Creativity In A Nutshell

This Valentines Day, you don't have to run out and buy heart-covered wrapping paper. You probably already have the supplies to make your own unique and recycled gift wrap.



What's The Plan, Stan?
I made this wrapping paper that works for Valentines Day but doesn't really scream Cupid.

Ingredients:

• Rubber Stamp (I used a really fun Owl stamp I got from the dollar bin at Michaels a few months ago)
• Ink Pad (you can use all kinds of colors - I just used black ink)
• Tissue Paper, Craft Paper, Old Wrapping paper (shhh it's a secret, but I just used the tissue paper from a giftbag I'd gotten a while ago)

Tools Of The Trade:

• Creativity
• Hands

Process:

• Ink up your stamp

• Plot your image around the paper - spreading it out. I found I could get three ok stamps with one go before having to re-ink. The first stamp will be darkest, then lighter etc.

• 
  
  Work your way around until the entire page is covered
  

crabble tile pendants certainly are all the rage at the moment, but there's no reason to settle for the typical cut and paste projects. This tutorial will walk you through using fun stamps, Pearl Ex Pigments and micro beads to create some one-of-a-kind pendants and charms of your own.




Ingredients:

• Scrabble tiles or similar (there are some scrabble tile look-a-likes out there)
• A variety of stamps - smaller stamps will fit the scrabble tiles, but remember that you can use just a part of a larger stamp for an interesting affect
• Ink pads in a variety of colors - I reccomend Staz On
• Pearl Ex Pigments
• Regular white glue (elmers or tacky)
• Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents
• Modge Podge
• Micro Beads
• E-6000 and bail (unless you're going to drill your tiles)

Tools Of The Trade:

• Paintbrush
• Plastic pallet (for mizing pearl ex pigments)
• Safety Pin
• Waterproof, permanent pens - Faver-Castell India Ink pens or Sharpies work well
  

Process:

• Step One: Select your stamp. I am using some great small stamps I picked up at Michael's for $1. Ink your stamp.If you are using a stamp larger than the scrabble tile, ink a slightly larger area than you intend to use - it's pretty tough to get the stamp exactly where you want it on the tile. Stamp the image on the tile by laying the tile down on the stamp, not the other way around. Press down lighty, doing your best not to wiggle it around.

• Step Two: Try layering differnt stamps and different color inks. You can also use embossing powerder and a heat gun at this point if you'd like.

• Step Three: give the stamped images time to dry. If you are using an  "imitation" scrabble tile, more than likely it has an unfinished surface and the ink will seep into the tile rather quickly. With an actual scrabble tile, the ink will sit on the surface and need more time to dry. Once they are dry, you can add punch to the stamped images using pearl ex pigments, mixed with a little bit of water and glue. Use them just like you would paint- mix colors, play around. I suggest using a small brush to apply the pigment to your tiles.

• Step Four: Again, allow everything to dry. At this point, you can add 3-dimensional stuff to your scrabble tiles. I recommend starting with micro beads because they're small, however, by all means, play around. If you are using micro beads, I would suggest:
• Coat the side of the scrabble tile you're working on with a thin layer of mod podge or slightly watered down glue.

• Place the micro beads about where you want them - it's going to be impossible to play them exactly in the right place on the first try. Using a pin, push the beads to where you want them to be. Allow the mod podge or glue to dry completely.

• TIP: No matter what - DONT leave the container open. I... I guess I really am a clutz, though I wish I could say I was just multi-tasking too much, but of course... I managed to spill them. All over my desk. It was a disaster. Good luck!
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  Step Four: Once you're happy and everything is dry you can seal the tile. Here is the crux. If you've used a waterbased ink, you're going to need to use a sealant that is NOT water based. Otherwise you're going to end up with a blurry mess. Finally add a coat of diamond glaze or glossy accents. If you're working with non-traditional scrabble tiles, you're going to want to coat every side of the tile. Wait for one side to dry completely before working on another side - I've learned this the hard way...

