05.06.13

Mermaid Paper Crown

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 1:31 pm by carrie

For my final project as an Art Glitter Design team member, I am going to make a Mermaid Paper Crown, similar to the Spring Queen crown I made for my very first project a year ago. Wow, how time flies!!



Here is what I used:

  1. #358 – Jungle Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  2. #232 – Michigan Moss Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  3. #46 – Summertree Blue/Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  4. #113 – Sky Blue – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  5. #89 – Martini – Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
  6. #71 – White Gold – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  7. Faux Snow Glitter
  8. Fantasy Fiber – Mint Sparkle
  9. Want 2 Scrap – Nestabling pearl frames #4059
  10. Assorted seashells – all sizes – including 2 small sand dollars and two small starfish – Michael’s sells little boxes of random colored seashells in various sizes and shapes
  11. Fresh water pearls and loose pearls
  12. Hot glue gun
  13. Assorted thick paper
  14. A few acrylic paint colors – you pick!
  15. 2 different colors of crepe paper
  16. Ribbon – I used May Arts BM66 – 3/8″ Blue/Green Reversible Ribbon
  17. 2 rivets

And I used 3D Embossit Art Glitter Adhesive to give the areas I glittered a little bit of a lift.

The beauty of this “under the sea” themed crown is that it doesn’t have to be perfect or symmetrical. It should have imperfections, have an organic feel to it and don’t plan it out too much. Have fun, make a mess and let loose!

I started with my paper elements first. I traced a crown onto a thick white construction paper and cut that out, and then I quickly free-handed some seaweed “s” shapes and curves and cut those out. All these pieces got a super quick coat of acrylic paint. I used a deep turquoise green and a more avacado green on the seaweed. Use whatever colors you like! Pink, purple… have fun! I then added a crepe paper fringe to the bottom of the crown in green and blue.



I then added the Want2Scrap pearl self-adhesive bling frame to the center of the crown and cut up another frame to use on the sides of the crown. These are so easy to use and will really give this crown a finished look.



More glitter on the seaweed! I used all the green colors on the seaweed to give it lots of color, shimmer, sparkle and texture.



I then glued down the seaweed to the crown and added the fantasy fiber on the base of the crown using a hot glue gun.



Next, I took my seashells and glittered about half of them in random blue and green glitter colors. After these dried, I hot glued them to the bottom of the crown in a loosey-goosey sort of way. I also glued down some fresh water pearls I had laying around and wound them around the shells. I had two sand dollars and those each got a covering of the clear Martini glitter and the starfish got the complimentary white gold glitter. I think that’s my favorite part!



After the shells went down, I added more pearls, some faux snow, the rivets on the ends of the crown and laced through some ribbon. The finished crown was quite heavy, but it looks so fun!


Meg wanted to be a little mer-dog for the afternoon ;)

04.27.13

Glittered Ribbon Candle Holder

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 1:23 am by carrie

We’re going to turn ribbon, votives, glitter and glue into a fun decorative piece!



Supplies:

  1. At least 6 feet of grosgrain ribbon that’s about 1 3/4″ wide
  2. 5 round glass candle votives (don’t get any that flare out!) – 1 3/4″ in diameter and 2 1/8″ tall – You can usually find these by the box in the bridal section of Michael’s. (You can always adjust the ribbon-holder size if you get bigger candles)
  3. #358 – Jungle Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  4. #156 – Chartreuse Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  5. #232 – Michigan Moss Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  6. #46 – Summertree Green – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  7. #71 – White Gold – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  8. #124 – Jet Eye – Chunky Opaque Hologram Glitter

And I used Designer Dries Clear Art Glitter Adhesive and the ultrafine glue tips for the finer detailed open dots.



First, cut your ribbon into two 3′ strips. Then, fold one in half to create a crease. You are going to use a ball-point pen to mark lines every 2 3/4″ to create 5 little “pockets” that the candles will sit in. Start in the middle and work your way out.



Then flip your ribbon over so the ball point marks are on the back and start gluing little polka dots…



Start glittering with your favorite color… I started with Jet Eye…



And add the other polka dots and apply the other colors of glitter. I used the ultrafine tip attached to the glue bottle to do the final open polka dots… These tips are fantastic to give you glue flow control and add fine detail! (I always clean the tips immediately after use by soaking in hot soapy water!)




Let the polka dots all dry and then flip over, put down a thick stripe of glue on the ball point lines you made earlier and place it carefully on the other ribbon, non-decorated side to non-decorated side… Don’t move, slide or smear it! Let this dry… (You could also sew these lines if you want… which would actually be better since you do have to pull on this a bit to tie the knots etc).



