Tile Coasters

I know I don't need any more new craft fair projects but I was reading on splitcoaststampers a discussion about them and decided I needed to try them. & when I try something, I end up making a bunch because I want to try different designs and then it's only worth it if I sell them & well...on it goes.

The main thing I learned is that there are tons of conflicting advice on the best way to make them. The consensus though is to use "tumbled" tiles from a home improvement store. These are the tiles that are porous and NOT glazed. I found ones that were 9 to a box so of course, I had to buy at least 4 boxes so I could have even sets of 4. I do recommend checking out each tile before buying though because they can be chipped or broken.

Next, I wiped off my tiles with a baby wipe front & back to get the dust off. Then I stamped the main images with Staz-on. Most of the tutorials say that if you use permanent inks or sharpies then you don't need to heat set the tiles to maintain the images. I'd probably heat set Staz-on before coloring with sharpies though just so the colors don't mix at all. I wanted to color mine with softer chalk ink so I did have to heat set. You can use regular chalks too with a Q-tip but I'd first put some Versamark on so the chalk stays better. I used a heat gun on mine after coloring with the chalk ink (most of the time I just used sponge daubers to color & then smudge with my finger to blend a little). I decided to be safe & went the extra step of baking the tiles in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I just put them right on the rack. Finally, I sprayed them with acrylic matte sealer to protect the images from fading etc.

These coaster sets used Stampin' Up!'s retired "Summer by the Sea", retired "Celtic Knots" & the current "A Tree For All Seasons" (how did I live without that set until just last winter??) I could even see using some of them in a tile backsplash too!

Tile Coasters

Pumpkin Poop with My Digital Studio

I needed something else for the fall festival I'm doing on Saturday & decided to make "Pumpkin Poop" for the first time. It's definitely not an original idea--you can see samples all over Splitcoaststampers (& that's where I got the poem). My take on it was to try my first project with My Digital Studio (Stampin' Up!'s new digital scrapbooking & card making program) to mass produce these puppies.

The "Eat, Drink & Be Scary" set is included in MDS--which is GREAT because I don't own it! I love that you can do some things with the program you can't with the real thing. For example, the "punches" can be resized so you can always mat them (like the curly label one here). Then, you always have a perfect bow. There isn't a Garden Green ribbon in "real life" either. Then, I didn't have to worry about the expense of using up all my brads either. One tip--give elements a drop shadow to add to the 3D illusion.

For the project itself, I was able to print out 10 of the white part on a piece of whisper white cardstock. Then I matted it with Garden Green cardstock folded over a cello bag of candy corn.

The only tricky thing is that MDS doesn't let you "divide" up a stamp yet to crop or color only part of it. However, because it does let you open an element in a different photo editting program, I was able to open the project  in Photoshop Elements to color only the pumpkin "Pumpkin Pie". In MDS, click "Export to jpg" under "Share Project". Then just find the jpg to open it in your photo editting program.

Pumpkin Poop with My Digital Studio

Shrink Plastic Halloween Earrings

Aren't these fun? The images are from the current SU! set "Batty For You" & the retired set "Bitty Boos." I made them with black shrink plastic (like Shrinky Dinks). I really like the black because I don't think it looks obvious that it's shrink plastic.

First, stamp the image (straight up & down--it's a slippery surface--you can sand it in a criss-cross pattern to prevent sliding if you don't have a steady hand). On black, I recommend Chalk Inks...they showed up much more vibrantly than Craft or pigment inks.

Then punch the image out (I used a 1 3/8" circle punch for the image & a 1/8" hole for the jump ring). Be very careful when punching because the ink can smear. Also, make sure you didn't get ink on your punch because then you could transfer it to the next image. Next, all you need is a heat tool to shrink them. I keep a paper piercer in the little hole to keep the plastic from blowing away when I'm trying to heat it. The finished size is about 1/2" in diameter--perfect for casual earrings.

Finally, just add jump rings & earring findings. Going to a Halloween party? Give the hostess a pair of  "The ghostess with the mostest" earrings :)

Shrink Plastic Halloween Earrings

Fall Festival Halloween Necklace

I've just been confirmed to participate in a Fall Festival at the Brambleton Town Center in Ashburn, VA on Oct. 10, 2-7 pm--so I thought I'd post a Halloween project I made for it (I've got it for sale in my Etsy store too). I usually do Christmas fairs so it was fun for me to make some Halloween items. Come visit me if you're in the area!!

