Sunday, February 7, 2021

Black History Month: Honoring My History Vinyl on Glass

 


Everything I am, I owe to my ancestors. The courage it took to endure, survive, risk, and dream. So to honor and incorporate them into my art and my office, I made this piece and I'm so happy with how it turned out! 

Supplies:
  • Frame. I used an old one I had on hand
  • Image. I found one that looked enough like me at Designbundles.net
  • Vinyl.  I used Oracal glossy black
  • Faux Leather. I used Cricut Silver
  • Rhinestones
  • Electronic Cutting Machine

I still have empty frames from our move a few years ago so I picked one of those to use. 



This one came with a beveled mat which I'll use for something else. I set it aside and cleaned the frame. To ensure it was secure without the additional thickness of the mat, I glued the edges in place. 



As I mentioned, I found this image at Designbundles.net that I thought looked enough like me. When I showed the finished project to my husband he said "How'd you get your image?!" so I guess I chose wisely. I shared this with a friend and she said the same!


The Designbundles file shows the glasses and lips in red but since this was going on my cement focal wall and my actual glasses are grey, I went with silver faux leather and left the vinyl image all one color. My glasses are square but close enough! I uploaded the image into Cricut Design Space, sized, and cut. I  created the text in Design Space and cut. 


Apply the vinyl to the glass with transfer tape. Here I was a little careless and got some bubbles. While normally the perfectionist in my would have removed the vinyl and started over, since my hair is super curly I decided "texture" and popped some of the more noticeable ones with a pin, used my scraper to get the air out, and went with it. Since the faux leather isn't adhesive, I tacked down on top of the vinyl image with small dots of superglue. 


Both for the remaining bubbles and because I'm overdue coloring my roots, I added these variegated grey rhinestones randomly. Finally I applied the words. 


I left the frame as it was which is a light antique gold with "scratches" of black in it. 


My favorite kind of project since I had everything on hand! 


The faces of me

Black History is American History

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Thursday, February 4, 2021

BFF Open House

 


Happy Friday Eve! Ten days until Love Day and you all are definitely getting ready so I'm adding a couple of extra features this week! The reason I call it "Love Day" is because Valentine's always suggests couples to me and I think it's important to celebrate those we love, whether they're a partner, spouse, kiddos, parents, friends, and / or especially oneself! It's been a rough year so showing love is so important! OK let's see what you've been up to!




Anita, from Unique Creations by Anita continues to nail it with her Steampunk creations, this time a Steampunk Heart! 

Niky from The House on Silverado is back with a fabulous Burlap Ribbon Wreath! 


Priyam from Simple Joys shared this lovely Origami Heart Treat Holders. These could also be everything from bowl fillers to a wreath or banner or just as they are!


Kristie from Love My Little Cottage shared this incredible Abstract Heart Painting. I love the colors and how she blended everything. 



Wheatless Foodie shared these pretty Gluten Free Brownies With Buttercream Icing that whether you're gluten free or not look amazing! 


Finally, The Kitchen Is My Playground shared these Chocolate Valentine Kiss Cookies that are just the perfect bite size morsels of love! 

Thanks as always to EVERYONE who linked up! Now let's see what everyone's been up to this week!









You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Valentine's Day: Pink, Grey, Cream Valentine's Cards

 


Less than two weeks until Galentine's and Valentine's Day! When you love making cards, it's easy to make them for those you love. 

I tend towards non-traditional colors because I'm contrary like that. This year, I went with a color palette of Black and White, Cream and Grey and Pink. I backed into my palette when I found some great stickers at Dollar Tree last month. 

With these COVID variants, we're going out even less than before which wasn't that much to start and it will be another cozy home celebration for us. 

Supplies: 
  • Cardstock (Recollections 110lb Michaels)
  • Scrapbook Paper (American Crafts and Pink Paislee)
  • Focal Sticker (Dollar Tree)
  • Paper Trimmer
  • Adhesive 


I found this sheet of wood stickers at Dollar Tree. I love the natural hearts and although I'm not much of a pink person, I really wanted to use those too because I knew I had the perfect papers in my stash! 


I did some on cream cardstock with coordinating grey and cream papers. I had scraps from cutting the cards to size (5x7) so I ran them through a damask embossing folder that matched the pattern of the paper. Makers hate waste!. I kept these simple because the papers were so pretty so just adhered the natural heart to a white scrap, matted with a grey scrap and done! 


I'm physically unable to avoid black and white. It's true! My doctor confirms. OK no, but...it's my thing. So for this one, I used a striped silver on silver paper, American Crafts XOXO paper, the pink hearts and done!


For the pink cards, white cardstock, coordinating papers by Pink Paislee, more natural hearts and done! 



