Childhood Hero Layout, Stitched and Water Colored

Today’s project is a stitched, water colored, layout featuring my daughters childhood hero. I used 3 different patterns from Graphic 45’s Fairie Dust, majoring on the B sides. Those tiny prints appeal to me and make layering a snap.

~ Childhood Hero ~

The signature page for Fairie Dust has a lovely frame with images outlined along the edges. I knew right away that I wanted to add watercolors to it. The color intensity is muted by the background of blue and green, but over all I like the way the fairies are highlighted.

I fussy cut violets but had to back them with vellum doilies. I didn’t want them disappearing into the purple of the central strip.

The frame ended up with a few chunks bitten right out of it. To camouflaged the small gaps by inking the inner edge of the frame. The large bits were covered with fussy cut fairies from Tiny Toadstools.

I folded down the corners of the photo mat and stitched them with gold braid. I also stitched the purple central strip to grey cardstock. I tried a fancy stitch first, but it didn’t really show up so I went over it with a zigzag.

This layout is a Fairie Garden in response to a prompt from Inspired By:

~ time to garden ~

Supplies:

Cardstock:Crafters Warehouse

Patterned Paper:Graphic 45

Design Vellum:Hobby Lobby

Flowers:Prima, Recollections

Alpha, Stickers:Studio Calico

Tiny Type:My Minds Eye

Cutting Die:Crafters Companion

Ink:Close To My Heart

Scrap On!

~Charity Hotrum~

How To Make a Colorful and Delightful Batmass Party

Today I want to show you how to make a colorful and delightful Batmass Party. If you follow me at all on Facebook you know that I am 100% Bat-Crazy! I think these winged, furry, fruit and insect eaters are amazing. When Gerda Steiner Designs came out with their Bats Clear Stamp Set I knew I HAD to have them. Aren't they too cute for words with their little Christmas hats and goofy smiles?

~ Merry Batmass ~

  Gerda Steiner Designs also has delightful Digi-stamps and printables. I downloaded the free Christmas Tree and a couple of cute little mice and of course the Christmas Hats. Stop by the Shop or Facebook page to see what is available today!

My tiny glass house looks like a cathedral with a soaring roof and arched windows. I decided to run with that theme and turned it into a battery operated candle holder. I also spelled my title with the church idea in mind. If you look closely you can see the glow behind the tree!

Directions:

Step 1:Prep vellum for printer.
I used the Perfect Crafting Pouch from ScraPerfect to dust the vellum so the ink would set without smears.

Step 2:Prep vellum for painting. 
After printing my digi stamps I dusted the back of the vellum to prep for watercolors.

Step 3:Paint printed design from the back.
 Painting the vellum from the back of the design mutes the colors and adds to the glow of the candle design. The watercolors left the vellum rather warped. I cut out the tree and wrapped it around a paper towel tube to reform.

 Step 4:Stamp and cut Batmass Angels.
My Batmass Angels were super easy to make. I used white pigment ink and Rinea Foiled Paper in Ebony Starstruck. The bats cut out perfectly with the matching Bat Dies from Gerda Steiner Designs.

Step 5:Clean glass house.
My tiny conservatory is a thrifted item and it was FILTHY!

 I used the Best Cleaner Ever from ScraPerfect to remove the sticker and tape residue marring the glass.

 Step 6:Polish glass house.
After I washed it up I cleaned the fingerprints and water spots using the Perfect Cleaning Cloth. My little glass house looked brand new!

 Step 7:Add presents and party guests.
I had printed out and colored or painted the advent calendar several times. I used my extras for these cuties in the back. I fussy cut them and used foam tape to adhere them to the glass. The cookie mouse and balloon mouse are thrilled to be in on the party!

 Step 8:Cut and attach title, bats, and hats.
I used Emerald Starstruck Foiled Paper from Rinea and a Gothic alphabet die for the title. The Christmas Hats are printed on white cardstock with a bit of  Ruby Starstruck Foiled Paper pieced in the middle.

 Step 9:Attach tree to battery candles, add bling.
The tree needed a bit of sparkle to it. I used Embellie Gellie to pick up tiny star shaped gems for my tree. This wheel of gems is a Hot Buy for a limited time at ScraPerfect.

 One dot of Best Glue Ever holds the bling to the tree.

The tree is taped around two battery operated candles that give the tree support and shape.

 Step 10:Turn candles on and position tree in center of glass house.
The Batmass Angels are so excited to have the kids over for a Christmas Party! I hope you have enjoyed this little piece of fantasy and will stop by the linked shops for crafting supplies.

Supplies:

Cardstock:Recollections
Vellum, Watercolors:CTMH

Digi and Clear Stamps:Gerda Steiner Designs

Foiled Paper:Rinea

Glue, Cleaner, and Accessories:ScraPerfect

Scrap On!

~charity~

How To Make a Beautiful Model With Colorful Paint

Today I have a few tips and photos for how to use colorful paint to make a beautiful model. I had Spine Surgery in mid-July. To keep me occupied with out overdoing it my daughter suggested we assemble and paint this wooden St. Petersburgh Cathedral.  

We have nearly the full collection of Deco Art Dazzling Mettalics paints and have been eager to use them on a project.

