I have been wanting to make an ornament to share with viewers, and today I worked on a poinsettia covered styrofoam ball.  I really liked the way it turned out and the video is short, so fast and easy to watch…I used a couple of Stampin’ Up punches on it , but  have been really frustrated by the quality of their punches.  EK Success and Stampin’ Up punches are manufactured by the same company, and both have quality control issues.  I used to really love them, but lately, I have at least four punches that either no longer work, or the closure has popped out of it.  One closure flew across the room and is lost (for now.)  I’m disappointed, because these companies sell their products for a premium, only to find they are defective or stop working..  I wanted to contact EK Success, as their circle punches don’t punch and can’t be closed.  I’m not rough on my punches, and obviously am not aggressive when I use them, so felt the company should know they don’t work.  I can’t find any contact information for EK Success, and that’s really annoying.  I think companies should stand behind their merchandise, so if any of you know a way to contact EK Success, I’d like to do so.  The circle punches are seemingly warped and won’t close or punch.  I punched a circle, and when it should have sprung back open, the punch jammed about halfway open.  I couldn’t get the paper out without tearing it, and the punch is no longer viable.  I would chalk it up to something I must have done to break the punch, until it happened to another circle punch made by them.   Oddly enough, the exact same problem.  I’ve always enjoyed the ease of use with paper punches, but now that the quality has diminished, I doubt I’ll be buying more in the future.  Especially considering how much easier it is to use dies when trying to center punched images vs. dies.  I don’t like to use the blog to do a rant, but sometimes it’s important to get information out there so others know what’s going on with certain companies, and their product quality, or lack thereof.

To make the bag topper, measure the width of your bag, (I got mine at Walmart in the paper product department). The decorated paper I bought was from Hobby Lobby called Christmas Confetti, and I folded a piece in half. After folding it, I cut it the width of my paper bag. I used a 2 1/2″ oval punch from Hobby Lobby and pushed it into the top (folded portion) of the decorated paper and punched out the oval. I used a Creative Memories corner rounder punch and rounded the top corners. Next, I took an edge die and cut the bottom of the paper. By using a shim, I was able to cut through both layers at once. The dies came from a company called Banggood and here’s a link to the border dies. https://tinyurl.com/yaxpurbw The Merry Christmas die came from there as well, but I couldn’t find it on their site to send you there.

After cutting the bottom edge of the topper, I used Versamark ink on the “Merry Christmas” and then put Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder on it and heat set it. I used wet glue to attach it to the bag topper.

My good friend Rebecca, at Rubber Stamp Tapestry, the peg stamp company, sent me some of their Christmas themed stamps and I wanted to share them and use them on this project.
You can find these stamps at http://www.pegstamps.com
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
Poinsettia Flourish
Poinsettia Wreath
Christmas Garland
She also sent me a Christmas mouse stamp, candy cane, Christmas ornament, and Merry Christmas stamps.

I used the Poinsettia Flourish on the gift bag. I stamped the poinsettia in Versamark ink all over the bag, and then used Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Up embossing powder and heat set it. Then I used the leaves from the stamp set, with Versamark ink and then used Ranger Evergreen embossing powder on it and heat set it. I showed a great tip at this point, as when you stamp the leaves, you don’t need to worry about the embossing ruining the poinsettias. All you do, is stamp the leaves, put the embossing powder on them, then take a paint brush and wipe the green embossing powder off of the poinsettias, then heat set them. It’s like when you do masking when you are stamping, only with embossing powder.

After heat setting the green leaves, I used the flourish stamp and stamped it all over the bag and then used the Ranger Princess gold embossing powder and heat set them.

After the bag is finished, fill it with the gifts you’ve chosen (making sure that they aren’t really heavy, as the topper won’t hold up with something that’s heavy). Then place the topper over the bag, once you’ve folded the top over so it’s more secure. The topper should cover the bag up to the oval cut out, but not visible through it. Staple or use a clothespin to keep it closed.

