Mod Podge a Fabric Bowl and Banner

Make your own bowls and sturdy banners out of fabric with the help of Mod Podge®.  Today, I am sharing my project which I made as part of the Designer Crafts Connection (DCC) Blog Hop, where we are honoring Mod Podge's 50 Years!  We are all celebrating this product and the company for its long-standing presence in the Arts and Crafts industry. Visit the Plaid site or more information regarding their wide range of products here.   ****Enter to win prizes, For Us and Canada only****

Did you know that Mod Podge® works with Fabrics?   Well, now you do.  I was excited to receive these products from Plaid®. the Stiffy® product was new to me, but very exciting as I had never tried it before.  I am already familiar with most of Plaid's products, and I have loved using ALL their Mod Podge® formulas over the years.

To make a fabric bowl here is what you need:

Fabric (mine is from Nancy's Notions)
"Stiffy®" Fabric Stiffener from Plaid®
Thread (optional)                                                            
Sewing machine, or Serger/Overlock (optional)

                                                                       Link to video

1.  Select a piece of fabric, cut into a square, taking into consideration the size of the bowl you would like.

2. Cut the fabric into a circle.  There are many ways to do this.  I chose to use the Fiskars® Fabric Circle cutter tool (from Nancy's Notions®).  You can achieve similar results by using any plate or circle template, a pencil and scissors.

3,  I chose to make a rolled hem edge around the circle with myAmerican Home Serger (Nancy'sNotions®).  This is optional, and similar results can be achieved with the zig zag stitch on a regular sewing machine.  You may also just use pinking shears, or leave the edges as is.

4. Soak, or coat the fabric with the "Stiffy®".  Lay the circle over a form to allow it to harden into the shape desired.  Let dry over night.

To make the Banner here is what you need:
Pieces of denim
Pieces of print fabric
Pieces of a solid and contrasting colored fabric
Mod Podge® Decoupage Tracing Templates by Plaid®
Mod Podge® Matte by Plaid®
Mod Podge® Decoupage Brushes (Plaid®)
6 metal eyelets
Kitchen string

1. Place the scallop banner piece from the Mod Podge® Decoupage Tracing Templates.

2.  Place the letter Mod Podge® Decoupage Tracing Templates over the solid color fabric, and repeat.

3.  Measure rectangular pieces that will fit onto the denim pieces.

4.  Adhere the solid letters to the print pieces by brushing some Matte Mod Podge® to both fabrics, and stick together.

5.  Adhere the rectangles to each Denim Banner piece.

6.  Set two metal eyelets per banner.

7.  String the kitchen twine through the eyelets. Hang to decorate.

Remember to check out all of the beautiful and creative projects made by this most talented group.
Let us know what you will "Mod Podge"? Thank you so much for stopping by.

                                   

SNAP Conference 2017

Over a week ago I attended SNAP, a busy and fun conference for Bloggers  I had a great time seeing my old friends, making new ones, and learning new things.

Fellow AFCI Designer and SNAP attendee Cindy deRosier has such a great post on the conference here (http://www.cindyderosier.com/2017/04/snap-conference-2017-overview.html).  Check it out!

I arrived at SNAP one day before the event began, as I had a better choice of flights.  I was able to fly from Ottawa to Toronto, Canada with only a two-hour layover before my next flight to Salt Lake City.

My welcome at the Little America Hotel was pleasant as per last year, and I had a lovely room.  The next day the sun was shining after the night's rain, and I took a nice walk around the area.  I was so pleased to notice all the lovely flowers in the gardens, the green grass, and the trees full of leaves.  After all, Ottawa had just come out of winter, and we were all starving for that spring sunshine!

At noon I met up with fellow Cricut Bloggers/Brand Ambassadors to help with the booth's set up.  I got the noble task of unpacking and plugging all the shiny new Cricut machines.  Afterward,  I sewed, and sewed, and sewed hundreds of paper diamond banners for the backdrop of the booth (Thanks to Baby Lock and Nancy's Notions).  I still see those paper die cuts in my sleep!!!  LOL.

