Step by Step Crafting Lessons

Miracle Lotion

2008-07-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Miracle Lotion Recipe

Thanks to several hgtv crafters for this amazing recipe! It’ll work wonders on your dry cracked skin!

You will need:

1 jar of vitamin E cream
1 jar of petroleum jelly
1 bottle of baby lotion (or any favorite scent)

In a good sized deep bowl mix all the ingredients together with an electric mixer. Now you’re ready to put it in containers.

Some crafty suggestions from our talented bunch:

*For getting the lotion into the containers try using a small funnel or filling a plastic bag and cutting off a corner to squeeze it in.

*A few ideas for containers we’ve come up with are baby food jars, travel size bottles, left over hand pump soap bottles, just about any decorative bottle you can find!

Here are a few bottle ideas shared by our crafty hgtv friends:

The best part about this lotion is that all the ingredients (and probably even the containers) can all be bought at your local dollar store!!

Fork Bow

2008-07-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to "one happy bird" for this tut~

Fork Bow Tutorial

I made this fork bow tutorial for you. It's very easy and makes cute little bows that can be tied to favors, small earring boxes, homemade Christmas ornaments and more! I used an old, big serving fork to demonstrate, but you can use a regular size fork or dowels glued on a wooden base.

Picture 1 Below: All you need is some kind of 4 pronged fork, ribbon and a pair of scissors.

Picture 2 Below: First off, start by weaving the ribbon in and out of the fork. Leave a little extra ribbon on the left and just let it lie there. The ribbon you will be weaving with is pictured on the right.

Picture 3 Below: Take the ribbon on the right hand side over the top of the fork and weave the ribbon in and out.

Picture 4 Below: Then, do the same thing again on the left hand side of the fork, weaving the ribbon in and out, coming the opposite direction. Remember, you are only weaving with the one ribbon. The other piece of ribbon on the left is just going to lie there.

Picture 5 Below: Now, finish weaving in and out until you almost reach the top of the fork.

Picture 6 Below: Take a separate piece of ribbon and slide it through the bottom in the middle of the fork.

Picture 7 Below: Now, tie it tight! Slide the whole thing off the fork.

Picture 8 Below: You should have 4 ribbon strings on the bow. Cut two of the pieces to look like part of the ribbon. The other two pieces of ribbon that are left can be tied around a little sachet-like favor.

You can actually do a multitude of projects with this little bow. I just gave one example when I mentioned party favors. ~one happy bird

Posting a Link

2007-12-29T08:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks to tmarie for creating this much needed tutorial!

For those who need to know how to post a link:

1) Go to the Web page you wish to link.

2) Put your arrow in your browser's address/location box at the top of the screen.
pic1

3) Left click your mouse (the box turns from white to blue).
pic2

4) Right click your mouse.5) Left click on "Copy" from the pop-up menu.
pic3

6) Go to the reply section of the post where you wish to insert the link.7) Right click your mouse. and click on paste
pic4

It should look like this after pasting..* soemtimes the http address will have a bunch of strange and very long run of numbers.
pic5

8) Type whatever you wish to say in the "Comments" box then post it!

Snow Globe Card

2007-11-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Snow Globe Card by Mugsy

Supplies:
card blank
cardstock
patterned paper if desired
stamped image or clip art
i used a colluzzle, but you can just cut out the shape/hole with scissors
adhesive tape
clear glitter
packing tape (clear)

1. Cut the oval using colluzzle....nested shapes are great when you want to make another cut in a tad larger size:

2. Cut next larger oval from patterned paper :

3. Tape goes on the inside of the front....sticky side OUT:

4. Sticky side is now facing you:

5. Pour on clear or semiclear glitter to coat the sticky stuff:

6. stamped image (you can use your imagination here, so many possiblities) but it must be pretty vibrant or else you wont be able to see anything thru the glitter layer:

7. Taped it to card :

8. Image showing thru :

9. Placed the patterned paper to make a frame...not necessary though :

10. Front is done ! quick and easy project and quite effective

*You can also just do a card front in the technique and then attach that to the card...then you dont have to cover/hide the taping on the back of the card front

Turkey Wreath

2007-09-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

Turkey Wreath by shysue

You will need two soda cans for this project. Cut through the rim of the first can at the opening

Pic #1

When you have cut through the rim, measure three inches from the bottom of the can and mark a line around the can if you like.

Pic #2

Cut around the entire can

Pic #3

Trim edges of can and dispose of the top

Pic #4

Cut the can in half lengthwise. Trim up edges.

Pic #5

Cut eight cuts from cut edge to bottom of can to make feathers

Pic #6

Bend the feathers back like the picture. I have to lightly step on the bottom of the can to do this. Pic #7

You will spray paint now before hot glueing feather sections together.(Mine are not painted in picture, but everything should be painted before glueing.)

Pic #8

Take your second can and mash it together. Again, I have to step or stomp on it.

Pic #9

Before you spray paint it, you need to figure where your neck piece will go and make a hole for it with a craft knife or scissors. You will also need to make two holes for the legs to be glued into it. The end with the opening will be in the back.

Pic #10

For neck you need a 2 1/2 in. twig-paint brown. Legs...two 2 1/2 in twigs-paint yellow with two black lines at knees. Head...one bottle cap-paint brown.

Pic #11

Cut craft foam for feet, wattle, and beak in appropriate colors or paint them. Use a 1/8 in. hole punch for two foam eyes. Use a marker to make eye pupils, toenails, and beak hole. Enlarge these pattern pieces to use or free hand your own.

Pic #12

Hot glue feather piece to back of body, head to neck, neck into body, feet onto legs, legs into body. Use craft glue to glue on face pieces. You can make a sign "Eat More Pork" to go around one of the turkey's neck if you want.

Pic #13

*DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing.Thank you, & have fun crafting!

Gingy Pan by CJ's Crafts

2007-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have a few pics so please be patient. This is the set up for the first set....splattering. Do not remove the label on the pan until after splattering:

Pic #1

Splattered skillet:

Pic #2

Using the same paint you splattered with, base in the bottom of the skillet:

Pic #3

Now base in using honey brown until you get a solid color :
Pic #4

Dry brush highlight in center, fading to edge. I used Yellow Ocher:
Pic #5

Dry brush cheeks in using bright red:
Pic #6

Sketch eye shapes over cheeks and shade. Also shade around outside of circle:
Pic # 7

Sketch mouth now and paint mouth, eyes and eyebrows black:
Pic # 8

Add nose in spiced apple and shade under it:
Pic # 9

Add white highlights. I also shaded under mouth to make his lip:
Pic #10

Using burnt umber,and a liner brush. Paint in halo of twigs:
Pic #11

I did one stroke, but the leaves could just be painted on in one color. Then add berries using a stylus:
Pic #12

He is done. I use Triple Thick Crystal Clear Glaze and seal the entire backside of the pan, including the spattered parts. Tear some coordinating homespun and wrap handle. Finish off with a bow. And you are done!

*Tips
I found those skillets at the Dollar Tree

I splatter the edges with enamel, then using a flat brush, paint the face circle. The enamel adheres to the pan, the acrylics then will adhere to the enamel. Then the face is painted with acrylics

Ribbon Angel

2007-08-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

by One Happy Bird

Thanks to Crafterwannabe who is the one who originally shared this project idea with me!

Okay, first off, buy some pretty wired ribbon with the wider "edge" to them. It will work much better when folding the ribbon and you won't have the problem of wire "popping out" at the end.

*Pic 1

Secondly, fan fold a piece of ribbon to make 7 pleats in the front. Staple the top and cut off the top edging. See how I did it in the pictue below?

*Pic 2

Thirdly, fan fold another piece of ribbon, just like you did the first time, only make 5 pleats in the front. Now, fold the ribbon in half and squeeze. You can see a faint line where you squeezed your ribbon in half, so now you know where the center is. staple it right on that faint line.

*Pic 3

This is the fun part! "Open your fan folds. Use a low-temp glue gun and hot glue the wings on top of the dress. Hot glue a bell for the face. You can string some ornament thread through the top of the bell, to hang on a Christmas tree or package. Add a little rose, flat back heart rhinestone, cross or some other embellishment on the "waist line" of the dress. This covers where you hot glued the two pieces together.

*Pic 4

Now, wasn't that easy?!

(((Big Hugs)))

Lori Jean :o)

Fireflies in a Jar Light

2007-08-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

By wishujoy

Materials:
Plastic or glass jar (the one I used was the size of a large pickle jar)
Plastic or silk plants and/or flowers
Short string of mini lights (I used a 10 light string of battery powered "Wedding Party Lights")
Styrofoam for the bottom of the jar (to insert the plants in)
Felt or acrylic paint to cover the Styrofoam
Glue: Aleene's tacky and E-6000 are good
Large paper clips or floral picks
Misc jar decorations (I'm using plastic bugs and lizards)
Tall floral picks for the lights cut to length needed
Rubber bands and one large rubber band to fit around the jar

Step 1: Prepare the lights (fireflies). For the wings I cut some of the leaves from the plants that was shaped like an oval or kind of like a blade of grass, then glued two leaves to the outside of each light socket (the part that holds the bulb) just don't get the glue in the socket or on the bulb. I used Aleene's tacky glue for this. While the wings are drying you can start on the jar.

Step 2: Poke several small holes around the outer edge of the jar lid. (your battery pack will be in the middle of the lid.) This is to let the heat out from the lights. If you're using a plastic jar, I used my wood burner with the small pointed tip to make the holes. For a glass jar with a metal lid, I used a nail to punch the holes.

Step 3: Cut your styrofoam to fit inside the jar, to get a snug fit, cut your styrofoam the size to fit in your jar and cut it in half to get it to fit down in the bottom. Now you're ready to cover the styrofoam. If using felt: cover the sides first so that the top piece will cover any overlap. Fit it down snug into the bottom of your jar, adding glue to the bottom if neccesary. Now glue on the top piece of felt to your styrofoam.
If you're using acrylic paint: paint the whole thing and let dry before placing. Before gluing my styrofoam down I added a few small rocks between the covered/painted styrofoam and the side of jar.

*Pic 3

Step 4: Next you need to straighten out your paper clip (I used needle nose pliers) or if using floral pics skip that step. Slowly push it into the bug (being careful not to push it all the way through or it may get your fingers.) Now you're ready to place/insert your bug in the styrofoam. If you want a critter or two crawling up the side of the jar you can either place a small amount of glue on it's feet and tummy and glue it to the jar or use a floral pick and place him against the jar then hide the pick with plants.

*Pic 4

Step 5: Cut plant stems to the height you want them but not so tall that your lid won't go on the jar, now you can start inserting a few plants.

*Pic 5

Step 6: Okay, it's time to start placing your lights (fireflies) around in the jar, start with the end light wrap it on a pick and insert it in the styrofoam, I cut the first picks and placed the lower lights first then worked my way up hiding the string as I went, you may want to more plants to help hide the string as you go. The last and highest lights (fireflies) will be at the end with the battery box. I put a rubber band around the jar to hold the battery pack up close to the top, this made it easier to work with the lights.

*Pic 6

Step 7: Secure the battery pack to the lid. Glue a piece of velcro to the lid and the other piece to the bottom of battery pack. This is so you can remove the lights and replace them if you ever need to.
I used my wood burner to put a small hole in the open end of the battery pack and on the lid. Then I stuck toothpick in the holes and put a small bolt and nut through them to hold the pack on the lid. (this was before the velcro idea and I'd already taken the pic)

*Pic 7

Step 8: Decorate the lid to hide the battery pack, making sure not to cover the vent holes. I covered mine with an easy ladybug.

To make the lady bug:

One 5 inch styrofoam ball cut in half ( you only need one half)
One 1-1/2" Styrofoam ball
Black acrylic paint
Small foam brush (any brush will work, but the foam brush seems to work better)
2 wiggle eyes
Red felt for wings
Black felt for dots
Aleene's Tacky glue

To make the body cut the 5" ball in half. Place the battery pack on the flat side (the tummy of the ladybug) & mark the outline of the battery pack onto the styrofoam. Hollow out a place for the battery pack to fit in, you can use a knife or a spoon, but take small amounts at a time so you don't break it.
Now take the small styrofoam ball (the head) and cut a slice of it off so one side is flat then cut a small slice off of the top of one end of the body.This creates the flat surfaces needed to join the head and body together. Paint the head and the body black, let dry.
Once the two pieces are dry, Cut your red felt circle in half and put glue on one side of the felt, place the glue side on the body so that the wings show some of the black in between the wings and carefully press/smooth the wings down on the body working from the top down. Let dry. Then glue your dots onto the red wings.To connect the head to the body, break a toothpick in half and stick them in the flat part of the head, put some glue around the picks and on the flat part of the head, now place head with the picks on the flat part of the body and push to two pieces together. While that is drying you can glue the eyes on the head.

After placing your ladybug over the battery pack when dry, your firefly jar lamp is finished!

Some other material options:
Instead of painting Styrofoam, paint the inside of the jar so the styrofoam won't show, glue a single layer of small rocks to the side of the styrofoam and cover the top of the styrofoam with moss.

Paint the floral picks or paper clips green to match so they aren’t noticeable

If you can’t find the mini lights on green “strings”, (thanks to Mamo for the great idea) you can paint your light string green and just glue some leaves to the string of lights

Other jar theme ideas:
Small toy cars, dinosaurs, fairies, butterflies, miniature tea sets. The possibilities are endless!

I used these when making mine:

Patriotic Gingie

2007-06-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Patriotic Gingie

Presented by: craftymouse

Here are the supplies needed for the polymer gingerbread man.

For the Gingie you will need:

Polymer Clay – Brown (2), Red , White, Blue

Black seed beads

Toothpicks

Knife

Brayer

Baking sheet

Batting

Something to cover your work surface

Something to wash your hands with (I use baby wipes)

For the ‘firecracker” you will need:

Empty container (Mine was a Poppyc*ck from Costco)

Gesso

Acrylic paint – white, blue (2 shades), yellow, red

Sea sponge

Craft knife

Gold braid

Paintbrush

Gold star garland

Wooden spoon or pencil

Clip in light

The project that I am going to try to share is a patriotic gingie in his “firecracker” house. The size of your gingie will be determined by the size of your can you are using for the firecracker. My can is from caramel corn that I got at Costco. You can make a taller firecracker from a Pringles can but you will need to adjust the size of your gingie. This figure could easily be adapted to be a snowman by using white clay.First of all, let me say that I am no expert in this medium and my technique is probably not the “right” technique but it works for me. I just have two notes as we get started. Devote whatever knife, tools, etc. that you use for polymer clay to polymer clay and retire them from food preparation. Secondly, wash your hands between colors. This is what happens when you don't! I picked up white after working with red...oops.

See PIC 1

Okay, let’s get started. There are various specialty tools that can be used for clay, but I tried to stick with just basics with this project.You will need to condition the clay before you start forming your gingie. Just play with it. Roll it in your hands. Knead it until it is soft and pliable.First you need to make a ball of clay 1 ¼ inches in diameter. This will be the body.

See PIC 2

Roll it between your hand to give it a slight cone shape. Set this aside.

See PIC 3

To make the legs you will roll a 1 ¼ inch ball of clay into a log. Push up slightly on one end to form the foot. See PIC 4

Clean your hands and take a small piece of white clay and roll it into a thin snake. Put this on the foot in a zigzag design to form the “icing”. Press gently so that it adheres but does not flatten. See PIC 5

I break off a small piece of toothpick to serve as a joint stabilizer. Put two pieces on the bottom of the body and join the legs to the body. Be careful not to mess up the “icing” on the feet. See PIC 6

Place the feet like this... See PIC 7

Next you will need to roll ¾ inch balls of clay into logs to form the arms. I roll the clay gently between my thumb and pointer to form a hand. Add icing to the wrist just like you did to the feet. See PIC 8

Again you will use toothpicks as stabilizers for the arms. You can roll “buttons” from the white clay if you desire. See PIC 9

To make the bow tie I rolled three ropes of clay. One each from red, white and blue clay. I twisted these together and rolled the twisted snake until I had a thin piece. Then I flattened it with a brayer. See PIC 10

Put your “neck” toothpick on first and then place a small circle of the red, white and blue clay on the body. Cut two pieces and attach them now to form the “ribbons” that hang from the bow. See PIC 11

To make the actual bow, take a piece of the red, white and blue clay and form a figure eight with it. Wrap a small piece of clay at the center of the eight.

See PIC 12

Press this on to the body. See PIC 13

Now we’re ready to give this little guy a head. Roll a 1 inch ball of clay into a ball.Take a toothpick and make two small holes where you want the eyes to be.

See PIC 14

To make the eyes I roll a very small piece of white clay into a tiny ball. Use a toothpick to pick up a seed bead. Gently pick up the white clay with the bead. Now carefully place it in the hole on the clay. Press it on gently. See PIC 15

To make the mouth roll a very thin piece of while clay into a rope. Make a small U shape and press it on gently. Roll two tiny pieces of white to place at the corners of the mouth.
I found this part to be a little tedious. An alternative would be to form a mouth with a small canapé cutter or cookie cutter. I frequently use the angle of triangle or the edge of a circle cutter to make my mouths but decided to try the “icing” look on this one.
Roll out a thin rope of white to make the “icing” around the head. Now put the head on the body. See PIC 16.

Now he looks like this…See PIC 17

And with the head on the body…See PIC 18

I added a hat to my gingie, although I don’t think it was necessary. To make the hat I took some “junk” clay (the pieces left over from the bow and a piece where I change colors without washing my hands) and formed a small cylinder. You can continue like I did or make a solid hat rather than a striped hat. Roll out sheets of red and white and stack them one on top of the other. The thickness of the sheet is up to you. The thicker the sheet, the wider to stripe on your hat. The width of the clay should be the same as the length of the cylinder. You will cut slices of the stacked clay and place them side by side with the edges touching. You will need enough to go around the diameter of your cylinder. Use a brayer to roll over the clay just enough to “join” the slices. Roll this around you cylinder. See PIC 19

And around the cylinder…See PIC 20

Cut a circle of clay to place on top of the hat. This will hide the rough edges. Roll a snake of blue clay and flatten it. You will place this around the bottom of the hat to form the band.Roll out a sheet of red clay and cut a circle slightly larger than the cylinder. This will form the brim. I used to top off of a large glue stick for my cutter. Use a toothpick as a stabilizer and gently press your hat on the gingie’s head. You can place it on straight or tilt it slightly.
Take your flag pick and push it through the gingie’s hand. Now remove it before you bake it. The hole will remain and you can put the flag back in once the gingie is baked.

