Make your own glittered shapes

I've been buying lots of glittered paper for a couple of projects.  I have found many different types and each has advantages and disadvantages.   Many people are reluctant to cut glittered paper in their electronic machines but I have had good luck with any type of paper that has the glittered embedded in the manufacturing process.  I don't cut glittered paper in the machine if I can rub the glitter off with my hand.

One alternative to cutting glittered paper in your machine is to simply cut the shape you want from regular cardstock and then turn it into a glittered shape.  I like to do this with Versamark ink and embossing powder.  Different combinations of paper, ink and embossing powder will give different results.  The main thing to be careful about is to avoid overheating the embossed shape. 

You can turn the most basic white cardstock into something special with a little embossing magic.  If you'd like to see the step-by-step photos and directions, please click HERE to visit the post I made last year.

Another way to add glitter to a shape is to run the cut image through a Xyron machine (if it is a word be sure to do it so the adhesive will be on the top) and then add some fine glitter.  If  you burnish it into the adhesive it should be pretty stable.   If you just want to add straight lines of glitter, you can use Scor-Tape and add the glitter.  A very old post that shows this method is HERE (and I still have not gotten around to buying the large sheet of Scor-Tape or red liner adhesive to try glittering a larger and more intricate shape).

Thank you for the prayers and good wishes for my Dad.  MizMaryAnn mentioned sending cards for him - what a nice thought.  If you have the time or have a spare card on hand that would be lovely.  I don't want to post his address here, but if you'd like to send a birthday card (his birthday is on the 17th) or a "feel better - thinking of you" card he'd probably enjoy getting more mail than usual.  You can email me at capadiadesigns@gmail.com for the address.  Cards with tractors, covered bridges or cows would be great or anything with a funny, punny sort of humor (you know - the ones that are "as old as Moses' toes and twice as corny!").  

I hope you have a nice weekend.  I hope to share some of my glittered paper projects tomorrow.  I took a spill down some stairs on Thursday and hit my head, elbow and toe pretty hard.  It started to hurt a lot more on Friday so I had to take things pretty slow.

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Snow Day - and a little Valentine project

Happy Thursday - it is the next to last day of my time as Guest Designer at Everyday Cricut.   If you have arrived from the Everyday Cricut blog welcome!  If you are visiting my blog for the first time, I hope you will find lots of interesting and helpful information.  At the top of the right column you can click to subscribe by email or follow this blog if you want to keep up with my projects and tutorials. It has been a very busy week and I have so many more Valentine's projects on the go - I hope you will continue to visit my blog to see them in the coming weeks.

Today on the Everyday Cricut blog I posted another card...

...and a cupcake holder - both made with the Ornamental Iron cartridge.

I have a tiny pink tree that I will be decorating for Valentine's Day.  Last year, I saw these heart shaped ornaments at Michael's and picked them up to make some new decorations for my tree.  I used the "floor wax" method to make glitter ornaments.  These have been very popular and many of you probably know how to make these and have made some of your own.

If you are not familiar with the process you can read more about it at THIS POST.  It is fun and easy to do and the effect is magical!   I first heard about these from Joy and I have made many ornaments in the past two years.

I used two different shades of Martha Stewart glitter - the red is Garnet and the pink is Tourmaline.  The heart ornaments are fairly small and don't take as much glitter as the large ones I did for Christmas.

I cut the words "adore" and "love" from the Home Decor cartridge at one inch.  I used white "Wall-pops" vinyl and kiss cut it with the settings blade 4, medium pressure and medium speed.  You do not need the deep cut blade to cut vinyl - it actually cuts more easily than paper.

The words are very thin so the vinyl will easily wrap around the ornament and stay smoothly adhered with no bumps or bubbles.

I may add a few more words to the variety of hearts.  These ornaments just need a little dressing up to be ready for the tree.

When you make these ornaments it is a good idea to save the boxes they come in so you can pack them away safely.  All of the ornaments I have made are still looking great with no loss of glitter noticeable.

I am hoping to have a chance later today to record some video lessons on how to make a few of the projects I have been sharing this week.  It has been a very busy week and today we had the distraction of the huge snowstorm!  Fortunately we didn't lose power.  I hope you haven't had problems with the storms.

The TV weather map tonight was something to see - white nearly everywhere.  There is snow on the ground of every State in the lower 48 except Florida - now that's unusual!

The snow was wet and sticky on the side of the house.

The outdoor tress are buried halfway and the strands of lights on the deck are partly under the snow.

 You can just barely see the tip of the candy cane that marks our front walkway.

There are walls lining the paths through the snow - about 16-18 inches deep here.

 Fortunately we have a snowblower and my husband is an expert at clearing our paths and driveway.

The snow is piled high on the deck railings and clinging to the trees.

As long as we are safe and warm inside it is fun to see the changes this amount of snow brings.  I am planning to stay inside as much as I can and hope to spend most of the day crafting!

