Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Snowman!

Look Nana!  It looks like a snowman nose!!!!  And with that innocent remark from an imaginative 5yr old, this snowman ornament was born! 


Which also turned into this:


and it all started with this:


Ho! Ho! Ho!

Believe it or not, it's very easy to make.  Let's start with the head.  You'll need a 2 1/2" Smoothfoam ball; an LED candle;


plus Aleene's Fast Grab tacky glue; narrow, white cording (or Parachute cording); scrap of felt for the hat about 3" x 5"; clear glitter; 6" piece of ribbon for a bow; black adhesive acrylic jewels, or a black, permanent paint pen; a tiny rubber band and scrap of tinsel or ribbon to tie around the top of the hat.  Plus scissors and a craft knife.

1.  Draw a circle on the front of the ball the same size as the base of the candle.  Since this is a rounded surface, draw around a cap, or, I found that this roll of decorative tape was the perfect size.

2.  With a straight up and down motion, carefully cut around the line with a craft knife then cut a line across the center in both directions to divide it into 4 quarters.  This makes it easier to dig out. 

3.  Starting from the outside cut line, use a spoon to carefully dig out the hole.


3-5.  Make sure the candle fits snugly inside the hole, but not too tightly.  You will want to be able to take it in and out to turn it on and off.


6.  With the candle base still in the hole, wrap the first row of cord around the base on top of the ball.  Pin in place then place a bead of glue around the outside edge of the cord to glue it to the surface.  Cover the rest of the ball with glue then continue wrapping cord until the ball is completely covered.  Let dry then spray with a light coat of adhesive.  Sprinkle with clear glitter to give the "snow" a frosty sparkle.

 

7.  Draw dots for eyes and mouth on the top of the candle with a paint pen or use black adhesive backed jewels as shown.

8.  I pinned a rectangle of felt around his head for a hat, then fringed the ends.  I used a small rubber band to scrunch it up at the top, then added a tinsel bow and a star button.  To finish, I pinned a bow at the edge of the opening.  You can place him on a dowel for a fun plant pick, or add a hanger for an ornament.

Another option would be to cover a larger ball with a piece of a white, ribbed athletic sock then attach the head to this body with a toothpick.

 

When crafting, it's important to use the supplies you have on hand as much as possible.  I added some felt brads for buttons and gave the snowman a burlap ribbon scarf.  I also replaced the tinsel ribbon and star button on his hat for a jute bow and a small, silver bell to give him a more country look.


 

Hope you like my jolly snowman with the light up nose as much as I do!  For even more fun, Smoothfoam projects, check out their blog @ www.smoothfoam.com/blog and check out my cupcake ornament post below this one.   There are even more holiday projects to enjoy on the favecrafts blog hop.

Blog Hop Button Show & Tell: What Are You Crafting For Christmas?
I was featured on Fun Family Crafts

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now.....

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Cake Decorating

My mum loved to bake and decorate cakes!  Me?  Not so much, but we can all learn a lot from the creativity of these amazing cake artists.  I've been seeing the most beautiful creations from Katy Sue Designs on Facebook lately and thought I'd try my hand - I'm just not into fondant, so I picked up some air dry paper clay at the store the other day and their Father Christmas mold to play around with and look what I came up with!


You'll need some air dry paper clay and, of course, a mold.  I like this Father Christmas because he's the one I remember bringing presents when I was a little girl.......  The detail is absolutely amazing.


Following the directions on the package of clay, press just enough into the mold so it comes up to the rim.  Press firmly and flatten the surface, then gently remove from the mold and set aside to dry.  I let mine dry for about 24 hours then, using a small, soft paintbrush I colored his face and hat with chalk.  I then covered the outside area with an even coat of glue and sprinkled it with Flower Soft Glitter Frosting.  Shake off the excess and return to the container.  Brush glue onto the beard, mustache, rim of the hat and pom pom, then cover with Flower Soft Polar White to add a wonderful, furry texture to those areas.  I also glued Christmas braid around the edge of the medallion.

I could've stopped at this point and glued a circle of cardstock to the back of the medallion and added a ribbon hanger to create an ornament for the tree, but decided to take it one step further.  I punched a scalloped edge circle from red metallic paper, glued the medallion to the center then glued that to a rosette I made from gold cardstock.  This would make an excellent embellishment for a gift or place it on top of a dowel for a plant pick.