See PIC 21

Bake it according to the directions for the kind of clay that you used. Mine said 30 minutes per ¼ inch thickness. Place a piece of batting on your baking sheet and sit you gingie on it before baking. This will prevent him from having a shiny behind. After your gingie had cooled, place the flag back in his hand. A couple of notes…My gingie did not want to sit up. He seemed to want to lean back so I added a bit of brown clay to his behind and built him up a little to help him lean forward. I just blended it in to his legs. I sometimes use blush on the cheeks of my figures but it doesn’t really show up well on the brown clay.

To do the firecracker:

I first cut a door in the can. Make it an appropriate height for your gingie but don’t go too tall or you will see the light. See PIC 22

And with the door cut…See PIC 23

Cut a hole for the clip in light. Make this high enough that you don’t see the light through the door. Since this is made from a cardboard type can I would not leave the light on unattended! I am assuming that since lampshades don’t catch fire this light is okay, but I would not take chances. See PIC 24

I painted the can with gesso and then acrylic paint. You could probably spray paint the can but I would paint before cutting if I were going to do that. After the paint was dry I sponged on some blue pain in a slightly different shade of blue. I just like the more textured look.

See PIC 25

Using a liner brush paint some fireworks on the inside of the can. This is tricky. I found that I my paint was watered down then the paint tended to bead up a bit. I made three very simple “bursts” with simple lines and dots. See PIC 26

Paint some white stars on the outside of your can. Just freehand them. Or you can paint swirls. Or stripes….Once this is dry spray with an acrylic sealer.

See PIC 27

I used a glue gun to add gold braid to the edge of the door.

See PIC 28

Cut three pieces of gold star garland for the “flame”. Twist them around a wooden spoon handle if you want them curled. See PIC 29

Push them through the lid of the can. I made a little twist on the inside of the lid and again on the outside of the lid to help hold the “flame” in place.

See PIC 30

Put the lid on the can and clip in the light. Put your gingie inside. Now your gingie has a home! See PIC 31

Polymer Snowman Hat:

This gingie can be changed to a snowman since the body shape is generally the same.

See PIC 32

To make the snowman hat I rolled a ball of clay and formed it into a bowl shape…

See PIC 33

Next roll a snake of clay that will be the cuff and put it on the bowl…

See PIC 34

Use the back of a knife or a toothpick to "rib" the cuff…

See PIC 35

I would put it on the snowman before adding the pom-pom. Just roll a ball of clay and put it on the top. Use the knife to cut diagonals on the pom-pom (like you would be cutting a pie). This just adds a little texture…

See PIC 36

I hope I was clear in my instructions. I can't believe how nervous I was doing this!

Phyl

Patriotic Sign

2007-06-19T04:56:00.000-07:00

Patriotic Sign

Presented by: raccoon

I put together a list of supplies and materials needed for this class. Please forgive me if I have forgotten something.... I went over the list a couple of times and it seems like everything is on it.

Printer to print out patterns
Pencil Tracing paper
4mm and 10 mm plywood pieces
Acrylic paints in blue, red, white, black and brown
Jars for mixing colors
Paper towels or scrap pieces of cardboard
Paint brushes O
ld toothbrushes
Basic sawing supplies
Sandpaper Drill with 1.5 mm bit for the holes
Wood glue
Wire Cutter
Ruler
Clamps for holding pieces together
Wire for hanging ( I am not sure about the wire sizes in the USA) It just needs to be sturdy and not so thin.

Print the heart and sign patterns out. You will find them here: http://www.craftideas.info/html/patriotic_door_sign_.html and http://www.craftideas.info/html/wooden_welcome_sign.html .

Enlarge them to a size you would like. Print out a couple of sizes of the star template within the heart. You will need 2 small hearts and 2 slightly larger stars. Take tracing paper and trace all of the markings of your templates onto the paper using a pencil. Then turn the tracing paper over, lay it on the wood and trace the markings again. The graphite from the pencil will then be seen on the wood. See PIC 1

Cut the traced patterns now out.

See PIC 2

These are now your cut out pieces.

See PIC 3

Mix your colors. Add black to the blue, add a bit of brown to the red and white. This will make the colors more subtle and not so harsh. Now paint the pieces. The sign gets painted blue, the heart gets painted red and white striped with a blue corner and the stars get painted white. See PIC 4

Now for the dry brushing, take a stiff brush that is flexible. Collect your contrast color on it and wipe the most off again on a piece of old cardboard or paper towel. There should now only be a slight hint of the color still on the brush.

See PIC 5

Drybrush the white pieces with blue. The drybrushing gets done by „pouncing“ or „brushing“ your brush along the edges. The color is subtle looking but not dominant. If you need more color, follow step 5 again.

See PIC 6

This is how the stars look when finished.

See PIC 7

Now you will drybrush the white areas of the heart the same way. Follow along all sides of the stripe.
See PIC 8

This is a closer view of the white stripe after the drybrushing. Do all of the white areas this way. See PIC 9

Now you will clean your brush and gather the white paint the same way as the blue.

See PIC 10

You will now drybrush all of the red stripes and all of the blue areas just like you did the white stripes.
See PIC 11

This is how the pieces look now.

See PIC 12

To transfer the word „Welcome“ you will do the same as you did the other templates. Make sure your word is in the right direction when transfererring it onto the sign.

See PIC 13

Take a round brush and paint over the pencil lines.

See PIC 14

This is how the word looks when finished. See

PIC 15

Dip an old toothbrush in blue paint. Make sure it is saturated with paint but not dripping. Rub your finger or thumb along the bristles over your pieces and sprinkle the paint over the pieces.

Now the pieces are speckled.

See PIC 17

This is how the heart piece looks now.

See PIC 18

Drill a hole in the top of each heart half. Position the sign over the heart where you would like to have it. Now drill holes in the sign just above each hole of the heart. At the top of the sign, you will also need to drill 2 holes for hanging it up. Make each hole about 3 inches from the side and about ½ inch from the top.

See PIC 19

Place wood glue on the backsides of 3 stars- 1 larger and 2 smaller ones and glue them to the heart in the blue top left corner. Let the glue dry.

See PIC 20

Cut 2 pieces of wire and form a „C“. Assemble the heart to the sign.

See PIC 21

Cut another longer piece of wire (about 1-2 feet) and coil it on a pencil or wooden stick. Now remove the coil from the stick and stretch the coil out. Insert each end of the wire in the top of the sign for hanging.
See PIC 22

So craft friends, I hope that the instructions and pictures were ok! I wish you lots of fun and hope you will enjoy your door decoration for the 4th of July!

Raccoon
My crafty homepages!http://www.craftideas.info/http://www.papercrafts.us/

*DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing. Thank you, & have fun crafting!

Memory Bracelet

2007-06-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Memory Bracelet

created by followtheyellowbrickroad

Here is the list of supplies:

You will also need:

a computer

printer

ruler

scissors

Experienced trouble with scrabble tiles splitting when drilled,

so found these tiles at walmart.

Measure tiles. using a computer program,(i used a card making program) resize your images slightly larger than the tiles and print. lay your tiles on top of images to check for proper size after printing. all of the image that you want to include should be covered by the tile.

Cut out all images. the average adult

wrist will use 6 images.

Apply a coat of tacky glue to top of tile. should not be too thick, picture will slide around too much when image is applied. make sure holes are on the left and right sides of the tiles not the top and bottom. press on image. repeat with remaining tiles. allow to dry.

Using paint marker, paint the back of the tile, i used black. allow to dry. apply second coat if necessary for coverage. allow additional coats to dry.

Trim down image to fit the tile.

Use paint marker to coat the sides of the tile. turn tile image side up. draw a frame around outside edge of image with paint marker.

Apply a layer of glossy accents to top of tile over image. wipe off any that might run down sides of tiles. product is pretty thick going on. do not shake bottle, will cause air bubbles in product. any large bubbles can be popped with pin or needle. my finished pieces have lots of tiny air bubbles so don't be surprised if you see them when piece dries.(in this image, i am trying out a letter sticker instead of an image. hasn't dried yet, don't know how it looks)

Product is milky when wet. allow to dry to clear. apply two more layers, allow to dry between coats. you should start seeing dimension of top with second coat.

Check out the top coat thickness.

Apply a coat of the polyurethane to back and sides of piece. allow to dry. using clear topcoat nailpolish, apply a generous coat of nailpolish to top of piece. this will protect the top from fingerprints or scratches. you must be generous and you must be fairly quick when applying to avoid brush strokes. allow to dry. apply another coat. let dry completely.

Cut a 12 inch piece of stretchy cord. string tiles and beads in pleasing order. check the length against a ruler. when desired length is reached, tie several knots. do the same through bottom holes and remaining beads. tie several knots. pull knots inside tile to hide.

Enjoy!

Painted Screen

2007-06-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Painted Screen

by Paintlady (Linda)

Here is the supply list:

Screen of your choice (it can be any size or shape)

Pattern of your choice (am using one from Renee Mullins Frosty Friends book)

Acrylic Paint (found at WalMart & craft supply stores) needed for the pattern you are using for this project.

Deerfoot stippler paint brushes (3/8 and 1/4 sizes)

Any embellishments that you wish.

I think that pretty much covers the supply list. It takes so little for the supplies and you will be surprised because most of the things only take one coat of paint. Hope to see you all there.

Linda
Hello everyone and welcome to the screen painting class. It has been awhile since I have done a class so please bear with me on this while I try to remember how to do it. There are at least 22 steps I have written down along with pics so please let me get them in and then if there are questions I would be happy to answer them. Thanks and enjoy the class. Also this is a Renee Mullins pattern from her Frosty Friends book.

Linda

Step 1 I take my screen and use a wet rag and wash the screen to make sure it is nice and clean or as clean as you can get it. Let it dry. Be sure and use a towel or piece of plastic or something under the screen to catch the drips that will occur. Also do not let the screen part itself touch the table , towel or whatever. I sometimes will put thin boards under my frame to keep that from happening. The screen will look strange on the backside but actually once it dries not bad at all. (See pic 1)

Step 2 Once the screen is dry I take my pattern and put it on the back side of the screen and using masking tape , tape it in place. Put enough tape on it to hold so that it doesn’t move around. Using the white chalk pencil draw in the main pattern. Details will be done once the main part is painted. When you are done with drawing the pattern in take the pattern off the screen. (see pic 2)

~~NOTE: My screen had a frame on it so it did sit above the table work space that I was working on. You don't want the back of the screen to touch any part of the table or whatever as it won't work good. I just had an old painted towel laying under mine to catch any drips but you could use plastic or whatever. If you want to raise it up a bit just put a thin piece of wood or something under it to elevate it a bit.

Step 3 I am showing the paint and the stippler brush so you can see that it takes a lot of paint on the brush because you won’t actually be painting the screen, you use a lot of paint and sort of float over the screen. The holes will fill in but if not you can always go back and fill in if that is the look you want. Some people like some of the holes not filled in for a more rustic look and I will show that as we are painting. I am starting with the snowman head and will do all three of them and fill that in. (See pics 3-7)

Step 4 Once the heads are done then I start on the scarves doing one at a time until I get all three of them painted in. (See pics 8-10)

Step 5 Then I move onto painting the lower part of the snowmen and paint them just as we did the top part. Just take the brush and glide over the screen. (see pic 11)

Step 6 Now I will show how it looks with some of the holes not filled in and some of them filled in. It is up to you which look you like. I prefer the filled in look so often will go back and fill in any squares that doesn’t fill in on their own. (see pics 12 & 13)

Step 7 Once the top is dry then place the pattern over the top and mark in any details that you need like the eyes, noses etc. (see pic 14)

Step 8 Then take the pattern if need be for your design and put it on the back to finish out the noses on the snowmen. Your pattern may not have this but at least you will know if the situation arises. Remove the pattern once you have it marked. (see pic 15)

Step 9 Then take the stippler again and start filling in the noses. But on the part that is already painted you can use just any flat brush or round brush whatever you prefer. It is really easy to paint over the parts that have already been painted. The paint just flows on. But you will need to use the stippler for any parts that have not been painted. (see pic 16)

Step 10 Take the end of the brush and do the eyes . I try to make mine a long circle.

(see pic 17)

Step 11 Next, I take a darker shade of the scarf and some water to water down the paint a bit and I will shade around the scarf. I do this to all the scarves in a darker color than the scarf.

(see pic 18)

Step 12 Then I take a light tan and do the shading around the snowmens body and heads.

(see pic 19)

Step 13 Take a liner brush and draw in the lines on the scarf in the middle and using a slightly smaller brush to do the lines on the other scarves. Or you could any design that you like.

(see pic 20)

Step 14 Do the lines on the other scarf. (see pic 21)

Step 15 This is how they look when the shading is done and the lines are on the scarves. From here you can really put any detail on that you want. (see pic 22)

Step 16 I then took a stencil brush and used some pink paint and dabbed most of it off and then dry brushed the cheeks in. You can do them as dark as you like. (see pic 23)

Step 17 I also took that stencil brush and dry brushed some yellow on the noses and then took the liner brush and made some small black lines on the noses. (see pic 24)

Step 18 I used my paint and put dots on for buttons but then later changed my mind and covered them with buttons. It is your screen so you can do what you want with it.

Step 19 I then used a star stencil and loaded the brush with lots of paint again and put the stars randomly on the screen where I wanted them. (see pic 25)

Step 20 Then I took a pattern for a moon and taped it to the back of the screen again like we did at the beginning, just be careful that the paint is dry on the back or you could have a mess. I then chalk penciled in the moon. If you can freehand this that is fine too. Then I used the stippler and filled it in. (see pic 26)

Step 21~ I did take a wooden star and painted it and then drilled two holes in the center and wire a button to it. The wire was then pushed into the holes in the screen on the middle snowmans scarf. It can be light weight wire if you choose to do this part. Then just twist the wire on the back of the screen. I also did this with the buttons that I decided to do. I didn’t get a separate pic of that but I think you get the idea. (see pic 27)

Step 22 This is the competed screen, I took some raffia and made a bow and then some homespun and made another bow and attached it to the screen. (see pic 28)

I hope that you can do this and find that it is really easy. If you have any questions at all please feel free to ask.

Linda

2007-06-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

Dapper Snowman Lesson 1

Dapper SnowLady

Presented by: crafterbug

Hint to print out right size for pattern: Right click and SAVE PICTURE [I saved it in with my craft photos etc.] I then went into my photos and selected PRINT PICTURE / then selected FIT TO PAGE. All of the pieces fit on one sheet of paper. Your Snowman will be between 6" - 7" tall depending on the hat .
Height of the pattern pieces: ....the Snowman's body should measure approx. 7 1/8" tall .....the vest at the top most point to the bottom most point measures 8 1/8" .......and the Arm from elbow across to fingertip measures 2 3/4"

Pattern link: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/LeeIngram/Projects/DapperSnowmanPattern.jpg

Supplies:

1/4 yd lightweight blanket fleece or white sparkle felt ( Walmart )
***this will make plenty as you're only going to use approximately a doubled square 9" x 9"a tracing pen for tracing around your pattern

Sculpey clay - Pumpkin Orange

4mm black beads - 2 ( eyes)

Threads ...white regularweight sewing thread for your machine ,
-White Upholstery Thread (this stuff won't break !) ,
-thread to match your costume colour (mine is pink ), -
-Black Embroidery Floss (mouth, use 2 strands) ,
-White Embroidery Floss (embroidery on vest front ...Optional ),
-Coloured Embroidery Floss (4 strands for blanket stitch on hat - optional )

Long Needle (mine is about 3 " )

Blush ( mine is Snow Plum by CoverGirl)

Stuffing

Plastic Pellets (or rice ) 1/2 cup

Funnel (optional )

Glue gun and glue

2 buttons ( or tiny ribbonroses ) for the vest

Seed beads ( for embroidery on vest..optional )I used white and crystal

Delta Paint : White (optional),liner brush1 Felt square for vest ( I used Sugar Pink)

Fleece for Hat and Scarf Hat : cut 6 1/2" x 3 "Pompom : cut 2" x 1 1/2"Scarf : cut a strip 12 1/4 " x 1"

**** Note : I would suggest making up a few noses ahead of time . To make the noses ,follow directions on the package for conditioning your clay ; pinch off very small pieces about 1/4" , roll into ball shape and flatten slightly ,you should have a little oval of a nose . Since you're going to use the oven to bake these for 10 minutes it only makes sense to have some extra made up . I usually fill a aluminum pie pan full. Once the nose is baked and cooled . I use a dry liner brush dipped in tiny dab of white paint and on the right front side of the nose I make a + sign and then put an x over it (like a little snowflake has landed on the nose ).

Remember ,this is very IMPORTANT ...relax , smile ,and HAVE FUN .... this is a very easy to do project with loads of costume potential.

