Framing Up a Special Friend... #Cre8time Memory Keeping with Deflecto Craft Frames

Greetings Friends! Springtime is finally here - though here in South Florida we're already feeling the summer heat. Today I am sharing a special commemorative gift that I made using one of the beveled edge craft frames from Deflecto. 

About a week ago we heard that my brother in law's dog had gone to the big dog park above. Rusty was more than just his dog... he was the family dog - a gorgeous golden retriever with a heart of gold. We have a family dinner this weekend so I want to bring a special gift for my brother in law framed in one of my Deflecto Craft frames. I have several photographs of Rusty that I had taken back in 2009 for use in one of my "Wreck this Journal" projects. He was such a good sport in partnering to help me with some creative madness.

For more information on the Deflecto line of products,

please visit: http://www.deflecto.com/craft/

This month the Deflecto USA Ambassador Design Team is sharing a variety of creative and seasonal uses for Deflecto Craft products so you'll want to CLICK HERE to jump over to the Deflecto Craft Facebook Page or Deflecto on Pinterest to see more of the teams creations.

For this special commemorative gift I used the 5"x7" Deflecto Beveled Edge Frame Item #799593CR. A premium clear acrylic frame featuring a beveled edge with metal knobs that unscrew easily to be used vertically or horizontally. The edge has a tint of green so that it looks like real glass and photo/signage floats securely between two plastic panels. It's modern, sleek and will blend perfectly with any home decor. 

First thing I needed to do was select a photo then do a little creative photo editing in Photoshop. I cropped my photo to 6 1/2" x 8 1/2", the same size as the frame edge to edge and printed it out on my color laser printer {I could also take it on a disk to the drug store photo lab to get it printed}.

I mounted my print to a sheet of black cardstock for the backside and trimmed to the fit the frame. I needed to use a hole punch to punch holes where the screws secure the photo between the two plexiglass panels.

Now I need a custom piece to finish it all off. For this I got out a little metal dog tag that I have in my stash of items to mold. I mold this using Amazing Mold Putty to make a custom embellishment for my framed photo with Rusty's name. This is a two-part molding putty that is quick and easy to use and cures in about 15 minutes.

Now to prepare for a bit of resin. I brushed the mold with Alumilite Bronze and Silver Metallic Powders to add color that will adhere to the poured resin.

I prepare a small batch of Amazing Casting Resin - a 2 part resin that cures an opaque white that cures in about 10 minutes. It's lightweight and perfect for making embellishments in a jiffy. I added no dyes - the grey color is from the metallic powders swimming around during the curing process... a little happy magic that happens in small castings.

When cured I remove the tag. I'm really happy with the metallic sheen from the metallic powders. I punch the hole through and gently sand the edges on the back. I use some metal stamp letters to hammer "RUSTY" into the tag. I finish off with a silver brad and tie onto the frame with some black fibers. I was going to hang the tag from a section of a dog collar I picked up at the Dollar Tree - but it was a little out of sorts with the simple design of the frame. I want our special friend to be the focal point.

Remembering Rusty...

This one of a kind special gift turned out amazing and my BIL really loves it. I'm glad I made a mold of the tag - I'm pretty sure I'll be making a few more of these for other family members too. Rusty was a traveling dog and he never missed a family gathering.

How would you memory keep with Deflecto Craft Frames?

Thanks for visiting! Please join me each month when the Deflecto USA Ambassador Design Team will has a new Deflecto product challenge to debut.  :) Sb

For more information on the Deflecto line of products,

please visit: http://www.deflecto.com/craft/

April Showers Bring #Handmade Paper FLOWERS

Hello Everyone! Another month is speeding along and the first Monday of April started another Designer Crafts Connection Bloghop... this month we bring you a floral fantasy! Our creatives are sharing projects and techniques with "Handmade Flowers" to inspire you for the Spring  and Summer seasons ahead.

What to do with that lone leftover piece of tissue... make flowers??! Can you believe these flowers are tissue paper??? Really - that's it! All you need is a sheet of tissue paper folded over several times, a circular or scallop paper punch, a pushpin and a brad. It's super easy and customizable to any colors you desire!

You punch 15-20 circles {I used a 1 1/2" scalloped circle punch and this punch with three mini blossoms} then layer them all together. You want to make sure your punch is sharp (or the tissue will just tear}. You can certainly do this with steelrule or thinlet dies too.

My selected punches haven't been used in a while and were a bit oxidized, so I had to prime them by punching though some aluminum foil. **A BONUS... THIS GIVES YOU A WHOLE SET OF METAL BLOOMS! **

Layer a stack of 15-20 punched pieces {less if thicker paper or foil}, and punch a hole in the center using a pushpin or paper piercer {or a small hole punch}, and affix with brad.

