Make & Create: DIY Painted Beads Necklace

My daughter loves playing with my jewelry. She's particularly obsessed with my bangles and necklaces which inspired me to make her a necklace. It was fun and she sat on my lap for different parts of the process. The hardest part was asking her to keep her fingers from touching the paint even though it is non-toxic. We got through it and I love how the necklace turned out.

My babe is a spunky gal and so I picked punchy colors to go with more wintry colors for our Fall/Winter edition of this necklace. I say edition because I hope we continue to create jewelry together. In due time, I look forward to watching her get her fingers inky as she finds enjoyment in making with me. :) For now, I'll share my process for creating this necklace.

1. Start with bare wooden beads. Use a Dremel to smooth out any scratch bits.

2. Hold beads up with a skewer on a helping hands. Have a tweezer on hand to hold down the bead as you paint.

3. I broke out my Kaisercraft paints from my Kaisercraft Design Team days. After all this time, they're still just right for painting!

4. Patiently wait for beads to thoroughly dry. Add extra coat of paint if necessary. Air dry again and then coat with a thin layer of matte Mod Podge.

5. Once fully dry, string on leather or faux suede cord. Pair the necklace with practically anything! It's beautiful on a blank canvas of a solid white or black shirt, but it also works so well with even busy patterns.

It was a hit and she loves it! What are you making?

Make Your Own MacBook Wood Grain Vinyl Decal

I first saw the talented Melinda of Meiling's Mailings create her own MacBook Air vinyl decal. In just a few steps, using some left over gold vinyl, I created a partial wood grain decal so the laptop would look like it is morphing from wood. I really like the juxtaposition of the metallic gold and silver with the wood grain texture. What do you think?

Make Your Own MacBook Wood Grain Vinyl Decal with Silhouette Cameo

Step 1: Draw a wood grain pattern. Take a photograph of it and open it in Silhouette Studio. Trace it. Adjust points to smooth some of the jagged edges.

Step 2: Follow the Silhouette directions [http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/how-to/?slug=vinyl] to cut vinyl. They’re rather straightforward but truth be told, I had a lot of trouble loading the vinyl without a mat. In theory, it should be fine but because the vinyl is rolled up, it tends to point downward instead of feeding. Not a problem though because I just used the same steps but instead of loading without a mat, I cut just enough vinyl and stick it to the mat before running it through the machine.

Step 3: Apply the decal to the front of the laptop using either a scraper or credit card and enjoy!

Make Your Own MacBook Wood Grain Vinyl Decal with Silhouette Cameo

Materials: Silhouette Cameo, gold vinyl, and transfer paper

What are you making?

A Heart Air Balloon Themed Baby Shower

Hi there! Today, I thought it'd be nice to share friend's baby shower, I recently co-hosted with several other lovely ladies. The baby's gender is unknown and the mommy-to-be loves to travel, so we decided to go with a hot air balloon travel theme. We were inspired by these pins on Pinterest. We had so much fun making all the decor!

Here's what we made:

A backdrop: A banner with a bunch of heart-air balloons and clouds as the guest of honor's backdrop. The large hearts and clouds were hand-drawn, traced into a template, and cut with scissors.

Materials used: American Crafts pattern cardstocks, Close To My Heart solid cardstocks, Close To My Heart alphabet stamp set, Sizzix pennant dies, EK Success heart punch, twine

A centerpiece: A hot-air balloon nest with an egg as a guestbook table centerpiece.

Materials used: Party streamers in various colors, two 8" Styrofoam halves, American Crafts pattern cardstocks, Close To My Heart solid cardstocks, skewers, nest, ball jar hollow cap, wooden egg, Kaisercraft paints, hot glue gun

A guestbook center: A guest sign-in scrapbook decorated by each of the guests.

Materials used: Same as above. Plus, I went into my oldie but goodie stash of KI Memories quote die cut sheets.

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Good Days & Handmade Flowers

It's Sunday... and I'm wishing it's another long weekend like the last. Today, I'm sharing a layout about how I spent my long weekend... I had some really fun and good days! I didn't take any photos other than this photo of fresh, vibrant strawberries at the Union Square Farmer's Market to represent my sweet weekend with great company.