I had lunch with a girlfriend today and when I got home, I started thinking about not being able to make the charm dangle yesterday.  It really has been bothering me that I gave up so quickly on something I thought I should be able to do.  When I got home, I immediately went into the craft room and started tinkering around with jewelry.  What I discovered is this.  I can make a charm dangle, as long as I use existing jewelry to begin with.  I took apart a bracelet and used the clasp, then started attaching things to it.  I’m not sure if it’s what my viewer was looking for, but I’m proud to say that I finished the project and it doesn’t look half bad.

I was so inspired, I thought I’d get serious and make something else, so I made a bunch more bookmarks and started on a Christmas ornament video for tomorrow.  I painted a styrofoam ball and had to wait for the paint to dry before proceeding.  It took forever to dry, and in the meantime, I lost the will to continue.  It gives me a good starting point for tomorrow.  I’m also going to work on a bunch of cards.  I need to get serious about Christmas cards, as people expect me to make them, and I’m not really focused on it yet.  I think I’ll get focused mid-January…Is that too late?

I really wanted to try to make a jewelry dangle to attach to a key chain, as I had a request for one from a viewer.  I have watched people make jewelry so many times and I thought, “With a couple pairs of pliers, I could easily bend wire.”  Not so much.  I bent it once, and then everything fell apart.  The dangle spun, the wire fought me, and long story short, I won’t be making any jewelry on a video any time soon.  I know you probably find that shocking, OK, you probably thought, “anybody looking at your hands would know you can’t twist wire,” and you’d be right.  There are so many times when I convince myself that I can do things, especially something as simple as bending a wire, only to discover I can’t.  And the funny part is, it always surprises me when I can’t.

So today I’m back to card making, because that’s one area I’m pretty sure I can handle.  I’m still a little bit disappointed in the whole wire bending incident, but I’ll get over it.  I’ll just chock it up to “at least I tried.”

I want to make a couple of cards that will be fun folds as well as a couple of pretty ornate cards.  So I’m putting away the jewelry, and getting out the paper products.  Did you know, paper is easier to bend than wire?  Just thought I’d give you a heads up about it.

I was asked by a viewer named Amanda if I could duplicate Heidi Swapp’s Color Shine and I thought I’d give it a try. I wanted to make a faux Wink of Stella as well. I use two techniques for Wink of Stella.

To make the faux Heidi Swapp Color Shine, I used a small spray bottle that was a travel size hair spray that I cleaned. I forgot to mention this in the video, but you need to cut the tube inside the spray bottle so that it’s not touching the bottom of the bottle and it should be cut on a diagonal so more product can get into the tube and it doesn’t clog from the mica powder in the LA Colors eye shadow.

Fill 1/4 of the bottle with water
1/4 of the bottle with alcohol, any % is fine
1/4 of the bottle with craft paint that matches your MICA
Start with 1/4 tsp. of LA Colors eye shadow that matches the color of paint you used.
You need a small marble that you can buy in the floral section of a craft store. It should be smaller than a normal size marble.
Put all ingredients in your spray bottle and make sure you shake it a lot . Test it and if there’s not enough sparkle, add more eye shadow. I’d add 1/4 tsp at a time to ensure you don’t add too much.

Faux Wink of Stella–I did not use a water brush, as I think this works better by using a simple paint brush…Sometimes it clogs a water brush, so I don’t like using it in one with my faux Wink of Stella.

1. Take LA Colors Eye Shadow in the pot and remove the bottom, put the contents into a sealed container.

Using another small sealed containerl, spray about 15-20 sprays of water into the container.
Add 1/8 tsp. of LA Colors Eye Shadow and stir well. For a binding ingredient, use 1/8 tsp of Gum Arabic (buy it in the art department of any craft store) and sprinkle it over the top as it’s hard to stir in otherwise. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Use a paint brush to test it…If it’s too sparkly, add more water, and if it’s not sparkly enough, add more LA Colors eye shadow. You can change your Wink of Stella color, just change the color of the eye shadow you use. I found the LA Colors at the Dollar Tree.