Dapper Snow Lady:

Make cardboard templates from your pattern. I simply print off two patterns and use one for reference or in case I lose one and the other I glue to cardstock or a lightweight card board. Then cut the pieces a part. If you’re using fleece fold your fabric with right sides together and if you’re using felt, simply fold so you have two layers. Trace around each pattern piece. Please leave enough room between the pieces so that when you’ve finished stitching them you will have room to cut them apart. See PIC 1

Now since I have such a large piece of fabric I need to be able to use it at the sewing machine easier, so I cut just enough to be able to get it onto the sewing machine …it measures about a 9” x9” block.
See PIC 2

With regular white sewing thread in my machine and my stitch length set to a small ( on my machine that’s about a 2 ) , and I also have an open toe foot for my machine too . Although not a necessity it sure makes the sewing even easier. All you do is sew around each piece ON THE LINES. Go slowly …In the next photo you can see where the sewing has been finished.
See PIC 3

Finished stitched lines.
See PIC 4

Now it’s time to cut the pieces apart. Make sure to leave a small seam allowance ….
See PIC 5

Now that you have all the pieces cut apart ….
See PIC 6

Now it’s time to cut the openings for turning. There are only TWO things to remember, first be sure to cut through only one layer of the fabric! and, secondly , be sure you have one arm that is left and one that is right .This is a common step to overlook .
See PIC 7

Now turn all your pieces right sides out …
See PIC 8

And now it’s time to start stuffing your pieces. I always stuff firmly. The body piece first has the plastic pellets added, and this is where I find using a funnel works great ….unless you like chasing pellets across the floor….
See PIC 9

When you have your pellets in , then start adding your stuffing .Fill each piece firmly.
See PIC 10

And now close all your openings with whatever stitch you like. I prefer the ladder stitch, but whatever works for you .These areas won’t be seen anyway...
See PIC 11

Now we’re ready to make the head and neck really appear .Using your Upholstery thread , it’s so strong you only need one strand , anchor your thread in the side of the neck with a couple of small stitches ; wrap your thread around the neck twice and PULL FIRMLY ! This is going to give you that nice defined head shape .Fasten your thread off on the side like you did when you started. Cut your thread.
See PIC 12

Nice shaped head…
See PIC 13

Your next step is to make the indentations for the eyes. I try to keep my eyes at least have and sometimes nearly 2/3’s of the way down the face .Any higher and you’ll have an “older” appearing face / and / or a “surprised” look to your Snowman.

Again you want your Upholstery thread, and this time your long needle. Attach your thread in the back of the head about midway down ; go thru to the front ,move over about 1/8 ‘ – ¼” and go back in and bring your needle out the back , pull SNUGLY , and repeat . To fasten your thread off and not have your nice indentation slip while you’re fastening your thread , hold your thumb in the indentation while you finish off with a couple of small stitches in the back .Move over and do the second eye indentation in the same way. This photo doesn’t show as well as I’d like, but you don’t add your beads until the indentations are finished first...
See PIC 14

Now you can sew in your eyes or if you feel confident with the glue, please go ahead and glue. I trust my needle so that’s what I do …sew.
See PIC 15

Now you can glue on his nose, trying to keep it up closer to the eyes for a more childlike appearance.
See PIC 16

**At this point I either make his smile or do his blush, whichever is easiest .Today I’ll blush his cheeks first. I use a powder blush, but if I have it in the right color I could also use the Stencil crème. To apply the blush, you can use a powder blush, a small applicator or a small makeup blush will do the trick. Just apply in a circular motion near his nose and eyes. To keep that cutesy look try to keep all your work in this area close together. Too much space can give you an aged/older look or a surprised expression. Here is the face with the blush...
See PIC 16 B

Now, using just 2 strands of embroidery floss , stitch his /her mouth . For myself , I usually will make a few pencil dots in the basic shape I want to embroider so I know where I’m going .Now I’ll add my blush …and set him/her aside while you work on the vest ....don't worry about the arms ...we'll get back to them.

Because the Vest is made and put on before the arms are attached, just set your little friend aside for now .

It’s time to make the vest.
Lay your vest pattern piece on the felt and trace around it; cut out on the lines. At this point I tried the vest on my Snowlady and decide where I wanted to add some embroidery on the front. I marked a couple of points with my pencil, removed the vest and embroidered.
To do the embroidery, I used 3 strands of white embroidery floss and first made a long + sign, over this I made a smaller x sign. Same as when I had painted the Snowflake on the nose. Now with my Upholstery floss and white seed beads I sewed a seed bead to each of the 4 points on the + sign; next I used my crystal colored beads and sewed one on each point of the x and one in the center of the x.

At this point the vest is ready to be glued onto your Snowlady/man. I first pin mine in place, making sure my side pieces evenly overlap and my bottom vest points are even. I use my glue gun and working slowly and carefully I’ll remove a straight pin and put a dab of hot glue, gluing down that point and moving on to the next.

Once the vest is glued down where you want it, it’s time to glue your arms on. I put my hot glue over the closing seam I made in the arms and attach them where they belong. These next photos will show you the way.
See PIC 17

I like to make sure the sides of the vest line up evenly ...
See PIC 18

Now it's time to glue on the arms ....
See PIC 19

Now you can also glue on your buttons or ribbon roses or what ever you have decide to use .
Now she needs her hat …..
From a piece of Pink Blanket Fleece I cut these strips :
Hat : 6 ½ “ x 2 ½
Hatband : 6 ½ “ x 2
Pompom : 2 ½ “ x 1 ¼

*Please note , if using the Polar fleece the measurements do change slightly:
Polar Fleece Hat : 6 ½ “ x 3
No hatband is needed as you will be turning up a cuff instead .
Pompom: is the same

Because the hat is really easy , I haven't done any photos but I can if you like; I will show how simple the pompom is in photos and you can let me know if you need more

The method for the hat:
Sew short sides together. Hand gather on end of the hat, snug up and fasten off. Turn right side out .If you’re using Polar Fleece, turn up a cuff about ½ “ to ¾ “ .For the hatband for those using the blanket fleece… Sew your short ends together. Now fold your wrong sides together and stitch as close to the edges as you can all the way around. Now with a little tugging and pulling roll this seam so it’s in the back and doesn’t show. You now have a hatband. At this point I use 4 strands of embroidery floss and do a blanket stitch all around the top edge of this band.This bit is entirely optional. I just like to embellish.

Time to make your little Pompom: sewing a hand gathering stitch down the center length of the 2 ½ x 1 ¼ “ piece …lay the strip out flat and carefully snip about ¼" snips along the sides in to but not thru your center line of stitching; turn the piece and do the same down the other side. Pull up your gathering stitch fasten the two ends together fasten off fluff up a bit . Glue it in place on top of the hat.
See PIC 20

The second side…
see PIC 21

Pompom finished and ready to be glued on hat…
see PIC 22

Let’s glue the hat on. Main piece first .I glue the back first, then the front, bringing the edge down close to the eyes. Time to add the hat band. Simply slip it down over the hat, and glue in a couple of spots so you can’t see the edge of the main hat piece. Glue the Scarf around the neck in a couple of places; I snip a few ¼“ snips on each end of the scarf for a fringe look.
See PIC 23

Time to step back and admire your creation .You did it! Now let’s see some Snowmen and ladies I hope you’ve had fun with this little pattern and will use it as a jumping off point for your own adorable Snow Family.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me and I’ll get right back to you.

Another Dapper Snow lady.
See PIC 24

***No black beads? No problem, use your clay and dab it with some black paint and presto, black eyes ...a little glue laid in the indentations and then your clay bead eyes and you have it made !

***Blushing of the cheeks:
For me, I use the powder blush, but in the same breathe I'd like to add I have used Stencil cream before too for my Snowmen. I just at this time don't have any which is pale enough for the cheeks. I've photographed these heads which are in progress now showing what I use ...the eye make-up sponge I like for the smaller faces and the larger sponge I use for these faces.
I simply rub the sponge across the powdered blush a couple of times and then in a swirling motion rub it onto their cheeks close to the eyes, mouth, and nose. Hope this helps! If not , let me know and I'll try clearer photos.
See PIC 25

Hugs 'n Stitches,

Wanda in Nova Scotia

Her site: http://kangelcreations.com/SnowmenandSewMuchMore/index.html

2007-06-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Dapper Snowman Lesson 2

Dapper Snowman’s Hat

From Yellow Fleece I first cut the following:

Hat: 6 ½” x 2 ½ “

Hatband: 6 ½” x 2 “

Pompom: 2 ½” x 1 ¼ “

Please note, if using the Polar fleece the measurements do change slightly;

Polar Fleece Hat: 6 ½”x 3“

No hatband is needed as you will be turning up a cuff instead.

Pompom: is the same

Method:
Sew the short sides together to form a tube.

See PIC 1

Hand-gather one end of tube, pull up tightly and fasten off.

See PIC 2

Set this piece aside; it’s time to make the hatband. Sew together the short ends of the band to form a tube. See PIC 3

With wrong sides together, I place a few pins to help hold it while I sew it on the machine: See PIC 4

Now take this band of fabric and pull, push until you have the seam you just sewed in the center back of your tube:

See PIC 5 & PIC 6

Now I like to add a bit of embellishing, I love to embellish….I use 4 strands of embroidery floss and do a simple blanket stitch all around one edge:
See PIC 7

Now set this piece aside as we make the pompom. Do a hand running stitch down the center of your fabric piece. Lay it out flat and with your scissors snip ¼” snips along the edge into the center, being careful not to cut your center row of stitching. Now turn your strip around and once again make ¼” snips along this edge:

See PIC 8

Pull your running stitch up tight and join your two ends fasten off. Now glue your Pompom to the top of your hat. We’re ready to glue the hat to your Snowman…
Place your hat on your Snowman and with the hat pulled down in the back, dab a bit of glue under the back edge of the hat:

See PIC 9

Now for the front of the hat, bring the front down close to his eyes, but not his eyes…he does need to see you, dab a little glue under the edge. You can also do the same to each side. It’s not necessary to glue all the way around.

See PIC 10

Now we’re ready to add his hat band; making sure that your embroidered edge is the top edge, tug the hatband down over the hat and head until you have it where you want it. Sometimes this requires a little extra effort, but it will work. Now a small dab of glue in the back (I try to make sure my back seams line up with each other), a dab of glue to the front and sides and Voila! You’ve done it! Great job….For a little extra embellishing I add a button or rose or some tiny extra by gluing it to the front of the hatband.

See PIC 11

If you haven’t added his vest, now would be a good time along with his arms and scarf.
I hope you have fun with this. Once you’ve done it the first time the rest are easy.
If you used Polar fleece, you don’t need the hatband as the Polar Fleece will roll up into a nice cuff. I still do a blanket stitch around the top of the cuff just to pretty it up.

If you have any difficulties, questions or suggestions, please always feel free to contact me at:crafterbug@yahoo.ca

Hugs ‘n Stitches,

Wanda Redden, in Nova Scotia

*I’d love to see some of your finished works so please drop me a note with some photos

2007-06-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Dapper Snowman Lesson 3

Dapper Snow Couple in Glitzy Costumes

Since I hope you already have the tutorial for the Basic Snowmen this is the tutorial for their costumes. It is important to note though, that for these styles of hat, instead of making the turn slit in the back of the Snowman’s head, make it in the neck area. These hats won’t cover the stitches for the eyes or for the closing slit in the head!!

This will be for both the couple in the black and the Red; the top hat’s are the same and the vests and capes are similar.

For the pattern pieces you can find them at these two Photobucket links; please save them to your computer and print them from there to ensure proper sizing.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/LeeIngram/Projects/coupletemplate6.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/LeeIngram/Projects/coupletemplate3.jpg

Here are the photos of the Dapper Snowman Couples…

See PICS 1 & 2:

Materials List:

Tophat:

cardboard tube (i.e toilet paper roll or similar)… 1” in height

Small scrap of lightweight cardboard

Fabric of choice (I used black satin taffeta and red satin) ***please note that Satin is not a great fabric for beginners as it ravels when you look at it ….I used a fusible web on mine

Light weight wire…mine has a fabric covering on it, but I don’t imagine it’s necessary.

Ribbon or braid for the base of the hat (I used a gold braid on the red one and a gold stripe that was in a piece of chiffon fabric for the black one).

Small red rose or whatever you choose for embellishing the side of his hat (here I used a red rose on the black hat and holly leaves and berries on the red hat).

Vest:

Scrap of Glitzy fabric (for the black one I chose a black and gold striped chiffon and for the red, I used red satin same as the hat).

Felt to match your Glitzy fabric

Gold beads ( I used these for the “buttons” )

Her Hat:

Scrap of Glitzy fabric (the red one is Satin and the Black is a jersey velvet with gold glitter on it)

Felt to match Glitzy fabric

Lightweight wire

Ribbon roses, feathers or whatever you like for the embellishing

Capes:

Scraps of Glitzy fabric

Felt to match Glitzy fabric

Gold Beads (“buttons”)

Red Ribbon rose for embellishing (corsage on the black cape)

Lace and /or braid for the red cape

Scarf:

Scrap of Glitzy fabric

Threads to match fabrics

Glue gun

Method to make the Vests:

You will need to cut out 2 vests, 1 in your Glitzy fabric and the other from your felt. If you are using the satin, I found that using Fusible web first was a major help in stopping the fraying. So if you are using the Fusible web, please read your manufacturers instructions. I traced around my pattern onto the web and cut it out…

See PIC 3

then ironed it onto my satin, which I then cut out and peeled the backing from the web and ironed it to my felt.

See PIC 4, 5, 6, & 7

If you are using chiffon as I did for the black vest, after the vests were cut out, I placed the Chiffon right side up onto my felt, and stay-stitched around the entire piece, making it one piece of fabric. Then to be sure that it was staying there I changed my stitch setting to a small zigzag and went back around the entire vest. Now your vest(s) are ready to be glued to your Snowman…this step is the same as for your basic Snowman. Gold beads were added for buttons, and the bow ties are just small ribbon bows I glued on . On the red vest I also glued two tiny pieces of very narrow black braid ( known as ratting …very weird name) to each side as if they were the tops of fancy pockets. Now your vests are done.

Let’s make her Cape next:
The cape(s) are made the same as the vests! How easy is that! The red cape also has a lace and braid trim…this I stitched by machine once the satin/felt piece had been cut out. I laid the gold braid on top of the lace and sewed them as one piece all around the edge and up the front of the cape…but not around the neck opening.

See PIC 8

Glue the cape(s) onto your ladies in the same way as the vests. Embellish to your hearts desire. I liked the rose corsage for the black cape and it matches the red rose I added to his hat. Don’t forget some gold bead “buttons”.

See PIC 9

Scarfs:
If you decide to use a scarf on any of them, as I did on the lady in black, it’s just a long narrow strip of Glitzy fabric to match your costume. This is the one place you don’t want the Felt backing. Glue in place with just the smallest dab of glue.

See PIC 10

Her Hat:
Since her hat is sew easy let’s finish her up. Cut out 2 hat pieces, 1 from your Glitzy fabric and 1 from your felt. For the red one I used the fusible web and fused the two pieces together and proceeded to glue the hat on to my Snow Lady. On the Black one I first laid my fine wire around the felt piece and zigzag stitch (using a small stitch) all around the outer edge. Next I laid my Glitzy fabric on top of this with the right side up and again using my small zigzag, stitch the two hat pieces together. Now it’s ready to glue in place…how easy was that! I slide the center opening a little to the back of her head so that I can just see her eyes; you could also give it a slight tilt to the side…reminds me of playing dress up with the dolls. A dab of glue in the back and again in the front is all that you need. Now add your roses, feathers or whatever you have chosen. Because the Black hat has the wire in the brim I can crimp the brim to whatever shape I want. That’s it! Your “Lady” is finished and only waits for her handsome escort. Sew let’s go make his hat.

See PIC 11

His Top Hat:
His Top Hat is my favorite part, so don’t be surprised to see it showing up a lot in future patterns.

First let’s get our cutting done …

Cut 2 brims from your Glitzy fabric

For the crown piece…cut 1 piece from fabric and make sure to cut the smaller piece from the lightweight cardboard.

For the base or tube section of the hat, cut a 1” wide length from your cardboard roll (or wider if you want a taller hat).

Cut a strip of Glitzy fabric 6” x 2”.

On the crown piece of fabric, I will take my cardboard crown piece and trace around it onto the fabric to give me an idea of where I’m going…this is because you are going to make small snips in the fabric all around the edge. When you have that done, center your cardboard crown on your fabric and glue the snipped edges to it. Don’t pull too tight here…you will need a very slight looseness here for the stitching (by hand) later!

The fabric strip needs to have a ½ “ fold iron down on each side . Once this is done, open the folds out and stitch the short ends together to form a tube. This tube will fit like a sleeve down over the cardboard tube. The pieces which you had ironed will now fold to the inside of the tube and here I glue them down…again not to tight, but not too loose either. You need just a little ease for the hand stitching part.

See PIC 12

Let’s do our brim now…
With the right sides together, stay-stitch the outer edge of the brim all around using a small stitch and a narrow seam allowance. Once this has been done you are going to change your stitch to a narrow zigzag and placing your narrow wire to the inside of where you just stay-stitched you will now zigzag over the wire all around the brim. I leave my wire as one long length until the end and clip it then, as I don’t want to be caught short.

See PIC 13

Now you need to turn the brim right side out. The first time I did that I thought I’d never get it, but let your wire bend and it will lay out flat afterwards. It’s do-able. Once I have it turned and flattened back out, I usually will iron it just to help it lay smooth. Now I stay-stitch the inner circle of the hat. Now we’re ready for assembly!

See PIC 14

You’re going to hand stitch the crown to the tube; personally I found a very small needle made this easiest for me and sew I chose to use a quilting needle. Just use small stitches and take a stitch first in the crown and then over to the tube… I use a ladder stitch, and go all around.

See PIC 15

Now you need to glue the tube to the brim. Don’t worry if a bit of the glue gets onto your tube base…you will have a ribbon or braid to cover that. I find mine just sets in very nicely so I just run a bead of glue around the opening in the brim and set my tube on it.

See PIC 16

When the glue has set up I then glue it to the Snowman’s head. I like to set mine just a little to the side, sort of a tilt, near his eyes so I don’t lose that cute look.

See PIC 17

Now it’s time to add your ribbon or braid to the base of the tube; this hides any extra glue that got on your hat too. I found that by starting my ribbon/braid on the right side of the hat, bringing it around and gluing where it will overlap.

…is the perfect place to add an embellishment to the hat such as a rose or the holly/berries. It adds to the hat while hiding where you glued your trim in place.

