Repurposed Plant Hanger

What do you do when you have a plant hanger on a pot that you don't want to hang?

I turned mine into a curly-Q hanger!

My good friend and amazing artist, photographer, and graphics designer Robyn Craxton, made this fabulous wall hanging as a going away present when we moved 3 months ago from Nashville to iLoveToCreate in Fresno. She asked 12 of our closest friends to write on the backs of these vintage style postcards, and then she put grommets and jump rings on them to group them together. I LOVE it! Robyn put velcro hangers at the top, but I've been shopping around for something cool to hang it with. Sooooo.... today when I bought plants for the house, it hit my creative nerve when I saw the plant hanger.

Here's a little tutorial for my DIY Wire Hanger:







Thanks Robyn, and all the gang in Nashville... I miss all of you....

By the way, Robyn also has a cute little ETSY Shop called Robyn Ruth you'll love to browse.

Ikea Bed Adventure

With the 3-days off for Labor Day, we took a little road trip to Sacramento for Gold Rush Days and to browse IKEA for household stuff. The Gold Rush Days was way fan, as we walked on the streets covered with dirt and cowboys and horses and trains and buggies everywhere. But the real adventure happened when we bought new slats for our Scandinavian bed. Ours had become quite flat, and we needed a new mattress to make our backs happy. Sooo.... as you see here, the best part about IKEA is that it's relatively inexpensive. But, the worst part is that it's always a DIY project.

The slats had to go into plastic pockets and then a fabric spine went down the middle. Scott took over and was determined to make it a fun project. It didn't take tooo long to get the first side done.

The second side got crazy when we lost count of how many skinny slats went in before the fat slats, and then the double slats, and so it goes. Counting, poking, and silly fun.

The mattress was rolled up tight, and weighed 75 lbs. It was amazing how much mattress was in an itty bitty bag. But, the DIY slats and mattress adventure ended nicely with my happy tiger sprawled out on a brand new bed. Z-Z-Z-Z-z-z--z-z-zzzzz--zzzzz z z zzzz

Ceramic Fountain in progress

One of the most challenging and exciting things about the CCSA Convention is that Duncan Ceramics presents a huge ceramic showpiece for the charity auction every year.... and this year I get to be part of the iLoveToCreate team that's designing it!

It starts from a brainstorming sketch that the designers collaborate on, and then the ceramic artists get busy. This year we are building a humungus fountain that is covered with ceramic flowers.

I've been scared to death that I'm going to accidentally break a plate and have to start over because they are so delicate. The ceramic artists really came through on these as you can see, I have a flood of flowers covering my design area.

I've been selected to decoupage the column with handmade papers in the background. Some of the papers have teeny little ferns and leaves in them. I love all the saturation of colors.

Each of the 4 sides of the column will represent a different season. Here is the winter side, that will hold the christmas florals. The Collage Pauge has been perfect for placing a coat of glue on the column and then covering the paper with a coat of the matte finish. The empty spots were drawn with pencil around the ceramic pieces and marked with the same code on the bottom of the pieces. You have to be careful not to decoupage where the ceramics will be glued to the wood, otherwise the glue will not hold the heavy pieces. Huge project, huge fun, lots of Collage Pauge Instant Decoupage.

Allee Marderosian gave me a hand on the "Spring" side. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we painted the wood first so the sheer papers would be more vibrant.

I know, I know... it's not finished yet. I just left the studio where I glued hundreds of crystals on the ceramic flowers... whew!

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the rest... yep, what a tease :-)

Inspiria- cirque du CCSA!

Our trade show team has been working their happy butts off this week to prepare for the largest convention of the year for the ceramic arts industry in Kansas City next week. Our booth will showcase the latest in bisque to the attendees of the Contemporary Ceramic Studios Association and also have some pretty snazzy make-it-take-it goodies, too. And the designers on hand will be our very own Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo and Traci Bautista to kick things off to a crafty good time for everyone.

I took these snappy pics of just a teeny few of the massive amount of bisque from our Duncan Ceramics that will be shown in the booth. How exciting! If you own a ceramic arts studio, you won't want to miss it on September 11 - 14th.

Alyson Dias, our Marketing & Communications Director at iLoveToCreate recently got a call inviting the Tulip brand to be a part of New York City's Fashion's Night Out event, and she just posted the announcement on FaceBook today. How exciting and outrageous!

