Puffy Paint Backpack for Back-To-School

It's not too late to personalize those backpacks for back-to-school!

Save the cash you would lay down for a fancy designer backpack for your little princess and simply grab a pack of Puffy Paint to put a kitty face and her name on the front in no time.

Cut the label off the front if it's in the way of your design.  I just took my craft knife and slipped it behind the label to cut it out.  You can't even tell it was ever there.  

Now choose some great colors to match, with a contrast color.  I chose black, white, pink and a contrasting blue.

Here's the pattern for a kitty face.  If you prefer a different animal you can do a google search for animal face clip art to find everything your kids could want!  You can even find fun faces that the little dudes in your family would like. 

Save the pic to your computer and print.  You're all set.

Start by painting the design at the top of the backpack (ears and hair) so that you won't drag your hand through wet paint. 

Keep going until your face is done.

If you're timid about drawing the face freehand, you can draw it with chalk first and then trace over it with the Puffy Paint.  The chalk will be easy to brush off, after your paint is totally dry.

Now paint your name with simple letters that you can add contrasting dots to for a super cute and fun personalized touch.  I drew mine on a piece of paper first, to get the size and spacing figured out.  Again, you can draw the name on your backpack with chalk and trace over it with Puffy Paint if that works better for you.

See you in the next post! 

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DIY eBrush™ Gifts & Decor

 

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I received a big box of goodness from the folks at CraftwellUSA.  I was squealing with delight when I opened the eBrush® box and saw that it's an airbrush made just for people like me.  The air flows over markers in the tiniest of sprays which makes it perfect for fine art, scrapbookers, paper crafters, and mixed media projects.   

I combined it with some of my favorite Tulip® For Your Home stencils and quickly transformed simple white paper into gift wrap that I think is quite stunning!   

The little eBrush™ went together in about 5 minutes.  I plugged it right in and got started.  Within 15 minutes I already knew I was in love with this fun gadget.  And since I'm a hoarder of all things crafty and has to do with TOOLS, I was extremely excited.

My next adventure was to try the eBrush™ on a hard surface, so I grabbed a frame that I had covered with crumpled tissue with Aleene's® Tacky Spray.  I added some little charms with nails and a hammer.  Then I found these little plastic doilies in my stash and knew they would make great masks for spraying a shadow effect.

The eBrush™ did a great job by air brushing a fine spray of indigo over the doily in opposite corners for a lace accent.  Talk about easy!  Seriously, I was done with the project in no time at all, and the frame is going to make a great little gift for someone that that loves a feminine home dec accent in their home or apartment.

Before you can say "grab some yarn!"  I was making a pom-pom and a tassel to try out my new eBrush® to see how it would work on something as delicate as yarn.

I absolutely LOVE how the PattieWack™ pompom and tassel turned out!  The eBrush™ creates such a fine, delicate spray of color that just dusted the tips of the pompom.  And I was able to aim it right at the neck of the tassel and on the tips to create an ombre effect that is total perfection.  Love, love love.

The eBrush™ tassel looks pretty swell on a simple cobalt blue bottle and adds a bit of whimsy at the feet of one of my mannequins in the studio.

And who doesn't love a fluffy pompom on a pillow!

Thanks again, Craftwell USA for the fun new artsy crafty products.  Stay tuned, because there's lots more to come when I open the cut'n'boss™ and the eBrush™ Siphon Adaptor Kit!

See you in the next post! 

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CHA Tradeshow 2015 Highlights

I'm finally posting a few pictures from the highlights of CHA 2015. It was a fabulous trade show!

The iLoveToCreate booth was right in the front door, so I was a busy girl the entire time.

I couldn't believe it when I got there and saw the huge pictures of myself in the booth! Pretty much gave me the giggles.

There were only a couple of times during the entire show that I didn't have people at my make-it-take-it station making cool stuff. 

It was great to meet up with my favorite peeps like Mark Montano ❤️

And I got some good hugs from Steve and Cathie!

The iLoveToCreate booth was beautiful. And it was hoppin with lots of make-it-take-its, good friends and new products. 

