Make a #Cre8time Quick Change... with Designer Crafts Connection and Expo International Inc.

Hello Friends! Today is a fabulous day full of glitter and gold! I am part of a new Designer Crafts Connection Bloghop challenge and the designers are creating with assortment of terrific Trims, Buttons and MORE from Expo International.

How do you take something from day to night??! You bling it up! For my Cre8time project today I have transformed a zipper makeup pouch from the Dollar Tree into a beautiful clutch to accompany a little "RED" Dress. 

Expo International sent me a selection of items to create: Tuva Woven Beaded Trim in Red/Gold; a package of Carla Crosstitch Rose-Iron-on Patch Applique; and Tianna Beaded Pom-pom Trim Multi Colors {the latter I will be using for a real special holiday project - stay tuned}.

I reserve playing dress up for special occasions and as for accessories, I steer in the direction of less is more. I have this little red velvet halter dress that I scored on sale when shopping for a dress to wear to a formal event. Its funny how you find things when you aren't looking. I don't have anything else to finish this look... but today I will be more than halfway there! 

OMG - look at this TRIM!! It will go with my dress perfectly! The Tuva Woven Beaded Trim is about 1 1/2" wide and comes in 7 different colorations.

Starting with a plastic zipper makeup pouch from the Dollar Tree I transformed this into something stunning with just a few additional supplies from my stash: scissors; one sheet of Graphix Double Tack Mounting Film {a permanent double sided adhesive paper}; a few Marvy colored pens; and Diamond Glaze. 

The pouch was a bit longer than I liked so I turned it inside out, measured a few dots down from the top, then traced a line. I took this to the sewing machine to stitch one seam and trimmed away the excess. I could have used adhesive for this, but the sewing machine had this done in a quick minute {I didn't even change out the green thread in it}.

Enter the super fun and quick way to alter anything... PENS!

This plastic pouch is durable with a hot pink zipper enclosure... and SO WORTH $1. Sewing zippers is a bit tricky and is certainly something that I need to go back to school for someday. I used two pens to prep for the final transformation: a Marvy Liquid Gold pen to color the zipper pull and the teeth; and red Marvy Plume II brush pen to color the hot pink zipper fabric. I colored along the sides and bottom of the pouch with gold as these may be slightly visable after applying trim. I don't mind spending few extra minutes on these little extra details -- they make all the difference in the end result.

I gently rubbed the edge of the gold nib along the zipper teeth. To my delight and suprise... it's all gold when closed!

Now to add the trim! I cut a sheet of the self adhesive paper into 1 1/4" strips and applied to the backside of the trim. From the height I made the pouch, I will need four stripes to cover top to bottom. I like dry adhesives over wet for ribbons/trim. I could have also used my Xyron X sticker maker or stitch in place with sewing machine.

I aligned to the top of trim to the zipper edge, removed backing and wrapped along front, and bent to continue around to backside -- leaving only one exposed seam edge. Having adhesive on the back helps keep trim from fraying when trimming to size. 

I repeated applying three more lengths of trim and touched up the seam edges with dabs of Diamond Glaze to prevent fraying and to keep cut edges of bling in place.

FROM THIS...

TO THIS!!! 

What a transformation! Paired with my gold resin bangles and some gold earrings {nothing fancy, these are all regular day wear} all I need are some shoes. 

With summer approaching I'm sure I can find a cute pair of gold strappy heels to complete my look and I'm ready for the next weekend getaway with the hubs!

What would you transform
from day to night with
Expo International Trims?

CLICK HERE to POP over to the DCC BLOG for info on how you can enter to win a Treasure Trunk of Trims from Expo International! For more information on Expo International and products to dress up anything please visit website HERE.

