March Pretty Palettes Challenge

Hi everyone,

This month I'm making more time for crafts.  After all, it is National Craft Month!  So far, I've made an etched slate sign, milk bottle flower hangers (see that next month on the Creating with Joy blog) and played with some re-usable mold putty and created a Wrapped Resin Key necklace. 

Today, it's time for more beading with the Pretty Palettes challenge for March over on the Halcraft blog.  Our inspiration this month is a beautiful photo of orange tulips from Molly Schaller.


Here's the palette generated from the photo:

And, here are the Bead Gallery beads that Molly chose to go with the palette:


Here are the beads that I picked out to go with this challenge:

I couldn't make it to Michaels and pick up Bead Gallery beads, so I did the next best thing - picked up a couple of strands of Bliss Beads, which are also make by Halcraft.  I really liked how these ceramic beads had greenish flecks on the orange - a perfect fit to the palette!  I'll supplement the ceramic beads and the fire agate rounds with some beads from my stash.

Although I started out thinking of springtime and tulips, with the color of the beads and the wood and stone, I think it came out to be more evocative of a recent trip of mine.  The dark oranges in my beads took me off the path of tulips and I ended up in the Painted Desert!

Painted Desert

Here's the necklace with additions of some Czech wavy discs, an oval picture jasper donut and a tiger skin rondelle from my supplies.  There are also some Bead Gallery wood chips and Bliss Beads crackled glass chips.  I also tied on a couple of green leaves that I had.  Designing is always an adventure, with unexpected twists and turns! 

Desert Springtime

Head over to the Pretty Palettes reveal and see all the other lovely creations from this challenge.  They are inspirational!  I see a visit to Michaels in my future for some of those ceramic rounds and wood discs!

Happy creating!

ImPRESSive Putty

Hi Friends,

On my work table today is a product new to me.  As I was wandering the aisles at the Creativation show, I stopped to talk to the folks at ComposiMold and they kindly sent me a sample of their unique ImPRESSive mold-making putty.  It's unique because 1) you don't have to mix it like most mold-making putty and 2) it's re-usable!

I followed the instructions on the back of the product to heat the Impressive Putty.  While it was cooling, I searched for some items to mold.

The first thing I tried was an old key.  I pressed the key into the putty and put it into the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Then, I popped out the key by flexing the mold.

I used Delight(TM) air dry modeling compound to fill the mold.

I waited about 15 minutes and took it out of the mold.  I used a lot more of the paper clay than I needed, but I should be able to trim that away fairly easily.  The next time, I added a little water to the paper clay to make it more flexible and added less to the mold. 

In all, I made three paper clay keys.  They should be fun to add to a mixed media collage or a card later.

Next, I tried some resin in the key mold.  I added a few drops of brown alcohol ink to color the resin.

I added a little too much resin, so I had to clean up the key with a file.

Then, I created a simple lariat with leather lace.  I wrapped the key with wire and beads and added it to the ends of the lace with a metal keyhole, beads and other assorted items..

Here's a photo of the ends of the lariat.

Wrapped Key Lariat

And, so, since it's a re-usable putty, I heated it up and kneaded it and made another mold.  This time I used a stone donut. 

Mold #2

I found this ImPRESSive Putty very easy to use and I look forward to using it more in my design work.  You can find it at the ComposiMold website along with many more of their re-usable mold-making materials.  You'll find a product for everything you want to mold - even food! 

Etched Slate Sign

Hi Crafty Friends!

I'm back from a road trip to Arizona where I saw many amazing sights like the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.  Among the many fascinating things I saw were petroglyphs.  These are ancient drawings carved into the rock in many places around the world.  These petroglyphs inspired the slate sign I etched here.

I received some new materials from etchall® for this blog hop and I was eager to try them out.  One item was a etchall® resist gel to use with etchall® etching crème.

After studying the petroglyphs, I chose a simple sun as a motif on a slate sign.  I drew my own image with a circle and rays.

Here it is drawn with pencil on the slate.  You can erase whatever pencil marks that are left later.

I used the resist gel and went over the pencil lines.

Then, I let it dry until it was clear.  Using a toothpick, I filled the ring and rays with etching crème.

After fifteen minutes, I rinsed off the etching crème.  Ordinarily, I'd scrape off the etching crème and return it to the bottle, since it is re-useable.  But, in this case, I used very little crème.  Once the crème was rinsed off, I pulled of the resist gel. 

Here's the result:

I liked the look of the primitive sun on the rough slate, but I thought it needed a little more.  So, I added some smaller petroglyph motifs on both sides.

I drew the motifs with pencil, then used a toothpick dipped into the etchall® etching crème and went over the lines.  After 15 minutes, I rinsed them quickly under running water.

Here's the final result of my etched slate sign:

Etched Slate Sign

Etched Slate Sign

Here it is again showing the great etchall® product used in this project.  I hope you'll try it because it is fun and easy to use with easy clean-up and very little odor.  This is the first time I have used the etchall® resist gel, and I really like how it works on a rough, uneven surface like the slate.  I have tried stencils before on slate and the resist gel works much better.

Take a look at all the other designer's etched projects for this blog hop.  You can find them all on the Designer Crafts Connection Blog.

National Craft Month

Hi Crafty Friends!

March is National Craft Month and I'm going to celebrate this month with some ideas and inspiration for you. 

Here's a few ideas from the Creating With Joy blog.  It's almost St. Patrick's Day, so here is a cute banner from Julie McGuffee:  St. Patrick's Day Banner

St. Patrick's Day Banner

Also from the Creating with Joy blog, my Children's Felt Bulletin Board.  It's simple to make with that wonderful felt from Kunin, some Duck Tape and Joy Iron-on Letters.

Children's Felt Bulletin Board

Joy Iron-on letters can be ironed onto most surfaces with a craft iron or glued onto those surfaces where you can't use an iron.

Here's a craft that I did in February for the Creating with Joy blog.  We're expecting a granddaughter this month, so I created a small garland for the baby's room.  This time I used stiffened felt, some tulle ribbon and, of course, Joy letters!

Baby Onesie Garland

And, in January, I was thinking snow!  Maybe I thought a little too hard!  There is a lot of it around this year!

Here's the easy garland I created for January:

Let It Snow Garland

These letters are adhered to sparkling foam snowflakes.  It's easy to adapt for any occasion by cutting or buying die cuts and adding Joy letters.  You can find them in craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby or on their website.

Hope you are inspired to create!