Getting #Cre8time Girly... Last Minute Gift Idea Bloghop

Hello friends! Are you still crossing off all the names on your holiday gift list... you are in luck today. Welcome to the LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEAS Bloghop hosted by Einat Kessler. Hop along and get Cre8time ready to finish off your list with some ideas for fabulous handmade gifts. At the bottom of the post there is info on how you can link enter a grand prize of a $100 gift card - YAY!!!

I have many girls in my family, two sisters, four nieces, and I'm always on the hunt for fun handmade gifts I can give. I've recently been introduced to Etchall® Etching Créme!... and I am totally hooked! 

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy GIRLY project with you - one that holds a special place in my little GREENcrafting heart, too!

Supplies needed:

• Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit
• removable stencil letters {or traditional letter stencils}
• permanent marker
• adhesive vinyl {I used Cricut vinyl}
• contact paper
• glass compact
• xacto knife or swivel knife
• rubbing alcohol
• soft towel
• scissors
• plastic fork or craft stick
• timer

If you are like me, you probably are picking up little gifties as you find them throughout the year. I happened upon these fabulous mirrored compacts at Michael's and bought about a dozen of them for a couple bucks a piece. What I really love about them is that they have a beautiful jeweled bezel top on them. A great base to add a custom handmade touch... enter Etchall® Etching Créme!!!

If you aren't familiar with this product - Etchall® is a REUSABLE, easy to use etching créme that creates permanent etched designs on large or small areas of glass, mirror, ceramic, porcelain, marble and slate. No curing, drying required... it just takes 15 minutes! CLICK HERE to read more about this fantastic product. I don't know how I've went on this long never having etched. I have a whole box of glass items I've collected from around the house that I want to etch designs into for home decor and gift-giving throughout the year.

The preparation is the most time consuming part, but since I'm doing a several at once - the process goes quick and easy... and it's FUN! 

This is a fun and easy project that can be done in under an hour. After opening compact from packaging and removing protective film, I cleaned off the bezel surface with rubbing alcohol and dried completely with a soft cloth. Then I cut a small square of Cricut Vinyl to fit over center of compact.

Using pick tool from Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-ginner Kit, I peeled backing from vinyl square and centered onto compact, and burnished down with squeegee tool {also included in kit}- pressing out any air bubbles from center outward. I selected a letter for a monogram and pressed onto the vinyl. I traced the letter onto vinyl with permanent marker, removed stencil and connected lines to fill in gaps. 

Now I'm ready for the hardest part... the cutting! I can cut fine freehand with an Xacto knife, but if you have one of these swivel knives in your studio stash - this is the kind of project that the swivel tool is made for. The swivel blade makes cutting curves so easy. 

I placed my compact on a paper towel to steady it, then as I started to cut, I rotate the compact - NOT THE KNIFE - as I follow the blade along the outline. I find it easier to cut towards myself as apposed to away. 

**A TIP** I recommend doing a test run with contact paper to get a feel for how you are most comfortable cutting vinyl before your finished project. Also to make sure you applied enough pressure to cut through material {it doesn't take much - but it's definitely different than cutting paper}.

After all lines are cut, I used the pick tool to gently pick up the letter and remove to expose the letter shape for etching. I go back and re-burnish to make sure all cut edges are sealed down.

**ANOTHER TIP** I did a dry run of this using contact paper in place of vinyl first. Though it did work, the edge of the edging was not as crisp and sharp as when done using the vinyl. I think it's because the tackiness of the contact paper allowed a bit of etching créme bleed under the edge. The result was fine - but I wanted to see for myself if there really was a difference in vinyl -vs- contact paper... the answer is YES. It's worth it to invest in the vinyl for crisp, sharp edges. 

Before adding etching creme, I add sections of contact paper around vinyl square to fully cover - adding plenty of overlap - to protect from any etching creme drips. It's pretty thick like pudding, but one can never be too careful when making a special gift.