• Tips for applying Diamond Glaze: Use even pressure, working around the edges, then moving into the middle. If you happen to get a bubble, you're not really going to be able to pop it. Drag it out using a pin.
• Step Five: Now it's time to complete the pendant. I always allow my scrabble tiles to dry over night - that way there's no risk of mess ups - and as I am clutsy as it is, I don't need to do anything to add to the liklihood of my messing up. Using a small dab of E-6000, attach a bail and voila!
• Tips for working with E-6000: If you're sensitive to strong smells, make sure you have some ventilation. I'm pretty sure there are warnings for this... In any case, I try to work with small amounts and leave the room if I start to get a headache. I dab a bit of epoxy on a scrap piece of paper and use the tip of a safety pin to dot a tiny bit on the back of the bail - a lot goes a long way. Then I place the bail on the tile, center it, and use another safety pin or a toothpick to carefully swab away any excess epoxy. This takes some practice :) 
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C'est Fin!

While you may think embossing is for cardmaking and scrapbooking, it is actually a powerful tool to add to your bead making repertoire.



What's The Plan, Stan?
We're going to go over the basic technique of heat embossing. Try out your skills on one of the many projects and tutorials listed below. Come up with anything fantastic? Share it! cagarp@plymouth.edu


Ingredients:

• Embossing powder (I suggest using clear, but there are a wide variety of colors available out there)
• Pearl Ex Pigments (optional)
  
• Ink (there are literally tons of kinds of inks out there. I recommend using Stayz On)
• Stamps (these can cost you lots and lots of money. I search through the $1 bins at Michaels, Dollar Stores and I make my own)
• Object to emboss on (such as a pre-drilled scrabble tile, or domino)
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Heatgun (there are some good and some not so good heatguns out there. Having only worked with one, I'm not in a position to recommend a specific one. Check out different websites and read the reviews)
  

Process:

• Clean the surface of the object you are going to emboss on. (EX: if you're making a domino pendant, wipe it down with rubbing alcohol)
• Ink your chosen stamp (don't use too much ink, especially on a non-porous object. Try blotting your stamp on a tissue etc before stamping it.)
• Stamp your image! Lay the stamp down on a table and press the object on top of the stamp, rather than the other way around. This way the image will be placed exactly where you want it.
• Sprinkle with embossing powder over a piece of scrap paper. Tap your object to get off extra powder, and sift back into container.
• Heat the ink/embossing powder - - don't hold the heatgun too close so it doesn't actually burn it :) You'll see powder transform into bubbles and voila!
  

A note about Inks:

• Many of the projects bead artists will create use non-porous objects, such as dominoes, glass slides, etc. Regular dye-based inks, while still great on porous objects like scrabble tiles, won't stick on these surfaces. Also, if you intend to use alcohol inks with a stamped image, the alcohol will bread down dye-based inks and ruin your image. Remember these simple rules:
• If you're working on a porous surface, and not using alcohol inks - use regular ink.
• If you're working on a porous surface, and using alcohol inks - use "Stayz On" or "Metallic Inks"
• If you're working on a porous surface using alcohol inks and you want to create a resist image, use regular ink.
• If you're working on a nonporous surface, alcohol inks or not, use "Stayz On" or "Metallic Inks"

A note about Colored Embossing Powder:

• As I mentioned above, there are tons of beautiful colored embossing powders out there. However, why spend the extra cash (which many of us are so short on!) when you can make your own?
• Mix a small amount of Pearl Ex Pigment into your embossing powder and you have created your own unique color :)
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
Have you made something beautiful using an embossing technique? Your work could be right here! Submit your stuff to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

•  Childhood Checkers Earrings: Project
• Monday Madness: Weekly Earring Project 2  
• Classic Decadence - Vintage Inspired Earrings

Go Buy Some!
Embossing Powder
Addicted to Rubber Stamps

Do you remember those fun times, playing checkers when you were little? Or maybe you still play checkers! Either way, show off your checkers skill with these beautiful checkers earrings.



What's The Plan, Stan? 


We are going to make some super fantabulous earrings, using plastic checkers pieces, not the old fashioned (but equally sweet wooden ones).