See PIC 18

Because you have the wire in the brim, you can now give your brim a bit of a bend up on the sides like an actual Top Hat…I think only the Lincoln Stove Pie Hat has the straight out brim. And since you put the wire in there, it would be a shame not to use it. Well ladies, that’s it. You now have your Glamorous Snow Couple.

I look forward to seeing/hearing how you make out. If you have any problems, questions or suggestions, please feel free to email me at any time. I will answer as soon as possible. I can be reached at: crafterbug@yahoo.ca

Hugs ’n Stitches,

Wanda ( Snowmen and Sew Much More )

Lunch Sack Album

2007-06-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Lunch Sack Album

First take 3 lunch sacks, & fold each one in half...It does not matter which way you fold them, meaning with the bottom flap on the inside or outside. I just prefer having the flaps all on the inside so that my front & back are smooth. Pic #1...

Now you have your 3 sacks all folded...Pic #2...

Next, stack them all three on top of one another...Pic #3...

This is what it will look like...Pic #4...

Next, take it to your sewing machine & prepare to sew down the left edge of your "album". This will be your binding. You can use a straight stitch or a zig-zag stitch for this. Pic #5...

Oh yeah, I sew the seam about 1/4 inch from the side....Pic #6...

I also sew back down the same seam again just for reinforcement.It doesn't matter if your seam is not perfectly straight...after all you can see mine isn't...Pic #7

Now, from here on out is where it gets your own personal touches. I am reposting this next pic to show the main colors of cardstock & a couple of the tools I used. Pic #8...

Next, measure what size to cut your cardstock to glue on your album cover & pages...mine were approx. 4 1/2 x 4 1/2.Pic #9...

The next pic is of some double sided sticky tape I decided at the last minute to use for the cardstock instead of the glue stick. But, YOU CAN STILL USE THE GLUE STICK! Please do not let this upset or discourage you....I just prefered using this tape to cover the pages. I still use the glue stick for a lot of the embellishments.Pic #10...

Now this is the pic of the front. As you can see, I covered my seam with ribbon. I covered my front with the pink cardstock. I tied two pieces of ribbon into knots & glued them onto the top corners. Across the bottom I hole punched across where the cardstock meets the brown paper & took three strands of colored string & weaved them in & out of the holes, twisting it as I went & then tying the ends in knots.I took a piece of sponge & dabbed on a black ink pad & then dabbed around the edges & on the pink cardstock. I ran apiece of ribbon diagonally across the pink cardstock & reinforced it with a "fastenator tool" that uses decorative staples. (This is the first time I had used this tool & I really need to practice more.)Then I placed the "girls night out" on top. This is a 3-D sticker I bought. Pic # 11...

On my first page I used brown cardstock & glued a pic across the top. I typed our names onto white cardstock (or paper...your preference) & attached them by using decorative brads. Pic #12...

Okay, now notice on this pic how I have my hand slid inside the pocket between the front of album & first page?...what was originally the top of one of the lunch sacks? To attach the brads, I pierced tiny holes in where I wanted to place the brads & I hole punched holes into the tips of my name tags then slid my hand in there to fold back the tips of the brad to secure.Is that clear as mud? Across the bottom I used a decorative punch to make the little curley cues & then glued them onto the page. Pic #13...

On this second page I typed (since I do not have pretty handwriting) onto paper the story about this album, adding a few decorateive stickers...Pic #14...

On this next page you can see I have come to my first "flap" or bottom of a sack lunch.I chose to cover just the flap or bottom of the sack with brown & pink cardstock. added ribbon across where the the colors connect & a "friends" sticker.then on the inside of flap I put down blue cardstock & put a translucent sticker that says 'guess who?" Pic #15...

As you can see, there is a little pocket I made by glueing 3 sides of a piece of cardstock into the inside of the flap...As you can also see in pic# 16, I glued a pic onto a piece of cardstock & put a small hole in it & tied a piece of cord onto it so you can slide in & out of the pocket. Pic #16...

Another pic of pocket...Pic #17...

page four. Pic #18...

page 5....as you can see in pics #18 #19, I had "pocket pics" in there too..Pic #19...

Page 6....Pic #20...

Pages 7 & 8...On page 8, it was another "flap" page, but I chose just to cover it up with cardstock & make a regular page. Pic #21...

I skipped the last 2 pages, due to the fact there were a couple of personal pics on there...but I am sure you get the idea of how to decorate your pages.Here is a pic of the back of my album...I just used a large tag sticker & the paragraph at the bottom was a rubber stamp I have & then signed my name. Pic #22...

As you can see, I also covered the back seam with ribbon.

There are many other ways to bind your sacks together. Instead of sewing them, you can put hole punches down the seam area & thread ribbon thru the holes & tie. Here is one more pic I will show...the white sack albums in the top of pic are some I bought pre-sewn at a scrapbook convention.The brown one is one that I made using a strip of tooled vinyl & then I used decorative eyelets & eyelet setter to hammer the eyelets into the side to bind them together. I never finished this one...but liked how the cover turned out. Oh yeah, I also added jute down the edge to cover the edge. Pic #23...

WHEW!!!Thanks goodness, after FIVE long hours & numerous computer crashes I am finished!!THANK YOU ALL for hanging in there & not giving up on me or my computer & having MUCHO patience with me...I will be happy to answer any & all questions you may have. I see I already have a couple to answer onother posts.

Oh! One more thing...I had a brainstorm while doing all this...the cute cheap-o Christmas treat sacks you can get for 25 cents at Wally World would make cute Christmas themed albums!

Thanks again to everyone...Carol in OK

2007-06-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Raggedy Ann/Andy Light Bulbs

Presented by: paintlady

Supply List:

2 light bulbs

flat white primer

acrylic paint(medium flesh,peaches and cream,black, white and red.)

Yarn ( I used Red Heart Plush from wal mart)

ribbon for hangerscrap

fabric for bow

piece of newspaper

sealer

hot glue

stencil cream ( i use this for the cheeks but you can use paint if you like)

I think this is the main list. If you want to prepare your bulbs before class I just tie a piece of jute around the metal part of mine and hang them on the clothes line and spray paint them with the white primer. Somje people do use the gesso instead and sponge it on. I suppose you could also just sponge on paint until coated if you are not comfortable with the spray painting.

Step 1- I take a piece of jute and tie around the metal socket part of the bulb. Then I take the bulb out to the clothes line and pin it with a clothes pin and use cheap flat white paint and give them about 3 light coats of paint. Just do it until you think they are covered nicely. see pic 1

Step 2- Once your bulb has dried. I usually let mine sit a couple days after doing the primer but you can do yours how you want. Mixed equal parts of peaches and cream paint to medium flesh paint and then painted my bulb. I put 3 coats on my bulbs but you can do as many or as few as you like. I leave the jute on them at this point so that I can hang them to dry around the house between coats. I then take my pattern and trace the face onto the bulb.

Step 3 - I then take my pattern and trace the face onto the bulb. See pics 2 & 3

Step 4- Paint the face on the bulb and at this point I also put on the stencil cream for the cheeks.I will show how it looks when completed. At this point I took a piece of ribbon about 10-12 inches long and tied a knot in the end and then glued it to the metal screw part of the bulb. I glued the knot in the front and the glued on around to the back to form the hanger. You can use wire if you prefer. See pics 4 & 5

Step 5- While the faces are drying, I get out my yarn and cut 8 inch long pieces. I cut a whole stack of them depending on how many bulbs you are doing. This can take awhile but I do it while watching tv. See pic 6

Step 6- Take 8 pieces of the yard and then take another piece and tie the bundle in the middle. Make several of these depending on your bulb. I think with mine I used about 11 bundles per bulb. This is what the bundles will look like when you go to put them on the bulb. See pics 7 & 8

Step 7- I start on the side of the bulb right next to the cheek area and I put hot glue on the bulb and then put a bundle of the yard into the hot glue. Then put another blob of hot glue about half an inch or so above the first bundle and glue on another. And then repeat for the third time. You won’t cover the whole top of the socket part but we will deal with that later. Continue on around the head until you come to the other side of the face. See pic 9

Step 8- This is how the bulb will look when you get to the other side. You can see you have a spot right in the middle of the face so take one bundle and glue it onto the socket part and let it hang done in front of the face. This is how it will look. Pretty strange looking huh??

See pic 10 & 11

Step 9- Then take your scissors and start giving them a hair cut. You can cut it as long or as short as you please. I try to make his a bit shorter than hers but you do what you like. Of course cut shorter for the bangs area . See pic 12

Step 10- Now we will deal with the bare spot on the top of the bulb. I don’t do anything with his cause his will be covered with a hat but with hers I put a blob of hot glue on it and then take pieces of the yarn and put them in the area to cover the metal. See pic 13 &14

Step 11- Next measure a piece of newspaper 5 ½ inches by 7 inches. Then fold the newspaper in half making it 5 ½ inches by 3 ½. Then fold the corners in to form a triangle and fold the bottoms up to make the brim. Then you take your scissors and cut a section off the tip to just get the hanger thru. Then hot glue the hat to his head. See pics 15, 16 , 17, & 18

Step 12- Cut a piece of fabric to whatever size you want and tie a bow and glue onto her head and they are all done. See pic 19

Linda (paintlady)

Lightbulb Pattern

DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing.Thank you, & have fun crafting!

Mamo's Card Lessons

2006-11-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Mamo's Card Making Lesson

Mamo’s Card-making Tutorial Supplies:

Regulation card stock

Invitations-sized envelopes

Images [printouts may blur, printed paper, wallpaper sample books]

Thin foam pieces or heavy cardstock

Glue: white, E6000, ModgePodge

Pens, colored pencils, paints, brushes

Trims

Needle and 2-strand embroidery thread.

optional: writing paper, acetate sheets, cotton balls

From one sheet of regulation sized card stock you can make 2 single-side cards. Fold in quarters EXACTLY matching edges and cut along one fold only. These can be used either vertically or horizontally and will fit the Invitation envelopes unless your embellishments are too thick also costing more postage. If your embellishments are fragile and you place a sheet of bubble wrap over the front of the card it will usually cost more to mail as it will not go through the USPS standard slot. Sample provided at every USPS. Now to embellishments. I’m going to teach three basic kinds of cards I make:

embroidery cards

pyramid cards

3-D cards

At any stage you can add embellishments to any of these cards such as: ribbon trim, lace, buttons, beads, sequins, flat gems, foam/paper cut-outs, dried grasses, pressed flowers, stamps, small silk flowers etc., your imagination is the limit.

I. Embroidered cards are the easiest. Make sure you use vinyl wallpaper samples or heavy card stock [you’ll have to pre-punch holes in the cardstock along the stitch lines using small dots so the thread will cover the dots]. Chose simple line drawing outlines to go over a patterned paper; look for “redwork” embroidery patterns, coloring book patterns or make your own. Cut card paper to size and also a lining paper. Transfer drawing to card front using small dots equal distance apart as guides for stitching. Do NOT line card at this time. With small knotted thread, use “outline” or “backstitch” following dots. When stitching complete, tape both ends of thread to inside of front card, clip knot off. Then line the card’s inside, front and back. Complete coverage of glue using a brush and slightly thinned glue to card surface will create less thick areas and if you carefully press liner down starting from one corner along one edge and forcing out bubbles as you go, the liner will look better. Be aware that as some thin liners dry they distort anyway.

II. Pyramid cards While 3-D cards are often called pyramid cards as well, I chose to use the term ONLY for the stacked geometrical cutouts of 1 image layered on top of one another in descending size; smallest on top.You will need 5 equal copies of the same image of a size to fit the card front. If using wallpaper samples, especially border prints, you can use several hues of the same image.

P1] Cut out 5 equal rectangular images of even-inched sized, say 3"X4" or 2"X4". This way you can decrease the size incrementally more easily by 0.5" each time. Pyramid cards can be made with triangles, but those are difficult as the reduced sides require different angles. If you’re good at math, go for it. Also circles can be used, again, more difficult. I’d suggest if you want to make several triangle or circle pyramid cards that you make an acetate template.

P2] glue first image flat on card front

P3] on back of 2nd same sized image, reduce sides by .24" each using t-square or straight end of ruler and mark at least 2 places either side, connecting dots on each measurement. Cut out smaller image. Now comes the patience.

P4]Glue small piece of foam or thick card stock to underside of 2nd image, centered. Allow to dry.

P5] While drying, proceed with each layered image, reducing size by ½ “ overall from the last image cut. Glue suitably sized foam to back of each and allow to dry.

P6] When all 4 image cut-outs are dry, position 2nd image carefully over first image, aligning visible matched places on image. ALLOW TO DRY. If you go to step #7 too soon, work will slide out of position and not make a good pyramid..

P7] Continue with successively smaller images, aligning each. Allow to dry between each layer.Sign and date your card.

3-D cards use a little greater skills. You must have several copies of the same image; often cut from wallpaper samples, especially wallpaper border samples which are different hues of same color scheme. You can cut out a smaller portion of a part of the image either inside edge or outside edge, curl it with scissors edge, place filler inside it perhaps to give 3-D effect and glue over first image. Wall paper samples often require E6000 glue to adhere. You can even cut 2 or 3 parts out of the 2nd image, curl them and glue to matching part of 1st image. Think outside the printed image too. If you need a leaf shape, cut it from another scrap of solid green sheet. You can layer many layers one on top of the other. This works especially well with many-petalled flowers. I also use a “pinch method described below.Also think outside “normal” to use embellishments for part of images, cut butterfly wings from edged lace, overlap sequins for scales etc. Origami techniques are also useful for paper embellishments. And if you are rushed for time, a simple cut-out of wallpaper image looks so nice with just a touch of glitter paint in strategic places. . By pressing hard with the applicator using crystal glitter to leaves, you get a center line.

Sample 3-D scallop shell (3 piece)

Both larger and smaller shell were part of the same border print...note the middle-sized one is NOT an exact copy. It is a simple cut-out from a conch shell in the same border. Since it will be sandwiched in between, it doesn’t need to be an exact scallop shell shape. I added gold paint rays to match all three pieces.

S1] Cut out all three shapes, using cuticle scissors will give you a truer cut. TIP: move the paper, not the scissors.

S2] using scissors edge, curl each side of #2 piece inward starting from center outward, pressing paper against scissors edge. Curl #3 piece as you like.

S3] glue foam disks to the backs of #2&3; let dry3-D scallop shell

S4] position #2 on top of #1 with lower point of #2 above lower point of #1 and with gold rays of #2 just below rays of #1. Glue down and let dry

S5] position #3 on top of #2, aligning lower points and rays. Glue down and let dry.

Complex 3-D wallpaper sample card- Magnolia Because I had the whole image of the darker hued blossom but not the lighter one, I reversed the usual sequence of lightest below and darkest above...used for perspective. Find scraps of partial images of same whole image from same border print, different color scheme, in wallpaper sample book. Using same techniques as above..

Magnolia 3-D

Cut out whole image. From 2nd scrap image, cut p1 and curl red edge using flat blade of scissors. Clip open indicated area of stamen on whole image.

2] glue p1 under clipped stamen and just edges of petal to whole image. No need for filler. Edges will NOT align exactly but overlay should match closely.

3] p2 is similar but shows top edge folded forward and smaller at bottom; red edge is curled under. Stamen clipped on whole image goes over p2. 2p is just at lower edge of red part at top wide red part.

4] p3 is a pinch technique. Pinch end of petal to form it. This end will be glued under cut-open stamen in p3 of whole image. Glue at inner fold of top bend and at tip of downward fold. Where you see petal-fold image, pinch the line inward, then curl downward edge indicated...see pattern.

5] p4 is cut out of 2nd image, just red edge or tip and red edge. Simply glue in place on outside edge ONLY, allowing 3-D effect. You can continue with multiple layers on different petals if you have more than 2 images or you can create parts from different sections of border print as in p1 3rd overlay. Glue dots together.

6] You can create leaves the same way, even using green section scraps from other border or prints.

other sample embellishments: lace butterfly/angel wing: gather stitch the folded edge; pull thread gently to further gather it and tie off. Glue where appropriate.contrasting pattern cut-outs: if sample were whole card, make a figure outline. carefully align it on a constrastingly patterned paper, finding interesting use of patterns. Note, white forehead, green crest, 2-toned beak. Cut out and glue in place. Pen in legs and feet.

bamboo example:

1] punch daisy from paper; find a "natural" position for it and glue down

2] use real dried weeds/grasses; find a "natural" position for it and glue down

3] find a similar style scrap (in this case grass cloth), cut strip and glue the 4 edges.

curtained window card:

1]cut scene from wallpaper sample or use small print. full-coverage glue to front of card.

2] measure lace for "curtain" using pre-gatheredlace and include the 2 mitered corners in your measurement. Also allow for a "sill" below for the "curtains" to hang above. Cut that strip of lace edging.

3] Cut 2-tone strip of marble or wood patterned paper the width of the bottom edge of the card to form a "sill". Glue down to lower edge of card with darker side below for "shadow".

4] Glue one end of curtain just above the sill at one corner, glue to side of card and miter the top corner, gluing it in place.

5] glue across top. You might even make a swag here if lace is small enough to look good that way. Miter second corner as above and glue other side down to just above the "sill" again. sign and date your card.

How I write “poetry” for greeting cards

Now greetings don’t have to be poetry or even rhyme if they are, but if you want to learn how I do that, here it is. You will need both a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus.