Later that evening, there was a Get Together of the Utah Sewing Bloggers at the Maker Space just outside Salt Lake City.   The event was organized by
Kimberly Parrett Coffin  from http://sweetredpoppy.com,  and sponsored by:

 Cricut™ and Canon were also there with fun Make n Takes.

There were refreshments, too many treats, gift bags, and prizes.  One of those prizes was won by yours truly!

I see my trip to SNAP as my second most expensive marketing investment after attending Creativation.  However, two years in a row,  I have personally found the return to be greater.  Each event is unique, and I cannot compare them adequately, AFCI events are more Trade and Industry concentrated, while SNAP is about Bloggers and Digital Content Creators.  SNAP is also, about Creative Entrepreneurs and Lifestyle Influencers (Cooking, Creating, Party Planning).

I attended "The Secrets of successful Brand Relationships" with Whitney Curtis of Home Depot, Cooper Monroe of Motherhood, and Karen Nolan of Lego.

Later I brushed up on my crochet skills with Bethany Dearden.  The next day I learned "How to Sew a Rag Quilt" with Nicole Schneider from Nancy's Notions.  I also won a New Serger from Baby Lock!
I enjoyed the first quilting class so much I attended the "T-shirts Quilts Made Easy" with Donna Parker also from Nancy's Notions.  On the last day I attended two more sewing classes: "Sewing Doll Clothes with Quick-Trace Templates", and "Turn Doodle Sketches Into Works of Art."

In between learning sessions I met with all of the sponsors as I visited their booths and participated in all their projects, or Make n Takes.

The sponsors of Snap included: Rust-Oleum, Spellbinders, Wagner, LEGO,Fresh Books, Darice, Canon, DecoArt, FloraCraft, Sherwin Williams, Cricut, Adobe, Nancy's Notions', Plaid, Polaroid, savings.com, Silhouette, Simplicity, Sizzix, The Motherhood, thermoweb, Kraft, Charmed, Cents of Style, DMC, Zaycon, adThrive, Michaels, Ryobi Nation, Expressions Vinyl, Get Away Today, Close tomyHeart, Oriental Trading, Swig, Amy Robinson, Timeless Treasures, Authentic Denim, OLFA, Wilmington Batiks, Ontrend, Lindt, Tailor, Clover.

I hope to share more projects that were influenced by all that  I learned while at SNAP in the future.  Stay tuned to my Blog and YouTube, for more.  Thanks for stopping by.
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Pinwheels for Spring with Rinea Foil

Rinea® paper-foil is a dream product to use when I want to make pinwheels.  These colourful spinners just make me feel like Spring! For this month's Designers Crafts Connection Blog hop I made a few spinning pinwheels.

"Rinea® paper-foil is a specialty craft paper imported from Germany. It is made up of a thin sheet of paper sandwiched between two layers of thin aluminum foil - the paper gives it sturdiness and stiffness while the foil gives it the shininess and the malleability to maintain the shape however you bend or fold it. It is more than just origami paper due to the specific thickness and the quality of the foil used, making it ideal for many interesting crafting ideas. The paper does not wrinkle like foil and does not cause painful cuts like thick, sharp kitchen foil can."

For more information go to  www.rinea.com

Ever since I have been a little girl, I have loved those bright shiny spinners.

Now, I can make them any size, and colour whenever I want.  I work with some terrific companies such as Rinea® paper-foil that enables me to play with excellent supplies.  In today's post, I am combining my love of shiny things and some of my favourite tools.

Rinea® paper-foil is so easy to work with and versatile.  Did you know that you can even die cut the Rinea® paper-foil with an electronic die cutting machine?

 I used my beloved Cricut and a blue sticky mat which is intended for thinner materials just like the Rinea® paper-foil.  It is a safe way to stick, cut, and peel your work.  Using some other types of mats might rip the foil, and nobody wants that!

So here we go. First, I went to the Cricut website where I opened the Cricut Design Space™, and searched for a pinwheel, Make It Now project.  Once I found what I wanted, I selected and clicked Make It Now.  All I had to do was stick my chosen foils by Rinea® onto the blue mat (which is less sticky than the green or lilac mats). I then followed the instructions as explained in the Cricut Design Space™ instructions.