 


You can order this and other exquisite molds at Katy Sue Designs and Flower Soft Sprinkles from their website @ www.flower-soft.us.com.  Enjoy and y'all come back now...........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Crafts for the Holidays with Craft Attitude

I've hosted a TV show on scrapbooking for 14 years so it's only natural that people think I'm a scrapbooker, but, truth be told, I simply LOVE ALL KINDS of crafts!  I enjoy the creativity of designing a scrapbook page, but I have to admit that my first love is photography followed closely by decorative painting.  I received my first camera, a Brownie Reflex, at the ripe old age of 11 and I've been snap happy ever since.  I'm always on the look out for new surfaces to print photos on and was totally ecstatic when I saw Craft Attitude at the craft & hobby trade show a couple of years ago.  I came home with treasured samples to "play" with and haven't stopped since.  I was thrilled when Jonathan Fong asked me to create a project for their holiday blog hop.  The hardest part was deciding what to do!  I also love to etch glass so here's a project that incorporates both my love of photography and the magic of etched glass.


These are the supplies you'll need, plus ribbon and a few embellishments - I used deco mesh ribbon and a holiday craft pick.  I took this photo of a Cardinal in our back yard a couple of years ago, so all I had to do was crop it to the size I needed.


The first step is to etch the glass block.  The block is hollow, so instead of etching the outside surface I used dip'n etch, another of my favorite products, from b&b etchall to etch the inside.  Dip'n etch is easy to use and I love the fact that it's REUSABLE!  Gently pour about a 1/4 cup of the dip'n etch liquid into the glass block.  TAKE CARE - this is etching liquid and it will etch any type of smooth surface, so you won't want it to splash onto your granite counter top, porcelain sink, or on the outside of the glass.  The etch is permanent.  Being careful that the liquid doesn't spill out of the opening, gently lay the block onto its side, so the liquid covers the inside flat surface completely.  If you added too much dip'n etch, use something to prop up the open end.

 

BTW, complete directions are on the product so read and follow them carefully.  After 20 mins, I carefully turned the block upright again, then placed it onto its other side to etch that too.

While the glass was etching I printed my photo onto the Décor Attitude film, then cut it to size.  Pour the dip'n etch liquid back into the jar to be used again, then thoroughly rinse and dry the block.  Peel the backing from the Craft Attitude film then place it printed side down onto the glass surface.  If there are words in your photo, don't forget to flip your image horizontally before printing, or use the "print mirror image" setting on your printer.  Although the film clings well to the glass, I covered the surface lightly with a glue stick.  Check out the Craft Attitude website for all kinds of videos and tips on how to work with the film on a whole variety of surfaces. 

 

I positioned my photo with the opening in the block at the bottom so I could place it over an LED tea light at night.  I also glued the bow and embellishments to the top with a 3D glue dot, making it easy to remove at a later time.


This project only took a little over an hour to complete and makes a great holiday accent for your home!  Plus it's a great hostess gift!  So put a little "attitude" into your next crafting project to make it truly personal!

 

Don't forget to check out these other projects from the hop. 



This project is also featured here:
Blog Hop Button Show & Tell: What Are You Crafting For Christmas?

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now..........

Yours truly,
Julie :)



KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Etched Glass Snowman

It was cold and frosty outside this morning..... brrr!  Made me think of the holidays, christmas trees, twinkling lights and snowmen!  Love snowmen... they're full of personality and they seem to go with all kinds of decorating trends.  Snowmen are eternal - unless of course they're real and the sun comes out.

I was browsing the other day, looking for nothing in particular, when I found this little, round glass jar with a screw top lid.  It reminded of a particular brand of jam my mum used to buy.  Didn't really have any plans for it, but picked it up anyway.  I happen to like glass and I particularly like etching glass, so I'd figure out what to do with it later.  Later, however, happened sooner than I thought.  I'd been working on some projects for the CHA trade show that's coming up in January and I had some half balls of Smoothfoam lying around on my workbench.  I'd also been etching something else, which you'll see on Monday, and suddenly the penny dropped.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my little roly poly jar!  Look!  Isn't he sweet!

