M is for Micro Beads!

My hairdresser Candy McIntyre has been creating these fun and unique one of a kind collaged letters to raise money for her Relay For Life team.  She glues bits of found objects, broken jewelry, shells and whatever else catches her eye to each letter.  On this one she used glue to add rose and silver micro beads as grout between the objects.

The pictures are unusually blurry because I captured them with my cell phone camera at my last hair appointment.  I think these letters are super fun and fabulous!!

Hugs, Suzanne

Congratulations and Happy Birthday!!

Congratulations Swing Shift Designs and Pennywise Arts for celebrating 5 years artful collaboration!

Time sure flies when you're having fun! Over the last five years Michele Aiello Zendejas has created over 150 different collage sheets for PWA. She has been a part of our Design Team and has offered generous donations and freebies for PWA events . Thank you Michele!!!

This week we celebrate good friends, good fun and creative collaborations! Happy Birthday Swing Shift Designs! We are so proud to offer your gorgeous collage sheets to our customers!

Every birthday party needs cake, presents, party favors and a guest book. Somewhere on the Pennywise Arts website we have hidden this cake graphic: Find the cake, click on it and then save the collage sheet to your computer. It's our gift to you!

Michele would love for you to stop by her blog and sign her guest book this week! If you leave a comment you will be entered to win free prizes!   Michele is also offering free daily party favors on her blog - so check back there every day this week!

Hugs,  Suzanne

Sweet Valentine Card

Michele Aiello-Zendejas’s art has a very unique style.  She uses lots of layered die cuts and embellishments to create cards that look complex and elegant. 

For this card Michele used the following items:

Swing Shift Designs To My Valentine 1 Collage Sheet, Pennywise Arts Clear Ultra Fine Micro Beads, Pennywise Arts Mega Roll O'So Sticky Tape, Spellbinders Dies, Quickutz Dies, K & Co Paper, Card Stock, Vintage Buttons, Double Stick Tape, Tacky Glue, Martha Stewart Paper Punch.

May your Valentine’s Day be filled with thoughts of those you love and a few unexpected surprises too!

Hugs, Suzanne

A Lovely Valentine Tag

This tag by Michele Aiello-Zendejas is loaded with layers, details and bling! 

The collage sheets that Michele creates for Pennywise Arts are top notch high resolution downloads and sharp color quality for the printed sheets.

It’s not too late to get Valentine downloads to make last minute cards from the heart!  And, be sure to scroll to our St. Patrick’s Day collection as well as our numerous Easter selections!  The collage sheet page of the website is not as organized as I would like it to be but we are working on it!  For now, consider it a treasure hunt! ;0)

Hugs, Suzanne

Happy New Year ATCs

Here are a couple of sweet New Year atc’s created by Julie Imsland.  She used a freebie collage sheet from our designer Michele Aiello-Zendejas.  See how to get it below!

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Hi Beadie Buddies,

I wanted to do something to thank you for purchasing and using my collage sheets and Suzanne's micro beads in your artwork.  So, I created a holiday thank you freebie collage sheet set just for you!  You can download it here:   www.atozdesigns.com/holidaythankyou.html

I hope you like it! :-)

Hugs,
Michele A-Z
WebsiteDesign, Blog Design, & Graphic Design:  www.AtoZDesigns.com

Collage Sheets, Digital Stamps, & Printables:  www.SwingShiftDesigns.com

Pre-Printed SSD Collage Sheets & Micro Beads:  www.PennywiseArts.com

Holiday Mice Tin

Another fun creation from Dot Alcorn is this cute gift tin. 

The outside uses an adorable mouse image from our "Christmas 5" collage sheet. 

Dot covered the lid with O’So Sticky Tape then placed the image in the middle.  Gold micro beads filled in the edges to create the border. 

 

 

Inside the tin Dot glued paper, embellishments and pearls.  While the glue was still wet she sprinkled micro beads on for an icy effect.

I think decorated tins would make a great presentation for gift cards!

 

Hugs, Suzanne

 

 

 

Patriotic Tag Trio

If you’re feeling patriotic for President’s Day then Michele Aiello-Zendejas has just the inspiration for some beautiful all American art.  Perhaps you’ll want to make your own tag trio which features a free collage sheet sampler from Pennywise Arts and Swing Shift Designs!