I chose the blue with gold, and the Green with gold foils to do the project.  The Cricut cut the foil precisely into squares and then made cut lines to create the pins of each wheel.

With an awl, I pierced holes into each paper straw.

The next thing to do, was to fold each square by matching the corners where the holes are, and towards the center.

With a small brad, I secured each foil pinwheel to each straw.  So quick, so fun, and so so easy!  Try it, you just might love it.

Remember, check out all the project ideas from the other Designers at the Designer Crafts Connection. Also, visit  www.rinea.com for more information.

Thank you for stopping by, and stay crafty!

Spring Fever

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

                                                              Shutterstock Image

Spring is apparently here, and I have a fever! Although, in our area, we have doubts considering how cold it has been, and that we still have a lot of snow left on the ground.  Nonetheless, we are all itching to get outside and enjoy the longer days filled with the sunshine.

To get ready for Spring Time Events, and even early summer times.  We are cleaning, purging, sprucing up our homes.  We also are planning about how we want to relax and have fun during those long weekends.

Fortunately, with stores like Dollar Tree, it is more affordable to pull off our outside shenanigans.  And, if you have a US address then you can even shop online!

If I could order things from the Dollar tree, to have delivered to my home to help me with all our plans and prepping, here is a sampling of what I would get.

Pink Plastic Flamingos at DollarTree.com Pink Flamingoes by the case!  I did say I have a Spring Fever!  Really!  We would certainly be the talk of the neighborhood if we planted those pink birds out on our front yard.  Ok, maybe only temporarily like to announce a garage sale or celebrate something.  But, how fun would that be?

For the kiddos, it would be great to order, EZBreezy Licensed Character Kites at DollarTree.com They can have fun for cheap, and the parents can use the extra change for....


Royal Norfolk Paisley Print Stoneware Plates at DollarTree.com These are just a few of my fun ideas I came up with.  Please share your own Spring Fever ideas in the comments below.

In an upcoming video, I will be sharing a tour of my Craft Room/Studio.  But first I have to clean!

Shutterstock Image

Creating Home Decor with Cricut

Today I am sharing with you how you too can make some fabulous items to decorate your home, with the help of the Cricut Explore Air™ 2  If I can learn to use all of the machine's capabilities, trust me, so can you!

The next DIY is an entirely original piece that I designed in the Cricut Design Space™, and Cricut Craft Room. I used some inexpensive supplies in addition to the Cricut Explore Air 2. Cricut     Glitter Vinyl,  and Cricut Transfer Tape. This glass plaque is a kitchen cutting board from a Dollar Store!  The sparkling gem border is also from the Dollar Store!

 I first went into Cricut Design Space™ to design my project playing around with fonts, some images, and spacing.  Because, I am cheap, I chose to See all the Free Projects in Cricut Design Space. I used the design I created in Design Space, and the library I still have in the Cricut Design Room .

 Are you confused yet?  You see, The New Design space is easier to use, and allows for more complex manipulations of your design.  In my case, once I had played around until I came up with the desired, and realized that the chosen font was not free (See all the Free Projects in Cricut Design Space ) I thought I might try again to find one I could get for free.  I tried replicating my Design in the Cricut Craft Room using a font that I liked, and already included in my library. ( I have been with Cricut for a long time, and I have an extensive library of images and text)

I chose to use some Glitter Vinyl.  It was my first time cutting into that material, and I was a bit nervous!  But rest assured it is just the same as any other material, except that it is so shiny!  The Glitter Vinyl from Cricut is of high quality, no glitter comes off, and the blade of the Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine cuts through it like butter.

Once the words made, I lay a piece of transfer tape over the Glitter Vinyl and burnished it with the handy Cricut Scraper tool.  Using the Cricut Transfer Tape makes aligning the letters so much easier onto the project.

Before applying the words to the glass cutting board, I chose to remove the four little clear rubber-like feet that were on the underside.  With some rubbing alcohol, I was able to remove the small bit of sticky goo that remained.

 I also chose to clean the entire glass with some rubbing alcohol.  I like to do so to ensure that there will be proper adhesion of the vinyl to the glass.

With the Cricut Transfer Tape, and the help of the Cricut Weeders Tool I got the cut words and all the beautiful letters safely off the cutting mat.