Everyone loved the lanyards we made with the new Aleene's Quick Dry Fabric Fusion. 

One of the things I love most about the trade show is getting to do the Designer Showcase. This year I focused on Aleene's adhesives and made a denim and wool covered mannequin embellished with appliqués, pom-poms, and of course tassels. 

I also showcased several high heel stiletto ring holders. You know that my motto is; "If I can't glue it I don't do it!"

My portfolio certainly got a work-out this year. I'm so excited about the future!

Playing with Image Transfers by Courtney Cerruti

Image Transfer Art

One of my favorite things is COLLAGE, and of course as anyone who's been on Pinterest or Craftgawker knows, one of the most popular crafts right now is QUOTE ART.

So, when my friend Stefanie Gerard asked me to review the book, "Playing with Image Transfers" by Courtney Cerruti, I was super excited, because it's all about creating mixed media designs.

The book is very informative, and a brilliant go-to book for referencing how to create image transfers, using 5 transfer techniques, complete with supplies and photos of the steps in Chapter 1.  My favorite part of the book is Chapter 2, which she entitled "Purposeful Play" and it totally inspire me to open up my studio and PLAY!

The technique that stood out to me is "Photo on Canvas" because she points out that not only can you use copies of photos, but you can also use glossy magazine pages to transfer images onto canvas.  If you know anything about me, you know I'm nuts about altering magazines into crafts, fashion, and collage.  

I quickly gathered 4 stretched canvases and started tearing out magazine pages into strips.  Mostly pages of fashion with no words on them, were perfect for what I had in mind.

Just look at this sofa with all the fun flowers!  This print would make a great background for the next layer of the collage.

The first step was to arrange all the torn magazine pages  on the canvas until I liked the way they looked.

Then I flipped the torn pieces over (face down) to get them ready to stick to the canvas.

I grabbed my Aleene's Collagepauge gel medium for the image transfer technique.  I've done this technique before, but it's been probably 15 years, and I was eager to try my hand at it again.

According to the author Courtney Cerruti, it's best to apply the gel medium to the canvas, and then lay your image face down into the gel.  Then press firmly with your fingers or a library card to burnish the paper into the gel.  I'm sure that's where the magic is!  The ink in the magazine pages were being transferred into the fibers of the canvas.

Now the hardest part...leaving it alone to let it dry!

Once it was dry, I gently removed the paper with a damp sponge, using circular motions.  This was so fun, that I had a hard time stopping from rubbing it too much.  Be careful, because you don't want to remove the ink from the canvas.... just the paper!

Voila!  The canvases were so cool looking, and were the perfect base for a layered collage with paint and decoupage.  I was ready to grab my Tulip For Your Home stencil, paint, and a roller for the next layer.

I pushed the canvases together and laid the stencil over all of them, then painted a lime green chevron pattern over all of them.

I used a Dahlia motif stencil and tomato red paint to add a burst of color, and build a broader palette of hues.

I decided to turn the canvas around and mix them up to break up the pattern for a true collage feel.

Then I put on my creative thinking cap for the best Quote Art I could think of.  I had plenty of ideas from cruising on Pinterest, but there was one that stood out the most.  I cut magazines up for the letters, so that they would really stand out from the background.

I brushed Aleene's Collagepauge gel medium to the backs of the letters and then placed them on the canvas, and added a coat over the top to seal it.

The image transfers look amazing as a background.  I'm thinking I need to do another one, and use photos of my kids when they were little, maybe with their favorite sayings...

I'm so happy with the way it turned out! Now, I just have to find the perfect spot to hang it on a wall : )

Thanks to Courtney Cerruti, author of "Playing with Image Transfers" for your beautiful book, and for the inspiration to PLAY, connect with images, and to create more image transfer art!

Here's how to see what Stefanie's up to:

Stefanie Girard

http://thecardalbum.blogspot.com/ 

http://sweatersurgery.blogspot.com/ 

http://craftside.typepad.com/ 

http://recycledcrafts.craftgossip.com/ 

Facebook facebook.com/StefanieL.Girard