1] write down the feeling you want from the card

2] write down short sentences to convey that. Example: Hummingbirds are small but feisty. Fight over supplies. So colorful and make us happy

3] pick out possible verse-ending words of sentences; if necessary, break sentences into 2 lines. Count syllables in each line. Example: rhyme a= “feisty” Line 1 = 8

4] Now, use rhyming dictionary to find rhyming words. If you need to, use thesaurus to find alike-meaning words that are easier to rhyme. Example: “feisty” can’t be rhymed... “pugnacious” and “ornery” are too long; try “huffy, churlish, cranky, cross, miffy, scrappy”. Ah, ha...that’s the one I like, “scrappy”

5] Now start to form the lines. Example of ROUGH DRAFT:Hummingbirds are small but feisty (change to scrappy)Some don’t share well with others But, oh when they’re flashing their color,I smile ‘cause they make me so happy. (Rhyme with scrappy)

6] try to form a pattern of syllables per line. Example: 6-7-6-10-6-7 or 7-10-7-10 also find a rhyme pattern a-b-a-c-a-b or a-b-c-b or a-b-c-a

Lighted Christmas Box

2006-10-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

Lighted Christmas Box

Supply List:
rabbit wire
wire cutters
crochet thread
spray paint
100 string lights
metallic mesh material
and your embellishments

You need to cut 6 pieces of rabbit wire. I do mine 8 X 8. This pic shows what they look like when they are cut. See pic 1

The next step is to take your crochet thread and wrap each indivual piece. It can be in any pattern, this will help keep the lights inside and also make the box have a "textured" look. See pic 2

After all 6 pieces are wrapped, take 5 of them and lay them out like in the picture below. This makes it easier to line up the sides to attach them together with the zip ties. See pic 3

The next step is to attach the zip ties to hold it together. I always put 3 on each side. One on each corner and one in the middle. Repeat this step on all sides. The 6th piece will be put on after the box is completely assembled. See pic 4

After all sides are attached and the zip ties are trimmed, it is time to start "pulling" up the sides. These are done the same way as in the previous step, with 3 zip ties (one on each corner and one in the middle). Repeat this until the entire box is sturdy. See pic 5

After your box is put together it is now time to add the lid. All you do is place the 6th piece that you have and zip tie only one side. You will again use 3 ties. This will form something like a "hinge". See pic 6

When you get to this step it is time to spray paint it. I use the Craft Coat that you find at Wal-Mart in the paint department, but you could use whichever brand that you like. I like this one because it dries quickly. This is what it will look like once it has been painted. See pic 7

After it has been painted and has dried, I put my lights in. In a box this size I always use at least a string of 100. You can use either white or color, I have used both and they both look good. See pic 8

Now it is time to close up the box. Once again you use 3 zip ties for each side. I always pull the light cord to one corner. This allows it to set flat. Once you have all the zip ties on, flip it over, this will now become the bottom of the box, with the light cord in the back. See pic 9

It is now time to wrap it. This is the type of material I use. See pic 10

There are 2 different ways to wrap it. I have done it both ways. The first is to just cut a large square of material and pull up the sides to where it meets on top. If you do it this way you will have to cut a slit in the fabric to feed the plug in out of.The second way and actually the one I prefer is to cut 2 strips of the fabic about 10 inches wide and lay it down to where it looks like a "t". Sit the box in the center and pull up all 4 sides. See pic 11

Once the sides of the fabric are pulled up, I secure it with another zip tie. I make sure that the fabric is pulled tight, this makes the box look neater.When the sides are pulled up you will have a little extra fabric down the side corners of the box. I then fold the edges around the side of the box in and dab it with a little hot glue. Your plug in will now be able to come out without having to cut a slit in any of the fabric. In this picture you can see the left side of the box where I have folded it and haven't glued it, and the right side I have. It depends on how tight the fabric is pulled, sometimes you don't have to glue it, when it is folded in it will lay flat and tight.

See pic 12

Now comes the fun part!DECORATING!!!! I trim off the top of the fabric where it is tied with the zip tie to make it as flat as I can. I then take ribbon and wrap up the sides, like you would a chritmas present. I do all this with hot glue. Next it is time to decorate the top. You can use almost anything to embellis it. Ribbons, bows, flowers, christmas ornaments.....the sky is the limit. I am partial to flowers and ornaments so I usually do a combination of the both with a smaller ribbon. I also do this because I am not a very good bow maker This a pic of a gold one that I have decorated and I will post a pic of one done in silver below. See pic 13

Here is a pic of one done in silver. I hope that I have explained everything well enough, I was so nervous. If anyone has any questions please let me know. Also, all of the pictures of the boxes that have been done previously are all beautiful. Everyone done a great job on them! If anyone gets a chance to try these please post your pics, I would love to see everyone's work! Thank you all for asking me to do this class and for being so patient, it has been a learning experience for me this morning too! See pic 14

Doodlebugs

*DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing.Thank you, & have fun crafting!

Modified Ikebana-style Flower Arranging

2006-10-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Modified Ikebana-style Flower Arranging ~Mamo

Gathering material:

Don’t think you must limit yourself to flowers. Any objects can become the “blossoms” of these arrangements even pinecones on sticks, seed pods, peacock feathers, in fact almost any found object your eye can see in an arrangement. There are myriad free fresh or dried grasses, seed heads, small flower clusters, etc. to use as “fillers” Live moss, used Easter grass, or Sphagnum or the like can be used to cover the base when arrangement is done. Consider “recycled items” as containers such as old mugs, baskets, tin cans, watering pots, glasses, sugar bowls, boxes, in fact anything that gives the impression it could have held water. A little used oasis for real blossoms or sahara for dried or fake should be on hand. There are proportional rules in classic Ikebana Flower Arranging but this is, for us, just a guideline. However we will stick to 3 “blossoms” or items.

They are called “Earth” (the lowest in the arrangement E);

“Man” (the middle height M), and

“Heaven” (the highest subject H).

H is 1 ½ the height (or width for low, flat containers) of the container; H’s tip is over the base, pointing up. M is against and to the rear, pointing up and is 2/3 height of H. E forms the base of an isosceles triangle (never use an equilateral triangle) and faces forward, tip up. It is 1/3 to 2/3 of M. Comes from base of H & M; curves outward. In this modified method, first secure oasis or sahara in bottom of container, try not to allow it to be seen over top. Next, measure the height (or width for flattened styles) of the container. Cut the stems according to proportions, you don’t have to measure; or at least short, medium, long. Placement:H is tallest, points upward, often smallest material size, even a bud, always off center of container, forms apex of isosceles triangle, usually to rear...place this item first. M is somewhere between H & E (connects heaven and earth), 2nd shortest, may be largest item but usually middle sized, points up or out, most eye-pleasing at 2/3 length of H. E is lowest placed item, may be longest but not highest, especially in low containers, may be largest item to “anchor” the arrangement; may point up, out, or down. Find the imaginary center line of your container and extend it upwards. With the 3 items, make an imaginary isosceles triangle, being sure no item is on the imaginary center line and that H is highest, M is somewhere between H & E’s placement, and E is lowest. Breaking tradition, a long flat container can look best if H is upright placed at one end and E is long and at bottom position, it can extend past end of container. After placing the 3 items, follow the triangles lines with “filler”;( do not fill voids of imaginary lines), retain the isosceles triangle. Cover the base “mechanics” with moss or grass. Components of Floral Arranging Here is a list of components that I have found in studying flower arranging. 1. PATTERN: crescent, S-curved (Hogarth line), round/circle, triangular, oval, vertical, horizontal, fan 2. TEXTURE: spiky, lacy, rounded/smooth, irregular. Profile (front & back placement) material to container; related or contrast. 3.CENTER OF INTEREST: from which the different lines radiate 4. BALANCE: Appearance (visual) does it look top-heavy or one-sided? Balance of color larger, darker toward middle; smaller, lighter nearer edges (group small, dark toward middle) Symmetrical same on both sides of an imaginary vertical axis Asymmetrical not same on either side of an imaginary vertical axis. 5.PROPORTION 1 ½ times height of tall containers; 1 ½ times width of low ones (exception: heavy brass/tall containers could support 3 times light, airy branches). 6. RHYTHM repetition of form and color that makes the lines of the arrangement flow into each other and leads the eye from the center of interest through the arrangement and back to it again. Solid forms <> larger from center out. 7. SUITABILITY OF MATERIAL TO CONTAINER formal to formal, “country” to “country” etc. Unsuitable examples: cactus in watering can; daisies in Grecian Urn. 8. SCALE OF MATERIALS TO CONTAINER match size of material to container size. Poor examples: violas in 2' vase; full-size sunflowers in coffee mug.9. COLOR Light/Dark; Cool/Warm (strong); Contrast = exciting, Blending (soft pallette) = calm; transition, don’t make placement spotty. Note: yellow/green radiates, therefor use foliage; purple/yellow fluoresces. 10. FORM 3 basic typesA. Line arrangements; linear material dominant, voids used to emphasize B. Line Mass arrangements; same as above plus more material added to support the original line but not obscure it.C. Mass arrangements; solid mass of material (bouquet).

See pic 1

This is picture container with floral foam in it.

See pic 2

Next cutting your flowers.

See pic 3

Add flowers and water.

See pic 4

Now add your stone in the bottom of the conatiner. This is the finshed container. Now I know that Mamo has a ton of ideas and this is really her baby. So if you have any questions please ask her.Thank youI hope you enjoyed this.

See pic 5

Thanks for starting it. You certainly caught me unawares! I do wish you had been able to get with somuchtodo and get it scheduled as a tutorial. I'm glad you enjoyed learning this method and you did fine. I hope others will enjoy this almost fool-proof floral arranging method!!!! Yours is one of the simple versions with no filler...very oriental looking and elegant. The principle is to make floral arrangements with only 3 main "blossoms" and filler in a T2T container using a modified Ikebana style...that means using the above mentioned triangle pattern. It saves on money, supplies and I have never had but one student goof it up and she refused to follow the basics of the triangle scheme. It really is SIMPLE, honest! I mostly work in artificial flowers so don't have the problem of vases that hold water and they're permanent. Besides, you can get flower heads of those and add your own stems really from trash. And don't forget to look around for "other-than-blossoms" to make up one of the 3. As to the above arrangement, what I do is add filler as per the instructions above BUT only following the lines of the triangle made by the "blossoms". In otherwords don't fill in the spaces between the flowers.. That filler for me is usually T2T dried grasses from nature, or even small branched twigs. I often make the stems less upright and more to the sides in a more open "triangle" pattern; especially if you are using a flat container like here. Another look entirely (not better, just different) would be to make the triangle short and wide, following the lines of the container. Note, as above, you can use almost any T2T container, those Mason Jars ya'll love, empty tea kettles, old chipped mugs, used Easter Baskets, just anything you have around that you don't really want to throw away but won't hold water anymore for the dried arrangements. Oh, and use Sahara or crushed wire mesh for that instead of Oasis. Want it smaller and say for a baby shower? Use empty babyfood jar and 3 clusters of tiny flowers with "Baby's Breath" filler (or free, pearly everlasting) and in wit the filler, use a pick of a tiny plastic baby charm like a rattle or baby shoe. This is my "Red, White & Blue" arrangement...patriotic without being overt about it. As you all can see, the highest blue poppy is "heaven", the middle blue poppy is "man" and the Queen Anne's Lace is "earth". I purposely, for this tutorial, chose an unusual isoceles triangle to work with. "Man & Earth" being close together and "Heaven" further away. I've followed the isoceles triangle with the fill so that the arrangement is a "regular" filled one. Different, not better or worse than the "spare" one of Penmac's. Note the spaces in between are bare. I spray painted the T2T plastic vase. I spray painted free native grasses; the tiny white clusters are native dried "Rabbit Tobacco" or "Pearly Everlasting" depending on where you live, I think it's the same plant. Their dried leaves have a very herbal smell which I think adds to the arrangement. The tiny navy-blue cat-tails were storebought and leftovers as were the tiny garnet and gold clusters(silk). Just to show up a different T2T cover for the "workings" I used a striped rock. BTW, the turtle is a clay project I did in the 60's I believe.

~Mamo

Grandma's Paddle

2006-07-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Grandma's Paddle

by Jean (granny3641)

Step 1
Cut off blue jeans legs (or use what ever material you like). Cut a heart pattern. Mine is 7 1/2 by 7 1/2. Pin to double thinckness of blue jeans leg. Cut out. Choose the words you want to use. Nana-Papa-Gramp's-Grandma, etc. Embroider, paint applique onto the center of the heart. (I typed the words in one of my card programs, large as they would go, printed and pinned to heart. Put in hoop and embroidered. Next will aplique) See PIC 1

Step 2
You don't have to do words or figures on both sides... See PIC 2

Step 3
Sew (or glue/hot glue) lace of your chose onto the right side of one heart. Make sure the lace itself point to the center of the heart. I sewed in the stitching that was on the lace. Mine is cotton lace. See PIC 3

Step 4
Now lay the back on top of the front right sides together, making sure the lace won't get caught up in the stitching, and start at the V in the heart and sew around. Leaving about 1" on either side of the V open. I use about 1/4" seams. See PIC 4

Step 5
Turn and gently pull on the lace to help turn. When turned, gently pull on the lace to form the heart. Stuff lightly in the point and the sides. Add the paint stick (or a stick that has been cut like the paint stick or what ever you chose to use as the handle), leaving about 8-9 inches for the handle. Gently stuff on top of the stick, turn over and stuff the same on the back. See PIC 5

Step 6
Turn opening under about 1/4" (I pinned mine so I could work with it) and hot glue on the material. Sort of stretch gently to form the V and stick to the handle. If you use pins, remove them immediately so they don't stick. Turn over and do the same. Fluff with your hands, find your husband or kid and try it out. lol

See finished PIC 6

Hope these work for you. It's easier for me to show you than tell you.

Good luck.

Jean

-This would also be a good way to tell your Mom and Dad they are going to be grandparents.

* DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing.

Thank you, & have fun crafting!

2006-07-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

Painted Stepping Stone Presented by: KansasRetiree

*Thanks to Kansas Retiree (Kathleen) for offering to teach us her techniques to enhance our gardens and pathways.

Rose Tutorial Supplies:

Concrete stepping stone or surface of your choice.

Brushes:

Large rose: 5/8 inch angular brush

# 12 round

Small rose: 3/8 angular brush

#2 round

Acrylic paints Americana Paints:

For Leaves:

Avocado

Burnt Umber

Snow White

Cadmium Yellow

For Roses:

Mauve

Deep Burgundy

Santa Red

Snow White

Cadmium Yellow

Sealer:

Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Exterior/Interior Varnish(You may substitute a brand of paint that you have on hand or that is carried in your local store.)

Directions:
1. Paint stepping stone black, draw circles with white pencil or chalk in a pleasing arrangement. You could use a spray can top for this.

2. Paint circles solidly with Mauve acrylic paint.Paint center of rose toward top and base the shadows toward bottom with Deep Burgundy.Sketch leaves in & paint with Avocado.

3.Shadow leaves with Burnt Umber and highlight with Snow White or perhaps a little yellow paint.

4. Double-load brush with Santa Red on heel and Snow White on toe.Make first stroke in a semi-circle as shown.

5. Make comma stroke from the left top of the rose and drag into the center, lifting as you go.

6. Make a comma stroke from the right.

7. Continue with comma strokesalternating around the rose.

8. Make these strokes from top to bottom of the rose.

9. End with two downward strokes to finish.

10. Highlight with white to define roses.

11. Add stamens to finish.

12. Completed Rose

Let dry thoroughly and cover with three coats of varnish or sealer.I used a clear automotive spray paint I bought in the auto dept at our local discount store. It is supposed to withstand temps up to 500°.
I figure it will then be OK in the cold winter.
I hope you enjoy your painting.

Kathleen

Painted Snowman Spoons

2006-06-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

Painted Snowman Spoons

Presented by: Linda (paintlady34)

Supplies:

Spoon-- either tsp or tbsp
masking tape

acrylic paint - colors of choice

gray primer spray paint

paint brushes

pom pom

hot glue

piece of evergreen

ribbon

Welcome everyone!

Directions:
Step 1

Make sure your spoon is clean and dry. You can use either a tablespoon or teaspoon whatever you have. I use both but for this class I did use the tablespoon so maybe you can see it better.

Step 2

I take a piece of masking tape and put it down the back of the handle cause you will be painting on the back of the bowl of the spoon. The tape will keep any paint from going on the handle if you want to keep it unpainted. If you do want to paint the handle then just forget about the tape.

Step 3

I use just cheap wal mart brand spray paint in gray and take the spoon outside to spray an even coat of paint on the back of the bowl of the spoon. Let dry before continuing on.

Step 4
Once the primer is dry I take a pencil and just free hand in the hat and brim. You can judge and see how far you want to come down for that. Just remember you have to have a space for the face and the scarf.

Step 5

Ok I chose two colors for the hat, a lighter blue for the hat part and a darker blue for the brim. You can choose any color combo you want or you can paint it all the same color. Your choice. Paint the top part of the hat , usually this takes at least two coats but paint it until you are satisfied with the look.

Step 6

Once the hat part is finished then you can go on to the brim part and paint it the color you chose. We will do the detail stuff later.

Step 7

Take your pencil again and draw a line where you want the scarf to be. You can do it straight across or wavy, anything you want. It is your spoon.

Step 8

Go ahead and paint your snowman face , I used a satin cream but you use what you want. I also paint the scarf part at the same time. I use one of the colors in the hat but once again you can color it any color you want. Use your imagination.

Step 9

Once the paint is dry I take some black paint and a liner brush and draw in the lines on the brim of the hat and then do the lines around the brim and on the scarf. I hope that you can see this in the pic.

Step 10

Once the paint is dry I take the brush and dip the brush in water and then into the paint, brushing back on forth on a palette until the color fades a bit. Then shade the areas on the scarf and hat.

Step 11

Next I take the tip of my brush handle and dip into paint and make dots on the hat. You can put x’s or anything else you want on them but I chose dots. Once again use any color you want.

Step 12

I then take a liner brush and put white highlights on the scarf . You can make them as soft or as dark as you like.

Step 13

Next I take some of the stencil cream and get some on my finger and do the cheeks on the spoon. If you are gonna use paint you can put some on a brush and brush the bristles back and forth on the palette or paper towel or something so you don’t have real heavy paint. You want a soft look. You also can use makeup blush if you like. I like using the stencil cream as I can control it better.

Step 14

Next I take the tip of the brush handle again and make dots for the eyes and mouth. I use black for this. Or if you are fairly good at this you can draw a mouth and change the look. I also paint on the brows for the snowman.