Those of you who know you're getting one will just have to see which one you get! 😛







Thursday, January 28, 2021

BFF Open House

 


Happy Friday Eve all! Hope that everyone has had an uneventful week! Uneventful has become my favorite word. We had a little surprise snow here in the desert! I live in the foothills of the "Valley of the Sun" so it was a but of a shock! 

January is not going by slowly is it? How are we at the end already with February on our heels which means lots of Valentine's and Galentine's Day fun! Let's take a look at some of the ideas shared at last week's party. 

My latest projects are here and here : DIY Leather and Silver Earrings and How to Make a Card Without Fancy Tools


If you have a collection of family memories like Vintage Valentines, The House on Silverado has a great way to make a current piece of Valentine decor using them! 


How pretty is this Ombre Felt Fringed Heart from Creatively Beth! You can adapt to whatever your Valentine's color palette is. 



Masterpieces of My Life shared Six Decor Ideas for Valentine's Day including these beautiful Romantic French Labeled Bottles!


Finally, Two Chicks and A Mom has Valentine's Sugar Cookies that would be perfect to make for that someone special! 

As always, thanks to EVERYONE who linked up and let's see what you've all been up to this week! 

















You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Cardmaking: How to Make a Card Without Fancy Tools

 




My first crafting love is paper, specifically Card Making. Since childhood, I've loved pretty papers and my mom always made sure I had my own stationery, thank you notes etc. I still love "snail mail" and making and sending my own cards. And yes, I have all the "fancy tools" which I've accumulated over the years. But every so often it's just as much fun to use no tools and still make something pretty. This post is perfect for you if you've ever wanted to try making cards but don't want to invest in a lot of supplies. 

First and foremost is your paper! Whether you buy scrapbook paper by the individual sheet or like me, tend towards "stacks" with just a few pretty papers, you can make a handmade card!

Supplies: 
  • Coordinating Papers. I used a Craftsmart stack from Michaels
  • Cardstock. I prefer 110lb weight
  • Adhesive. Tape runner or if all you have is a glue stick, that'll work. 
  • Paper Trimmer. If you don't have one, no problem. Craft knife or scissors will work. You'll just need a ruler. 

A lot of my paper stash consists of "Hot Buy" stacks from Michaels. They often have them either 70% off or buy one get two free with the one being $19.99 so it averages out to less than $7 per stack and you can get anywhere from 48-60 pieces in each stack, some of which are double sided. But what I really love is, many of the stacks come with pages of sentiments that can be used as a focal for a card. 

NOTE: These are a special category so not all of their paper pads qualify. Only those they usually have in their own section entitled "Hot Buy". 


Each of these sentiments shown here is its own panel so you have multiple pieces you can use. I start by cutting these types of pages apart and choosing the panels I want to use as my card focal. Since all of the papers in the same stack coordinate, you can then choose other papers for your card knowing they'll all work together. For those without words you can either layer with pieces that have them or use stamps or stickers. Out of the panels from this sheet, I have enough to make 10 cards! 




Card Base: You can cut your own ( I tend to ) or you can buy blank pre-cut cards usually either 5x7 or 4.25 x5.25. These may also be called A7 or A4 and can be found everywhere from office supply stores, craft stores, or specialty stores like Paper Source. If you're cutting your own, you will need to cut to desired size and score down the middle. I have a scoring board but you can easily do this by measuring to the center of your paper and using an embossing tool, or an empty ballpoint pen and a ruler to make the scoring line. Score, fold, burnish with a bone folder or scissor handle to give it a strong crease.

I usually cut my card(s) first and set aside, then work on the layers that will become the focal of the card. 

Trim Sentiment Panel: Once you've cut your sentiment panel sheet apart, trim each piece as desired. This is why I don't worry about getting them cut perfectly from the main sheet. 




Then using coordinating papers ( I have tons of scraps on hand so if you are starting from nothing, you may want a couple of additional papers for this part). I chose mirror gold and silver glitter scraps and used these to mat the sentiment focal. 



Then I cut my coordinating papers to fit my card base...in this case I cut one 4.75x6.75 for a 5x7 card and then one 3.75x5.75 for the next coordinating layer. 


So here you can see (left to right): Card base, first panel, second panel, matted focal


Center your focal piece on the second panel, attach with foam dots or squares to give your card some dimension. I get a lot of my basic supplies like foam dots from Dollar Tree. They also sell one time use tape runners and double sided foam tape. 



I have this monster ATG Tape Gun that I've had for something like 20 years and if you find yourself really doing a lot of paper crafting, it is well worth the investment! 


You'll layer your second panel to the first with your focal panel already applied and then the whole thing to your card base and you're done! 


I used the same process for this second card and reversed the papers. In total I used three sheets from this pack with 45 remaining ! 




And since "sharing is caring" did I mention that Michaels has their Hot Buy Buy One Get Two Free deal going on this week?!  They don't even pay me to say that! 

If you've ever wanted to try to make a card, I hope this is helpful!