sponged with lilac dye ink in the center of each flower.  Flower was die cut, stamped using glue stamp pad, and glittered with eggplant glitter.  Sentiment was stamped, die cut, and sponged. 
Bag details: Craft cardstock was stamped with brown dye ink, die cut and attached to bag using glue dots.  (Easiest gift I've ever made! ;)

Fairy Notebook

The Jolinne stamps have got to be my favorite MFT stamps right now.  I just love how cute and whimsical they are.  And, even though the fairy stamp is my favorite, I've only inked it up a few times.  So, the other day I made up my mind to just ink up the stamp and color it.  The next day, I decided that I wanted to make it into a notebook and here's what I came up with:

Jolinne was colored with copics and her wings were shimmered with a stardust pen and an aquapainter filled with rubbing alcohol.  I pulled out my beloved Basic Grey papers from the Eva collection and some wonderful crystal swirls to complete the look.  During my last trip to Xpdex, they had a clearance section filled with a huge assortment of paper.  I found a ream of resume paper for a dollar!!  So I cut some of the sheets up to make up the pages of my notebook.  And, to add some interest to the inside, I stamped everyother page with the fairy image in a light brown ink.

I think this is my favorite notebook yet!

Velvet Stamping and Tutorial

I know I’d seen it before and the bold images from Prickley Pear are just perfect for it, so after a little Googling, I decided to go for it. I purchased some velvet, pulled out some stamps, and held my breath. Here’s the final results:

Not too bad, huh? And it was so super easy to do. Here’s a breakdown of how I did it:

First, I cut my velvet down to the size I would need for my sachet.

Then I made sure my iron had a spot on the plate that did not have any holes and I emptied out the water from the reservoir. I turned it up to high and let it heat up.

I placed my stamp rubber side up on the ironing board and positioned my velvet, pile side down on top of it.

I lightly sprayed the velvet with water from a water bottle. Hint: try to concentrate the spray only on the area on top of the stamp.

You take the iron and firmly place it over the velvet on top of the stamp. If your iron has holes, make sure you position your iron so that the area that has no holes is directly on top of your stamp.

Hold the iron in place for 15-20 seconds and then lift the iron straight off the velvet. Gently peel back the velvet and take a look at your impression.

If it’s too light, you can carefully lay the fabric right back over the stamp and heat it with the iron for another 10 seconds.

And voila, you are done. Now you can take your fabric and make it into sachets, drawstring bags, scarves, etc.

Now, this works with most high quality rubber stamps as they can withstand the brief heat of the iron. However, I cannot attest to the durability of any particular stamp. Please do not try this with acrylic stamps as they are more delicate to heat.

The bolder the image, the better your results will be. Although I was pleasantly surprised at how well the detail of the stamp appeared on the velvet.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please leave me a comment and I’ll try to respond within 1-2 days.

Now that I know how easy it is, I’d love to try this with some large background stamps and make some cute throw pillows. What project will you make?

Pearls and Lace

Hi ya'll.  I'm back with another project I made using some of my Prickley Pear collection:

I made this canvas using a vintage colored icon.  The paper's are from Harlee Quinnz Designs.  I picked them up during the CKC convention last year.  The pearl pin is Maya Road and the metal plaque is from Making Memories.  I also added some prima flowers and used a pearl embellishment I picked up at Archivers last year.  The canvas was painted with pink acrylic paint and sponged with tea dye distress ink.  Here's a closeup of the image and the flower.  The papers were heavily distressed, wrinkled, torn, and sponged.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Prayer Box

Late last year I decided to make a prayer box for myself similar to the one Patter made on her blog.  Take a second to visit her site and admire her box, it's AWESOME!!  So on New Year's, I started making this box.  I finished it about a week later, but I've procrastinated on the pictures.  And here's why: I sewed on the panels!!  Although I'm really excited that I tried and for the most part accomplished a new technique, my skills are no where near as good as others!  So, I've built up my courage and I'm posting my prayer box today.  Here it is:

The box is a recipe box from the dollar section at Michael's.  I painted the box with pink acrylic paint and set it aside while I made the individual panels.  The panels are layers of Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey paper, and Bo Bunny cardstock.  The verses are from Verve and are stamped out in Tuxedo Black on white cardstock.  The letter's spelling out "Prayer Box" are made using MFT's bling bet and hot fix crystals.  I stamped the letters out in Brilliance Chocolate ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Once I attached the crystals, I cut the individual letters out and attached them to the box with dimensionals.  I also made some dividers for the inside using postcard sized chipboard.  I covered the rectangles with colored paper, added the titles with stickers, and added a decorative sticker to each one.  These will help keep my box nice and organized.

I sewed the panels using my little Kenmore sewing machine that has been collecting dust since I purchased it several years ago.  Once I got the tension right, the process was fairly easy, but I had to go really slow to make sure that I was sewing in a straight line (which I didn't most of the time!).  I had a great time learing how to sew with paper and will continue to try some more.

Supplies: recipe box, bazzill cardstock - brown, Basic Grey paper - Eva, Bo Bunny Cardstock - swiss dots, nestabilities, Verve Stamps, paper piercer, sewing machine, white thread, silver brads (to hide uneven corners), MFT 'bling bet, hot fix crystals - pink

Thanks for stopping by!