Using the back end of a plastic fork, I placed an even layer of Etchall® Etching Creme to the exposed letter and set my timer for 15 minutes. The leftover creme on applicator goes back in the bottle. This little bottle of créme can be used over and over for loads of projects!!

With the etching créme evenly applied, I set the timer for 15 minutes and wait for the magic to happen.

TIMES UP!!!

With the back of my applicator, I gently scrape away the etching créme and it goes back into the bottle for reuse later. Now the IMPORTANT PART... LEAVE the VINYL and protective contact paper in place and completely wash away any remaining etching créme with water. You don't want to accidentally get any etching smears or fingerprints on the rest of the piece. Rinse under water and rub surface with your finger to ensure all is removed, then dry with paper towel. 

Now it's time for the REVEAL!! Gently peel back the contact paper and the vinyl letter stencil so you can reuse again {I place mine on a sheet of salvaged sticker backing sheet}. I love how the monogrammed letter has added dimension since this bezel is not only glass... it's also mirrored. 

This gift is done and ready for giving paired with a couple other girly gifts - a lip gloss and some bling! The compact was pretty enough by itself... but with the addition of a custom monogram - it's now so much more special and looks so expensive. I can't believe I did it myself. Even my husband was impressed!

Ready for some more last minute gift ideas??! Please hop along at each of the links below and be sure to take a moment to leave each artist a comment and some blog-love.

Einat Kessler {our Hostess} -- Perpetual Calendar 

Ola Khomenok -- Mini Album - Wallet  

Patti Hodder -- Old Fashioned Ornaments 

Kathy Clement -- Pop-Up Gift Card Holders

Alexandra Morein -- Interactive Flip Book 

Sandy Trefger  -- Mini Album Gift Card Holder 

Gloria Stengel -- Altered Notepads/Giftcard

Pam Bray -- Flower Packet Gift Card

Einat Alagem -- Shabby Chic Frame 

Keren Tamir -- DIY Christmas Ornaments  

Terry Ricioli -- Leather Leaf Earrings 

Katelyn Grosart -- Chocolate Gift Box  

Susan M. Brown {sbartist} -- Etched Monogram Compacts

Steph Ackerman -- Ornaments

Eileen Hull -- Sizzix Twist and Style Gift Tag

Rita Barakat -- Mixed Media Altered Items

Mahe Zehra -- Vintage Dictionary Art

You can enter to win some amazing holiday blog candy... a $100 Visa Gift Card! Please enter following the Rafflecopter instructions below. *The winner of the $100 Visa gift card will be announced on einatkessler.com on Sunday, Dec 25th. Good LUCK!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks for dropping by and I'd love to hear what your favorite last minute gift ideas are. Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and I'm off to Chicago for hopefully a white Christmas! xo Sb

** This is a sponsored post. Etchall® has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

All that #Cre8time Sparkles and Shines... with Rinea® Foils and Designer Crafts Connection

Hello everyone! Today the Designer Crafts Connection takes on a new challenge featuring something full of glittery goodness and is a paper... Rinea® Foils by GlobalCrafting. This paper has made my paper folding dreams take on a whole new shiny dimension!!!

One of my favorite things is to make dimensional ornaments and whimsies from folded paper. With all the gorgeous variety of papers available these days it is an obsession to use up every leftover strip and scrap. Well there is a new SPARK-ling paper that is what I have been dreaming of... Rinea® Foils!!! 

The common problem with Origami and Kusadama folding is that with more intricate shapes, the paper becomes very hard to manipulate due to it's thickness {or lack thereof}. Rinea® Foil solves this issue while providing a metallic {solid or textured} finish in a variety of colors that lends itself to folding and holds it's shape {which is important when working with complex folds}.

For this challenge, Rinea® Foils by GlobalCrafting provided each of the Designer Craft Connection designers with product to use in our creations. You want to pop over to the beginning of the hop HERE because of course, there is a chance for you via Rafflecopter to win some of this gorgeous Rinea® Foil paper!!! 

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 foil can. 