After an evening of glue drying, slide in the candles, tie knots on each end, trim the ends and you’re done! You can also “fake” a bow, like I did here, but folding two loops in. Since the design is one-sided, it’s hard to actually tie a bow that shows off the glitter. You could glue this down, if you’d like.


Would be super cute with flower designs, stripes, sew on other ribbon scraps etc etc… be creative! Makes a great centerpiece!

02.04.13

Glittered Valentine’s Day Sleeves/Covers for Little Chocolate Bars

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 1:10 pm by carrie

Today, I’m going to make little glittered sticker covers for Hershey’s Nuggets chocolates so you can give them out for Valentine’s Day…



Here’s what you’ll need…

  1. 1 or 2 bags of Hershey’s Nuggets chocolates
  2. Printed labels (See below)… I created mine in Photoshop and printed them on a full sticky sheet of paper. You can also print them on regular paper and glue the backs down.
  3. #7 – Red Rose – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  4. #10 – Baby Pink – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  5. #13 – Plum Pink (Purple) – Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  6. Small cellophane bags
  7. Ribbon

And I used 3D Embossit Art Glitter Adhesive to give the areas I glittered a little bit of a lift.

If you would like to use my labels, you can open them by clicking here. It’s a PDF file that is 8 1/2″ x 11″. You can also make your own labels. Each little label is 1″ wide by 3 1/4″ tall with the top “face” of each chocolate starts at the 1 1/8″ mark to the 2″ mark.

First, I glittered the entire sheet of labels…



Then, I cut them out and stuck them on the chocolates…



I then put them in a little bag with a ribbon… and I even wrapped one group in cellophane and wrapped it like a present…



And there you go! Great little Valentine’s treats that are sparkly and personalized :)

10.27.12

Glittered Paper Flowers

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 11:23 am by carrie

I started out thinking I would make a glittered paper flower garland… using only blues and greens… so I set out my supplies…



and got to work assembling the flowers. I’ve made these flowers before and did an in-depth tutorial here, in case you are interested in making your own. Instead of putting these flowers on pipe cleaners, I glued this grouping to simple 24 gauge wire.

Of course 20 minutes in I decided that I needed a broader color palette, that I should watercolor some white crepe paper to get different shades of blue with an ombre color fade… then added pink and then… the whole project got away from me. It’s typical.



I set out to make about 16 flowers and ended up making more like 30.



And tons and tons of little solid green glittered leaves… Aren’t they beautiful!



Each flower had a rhinestone or bead in the center and each flower was covered in glitter. I really like how the dark blue and dark pink glitter added some contrast and a bit of drama in the center of the lighter-colored flowers. So pretty. (And each flower has a personality of its own, too!)



Close up of the watercolor pink color fade effect and the clear glitter.


Then I started adding the glittered leaves to the arrangement…



And it started looking more and more like a bouquet…



I’m sure I’ll find 101 uses for these flowers (Garland, swag, around a sign or frame, around a Chinese lantern, a wreath, a table centerpiece, Day of the Dead decor, gift wrap adornment etc etc), but for now, I’m going to enjoy them as a simple bouquet.

Here are the glitter colors I used, all from Art Institute Glitter:

10.13.12

Three Glittered Garlands

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 2:19 pm by carrie

I love to layer garlands with different textures, shapes and materials. They are very versatile and you can mix and match themes to fit any occasion.

For this project trifecta, I wanted to make a fringey garland, a chain garland and a ribbon garland with flowers.



First, I gathered all the materials I’m going to use to make the chain garland and the fringe garland. This is what I used:

  1. Black construction paper
  2. Helmar Vellum Adhesive Spray
  3. Art Institute Fine Opaque Glitter – #62 Copper Canyon Orange
  4. Art Institute Fine Opaque Glitter – #79 Black
  5. Art Institute Fine Opaque Glitter – #83 Silver
  6. Art Institute Fine Opaque Glitter – #77 Pewter
  7. White paper fringe garland (Which I sell in my ebay store)
  8. Dreamweaver Stencils – I used #LX 7001 Damask
  9. Large piece of paper to spray on

First off… do this outside! You are going to be using spray adhesive and making a mess.



I started by spraying the paper fringe garland liberally with the Vellum Adhesive spray.