2nd option
Use Liquitex Iridescent Medium that you can buy in the art department of Michaels or AC Moore. Use one or two small blobs in a small sealed container and add 15-20 sprays of water from a water bottle. Stir well, and test. If it’s too sparkly, add more water. If it’s not sparkly enough, add another drop of the Iridescent Medium.

You know you’re getting old when you think you just wrote in the blog yesterday, when it was actually two days ago.  I’m getting senile, I’m pretty sure of it.  Made two videos yesterday and had a great time doing it.  Today, I’m doing two more.  I had a viewer ask if something was wrong that I haven’t been putting up many videos.  I think I’m forgetting how long it is between videos.  They’re done, I just have to remind Rich to put them up.  I have videos that are so old, they date back to the beginning of October…Are they up?  No, because I keep thinking people want to see fall/Christmas type videos, so I’m putting the others on the back burner until January when I won’t have any new or different ideas.  Ok, these aren’t new or different, but I still need to wait until after the holidays when I’ll be hard pressed for ideas.  This time of year I can make a video a minute with card ideas and albums, ornaments, etc., but after the new year, I have no ideas, and that’s when I need to say things for.

I need to get busy and make today’s videos.  I’m shooting for easy and quick, because this time of year people need easy and quick crafts to do.  I’m on it.  It’s bookmark and refrigerator magnet and decorated clothespins….Videos for everyone, Yay!

You’ll need a plastic container or aluminum (disposable) pan that is larger than your card stock and has at least 1″ tall sides. I cut my card stock to 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ and 6″ square and 5 x 7″. I would suggest using 65 pound card stock as it doesn’t need to be watercolor paper and heavy weight card stock would be expensive, and you might discard some of your results, so the cheaper the paper, the better.
I also used an old hotel key card, you can use an old credit card, or a gift card that has no balance left. I also used a hair pick, but a comb works well too. You can use a skewer too.

1. Men’s shaving cream from the Dollar Tree and food coloring. Take your shave cream and cover the bottom of the container you are using and using food coloring, place drops of different colors into the shave cream. Using your comb, spread the food coloring around in the shave cream. Once you like the pattern you’ve created, place your card stock face down into the shave cream, pressing it in until the face is covered. Gently lift it up and if you have areas that aren’t covered, push it back into the shave cream. Once all of the card stock is covered with shave cream, lay it on a craft mat or old newspaper or kid’s drawing pad (that’s what I used), and take your credit card (gift card, key card) and scrape the shaving cream off of the card stock and wipe the excess onto the side of the pan you are using for shave cream. Once you’ve scraped all of the foam off, set the card stock aside to dry. You’ll need to keep adding food coloring as your backgrounds will get lighter with each round of use. You’ll also need to change out your shaving cream with multiple uses, as it will start to blend the colors to a ugly brown. Clean your pan once done with soapy water.
2. Kit from Dollar Tree called “Marbling Kit” found in kid’s toy department. Fill your pan with about 1/2″ of water, and drop a lot of your colors into it from the kit. These colors will really dull, so use more than you think you will need. You’ll need to add more colors with each use. Drop your card stock into the pan face down and make sure the face is completely submerged in the water. Pick it out of the water and let it dry.
3. Marbling Kit from Michaels…I don’t recommend this kit as it was really expensive on clearance and the container included is really low grade. I used the magic powder that was included and then added the colors, then dipped my card stock into it. You might want to try a pack of gelatin to make the water thicker, and the magic powder did seem to make the water thicker like gelatin would. It did say you should use only 8 oz of water in the pan. Pour the colors into the water and use more than you will think you need and move the colors around with a comb or skewer and then place card stock face down then remove and let dry.
4. Nail Polish. Definitely use a container that you can discard, as the nail polish sticks to the container. Add about 1/4-1/2″ water to the bottom of your container then pour some different colors of nail polish into it. Add your card stock and lift gently. The nail polish will pool so you have to be careful to avoid big globs of polish on your card stock. Move the nail polish around with a skewer or tooth pick. It smells, so you should open a window when you are doing this one. Put the card stock face down in the container. and gently pick it back up.
5. Alcohol Inks in water–fill your container with 1/4″ water and put drops of alcohol inks into water in a variety of colors. It is pale, so I put drops of alcohol ink right onto our card stock to make droplets.
6. Marbles in a closed container. Use an old Stampin’ Up stamp box or a Rubbermaid plastic container…Put a small amount of tape runner on the back of your card stock. Place the card stock inside the lid of a plastic container with 5-6 marbles. Put a few drops of re inker in the bottom of the box, close it and tilt the box back and forth to cover the marbles, then flip it over so the marbles make contact with the card stock. You can use any reinkers or using your small ink pads, press them into the bottom and try that as well. Anything that allows the marbles to color the paper, would work.