I was inspired by Crate Paper's June color challenge to use pink, yellow, and red. I love the combo because it's so fun and a summery combo. Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection was perfect for the challenge.

I was also inspired to scraplift by these two challenges:

• Creating Keepsake's challenge
  
• Two Peas In A Bucket's challenge

I decided to scraplift this layout in the CK gallery and featured on the CK blog as May 16 scrapbooking inspiration. Inspired by the stacked pattern strips, I recreated the look with beautiful patterns from Crate Paper. The strips are perfect to record last weekend's events.

Here's a closer look at one of my favorite parts of the layout, the sun embellishment:

• I cut hexagon shape from Crate Paper pattern paper
• I then cut additional paper strips in shape of ribbons and adhere to hexagon shape
• I brushed on Mod Podge on the strips and sprinkled glitter on it
• Lastly, I added a button to the middle of the sun
  

Used: Crate Paper pattern papers and cardstock stickers; Bazzill Swiss dots card stock; My Little Shoebox alphabet stickers; EK Success border punch; Martha Stewart glitter; 3-D Glue Dots; Bic Mark-it markers

Next, I wanted to share a couple of flowers I created using pretty Cosmo Cricket pattern papers for the CK Flower Fabrication Fiesta. I love that the flowers are so simply made just by using heart shaped punches.

Used: Cosmo Cricket pattern papers; EK Success Paper Shapers heart punch; Martha Stewart punch; scallop scissors; buttons from Michael's

So whaddaya think? I hope you like the layout and flowers!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Happy Birdies

I was once again inspired by the pair of mourning doves that started nesting on my window sill in March. Here I altered the KaiserCraft MDF birdhouse key holder with a nest, the birds, the eggs, paint, pretty pattern papers... the whole shebang!

Used: KaiserCraft birdhouse; KaiserCraft KaiserColour acrylic paint in tropical water and antique white; KaiserCraft blooms; KaiserCraft acrylic stamps; KaiserCraft, Echo Park For The Record Fancy Foral pattern paper and Jillibean Soup Gruyere Cheese pattern paper; My Little Shoebox alpha stickers; Martha Stewart microbeads and glitter; Offray ribbon; Whisker Graphics twine; Mod Podge; glue dots; birds, eggs & nest from floral aisle of local Michael's; heart shaped buttons also from Michael's; M&J Trimming pom pom trimming and sequins; Recollections pearl stickers; beads left over from previous jewelry making days

For MDF painting tips, refer to this post! Here is a closer look at the other details:

To create the nest:

• I bought the birds, eggs, and nest from the floral aisle at Michael's. You can find them online as well.
• The eggs were plastic and came speckled brown. Apply glitter with a coating of Mod Podge. Tip: Stick a toothpick in the egg at the end not visible in the nest before applying Mod Podge and glitter so your fingers stay sticky-free.
• I wanted the nest to be decorated and appear a little dewy. So I applied Mod Podge to the nest, sprinkled some clear Martha Stewart microbeads and colorful beads to the rim of the nest. Tip: Mod Podge dries clear, so no worries if you've got a little too much of it as you're applying the beads. After all, you do want them to stick to the nest!
• Stick birds, eggs, and nest to each other using glue dots or more Mod Podge.

To fill the birdhouse window:

• Stamp two identically shaped images on two pieces of pattern paper. The smaller images in this KaiserCraft stamp set perfectly fits into the opening!
• Mod Podge the two together, aligning it back to back as mirror images with a 6" piece of twine centered between.
• Continue to coat with a few more layers of Mod Podge and let it dry. It will harden and appear more like a dimensional charm.
• Adhere the two ends of the twine to the back of the bird house and voila! You have yourself a cute little spinner charm!
• To mimic the dotted pattern paper, I first painted the window frame in tropical water, then I layered sequins over the frame the teal color peek from the center of the sequins.
  