The paper is as popular in Germany and parts of Europe as construction paper is in the US. In Germany it is known as Alu-Bastlefolie which means Aluminum Handicraft Foil Paper. It is very difficult to find this paper in the US and those that want it have to import it from Germany. Our goal is to introduce you to unique and interesting crafting ideas popular in other parts of the world made possible only using this paper and, at the same time, make it easily available in the U.S. The paper comes in many interesting colors with shiny, matte, and embossed surfaces giving you lots of options to play with and combine.

I love Origami, Kusadama and other styles of paperfolding... and have loads of books with fabulous patterns. For my project I have modified a pattern that is called "the Ellington" from the book, The Origami Handbook by Rick Beech... which ends with three diamonds and wraps around to make a lovely napkin ring. Which with Thanksgiving coming up next week... this pattern paired with the Rinea® Foils will make each tablesetting simply stunning!

To make a full bangle, I will need three completed folded sections to fit my wrist. Easy-Peasy!!

I find it easier to cut all of my papers first, then work on one stage of fold on all pieces, then moving on to the next series of steps {just my preference}. Paper folding is very relaxing and methodical... and a lot of repeating of the same steps. In this case repeated along until the strips are completely filled with folded diamonds.

For those of you who fancied gumwrapper and teabag folding patterns, you would love using the Rinea® Foils. Look how gorgeous the pattern even is on the back side!!! This would make a wonderful border for a card or accenting a home decor project. Not to mention folded boxes, punches or die-cut shapes! The crafty-stash has a whole new universe of possibility... and this paper is kid-friendly, too!

This is the resulting top edge of one section. The instructions were to stop at three diamonds, though I continued to the edge of the strips, giving me five - with a small bit of overlap.

One 3/16" glue dot is all it needs to hold together. Perfectly paired with Rinea® Foil - I used three glue dots in total. These amazing dots make papercrafting quick and hands-free!

After having three sections completed, I fold back one end to accept the other end to naturally continue the folded pattern in one long strip. 

With one glue dot, I tuck one end over the other as the folded pattern naturally repeats uniting three folded sections into a completed bangle.

I have some pink resin bangles with matching necklace that my new folded bangle will fit right in to the ensemble. Even though this is held together with just three {3} glue dots... my mind is racing with ideas that I had put on hold because papers were limiting or challenging for the folding patterns I want to create. 

The star embossed pattern into the Rinea® foil is so lovely. The resulting diamonds when complete are approximately 1" in size. This unique foil paper gives you a FINISHED product that is STUNNING. My bangle is ready-to-wear as is!!! But I will go back with a craft glue and a toothpick to secure all the loose edges underneath so that is a bit more durable when wearing. I may even go back later line the inside with a strip of satin ribbon.

A perfect matching

Cre8time Bangle!

This is only the beginning! I love wearing a variety sizes and textured bangles... and my new pink Rinea® foil creation makes a statement! Oh the possibilities and I look forward to trying my patience at trying some of my favorite folds working smaller to create earrings and other fun paper jewels.

CLICK HERE to jump over to the beginning of the Rinea® Foils by GlobalCrafting Bloghop at the Designer Crafts Connection blog and find more SPARK-ling inspiration and projects using this gorgeous foil paper!

You can find more information

and ideas using Rinea® Foils

at their website

www.globalcrafting.com

Find loads of folding ideas using Rinea Foil on Pinterest

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Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you are inspired to run out to the library, get some books and try out this amazing paper to fold up something beautiful! Sb :)

** This is a sponsored post. GlobalCrafting has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

Catching #Cre8time Fireflies... the Amazing Mold Putty Scavenger Hunt with Designer Crafts Connection

Hello everyone! Today the Designer Crafts Connection takes on a new challenge featuring one of my favorite things... Amazing Mold Putty. Amazing Casting Products has sponsored our challenge this month with the Amazing Mold Putty Scavenger Hunt.

