Mary Queen of Scots (Pendant)

This month from Sakura Craft, we got to play with these cool deep dish pendants. It's about 1/4" deep. I couldn't wait to layer "found objects" in . . .

This image, that reminded me of Mary Queen of Scots in her younger years - standing on the cliffs of Scotland, is from the ART-C Vintage Ladies collection. My mom had sent me these random charms. So, I played around with crowning my queen.

Cutting to fit the image in the pendant was a bit of a challenge, I ended up taking a bit too much off the top; however, you really cannot tell in the final result After using Crystal Lacquer to glue the image down, I covered it with a layer of additional lacquer.

After drying 24 hours, I put in the fleur de lis and the crown and poured in more crystal lacquer to cover the fleur de lis and leave the crown exposed.

When I was removing the crown charm from the original chain, the piece on top broke off, so it felt a bit incomplete. The star on the top is actually a bail, upside down. Again, I used more crystal lacquer to keep it in place.

The funky legs in the original plan didn't get included; I felt they really weren't necessary to complete the piece. It was then put onto a ball-and-chain necklace.

Have fun creating!

Heather Morrow

P.S. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the live you've imagined." -Thoreau

Creative Souls Retreat

Karen Myers from Kat Scrap Studio and I are hosting a Creative Souls Retreat at the Pali Mountain Camp Site in the San Bernardino Mountains the weekend of September 9. This civilized camping includes cabins that are a higher caliber than Motel 6, so I think I will survive.



In putting together this retreat, Karen and I wanted to create an environment where our guests could explore their own creativity in a safe setting far away from the interruptions of daily life. We know how it is when you get a great idea for a project (scrapbook, painting, etc.) and then you get interrupted before you can put it all together. We've been there and have plenty of UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) to show for it.

To learn more about the retreat, click here. There is a fun video, so even if you are not interested in the retreat, I recommend checking out the video.

We've got a lot of cool workshops and demo-nars planned, so even if you are feeling a bit disconnected from your own Creative Soul, we promise you won't feel the same way when you return from the Retreat.

The early bird pricing on the Creative Souls Retreat is only being offered until June 17, and also if you are one of the first 35 registered, you will be entered in a special drawing. See the www.creativesoulsretreat.com website for more details.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Keeping It Simple

This week, I kept things very simple; however, I have included a bonus project.

I had very few pieces of the Sakura Glass Tiles left; however, I wanted to try stamping on the back of one. I used this small butterfly stamp and StazOn Ink. It was a bit of a challenge to photograph.
I liked how the piece looked against this light pink background (almost translucent), so I glued it down using the 3D Crystal Lacquer. I glued it first and then cut around the edges after it had dried.

To turn it into a pendant, I used the Crystal Lacquer to attach this darling Heart Bail. I also covered the back with a thick layer of the Crystal Lacquer - to protect the paper from future damage. The ball chain is also from Sakura Craft.

And that's it! Pretty simple. And here is your bonus item.

Several weeks ago when we were playing with the round jewelry findings, I filled one with the Red Crystal Lacquer. Once it dried, I stamped on top of it and then filled the finding with a thick layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer.

I was trying to fit this round piece in something else and it wouldn't fit. When I was sorting through stuff for my garage sale, I found this key and knew it would be the perfect match.

I have strung it on a waxed cord and added a small decorative bead at the top.

Keep on exploring your own Creative Soul.

Heather Morrow

Clowning Around, Part Duex

Okay, I'll admit that I am a bit enamored with the Graphic 45 Le Cirque Collection; however, when I started the project - I intended for it to be more of a sliding puzzle - where you move the boxes around to create or jumble up an image. I had been sent these glass tiles along with jewelry findings to create my latest Design Team project from Sakura Craft.

I was on the hunt for a small box and found this in my basket of scraps. It was packaging from some sort of device - I don't remember, but now I had a box and the tiles puzzle idea was evolving as I started thinking outside the box in order to create "Controlled Mayhem to Dazzle & Delight."

I started by covering the box in the LeCirque Collection paper. I tried to match up images where I could, as I turned the corners. To glue the pieces down to the box, I used Clear 3D Crystal Lacquer.

I then used the 3D Crystal Lacquer to glue the different sizes of glass tiles to the tag images.

After the Crystal Lacquer had dried, I used trimming scissors to cut closely around the edges of the tiles.

Then the fun part -- creating a layout in the box that told a story. I placed everything in position before I began gluing the pieces or using pop-dots to secure them to the box.

The final product hanging on my dining room wall. The tag hanging on the ring was a last minute whimsical addition.

I really enjoyed putting this project together --as it continued to evolve from what I had originally envisioned. The glass tiles are very easy to work with; however, if you get too much 3D Crystal Lacquer on the tile, it can slide off your image. Less is definitely more in this case.