Supplies:

•Free Swing Shift Designs Patriotic Collage Sheet

•Pennywise Arts Ultra Fine Micro Beads

•Pennywise Arts O’So Sticky Tape

•Double Sided Foam tape

•3 Manila Tags in graduated sizes (or cut them down yourself)

•Brown Ink Pad

•Assorted Coordinating Ribbons & Lace

•Assorted Buttons

•Assorted star stickers

•Assorted flowers

•Leaf Die Cuts or pre-made leaves

•”Decorative Container Filler” from Dollar Tree or Small Foam Balls or large no hole beads

•Lace Stamp Set (Anna Griffin)

•Assorted Patriotic Stamps

•One ¾” Loose Binder Ring

•Adhesive (I used a Glue Gun & Glue Sticks)

•Scroll Die Cut

•Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents

•Red & Blue Marker (optional)

Directions:

Cut the tags into graduated sizes if necessary. Stamp the tags with “Lace” stamps on the front and back. Distress the edges of the tags with brown ink.

Adhere free Patriotic Collage sheets to the tags with double-sided foam tape.

Optional: Distress the edges of the images with brown ink and color in a small focal point of the image with blue and/or red ink pens.

Stamp the tags randomly with patriotic images.

Adhere decorative die cuts and lace to the tags.

I purchased the Decorative Container Filler at the Dollar Tree.

Wrap Some flowers around some decorative Container Filler balls to add interest.

Add more flowers, more “decorative filler”, leaves, buttons, and star stickers as desired.

Run a line of Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents around the edge of each tag and then dip tags into ultra fine Micro Beads. Set aside to dry.

Attach coordinating ribbon through the tops of the tags. Stack the tags with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on the top. Use a loose binder ring to attach them all together.

Valentine Sign Give Away

Just in time for Valentine’s Michele Aiello Zendejas created a beautiful sign collaged in handmade roses (from punches!) and micro beaded collage sheet images.  Her layering and design skills always amaze.  Her eye for details and unique embellishments take her designs over the top.  (Keep reading to learn Michele’s secret to making those gorgeous punched roses!)

And we’re GIVING it away!!  

Would you like to have this beauty hanging on your door in time for Valentine’s Day??  It could happen!!   All orders over $25 that are placed on our website now through Wednesday at noon will have a chance!   AND if you order collage sheets you will get an EXTRA chance for each sheet ordered – digital OR printed!

All orders/entries will be entered into our little “Hat” random winner picker program at 12:01 pm on Wednesday.   From there I will go directly to the post office with all of the orders.

If you are the winner, you will find this goodie enclosed in your package.  Best of all, the US Post Office should have it to you by Saturday!  Of course, the winner will be announced on our blog and will hopefully leave us a comment when it is received!

To make your own Valentine sign, Michele has supplied step by step instructions:

Supplies:

•Swing Shift Designs Collage Sheets: Valentine Hearts 2 and Valentines Hearts 3

•Pennywise Arts Ultra Fine Micro Beads

•Pennywise Arts O’So Sticky Tape

•Double Sided Foam tape

•Red, Pink, and Black Cardstock

•Red Ink Pad

•White Lace

•Bird Die Cut

•Branch Die Cut

•Tag Die Cuts (two sizes to layer)

•Flourish Die Cuts

•Graduated sizes of 6-Petal Flower Die Cuts

•Leaf Die Cuts or pre-made leaves

•Wired pearls

•Flourish Stamp

•“Love” Stamp

•Black Craft Wire

•Mandrel or dowel to coil wire.

•Adhesive (I used a Glue Gun & Glue Sticks)

•3 Eyelets

•Hole Punch

•Eyelet Setter

•Brayer

Directions:

Choose 4 images from the Valentine Hearts Collage Sheets 2 and 3. Cut them out close to the edge of the design. Cover with O’So Sticky Tape and ultra fine micro beads. Set aside.

Punch three 6-petal flowers for each rose that you are making.

1. Make a slit between two petals of one of the flowers.
2. Cut out one petal off one of the flowers
3. Cut out two petals from one of the flowers.

Adhere the petals on either side of the cuts on top of each other. Just add glue to the top area of the petal, not at the base. Your 3 three six-petal flowers will now be 1 five-petal, 1 four-petal, and 1 three petal. Use one of the petals that you cut off for the rose center. Roll it up loosely.

Trim the bottoms off of the four-petal flower, the three-petal flower, and the rolled up center petal. Stack and glue them from large to small until you’ve made a rose.

Different size punches or die cuts will create different sized flowers.

I use a jump ring mandrel to curl the edges of the roses for a more realistic look. I’ve also used a round toothpick, the handle part of a cotton swab, different sized round dowels, and skewers to shape petals, depending on their size.

Layer flourish die cuts onto the heart and then add the cut out hearts one by one. Adhere the first heart on the top left with one layer of double-sided foam tape. Use two layers of foam tape for the middle heart and three layers for the bottom heart.