These wood models are difficult to assemble. They contain many pieces and they don't quite fit together right. We have done many so we were ready with a craft knife for trimming and hot glue for assembling. We use the hot glue more as a sealer that fills in for the pieces that aren't there.

We assembled in layers, fine tuning each piece to fit and lay properly before we painted. Two layers of acrylic paint give sufficient coverage. We always add a coat of paint to the back to avoid glaring edges. 

For this model we purchased a string of LED lights. To create a glow I added vellum to the windows. ScraPerfect's Best Glue Ever attached the vellum without leaving marks. Spreading a thin layer of the glue and letting it dry to a semi-gloss ensured perfect attachment.

 One nights work was done in such a rush that it had to be resurfaced the next day. For this I used ScraPerfect's solvent, Best Cleaner Ever. I spritzed it on the pieces, let them sit for a few minutes, then rubbed off the layers of black and silver paint. 

For our project we used 9 colors of paint in a variety of combinations. We completed the ground floor and central tower first. We used variations of that design to decorate the other towers. The spires are divided into 5 Purple/Gold, 2 Blue/Silver, 2 Green/Silver, and 2 Plum and Olive with Silver. The roof of the first floor is primarily Teal, and Black cleanses the pallet between layers of color.

For our project we used 9 colors of paint in a variety of combinations. We completed the ground floor and central tower first. We used variations of that design to decorate the other towers. The spires are divided into 5 Purple/Gold, 2 Blue/Silver, 2 Green/Silver, and 2 Plum and Olive with Silver. The roof of the first floor is primarily Teal, and Black cleanses the pallet between layers of color. 

Don't worry if your model leans a little or is missing pieces. The finished project is about the time spent together and the joy of accomplishment. Perfection isn't a necessary ingredient for happiness.

Supplies:
3-D Wood Model:Sea Land (Amazon)
Acrylic Paint:Deco Art
Vellum, Hot Glue:Hobby Lobby
Glue, Solvent:ScraPerfect

Scrap On!

~charity~

How to Make a Remarkable Journal with Foiled Paper

Do you need to know how to make a remarkable journal with foiled paper? Journaling encourages self expression and is exceedingly therapeutic. There is no better place to write down one's thoughts after a chaotic day then in a beautiful book.

 ~ Octopus Journal ~

Adding a personal touch to a blank notebook steps up the appeal without decreasing the efficiency. But how do you get the most lovely of papers to lay smoothly on a run-of-the-mill diary?
Well there's a simple solution for that!

That's right, the barest amount of ScraPerfect's Best Glue Ever sticks those papers down with not a wrinkle in sight. To demonstrate this ability of BGE I used two colors of wrapping paper and an embossed foiled paper.

 First I cut three pieces of the green paper for the front, back, and magnetic flap of this lined journal. I cut them large so there would be extra paper to fold over the edges. I also cut two strips of silver wrapping paper for the spines on this journal.

 After sparingly applying BGE to the diary I smoothed the paper over the glue. I left a 1/2 inch gap between the edge of the foiled paper and the spine. I cut the corners of the excess paper diagonally so the flaps would fold nicely to the inside. I applied BGE to the flaps and folded them inward.

 For the inside of the cover I cut silver and peacock patterned wrapping paper. Once again I very sparingly applied BGE to the diary and smoothed the paper over the glue in overlapping layers. I added the paper while the glue was very wet so that I had time for repositioning.

 I cut around the design on the peacock paper and used pinking shears on the edge of the silver paper. I covered each spine with a strip of silver paper then trimmed it close.

 The remaining gap I covered with washi tape. The hinge part of the binding tends to wrinkle and stress the paper so that it wears out easily. Washi tape better handles this constant bending.

 I used a dark green tape over the edge of the binding and a silver tape to cover the edges of the green tape and the foil paper.

 The journal was fully covered at this point and the magnetic strip still worked because I had used thin wrapping paper. However, I still wanted a focal point for the front.

 Because the journal was gifted with a stuffed Octopus I used that as my subject. I stamped and heat embossed an octopus onto vellum. I stamped it twice so that the design could continue onto the flap. I used BGE to attach the vellum then topped the edges with more silver washi tape.

Both the vellum and the thin wrapping paper went
onto the diary without a wrinkle. ScraPerfect
and the Best Glue Ever made this exceptional gift possible.

Supplies:
Wrapping Paper, Journal:Walmart
Embossed Foil Paper:TJMaxx
Octopus Stamp:Stampabilities
Ink:Color Box
Embossing Powder:WOW
Vellum:Close To My Heart
Washi Tape:Love My Tapes
Stuffed Octopus:Walmart

Scrap On!

~charity~

Circle of Hearts

This circle card has all the right stuff!
Multiple layers of paper, lace, flowers, stitching, glitter...
So much fun to create!!!

~ Circle of Hearts ~

For this card I framed the glitter, polka dot paper with pink and then a layer of heart punched vellum. Vellum is easiest to cut when layered over another sheet of paper. This reduces it's tendency to buckle.

Supplies:

Paper:Craftsmith

Vellum:American Crafts

Trim:Webster's Pages

Stencil:Momenta

Modeling Paste:Liquitex

Flowers:Prima

Punch #905:Kreaxions

Scrap On!

~charity~