So, whaddaya think? Hope you likes!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Thanks for linking:

More Than a Picture Frame

I totally love the KaiserCraft BTP line. Inspired by my guy, I created this keepsake for us with the KaiserCraft BTP MDF 9-frame photo display. This display frame is unlike the others because the back board and the frame comes in two separate pieces making it so easy to cut papers to fit in or to paint the openings! I like that their products are a blank slate and you can personalize it and make it your own however which way you wish! I also love the accompanying KaiserCraft KaiserColor acrylic paints that coat the MDF so well.

Used: KaiserCraft Beyond The Page 9-frame photo display; KaiserColour acrylic paint in gold, slate, white; KaiserCraft, Echo Park and Jillibean Soup pattern papers; Bazzill dotted Swiss cardstock; Martha Stewart and EK Success punches; Crayola air-dry clay; Bic Mark-it markers; Me & My Big Ideas and Heidi Swap rhinestones; Mod Podge (my trusty pal!), Recollections pearls; M&J Trimming sequins

About this project:

• Painted the top in gold (KaiserCraft KaiserColour in gold) very light-handed with KaiserCraft fine flat brush. Applied about 3 coats for full coverage, allowing a couple of minutes drying time between each coat.


• Painted the sides of the frame in white (KaiserCraft KaiserColour in white) with a KaiserCraft fine flat brush. Applied about 5 layers, letting a couple of minutes drying time between each coat.


• Mod Podge is ALL over this project as an awesome adhesive and sealant for MDF.


• Once all the paint and pieces were adhered exactly where I wanted it to appear, using the frame as an overlay guide, I used more Mod Podge to glue the frame to the back board. To keep the frame tightly adhered to the back board as its drying, cut small strips of wax paper and use medium sized binder clips to grip the corners and sides. The wax paper will keep the clips from leaving marks on your painted frame.


• For long-winded MDF painting tips, refer to my last post!

Here's a more detailed look at what's going on starting top, across, and down each row!

Box 1: Painted KaiserCraft wood flourish label holder using a cheap chip brush to apply 3-4 coats of gold acrylic paint, letting each coat to dry a couple of minutes each. Cut a 6 1/4" x 1" piece of pattern paper and punch a border.
Used: Echo Park sticker, KaiserCraft wood flourish label holder, KaiserCraft KaiserColour acrylic paint in gold; Me & My Big Ideas and Heidi Swapp bling, KaiserCraft and Echo Park pattern paper, Martha Stewart punch

Box 2: Just cut paper in about 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" rectangles, and the frame will fill in the gaps.
Tip: Just cut doily in half. Because the Kaisercraft comes in two pieces, you can just put half a doily under the frame and glue the frame down. There's no need to cut the doily in fours to appear perfectly aligned in the box 2 and 3. I loved this display tray for this very reason!
Used: Jillibean Soup pattern paper, Echo Park number stickers, Me & My Big Ideas bling

Box 3: Cut polka dot paper into a thin strip to appear like a ribbon.
Used: Bazzill dotted Swiss cardstock, Echo Park letter stickers, Echo Park pattern paper

Box 4 and 5: To unify the two boxes and create a single scene, I Mod Podged a punched heart and glue dotted it to the frame. (It's ok to think outside of the frame!)
Used: Southworth fine linen paper, KaiserCraft and Echo Park pattern paper, Martha Stewart punches, Recollections pearls, Bic Mark-it markers, M&J Trimming sequins

Box 6: 4x6 photo split into two using Photoshop where 75% is my guy and I and 25% is of the gorgeous fluffy clouds of Hawaii.
Tip: By breaking up the photo in this ratio, it also visually broke up the repetitive frame. You can try other ratios if you want to create more "frames" without actual frames!

