Coupon Holder – Outback Style

Today's post is another of my favorite projects for March is National Craft Month!  This first appeared as a Cindi's Simple Solutions project for When Creativity Knocks. This custom made coupon holder was created with a bit of Australian style in mind.    When visiting San Francisco with Ana Araujo, we visited Britex Fabrics – It was a world of inspiration and I was overwhelmed at all the fabric choices.  I just couldn’t resist purchasing some of their faux alligator material – it has a fabulous alligator texture and a beautiful, subtle gold luster over the green.    I have a few more projects in mind for this fabric, but this is the first creation!  As with many of my projects, it also has a touch of “repurposing.”  An old fabric napkin is used as the lining.   I am lucky enough to have a few Echidna quills I received from a fellow designer who lives in Australia as part of a circle journal project several years ago.  I’ve used one as a finishing touch on the front of this “Outback Style” coupon holder. 

Materials: 

• Faux alligator fabric – Britex Fabrics 
• Decorative ribbon trim – Britex Fabrics 
• Fabric napkin in coordinating color
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Scissors 
• Small button with shank (Blumenthal Lansing)
• Australian Echidna Quill 

Instructions:

• Measure and cut faux alligator fabric to  11 1/2” x 7 1/2”.
• Place alligator rectangle onto fabric napkin, with top edge on stitched edge of napkin.  Trace and cut napkin.
• Place napkin rectangle onto back side of faux alligator and machine stitch approximately ¼” from all edges around all sides.
• Measure and cut two pieces of decorative ribbon trim, approximately 7” long – one to fit along bottom edge of flap and one to fit along top inside edge of pocket.  
• Determine placement of quill or other decorative embellishment.  Cut two small holes approximately ¼” apart, measure over approximately 1 ½” and cut 2 small holes approximately ¼” apart. 
• Place ribbon with holes onto top bottom edge of flap, stitch to first set of holes on left.  Stitch from right edge to 2^nd set of holes (leave space between holes unstitched). 
• Stitch 2^nd piece of trim along bottom edge of leather.  
• Fold bottom edge up 3“ and stitch sides to close.  
• Use scissors to randomly cut along edges of faux leather to create a ragged edge.  
• Cut strip of faux alligator 6 ½” x ¾”.  Use scissors to randomly cut along edges of strip. 
• Place one edge on back of pouch approximately 1”from top edge and hand stitch in place using overlapping X stitch. 
• Bring strip over flap and push beneath ribbon strip on edge. 
• Bring strip down and over bottom edge up to back of pouch.  Mark place where strip ends for button placement. 
• Hand stitch button in place.
• Carefully cut slit in faux alligator strip for button to pass through to hold pouch shut.
• Pass quill through first hole, then out through 2^nd hold, across front and repeat on right side. 
• Add coupons!   To keep organized, create custom tabs for your coupon categories using index cards or card stock.  Jazz them up a bit with patterned paper to coordinate with your coupon holder fabric.  

"Wings" Mixed-Media Pendant & Ring

Sharing another project as part of National Craft Month!  Beautiful image sheets I received from B-Muse inspired this matching pendent and ring set I originally designed for Rubber Road Adventures ezine (http://rubberroadadventures.ning.com/page/wings-pendant-and-ring) .  As I love to “mix things up a bit” as often as possible, I combined portions of images from separate sheets to come up with the unique image on the pendent.   Then I let my mad scientist muse loose to dabble with clay, paints, beads, epoxy.....

