Have you heard?! 2018 Favecrafts Best Blogger Contest Finalist!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share my make that is one of the 20 finalists in the 2018 Favecrafts Best Blogger Contest. This is my third year entering and I am honored and so excited to have been selected in the top 20 with a fabulous upcycled tray.

I have a FAVOR to ask... the top 20 finalists need votes to judge who has the winning project. There are two days left to vote. Would you please take a moment to visit https://www.favecrafts.com/voting/Blogger-Contest-2018/ to see the top 20 projects and vote on my project -or- your favorite. Voting closes Monday, April 16 11:59pm.

I've given this old, faded plastic tray from the TV show "Friends" a Cre8time transformation -- one that is sugary sweet!

To see all the entries

and to VOTE

for your Favorite

CLICK HERE.

I wiped clean tray to prepare for altering. This has a shiny surface and I would like to alter that, so I coat entire tray with a coating of Mod Podge® Ultra Matte Chalk. I'm not really concerned about the brush strokes as it dries clear - I just want to alter the finish of this shiny plastic tray. I applied a second coat when the first layer was dry and the result is a fabulous faux surface resembling "old" painted wood.

While the tray is drying, I gently disassemble a treat bag and use a paper trimmer to cut to size {which is 10 1/2" x 7 1/2"}. I used a corner rounder punch to round corners for a perfect fit. Add distressing by gently crumpling the prepared paper to add a bit of texture and to take attention away from the fold lines.

I pour some Mod Podge® Antique Matte into the base of the tray, spreading to the edges and cover the base completely, and brush excess onto backside of prepared paper. This product looks like pancake batter, though it dries clear.

I placed the paper pattern side up into tray, then used a squeegee to gently press out air bubbles and the excess Mod Podge®. I use a brush to paint remaining Mod Podge® overall to seal paper in place and give the surface an antique treatment. I am quite impressed with how it transforms the very reflective and glossy surface on the paper treat bag. The metallic sheen is completely different.

I prepare some feet using recycled water bottle lids with a punched circle of the patterned paper bag PODGED into the center of each. I made a braid of the Bernat® Maker Home Dec™ yarn to line the edge around my reNEWed decoupage tray and tacked in place using the Mod Melter. I also wrapped some yarn around handles and prepared feet and glued in place.

BEFORE...

AFTER!

But I'm not stopping here! I have one more thing to do to add that finishing touch... I use various colored Sakura of America Gelly Roll pens to doodle some sugar skull features, scrollwork and flowers into the design.

This throwaway tchotscke has a new lease on life! I just love how the yarn braid gives a woven touch to this recycled project - adding charm to the faded pink tray. I love how this Dia De Los Muertos makeover on my tray turned out and all of the sparkle and shine!!

Wish me luck! Thanks so much for visiting and thanks in advance for voting! Sb :)

#Cre8time + Coloring = DIY Mini Composition Journals

I love coloring and I love having notebooks everywhere to jot down Cre8time ideas as they come to me. I have loads of notebooks and mini journals around... many that can certainly use an artsy touch. I've transformed these plain notebooks into something beautiful with a handmade touch! With a few supplies and a little time spent coloring, I have a beautifully colored mini journal and a second that I can be colored on the go. 

Enjoy the creative relaxation of coloring and turn your finished coloring pages into FUN-ctional mini composition journals! 

First select a design from a coloring book of your choice. My particular book is by Leisure Arts and it has perforations in the center for easy tear out. I removed a page and colored in with colored pencils - filling in the patterns and building up layers of color. This is the fun part! I took my time and enjoyed the relaxation of the coloring process. I only colored half of the sheet and left the other half of sheet uncolored.

I take a few minutes to prepare the surface of the store-bought mini composition books. With back-to-school time here, this is a great time to stock up on these.

I gently sand the glossy surface on the front and back covers and wipe away dust with a cloth. Measure size of cover then trim a double-sided adhesive sheet slightly larger than needed using paper trimmer {this step can be skipped if you'd rather use a glue stick - I've done both ways}. I normally use a gluestick, but I happened to have some adhesive sheets on hand {they don't last long in my crafty cave}.

Follow by trimming the colored Kaleidoscope coloring sheet into sections to same size as adhesive sheets. The books I used are approx. 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" so I trimmed everything about 1/8" larger. 

From just one coloring sheet I can cover two (2) mini journals. I will cover one using the top section of the page that is colored; and use the remaining uncolored half for another. I will need four (4) sections of adhesive sheets to cover both books.

Color spine of each book using a Permapaque marker - this is a permanent marker with matte, opaque color. It has nice coverage and dries fast. When ink is dry, remove backing and adhere adhesive sheets to front and back of each book, trimming overlap with scissors.

Burnish adhesive sheets to ensure secure adhesion and to remove air bubbles. Remove backing and place trimmed sections of coloring sheet to front and back covers of book. I like to do the application in two steps by adding adhesive to book, then colored sheet after so that I can be more precise in my placement. Backtrim edges as in previous step. Use Permapaque pen to edge covers and color outside edge of pages. 

*Optional: Add decorative washi tape trim or ribbon to spine edge {I added a thin diamond patterned washi tape to the uncolored book version}.

My mini composition books are complete. They are so cute!! I will add one extra step for the book covered with my hand-colored page. 

I painted on a layer of Mod Podge Outdoor for added durability and to protect the surface coloring from smearing or rubbing off. Make sure to reserve a few days to let the "outdoor" Mod Podge dry completely before using. You'll be able to tell when it's fully dry as it will no longer feel tacky to the touch.