Box 7:

This is one of my favorite 'technique' areas on the display. I was learning pottery when I first met my guy... so it was a part of our story. I really wanted to mimic the look of a ceramic piece without actually having to create a piece for the display for several reasons... no access to a kiln any more... the piece would be heavy and difficult to secure to the tray... And so, after some research I decided that I can very easily recreate the ceramic look with just simple non-toxic Crayola air-dry clay! It's light and fluffy... easy to knead and shape. Totally love it!
Used: KaiserCraft pattern paper, Echo Park sticker, Crayola air-dry clay

Box 8 and 9:

Before adhering the frame to the back board, I painted these areas using KaiserColour in slate. Two coats of paint was plenty because it's a dark and opaque color. I then printed a meaningful term to us and adhered it directly to the paint. What is "h♥ppiness"? I'll explain more when I discuss word art, so look forward to that post in a few weeks!
Tip: Painter's tape will help keep color where you want it, so don't paint without it!
Used: Me & My Big Ideas bling, Recollections pearls, EK Success punch, Southworth linen paper

This really is more than a picture frame and will be an everlasting keepsake. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

My New Teal Wood Grain Memo Board!

Lately, I've been playing around a lot with KaiserCraft goodies... extending myself "Beyond The Page" to make cute decorative pieces for my home. Their MDF products are perfect for it too! I've wanted a cute little memo board for my kitchen for the longest, but couldn't find one that truly fit my style. When I saw the KaiserCraft bracket frame, I knew it was perfect to create my own memo board... a teal wood grain memo board.

Used: KaiserCraft bracket frame, KaiserCraft KaiserColour in tropical water and antique white, Ikea fabric, Whisker Graphics baker's twine, Lara's Crafts dowel cap 1 1/8" (found at local Michael's, but can also be found here online), Lara's Crafts small clothespins (also found at local Michael's), Fishs Eddy's mini salt shaker, Mod Podge; miscellaneous: heart buttons, tacks, woodgrainer comb, paint comb, painter's tape

Displayed: Fuji Instax instant photo (love),
Jillibean corrugated heart, My Little Shoebox woodsy pattern paper, American Crafts Lizzy celebrate sunshine stamp

I loved how it turned out and hope you do too! Here's how I made it and some tips & techniques.

Painting the frame:

1. Apply 4-5 layers of your base color directly on the frame, letting each layer to dry for about 5-10 minutes each. Your base color should be the lighter color since light on top of dark won't "grain" as well as dark on light. Since I chose my wood grain pattern to be comprised of teal (KaiserColour in tropical water) and antique white (KaiserColour in antique white), antique white would be the base color. Tip 1: I suggest 4-5 layers for the base color because likely it is less opaque and will take more applications to saturate the whole surface. Tip 2: Also, since the surface is fairly smooth, using brushes would show brush marks. So instead, I picked up a handy Whizz touch up and trim kit from a local Lowes (it comes with 2" roller, tray and 2" high density foam roller cover) to apply the paint. It worked like a charm and NO brush strokes! Best part, you can actually reuse everything with a good rinse in warm water. After some usage, you'll just need to replace the foam roller cover.
2. Seal the first color by applying 2 glossy Mod Podge layers and let dry overnight so that all previous layers harden. Tip: By using glossy Mod Podge, you create a slick layer so it's smoother as you push the second color later.
3. Tape areas where you want to keep as the base color with painter's tape. I wanted the beveled inner and outer trims to remain antique white. Tip: To seal the rounded areas, just cut smaller pieces of tape to follow the curvature of the shape.
   
4. Using a cheap chip brush, apply the second pattern color fully on the surface. While the color is still wet and glistening, use a woodgrainer or a comb to drag the wet paint and apply the wood pattern. Tip: Most woodgrainers are pretty large in width (because they're usually for large surfaces such as walls or furniture) and the surface of this frame is too small to fully optimize the pattern. So instead, I used a combination of paint comb drag and a toothpick! Yep, a simple tooth pick broken in half, taking the broken side drags paint just as well. I created a smaller eye in the upper right corner with this technique.
5. Finally, seal one more time with a coat or two of Mod Podge.

Creating the clothespin line:

1. Use two wooden dowel caps. You can also use thread spools or cute knobs. I painted the wooden dowel caps and adhered it to the frame using more Mod Podge. (Love that stuff!) Tip: If you decide to go with another wooden item to hold the ends of your clothesline, use a takeout chopstick and a large glue dot to hold the wooden item in place as you paint it so you don't get paint all over your fingers as you paint around it.
2. Using a string of baker's twine, long enough to more than double the distance between the clothesline ends, tie a knot and then twist the twine until you get the desired tension and drop, then hang the ends on the "knobs". Tip: With this technique, you can change out the clothesline whenever you want a change! You can use jute, ribbon, embroidery floss... the possibilities are endless!