I'd make some glazed mini-domino pendants with this same skeleton and found out that boys liked them so I decided to make some that were a little simpler and geared towards the tween set with the leather necklaces. I colored them with chalk inks and dabbed gently with my finger or a make-up sponge until the colors looked blended. Next, heat set the ink with a heat gun. I found if I did that before stamping the main image, the stamp doesn't slide and the image is crisper. So the main image was stamped with black Staz-On. I used a sharpie to color the sides black.

I invested in a Dremel hand drill and mini-vise that clamps onto my desk this summer so drilling a little hole near the top of the domino was a cinch. Then I used a jump ring to add the domino to the necklace. I also made a bunch of girly ones too--I'll post when I get better pics but here's one...an Irish Dancer:

Fall Festival Halloween Necklace

Custom Photo Pendant

I finally had someone ask me to make a photo pendant of her grandbaby. I was psyched to try out a black and white photo on an Othello game piece (the back of the piece is black). And how could you go wrong with such a beautiful picture? The photographer is Kelly Mihalcoe.

This was my first time working with a digital print so I had some new challenges. Just like other papers, it has to be sealed first before you add the epoxy resin on top. I tried Mod Podge but found that it yellows the picture a little. Next, I used Krylon's Preserve It! in Matte Finish. It's kind of funny making a picture printed on glossy paper look matte, but whatever, that's what I had on hand & the epoxy made it look glossy again. Make sure you spray the front AND the back of the paper to seal it. Finally, I added a rhinestone to her hair for the finishing touch.

Custom Photo Pendant

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Name Frame

I was asked to make a name frame for a little boy with an "Eric Carle"-themed bedroom. Hmmm. This is what I came up with:

SU's retired "Tart & Tangy" set was perfect for this. I punched holes through them to mimic the book. Then, the retired "Good Morning Sunshine" designer paper had this pear paper. I also used the coordinating pear stamp from the "Cheep Talk" set.

But the real challenge was how to make the caterpillar. Once I figured out how to achieve a similar look to the book, it was easy. I simply rubbed some craft spots across glossy paper (which came out looking like brushstrokes), then punched 1" circles out of each colored "stripe" on the paper. For the body I did a stripe of Old Olive & Summer Sun & a stripe of Garden Green & Night of Navy then alternated the circles. For the head, I made a stripe of Ruby Red with just a little Garden Green. The feet & antennae are horizontal punches in Close to Cocoa & Lavender Lace. For the eyes, I just punched holes in the red circle, then put a circle of Garden Green cardstock behind it. Then I drew around the eyes with Summer Sun marker (it just pushed the craft ink out of the way on the glossy surface). The frame, by the way is 12" x 5" & the Alpha Set for the name is Schoolbook Serif (I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get it nice & straight & Black Staz-On for a quick-drying crisp image).

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Name Frame

Mucha Resin Link Bracelet

I've expanded my jewelry-making to bracelets now. This is a link bracelet made with Alphonse Mucha images--I just love the art nouveau look! You can really use any images--your own photos or punched designer paper.

Since I bought these images as a digital collage sheet (from www.etsy.com --where I bought the bracelet blanks too, by the way), I had to print them on my computer, which required a step to seal them before adding resin. I used a Krylon spray specifically for protecting photos. After printing the images, spray both the front and the back of the paper, let it dry & then punch or cut them out.

They were already in a 3/4" circle size in pdf form but I needed them to be 11/16" to fit perfectly inside the link. I figured out I could re-size them by opening the pdf & then using the pdf photo tool to copy them onto the clipboard--IMPORTANT--make sure the "view" is more than 100% to maintain image quality--I put it on 150% just to be safe. Then I inserted the copy from the clipboard onto a blank 8 1/2" x 11" photo in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Nest, I resized the whole thing so the circles were 11/16" (by making the ruler visible). Then I saved it as a .tif so as to avoid any compression of the file. Next, I opened up Microsoft Publisher & inserted the tif onto a blank letter, resized the photo to letter size (this is to make sure it still prints to be the right size) & saved it as a pdf. I found that it still printed the best quality as a pdf rather than if I just printed it as a jpg--I'm sure other more computer savvy people can figure out their own way but if all you have is Microsoft Office & a non-professional photo-editing software, hopefully this will work for you too. Alot of these collage sheets are already sized for use on certain pieces (like scrabble tiles or dominos) but if you know how to resize, you can buy one size & re-use it!

Since I could not find a 11/16" circle punch to save my life, I simply had to cut the circles out. It was worth it though, because it's easier to add resin when the image fits nicely in the tray. So, the last step, of course, was to add my Colores Doming Resin--let it cure & viola--cute bracelet!

These five Mucha ladies represent the five months of my family's birthdays--so it can be a nice personal present. Below is a (little fuzzy) close-up of "April."

Mucha Resin Link Bracelet