 

And these are the supplies I used to make him happen, plus a few odds'n ends: 

 

First of all I removed the lid and filled the jar with etchall® dip'n etch™ being very careful not to let the etching liquid splash onto my granite counter top.  I didn't really want to etch the counter top again... LOL   While the dip'n etch was working its magic,  I cut a 2" Smoothfoam ball in half and glued one half to the top of the lid using a cool temp glue gun.  
    •  His nose is one half of a teeny tiny clothespin.  Remove the spring and you have the perfect shape for a nose.  The ones I had were colored, but if you have plain ones, paint or color it orange.  Use the tip of a pencil to make a pilot hole where you want the nose to be, then push the wide end of the half clothespin into the hole.  
    •  I used a cotton swab to rub pink powder blush on his head for cheeks.  
    •  His eyes and mouth are black, adhesive back acrylic jewels.  
    •  To make his ear muffs I cut about a 3" length of red chenille and pinned the ends at each side of his head by pushing a straight pin thru a small red pom pom into the end of the stem into the head.  You could glue it too I s'pose.  
    • His scarf is a 1/2" wide strip of felt which I glue around the rim of the lid.  
    • I also added adhesive jewels to the front of the glass for buttons.

 

The inside of the jar is now etched (it takes about 20 mins - please read the directions), then very carefully pour the dip'n etch back into the bottle!  This product is REUSABLE, yes, that's right you get to use it again, and again and again!  I said it was magical.  Thoroughly rinse the inside of the jar then dry it with a soft cloth.  Fill with your favorite candy, or bath salts, or anything you like for a one of a kind gift - an LED votive candle would look cool too!   

You could etch the outside of the glass of course, but I like the frosty look of the inside being etched and the glass still shines on the outside. 

 

Are you itching to etch?  Click on the "etchall" link in my sidebar for a whole range of etching products!  Enjoy........ y'all come back now!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!




Friday, November 15, 2013

Christmas Ornaments Blog Hop

Christmas is almost here!  Decorations are all over the stores, holiday music is playing in the background and I've already seen a couple of houses decorated for the upcoming season.  It's still a bit early for me.  I like to enjoy fall to its fullest and can't wait for Thanksgiving!  The day after is when we haul our decorations down from the attic and start to string lights outside, depending, of course on the weather.  In Texas it can be 90˚ or 9˚!

When the children lived at home, we'd always make something new to decorate the house, or the tree, but now they concentrate on their own holiday decorations.  I'm always doing something crafty though and being part of an Ornament blog hop is a great incentive to get cracking.  You know I love Smoothfoam as a surface for all kinds of projects, so when the Designer Crafts Connection designers were asked to participate in a blog hop with The Robin's Nest and Smoothfoam, it took me about a nanno second to sign up.

 

Most of the DCC designers had Smoothfoam product to use, but we all received a package of supplies from The Robin's Nest: 6" x 6" pieces of double sided cardstock and a waterfall of dew drops!  How fun this is going to be.


Since it was an "ornament" hop, I started by painting a molded Smoothfoam Christmas tree shape with green craft paint, then added a layer of green glitter paint.  After it was dry I used mini glue dots to add some clear, green dew drops to the top part and shiny red metallic dew drops around the base.  Now all I needed to do was add a hanger........

 

But, wait!  I still have all this cool card stock to play with!  I had some Smoothfoam letters and could spell the word J O Y, so I decided to add my tree ornament to a little sign.  I cut three, 6"x 6" pieces of Smoothfoam from a large sheet then used an Elmer's Extra Strength glue stick to adhere one sheet of card stock to the front of each piece.  I added silver trim around the outside edge and secured it with a straight pin - EZPZ.  The letters were already a pretty white color, so all I had to do was to decorate the top of each with dark pink metallic dew drops using mini glue dots.  I was about to glue the letter, O in place when I had an ah ha, moment.  Staring it me from the top of my supply box was a small Smoothfoam snowflake.  I sprayed the surface lightly with Elmer's adhesive then sprinkled with clear glitter.  A small pink metallic dew drop in the center was the perfect finishing touch.  The blocks can be easily attached to each other by inserting toothpicks in the sides, or layered on top of each other like I did.