Other decorative elements:

• Wrap fabric around a thick layer of foam to create the inner area for tacking. Tip: You can also use cork board squares, but I chose to use fabric over foam so that I can also easily slip sheets of paper (in this case, an Instax photo) to the side of the frame because the foam although is thick, has give that corkboard doesn't have.
  
• Create button tacks by simply apply flat back buttons to flat top tacks.
  
• I wanted the memo board to almost be like mini desk in the middle of my kitchen, so I added a mini "vase" to it. The "vase" is a mini salt shaker from one of my fave stores here in NYC, Fishs Eddy. To keep the clarity of the glass, I adhered it with Mod Podge. Tip: You can also add other "storage" elements to the frame, if you're not a flower person, by adhering a small tin box (to store a small sewing kit or matches) or another mini frame/bunch of mini frames instead (so you can interchange even more photos). How cute would these be running down the side of a memo board?
• Do the flowers look familiar? They're crepe paper roses from my previous tutorial here.

I have to say I'm totally loving this frame because it's a memo board but it can also be a picture frame! I love functional and versatility! Currently, I'm using it more as a frame.

So what do you think?

And lastly but certainly not least, I wanted to thank Julie of Julie's Open Window for linking me as one of the 'new blogs you must see'! It's always so exciting to see support and encouragement from the craft community as a rookie blogger like myself!

Until the next post!
- KRAFTY pearl

Thanks for linking:

On My Window Sill

It all started one March morning with the mourning dove coo, the sound of fluttering wings and twigs banging on my window and I knew spring was near. And a few days later, on my window sill was a nest with two eggs! I spied on them like a National Geographic bird watcher, peeking at them every morning and night. One morning, mama mourning dove actually flew away from the nest momentarily and that's when I had the rare chance to sneak this photo of the eggs.

Inspired by a few challenges this weekend, I finally got around to scrapping about it:

Used: My Little Shoebox pattern papers, stamp, alpha stickers; Bazzill Basics cardstock; 2000 Plus custom stamp kit

When I saw the My Little Shoebox March sketch challenge, I knew it was perfect to feature one of my rarest spring sightings as the story. The sketch works out perfectly with how the quadrants lend to the look of a window with curtains. The embellishment cluster in the sketch is also a perfect place for me to show a whimsical re-creation of the birds building their happy, loving nest. It reminds me of this one scene in Cinderella where two birdies help tie a bow in her hair.

I created the nest embellishment out of an old French-English dictionary page inspired by Cartwheels in My Mind weekend challenge where Cheryl challenged her readers to use a page torn from a book on at least 2 different projects in 2 ways. (My second project using a torn book page to come later this week, so stay tuned!) I then stitched the nest to the page with embroidery floss. I loved the way the nest turned out. Below's a little tutorial to make your own if you like it too! The eggs were hand cut to shape and dipped in glitter.

I also clipped out definitions for 'naissance' and 'nature' and hand-stitched it to the layout:

Between handwriting my journaling or stamping it, I definitely appreciated Nichol Magouirk's Two Peas in a Bucket April scrapbook stamping challenge to stamp it. Stamped journaling: "My neighbors, two mourning doves, laid two eggs!" I absolutely love this custom stamp kit from Staples that's perfect for stamping two sizes of journaling. The shape of the journaling area was hand-cut using Fiskars fingertip knife, using a remnant diecut sheet as the shape template. The curtain trimming was created by cutting this EK Success Parisian border punch. Also used the same punch for the roof.

And to wrap up this post, I have a very simple tutorial to making your own nest embellishment!

Step 1, all you need is a sharp pair of craft scissors and a strip of paper you want to use to make your nest. (The longer your strip, the fuller the nest.)