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Thanks so much for visiting! CLICK HERE to pop over to the beginning of the Designer Crafts Connection "Expo International Terrific Trims" Bloghop and enjoy a treasure trove of inspiration. Sb :)

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

Going back in #Cre8time... Remember When Blog Hop

Hello Friends! Remember when we used to scrapbook with Mrs. Grossman stickers, cut photos into fun shapes, used paper punches and Stickled everything?! How about Basic Grey, Rusty Pickle and Daisy D's... I know these were my favorites. What paper or supplies do you still have stashed for a rainy day?

Today I am part of a fun bloghop dreamt up by my creative friend Betz Golden that you don't want to miss. Join me on a fun trip down Cre8time memory lane... featuring projects in which everyone was challenged to use something in our stash that is at least a decade old. EASY PEASY!!

REMEMBER WHEN chipboard shapes and MINI BOOKS were all the rage... and in all sorts of shapes and sizes! I love making mini-books... they are such a great way for me to squeeze in a little scrapbooking while having some fun creating. Today I'm sharing a greencrafted mini-album made from a repurposed pair of flip-flops using some of my old hoarded summer theme scrapbook papers like SandyLion, American Traditional Designs, Paper Adventures, and BoBunny. 

Back in the day, there wasn't a ready made embellishment for everything under the sun like there is now... we used stickers and punches and stamps to make our own. My album cover is stamped and painted with Making Memories and Creative Imaginations Foam Stamps and painted with Making Memories acrylic paints. I had to do a little maintenance on my paints to my surprise most were not completely dried out and I've had them since 2005.

I happily snap photos at every opportunity... so I have loads of vacation photos needing a proper home. The flip flop shape goes great with the travel theme. This pair I used are standard size, and even with the odd shaped pages, there is plenty of room to place photos, add pockets, tags and pull-outs. I've filled this sun-kissed mini album with my favorite pix from my last trip to Jamaica.

I've broken out my stash of EK Success Paper Shaper punches and my Quickutz Dies that were happy to see the light of day -- and combined them with bright and colorful ribbon, buttons, and topped off with Heidi Swapp silk flowers, "original" Prima Flowers and an assortment of tropical colored shaped brads. I even cut apart a sheet of printed vellum with summer phrases to use for journaling.

Remember that Fiskars tool that makes your paper corrogated??! How about that Dymo label maker, or the Xyron 2 and 4 inch adhesive runners {I don't think I can get refills for these anymore}.

I added dimension/texture on an accordion pull-out nestled amongst punched flowers and Quickutz die-cut embellishments. I love making my own embellishments with my punches and die-cuts -- using up all my leftover scraps and off-cuts. Everything is color coordinated and there's no leftovers to add to my never-ending scrap bin. 

What old goodies in your crafty stash will you use to capture your memories?

I have some blog candy to be won... an assortment of Making Memories "poolside" Jigsaw Alphabets - upper, lower and numbers that brand new in packaging from 2004. I found them stashed in the back of a drawer. To be entered in the drawing, please comment below what is your favorite "OLDER than 10 years" craft supply is and when you last used it?

For more blasts from the past inspiration, please visit the links below to continue on the hop. Please be sure to stop at each post and leave some blog love as there is blog candy to be won!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for visiting! I hope you are inspired to grab something buried in your crafty stash and make something fun ;)  Sb

#Cre8time in the Looking Glass... Marabu Creative Challenge with Designer Crafts Connection

Hello Friends! Have you ever painted on glass? Today I am part of a Designer Crafts Connection Bloghop challenge and the designers are creating with Porcelain paint from Marabu Creative.

For this challenge I was provided a starter set of Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint which has 6 colors including a paintbrush and four (4) Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pens (white and rose pink 0.8mm fineliner; and Sunshine Yellow and Reseda multi-purpose 1.2mm tip). I've never used glass or porcelain paints before and I'm excited to try them out on a dollar store framed mirror that I have waiting in the crafty stash for a transformation.

Marabu Porcelain is a waterbased porcelain paint has a wide color range that is also air-brushable (I'll have to dust mine off), is dishwasher safe without oven fixing after 72 hours of drying time and is saliva resistant. 

