Blast from the past: "Don't give up your daydream" glittery unicorn pegasus sign

Another blast from the past: this glittery unicorn pegasus sign. I have this on top of one of the bookshelves in my bedroom - it's so pretty and sparkly!

You'll need a piece of wood or canvas for this project; I used a 7cm x 38cm piece of plywood because that's what I had in my stash ^___^ The first step is to paint it pink!

 

I have a stencil pack from Typo which includes this unicorn pegasus; if you don't have a stencil you could make one by cutting out the shape with a scalpel from a thin piece of plastic like a transparency sheet. I used an old paintbrush to spread mod podge over the stencil; I did it a bit thick though so I'd recommend trying for a thinner layer.
 

Then you can cover it with glitter! Yay!  Pro tip: shake the excess glitter off onto a piece of paper with a fold through the middle. This makes it a lot easier to return the leftover glitter back to the jar.
 

While you wait for your mod podge to dry, use a ruler and washi tape to make guidelines for your words.
 

Use the washi tape to guide where you place the base of your letters; the ones I used are called "thickers" and are by American Crafts. When I'm using letter stickers, I find writing out the phrase and then counting to determine which letter is in the middle of the line makes placement a little easier.

Carefully remove your stencil when the mod podge is mostly dry but still a little tacky (this will also make it easier to clean off your stencil!). Leave it to dry completely and tap off the excess glitter again. After this, you will probably still have loose glitter around your unicorn. Glitter is almost impossible to get rid of completely, so instead of trying to remove every speck of it, make it a feature! I used my dry paintbrush to brush little flecks of glitter all over my sign. Then you can use spray varnish to seal your sign and leave it to dry.

Most of the signs and canvases in my house just lean against the wall (mostly because I hate drilling holes to hang things!) but you can add a hanger with a couple of nails and a piece of wire.
 

 

 

 

I don't normally go for inspirational or motivational artworks, but I really like this one! Do you have a favourite inspirational quote? And would it be improved with the addition of a glittery unicorn? I think we both know the answer to that one ~___^

- Lisa xx

Three Addams Family crafts

Hello! Do you like the Addams Family? I really hope you said yes, because today I've got three easy and quick crafts inspired by our favourite creepy family to show you! I didn't watch heaps of TV or movies growing up, but the Addams Family is one that definitely sticks out in my mind; I wanted to be a cross between Morticia and Wednesday when I grew up, and spent a good portion of my teenage years dressing entirely in black to achieve such a look ~___^

This first project is one that I have been meaning to do for ages! I don't know why I put it off for so long as it wasn't difficult to do and I really love how it turned out ^___^ I prefer having black pillowcases since otherwise they do tend to end up stained by my hair dye, but if you wanted to make your own you could really use any colour. I do feel like black is apropos though!

To make them, I ironed the pillowcases to get most of the wrinkles out and wrote out "mon cher" and "cara mia" onto them with white chalk.

Then I used a paintbrush to go over the letters with white fabric paint. I did about three layers of paint to try and get the lines a relatively even weight; they're still not perfect but the extra layers also helped the white letters pop more against the black fabric.

I left them to dry overnight and then gave them a quick iron, with a cloth over the letters to protect my iron. Depending on what type of fabric paint you use, you may not need to iron your project but it makes me feel a bit more confident that it will survive the wash!

I think these would be perfect for a housewarming gift for a couple, or maybe even a wedding present! Depends how kooky they are, I guess ~___^

Next up is the craft that inspired this whole post: a Morticia quote canvas. This is seriously the easiest craft ever!

I was feeling a bit uninspired one day so I was digging around in my craft room and came out with a blank square canvas and some black glittery letter stickers. I decided that there really isn't any other colour best suited to black than more black, so I painted the canvas with a mixture of black paint and glitter mod-podge. I slopped it on nice and thick to give it some texture and then when it had dried, I just glued on the letter stickers.

I know gluing stickers may seem a bit strange, but they're made for attaching to paper and so weren't sticking as well as I wanted them to. I've put this canvas in our lounge room, and when the sun hits it it really does sparkle! Which is great because, after all, black *is* such a happy colour! ^___^

My last project was going to be something different to this family motto necklace, but I had a total craft fail and couldn't rescue it in time! I'm sure it's still salvageable, but it's going to take a bit longer than I had hoped.

So, instead, I got out the sculpey and whipped up this necklace. I used the same technique as the derby name necklace I made for Electra Fire, but made it bigger as the Addams' Family have got quite a long creed! In case you can't read it, the motto is "Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc" or, "We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us".