I got a request from a viewer to make a video showing how to make a Heidi Swapp iridescent paint.  So I figured, why not?  I should try to make it and while I’m doing that, I should also make some Wink of Stella.  I always love trying to replicate a product, and helping others save money at the same time.  I made the paint and think it came out close to the real thing…here’s the funny thing..I didn’t know I already had a bottle of the Heidi Swapp paint, so could compare what I made to the original.  I know what Wink of Stella looks like, so that wasn’t hard to duplicate.

I finished the video and hope people will give one or both a try.  I guess this is my DIY weekend, since yesterday was all about marble techniques.

I should also tell you that I’ve tried really hard not to buy a lot of crafty things on cyber weekend, and it’s been a struggle.  I keep telling myself I don’t need anything and that if I buy one more thing, I’m a certified crafty hoarder.  OK, so there’s a good chance that I actually am a crafty hoarder, and I’ll let you know tomorrow night how I fared with not buying anything…It’s not looking good.

I thought I’d buy myself one stamp set that I’ve been looking at, and today was the day.  I’ve been trying to go onto Simon Says Stamp for at least six hours and their website is down.  I’ve got to wonder, how much traffic would it take to bring down a site like theirs?  Six hours is my maximum commitment, so I’ve decided to kick this stamp set ot the curb.  It’s not like I need it anyway, but since their sale ends tonight, I thought I’d buy it.

I made a video today showing different ways to make paper look like it’s got a marble finish.  I tried using the word “marbilized,” but that wasn’t correct, so went with “marble finish” instead.  I had a really good time with the different techniques, and think the video will go over well.  It’s always fun to show a technique that’s simple and also, one that can be done in a variety of manners.  I think I show six different ways to make paper have a marble finish.  Geez, what’s the correct way to say that?  I think I’m losing my mind.  It’s probably something really simple, and I need to figure out the proper terminology before I put the video up.  It’s going to look really foolish if I call it marble finish…It won’t be the first or last time I’ve looked foolish, but I’d prefer not to, if I can avoid it.

I think I was a little bit brain-dead when I wrote the last post, as I talked about how I got up at 11AM, and that was today, not yesterday.  It would be funny if I had gotten up at 11 on Thanksgiving, as my meal for 1PM might not have gone off as scheduled.  And one of our guests arrived at 10AM, so I would have slept through an hour of her visit.  So I apologize for my misrepresentation of the day.

I’m off to a great start.

When we were getting the house in order for our company, I did something really stupid.  Anything I found that I didn’t know what to do with, I threw into my craft room.  It had been really starting to look better, and now it’s back to crazy messy.  I’d like to say that there’s going to be a time in the near (or distant) future, where that room doesn’t look just terrible, but it’s looking bad.

I wanted to do a video today, but honestly, I’m still exhausted from entertaining.  I always love people who say they love to entertain, but I’m not one of them, and I kind of think those people might just be lying about it.  I fret that I’ll forget to do something, or will burn something or the meal will be cold, you name it, I fret about it.  So by the time the guests leave, I am too exhausted to think about anything.  And obviously, 14 hours of sleep didn’t make it any better, as I’m thinking about taking a nap.  It’s almost 4PM, so I’ve been out of bed for roughly five hours, and still, I’d like to sleep some more.  So those of you who love to entertain, I really need your secret.  How do you do it?  I need to know.  Or is it all just smoke and mirrors, and you secretly dread it too?