Step 2, take the strip and snip off the opposing corners and make diagonal cuts along the top side of the strip leaving the paper intact to the bottom:

Step 3, fold the strip into a zig zag pattern like so:

And voila! You've got your self a nice nest embellishment:

So whaddaya think? I hope you like!

Until the next post!
- KRAFTY pearl

Good Ol' Crepe Paper Roses

Crepe paper roses... remember those jammies from way back when? I remember folding bouquets of these for my mom and friends as far back as junior high school. Recently, I decided to incorporate some of these roses in a scrapbook layout. And since then, it's been a favorite flower making technique for me.

Making your own flowers is the trend right now and Cosmo Cricket has a challenge to make your own flowers on their blog. So here's what I made. A simple stamped tag embellished with a glitter-dusted crepe paper rose.

Used: Warble Dear Lizzy Large Clear Acrylic Stamp Set by American Crafts, crepe paper streamer from Party City :), Martha Stewart glitter


Here's a closer look at the roses:

And they're really cute just set up on my desk. Beats real roses because they don't need any maintenance! :)

Want to make these for yourself? I have a tutorial below but I encourage you to search for 'crepe paper roses' on Google to find all the different ways of folding and see which technique/end result you'd like to try. Each artist folds them just slightly different giving the roses a different appearance.

Here's my tutorial of the method I learned long ago.

What you'll need: crepe paper streamer (approximately 1.75" width), clear liquid adhesive, old plastic bristle brush for applying glue, washi or flower tape, glitter

How to:

1. Cut strips of crepe paper ranging from 18-24 inches. The longer the crepe paper, the fuller and likely tighter your rose will appear. My roses shown above use 24" strips of crepe paper.
2. Follow steps 1 through 7 in my illustration below.
3. Brush on some clear liquid adhesive and dust on glitter to add some sparkle and there you have it, crepe paper roses!

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!

Update: One last pic of pink roses turned orange using Smooch Spritz in gingersnap (yellow) and some orange glitter. After I let the ink dry, I painted the roses lightly with liquid glue and dipped them into the glitter. So you can actually use any color crepe paper and change its color through spray inks for another take on them.

- KRAFTY pearl

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Personalize Your Wood Grain!

I totally love the look of faux bois! And it's often used in card making and scrapbooking. There are lots of papers and cardstocks out there that have really pretty wood grain pattern:

1. My Little Shoebox's Woodsy paper
2. Art Warehouse's Wood Embossed Great Outdoors paper
3. Karen Foster's Wood Pattern paper
4. Creative Imaginations Real Wood Veneer paper
   

But this past Valentine's I really wanted something personalized for my card. So instead, I decided to draw my own tree and wood grain:

Notice anything within the wood grain? Here's a closer look. Do you see it now? Embedded within the pattern, I wrote 'i love you' in script!

I loved the result so much, I decided to doodle another piece... 'i adore you' with 'you' centered in the heart:

I also decided to put it in a shadow box as the main focal point but I could do so much more to it. (I bought a nice and simple Ribba shadow box from Ikea. Absolutely love these shadow boxes.) I could put a picture to the left of the heart. I could decorate it with more embellishments. The possibilities are endless.

What's great about drawing out your own wood grain pattern is that you can actually write camouflaged words or designs within the wood grain, really making the piece of art your own!

Here's a quick how-to:

I found the EK Success Zig Memory System Writer Dual Tip Pen Writer the most useful in drawing out my lines because of the sharp consistent point, though I also love doodling with Bic's Mark-It Permanent Markers Fine Point. But feel free to use whatever fine point pen you're most comfortable with controlling your lines.

First, start with your designs or words.

Second, draw concentric lines around your designs and words leaving a fair amount of space between your lines. The lines doesn't have to be perfect because that's the beauty of wood grain patterns, they're not perfectly spaced.

Third, continue to draw lines around your words or designs and let the imperfections guide you for a perfect faux bois doodle.

And there you have it, a pretty piece of art personalized with your own message and design!

So whaddaya think? Is it a cute personalized keepsake or what?

Until my next post!
- KRAFTY pearl