Step 15

I then took some orange paint on a small brush and just freehanded a nose. It makes no difference how you paint it. It is just what you like. Once the paint is dry you can bend the handle of the spoon. Bend it back towards the snowman face. Some spoons are a bit harder to bend than others .

Step 16

I then take the piece of pine and wrap it around the handle of the spoon. You can secure it with a bit of hot glue if you want but I find that it stays pretty well just being wrapped around. I also add a bit of white branch.

Step 17

Finally tie on a ribbon bow and glue on the

pom pom of your choice and he is all done.

Sorry I had to do this in so many steps and I tried to get the best pics that I can so hopefully you can understand some of it . Of course if you make any be sure and share the pics.
Thanks for having me and have fun! Well if there are any questions please feel free to just ask and I will try to explain all I can.

*I did forget to add that you can spray it with a sealer if you want. I did use a matte sealer on mine.

Linda

2006-05-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Snowman Nodder

Designed by snowmen and me

Here is supply list for the Bedspring Snowman Nodder:

1. 1 matress bed spring

2. 1 3" staryfoam ball

3. White acrylic paint

4. Orange color acrylic paint for the nose

5. Black acrylic paint for the mouth

6. Small fine paint brush

7. Delta Fantasy Snow ( you can buy it at any craft shop)

8. 1 popsicle stick cut in half

9. Cleat acrylic sealer (gloss)

10. 1 pc. black felt (9x12)

11. 2 small black buttons for eyes or you can paint the eyes

12. Nose made out of poly clay or White bread clay

13. Epoxy glue

14. Hot glue gun

15. Blush for the cheeks

16. 3 white pipe cleaners braided

17. Small pc. of red foam sheet for the gloves

18. Small pc. material for the scarf and trim around the hat

19. 1 small bird

20. Spanish moss for the bird nest

21. 4 black buttons-different sizes

22. 1 cup sand

23. White school glue

Directions for nose:
Also, I'm posting a pattern for the top hat, scarf and trim around a hat....Nose is made out of White Bread clay...Here is recipe for White Bread Clay:1 to 2 slices white bread, crust removed. 1 tablespoon white glue (I add a pinch of salt to prevent clay from mildew). Rip bread into tiny pc's in a bowl. Add glue and pinch of salt and mix with the fork till all crumbs are moisten. Roll into a ball. Knead till smooth. If dough dries out while working, add a few drops of water and knead. Make a snowman nose and let air dry. Paint it orange. Store rest of the dough in the fridge up to a month. Nose will dry 1-3 days.

Measurements of Snowman Nodder:
The crown for the hat is 3x9 with 1/4" seam.The scarf is 17 1/2x2 1/2".I do some adjustments on the scarf. If I think that is too long, I cut maybe 1 1/2 off.The top hat circle is 2 3/4" across and the cloves are 1"wide and1 1/2" long.

Snowman Nodder Instructions:
I hope that all the instructions are very clear and easy to understand..I like to explain about my camera program..It is very limited on tools, so when you see a black line on the pictures, it represents an arrow...Also just a little hint on the popsicle stick...Cut it in ½ and use one half for mixing epoxy glue and the other half for placing a snow on all way around a bed spring.

Mix epoxy glue. Glue Styrofoam ball to the point of the spring. See black line on the picture.

See PIC 1

This picture shows how it looks after I glued a bedspring to the Styrofoam ball. See black line on the picture.

See PIC 2

Get the white glue, old brush and sand ready for the next step.

See PIC 3

Spread white glue very heavy all over the Styrofoam ball. Cover the ball with sand. Let it dry..Sand give a good texture.

See PIC 4

Spray the Snowman with white spray paint 2 times. Let it dry. Paint Snowman with acrylic white paint 2 or 3 times. Let it dry very good. Spray with Sealer and let it dry again.

See PIC 5

Get epoxy glue, button for eyes, nose and four buttons ready to be glue on the Snowman.

See PIC 6

Hint: Lay the Snowman on the towel before you start to glue.First glue the nose in the center of the face. Hold it till glue sets. Than glue buttons on each side of the nose for the eyes (hold each button till glue sets). Paint thin lines for eyebrows. Let it dry. Paint mouth and blush Snowman cheeks. Spray with sealer. Let it dry.
See PIC 7

Get the 4 buttons ready to be glue to the spring. Cut small Pc. Of white Styrofoam and glue to the buttons with the epoxy glue. Let it dry.

See PIC 8

Push Each individual button against spring. Hold it till glue starts to dry. Black line shows how I hold the buttons.
See PIC 9

Braid 3 pipe cleaners for arms.

See PIC 10

To make hand, glue one side at a time as shown on the picture #11. After both sides are glued, trim around the hands to make sure that both sides match.
See Pic 11

Make 2 cuffs. Cut 2 PC.’s 1" long and 1 1/4" wide out of same material as scarf and trim for the hat. Glue both sides so it won’t ravel.
See PIC 12

Finished cuffs after glued to the top of the arms.

See PIC 13

HAT:
Sew the short edges of the crown together. Press seam open as shown on nodder hat

See Hat PIC 1

Fold the top circle, brim and crown in half and notch the fold on both sides. Repeat fold and notch on opposite sides as shown on nodder hat
See Hat PIC 2.

Match the notches to each piece of felt, matching top to crown and crown to brim and sew together as shown in nodder hat
See Hat PIC 3.

Turn top hat inside out. Fill crown with polyfill or cotton before glueing hat on snowman head as shown in nodder hat

See Hat PIC 4.

Back to Snowman Nodder Instructions:
Sew trim for the hat in half. Turn inside out. Press flat. Glue the trim starting at the crown seem all way around the hat as shown on the picture.

See PIC 14

This picture show how to lay hands before glue to the arms.
See PIC 15

With other ½ popsicle stick spread Delta Fantasy Snow on the top bedspring as shown on the picture. Let it dry over night.
See PIC 16

Sew scarf on half. Turn inside out. Press flat. Glue around neck leaving about 1 1/2" on the right hand side so you can tie a double knot. After double knot tied, glue rest of the scarf if needed. Glue the hat. Snowman Nodders is done.
See PIC 17

And here is finished Bedspring Snowman Nodder! Have fun making the Snowman.
See PIC 18

Thanks,

Helen

Sculpting Clay Recipe

2006-05-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

No Sculpey clay...no problem!

Make your own snowman nose:

Hello ladies ~Yesterday when I found out that a few ladies didn't have a craft shop near by where they could get Sculpey, I did a little research. Now we all know Aleene's Famous Bread Dough Clay, and that works fine. I just don't care for the smell of the result much,and I thought there should be something else.

Well I have two recipes for you....t

he first one is my favorite...it results in a "clay " which is soft and silky in texture and so easy to work with. I love it...I left mine white since I intend to use it for a number of projects, then when I use it I can add colour to whatever amount I use at the time.

Recipe # 1:

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup baking soda

Mix all the ingredients together and cook over medium heat, stirring until a ball forms. This happens quickly! Remove it from the pan and mix thoroughly with your hands. Put in Polybag and seal; DO NOT Refridgerate. Air dry..don't bake.

This 2nd recipe is also very nice...because my glycerin also contains rosewater and the coldcream has a soft scent as well the clay smells pretty. This recipe results in quite a bit of "clay".

Recipe # 2:

3/4 cup white glue

1 cup Cornstarch

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. cold cream

1 tsp. glycerin

Mix wet ingredients until smooth over meduim heat. Cook for a few minutes, add Cornstarch. Stir constantly until it forms a ball. This doesn't take long! Remove from pan and mix thoroughly with your hands. Cover with plastic or put in a plastic bag and seal. Do Not Refridgerate! ~AIR DRY...don't bake.

Both recipes are air dry and very quickly I might add .Also...from checking on mine a few minutes ago...I can tell you the recipe for number 1 will give you a "clay" which is very dense white in colour while the second recipe has an almost translucent quality about it which I really like.

****PLEASE REMEMBER****When using any "clay" product which contains White Glue, be sure to seal your finished product with a clear varnish product ! Bugs LOVE White Glue!!!I'll be using my "clays" to make roses and buttons and other embellishments I can use on my Snowmen. This was a fun way to spend an afternoon.I hope this will be new to some of you and will be useful as well.

Hugs 'n Stitches,

Wanda in Nova Scotia

Site: http://kangelcreations.com/SnowmenandSewMuchMore/index.html

Adobe lesson 1

2006-05-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

Adobe lesson 1

by (hacrafter) from HGTV’s Holiday message board.

Elements has many different selection tools but there is a quirk with PE3 when using the lasso tools. You can avoid the problem by not using the Maximize Mode. I use cascade but any other mode should work. Here is how to change window mode. Pic 1

Any time you see a black triangle in the lower right corner of a tool on the tool bar you can click it to expand it and select more tools. Elements provides you with several ways to make selections: marquee, lassos, magic wand and selection brush. Get familiar with all of them because some work better than others in different situations. With the lassos and magic wand, you with have some more options that appear on the top bar. Specify whether to create a new selection, add to an existing selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area intersected by other selections. Just click on the correct option above. These are extremely useful in refining your selections.Note the "L" in the Lasso selections and the black square. The square shows the current selection. The "L" is a way to get to the lasso tool from another tool without having to click on it in the tool box. Look at the Lassos on the bar at the top. When the lasso is selected, the current selection shows first, followed by the others. You can click on these to switch between the lassos, there is also a shortcut which I don't remember. This display shows the basic lasso in subtraction mode. More on lassos later. Pic 2

MarqueeThe marquee tools allow you to select specific shapes: rectangle, oval or circle. You click on the upper left of where you want your selection to start and drag to the lower right. You will be able to reposition your selection if you don’t get it exact. If you want a perfect circle, square or specific ratio, there are more options that appear on the top bar when you select the marquee tool to help you out. To create a square or circle instead of an ellipse, the width and height should be the same. PE2 uses the term “Style” instead of mode. If you are editing multiple photos and need to switch between 4x6 and 6x4, click on the arrows between width and height to switch them. PE2 users, you have to retype them, there is no arrow. Pic 3

LassosOnce the lasso is selected you can change between the lassos at the top of the bar.There are 3 different lasso tools.The Lasso tool draws freehand selection borders. This tool is great for making very precise selections. The Magnetic Lasso tool draws a selection border that automatically snaps to edges of objects you drag over in the photo. This makes it easy to draw precise selection borders and works well for quickly selecting objects with complex edges set against high-contrast backgrounds. The Polygonal Lasso tool draws straight-edged segments of a selection border. You can create as many segments as you need to draw a selection border. To close the border manually, drag back over the starting point and click. A closed circle appears next to the pointer when you are over the starting point.To close the border with a freehand magnetic segment, double-click or press Enter (Return).To close the border with a straight segment, double-click while holding down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) key.Magic WandThe Magic Wand tool selects pixels within a similar color range with one click. You specify the color range, or tolerance, for the Magic Wand tool’s selection. Use the Magic Wand tool when you have an area of similar colors, like a blue sky or an all white flower.Selection BrushThe Selection Brush tool makes selections two ways. You can paint over the area you want to select in Selection mode, or you can paint over areas you don’t want to select using a semi-opaque overlay in Mask mode. You can first make a rough selection with other tools and then fine-tune your selection with the Selection Brush tool, adding to or subtracting from the selection by switching between Selection mode and Mask mode.Selection Tip: Always zoom in very close to inspect you selection before finalizing it. You can move around the zoomed image around with the hand tool. Select the hand on the tool bar or H from the keyboard. You can Zoom with the magnifying glass and the maginifying glass with the “+” zooms in (Ctrl +) and the one with the “-“ zooms out (Ctrl Pic 4

Take your time when making a selection. Look up very close. Pic 5

You can use the selection tool of choice with the "add to selection" to clean up anything you missed.Because there is a very high contrast between the rock and the water, the magic wand would not have been my first choice in selection tools but I wanted to show you why. Even though it seems to be one big black rock, there is enough variation in the pixels that selecting the wrong part of the rock with the wand can yield this result. With the wand it all depends on where you click, other initial selections weren't so bad. I would typically use the magnetic lasso for an area like this but heed my warning about your window settings. If you use a lasso near the edges in maximize mode it can be hard to control. Pic 6

Now your thinking "Ok, hacrafter why do I care about selection parts of my photos"? If you want to take my other classes, you'll need this. It also important for editing pieces of the photo which don't come out quite right like this one. To change the black blob back to a rock you need to select this to adjust the photo light only there. Pic 7

Here it is fixed up but we aren't done yet. This photo doesn't fit the 4x6 format. However, you'll have to wait for cropping to know how we handle that. Pic 8

This concludes the lesson on selection tools. I hope I didn't upset the class coordinator since I didn't sign up to post this but this makes a good trial run for me to make sure I'm on the right track with the amount of information and how often you want editing topics posted. I'd like to eventually build these into a web page.

I didn't cover the brush options - resizing the selection brush or some of the other options that appear with the various selection tools. You can find help in the tool or feel free to ask questions.Play with the tools. Try different tools with different types of photos and see what works best for you in different circumstances.Tips:Sometimes it is easier to select what you don't want than to select what you do want. Usually the magic wand with handle the full sky. You can reverse the selection by Select-->Inverse from the pull down menu or Sift+Ctrl+I.You can save selections for future use. You can modify their size. Try out some of the options on the Select pull down.Trouble shooting. Each tool remembers what its settings were so if you switch from the lasso which was in add mode to the magnetic lasso which was in subtract mode the last time you used it, you may find yourself subtracting from a selection your trying to add to. Remember that Ctrl Z will undo your last change so you can switch to add mode and redo it.We haven't talked about layers yet so keep this in mind for the future. When you complete your selection, make sure you are on the layer you want to be on before altering your selection. Sometimes you will get an error message that no pixels are selected. This can be for 1 of two reasons: your in the wrong layer and there are no pixels there for the layer in in or your in the wrong mode (in subtract mode when there is no selection to subtract from).

Hacrafer (HGTV’s Holiday message board)
Author’s site:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/craft2decor8/index_frame.html (craft pages)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v688/hacrafter/Crafts/ (latest craft pages)

Adobe Lesson 2

2006-05-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

Adobe Lesson 2

by Hacrafter on HGTV’s Holiday message board

Photo Elements give you 3 ways to select colors. You have the:
eyedropper tool
color picker
swatches
The eyedropper tool is on your tool bar and looks like an eyedropper. If you hold your cursor over it, it will tell you what the tool is. The eyedropper lets you sample colors from images in your workspace. The Color picker and swatches let you pick your own colors in two different ways which I will explain later. You are allowed two color selections at a time. They are referred to as the forground color (yellow square in front) and background color (square in back). The color you paint with or your new text will be is always the forground color. Some other tools and options ask you if you want to use the forground or background color or give you some other standard choices. You can switch the forground and background colors by clicking the arrow above and between them on the right. Pic 1

When I do my card projects I usually start my color selections with the eyedropper to pick out colors from the photo I'm working with. This way I know they will work with my photo because they are in my photo. To use the eyedropper select it from the tool bar and click on the color you want. You can see your result in the forground color box. Click until you find a color you like. You will note that if you click in what looks like the same spot you may get a different color. The color picker uses the pixel selected and averages a few around it. See how many diffent colors are in the close up. Sometimes I zoom up close if I'm going for a specific color tone. Pic 2

The next tool is the color picker. To bring up the color picker, double click on the forground color. It will also come up when prompted to choose a new color. I have 4 numbers here. 1) The white circle shows my cursor. I can move this around the colored square to pick out the exact shade of red I want.2) If I don't want red I can move the white triangular sliders up and down or use my cursor to click in the bar for the color range I want.3)This is the current color selection. As you move around the colors this box will change to show you how your new color selection compares to your old color selection with brings us to 4.4)This is the current forground color.The color picker always comes up showing you your current forground color. I like the color picker because it makes it very easy to pick out specific color tints, tones, or shades that are related. If I want to pick out mulitple colors in the same range I can see how much variation I'm getting between them. This is a good way to refine color choices made by the eyedropper.Now, what do you do if you want to save these colors for furture use after all you can only have two selected at a time. If you pick a new color what happens to your current selection if you want to go back to it? That brings us to tool number 3, the swatches. You can save colors in the swatch pallet. Pic 3

To select the color swatches select Window-->Color Swatches. Any color you click on in this window will become your current forground color. If you look at the bottom of the swatch pallet, you will see two familure symbols (or they will become so in time). The first symbol is looks like a papper tablet with a rolled up corner. Click here to save your color swatch. It will appear at the end fo the selection. To discard a color swatch you don't want, click on it and drag it to the second icon of the trash can. You can create your own pallet but there is a quirk with this. Once you creat a new pallet it will not show up on the list until you exit and re-enter elements so if you switch between swatch pallets you won't be able to get back to your new one without leaving.It is a great program but it does have it's quirks. Pic 4

When using layers the "background" layer is always protected but not completely. If you erase part of your background layer you will always erase down to your background color. When you erase from any other layer you erase to empty pixles.Now that you understand all about selection your colors here is an assignment for you.Select File-->New-->Blank file for background select white. You now have a blank canvas to play with. Experiment with the brush tools and see what they do. Try coloring in custom shapes. Here is a link to some pictures I "painted" using photoshop in a class I took at the college last summer. You can do the same thing with elements but there are few brushes to choose from. The first one is a recreation of a masters work. This took me many, many hours to do but I learned a lot about the brushes. The next two were from my photos and the last was a class project. It was the warm up for doing the reproduction. Your lesson on selecting colors is now complete. Comments welcome. I know people are looking at these, but is anyone using them. Is anyone using the free tool from this site? If so, is it easy to figure out from what I'm showing here? Please feel free to point out differences here to help others. If you want to post screen shots from your tool but don't know how I can tell you how I do it.We are getting close to being ready for the card tutorial. I'd like to cover one more topic on cropping so you can create the card the size you want. I think those who do glass blocks and scrappers will be interested in that one.