Porcelain is a medium viscosity and highly pigmented, water-based paint designed for glazed and unglazed ceramic. Porcelain can also be used on other surfaces such as Plexiglas, vinyl, and polypropylene. After 3 days Porcelain is dishwasher safe or can be baked in the oven at 320ºF for 30 minutes to make it dishwasher safe. How easy is this?!! The pens do need to be heat set, but for today's make... I don't need to worry about that.

It makes my Cre8time heart SO happy that Marabu Creative is a green company which embraces in it's philosphy, sustainability – out of responsibility. Almost all of Marabu Creative's current creative products are water-based.

The first thing I did was grab a piece of glass out an old frame and test out the colors and the mixability. The Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint colors are transparent when brushed out. If applied in a thick layer, looks opaque.

Even though the solid puddled areas look opaque, the color of the Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint remains transluscent. Ooh-LA-LA I love the rainbow puddle I made with these colors!

I am a stencil hoarder, so I grabbed a couple stencils that I have never used that are Catherine Scanlon designs to alter my framed mirror. I took apart the frame and cleaned the mirror glass to prepare it for the Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint.

Using blue painters tape, I tape

the stencil in place on the mirror.

Using the white 0.8mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pen, I traced the design of the stencil onto the glass being careful not to let too much paint pool up and seep under stencil.

I like the dimension created just from these simple white lines... but I continue on and plan on something with COLOR!

With the first design completely traced.

I am ready to add color!

I repeated the steps using the other stencil I selected -- this one having a floral design. I planned to reserve one square in the design, and as I was tracing I went over into this space. I was able to quickly remove my mistake by scraping dried paint away with the edge of a razor blade (please use blades with caution).

Following the lines from the pens, I begin to fill in the areas using the Marabu Porcelain paints and a paintbrush. This paint works best painting in thin layers, letting each layer dry before applying another layer. Some areas I left with thicker layers with brush strokes mainly because it dried quicker than I could spread it around the large areas.

After a base of color was painted in, I added a second layer overall. Then when dried, I went back and applied another layer using the yellow and green 1.2mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pens in a stipple pattern to add texture and dimension. This application built up the color and gave it a look of stained glass as the reflection in mirror glass amplified the dimension. 

When done with adding all the yellow and green, I went and outlined flowers with the rose pink 0.8mm, then went back and traced over the white 0.8mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter to add the lines back in. The white pen is opaque in comparison to the other three colors.

This step really brought the whole design

together, giving it a stained glass feel.

The paint dries pretty quickly and I gently placed the transformed glass back into the frame and my new art is ready to display!

This was so tricky to photograph -- but I love how it has been transformed and looks like stained glass and a bit Van Gogh! 

an ARTful Looking Glass...

These paints are different than any other paints I've ever worked with and will take a bit of practice to build up thin layers. I look forward to using these to customize other glass and ceramic pieces I have around the house and breaking out my airbrush.

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For more information on Marabu Creative or to where you can purchase these porcelain paint products please visit website HERE and find more projects and inspiration on the Marabu Creative Blog HERE.

What would you create
with these paints?

CLICK HERE to POP over to the DCC BLOG for info on how you can enter to win a Marabu Creative Prize Package February 22-27!

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Thanks so much for visiting! CLICK HERE to pop over to the beginning of the Designer Crafts Connection "Marabu Creative" Bloghop and enjoy more holiday decor inspiration.   Sb :)

** This is a sponsored post. Marabu Creative USA has provided porcelain and glass paints for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

#Cre8time Love for Crochet and Ultra VIOLET... 2018 Pantone Color Collaborative

Hello Friends! Thanks for popping in today for a special celebration of color as I am participating in a collaborative project hosted by Tina Walker with artists 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 gorgeous violet creation. Please take a moment to leave her a comment and give her some love for dreaming up these fun events to inspire and challenge our muses!

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet

Inventive and imaginative...

Ultra Violet lights the way for what is yet to come!

OH YES!!!