 

You can see more exciting ideas by hopping the DCC blog ring using the logo in each designer's sidebar then visiting http://chatteringrobins.blogspot.com/2013/11/ornament-blog-hop.html  to see what their design team created and to enter the giveaway!

Enjoy! Y'll come back now.......

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Holiday Projects

The holidays are coming!  

It's the beginning of November, but Santa Season is already well on its way, taking over every empty nook and cranny in the stores vacated by Halloween and Fall decorations.  I've always found this to be a great time to buy additional Fall picks, flowers and swags, etc for Thanksgiving this year and next.   I love Fall.  The days are shorter, leaves dance in the wind and there's a nip in the air.  It's the time to think about crock pot meals, pressure cooker stews, a fire crackling in the fireplace, Thanksgiving turkey and - getting ready for Christmas!

I participated in the Handmade Holidays blog hop this year, so I got an early start.  I made Christmas decorations that were featured on the Smoothfoam blog.  The blog was 1-3 November, but you can still see all the projects.  These are the ones I came up with:

A Frosty Wreath


Peek-a-Boo Santa
 

and Zero Calorie Cupcakes!

You can find instructions for each of these projects on the Smoothfoam blog.  

I'm already working on some variations.  The Peek-a-Boo Santa can also be made using a 2" or 3" ball.  You'd make them in exactly the same manner, but use a red pony bead for the nose (or a red berry) and thick white chenille stems instead of the jumbo chenille rope.  Unfold a paper clip, cut it in half to create 2, "U" shaped loops then insert one of the loops into the top of the ball for a hanger.  The cupcakes can also be made from 1"- 2" balls, decorated with smaller trim then glued into petit four cupcake papers instead of the larger, standard size.  Make each one into an ornament, or string a few together for a fun garland.  Oh the possibilities!

Amidst the hustle and bustle of getting ready for December holidays, let's not forget that November is the month to give thanks and to say thanks to family and friends.  Here's a site found on Pinterest that you might enjoy.  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/284008320224967054   Y'all come back now.....

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!      

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Handmade Holidays Blog Hop

Happy Halloween everyone!  Today is a fun day, but tomorrow it's time to eat the rest of your halloween candy and start to think about December!   Yesterday was exactly 8 weeks from Christmas day and 4 weeks away from Hanukkah!!!  Oh my, it really creeps up on ya.......  Well, here's some good news, the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop starts tomorrow!


This is annual event organized by Jennifer Priest, aka Hydrangea Hippo and it runs 1-3 November!   Manufacturers and designers share their holiday projects which will inspire you to fill your holidays with some of the funnest (I know that's not a real word) ideas and, of course, there's a giveaway.  You can find my projects on the Smoothfoam blog, plus a list of everyone else who's participating!  So hop on over there and enjoy all the "eye" candy - definitely less calories than the candy you'll be munching on tonight!  Y'all come back now........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Fall & Halloween Wreath

It's a little late to be posting Halloween projects, or maybe not...  Halloween is still two weeks away, but the cool thing about this wreath is that you can switch it to a Fall wreath in 5 minutes or less.  I love anything that I only have to make once then use it for something else with just a quick change.   This all came about because my daughter-in-law sent me a photo of a wreath she saw on somebody's door and asked if I could "make one like that".   It was already a bit late to find exactly the same supplies, but I grabbed the last roll of orange deco mesh at my local craft store and a Halloween garland, now on sale and here's what I came up with, plus the idea to change it to a Fall wreath on November 1st!  This is the wreath for the next 2 weeks


and this is the Fall wreath transformation!


This is what you do.  You'll need a wreath, a roll of 5" wide Deco Mesh and some floral pins to make the basic wreath. I used a straw wreath for this because it was cheaper.  KEEP THE PLASTIC ON!  For the Halloween wreath decorations, I used Smoothfoam™ letters "B, O, O", a 1" Smoothfoam ball,  a small piece of cheesecloth, 2 black sequins, 2 sequin pins (they are shorter than regular straight pins), 4 bamboo skewers, black paint and 2 plastic zip ties. 

1.  Pinch the end of the mesh together then secure to the wreath with a floral pin.

2.  Pinch the mesh about 6" from the end then secure to the wreath with a floral pin about 2"-3" from the first pin to create a loop.  Make loops all around the wreath.