I then sprinkled the sprayed area with glitter and kept spraying, sprinkling glitter and rolled it around in the excess glitter. The Vellum spray was really neat because it made the white tissue garland paper turn more opaque and frosted, so the finished garland had a really neat vellum look to it.



I set the paper fringe garland aside to dry. I then moved on to the next project… I set out a piece of the black construction paper and sprayed it liberally with the Vellum adhesive spray…



And quickly set a stencil on top of the sprayed area. I then sprinkled the silver glitter carefully over the exposed area of the stencil. Then I carefully removed the stencil, tapped off the excess and covered the remaining exposed paper with black glitter.



It wasn’t perfect, but it did give me enough of that Damask pattern to work with. I did this with 3 more sheets of paper using all my glitter colors.

I left everything on my front porch to dry while I retreated into my office to start the flowers for the 3rd garland.



To make the flowers I used the following:

  1. Orange construction paper. 4 sheets in different shades of orange.
  2. Helmar Gemstone Glue
  3. Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
  4. Art Institute Glitter – D14 Gunmetal Gray Dazzlers
  5. Art Institute Glitter – D59 Stardance Dazzlers
  6. Black and white polka dot ribbon
  7. Lots of rhinestones
  8. Flower petal hole punch – 2 different designs



I put the flowers together, 3 petals deep and then used the Helmar Gemstone Glue to add the rhinestones and glitter on the inside of each flower.



I made about 48 flowers total.



When the flowers dried, I glued them all back to back on the black and white polka dot ribbon using the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. I love this glue because it has the consistency of rubber cement. When making this garland, I wanted to space the flowers evenly and using this glue allowed me to move each flower before it dried. Also, the glue seeped just enough through the ribbon to help form a bond onto the other side of the ribbon. It was the perfect glue for this project.

I set the flower garland aside to dry and went back to the paper chain project downstairs.



I cut the glittered construction paper into strips…



And then arranged the strips in alternating glitter colors… and glued them all together using the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

After everything was assembled and dried, I hung them all together over a mirror in my dining room…



I have one more idea for a garland to add to this collection… another Halloween-themed garland with ghosts. The cool thing is, once Halloween is over, I can remove the garlands that scream Halloween and leave the others up for Thanksgiving. Easy to make, easy to store and very versatile!

09.22.12

Glittered Cupcake Necklace

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 8:34 am by carrie



I made this little Sculpey cupcake pendant… but it needs a little something… Some glitter perhaps?



After a little gluing using Art Glitter Institute Designer Dries Clear adhesive and then a little glitter dunking…




It looks like this now!

I first covered it in Art Glitter #85 Crystal Ultrafine Transparent glitter. I then added #46 Summertree Green Ultrafine Opaque glitter to the bottom of the cupcake and then some #141 Magnolia Pink Ultrafine Transparent glitter on the icing. I grabbed a little embroidery floss and rolled that around in some glue and then some #322 Paris Purple Ultrafine Transparent glitter and made a bow on top!



I love the new look and how glitter transformed it into something so dazzling!

09.08.12

Glittered Canvas Tote

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 3:07 pm by carrie

We all have a canvas tote bag or shopping bag laying around. Why not add some glitter to make it stand out? :)



Today, I’m going to take a plain canvas tote and glitter it up with a floral print.

Here is the tote before anything was added. If you need to purchase one, I happen to have them for sale right here on my website!



This is what you’ll need:

  1. One canvas tote bag
  2. 1 piece of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock or thick paper
  3. Black acrylic paint
  4. A white chalk pencil and a regular pencil
  5. Fabric glue – I used Dries Clear fabric adhesive from Art Institute
  6. Art Institute Glitter – #89 Martini Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
  7. Art Institute Glitter – #358 Jungle Green Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  8. Art Institute Glitter – #358 Cavalado Green Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  9. Art Institute Glitter – #270 Chesapeake Blue Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
  10. Art Institute Glitter – #24 Royal Wink Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  11. Art Institute Glitter – #322 Paris purple Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
  12. Art Institute Glitter – #130 Eclipse purple Ultrafine Opaque Hologram Glitter
  13. Art Institute Glitter – #77 Pewter gray Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
  14. Art Institute Glitter – #D10 Gypsy purple Dazzlers Glitter
  15. Art Institute Glitter – #141 Magnolia Pink Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
  16. Art Institute Glitter – #806 Sonata Small Glass Beads

First, I put a piece of thick paper inside the tote, so when I painted it or put glue on it, it wouldn’t bleed through to the other side.



