When The Stores Fail, DIY Carved Stamp

I have been working on this Halloween project demo and really wanted to add something to the background. Nothing super obvious or distracting, just something to layer up some depth. I thought it would be easy enough to find a polka dot stencil..um, nope. Apparently the big box stores think plastic stencils are passe, but some of my favorite designers have been quite busy creating amazing ones.

What to do, what to do..

Well I have plenty of toys that would help me create my own stencil. I figured though if I was going to take the time to make my own, it should speak more of me rather than what is always expected. It would be easy enough to punch holes through some stencil plastic, but that just didn't seem right.

I decided that even though this would be a simple polka dot design, I wanted to hand carve a rubber stamp. It doesn't take long and you have full control over the final appearance. I started by stamping dots with the back of a pencil eraser - low tech, but effective! I then carved out the rubber around the circles. I varied the circles width - some bigger, some smaller. I love the final stamp - it's fun and perfect for what I needed.

For the Halloween project, I layered brown PanPastel chalk on the stamp and pressed down on the wood. Yup, you can totally stamp with them! A background that is layered, but doesn't scream out at you.

DIY - Salt Dough 'Thank You' Tags

It is amazing how much packaging of items can play a part in our level of happiness. I'm always striving to create cute shipping & packaging for my Etsy items. I want people to receive my item and feel like that special care was taken, that their purchase has become a memorable gift.

I've decided to raise the bar a bit and make something a bit extra to show my appreciation. This afternoon I decided I would create salt dough gift tags. There are a number of DIY salt dough recipes on the internet, but if you are interested, the one I used is here. After rolling them out, I used my Making Memories metal tag stamps to create the "Thank You". Metal stamps are pretty popular these days; you should be able to find them in your local craft store or even some hardware stores like Harbor Freight.

Once these come out of the oven, I will give them a light wash of color and highlight the text. Then pull a yummy ribbon or baker's twine through them and wrap them up with my outgoing orders.

It seems like these days customer service is so rare that we remember the few places we find it.
I hope this will help my clients feel treasured and appreciated!

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Linking up to: Today's Creative Blog

Paulie the Peacock..and yes the Yudu post is coming..

I know what you were thinking. My blog didn't have enough craziness to it and I should add one more area of crafty art. Awesome! Me too! 

And I know some of you have heard about this Yudu tutorial coming.. and it is. It's totally not sponsored by anyone and I'm a bit pokey with it right now because I want this to be comprehensive and really helpful. I thought I had all my ducks in a row, but then I had some late night discoveries.. OK, I promise the tutorial is coming, but for now can I show you some fun & successful screen printed projects??

This is Paulie the Peacock. He is my own little drawn creation and he is screen printed on my Yudu. I have a  little crush on him. Which one is your favorite? I love him bare on muslin, but he was also sooo much fun to paint as well.

Later this week, you will be able to buy him in my Etsy store. I will have him available as a DIY sewing kit - boxed with front & back fabric, and you can choose to paint him or not. He will also be sold as a ready made softie. I think he would be a super fun project for kiddos to paint. He's like a giant coloring book just waiting for some colorful feathers.

Here is the backside of the painted Paulie. I loved this fabric's colors and peacockiness (is that a word, it should be..)

And here is bare Paulie's back.. Mmm.. love me some Moda fabric!

Chica's Cookies

I met my Bestie, Karen, when we were freshmen in college. She actually worked for my mom, so I kept running into her. We seemed so different at the time. She is so level headed and I'm so..well not. But she puts up with my craziness and maybe even loves me for it. We've known each for a very long time now (Chica, we're getting old!) and I don't often make her gifts. This year for her birthday, I wanted to do something sweet. I decided that I would etch her a cookie jar and fill it with treats. We live far apart and haven't been able to share a birthday cake in forever - this was my way of celebrating with her.

It is super easy, but I did learn some tricks along the way. I cut out the stencil for the etch on my Pazzle with contact paper. Now contact paper is *great* because it is cheap, BUT it's clear. So for your very first project you may want to use some dark scrap vinyl so that you can see where you are placing it. Make sure to clean your glass item with some Windex - you don't want any fingerprint smudgies!

Now lay on the etch cream - THICK. Much thicker than what I did. It is reusable! Just scrape it off back into the jar when you are done, so go crazy and lay it on THICK!

Let it sit for a LONG time. Like go do a load of laundry time. Whatever it says on the container, it lies. I'm not sure why. But seriously give it like 30 minutes.
Scrape off the gunk and save it for later. Rinse & dry your glassware.

That's it!
Fill it up with treats - and tada, a birthday sweet for your Bestie that will last long after the cookies have been enjoyed.

Free Easter Subway Art File

Man..I'm thinking it was a poor choice to photograph this on my

daughter's honeysuckle pink wall.. Whew..will try to retake later!

This was my first vinyl project on my Pazzle

(nevermind I've had the machine for years..)

I'm offering the JPEG of the file for free here.

It is slightly different..in a few words - learning curve!

Most digital cutters with editing software will let you use a JPEG.

If you have trouble or need a different type of file - just let me know.

I adhered mine to a canvas that I had painted.

I love the texture!

You can of course place on your wall, wood piece, etc..

If you would like a step-by-step tutoral - just holla!

*Please use it in the spirit in was given - personal or charity use only*

*If you are so inclined to pay it forward, Japan could really use that spare change*

^^^^^^Want this one up here^^^^^^

I have it listed in my shop.

For $8.00 + shipping, you will receive a 12" square vinyl

weeded and on transfer tape..just waiting for you to finish it & love it!

Linking up to Today's Creative Blog

Easter Subway Art - Freebie Coming!

My Pazzle has been dusty.

Since I closed my bakery, I haven't had a need to use it much.

And I've been eying my Mum's Silhouette.

I love the Silhouette graphics and have been bitter I can't convert & use them.

I know I could spend more time figuring out my Pazzle,

but when the girls give me 20 minutes here and there,

it is hard to imagine studying anything..

This past week, my Mum & I visited

a local craft store and found a fabulous idea!

They had a DIY St. Patrick's Day Subway Vinyl Art.

It was fabulous!

All you had to do was paint a wood square

and rub-on the vinyl..

voila, instant holiday decor!

Alas, there was no Easter one

:(

The impatient DIY'ers we are..I decided to make our own.

I love Subway art, but have never made one.

I broke out my dusty Pazzle and decided to take some time to

rekindle the love..

I created the image in Photoshop.

Simple enough - just lay out words in different fonts & sizes.

Since this was my first time, I laid out the words too far apart.

But even this had an easy fix!

I imported the JPEG into my Pazzle software.

It cut out my vinyl with ease!

I weeded the excess and covered it with the transfer tape.

I cut out the individual words so I could place them closer together.

Instead of transferring to a wood piece, I painted a square canvas instead.

The vinyl goes on just as easy and I like the texture of canvas better.

As you can see from my picture,

when I placed the words closer together I created a lot of negative space.

I'm going to measure those areas and cut out more words to fill in.

Once I have it completed, I will upload my JPEG for you to use!

It won't look exactly like mine,

but it will be a great start to a pretty easy and lovely Easter decoration.

I should have the freebie up by Sunday night -

so come on back!

I will have a less Religious, more Bunny focused piece

in the shop later this week as well..

LINKING UP TO THE FABULOUS CRAFTY CHICA