For this challenge, Amazing Casting Products provided each of the Designer Craft Connection designers with Amazing Mold Putty and Amazing Clear Cast Resin. You want to pop over to the beginning of the hop HERE because you can win what you see in the photo above... an artist's dream PRIZE!!! An Amazing Clear Cast Resin and a 3lb. kit of Amazing Mold Putty {which is 1 1/2 lbs of each part of this magical goodness}.

How do I begin... what to mold? E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!! Amazing Mold Putty is hands down my favorite tool in my crafty stash. It's quite addictive and over the years, I have used it in most every creation... cards, jewelry, food projects and dimensional whimsies! I have so many objects to mold I have a dedicated box to hold all the items. This is just what I molded with a handful of each part of the AMAZING yellow stuff! 13 molds!!! 

Paired with resin and the coloring of my choice... my imagination comes to life in 3D. Just like the wonderful pre-packaged, ready-to-alter resin pieces you can buy -- BUT -- even BETTER because it's totally custom and unique to me!

I have loads of things in a box of things to mold for arting and I never know what they will evolve into... I let them take on a life of their own. This project captured a rare specimen – the 'genuine angel firefly'.

This mini assemblage combines painty goodness with monoprints {created on my Gel Press® Printing Plate from last month's challenge}, and dimension combining a wooden canvas frame, a wooden spool, some bits and baubles and also a couple hand cast resin pieces.

Curiouser and curiouser... my muse came to play with an assortment of strips of words and phrases found in a paper art kit... that spell out 'genuine boy', 'angel' and 'firefly'. This interesting combination of words sent me off on a mission to create a 3D imaginary specimen inspired by some beetle and bug stamps.

Last month for the Gel Press Challenge, I made a bunch of monoprinted papers on book pages using my fabulous favorite punchinella from Gauche Alchemy. This paper is Cracked Pistachio and Blue Lagoon Ranger Distress Paint - just two pulls and this one is good enough for me!!! I love this color combination and how the text peeks through. It's the perfect base for my metallic resin assemblage.

Now onto the good stuff! Using Amazing Mold Putty, I made a mold of a gold leaf pendant in my jewelry box to serve as wings for this cool vintage handle I purchased online that looks like a bug body to me. I prepared my Amazing Clear Cast Resin mixed with some Alumilite Metallic Gold powder. Before pouring I brushed the molds with the same gold and also Alumilite Silver Metallic powder. When cured, the pieces look like real metal... but so lightweight and ready for use in any creative project. It's so AMAZING!!!

Before trimming my paper to wrap mini canvas, I traced around my resin piece with a pencil to lightly mark where I want to stamp the top and bottom of a beetle. I stamped with black pigment ink just the head and antennae of the beetle, then embossed with some black glittery embossing powder. TA-DA!!

You don't have to use the entire stamp the way it comes... you can just use a portion. I'm so happy I was able to work this out in my crazy mind without having to fussy cut this beetle. Now with the beetle parts in place, I can trim and mount this beauty to the mini canvas and glue inside the backwards facing frame. It looked more interesting that way.

I gave the resin pieces a rubbing with some dark pewter and silver Rub 'n Buff® and also some layers of black pigment pen brushed into crevices to bring out the details, then glue them in place forming my creature. 

I finished off the corners with some metal spider charms with loops clipped off, my word phrase assembled on a torn scrap of book page, and a wooden spool spritzed black wrapped with a scrap of silver thread and monoprinted book paper. 

I've caught my Cre8time firefly!

This may be small - only about 4" x 5", but this just makes me smile so big! I'm so happy to be able to bring a couple of hoarded vintage pieces to life in a creative way.

CLICK HERE to jump over to the beginning of the Amazing Casting Products Bloghop at the Designer Crafts Connection blog and find more AMAZING inspiration and projects using Amazing Casting Products!

To learn more about
Amazing Casting Products

visit www.moldputty.com/

For even more ideas follow @AmazingCasting Instagram Page!