 I then lay the letters over the glass board, and applied some pressure with the Cricut scraper tool  over the Transfer Tape.  I removed the transfer paper carefully.

To make sure I aligned everything correctly, I had placed the glass cutting board onto a rotary cutting mat with a grid; this allowed me to make sure everything lined up just right.

As a final step, I chose to add some sparkling gem border I had been hoarding for some time.

To apply the already sticky backed border precisely onto the plaque I re-used the Transfer Tape to lift the flower border off the packaging and apply it to the glass board.

 This piece is intended for my Master Bathroom which is undergoing a remodel.  The bling on the plaque will match with some of the other accessories in the new room.

Thank you for viewing my latest project.  Come back soon to see how I learned to take digital images from the internet (Free and Legal) and turn them into vintage ephemera embellishments to use in my
Mixed Media and Art Journaling, all with the help of Cricut!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Make Mom a Pretty Organizer this Mother's Day

**Includes sponsored links

Today let's alter an organizer for mom that will make her smile every day.  As part of this month's Craft Lightning round, I am sharing my idea for making a Mother's Day gift that can be made in 15 minutes or less.

 By taking an inexpensive acrylic makeup organizer purchased at a Dollar Sore, some glittery decorative tape, and some faux gemstones I created this:

Making one of these is super easy and quick.  I recommend wiping down the sides of the organizer with some alcohol or to clean with soap and water.

 I do this just to make sure that the tape will adhere well to a clean surface.

Once the tape is burnished with just your finger, a spoon, or an old credit card, it is time to apply some sparkling gems.  The embellishments I used already had a sticky backing to them.  It may be best to add a little bit of glue.

Easy peasy!  Now, mom has a cute way to organize some beauty items on the vanity

 or some office supplies on her desk.

I hope that you enjoyed this quick how to and that you can make mom feel special this coming Mother's Day.

Thank you for stopping by, check out the other craft ideas, and come back soon!  Oh, and Stay Crafty!

**Sponsored links

 

How To Make a Thank You Card in No Time With Cricut™

 How do I make all the cards I make so quickly?  I use my NEW Cricut Explore Air 2, that's my secret.

Ever wanted to make something special for someone, like a card?  However, time is of the essence!  Cricut to the rescue.  With a Cricut Explore Air 2 and the Make it Now Project (found at www.cricut.com/design)  you too can make easy, beautiful, and fast projects to impress your friends.

I needed a Thank You Card to give to someone who had indeed come to my rescue in one of those moments where I questioned how did I get myself into this predicament if I am so organized?  Anyways, long story cut short. I had to be at two places at the same time!  My friend stepped in and filled in for me in one spot so I  could be on the other.

Being pressed for time with all the other events, and projects going on I wanted to say Thank You with a handmade card, as well as pay for my friend's gas for having bailed me out.  I had just received the Cricut Explore Air 2, and decided it was serendipity and chose to look up a Make It Now project and selected to make the following Thank You, Card.

My beautiful new Cricut Explore Air 2, just new out of its packaging, and ready to go.

It was so easy to make the card, thanks to Cricut Design Space, and the Make It Now option.  All I had to do was open my laptop, log in to my Cricut account on Cricut Design Space.

 Once I was in (it takes mere seconds), I chose to Create New Project and searched for a Thank You card.  There are many styles to choose from, and I picked the one you see here.

As the instructions suggest, it does take less than an hour to make this, except how much time it will take you to select the papers and colours you wish to use.  I have decision-making issues, lol.  Anyways, once I had picked out the colours I wanted, I just followed the instructions.  The rest was so easy peasy, really!  All I had to do was stick a piece of cardtosk onto a mat and insert into the Cricut, press the button, repeat, and then put the card together.

Inside

A tip I have for you is to use either a Xyron type of sticker maker that applies adhesive to the back of the words and letters.  Another option is to use a glue pen with a precision tip.  The letters are on the smaller side, and I find that using a glue stick, or double sided tape just creates a sticky mess.

Come back next week to see another project I have in mind.

Thank yo so much for stopping by, and remember to check out Cricut for more information.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.