Artmind Tutorial No. 1 - Polymer gift tags by Mitsy of ArtMind Today (well this month), we're in for a treat! Mitsy of the lovely shop and blog ArtMind will be sharing some of her fabulous tutorials with us. If you haven't visited her site, it's a must see, as not only does she make beautiful wares, she has an amazing tutorial section. Click here. Today she is showing us how to make polymer gift tags, perfect for a valentine! Here is what you need: Metal stamping letters/numbers set, polymer clay, acrylic paint, flat wooden sticks, ceramic tiles or glass, cookie cutters, rolling pin, embossing tool or fat needle, paper plate, paintbrush and a cloth. Take a piece of polymer clay and soften it while kneading. Put the flat wooden sticks on the ceramic tile (makes it easier to transfer to the oven) and roll with the rolling pin over the clay so that it's nice, flat and even. When you rolled out a piece, lift it up carefully and transfer it to another tile so you can roll out more little clay slabs. Here is what I stamped... Ready!
Its Easy, Baby: DIY Abstract Art with a Twist | Apartment Therapy San Francisco When I first saw this painting (on the left) at my best friend Rachel's loft, I thought she'd splurged on an expensive work of art. The colors and composition are really striking, and the framed large-scale piece looks lovely hanging next to a pair of Noguchi silkscreens. When she told me how she'd really acquired it, I couldn't believe it!Turns out her baby boy Skye was the artist. And no, he's not some pint-size genius like the cute little girl in My Kid Could Paint That. In Rachel's words: "I just get a bunch of poster boards and lay them out on the ground (it helps that we have concrete floors and that I don't care about making a mess). Cool, right? If you don't have easy-clean concrete floors, a sturdy painter's tarp would protect your carpet or hardwood, and finger paints are a cinch to clean up. Since I don't have kids, Skye is going to make me a piece. Images: Rachel Ehlin
bracelet When money is tight, but fabulous fashion is a necessity, try out your crafting skills to make something new and fantastic. These bracelets are sure to impress and look quite expensive, but all they require is some gold chain and friendship bracelet yarn, both of which you can find at a craft store like Michael’s Art Supply. Make one signature piece or stack a bunch for a layered look! BFrend Bracelets by Monika You can find the full blog post here to see more styles of these bracelets. Another fun and very creative bracelet is this one made out of gold or silver nuts, normally used to secure bolts. Amazing what you can create with such inexpensive items!
Ucreate with Kids Hello! I'm Jill from Meet the Dubiens and I am just so excited to be a creative guest today on Ucreate With Kids! Here's a little bit about me. I'm a working mom who loves to craft and cook with my kiddos in my spare time. I have 2 wonderful kids, a daughter who is 3 and a son who is 2. I'm always looking for crafts that use recycled materials because a) it saves me money from having to buy craft supplies, and b) it helps save the planet! This was a really fun craft to do. Find 10 shades of paint. Squirt a small amount of paint in the bottom of each water bottle. If your paint is really runny you can skip this step. Put the caps back on all your bottles. Remove cap and pour out any excess paint/water. Thanks again Ucreate With Kids for inviting me to be a creative guest! Thank you Jill!! Make sure to stop by Meet the Dubiens and be inspired with Jill’s endless creativity! You May Also Like…
DIY TUTORIAL and a giveaway! - StumbleUpon Happy Monday everyone! Today I am going to show you how to make this necklace and introduce my first giveaway! Below are the steps to make this tulle necklace. And to win this necklace, just leave me a comment below! A winner will be announced on Friday. Good luck! Step 1: Pick out your fabric and beads. Step 2: Measure the fabric around a bead and then add an inch, this is where you will cut. Step 3: Cut the fabric the long way. Step 4: You should now have a long strip of fabric. Step 5: Sew the folded fabric at the open end. Step 6: You should now have a tube. Step 7: In order to turn the tube right side out, attach a safety pin to one end. Step 8: Feed the safety pin through the tube. Step 9: Once the tube is right side out, put a bead in the tube and center it. Step 10: Make a knot at each end of the bead. Step 11: Feed another bead into the tube and knot after the bead. Step 12: Sew the ends shut. Step 13: Add flower by gathering strips of the fabric together and sewing the center together.
Duct Tape Flower Pencils | Pioneer Woman Homeschooling Have you guys experienced this duct tape craze? My daughter and her friend discovered it a few months ago, and since then, it’s been all duct tape, all the time in our house. You won’t believe the things you can do with the stuff. They now sell duct tape in all colors. Did you know this? The world’s gone mad, I tell you. Start with a pencil, and whatever color (or colors) of duct tape you like. It also comes in handy if you have a sweet girl who loves to make things. If she has freckles, that’s just a bonus. Rip off a piece of tape a little shorter than the length of the pencil. Lay the pencil on one end of the sticky side of the tape… Then roll it tightly inside the tape so that it’s completely covered. There’ll be a little excess on the eraser end; just snip it off with scissors. For the petals, tear off a piece about 2 to 3 inches in length. Fold down on corner, leaving a little margin below. Then fold down the other corner. Lay it against the eraser end of the pencil… Hangnail alert. Pretty!
How To Draw - StumbleUpon phone covers DIY ! I found this clever trick on Pinterest the other week from Oops I Craft My Pants and had to try it for myself: iPhone covers using scrapbook paper! Now when I had my first cell phone in high school (the old Nokia), I probably had about 15 different cell phone covers that I would switch out to match my clothes everyday! I figure this scrapbook paper iPhone phone cover is an easy way to update my phone without spending all the cash! First thing I did was purchase a couple sheets of scrapbook paper from Michael’s. I also purchased a clear iPhone 4 cover from Best Buy. First thing I did was trace the scrapbook paper around the iPhone cover to get the basic shape. I cut out the main section just using a pair of scissors. For the camera hole I used a pencil to sketch in the hole that I had to cut out using an exacto knife…. and that’s about it! I’m really digging these fabric scrapbook pages! Oh, and that iPhone cover below? This is also a great way to get festive for the holidays!
Lackadaisy Expressions Boy, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started this. I've had requests for some sort of expressions tutorial dating back a while now, so I figured, "Sure! I can explain expression drawing...and it'll be way better than all those tutorials out there that are nothing but charts of generic expressions. Yeah! Just give me a day or two to whip something up..." Um. Anyway, I found all I could really do was try to explain ways to teach yourself...and then add some pictures.