Supplies:

B-Muse Butterfly Wings – 2 CS-BW2 image sheet and

Vintage Cat Ads – CS-VCA image sheet 

White Makin’s Clay ®

 and Makin's Clay ® Cutters, square and rectangle 

Krylon Silver Metallic spray paint

JudiKins Soleil Sunlight Curing Epoxy 

Silver findings (unknown brands)

Elmer’s Craft Bond Adhesive 

Darice black glass bugle beads 

We R Memory Keepers Cropodile Punch 

Westcott Titanium Bonded Non-Stick Scissors

Instructions

• Roll out white Makin’s Clay ® to approximately 1/8” thickness.  Use clay cutters to cut one 1 ½” square, and one 1” long rectangle (or cut to appropriate sizes to fit your ring blank, desired pendent size, etc.) Let dry (12-24 hours).  
• Place dry Makin’s Clay ® square and rectangle onto newspaper or scrap paper in well ventilated area.  Spray with Krylon Silver Metallic paint.  Let dry. 
• Select cat image from Vintage Cat Ads sheet and carefully cut out.  Select wings from Butterfly Wings sheet and cut out 3 wings.   Arrange cat and wings as desired on silver clay square and single side of wings onto rectangular silver clay square.  Use a small amount of Elmer’s Craft Bond adhesive to mount.  
• Use adhesive to mount rectangular piece in ring blank.  
• Use adhesive to mount a row of black bugle beads around inside edges of ring and outside top edges of pendent.  Let dry. 
• Arrange ring and pendent on flat surface in sunlight. (Tip:  use a paper or Styrofoam cup with a hole cut in the bottom for the ring – slip the back of the ring through the hole and it will lie flat for the next step).  Fill remaining inside area of ring with Sunlight Curing Epoxy.  Fill area inside bead edge on pendant with Sunlight Curing Epoxy.  Any bubbles can be popped using a pin before epoxy is dry.  Let dry according to manufacturer directions.  
• Use Cropodile punch to punch hole in top of pendent.  Add jewelry findings. 

Tuesday Creativity with Cindi's Simple Solutions & WCK!

It's Tuesday!  Time for the latest edition of the WCK Creative Journal newsletter full of inspiration for you - this week I've shared two Simple Solutions projects -

Faux mulberry paper and rubber stamping with Rit Liquid Dye - find it here

A bonus project features Ana Araujo's I Heart Crafts tattoo pattern - a simple shrink plastic magnet (and introducing the adorable Henry Quinn King - my cousin's new son!)

My book review for this week is Making Connections by Susan Lenart Kazmer - this book is full of some truly UNIQUE artwork!

Ana Araujo shares another fun project made with her tattoo pattern in Ana's Creative Chaos 

And our episode this week is the premiere episode of Creative Nostalgia with Laura Bray!   Laura shares her adorable appliance cozies!

And for a bit more creativity - My artwork is again featured on the Rit Liquid Dye site - this time it's St. Patrick's Day inspired projects.

March is National Craft Month - and I am just exploding with creative ideas I want to share!

Faux "Delft" Technique

As National Craft Month marches on, I am inspired to share many of my favorite techniques and projects with everyone! 
I love old china dishes – especially anything blue and white.   I’m drawn to the beautiful Delft blue patterns found on a variety of pieces ranging from tiles to teacups and have amassed quite a collection over the years.  This was my inspiration for the creation of this “Faux Delft” technique I discovered last year and shared as one of Cindi's Simple Solutions on the When Creativity Knocks site. 

To learn more about the history of Delft Blue china visit: http://www.holland.nl/uk/holland/sights/delftblue-history.html

My version is quite simple – yet it gives you the feeling of Delft china.   It requires just a few products.

White Makin’s Clay®, a blue inkpad (I prefer chalk as they give a softer effect, more like true Delft), a rubber stamp, and EarthSafe Finishes Marine Varnish.  

A Sizzix Scoreboards Teacup Die designed by Eileen Hull serves as the base for my Delft technique project – but it would work on clay sheets, clay mounted onto wood or any other surface.  Makin’s Clay® air dries so you don’t have to worry about discoloration in the baking process, and it is flexible when dry so you could make up sheets of this faux Delft and then mount it to any surface, even a curved surface.