Ingredients:

• Two checkers pieces (For this project, I used the white ones, however, you can use the black ones for a totally different effect.)
• Alcohol Inks (One or two colors - I used Wild Plum and Stream)
• Alcohol Ink Blending Solution
• Alcohol Ink Applicator and felt rectangles
• Stayz On opaque white ink pad (NOTE: When embossing, and then coloring with alcohol inks, regular old ink pads simply won't work. For the vintage earrings, we used that technique to create a resist technique, which is cool, but not what we're going for in this project)
  
• Floral Stamp (I used a beautiful one I found in the Michael's $1 bin)
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Pigment
• Glossy Accents
  

Tools Of The Trade:

• Drill with small bit (NOTE: you won't want to use too small of a drill bit, as it is more likely to get stuck and or break on you. I've done this - please, learn from my mistake)
  
• Scrap piece of wood
• Heat Gun
• Trash bag (hopefully one devoted to art use)
  

Process:

• Drill your checkers pieces, close to the edge, but not too close :)
•  Mix clear embossing powder with a pinch of silver Pearl Ex Pigment in your mixing tray (or baby food container top :)
  
•  Cover your work surface with a trash bag : Prepare to Alcohol Ink! Apply your two alcohol ink colors to the felt and stamp away. Add the Blending Medium as you like. Let it dry, then do the opposite side, and the edges. Once you are happy, allow both checkers pieces to dry completely.
  
• Stamp one side of the chipboard with stayz on opaque white ink. Sprinkle with embossing powder/Pearl Ex Pigment on top of the stamped image and heat with your handy dandy heatgun.
• Allow to cool. At this point you can gently add more Alcohol Ink and or Pearl Ex Pigments. I left mine as is.
• Coat with Glossy Accents (or similar). Allow to dry completely
• Add jumprings and ear wires and voila!
  

C'est Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase
You work could be right here! Submit your own BLANK to Creativity In A Nutshell via email to cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include pictures, anything new you tried and suggestions you have for improvement.

More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Alcohol Ink Pendants  
• Domino Pendants
  

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Blockheadstamps
  

Jewelry and Bead Artists are constantly looking for new and unique ways to make their jewelry and beads. I, for one, find myself pacing the aisles or my local craft store, meditating over all kinds of plans of making wondrous creations with the strangest of supplies.
Recently, I strayed upon the idea of Chipboard Jewelry. Scrapbooking enthusiasts know chipboard is a dense cardboard, often printed with nifty designs. Coated with a sealant, chipboard provides a fantastic and lightweight canvas for any kind of bead, pendant or charm you can imagine.



What's The Plan, Stan?
As with domino pendants, there are literally limitless options with Chipboard Jewelry. For this tutorial, I'm going to keep things simple. However, stay tuned for many more creative, fun projects, expanding upon this same idea. 

Ingredients

• Chipboard Circles (I purchased some very inexpensive -$0.70- ones at Michaels)
  
• Silver Metallic Ink
• Clear Embossing powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Pigments
• Small mixing tray (I used the top of a clean baby food container)
• Acrylic paint/gesso
• Floating medium OR water and glue mixture
• Glossy Accents
  
• Two silver plated jumprings
• Two earwires
• Two beads OR Modified Clasps
• OPTIONAL: Pressed Flower , Fine Black Sharpie
  

Tools of the Trade

• Drill with extra fine bit
• Scrap piece of wood
  
• Heat gun
• Floral Stamp (I got a fantastic one at Michaels in their Dollar Bin! Woot!)
• Paint Brush
  

Process 

• Drill each chipboard circle - you'll want to have the hole as close to the edge as possible without weakening the piece - using a scrap piece of wood underneath to protect your work surface.
  
• Prep the surface: coat both sides of chipboard with acrylic or gesso (or a mix of the two) If you get paint in the whole, that's fine, just poke a pushpin or unfolded paperclip through it and you're golden.

•  Mix clear embossing powder with a pinch of silver Pearl Ex Pigment in your mixing tray (or baby food container top :)
  

• Stamp one side of the chipboard with silver metallic ink. Sprinkle with embossing powder/Pearl Ex Pigment on top of the stamped image and heat with your handy dandy heatgun.

• Once the chipboard has cooled entirely, you can either play around with the colors, using Pearl Ex Pigments or you can leave it as is.
• These earrings were left at this step
  

•  To make these earrings: Gently go over the entire surface with Blue Russet Pearl Ex Pigment (it's actually an antique-like rusty red), which has been mixed with floating medium or water and glue. (Use a soft paintbrush for this, like a watercolor brush) Then, add a wee bit more pigment to your mixture and go over some of the details on the earrings - I covered the flowers and a few of the loopy lines - with a fine paint brush.