She also announced that... "the ever-fashionable and totally talented Erica Domesek of ps-imadethis is using Tulip Fabric Spray, Tulip Stencils and Tulip T-Shirt Forms in a DIY event at Tia's Place at Grand Central Station in NYC on Sept 10!!!"

Woot-woot!

Fresno Etsy Chicks

What a group! The Fresno Etsy chicks invited me and Kathy Cano Murillo to their meet-up tonight at the Red Robin. We caused quite a stir with Alexa Westerfield who is the amazing blogger at Swell Designer. We swapped bizness cards and discussed the plethora of marketing ideas for designers to get published, licensed, and sell our designs. Kathy gave us some great tips for organized a maker fair and ways to write about crafting. With this core group there are jewelry makers, pet fashionistas, custom costumers, felt makers, knitters, bloggers, and more! I know, I don't have an Etsy Store yet, so they made me an honorary member/craft consultant. Isn't that nice? I really do plan to open a store, seeing how that I have tons, tons, tons of supplies and designs filling up space in my garage. It's time to get busy and jump on the Etsy train.

The Simple Things...

Sometimes it's the simple things that make a difference. Here's the perfect example. Just take a TP cardboard tube, glue some fabric around it, and now you have a grrrrreat cord wrangler!

Bread Dough Jewelry

I've been sitting on the couch, kneading Aleene's® Tacky Glue and white bread together so I can make bread dough jewelry today. Tomorrow morning I am going to be on the KMPH Fox 26 Morning Show here in Fresno, along with Cheryl Ball and Allee Marderosian. We will be on from 6 til 10 a.m. and be demonstrating 10 fun summer crafts.

So, I thought it would be a great time to remind everyone about the easy dough that you can make with glue and bread. The necklace and bracelet in these pics are from my book, The Crafter's Guide to Glue. I made the classic roses and pressed them into fancy shaped paper clips. Then I assembled them with jump rings. The colors came from little drops of acrylic paint. Today I experimented with puffy paint and food coloring. Fun!


Here's the scoop on how to make your...


Aleene's® Tacky Glue & Bread Dough

1. The basic bread dough formula is one slice of bread to one tablespoon of glue.
2. Remove all of the crusts from the number of slices you'll need for your project and tear into small pieces.
3. Put the bread in a plastic bag and pour the appropriate number of tablespoons of glue into the bag (1 piece bread to 1 tablespoon glue). Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it becomes smooth and workable.
4. At first it will be sticky, but keep kneading. Due to differences in climate and moisture in the area, you may need to adjust the ratio of bread to glue.
5. If after 10 minutes the mixture is still too sticky, add more small pieces of bread. If it is too dry or stiff add a few more drops of glue.
6. You can color the dough by adding a few drops of paint to the dough.
7. Roll the dough out on a smooth and clean surface as you would with cookie dough. Use your fingers or cookies cutters to mold and cut shapes.
8. Small projects will take hours to dry, while larger ones could take days.
9. You can store the dough in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator for several months.

Treads and Threads

Supplies:
Bicycle Tire (auto tire, or tennis shoe)
Prewashed Cotton Tee Shirt
Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint (Black Slick)
Newspaper
Clothes Pins
Disposable Brush
Paper Plate

Steps:

1. Place newspaper inside shirt. Hold in place with clothespins.
2. Generously apply paint to the tread of a bicycle tire, the width of the tee shirt, using a disposable brush.
3. Roll the paint covered tire over the tee shirt to stamp with the tread.

Pattie's Pointer:
Boys and girls will both love this funky technique for stamping their tee shirts with tire tread. You can use anything with a tread, such as an automobile tire, or tennis shoes or hiking boots. For a tread-theme decorating idea, you can stamp a lampshade, window shade, and pillows for the teen or tween who loves motocross, cycling, or just loves dirt!

Faux Moustaches

Every once in a while, you meet someone who you have a crafty connection with, and Kelly Georgette is one in a million. I met her in Nashville, and she said that she remembered watching me with her gramma every day at lunchtime when I was a host on Aleene's Creative Living. She was so excited that she was meeting someone that loves to craft as much as she does. Well, as an intern at Simplicity Creative Group, she was our go-to gal. Anything we dreamed up, Kelly could do it. Her quick wit and fast crafts made my work easier in new product development, and she also kept the office happy with her cute outfits and new crafty ideas.