I then painted a black square in the front. That way, the glitter will have a dark background and light background to make it pop and give it an interesting focal point. Notice my little color palette and flower design note clothespinned to the side of the bag.



Then, I used a chalk pencil and a regular pencil to sketch out a general outline of my flowers.



I then started glittering up a storm!



And here is the final piece…


A simple boring tote bag no more! It’s even prettier in person… it catches the light and really sparkles and has a lot of vivid color. Use this bag at the grocery store and not only will it make food shopping more exciting, you’ll totally brighten the bagger’s day ;)

08.25.12

Take 25 Art Challenge

Posted in Art Glitter Design Team, Main, Sharing the Handmade Love at 4:52 am by carrie



A little while back, I took part in a mixed media art challenge that was… well, a challenge!

You had to make a mixed media piece using 25 items from a list of predetermined items decided in advance. You were allowed to omit 2 items and use as much glue, wood, paint etc as you want.

Here is that list of 25 items:

  1. The letter C. The actual letter C and not something that starts with “C”.
  2. Photograph
  3. Beeswax
  4. A piece of broken jewelry
  5. Cardboard
  6. Fabric
  7. Beads
  8. Glass
  9. Glitter
  10. Toilet paper roll
  11. A feather
  12. Velcro
  13. Shells
  14. Dictionary page
  15. A mirror
  16. A map or a part of a map
  17. Metal
  18. Polymer clay
  19. A lock of hair
  20. Lace
  21. A nut – Organic or not, the choice is yours!
  22. Hardware – nuts, bolts, screws, hinges etc
  23. Jigsaw puzzle piece
  24. Fringe
  25. An old paint tube


So, I decided to make a piece I call “Neighborhood Watch” with four birdhouses in a large tree. I was obsessed with tree houses as a kid and pretty much drew at least one a day for a year or two, so this piece reminds me of all those multiple little drawings. Although each bird house would have been a people house (physics schmysics).

The tree was made by constructing a rough body out of aluminum foil and then covering it with sculpey. I then added all the little leaves and houses and baked it, painted it and then started the fun part of adding all the little accessories and details. Each house is different and reflects the personality of each bird that would dwell inside. You have Miami Beach/Palm Springs birdhouse, the circus tent birdhouse, the family birdhouse and the starlet birdhouse. Let’s take a tour, shall we…



First, we have the Miami Beach/Palm Springs house. It has an art deco theme with pastel colors, a wavy “tile” roof, a little outdoor covered area and a shell out front to collect mail. It boasts one and a half square inches and has an open floor plan!



Inside the little dwelling is a tiny round mirror that I carefully glued tiny shells around. That covered the mirror and shell requirements.


The little shell mail box has two postcards inside. They are both tiny copies of postcards of famous people and their homes in Palm Springs. This shows Bob Hope and Dean Martin’s houses.


The little covered deck has shells around the top awning area and a colorful tiny map of Florida in the background.



Next, I made a little circus tent. The top of the tent has a little flag that was made from a copy of a dictionary page. I picked the definition for “happy” and “harpoon” just sort of sneaked its way in.



To the left of the circus tent is a little peanut with a gift tag that has a “C”. I had the idea that the bird living here was keeping the peanut as a gift for an elephant friend of his. This covered the nut and “C” requirements. It also covered the map requirement because that tag is a map of Disneyland!



Then, here’s the little family house with the addition and little swing which I made out of wire and sculpey. That was not easy to assemble!



The nest the little egg is sitting on is made out of Meg, our golden retriever’s, fur. That covered the “lock of hair” requirement!



The last house is the Starlet’s house. She has a two story house with a lace awning and glass glittered roof “shingles”. Pretty fancy. There’s a rhinestone decoration on the top of the house, too. There’s a picture of her little blue bird boyfriend in the front, and it looks like he left her a little Tiffany box by her front door. The Tiffany box is a glass bead, which covered the glass requirement. The lace awning covered the lace requirement, the glittered additions covered the glitter requirement, the rhinestone piece covered the broken jewelry requirement and the bird portrait covered the photo requirement. The glitter seen here is shard glass glitter from Art Institute glitter. I used Alexandrite and Blue Topaz . I love vintage glass glitter, it looks so fancy!



At the bottom right, there’s a little tiny tire swing made out of a toilet paper roll and covered in black beeswax. That covered two requirements.

It hung in the gallery at Artist Alley in Southern Pines, NC for about a month and now it’s home with me!

I really enjoyed this challenge… keeps your assembly items shopping list in check!

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