Friday, June 14, 2013

Xyron and Epiphany Crafts Blog Hop! We are makin' jewelry here people!


When this tiny little box arrived at my door, I wasn't quite sure what I would be making for this hop. But big things come in small packages and the Shape Studio from Epiphany Crafts is no exception! A quick peek at the easy instructions and I was punching away! I had so much fun I will be heading out to collect more shapes! Combined with Xyron Create a Sticker- you can say goodbye to two part resins and all that drying time and just create and go. I had so much fun creating these jewelry pieces- especially since I was able to squeeze in Graphic 45's newest paper collection Bohemian Bazaar- here is a little video showing how I turned those tiny Epiphany Crafts Metal Ovals in Patina Masterpieces!









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Sunday, June 9, 2013

A little Jewelry Project today


I finally get to post this project as it is now in the hands of it's new owner. I made it for my dear friend Andrea Villareal who turned the big 40 last month! Andrea loves religious figures; Santos, Virgin Marys and crosses. I found this lovely amber colored vintage rosary and knew I wanted to make it into something special for her. So I made a "Frankenstein" necklace, where I take little bits from other pieces and combine them into one. I did add some vintage milky pink beads I got from Bediak and I loved how it came out...so much that I reallllllly did not want to give it away! But Andrea is worth it, she has been there since I began my crafty lifestyle and has been a driving force in my success-thank you dear girl!
{I had some extra pearl links from the vintage bracelet-so I added them in with these brass links}

{what necklace is not complete without some rhinestones-taken off a broken piece of a modern piece-I sandwiched them in between the vintage glass beads}

{Originally I just had the necklace attached to the cross, but it wasn't grand enough! So I took the broken end of a vintage bracelet and joined the ends to it-then strung it down with the charms and cross}

{So gorgeous! Can't go without saying that I was inspired by Andrea Singarella- she is one of Andrea Villareals favorite and I actually won one of her bracelets at an event recently and just love her style!}

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Yay! I am back for another Year at Graphic 45- My Designer intro on the blog today


Yay!  I have a rare weekend off! Today going to watch my girls play derby at Battle on the Banked, then on Sunday a little Crafty get together at a friends house. But yesterday was my blog intro on the Graphic 45 Blog- I love this day! It's so nice to hear the lovely things that the G45 team write about me and the other designers, and then to get to see all the fan comments-it's just a wonderful day that is so inspiring! Read it here!


Sunday, April 28, 2013

ETSY shop now back open!


It's been like a thousand years since I had my Etsy shop open, it's tough though, designing, derby, work, etc. But I fell in love with a company at CHA called American Tag Co. they only sell wholesale, so I bought a ton of stuff, just for MY stash of course! But now I am willing to share the love! I just have my tags in there but will eventually sell some of my Designer projects too, so please stop by: IN MY BLUE ROOM etsy shop!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Old to New with Xyron, get your Party Hat on!

Okay so I know it's a little EARLY for New Years, but this project can be converted into so many party hats. Xyron challenged us to take one of their older projects (Find the project inspiration HERE), and re-new them using our own creative take. There was a LOT of creative freedom given, all we had to do was be inspired by the older project- and lo and behold- one of my favorite things to make was right there begging to be made-over, a hat! So here it is and all the step by step instructions to create it:
you will need: 
Xyron Wishblade (or you can hand cut)
Plastic headband base (available at craft stores)
.25 in Foam Core
Crepe Paper
Marker
Scissors
Xacto knife
craft wire
hot glue gun
A.
B.
Okay so pardon the hairy arms (my husbands!), but you will need help for this first step- YOU MUST bend open the headband before you measure- if you dont, then headband won't open enough to be worn- so put it on your head-get a feel for how open it is, then trace the base circle (A)- then open it BIGGER and trace your top line onto the foam core as pictured (B)
add two end lines connecting the top and bottom line, and cut out with Xacto knife
use this piece as a template to cut our your glitter card stock
run your glitter piece through the Creative station and attach it to the foam core base
place a top your headband and mark the beginning and end point
 run a bead of hot glue between the lines
quickly attach base, spreading out the headband to fit- hold until cools
use your glue stick around the edges of hat and attach your trim-set aside to dry
I used my Wishblade to cut out 7 various shaped stars and ran them through the Creative Station
I then sprinkled with glitter onto the sticky side-press down to make sure it adheres
trim 4 pieces of craft wire about 3 inches long
I cut out 8 ovals with my Wishblade- you can cut out any shape you want- but 4 of them should be scaled smaller- so 4 large shapes-4 smaller shapes- run them through the Creative Station
                                                                                                        
AB

     CD

D
Take your first largest Shape and stick a piece of wire to the base-sticky side up (A) then take your smaller piece and attach it sticky side down (B) Press firmly down encasing the wire-yes you will have sticky still showing (C) Dip the stick edge in glitter and press down. Attach your YEAR numeral stickers and repeat for each number (D)
Accordion fold 12 inches of crepe paper and then trim 1/2 inch off (you may need to trim more or less depending on size of hat)
run glue stick on base and attach crepe. I also attached an extra piece of trim to cover the base-using hot glue
Now for a really cool trick- I sued my Mega tape runner and some left over backing for my creative station, to make my own foam squares. Just cut a strip of foam core, run Mega runner on one side-stick to foam core and cover with leftover Xyron backing. Flip over and do the same on the other side. Voila! now just cut to size as needed.
attach foam squares to back of stars and attach to headband
insert year numbers into top of hat
make some extra curliques with the craft wire and insert into foam- you may want to add some hot glue to the base to keep in place. 
Ta da! You can even save this one and just change out the year!
Hope you have fun with the Old to New Project!
Please visit the Xyron blog for more old to new projects@

Scrapbook Layout Before and After with Graphic 45


On the Graphic 45 Blog today with a super fun BEFORE and AFTER scrapbook layout Redo! See how I brought new life to an old layout HERE