Have a great day and be sure to check back to see if I have posted any of the videos.  I have a few more things to finish up for tomorrow - one of them is very tasty!  I'll also have a little surprise to tell you about to finish out the week of Guest Designing on Everyday Cricut and I think you will like it!


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Not just for cupcakes....

When I first got Sweet Treats at Michael's and brought it home to explore, I was a bit disappointed in the contents.  I was particularly bothered by the repetition of some of the shapes which make this "full" cartridge much less full than many others (such as A Child's Year which is packed with content!).  Here is a LINK to my review of the cartridge with photos of the complete handbook.

I have been working with the cartridge a bit more - first I started making alterations to the basic cupcake holder in Design Studio, as in this example (here is  a LINK to that post).  I have a few more ideas up my sleeve but I haven't had time to try them out just yet.

Tonight I had my book group meeting and I wanted to take a glitter ornament to everyone as a token holiday gift.  I made the ornaments last week but I needed to contain them somehow.  After driving all day to get home from New Jersey, I didn't have much time to get ready.  The heart cutout cupcake holder was sitting on my table and I discovered it was a good size to hold a small glass ornament.  So I cut some holders using one of the glossy papers from the DCWV Taj Mahal stack.  The design coordinated nicely with the flocked brocade ribbon I used on the ornaments.  I cut the holders at 5 1/2 inches - and I didn't even use Design Studio to do it!

I added some tissue paper to nestle the ornaments into the holders and they fit very nicely.  These were the small size ornaments (55 mm).  My book group friends could hardly believe it when I told them how the ornaments were made (if you missed it - here is a LINK to that post).

I didn't have time to do the video about the snowflakes - sorry to postpone that again but I will get to it soon.  I have a few more photos to share of the decorations I have been putting up - these went up before I left for New Jersey.  This little tree is in my kitchen.  For seven years I decorated Christmas trees for an annual event at our local museum.  Volunteers decorate Christmas trees inspired by children's books.  Some day I will share photos of all the trees I did over the years.

This little tree has some of the decorations from a large tree I did with a friend for a book about Fanny Farmer.  The eggs are real (emptied) and there are baking tools and a garland of candy molds and netting.  If you look behind the tree you can see the opening between our kitchen and family room,  My husband took down the wall and built these half walls and columns.  It really makes a difference when we have a lot of family and friends over.

When we lived in England, I used to go to an auction at Ascot - actually in one of the buildings at the famous racetrack.  They often had crystal pieces at very good estimated prices.  I was lucky enough to get one of these compotes and then a few months later there was another one up for auction so I have a pair.  (I think they were overstock from a crystal shop).  Now, every year I fill them with red and green glass balls - they sit on the two half walls between the side wall and the columns and add a lot of sparkle to the room!

I still have lots to do to finish decorating - but I enjoy the process of transforming each room.  I just need to stay home more to get it done!  I hope your holiday preparations are going well.

Don't miss the chance to enter the giveaway for the EZ View Desktop - the deadline is 11:59 p.m. tomorrow (Friday).  Here is a LINK to the post with all the details - you must leave your comments and contact information on that post to be included in the giveaway.  Please let your friends know about this and encourage them to visit The Original Scrapbox site to help generate enough visits to have an EZ View Desk donated to charity - Thanks and Good Luck!

Glitter, glitter, everywhere!

Last week my friend Joy (known as HappyHappyJoyJoy) shared a great idea on her Christmas with the Cricut blog.  Joy, Tammy and Melanie have a terrific blog with all sorts of wonderful ideas and projects and lots of giveaways - if you have not seen it here is a LINK - be prepared to spend hours there!

Joy found a fantastic idea for making glitter ornaments and made a video with her daughter.  Here is a LINK to the post about the ornaments.  Her daughter is so cute and does a great job demonstrating.  I couldn't wait to give this a try - I went out and bought the "secret ingredient" the next morning.

Believe it or not, you will need a bottle of floor finish to make these.  Watch Joy's video for the super simple directions.  I want to share some of the experiments I tried and show you the results.

I made some ornaments right away and today my neighbor came over for a glitter playdate!  We had lots of fun and made a lot of ornaments.  If you have a Michael's nearby, the glass ornaments are half price this week.  They come in various sizes - the smaller sizes have more ornaments per box.  I had some on hand and bought some more (and may even go back to stock up - these are so much fun to do!).

Nancy used traditional red, green and gold for her ornaments.  I had done some of these a few days ago and today I tried some other ideas.

First I tried some coarse glitter - the same glitter I used for the "snow"cards I shared recently (here is a LINK).  It does not stick nearly as well as the fine glitter and I ended up with a mess!  I dumped out the glitter that wasn't sticking and added a couple of colors of glitter to fill in all the gaps - red and green on one and red and blue on another.  The multi-color effect is very pretty but it is difficult to get a nice mixture with smaller areas of color.  It works best to just add a bit of glitter at a time and to try to send it in several directions as you pour it into the ornaments.