I used a pushpin to poke a hole in the center of my blooms.

After poking hole through stack, I poked a mini brad through the center and opened the wings to secure. Depending on how large the shape of the circle, the brad need not matter because after you scrunch up each layer of tissue towards the center, you won't see it anyway.

The flowers look pretty enough like this... but I'm going for some eye-popping 3D blooms here! Now it's time for the fun stuff - the fluffing! 

All the work is in the scrunching... to fuss about with the petals to make them just so. I find myself obsessing a bit at this point - LOL! These can be finished off with some paper cut into leaf shapes, or added directly to a frame or shadowbox project. 

These were so fun and easy to make - I made all of these in under an hour. These are so lovely - not even chalked or inked; and the more mushed up... the better! Grunged up with a little creamy brown chalk ink or dry-brushed with white they would be perfectly shabby chic. Embellished with some ink, glitter or shimmer spritz... oh the possibilities!

"Fanciful Flowers"

Thanks so much for visiting! Continue on the Designer Crafts Connection "Handmade Flowers" Bloghop by selecting hop back/forward on the logo below to enjoy all of the wonderful inspiration. Happy Creating! Sb :)

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Tagging King Tut's GOLD for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 46 - "FOOL's GOLD"

It's a long weekend for Easter and Passover. With a new challenge to play with, I putter about and catch up on some tag techniques to see what inspiration strikes. 

We have a new Challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges. Challenge No. 46 is "FOOL's GOLD"... uses the prettiest of all metals – GOLD – as your inspiration to challenge your muse. CLICK HERE to jump over to ABAC to see inspiration from our design team.

My tag is based on T!m Holtz' August 2013 Tag techniques and I'm heading to Ancient Egypt to find some Gilded treasure for my creation for the "FOOL's GOLD" No. 46 challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.

On a sheet of freezer paper, I applied side by side three Ranger Distress Stains - Brushed Pewter, Old Paper, and Antique Linen. I misted my #8 manila tag with a light amount of water then dragged the tag through the puddle of ink. I tapped off the excess liquid and then heat set to dry. Looks pretty grungy and gold... weathered by thousand of years in the desert!

I built up the layers of color with three applications using the same technique above and heat set to dry between layers. The brushed pewter gave a subtle metallic shimmer over the tag that looks like aged sandstone. I overstamped the "Basket Egyptian Goddess" #6101, "Mummy Case/Female" #5806 and "Stylized Dog Border" #9827 {all from Viva Las VegaStamps!} using Staz-On Jet Black ink. I also stamped each on acetate and a scrap paper to create masks for layering and scene building.

I prepared my masks, two on acetate and the others on paper and adhered to my tag with some removable adhesive runner. The colored image will not appear where the masked areas are. This process of building scenes is a bit time consuming with fussy cutting - but the end results are AMAZING - and for me totally worth the effort!

I mounted the "Nile Flower Background" #1657 stamp and then began coloring with Ranger Distress Markers adding different colors directly onto the stamp. This is a detailed pattern, so I had to concentrate coloring similar sections. This was quite fun and relaxing coloring this large background. I remoistened the marker applied to the background stamp by breathing on it then stamped onto the tag. 

The "Mummy Case/Female" #5806 was not as clear as I liked on the painted tag, though I did stamp clearly - so I stamped it again onto a brushed gold cardstock, fussy cut and adhered with Miracle Tape right over the top. This did the trick! The gold gave the pop and extra bling that I desired and looks just like the artifacts in the King Tut exhibit I saw in the Art Museum!

I went around the edge with a distressing tool for a frayed effect and rubbed edge with a couple colors of Distress Markers. To finish off - I added a pink pearl gem, some additional hand coloring and some ribbon to the top and bottom and this tag looks like it's an artifact straight from the Egypt.

Tag ARTifact from the Pyramids...

•••••••••••

Supplies used: STAMPS - "Basket Egyptian Goddess" #6101, "Mummy Case/Female" #5806, "Nile Flower Background" #1657, and "Stylized Dog Border" #9827. Other supplies: #8 manila tag; Staz-On Jet Black ink; Miracle Tape; Ranger Distress Markers; Ranger Distress Stains - Brushed Pewter, Old Paper, and Antique Linen; water brush; brushed gold cardstock; pink pearl gem; and ribbon/trim.

Thanks so much for dropping by. I invite you to play along with us at Anything But a Card Challenges and the new "FOOL's GOLD" Challenge No. 46.

Hoppy Creating!  :) Sb