3.  Secure the end of the black tinsel garland to the top of the wreath then wind it backwards and forwards around the mesh loops.


4.  Make the decorations.
 
    Ghost:  Stick the blunt end of a skewer into the base of the ball.  (There's a small indentation you can use as a guide.)  Attach the zip ties to the dowel as shown for arms then cover the head with the cheese cloth draping it over the arms as shown.  Push the "arms" upwards to the base of the head.

 

Tie the cheesecloth tightly around the skewer at the base of the head.  I used a piece of a black chenille stem I happened to have, but you can use anything.  Attach the sequins to the head with sequin pins for eyes.  You can also make black dots of paint (or marker) directly on the ball for eyes, before covering with the cheesecloth.


    Letters:  You can leave these white, or add small black dots using the rounded end of a paintbrush handle - perfect for dotting.  Black adhesive acrylic jewels would look great too!

    Bow:  This is a simple bow.  Cut about 24"of Deco Mesh.  Cross the ends over then pinch together at the center.  Attach to the wreath with a floral pin.  You can also use a zip tie to wrap around the center to secure.



5.  Cut 3 skewers to 5"-6" in length then push one into the bottom of each letter.  Attach the letters and ghost to the wreath.

When November 1st comes around, simply remove the bow, ghost and letters then replace the tinsel garland with a Fall garland.  You can use the same bow again, or add a burlap bow and a floral pick.  How cool is that!!!!!

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now...........

Yours truly,
 Julie :) 

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Sticky Sticks

So what are Sticky Sticks you may wonder......  Well, this is the brain child of a mom who likes to craft with her children and wondered "why can't they put adhesive on the ends of these craft sticks.  It would make it so much easier!".  Instead of just wondering, she put her idea into action and made it happen and now all of us can craft with Sticky Sticks!

Here are a few ways I used Sticky Sticks recently.  My grandson just turned ONE and his party was all about Monkeys! 

 

We downloaded all kinds of artwork which we printed out to make banners, cupcake toppers, bottle wraps, banners, etc., but there were going to be a lot of children coming to help celebrate, so we thought it would be fun for them to make masks.  This is what I came up with using punches, a Fiskars shape cutter and templates, red, dark brown and tan cardstock and, of course, a Sticky Stick.

 

I pre-cut all the pieces, so all that had to be done was to glue them together and pop a Sticky Stick handle on the back.  I started by cutting a 6" circle and a 6" x 5" oval.  I used a large oval punch for the ears and a small round punch for the nose.  The red hat and mouth shapes were cut from the sides of a large red circle and finally I used a 1" circle punch to make holes for the eyes.  The pom pom on the top of his hat is a flower punch.

It's still pretty warm in Texas, 90˚ the day of the party, so we also had little fans for the ladies.  I started with a 12" sheet of patterned cardstock and cut three, 3" wide strips.  I then scored each strip at 3/4" intervals.  TIP:  It goes much faster if you cut a 9" x 12" piece, score it then cut into 3" wide strips.  Accordion fold each strip then glue the ends together to create one long folded strip, 3" wide.  Attach a Sticky Sticky to each end as shown below.   Glue the sticks together to create a "rosette".  I  used a large round punch to create the Monkey disc then glued it to the center of the rosette.



I didn't stop there.  I rinsed a 1/2 gallon milk container (you can re-cycle anything similar) then cut it down to 4" in height.  I covered each side with Sticky Sticks then wrapped a 1/2" strip of red cardstock around the center and embellished the sides with a Monkey disc.  For an additional touch of red, I wove additional strips of red paper around the top.  We made quite a few and used them as containers for straws (shown below), red twizzle sticks (no photo 'cos we ate them all), plastic forks and more.  This little project took about 5 minutes to put together.  EZPZ Quick'n EZ, just like I like it.  If you've ever tried to glue something to a waxy milk container, you'll understand how really great these Sticky Sticks are!


And yes, there's one more.  This balloon wreath is so adorable I had to share.  Yes, the monkey was attached to the center of the wreath with a Sticky Stick..........


