Hope

The campaign to raise the awareness of breast cancer is a brilliant one.  Once there is awareness people start talking and once people start talking stories are shared and in those shared stories we can each find hope. 

My mom is a survivor.  So is her sister, my aunt.  (And yes, I certainly do get checked annual for this very reason!)  I’m thankful for the medical treatments that allowed these special women to stay in my life a little bit longer.   I wish more of the stories had a happy ending. 

I’m honored to share this beautiful card of hope made by Julie Imsland.  And, I’d love for you to share your stories here, in the comments on this blog post. 

Supplies:

Autumn Leaves Clear Stamp Set: # AL2703 Hand Drawn Alphabet

Pennywise Arts: O’So Sticky Powder ,1/8” wide O’So Sticky Tape, Clear Ultrafine Microbeads,

Tsukineko Encore Ink: Ultimate Metallic Pink

My Mind’s Eye Patterned Paper: # BH1146 Blossom “Girlfriends” Damask/Lt. Pink

Maya Road Ribbon: 3/8” Double Stitched Light Pink Velvet

JudiKins Diamond Glaze Dimensional Adhesive

Bronze Brad

White Cardstock

Provo Craft Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder

Adhesive

Directions:

1. Clean glass slide. Stamp word with Encore ink onto slide, being careful to stamp straight down and then up.

2. Sprinkle word with O’So Sticky Powder. Tap off excess and return to jar.

3. Heat (as you would embossing powder), just until the powder melts and turns shiny in appearance.

4. Press the stamped glass slide into a tray of ultrafine microbeads, tap off excess beads.

5. Heat the beads again briefly to “set” them (perhaps 10 seconds), you may see a very subtle change in the look of the beads once they are completely adhered with the powder. Allow the beaded image to cool before touching.

6. Wrap the outside edge of the slide with 1/8” O’So Sticky tape.

7. Peel off the red liner and press the edges of the taped slide into a tray of ultrafine microbeads. Press beads with fingers into the tape.

8. Cut a scrap of the patterned paper to the same size as the slide and adhere to the back of the slide with a tiny drop of Diamond Glaze at each corner/

9. Form a loop with 7” of the velvet ribbon, punch a hole where it crosses and secure with a brad.

10. Side fold a 4.25” x 11” piece of white cardstock for card base.

11. Adhere a 4.25” x 5.5” piece of patterned paper to front of card

12. Emboss a 1.25” x 5.5” piece of the pink side of the patterned paper.

13. Rub a little Encore ink over the raised embossing with a finger.

14. Adhere the embossed pink strip across the card front, and adhere the glass slide on top.

15. Use a drop of Diamond Glaze to adhere the ribbon loop to card front.

Stamp Credits: Autumn Leaves

Pocket Full Of Posies

Here is one more card ala spring before we get back to our blustery winter day.  This bright pocket full of posies was created by Michele Aiello-Zendejas.

Michele punched her flowers and applied Paper Glaze to the centers and dipped them into an assortment of colored micro beads.  She used Paper Glaze over the top to seal the flowers and create the shiny effect shown in the photo.

Stamp Credits:  See D’s

Shimmery Delight

This bright and shimmery floral card by Dee Moran is another spring like design that cheers me up and reminds me that winter won’t last forever. Don’t forget that Pennywise Arts sells a nice variety of quality ribbons too!

Stamp Credits: Stamptastic

More Bright Colors

As I look through all the handmade cards that I have collected over the years it’s amazing to believe that almost all of this incredible art came through one amazing group of artists, the Pennywise Arts Yahoo Group.  We have some very talented members there!

Julian Buttenshaw created for Pennywise Arts (the company) as a member of our design team a couple of years ago.  I love her whimsical style and envy her eye for putting together a well composed collage.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Stamp Credits:  Art Doll parts by Character Constructions, Swirls by Autumn Leaves, Spring background by Hero Arts and Script stamp by Stampington.

Birthday Posies

These pretty birthday posies are a breath of spring too!  Created by Fancine Domschine-Hill, a past designer for PWA.

Stamp Credits: Denami Design, Memory Box

Flower Basket

This sweet flower basket by Michelle McCarthy doubles as a cheery spring card and the colors get me in the mood for Valentine’s too!   The whole flower basket has been covered with clear micro beads to add texture and glimmer!

Stamp Credits: Stampin Up!

Pinwheel Fun

PWA Designer Michelle McCarthy created this sunny card for us last year and it definitely makes me feel spring-y-er just looking at it’s whimsical pinwheel and bright cheery colors!

Love how those clear micro beads shine!

Stamp Credits: Stampin Up!

Floral Trio

I am so ready for spring! Are we there yet?? Winter days are just to dark and dreary here in the Pacific Northwest. Living in a rain shadow definitely doesn’t help any either. To brighten things up around here I am getting out all the springy-est creations I can find in the arsenal of amazing artwork I have collected over the years.

Here is a fun floral trio that Julie Imsland made last year for our design team:

I love how the pink accents make the elements on this card really pop! If you click on the photo you can get a better look at those micro beads too – they are sure hard to capture in a picture but in person the added glimmer and texture are really something.