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Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you are inspired to mold something for your arting! Sb :)

** This is a sponsored post. Alumilite Corp. has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

#Steampunk Owly's #Cre8time Secret... Starting from the Same Place #artistcollab

Hello Friends! Thanks for popping over today as you have arrived at a very special web art event... an ARTIST COLLABORATIVE project hosted by Tina Walker with over 60 artists participating from around the world. PLEASE CLICK HERE to jump over to Tina Walker's blog who is our hostess and organizer of this Cre8time adventure and see her two AMAZING creations... and also give her some love for dreaming up these fun events!

This is the contents of my bubble envy of crafty goodness from Tina. Everyone got the same assortment to use with the only stipulation that we use it all.

Amazing Casting Products provided supplies needed to produce hundreds of molded resin cast pieces to be made for each player {all handmade} and Beacon Adhesives supplied Fabric Tac adhesive.

This collaboration project took lots time and Cre8time love donated by countless volunteers who gathered, prepared and sent in goodies to Tina who undertook the effort of dividing up and shipping care packages to each artist... and don't forget all of the technical coordination for getting everyone linked up for viewing today.

In the effort of full honesty... this collaborative has been months in the making and my piece just began in the last 12 hours as I wasn't sure what my muse wanted to make and for the past several days I have been lending my techy-ness to the group in helping everyone sync up online today. 

So you can say this project is "freshly hatched" LOL!

I grabbed 3 bottles of acrylic that were within reach one this purple distress paint. The other two were Paper Artsy - and aged gold and an espresso brown color. So I set off painting items purple.

Using the Stencil Girl Stencil... I started out applying purple with the dauber top, then I ended up smudging it out with a dry paintbrush. The purple "POPPED" so nicely on the swatch of green upholstery fabric.

I layered purple, gold and espresso brown paints on a flower accent and the resin and chipboard pieces building up a purple metallic patina finish. At this point there's more paint on my hands than the items I'm painting... it's a GOOD THING! 

I also stenciled another painted scrap of material and a word flash card that had "decorate". I think I decorated it proper.

I use the Beacon Fabri-Tac to start assembling my critter's wonky eyes. I love these little tubes with a precision application tip... it made getting precise application easy without having to use toothpicks to apply from the larger bottle.

Here's the final layered eyes. Love them!! I included a circle of fabric to help the flower accent pop in the center of the smaller gear.

Now with all the pieces painted and assembled... I freehand cut shapes to make the body and features. No pattern and NO SEWING today. And I'm about an hour into project creation.

I don't know what this fabric is but it's a thick and felt like. I especially love the coloring. I folded in half and cut into two pieces. Then I shaped them to have pointy ears making a front and back.

I used these electronic bits to act as stitching for my bird's belly by pressing ends through the layers of fabric and folded over on the inside. I did glue fabric to body also for added stability. I love the interesting detail these create!!!

After gluing the ears and top of head, I folded ends over and used remaining stenciled fabric to close in the bottom and act as a base. I didn't even trim this - it just happened to fit!

I added other pieces to accent ears and glued on the eyes. I love how fast the Fabri-Tac sets up. I have an OWL!!

On the backside, my owl has a backpack from his mountain climbing journey to Pike's Peak... see his ropes. I couldn't bring myself to cut this little piece of history so I made some kitschy accessories layering the remaining electronic bits and my painted word strip. I have used everything and the only a few trimmed scraps of felt and green fabric remain along with the resin dragonfly. OH YEAH... I just remembered, I was going to cut the wings off and use them for feet. Well, since it didn't get painted that will have to wait until my next play day. 

I'm totally in LOVE with my wonky steampunk owl... and from start to complete in under two hours. 

So what is OWLy's Cre8time Secret??!

He's now the official secret hiding place to stash my flask - LOL!! How fun is that! I was going to fill with polyfill beads, though I can't remember where I stashed it. I think this was serendipitous that the flask happened to be a perfect fit nestled inside my quirky birds belly.

To visit all the other stops of

"Artist Weaving Collaborative"...

check out the squares below.

Make sure to stop at Amazing Casting Products... 
there's a giveaway for some of their amazing stuff!!!

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are inspired to go grab some random bits and see what you can create! Have a creative day :) Sb

An InLinkz Link-up