How could I possibly say no to a challenge using the 2018 Pantone color of the year - ULTRA VIOLET??! This is MY color. My living/dining room wall is painted THIS color. I drive my hairstylist crazy trying to get my hair this color. 

I am all about ALL THINGS PURPLE, it just makes me smile! In my creations it's usually the first color I reach for {CLICK HERE to see what these glorious purple gears became}.

To be honest, this is not the purple project I planned or imagined... I have been out of town for a few weeks caring for my 94 year old grandmother since my uncle who cares for her had a stroke and is in hospital indefinitely. Life has been upside-down. I reflect and write this as I sit in the airport waiting to head back home to take care of my own health issues and my next Entyvio infusion. My heart is heavy with what may happen with my uncle {and godfather} in the coming days and weeks.

Last month while attending Creativation, I was in awe at all of the crochet and knit inspiration and was introduced to LOVE knitting and LOVE crochet and returned home with some beautiful yarns to create with for the 2018 Favecrafts Best Blogger Contest. 

Growing up, my mom was always involving me in all things crafty and handmade, including cooking, baking and sewing... but I never learned to knit or crochet. 15 years ago I tried to pick up crochet and my mom helped me get started with a simple chain stitched crochet baby blanket. I finished the project, but being ambidextrous, I had a real hard time holding and working with the yarn. I hope my friend cherishes the wonky baby blanket I made for her.

Even though I had assembled a pile of purple goodness for this project, I threw a bunch of winter clothes and gear into two suitcases and jumped on a one-way flight to the winter tundra up north. I had no time to pack or even think, but I grabbed my beginner crochet/knit kits and threw them in the suitcase. This turn of events would be the perfect opportunity to learn this right of passage from my mother and grandmother.

LOVE crochet {and LOVE knitting} is a global community for makers everywhere. Visit any site in the LoveCrafts family and you’ll see a world designed for makers -- a dedicated place where makers’ projects are celebrated, advice is shared and it’s easy to buy supplies for selected crafts. You can even learn something new! So from my phone I perused LOVE crochet, watched some tutorials, and selected some designs I wanted to try.

I selected this simple heart pattern to try first.

I had hooks, but needed some yarn so my Mom and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby while having an hour to run errands around getting Grandma to her appointments. I found one skein of this gorgeous purple yarn called "VELVET".

This seemingly simple pattern was a bit of a challenge to a complete NOOB, but my mom stayed the course. We had to refer to more tutorials and my grandmother beamed with smiles, though declined to offer her help LOL. After many frustrating hours of my mom patiently showing me various ways to knit and crochet... and trying umpteen ways to sort out how my ambidextrous self could work the hooks... I settled on crochet. I have to wrap the yarn around my neck to manage the tension. This one heart project uses a variety of crochet stitches, so as we worked together, I learned by best by doing. 

This is my mom's heart, about 2 1/2" across

{as her yarn was a thinner gauge}. Isn't this so CUTE?!

After completing a wonky test square that I immediately unfurled as to not waste my limited PURPLE goodness -- I crocheted it into this finished piece... a glorious purple wonky heart 💜

I'm totally in LOVE with this chunky wonky heart! Once we got going, it didn't take long. I have more stitches in one side, than the other, but I'm OK with that. It's more important that during this trying time in our family, three generations put our hearts and minds together and enjoyed the blessings of being snowed in and our love of creating.

For the love of family and Cre8time heART!

I can't wait to make another and practice my new hobby. My heart is about 6" across since using a chunkier yarn. What do you think should I make with this?! Comment below with your ideas... I'm toying with turning this into a garland, a dreamcatcher, or continuing around it to enlarge into a larger heart to make a pillow.

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are inspired to go grab something ULTRA VIOLET and CREATE! Please feel free to add your NEW creation to the linkup.

Have a creative day!  :) Sb

Click on the squares below
for more VIOLET inspiration
from the

"2018 Pantone Color Collaborative"

An InLinkz Link-up