• Back side option: You could leave the back blank. OR you could get creative and personalize your earrings. 

•  To get this effect: Coat the backs with a layer of glue. Apply Misty Lavender, True Blue and Blue Russet. Allow to dry. Coat the back of your flower with glue, set and coat top with glue. Allow to dry. Add your own phrase to the edge of the chipboard. I wrote 'Made With Love'.
• Once everything is dry (and it's really important that it is before you move on!) Begin the Glossing! Apply Glossy Accents to both sides. MAKE SURE THE GLOSSY ACCENTS HAS DRIED COMPLETELY BEFORE TOUCHING IT! Ahem... otherwise you will royally screw it up. Trust Me.
  

• Once the glossy accents has dried, you have a few more options. You can attach a small jumpring and be done, or you can add an accent bead. Here are two examples of the latter design:

  

• For one pair of earrings I used one half of two silver plated clasps - I think they make sweet metal findings! For the other pair, I used an undyed howlite round (around 6mm I think), and  a silver plated bead cap. Experiment with complimenting and contrasting accent beads and metal findings.
  

Fin!

Bead Artist Showcase

• Your work could be pictured right here! Submit your own completed Victorian Inspired Earrings to Creativity In A Nutshell via email at cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include plenty of pictures, new stuff you tried and any sweet new ideas or suggestions you may have :)

More Similar Fun Stuff

•  Classic Decadence - Vintage Inspired Earrings

More Stuff on the Information Highway
http://artrix-playtime.blogspot.com/2008/04/chipboard-jewelry.html

I am a huge fan of beautiful vintage prints, mixed with chic modern style. You can find this artistic influence all over the web - just take a peak at your favorite artsy blogs. Many of these prints make use of delicate florals, and from this, I have drawn my inspiration for this this project.

What's The Plan, Stan?
In this project, we're going to make relief-stamped images on scrabble tiles using a beautiful floral stamp for some fantabulous earrings.

Ingredients:

• Two wooden scrabble tiles (or similar)
• Alcohol inks (one or two colors)
• Alcohol ink blending solution
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Silver Pearl Ex Powder
• Glossy Accents
  
• Two ear wires, two eye pins
• Two beads, matching ink colors you're working with 
  

 Tools of the Trade

• Drill and small bit, small piece of wood
• Needlenose pliers
• Heatgun
  

Process

• Drill each scrabble tile in the top left corner
• Stamp the blank side of the scrabble tile with silver ink. Sprinkle with the mixed embossing powder/silver Pearl Ex Pigment. Heat with heat gun :D (I love this part!)

•   Give it a minute to cool down. Splotch the embossed tile with one (or two) color alcohol ink. The ink will dissolve the embossed image, simultaneously creating a relief image, and floating the pearl ex pigment over the top in cool patterns. 

• Add Alcohol Ink Blending Solution to lighten the color - dab with paper towel as necessary.
• Once you are satisfied, allow the tiles to dry completely.
• Coat each surface with Glossy Accents. Remember to let each side to dry completely. Drying time can differ widely, depending upon weather conditions. For example, it has been pretty hot when I've worked with Glossy Accents in the past, so it has dried much faster. Today, however, it's been frigid and rainy - so it's taken much, much longer to dry. 
• Once the Glossy Accents has dried, attach a jump ring, then eye pin, with a matching bead. Attach your ear wires and TaDa!

Fin! 

Bead Artist Showcase

• Your work could be pictured right here! Submit your own completed Victorian Inspired Earrings to Creativity In A Nutshell via email at cagarp@plymouth.edu. Feel free to include plenty of pictures, new stuff you tried and any sweet new ideas or suggestions you may have :)

More Similar Fun Stuff

•   Project: Scrabble Tile Jewelry
• Tutorial: Scrabble Tile Pendants and Charms

More Stuff On The Information Highway

• Check out this great blog for inspiration: The Background Fairy and her sister blog The Graphics Fairy
• Need more inspiration?