I made the pendant from black clay, stamped it with my tiny alphabet stamps, added holes with a thick needle, and baked it for 20 minutes at about 150oC. I wanted a tarnished metal look, so when the pendant was done baking, I covered it with silver acrylic paint and, while it was still damp, rubbed at it with a tissue to show some of the blackness underneath.

I used a fine felt tip pen to add some black in the indentations of the words and then I added the chain by threading jump rings through the holes. And that's it! A pretty necklace, but not just pretty words ~___^

Until next time, do do do do *snap snap*

- Lisa xx

Another watercolour and a puff stitch headband

Hello! How are you? I hope you're doing well! I finally finished my second knitted hat ... and it's too small again! Argh! This pattern and I are obviously not meant to be >___< Thankfully, this time it's only a tiny bit too small so currently it's blocking and I hope that when it's dry I'll be able to wear it. Fingers crossed!

While we wait for it to dry (which is probably going to take a while because it's still SO COLD here), here are two little projects that I made recently ^___^ I used liquid latex to make yet another watercolour quote art - I just really love these, ok? ^____^

 

I like the little sploges around the edges, but I need to work on making sure there isn't too much water in the middle to create the muddy colours. Less is more in this case! I just need to keep practising ^___^

 

I also crocheted this puff stitch headband, with some gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Beks who knits. I used a 4mm hook and simply crocheted a long puff stitch rectangle, and a smaller puff stitch square, sewed up the ends of the rectangle, and sewed the square over the top of the join.

 

Both of the seams are hidden on the inside of the headband, and I think the puff stitch works really well to show off the colours in the yarn.

 

Having the square sewn over the headband squeezes it together a little bit to create a subtle bow shape which I love, and it's perfect for keeping your ears warm in cooler weather ~___^

 

Also recently, my DIY the Look feature for Cut Out + Keep went live! I curated ten projects from Cut Out + Keep that I thought were perfect to help you recreate Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's style and I think it turned out super fun! Check it out and let me know what you think ^____^

- Lisa xx

 

"Don't let the muggles get you down" scrapbooking paper quote banner

Hello! Have you ever tried to write a analysis of your own fantasy story? That's what I'm doing for my homework right now, and I've gotta tell you, it's tough. Anyway, I took a break from research and writing today to finally finish and hang my Harry Potter inspired banner.

 

I have a lot of scrapbooking paper, but I don't do a ton of scrapbooking (full disclosure: I used to do heaps of scrapbooking and cardmaking in high school when it was cool ... or at least I thought it was. Was it really ever, or was that just me?). I keep on buying scrapbooking paper though because it's just *so pretty*! I have a real problem with buying pretty stationary products; I also have too many gel pens for any one person to own. Scrapbooking paper is great for backgrounds for small project photos, but that doesn't really use it up! So I decided to actually put some of this stuff to use, and make an oversized quote banner.

The first thing I did was to create some templates using Adobe Illustrator. I used the Bell Gothic font in 800 pt size, which made each letter fill up one A4 page. I wrote out the whole quote on a scrap piece of paper and counted up how many of each letter I would need, and then I cut out all the repeats at the same time.

 
After I had all the letters cut out, I layed them out on my dining table to make sure they looked good in the order I had them. I used a lot of patterns and colours to make a banner that kinda clashes ... in a good way, you know? I used regular sticky-tape to attach the letters onto blue and white baker's twine and then attached them above my big bedroom bookcase using washi tape. I used washi because it doesn't take off paint, but this wasn't the best idea. The banner hung up for a couple of hours ... and then it started to slip. I'm going to buy a couple of removable wall hooks and give them a go instead.

My only other tip for making a banner like this is to make the baker's twine much longer than you think it should be! I thought I would have heaps of string on the ends, but as you can see, the string next to the first letter is a tiny bit too short >___< Nonetheless, I'll take my banner's advice and not let the muggles get me down. Even if the aforementioned muggle is me ~___^

- Lisa xx

Vintage pyrex embroidery hoop

Hello! How are you? I hope you're well. It is my second week of study break today and since I managed to catch a cold on my second day of study break, I have achieved very little! However, I started being able to breathe properly again over the weekend, so I made this little hoop to show you ^___^ 

 

I really like how it turned out, I think it looks so retro and cute! ^___^ I was inspired by this project from Flora and Purl but I'm linking to a pin rather than a blog post because for some reason Blogger will not let me actually look at the website! Silly Blogger. 