When I get to my class on making the cards and class on twirls you will need to understand layers. There is a lesson on layers is great so I won't be covering that in my own tutorial.

Hacrafer

Author's sites:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/craft2decor8/index_frame.html
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v688/hacrafter/Crafts/

Adobe Lesson 3

2006-05-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

Adobe Lesson 3

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Preparation for Adobe Lesson 3

If you don't have a photo or a scanner to scan one you are welcome to use my photo for this class and your personal use only. You can copy if from (see photo 3) or I can send you a copy that isn't cropped and reduced like this one.

If you are investing in the software, I highly recommend this book (for your software version) if you have Elements.

Mommydearest posted this site to download a free 30 day trial but you will want to wait until we know for sure when I'll be posting the class details so your trial doesn't run out before you have a chance to play. I wouldn't buy from that site, their prices were very high.There is an excellent on-line video tutorial on layers on this site that I recommend if you've never worked with them. Scroll down to the image of the tiger. This is listed under PE3 but it applies to all PE versions. I'll assume you understand that. It may also help to go through the scrap booking one as well.Txbarbire posted this site for a freeware package that should work for this project. My screen shots won't match exactly but if you don't want to buy or already have the Adobe software this is a good alternative.Before class:Get your software and install it. Play around with it some on your own.Go through the on-line tutorials I pointed out.PM me if you have any questions on things before class starts.Find a photo. It's spring you should be able to go out and take lots of fun photos of blossoming tree branches, flowers etc. It will be more fun if everyone has there own photo, uses their own colors etc and posts their project afterwards.Basic TipsConvert your photo to a format other than .jpg when you save it. If your working with adobe products it will be saved as a .psd until you ask it to save to another format. Every time you save as a .jpg you loose a little quality. I recommend .png or .tiff for Adobe products others may support .gif which is fine too. For many web sites you need to save as .jpg or .gif and there you don't care as much for quality. If you save for the web to share, always save as a copy. Do NOT replace the original or it will not be printable and the quality lost for good. The Elements has a "save for web" feature which is really nice.

PE2 users. The layers tablet is on the top right hand corner as one of the tabs. Click on the tab to open. Initially it may come up to small. You can enlarge the pallet by clicking on the lower right hand corner of the pallet and dragging it.PE3 and 4 users, the layers pallet is open by default when you enter standard edit. Photoshop users, I believe this is also the default and you don't have to worry about the different edit modes, you only have 1.

I'm about 1/2 way through the book. I found it very useful. The funny thing is that I would learn one way and make all these updates, get further through the book and learn something that was even better.The book got me around a known program bug when using the lassos and wonderful tricks with doing the selections I wouldn't have figured out on my own. I'll cover some of this in my class because you have to make selections for parts of it. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions before class and I'll try to help you out.

You really should go through the book and follow things step by step. I was tempted to skip sections and then read them anyway and I'm glad I'm going through it from start to finish. I would have missed a lot of tips and shortcuts. PE3 will be great for you to organizer you graphics and make them easy to find. I have a separate catalog that I created just for crafting because I can find and resize craft patterns so much easier.Always start out with the best resolution possible and if you need to resize smaller, save the changes as a copy. I usually save it as ImageXYZ_5x7 or ImageXYZ_4x6 so I know what it is resized for. Did you know you can crop to a specific size ratio? This would be perfect for the glass blocks. There are also really nice text effects you can do if you do words. PE doesn't support windows meta files but I found a way around that using irfanview to convert the file format. I used it for the scrapbook page I did. When finding clip art .TIFFs are easier to use because they are supported directly.

I really like this, standard to most editors if you can find it. If you select "Fixed Aspect Ratio" for the mode you can type in whatever you want. To make a 6x4 a 4x6, click on the arrow between them. Since most glass blocks are square you could really type in anything 4x4, 2x2 etc. This allows you to crop an image before printing so you know exactly what it will look like and don't waste ink printing off parts you don't want. When you drag the cursor from top left to low right it will keep the ratio. I'm trying to find where you can switch to center out but cannot find where it said that. Most digital cameras do not take standard 4x6 format so if you don't crop them your self your at the mercy of the store to do it right for you. This is important for card makers to if they want to match the picture size for a specific card demension.If you don't want anything cropped you can cheat by adding canvas and then cropping with the ratio. When your prints come back just trim off the extra white space. These are tips you won't find in the book but if you understand the system and tools it isn't hard to figure out. See photo 4.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 1 is offered on this site free of charge. It is also useful to go through some of the others. If you are interested in my twirls class, I also recommend the "Change color" tutorial on this site. I have one more that I wanted to do on tools for cropping which which will be useful for anyone with a digital camera who sends photos off to be printed and anyone using graphics for glass blocks etc.The best way to learn any tool is to use it. I read a section of the book, play with the concepts, read another section play some more etc. I want you to have time to really use it before presenting to much. Although some of you already know the basics and are looking for the fun stuff. If youu already feel comfortable using the tool, I found another on-line tutorial that I haven't had a chance to try yet but it looks like a lot of fun. It is written for photoshop for I believe it can be done with at least the later versions of elements. If anyone trys this before me I'd love to see your snow globe. So by breaking this down into smaller parts is once a week a good pace? Are you ready for cropping this week?

Hacrafter

Author's craft samples:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/craft2decor8/index_frame.html
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v688/hacrafter/Crafts/

Iris Folding

2006-05-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

Iris Folding

by Mugsy

Go to this link for with the pattern, and list of materials and basic steps to complete the heart.
http://www.irisfolding.circleofcrafters.com/irisfoldingheart.html

See picture 1:

Note the angled edges and that i did not have all the ends meet in one spot.....this pix has the sparkly paper inserted for the center iris.....When you are finished folding, turn the piece over to the front and check to see if there are any gaps....if so, you have to gently peel off the layers to see where the gap is and fix it !!When all looks good....be sure to really use lots of tape to flatten out the back when finished folding...

See Pic 2

Obviously, this is not the heart in the tutorial....but I wanted to show a work in progress.....still not done, needs some embellishing of course.

See Pic 3

When on the circleofcrafters.com iris folding site....there are so many neat patterns to choose from. They also have a gallery of ideas so you can see completed projects made by fellow posters. Adds inspiration !!

See Pic 4

Go to this link for with the pattern, and list of materials and basic steps to complete the heart.
http://www.irisfolding.circleofcrafters.com/irisfoldingheart.html

Mugsy

*DO NOT take photos/directions from this site and post elsewhere without permission from the author!! You may link to this site, but please don't take credit for another person's work. ALL lessons are the author's copyrighted property and not intended for mass marketing.
Thank you, & have fun crafting!

Oven Dress

2006-05-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

Oven Door Dress

by Deb O’

Adobe PDF File:
http://www.dananddebi.com/ApacheCreekCrafts/OvenApron/Oven_Apron_Tutorial.pdf

Print out their directions & their actual pattern in the link below (which is an embedded link).
http://www.craftsayings.com/projects/small_gifts/oven_door_dress/index.shtml

Keep in mind when you are reviewing the directions from the link - this is MY version of the instructions - to better serve you.

Materials needed:

1 dish towel with pattern on both sides when folded in half1/3 yd. material to coordinate with your pattern or colors

2/3 yd. material to coordinate with your pattern or colors (see note below)

scissors

thread to match the material

3/8” ribbon – coordinating color – 2 yds. (cut in half for 1 yd. each)

thread to match the ribbon (if not the same color as the top)

straight pins (I used the ball head pins in colors, separating the ones in red)

sewing machine (make sure that you have bobbins with plenty of matching thread for complete outfit)

Pattern:

Before you begin cutting material – please cut out the pattern that you have printed out. Once cut out, fold in half down the center of the top, matching the sides as close as you can. Then cut along one side to make both sides even. Picture 1:

NOTE regarding amounts of material needed for top pattern piece.Example below – take cut pattern with you – believe me, it helps to know how you are going to lay out the pattern & how much material you will need. Picture 2:

This is more than 2/3's yard - I bought 1-1/3 yrd. so this is my left overs. Note the selvages are on one end. Picture it as the material on the actual bolt . Picture 3:

This is to give you an idea when you lay the actual pattern on a printed design pattern, ie. chili peppers/cowboy boots/cactus - that you will fold it differently. Selvage ends to selvage ends.

Picture 4:

Deb O'

Questions/comments can be made on HGTV's Holiday crafts message board:
http://boards.hgtv.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/1004031632

2006-05-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

Tiny Stones

by theLFCMamoAZ

Supplies:

1) Small stones about 1cm (a real challenge) up to 4 cm. Any larger will be heavy to wear. Smooth and flat stones are best but sometimes rough rounded ones just beg to be painted. And why not try small shells, acorns, nuts, anything hard and small from nature. [Free].

2) Acrylic paints: you will need basic colors: white, black, burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow, carmine red, a soft blue (but not pastel), purple, orange and probably 3 shades of green. Gray can help and any other colors you think would be useful to the subjects you intend to paint. But you will mix colors to get what you want. You can buy the smallest amount possible for this craft but if you continue to paint with acrylic you will find you’re going to need lots of black and white. Buy accordingly. I don’t like the bottles with the applicators, because I often dip my brush into the paint in the lid of the bottle to get the tiniest amount and don’t even bother with the larger amount in the bottle. Just shake your paint before each session and there should be plenty of paint inside the cap/lid. Be sure to wipe the edges of the lid after each full session so you don’t get a dried build-up of paint that could make a less than tight seal when closing the bottle for the day.

3) small sable or natural hair good artists brushes, I use #0, #00 round, #0 flat(rarely), an old broken-bristle small brush to get feather/fur effect ( this could be a cheap child's water color brush actually), and a very small liner.

4) a good brush cleaner/conditioner and a place to store your brushes bristles up AT ALL TIMES. (This can be a Parmesan cheese shaker cleaned out [Free ] )

5) a light bulb overhead that simulates daylight

6) plastic lid for “palette” [Free]; rinse-water container small plastic tub [Free]

7) 24 gauge or 22 gauge steel wire or gold-colored wire

8) small needle-nose pliers (jewelry repair size)

9) small wire clippers

10) E6000 glue and toothpicks to apply with

11) hat pin or metal dental pick

12) fine point permanent ink Sharpie black pen

13) wipe rag [Free], maybe a used toothbrush for cleaning stones [Free]

14) clear acrylic enamel spray* or clear floor coat made for terrazzo.

15) optional...around-the-neck magnifier. I don’t use one but you may want to. Remember, when worn, few folks are going to come up to the wearer of the jewelry with a magnifying glass.

ACQUIRING/PREPARING STONES- Once you are on the lookout for stones, your eye will start to pick out the flat smooth stones, often pear-shaped, that occur naturally. Sometimes a rough stone has a great texture or color and they are fun too, but don’t allow for as great detail. Be sure you have permission to gather stones where you are looking. Government property is off limits, even parks and forests and so is private property without permission. But I doubt you’d have a problem with a few stones from a dirt road. The darker the stone, the less contrast you usually have for your subject but you can try anything. I think the best part of the stones, is to see the natural coloration/texture of the stone behind the subject. Lots of stones are speckled, striated, blotched, or have wonderful mineral inclusions that make them not only interesting to paint on but can be challenging to adapt or find a subject that compliments. Does that stone look like waves? Well, go with that, don’t fight it by trying to put a robin or a rose on it, try a duck or a water lily.Now that you have them home, wash them with plain water and a toothbrush and let them dry. Here’s where I first use that light bulb. I study each stone turning this way and that and look for a natural out line . Usually it is there but not always. The shadows from the light bulb when the stone is turned will perhaps give you a subject that is right there on the stone to be copied. Before I forget what I see, I under-paint with a coat of white acrylic paint. You should do this with all your painted stones. Very tiny details don’t necessarily need it, but it’s best because it causes the colors applied over it to be brighter.

MAKING AND ATTACHING BAILS- I have done this step last but now think it is best to apply the hand-made bail to the stone before painting. To make a bail, cut a piece of wire with the wire clippers anywhere from 4-8 cms long, depending on the stone. Take one very tip end in the tip of the jewelry pliers with your right hand (if you are left-handed, reverse these directions) and make a tight “hook” in the end, as small as you can. Keeping the hook in the pliers sort of loosely, use the index finger of your left hand to push against the hook while you rotate the coil with your right hand with the pliers. This will make a beginning coil. For these small stones, I make two complete circles, one outside the other. Now repeat on the other end. You should now have a straight wire with a coil on each end. Wire is forgiving so you can re-bend to make it neat. But do remember, these are just stones so perfection isn’t required in the bail. Next, place one coil on the “front” of the stone (you establish what is front) and slowly bend the other coil to meet the back of the stone. It doesn’t matter in which direction the coils are facing. You may want to put a bend in the bail first. It should go backward from the front coil so that the coils are perpendicular to the curve of the bail. Now you have a 3-D “u” shape. When the coils sit flush one on either side, remove the bail and push together slightly, making the span shorter WITHOUT distorting the shape of the bail any other way. This ensures a tighter fit. Apply glue (E6000) to each coil and fit on stone, making sure you leave enough room at top for painting and also for clearance to fit a necklace chain through.. You may have to hold or brace the bail for a few minutes so it doesn’t slide around. Allow to dry for AT LEAST 72 hours. Some stones are so irregular that you will find that placement of a bail difficult. You may have to squeeze the bail in place before gluing to conform to the stones shape. You can also glue the bail to either side of the stone or both coils flat to the back. In which case, you will not bend the bail in the same direction but parallel to the coils, making a flat “u”.

DECIDING ON A SUBJECT AND UNDER-PAINTING- Look for sources of drawings of the subject you want to paint. This can be from books, internet pictures, cards, life or anything else. I find drawings are easier for me to follow than photographs. If the stone had a shape in it, try to follow that and not “fight the stone”; especially if it is a rough textured stone. Don’t make things harder on yourself than necessary. Using white acrylic paint, just get the filled-in outline on the stone (reverse silhouette). If you make a minor mistake or it doesn’t quite look right; use that hat pin or pick and scrape away what doesn’t look right (you can even try a drop of water before scraping , but don’t over do it or you’ll “erase’ the good stuff too) or add a little paint with a liner. You can try to dampen a tiny corner of the wipe rag and gently try to erase what you don’t like then refill what you need. When the “reverse silhouette” is like you want it, it won’t take a minute to dry. If it just looks terrible; I plunk it into the rinse bucket for awhile and scrub it clean and start again. I don’t know if any of you would be adept enough (I surely wouldn’t) to make a small enough stencil of the subject but you could try. I think the stone surface will prevent a good transfer anyway. So you are kind of on your own. It just takes practice on one kind of subject to get the feel of the overall shape. I am not a very good draftsman so I know. And I’m right/left dyslexic so if my reference pix is facing right, it is extremely difficult for me to not only reverse the silhouette but to get the color patterns in the correct position. Plants are lots easier than animals since they can basically bend any way, but the shape of leaves and blossoms need to be recognizable. I’d suggest starting with some subject you are really familiar with looking at. The key for me is to add and subtract to that silhouette until I get it where I want it. You can’t do that as well on canvas. Acrylics on stones are “erasable” so easily!

PAINTING- Now you are ready to apply color. Study the picture you are using for reference and try to match the paint to it, mixing as needed on the “palette” but only use a tiny drop of each paint. You’ll be surprised at how little paint you need. Sometimes it only takes a tiny tip end of the liner brush with a dot of paint on it (esp. black which is intense) to mix. Be aware that acrylic, especially in this small quantity dries VERY QUICKLY so you need to preplan all the places that particular color goes on the subject. It might even be an under-color over which you’ll put dots or dashes for details. Use one color at a time. If you mix too much, can you apply it to another stone subject? I always have 5-10 stones in front of me with silhouettes on them at this stage. You can also use a watered down color for a wash but here again be very careful to apply the tiniest amount or it will go everywhere. I also find it helpful when watering down a color to be sure and rag off any water on the handle or ferrule. When going from color to color, never dip one color into another, do all mixing on a palette. Rinse your brush thoroughly between each color you are applying to the stone.I can’t tell you how to paint, that is an individual gift or skill. But these stones lend themselves to most styles including one-stroke and primitive and realistic and all in-between. Acrylic paint is so forgiving. You can go back over and over what you don’t like. For me, hardest after the basic shape, is the eye of a bird. I need to see where the placement is on the head (not the same for all birds but basically close) and to see if there is a ring of color around the iris. If so, I paint a small circle of that color. Let it dry; go back with a black, yellow, red or yellow iris (depending on species) and let that dry. Now the hardest part...the “spark of life” or that tiny white or light gray reflection on the iris that lets you know this is a living thing. Here’s where you really do have to use a liner with a very sharp point. I always “point” my brush before this step. Yes, I pull it through my moistened lips for that. Just barely touch the tip to the white or light gray, getting the least amount on you can but you have to hurry or the acrylic will dry right on the tip before you even get it to the iris. Any bigger blob and it will look bad and staring. Check out where these reflections are painted in your references. The great thing is, if you make a mistake you can go over it to fix it. Sometimes a nudge at one side with iris color again can fix it. Sometimes you have to start all over again with the iris and back to the highlight. Persevere; this is the very essence of your painting. The same for flowers, where does the light hit the petals and leaves? Maybe not as tiny to do, but essential.