I just love her Kelly Georgette Etsy store and the cute moustaches and decoupage plaques there. If you go buy something from her, tell her Pattiewack sent ya...

Time to make a FOUNTAIN?

Is it time to make a FOUNTAIN for the deck? I know... you thought this was a chiminea didn't you? Well, it was... until I grabbed some heavy duty industrial strength Aleene's® Platinum Bond™ 7800 All-Purpose Adhesive glue and turned it into a fountain with broken china and grout. Be sure and coat the inside of the base with rubber that you brush on, and that you pick up at the local home improvement store, and drill a hole in the chimney for your pump cord to go through.

If you look really close, you'll see a miniature tea set that I added for a touch of whimsey.

After you glue broken china all over; you let the glue dry, you grout it, and then spray with sealer... Add the pump, cover it with broken dishes, and pour in your water.

Now, you're ready to plug it in, serve up some cool drinki-poos and enjoy the soft trickle of your fabulous fountain.

Romance Novel Jewelry

I found some paperback romance books at the antique store in Clovis this weekend, and it reminded me of this pretty necklace I made using the in jet shrink plastic in my online Pattiewack Store. You will just love how fun this is to make, and it's a real conversation starter.

Supplies:
PattieWack Ink Jet Shrink Plastic
Ink-Jet Printer, Scanner, Computer
Romance Novel Book Cover(s)
Hole Punch, Scissors Wooden Tongs
Heat Gun
Clear Embossing Ink, Clear Embossing Powder
1/4 inch Gold Jump Rings
22 Gauge Gold Artistic Wire
Beads
Wire Cutters, Needle-nose Pliers
1/4 Inch Organdy Ribbon (36 inches)

Steps:
1. Scan book cover,reduce color saturation until colors are pastel. Reduce size to 3x2 inches.
2. Print the image with ink-jet printer, onto PattieWack Ink-Jet Shrink Plastic. Let dry.
3. Cut out the image, and punch hole in the center top and center bottom of pendant.
4. Shrink the pendant with a heat gun, holding the pendant still with wooden tongs, and keeping it from curling. Heat until the pendant is flat. Use the tongs to help flatten the pendant.
5. Tap embossing ink gently onto the pendant, then cover with embossing powder. Heat with heat gun to melt the powder. Do not overheat.
6. Add jump rings to top and bottom of pendant. Add wire and beads to the bottom of the pendant.
7. Thread ribbon through the top jump ring to complete necklace.

The Teen Choice Awards!

Our Media Crew is at the Teen Choice Awards tonight, and are giving away swag filled with Tulip Fabric Paint. We've been tweeting all day, and having a blast with all the celebrities

The little girls from Desperate Housewives had so much fun, and didn't get a drop on their dresses.

Click here to follow our TWEETS!

Tiger Beat with Allee Inside!!

Next time you're browsing the magazine rack, check out the latest TIGER BEAT MAGAZINE for Allee Marderosian's new ad spot for iLoveToCreate! Allee designed the vibrant t-shirt with Tulip® Soft Fabric Paint™ and Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint™, then made her creation extra bright with Tulip® Glam-It-Up!™ Iron-On Crystals™.

I snapped this pic right after Alyson Dias, our Marketing Communications Manager dropped off the Tiger Beat mag with Allee's ad in it, and Allee was so excited I thought her cheeks would burst!

Allee is the queen of graffit art and tie dye creations in our design studio. She rocks.

Way to go, Allee!

Let the show BEGIN!

Yes, those are guys in skirts, and BAGPIPES! They circled the building and played the cermonial pipes to start the show last week for the CHA Summer 2009 trade show. If you're not in the know, the CHA stands for Crafts & Hobbies Association. This show features everything from paint and glue to scrapbooking and glitter.

Our show stopper at booth #801 iLoveToCreate, was the Crafty Chica shrine, designed by Kathy Cano Murillo, our star designer of all things glittericious. And Mark Peters was the very first one to poke his head in the shrine and get his crafty shine on. Too funny! We had quite the crafty crowd all through the show, as you just couldn't pass by our booth without poking your head in the shrine for a kodak moment.