 

Anyway, I decided I would try to make an embroidered version of my Snowflake Blue dish, because the pattern is relatively simple and recognisable and because it's one of the few pieces that I have both the top and bottom of ^___^

 

I had a tiny thought that maybe I would continue to make hoops of some of my favourite pyrex designs, so I added a label to this hoop. This way, if I do end up making more, I can have a little pyrex hoop gallery with the names helpfully included to match up to the actual dishes ^___^ Stitching text is still not my most favourite thing to do, so I wrote this out on paper first and then just stitched over the top.

 

This is a 17cm diameter hoop (or about 6.5 inches) so it's quite small and therefore rather cute. The hoop is a (possibly) vintage one that I found at the op-shop; I really love finding embroidery hoops while thrifting because they are usually only a dollar or two each and you can sometimes find some really interesting ones ^___^ I love the faux bois plastic used for the front of this one, and the pretty metal hanging loop.

 

I finished off the back with some red felt and a simple running stitch. This is basically how I finish off every single hoop I do, so nothing really to see here ~___^

 

The floral fabric is 100% cotton and is brand new, although I think the pattern feels a tad retro, don't you think? I only used about a quarter of the fat flat to make this hoop, so I've still got a bit to work with, once I think of another project for it ^___^

 

The pyrex is made from felt and embroidery thread and was really very simple to make. I drew a picture of the dish onto paper and then cut around it to make a template. I made sure to include my slightly wobbly lines, as that was one thing I really liked about the inspiration piece ^___^ I used two strands of DMC for the outlines and the scallops (which is just a modified lazy daisy) and then a single strand for the snowflakes and the dots. I added crosses in the scallops because I can't do french knots - they are my downfall! If you can do french knots, you could probably make a much more accurate facsimile of this pattern ^___^

I'm very disappointed that my first week of study break was essentially a wash, because now I really must spend this week doing all my homework which doesn't leave much time for crafting! I am working on a couple of crochet projects, and hopefully I will have at least one of them finished before International Star Wars Day as it is, you guessed it, a Star Wars project ^___^ I'm doing both these crochet projects in 100% single crochet stitch so they are taking me agggggeeessss. I am a very impatient crafter at times, so it was good to start and finish a quick project to keep my motivation levels up! Anyway, it's time to hit the books!

Lisa xx

Two art canvases and a recovered faux book

I'm slowly getting through challenges for the Summer Nerd Games on Craftster but last night I had a burst of creativity and completed three projects! Omg, right? I also used up all my double-sided tape ... it was totally worth it though.

I brought a faux book from the Reject Shop ages ago to recover and use with my Steampunk Librarian costume but then I found a much nicer looking one at Typo and I used that instead. But now the first book has finally received its makeover! ^_^

It's quite simple, but I'm happy with how my new copy of "Hogwarts: A History" has turned out ^_^ I just recovered the book with scrapbooking paper, added a metal drawer label for the title, and then added details with my quill and gold paint pen. 

My drawing skills are a bit lacking, so I drew a simplified version of the Hogwarts crest on the cover and just added some details with the gold pen. I think it looks nice nonetheless ^_^

 

I think my favourite part of this project was using my quill - it feels so different to regular pens and it's so fun to use ^_^

 

Then I found a couple of 6x6 inch square canvases in my stash, so I made two more art canvases to add to my little collection ^_^ First up: the polka-dot owl canvas!

I covered the canvas with this blue spotty scrapbooking paper and then set about cutting out circles from several other papers.

Then I drew tiny owls on each one. You can tell they're owls right? (I hope so!)

 

I used my tiny alphabet stamps to add the proverb (courtesy of Albus Dumbledore) and then stuck the circles down with tape and then gave everything a coating of mod podge.

Yay! All done! ^_^ I had proverbs on the brain by this time so I started on another canvas. This one is the "silver linings" canvas ^_^ I love how colourful and happy it is! The little wooden clouds had been in my stash for a while, so it was great to use them up ^_^

 

For the front of this canvas I used a piece of scrapbooking paper from my 6x6 inch paper pad, and then used a complementary piece to cover the sides.

 

I used my silver paint pen to colour in the edges of the clouds as well as draw an edging line on the fronts of them.

Can you believe I used washi tape on only one of these projects? I used five different kinds on this canvas to make up for it ~_^

 

And then finished it off with the tiny alphabet stamps again ^_^

 

And that's it! I've still got two canvases in my stash, so as soon as I get some more tape I'll do something with them too ^_^ The best thing about these projects is that they were all 100% stash! It's great to use up some old supplies ^_^

Do you have a favourite? What's your opinion on scrapbooking style crafts? (I know they're not everyone's cup of tea)

- Lisa x