I began by rolling out a small amount of White Makin’s Clay® using the Makin’s Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine set on #5 (very thin).

I then placed the die cut teacup onto the clay sheet and cut around it with an X-Acto craft knife.  A small amount of Elmer's Craft Bond Adhesive tacky glue was placed over the teacup and the clay cut outs were placed onto the mattboard pieces while wet.  The edges were gently smoothed by hand. The stamp was then inked with deep blue chalk ink and stamped onto the wet clay.  The clay was allowed to dry according to manufacturer instructions (a few hours when used this thin), and the teacup die was assembled according to the manufacturer instructions. 

Here’s an original piece of Delft which shows how it is often “blurred” yet still beautiful!

The “cup” and “saucer” portions were varnished with EarthSafe Finishes Marine Varnish using a soft paintbrush.  The varnish caused the chalk ink to “blur” slightly, which resulted in an effect very similar to real Delft china.  

A plastic lunch bag was filled with potting soil and the top portion approximately ½”  above the soil was cut off.  A

flowering annual plant was placed into the bag of soil, which was then placed into the teacup.  

A bit of wide satin blue ribbon tied to the handle of the cup front, and the tag stamped with “We Love You” finished off this special "card" which would be great for Mother's Day, a birthday, to say thank you to a special friend, or to share get well wishes.

Hummingbird Feeder

Have you heard? March is National Craft Month!  Many of the talented artists who are part of the Designer Craft Blog Connection want to share their creative projects with you.  Some are even offering give away opportunities so don't miss your chance for creative inspiration and prizes!  Follow the link on the right to see what each of them is sharing as we add new projects for this first Monday in March! 


Among the reasons I love spring so much are the song of spring peeper frogs in the woods behind our home, the pops of brightly colored daffodils, crocuses, and black raspberry ice cream colored Redbud trees here in NC,  and the reappearance of my tiny feathered friends - HUMMINGBIRDS!


In this episode of When Creativity Knocks shot on site at Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA, Ana Araujo, Megan Araujo and I get get a bit silly as I share a way to repurpose water bottles with a few simple supplies and create a colorful hummingbird reader for your yard.  Having a clean hummingbird feeder is very important to the health of the birds, so this project is designed so the bottles themselves can be removed when they become dirty, making it easy to add a new clean bottle to feed our buzzing feathered friends.    


WCK even has affordable kits available if you decide you'll give this project a try and watch these little flying jewels of nature flock to your yard for refreshment!

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/Hummingbird-Feeder

Polished "Blarney" Stone Technique

Polished Stone (or as I call it the  Polished "Blarney Stone") Technique

I couldn’t resist a little play on words with this one – sorry!  Must be the Irish in me coming to the surface as St. Patrick's Day approaches!   “Blarney” or not – polished stone background paper is a beautiful, custom made addition to your paper crafting projects.   This simple layout I created when I first began scrapbooking explains why our family loves this Irish lullaby.  The title block and stamped & embossed pieces on the bottom all have polished stone backgrounds created using this simple technique.   They were also edged with gold leafing pen and stamped and embossed in gold. 

While it may not be a new technique, it's still a great effect and worth sharing as we celebrate March is National Craft Month!  Here is what I find to be the easiest way to create this effect. 

Cut a piece of glossy cardstock to desired size.  It is best to work with smaller, half or quarter sheet sections than to try to do a whole sheet at once.  Take a Krylon Leafing Pen (gold, silver, copper, etc.) and gently draw crooked lines randomly across the paper.  This will start to create your “veins” in the “marble”.  Next, wet a cotton ball with alcohol and add 3 drops of dye based ink pad refill ink onto a cotton ball.  It is best to use 2 shades, with 2 drops of light shade and one of a darker color.   Use the cotton ball to “dab” all over the cardstock repeatedly.  The alcohol causes the ink to run and bleed together, and causes your metallic “veining” to dissolve somewhat and add shimmering touches to your finished marble.