Since Mother’s Day is coming up let me talk you through 2 examples; Carnation and American Robin. Get a colored drawing in front of you (from Internet maybe).

carnation outline

carnation-red drawing

carnation-peach drawing

carnation prim style

carnation-white

Carnation: the bloom should be toward the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the stone and positioned with the bail in mind. All carnations have a fat green “V” in 4 sepals(sections) cupping the bottom of the blossom. With the bloom in mind, using white under-painting and a small round brush, paint this in first. Then a single slightly curved stem from the base of that to the bottom of the stone or nearly. Carnation leaves are long and thin so you can position them now but you’re only going to suggest them in the final work so don’t worry. You may want to leave room along one side of the stem to later write the word “MOTHER” along that stem. Look at your drawing, which direction do the petals face? How many approximately? Not all are shaped the same or the same size. White under-paint those in. If you’re doing a white carnation, you’ll be half way there.. This is the time to ruffle the edges on a white one. You’ll do it later for colored ones, unless you want the color edged in white which can be very effective. Then ruffle now, color later.. Using a scruffed up end of brush, dip just the end into the paint, consistency as it comes from the bottle, and on the palette, dab off most of the paint vigorously as you would for stenciling. Now place the brush about 1mm from what you think will be the edge of a petal, press hard against the stone and push upward. This should give you a ragged edging. Practice first on the palette while I start the “robin folks” off. Do this to any petals you think are outstanding. This step you’ll do with the color phase if your carnation is other than white. You’re doing just fine.

American Robin: You’ll be using white as the under-painting to get a reverse silhouette of the robin. Birds are basically 4 shapes- honest! Head is a circle to start with, body an oval, tail a long rectangle and wings...well, study your drawing for shape and size to body.

American Robin1 standing

Am. Robins2 male female and juvenile plumage painting

Am. Robin flying

Here's an idea for a stone, decoupage the print behind the painted head.

Am. Robin and printing

Beaks are specialized to different birds and can identify them so study the bird’s beak you are painting carefully for size and shape and position to front of the head. Birds generally need to have negative space on the stone around them (unless you are doing a “natural”), so “eyeball” size from that and the bail position. Tail end and round head need to be sized so they fit on the stone. A dot of paint each point could help you visualize the size you need to paint. Now to drawing. The steps are basically the same for standing or flying birds, refer to your color drawing reference.Under-paint the tail and round head to position the bird and “size” it. Standing the tail is lower than the back, and flying the tail will be relatively in line with the back. Next, do the beak using reference. Till you get what you need. Is it fat; skinny, short, long, straight, curved? Place it where your reference shows you it goes on the robin, beak is relatively medium length straight and not too thin. Now, using reference, is the chin curved back/down or a straight angle down/back? Does the top of the neck curve in or appear almost straight to back? Under-paint those tiny spaces. Now under-paint the oval body to connect to the neck. I can’t use the “B” word here on the boards, so the “front of the oval” will have to do for the upper front of the bird above the belly. It is critical to the look of your bird’s look. Is it too skinny? Gradually, nind you, add a little at a time to make it fuller and rounder. Too fat? Use that wonderful hat pin and gradually scrape a tiny line away at the edge till you get the look your reference shows you. Add a touch, shave and sliver a bit...acrylic lets you play till you get things as you want them! Back of the belly and before the tail is a very important little triangle called the vent. It is very often a different color on birds pattern. So under-paint that now using reference to attach it to tail. Did you choose the robin standing or flying? A bird’s wing starts from a rounded shoulder shape at side of oval; go ahead and under-paint that round shape even though you may not necessarily see it on the oval. It will help you “feel” the shape of the wing on the bird. Now you have yet another decision to make. Standing, the wing is a long thin triangle with tip toward tail. Do you want the tip above the tail or below? Flying, you’ll need to use a reference for shape and position of wings for each bird. A robin’s wings in flight are sort of rounded toward tail curving in toward body at end and more pointed toward head end. You’re “rocking robin” right along now, good job. I’ll be back after I talk to the “carnation folk” so study the color pattern of the robin on your color drawing reference.
Carnation: Now look again at the drawing and see where the shading is. Try to copy that onto your carnation. Most of it will be lower on the bloom and underneath petals. For a white carnation, you can simulate petal edges with tiny dots of gray paint along the edge of where the petal looks to be or you can use that scruffy brush and “wiggle” edges in. For colored ones, use a darker shade of the base color of the carnation. Fill in the green of stem and leaves and sepals etc. with liner brush or thin pointed end of brush. Now fill in the color of the carnation (if not white) right over the under-painting, mix a little darker shade and use it as above where gray is shading. You’re almost done. Heave a huge sigh. Finally using fine line pen, write “MOTHER” along one side of the stem in tiny letters. You’re doing just great. Now you “rock on” while I go back to the robin folk”. Or go on to “finishing”

American Robin: Wow, you did a wonderful job on all that. Now for the color over the white. American Robin needs a Slate Gray Brown head. Using your reference, place a white dot where eye will be, large enough for the pupil later but still in proportion to head. Now go back with white and dot in the eye-line above and below the ”eye” and toward the beak. If you place eye and beak differently on round head you will get “attitude”. Leave the head now. Using white, redo throat if needed. The upper belly and chest are a rust orange, if in flight, there is orange on the underwing too, see reference. Leave lower belly and vent and top of leg feathers white. Paint back and wings a lighter dark brown than the head. Go back with white or light gray and streak wings for feathers, see reference. Paint legs and beak yellow. Take just the tip of the liner into black and finely streak throat and head/neck margin; put in black pupil leaving a tiny margin of white (not all birds have this but most do).. You might break up that white eye-ring at this time if it isn’t already; streak tail and wings with black now and maybe if you’re really good with tiny details, make the toenails black. Last, go back with white or light gray and work on that “spark of life”. Sometimes I push a smudge of color at back upper part of circle, sometimes a tiny dot of “life” there. Again, acrylic is so forgiving. Keep placing black then spark until you get it the way you want it. Another tip is to use the black to nudge into a too large white dot. Got it? Fantastic, you’re done! Heave your sigh of relief.

FINISHING THE STONES- Now set those stones aside to dry thoroughly and evaluate them. If you don’t like them, now is the time to plunk them in the rinse bucket! It’s easier to remove the paint now than days later and you certainly can’t remove it when sealed. Using the very fine point permanent ink “Sharpie” pen, sign the back and possibly identify the subject. Take many stones at once on a old tray, painted side up and spray with sealer (or paint floor coat on the tops with an old brush) to let dry. I use Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel* spray but it’s your choice. I only seal the front in case someone might possibly be allergic to the sealer. Clean your brushes with cleaner, point them (not with your mouth on that cleaner) and store bristle-side up! This is essential to maintain the shape you need for the next batch. When dealing with such tiny brushes, any little stray or out-of-place bristle can be very frustrating. Allow stones to dry and you are finished.Of course you can apply this technique to larger stones if you want to but you can’t wear them.
As for the "naturals" I paint, a lot of times it seems it is the outline of a head (like the tiger head I painted my DGD) or of birds. So I generally under paint the whole stone in that case. That's one reason why I included that robin's head drawing reference above. They most often are more "prim" in style just because of the shape of the stone. So you are generally "suggesting". The color patterns and details could be (but don't have to be) less detailed. Just so someone can tell it's a No. Cardinal and not a Summer Tanager; a Blue Jay and not a Bluebird. I'm hoping some of you are staying in "class" and are working on a stone. But if you all are correspondence students, that's fine too. Hope all this helps.Incredible easy to understand instructions. I will have to save these as I have so many projects going right now I need to finish something completely before I add one more.

Anyway, Thank you so much for the class. I truly appreciate all of the time and effort you put into putting this on here for us.You're amazing!

Mamo

Easter Basket

2006-02-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

Things you will need:

3/4 yard 45 or 54 inch wide cotton or cotton/polyester light weight fabric;

thread;

polyester fiberfill.

ribbon and 4 buttons

Tools and equipment:

Scissors; yardstick; pins; needle; thread; sewing maching.

Directions:1. Cut two 4-1/2 X 28 inch fabric pieces for basket sides, one 8 X 54 inch piece for ruffle; two 8 inch diameter circles for bottom of basket, and one 3-1/2 X 16 inch piece for handle.

2. Fold ruffle in half lengthwise, right sides together and stitch both short ends with 1/2 inch seams. Turn ruffle piece right sides out and gather ruffle to 27 inches.

3.Pin ruffle to right side of one basket side piece, leaving 1/2 inch of basket side piece for seam allowances at either end. Pin second basket side piece right side down over ruffle and stitch sandwiched sides and ruffle along raw edge.

4. Lay sides open flat, fold short ends right sides together, and stitch with 1/2 inch seam, making sure ruffle is pinned out of the way and leaving 2 inch opening for stuffing.

5. Turn one side inside the other to form basket. Pin basket bottoms (with their wrong sides together/facing each other) inside bottom of basket and sew with 1/4 inch seam.*Note: If you wish to eliminate raw edges from inside bottom of basket, convert this seam to a French seam. Trim seam allowance close to stitching. Turn basket inside out and seam again, covering raw edges with second seam.

6. Turn basket again. Stuff basket sides; then whip stitch shut.

7. To make handle: Fold handle piece lengthwise, right side in. Sew one end and side.Turn inside out and stuff. Sew opening shut. Attach handle to basket with wipe stitch ( I sewed buttons to hold handle on>> 1 inside and 1 out side. )

8.Hand stitch edges of ruffle together. **added option: Tie on satin ribbon bows to area where handles attach to basket. Buttons to hold handle on.**I also took a paper plate and cut it a little smaller then the circle pattern for the material and put in the bottom of the basket.

This is the ruffle folded in half after the ends have been sewn and the material turned to the right side. See pic 2

This is the ruffle gathered down to 27 inches. See pic 3

This is the ruffle being "sandwiched" in between the two basket sides. Make sure ruffle is about a 1/2 inch shorter then the basket side piece, this is so it doesn't get caught later when you sew up the side seam of the basket sides. Pin to hold all three together. Sew all 3 layers together. See pic 5

Sewing the "sandwich" together. ( 1 basket side on the bottom, ruffle in the middle, 2nd basket side on top>>remember to face the basket sides with right sides facing each other.) See pic 6

This is the "sandwich" opened up after it has been sewn. (Step 4. Lay sides open flat) See pic 7

Fold "sandwich" in half right sides together, so that short ends meet. Stitch with 1/2 seam making sure ruffle is pinned out of the way...**REMEMBER to leave a 2 inch opening for stuffing. See pic 8

Sewing up the short ends...REMEMBER to leave an opening for stuffing. See pic 9

Step 5
Turn one side inside the other to form basket. (the only thing you are do here is turning so the ruffle is hanging down and the 2 basket sides are together with wrong sides facing each other.***If you look close at this picture you will see what I mean when I say the ruffle is hanging down...and the 2 basket sides are together with wrong sides facing each other. This is the step just before sewing in the bottom circle. See pic 10

Sewing the 2 bottom circles to the basket sides, as in step 5.Pin basket bottoms/circles (with their wrong sides together) inside bottom of basket and sew with 1/4 inch seam. See pic 11
This is what it looks like when the bottom circles have been sewn in. This is the inside of the basket...push in....to form basket.

Step 6
Now you will need to stuff the basket through the unsewn area that you left in the seam earlier. Hand stitch closed. See pic 12

Step 7
Sew the handle and stuff. I attached the handle using buttons...one on the inside, one on the outside under the ruffle.

Step 8
Hand stitch the edges of ruffle together.

The End :)
Diane

How to send a PM and resize & post a pic on HGTV

2005-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some great instructions on how to post and resize pictures from Lady Texas that may help and below that I'll post a couple of links for free resizing sites:

HOW TO POST PX:
When you click REPLY to someone, there is an ADD ATTACHMENT at the bottom of this page.
1.Scan or take a px of your block. When you do that, save it somewhere on your computer that you know where it is.
2. Click that ADD Attachment mentioned above.
3. It will open a new box that says FILE SOURCE & next to it is BROWSE. CLICK BROWSE. (It also has File Description, I do not mess with it!)
4.The BROWSE button will let you look around in places until you find where your px is saved. Once you find it, click the picture itself that you have saved & the name of where it was should show on that empty box that is File Source.
5. Below , on the bottom of the page, is a POST NOW, click that. That should load it onto your post.Be aware that there are file size limits. If you get a box that says "Your upload has exceeded the limits", re-size it in Paint or in some other editing program on your computer.:

HOW TO RESIZE IN PAINT:
ALL Microsoft programs have PAINT!(I do not know on MACS!!!) There are many ways to re-size your photos...this is but one!
1. Open PAINT
2. Go up to FILE & click OPEN.
3. Find the px you want to re-size from where ever you saved it on your computer & click OPEN
4. Go back up to the tools & open IMAGE
5. Look for STRETCH & SKEW
6. On Horizontal & Vertical STRETCH, they both will be default to 100%. Put your mouse on each & change BOTH to the same number. Remember, the smaller the number (for example: 10 % on both) will make the px VERY small. The higher the number, the larger the picture will remain. (As a general rule, about 40% to 60% on both will do...this is a guess on my part because it will depend on the size of your original px! You MIGHT have to do this with various numbers!)

LEAVE SKEW ALONE! LEAVE SKEW ALONE!!!! Did I mention: LEAVE SKEW ALONE!!!!

IF you goof on the size, go to EDIT & tell it to UNDO & it will be back to the starting size.
7. Go back up to the tool bar & tell it to SAVE AS to where ever you save your px to. (There is a toggle bar up there to change where to save ...like Pictures or Documents or where ever...choose)
8. This box also contains a place at the bottom for FILE NAME. Name your file. (You can not name it the same as it was when you opened it unless you over ride the original file. For example, it it's name was Jane Doe, name the new one Jane Doe 2. This safe keeps your original file.)
9. PAINT generally saves default as Bitmap files. On the very bottom of this same "save box" (& just under the FILE NAME is a toggle bar that you can open & it will give you a choice ) SAVE AS: Generally, you will choose JPEG.

That is all there is to PAINT. Hope this helps!
L~T

IMAGE RESIZER:
Those of you who know me realize that I am not one for downloading a lot of "stuff" to my computer from the internet, believing you soon get rid of your "memory" with useless products. I always think that it is best to use the resources that are already on your computer. However, I found a tool that is an absolute must if you have trouble with resizing in PAINT, your camera software, percentages, or for any reason. It does NOT get any more simple than this one! Please note that it uses 2.5 MB of space when you download, it is for Windows 2000, XP, or Vista. Earlier versions of Windows are not compatible! The price is FREE. If you can RIGHT click & point your mouse, you can use it. It will put a link on your mouse, if you choose to do so! Put you mouse over a px, rt click, choose the image resizer, select the size you wish, click, & it is done!(Don't know anything about pixels? That is OK , you really don't have to. ON HGTV, the 640 X 480 is a good size to start out with. (Of course, depends on colors in your px to begin with! Size does not translate to pixels, BTW, they are totally different things!!)If the 640 X 480 is still too big (pixels, remember!) then the 320 X 200 WILL definitely work!! I did choose to put a shortcut on my desktop when prompted.
More Resize picture links, thanks Joy!

http://www.picresize.com/

* This one you have to download on your computer, but lots of people here use it, it's a free download:
http://www.download.com/IrfanView/3000-2192_4-10021962.html

I have not tried the two below, but a couple of our members posted these and said they are the easiest ones they have ever used:
http://www.shrinkpictures.com/
http://quickthumbnail.com/

Another great picture posting lesson from megansmomma:

When I first came on and mentioned that I didn't know how to post, Megansmomma sent me a pm with these instructions (I'm copying her words)

FIRST: Take your pic and download to your computer. Do whatever kind of adjusting to color, brightness, etc. that you need to do (I am NOT good at this....but, I do try!). Once you are satisfied, do a "Save As", label your pic with a name and put it in "My Documents".

SECOND: Go to "My Documents" and find your pic as you labeled it. Right click on the title and you will have a menu come up. Click on "Edit".

THIRD: Now you will have a big pic on the screen. Look at the top and you will see "Image". Click on that and you will have a drop-down menu with several choices. Choose "stretch/skew".

FOURTH: In the "stretch" box you will see two boxes. Type 50 in EACH box and then click "O.K.". Don't bother with the "skew" box. This will reduce your picture once. Now, go back to "Image", type 50 in each percentage box and click "O.K." again.
Now your picture is reduced twice and it is small enough to post on the board!!!!

FIFTH: Now you are ready to post.... Start a new discussion and type in your message. When you are finished, look at the bottom of the box and you will see "Add Attachment". Click on that and a box will come up. that says "File Source". Click on the gray "browse" button. A box will come up that says "Choose File". Click on "My Documents".

SIXTH: Now you see all the "stuff" you have saved in My Documents. Scroll over until you find the name of your pic. Click on it and then click "Open". The green dialog box that you have been typing in will immediately come back up on HGTV and you will see the file name in the box.

Click POST NOW and, tada........... YOU DID IT!!!!
Don't worry about messing up. When it comes up for you to view you can always make changes by clicking on the pencil eraser at the bottom of the box. You can even delete the message entirely and no one will ever know!!!!! When I first started posting, I messed up all the time --- LOL! I still do occasionally, but heck, I just hit the "delete this message" choice and start all over again. I hope this helps you. I am sure there is an easier way, but this has always, ALWAYS worked for me. Just remember to reduce your pic's two times in the "stretch and skew" box to make them fit on the board.

To Send A Private Message (PM)
Above your message there are several buttons, click on the GO button move your cursor down to the Personal Zone, now move over and down to Private Messaging and click on it. A new screen will come up, click on the New Private Message button. You should now be looking at a screen with 2 boxes on it click on the My Contacts box and type in the person's name, then click on the add button (between the 2 boxes), that name should've move over to the Invited Members box. Click on the Invite Members Botton (under the Invited Members box), now type your topic/subject (you type in whatever you are contacting them about), now click in the Message box and type your message or question. then click post now button, and the next time she comes on the boards she'll have a lighted box on the top of her screen (to the right of the GO,NEW,Find, etc.. Buttons) telling her she has a PM. It's easier to PM someone from a post the person you want to PM has written, to do that you just click on their name (at the top lefthand side of the post that SHE wrote), go down and click on the Invite ___ to a Private Message.Type in your subject and the message. Then click the post now button.To Check PM's Sent to YouAt the top of the message board you will see a lighted button to the right of the GO, New, Find, etc.. buttons.You just click on that lighted box and it will take you to your private messages, then just click on the message to read it. Or you can click on the Go button and move your cursor down to the personal zone, then move over and down and click Private messaging to view your PM's anytime you wish.
Joy