You all know the “tape trick” right? The secret to lining a piece of O’So Sticky perfectly over the top of an image? If you don’t then be sure to check out our “Bead Basics” Tutorial in the “online class archives” on the Pennywise website. It will really save a lot of money and frustration!

Stamp Credits: Stampington & Co.

Winter Votive Wrap

Julie Imsland is well known for her collection of punches and the amazing fact that she actually uses them often!  For her next project Julie used our web tutorial for making beaded votive wraps but she took the idea to a whole new level of “Wow”!

I absolutely love how she added a new dimension to the top edge with the little village border punch and then when she also popped out the scene along the bottom… I was totally in awe.

To create this masterpiece Julie used the basic instructions and template from our web tutorial for making beaded votive wraps.  Follow along below to see where Julie’s train took a different track….  Ü

Additional Supplies:

Stickles™ Frosted Lace Glitter Glue

Ek Success Alpine Trail Edger Punch

Martha Stewart Crafts™ Frosty Village Edge Punch

Follow the directions for the Beaded Votive Wrap, stopping just before “Step 5: The Finishing Touches!”

• Punch Frosty Village border along the top edge of the votive wrap.
• Using 1/4" O'So Sticky Tape, attach the vellum squares to the inside of the windows with the stamped side facing out - the beaded side facing the back.
• Secure the tab with 1/4" O'So Sticky Tape, making sure that the tab is lined up evenly.
• Punch Alpine Trail (tree) border along a narrow strip (1-3/8” wide) of matching cardstock.
• Apply Frosted Lace Stickles to simulate snow on the tree strip and the village border. Set aside to allow Stickles to dry
• Once dry, apply small pieces of foam tape to the back of the tree strip. Beginning under the windows at one corner of the votive wrap, temporarily clip the tree strip to one side of the wrap, crease at the corner (allowing room for the foam tape); continue around the wrap in this manner fitting the tree strip. Trim the end with approx. ¼” to lap under the beginning of the strip.
• Now starting at the under lap of the tree strip, remove any clips and adhere the strip with the foam tape around the bottom of the votive wrap windows. *Note that the strip does not cover the “feet” of the votive wrap.
• Use a piece of the 1/4” O’So Sticky Tape to secure the end of the tree strip over the lapped end.
• Place your votive wrap over a glass candle holder with a tea light candle inside, I especially like the little battery votives that flicker like a real candle, but don’t need the constant attention of a burning candle.
• Turn off the lights and enjoy your creation!
• Never leave burning candles unattended.

Look through your punches, and see what other designs you can use for other seasons of the year. These look great on a mantel, or as a special touch on a dining table at each place setting.

To see lots more samples be sure to visit our  web tutorial for making beaded votive wraps and if you do make one and send us a high quality photo we’ll gladly feature it!

P.S.  To receive this fabulous wrap in the mail, just leave a comment below and your name will be in the drawing!  

Winners!

Followers

Seriously??  With a Yahoo Group Community of over 1,700 members we only have 35 blog followers?  What’s up with that?!!That just won’t do!  If you help us get to 100 I’ll put together a fabulous prize package to raffle! 

Won’t you help? Spread the word, tell your friends, share links to your favorite projects/posts.  Bribe them, drag them over, do whatever you gotta do to help us “Bead The World”!!!!

Let’s All Get Organized!

Hey Everyone!

With so many of us going through our rooms to organize our stuff right, I thought it might be fun and inspirational to share photos of our ideas! For instance, I have a really cool idea for organizing my handmade papers! It’s worked out so well!

I had some of those black cube things that were storing other stuff (stuff that I mostly got rid of) and I took the backs off of them all. Then I put the whole frame up on top of an existing cabinet that just had stuff on it – stuff that didn’t have to be taking up so much room. Then I started putting my papers into it! Here is a picture:

I am not quite done yet – there is lots more paper to roll and put in there. The bin on the bottom left side is where I am tucking all of my handmade paper scraps (because we all know how expensive that paper can be and scraps are really useful for making atcs!!) I think I am also going to put all of my gift wrapping papers up there to so that they will be easily accessible for use rather than having to dig them out from under the bed. I already have my Christmas papers up there so I can start wrapping gifts earlier in the year, instead of all at once two days before Christmas.

I’ve really been excited about cutting vinyl with my Cricut and I made some really neat Christmas gifts with it. (I’ll show you that later). Storage of my vinyl was becoming an issue. It’s not cheap material and I don’t want it getting ruined. It’s also quite heavy so I wasn’t confident that my cubes could hold it without breaking them. As I pondered the predicament I spotted my Cricut box on the floor and ta-da! It’s perfect! All of my vinyl is safe and sound inside the box next to my handmade papers.

Okay, now it’s YOUR turn!! What have you done to improve your space, get more organized and free up you mind for more creative endeavors? Let’s all share! If your idea grabs me, I’ll even share it on my blog!

Hugs!
Suzanne
Pennywise Arts, where your favorite color can be clear! www.PennywiseArts.Com