Have fun creating!

Transformations

I found this 16" x 20" print for free at the farewell party of Gallery at the End of the World in Altadena. I was not really attracted to the print other than I through the blues and greens would match the Metallic & Pearl Color 3D Crystal Lacquer I had waiting at home -- ready for a project to manifest.

Below are some close up details of the print - before I applied the Crystal Lacquer.

Here is the 3D Crystal Lacquer package with the print. The green is a dead on match and I had a dark pearl blue 3D Crystal Lacquer from another set.

I failed to take a picture of the print with the lacquer applied; however, I quickly realized it could not stay on the flat background. It was just blah, so I cut out the pieces and looked for a small canvas. I found an 8" x 10" canvas in my garage which I then spray painted black and coated with a glitter glaze.

I decided that the blue flourish would represent the sky and the green, the earth. I placed the sunflower between. The composition still needed something, so I added a ScrapFX Chipboard Flutterby which I coated with Bronze Crystal Lacquer.

After applying the lacquer and letting it dry, I glued the butterfly to the canvas.

After the glue was set, I filled in the butterfly wings with the 3D Crystal Lacquer. I did have to use a toothpick to move the lacquer into the smaller wing areas.

The green glitter button in the center of the flower was a last minute addition. I was cleaning out something and found the button. I started to toss it into the scrappy pile (yes, I have one) and then realized it was the same size as the center of the flower.

A final tip - on the petals of the flower, I squeezed the lacquer from the base and pulled it towards the edge releasing the pressure on the tube. This is what created the nice even look on the petals.

Have fun creating!

Clowning Around

I had a few sheets of Graphic 45 scrapbooking paper that I was wanting to play with. It was from their Le Cirque Collection.

I used the rectangular jewelry finding to figure out which image worked best out of the sheet of Circus themed tags. The running clown caught my fancy, so I carefully cut the front part of his body out of the tag and glued it into the finding.

Tip: You want to make sure that you put a little Crystal Lacquer under the image, to hold it in place. If you do not, the moisture in the Crystal Lacquer applied on top will float the edges of the paper up.

I covered the image with Crystal Lacquer and set it aside to dry. As I was cleaning up, I realized that the second half of the image would also fit in the rectangular jewelry finding (and it was pretty), so I repeated the same steps and also used another image from the same sheet in a round jewelry finding.

I did not really intend for their to be two halves of the clown; however, once they dried, I realized that I had a match and I knew they had to be put together as one jewelry piece.

I used Crystal Lacquer to glue the pieces together and then filled the findings to almost overflowing with additional Crystal Lacquer.

Once it was completly dried, I tied knots on the ends of two black waxed cord and then tied them together with an adjustable slip knot at the top.

Very easy to create a unique piece of jewelry that people will notice.

Coloring Within the Lines

At the Borders in Pasadena, which is closing, I found a book called "The Great Big Book of Designs -- an Inspirational Source Book" It is filled with pages upon pages of line art - perfect for coloring. I looked for the image that most inspired me to color and photocopied it on my HP Photosmart Printer.

I truly love coloring in images -- I think it reconnects me to my inner child that would be perfectly content to color all day, every day. And, I've recently discovered Copic markers. So, I colored in my image and then because this was a Sakura Design Team project, I went back over the Copic colors with complimentary 3D Crystal Lacquer from the Country Color Set.

I quickly realized I needed a color chart, so I put one in the corner of the page. Copic color, copic color with color crystal lacquer and then the color crystal lacquer by itself. It's hard to see in these pictures, but the color crystal lacquer really makes the Copic colors pop.

Here are the colors I used . . . from the top right

Blue Berry (BV04) Copic/Country Blue 3D Crystal Lacquer

Amethyst (V17) Copic/Berry 3D Crystal Lacquer

Buttercup Yellow (Y21) Copic/Ivory 3D Crystal Lacquer

Mignonette (YG11) Copic/Jade Green 3D Crystal Lacquer

top left

Pea Green (YG63) Copic/Moss Green 3D Crystal Lacquer

Cardinal (R59) Copic/Country Red 3D Crystal Lacquer

I didn't run a test on the Black Copic, but I used regular 3D Crystal Lacquer on the centers of the yellow flowers.

My favorite combined color was the Cardinal Red Copic and Country Red Crystal Lacquer. The photo doesn't do it justice. It really pops off the page.

I did okay coloring within the lines with the Copics and the Crystal Lacquers do sit where you place them; however, my hand was a little less steady, as I was not able to rest my wrist on the page because it was wet.

So, what to do when the Crystal Lacquer goes outside the lines? Use your fingernail to scrape it off the page, right after the mistake happens. It will not even leave a color residue.

Get out your color pens, pencils, etc and start coloring within the lines and accenting your piece with 3D Crystal Lacquer.