This project can even be bundled together and make a great gift to pass on the Cre8time enjoyment of coloring. Stack a coloring book, colored pencils and both colored and uncolored books and tie with a organza ribbon... and add a nice pen to complete this wonderful gift with handmade flair.

With all the themes and patterns of coloring books available you can customize a gift for anyone... anytime of the year.

What will you embellish

with coloring sheets?

I would love to hear what you create with your hand-colored pages. Thanks for visiting! :) Sb

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Materials Used:

• Tonic Studios Paper Trimmer
• Tonic Studios 5" Mini Snips Scissors
• Mini Blank Composition Journals
• Leisure Arts "Art of Coloring - Kaleidoscopes"
• Leisure Arts Colored Pencils - 24 colors
• Plaid Mod Podge Outdoor
• Scrapbook Adhesives Permanent 4x6 Adhesive Sheets
• Sakura Permaopaque Blue Pigment Marker
• Sakura Micron Archival Pen
• Pencil
• 1/8" diamond washi tape
• Paintbrush
• Ruler
• Square of sandpaper
• Organza Ribbon

Making a #Cre8time Plan... #Upcycled Ledger Redux

Hello friends! I'm back with another project... that I planned on!! LOL! Yes indeed I'm on my way to becoming a planner nerd now. I'm starting with getting my planner together and I'm so thrilled to be able to share this with you.

Follow along as I share how I upcycled a Vintage Ledger into an amazing Purple-liscious Planner. Several of the supplies I've used in this project were provided from Sakura of America, Testors and Therm•o•web as part of the the Favecrafts Best Blogger Craft Event.

  

I have been wanting to start using a planner for some time, though I haven't really found one that spoke to me. I always buy one of those day-to-day calendars and they go unused. This year I decided no more and I would make an official planner.

While volunteering at my local artist salvage center, Trash to Treasure, I came across a vintage ledger - complete with a six ring mini-binder, unused grid pages and tabbed dividers. A match made in creative heaven! This ledger has been recycled into an amazing purple-iscious planner with some supplies from my craft stash, Testors One Coat Lacquer and iCraft Deco-Foil.

I gathered all my tools and supplies. Remove contents of ledger and mask off inside with a sheet of tissue leaving pocket exposed. Imagine my luck... I was sent my favorite color {thanks Testors}!!! Now if I could just get my MINI Cooper this same color – just putting it out there to the universe.

Mask off edges of stencil to protect exposed binder pocket and spray checkered border with the Purple-licious Testors One Coat Lacquer. Remove stencil and let dry. Flip ledger cover over and completely spray Purple-licious. Set aside to dry. My apologies I don't have pix of the spray painting... I did this outside quickly as it was getting dark.

Suprisingly with the heat and high humidity, this paint dried much quicker than I expected. Most was dry to touch in about 10-15 minutes – but I left it to dry for about an hour while I went ahead and worked on the contents of my planner.

Alter tabbed dividers by cutting strips of iCraft Easy Cut Adhesive sheets to width of tabs. Trim to size and apply over tab, folding around to backside. Burnish down with bone folder.

Using mini guillotine cutter, cut strip of iCraft Rainbow Deco-Foil about 1/4" wider than tabs. Remove adhesive backing on tab and align Deco-Foil strip with edge of tab and wrap around backside, completely covering exposed adhesive. The tabs are blingy and totally transformed. Each tab continues with the next color of the rainbow and just makes one happy.

Gently burnish and peel away foil backing. Repeat process with remaining tabs continuing with same strip of Deco-Foil (required two strips of foil to complete all tabs). Cut section of iCraft Easy Cut Adhesive to size of title block on ledger cover. Remove backing and apply, burnish down then apply Rainbow Deco-Foil.

I used two strips of the Rainbow Deco-Foil... nothing goes to waste! No heat, no wet adhesive, and super quick – so EASY PEASY!! I have 5 other colors and I can't wait to use them on more projects.

I added fun pockets with mini bags folded over, edges adhered and mounted to dividers using iCraft Easy Tear Tape. Now I'm ready to put everything back together. Even my post-it stencil masks have made it into my planner!

I cut my downloadable planner pages to size and punched holes for this six ring binder configuration. This binder is about 1/2" so it may only fit two months at a time for day-to-day pages. I'm OK with that. I replaced all the pages into binder, adding ephemera, clips, stickers and other planner goodies. I have loads more, but I'm just a newbie here. I will share more as I work along.

From Vintage Ledger to

Purple-liscious Planner...

The transformation is complete and it's time to plan more crafty goodness! I plan to use my Sakura of America Pens to doodle and color the inside of the cover. I LOVE how the cover is transformed from the blah black to this amazing purple-licious!!!

Supplies Used:

• Vintage Ledger {or an empty binder}
• Testors One Coat Lacquer - 1842 Purple-liscious
• iCraft Easy Cut Adhesive
• iCraft Easy Tear Tape
• iCraft Deco-Foil - Rainbow
• The Crafters Workshop Dylusions Chequered Dots Stencil
• Mini Guillotine Cutter
• Scissors
• 1/8" hole punch
• Downloaded planner page inserts
• Bone Folder
• Misc. selection of Sakura of America Pens
• Assortment of stickers, clips, post-its, mini bags, and other ephemera

This is an easy project - though consideration should be taken for use of spray paint and have time allotted for drying. Project can be completed in an evening and will continue to evolve over time as entries and journaling added. I know I'm going to have fun with my NEW "old" planner.

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you drop by and check out all the Favecrafts Best Blogger Craft entries when the voting begins on March 31st. Happy Creating :) Sb