My daughter-in-law's inspiration for the Sock Monkey party came from here: www.chickabug.com/blog/2011/07/sock-monkey-party-august-is-1.html and instructions for the balloon wreath can be found here: www.howdoesshe.com/birthday-wreath/

For even more Sticky Stick ideas, click on the Designer Crafts Connection logo in my sidebar to see what other designers have created.  But, before you hop forward, what do YOU wish you had to make crafting easier?  Don't just wish it, make it happen!  Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to come up with the next, great new product.

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now..........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Scrapbook Soup - New Series 300!

OMG!  Have you seen it?  Scrapbook Soup, series 300 is now airing on local PBS stations across the US!  You are going to absolutely love the new format, projects and the exciting line up of guests who visited our studio.  Ali Edwards came to tape and share - need I say more........ 

Julie Fei Fan Balzer is also showing how to use the new digital die cutting machine with a built in scanner - Brother's Scan'n Cut.  This is definitely going to be everyone's new dream machine.  You'll have to see it to believe it!  Can you imagine being able to scan your Kindergartner's handwriting then cutting it out!! What a fun way to preserve a special part of childhood.  OMG, my head is spinning with ideas.

You'll also see interviews with business owners like Stacey Caron from Spellbinders.  What a success story she is.  In 10 years her vision has taken Spellbinders from an idea born in a tiny, dark and dusty warehouse to a multi million dollar company.  I've always loved their dies for cutting, embossing and, I use them for stencilling too.  The detail is absolutely amazing. 

If the show isn't airing in your area, you can watch online at www.scrapbooksouptv.com, but you'd better hurry!  The second show of the season is airing now!!!  Each show airs 24/7 for one week, from Friday noon, EST to the following Friday.  You can also see select segments on YouTube and you can purchase a set of show DVDs - the perfect addition to your Christmas wish list!! 

Enjoy, and y'all come back now!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Halloween Crafts

It's Halloween and it's party time, so I thought I'd share a little rhyme
About ghoulies and ghosties, witches and bats,
Jack'O Lanterns, monsters and scary black cats.

Now on Halloween we go trick or treat, we think it's fun and we think it's neat,
To get lots of cookies and candy too,
That sticks to our teeth like Elmer's glue.

A jack O'Lantern is a scary sight, but he's just an old pumpkin with his insides alight
Sitting on the doorstep, grinning, all aglow
A home for a soul with nowhere to go.

So when you're out on the thirty first, with a bag full of goodies that is fixing to burst.
Look over your shoulder and all about
'Cos take it from me you'd better watch out!

My daughter had to perform a Halloween rap for her class in 1987, so I wrote this for her.  It was quite a bit longer back then, but don't want to bore you to death...... even if it is Halloween.... lol

I have to admit that I struggle with Halloween.  Growing up in England it wasn't something that was celebrated by anyone except satanists and witches covens. In many European countries, it was, and still is all about November 1st, All Saints Day.  I do however, realize the commercial value of celebrating this "holiday".  After all, Halloween craft supply sales are second only to Christmas. 

As I've said before, if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done, so here I am at the last minute designing something to share and of course it's EZPZ Quick'n EZ.


I basically painted an 8.5" x 11" sheet of Smoothfoam with yellow acrylic craft paint (no prep needed) then printed the artwork onto a piece of Craft Attitude printable film.  It's very easy, but make sure you read the directions included in the package.  The most important thing to remember is that you place the film printed side down, so you have to print a "mirror image" of any clip art you use - very important if you include words.  You can also print on self adhesive ink jet transparency, which doesn't have to be reversed, so, if you use my clip art, you'll have to print it on a "mirror image" setting.  Once the image is in place, I dinged up the upper edges of the foam with the handle of a sponge brush, then painted the edges with DecoArt® black Patio paint.  Patio paint leaves a really cool shiny finish.   I added a black glitter bow and ribbon tails, as shown and it now hangs in the hallway...... at my daughter's.   You can find detailed instructions and a list of supplies on the Smoothfoam® blog.  You can also download a FREE pdf of my design there if you don't have one of your own to use. 

 

Had to share these votives again.  Découpaging the printed layer of a napkin onto glass is a favorite technique of mine for all reasons and seasons.  You can find the instructions for these here:  http://juliemcguffee.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-votives.html

Happy Halloween everyone!  Y'all come back now..........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!