Next I tried some fine glitter with a iridescent crystal effect.  The lighter color glitter was tricky because the gaps or thin areas are much more noticeable.  On the first one (left side) there were so many gaps that I tried adding additional colors again - both red and green.  It is hard to get a good photo but the end result was pretty.  The ornament on the right has only the crystal glitter and there are some thin spots but they are not extreme.

Then I got the bright idea to try adding more floor finish to "recoat" the thin areas.  I may not have waited long enough for the first layer to dry - or the newly added finish may always dilute the existing layer.  At any rate, I poured out the extra floor finish and a lot of the crystal glitter slid out in chunks creating a mottled look.  It was thicker at the hole as the glitter drained out.  I then added some fine green glitter to fill in all of the gaps.  I think this one looks like it has a snow topping.

These two ornaments were made using glitter I got on sale last fall after the Halloween items were marked down.  The colors actually work well for Christmas so check to see if there is any "fall" glitter in your local stores.  I saw it marked down 90% this year - a great bargain!

The first color is "cinnabar" which is actually a sort of mixture of red and silver/gold.  It makes me think of candy canes.

The second color is "fire opal" which is a coppery orange and will blend nicely with many holiday color schemes.  It has a golden look and would look great with a bright chartreuse shade of green.

Here are all of the different colors and variations I have tried so far.  They are just so pretty even without any ribbons or decorations added to the top of the glass.  You can do lots of personalization and these would make great gifts.

I don't recommend reusing the glitter too many times as you fill each ornament and tap out the excess.  The glitter tends to soak up some of the finish and form "globs" (but you might be able to use these in another project).

While I was busy with glitter, I decided to try another idea that I had a few days ago.  I took a piece of clear packing tape and stretched it across a couple of paper towels, sticky side up.  I taped the large piece to the counter on both ends and then dumped a lot of glitter on the tape.  I used my fingers to spread it around and to make sure the entire surfaced was covered.

Even though the tape is covered in glitter it is still somewhat transparent.  Next time I do this I'll use a large piece of smooth paper - it is difficult to collect the excess glitter from a paper towel.

Finally, I stretched the glittered package tape, glitter side up along the counter and taped the ends down with regular tape.  Then I carefully placed another strip of packing tape on top of the glittered tape.  It is tricky to get the two perfectly aligned - it might be good to do this with a helper.

So why did I want to do this?  My idea was that I could use the tape to punch out shapes to use for embellishments.  I first tried a large simple heart shaped punch - it punched easily so I decided to try a more complicated and delicate design.  The stars with the thin rays at the top of this photo also punched easily.

I have some more ideas on how to use this glittered tape - I hope to share a few of the projects I have in mind soon.  In the meanwhile, I think you would really enjoy making these ornaments.  The supplies are not too expensive - the floor finish was about $6 and that bottle will last for many, many ornaments!  The glitter and plain glass ornaments can probably be found on sale or purchased with a coupon.  Inexpensive, quick and pretty - a great project!  Many thanks to Joy for finding it and sharing the information.

Leaf Glitter Card

I experimented a bit more with the bookcover material and glitter - this time I used the fine Martha Stewart glitter.  (If you missed the "Snow" cards I made here is a LINK to that post).

I created a .cut file using the Doodlecharms cartridge for the leafy card topper.  I needed to trace the topper and trim the bookcover material to match the scalloped shape.  (I probably should have created a blackout version of my design to cut on the Cricut).

After cutting out the shape with scissors, I applied it to the back of the card topper with leaf and dot cuts.  It is best to align one side and then carefully peel the backing away bit by bit as you smooth it to the paper.

I used this Martha Stewart glitter in "fire opal.  This glitter is very fine and powdery and I made a big mess with it.  I noticed today that I still have glitter on my shoes and I made the card several days ago!

I poured the glitter on the front of the topper so the glitter could settle into the sticky openings. I tapped off the excess glitter but with this type of glitter there is a lot of fine dust and I had to do a lot of brushing with a dry paintbrush to get the excess off the paper.

In this photo where I am holding the topper up to a light, you can see that the glitter did adhere to the book cover material but the coverage was not as even as I would like.  There was a tendency for it to pool at the edges.  The coarse glitter that I used on the snow card was better suited to this method.

The card topper did end up nice and sparkly - the colors are a bit odd and did not photograph well but the muted paper makes an interesting contrast with the glitter.  I could just use this as a simple note card but I may add something to it.  Right now it is in the "thinking about it" stack of projects on my island....

There was some talk that we might have snow here today but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.  I went on an IKEA excursion with my neighbor and I found all sorts of interesting things that will start showing up in my projects.  A trip to IKEA is always a lot of fun - it is a store full of things I never knew I "needed" until I got there!