Add roses and leaves to the heart as desired.

Attach the last heart to a coordinating layered tag. Add sentiment and embellishments to the tag. Add a coordinating bird and branch die cut to the large heart and then add wired pearls as desired.

Punch holes and set eyelets at the top of the tag and the heart. Coil wire (I used a large jump ring mandrel) and attach the tag to the wire, then attach the wire to the completed heart.

Asian Shadowbox

February is a month of fun holidays!  This week we have groundhog day (Wednesday), Chinese New Year (Thursday), Valentine’s Day (14th) and President’s Day (21st).

Our featured designer for February is Michele Aiello-Zendejas.  Michele was able to work three of those holidays into her elegantly created designs for the month. (Sorry no groundhog!)

Her first project is an “Asian Inspired Assemblage Shadow Box”.  Michele uses lots of great embellishments in her designs and will often create her own embellishments like some of the flowers and the fans shown.

After you get inspired here, be sure to collect your FREE Asian Female Image Download from our website.  This image is courtesy of Michele and her company, Swing Shift Designs.

Asian Inspired Assemblage Shadow Box

By Michele Aiello-Zendejas

Supplies:

•1 Shadow Box

•Clear Ultra Fine Micro Beads (Pennywise Arts)

•O’So Sticky Tape (Pennywise Arts)

•Free Asian Female Image Courtesy of Swing Shift Designs for Pennywise Arts

•Chinese newspaper or Chinese text

•2 Chinese Money Envelopes

•Coordinating solid color paper

•4 Corner Stickers

•4 Photo Corners

•Gold Cording

•6 Decorative Beads

•Flower Paper Punches and/or ready-made flowers

•Embroidery Floss and Seed Beads for flower stamens

•Leaf punch or ready-made leaves

•Thin wire

•3 Asian Coins

•Small foam balls (vase filler or beanbag/doll filler)

•Black or Brown Ink

•Adhesive (I used a glue gun & glue sticks)

•Double Sided Foam Tape

•Brayer

Directions:

Take apart the shadow box and begin covering the back with sheets of Chinese text and trim to fit.

After the back is completely covered with paper, distress the edges with an ink pad.

Layer and adhere the images with double-sided foam tape for dimension.

Use O’So Sticky Tape to attach a layer of Micro Beads to the focal image. Use a brayer to make sure that the micro beads are imbedded in the tape. Brayering the beads into the tape also give you a more defined image.

Next punch out several flowers.

Stack 5 of the flowers and set aside.  Loop about six strands of embroidery floss around your finger or the body of a large marking pen.   Tie off the bottom loops with thin wire, then twist the wire into a stem.  Cut the top thread loops and fluff (to make the yellow centers shown below).  Punch a small hole with a needle tool into each of the five flowers.  Then insert the stem through the stack of flowers.   For smaller flowers,  just thread a seed bead onto a wire, twist to secure the bead and then twist the  wire into a stem.  Punch a small hole in the center of each flower with a needle tool, then thread the wire through the flower.

 

 

Use glue to secure the flower to the stem or just roll the stem to secure.

Put the shadow box together and secure with glue. Begin layering your embellishments to your liking.

Here is a list of embellishments that I used:

•Accordion fold strips of gold paper to create fans.

•String six beads onto some cording and knot at the top.

•Small foam balls (Vase filler or doll/bean bag filling) colored with pink ink and a gold paint pen.

•Three plastic game pieces colored with a gold paint pen.

•4 gold photo corners adorn the focal image.

•4 gold decorative corner stickers adorn the corners of the shadow box.

•I used purchased small party favor type flowers as accents.

Love Is In The Air

If you're itching to create some lovely Valentines then you're in the right place!  Pennywise Arts has partnered with Swing Shift Design Studios to bring you lots of gorgeous collage images!!

Our sheets are available in two formats, digital and printed.  If you purchase digital they will be emailed to you. 

You might remember this elegant card by Julie Imsland.  She used one of the cute couples from our "Be Mine" sheet:

Throughout the month of February we will be featuring artwork created by Michele Aiello-Zendejas, PWA designer and owner of Swing Shift Design Studios.  Her muse is sure to inspire yours so stay tuned!

Here is a sampling of what you’ll find when you visit our website collage sheet page:

Be Mine	Be Mine Slides
Cute Cupids	Roses 1
Roses are Red 1	Gentleman I
Victorian Clip Art 1	Victorian Clip Art 2
Victorian Clip Art 3	Victorian Clip Art 4

To My Valentine 1	To My Valentine 2
Couples 1	Hearts & Cherubs 1
Valentine Ladies 1	Valentine Ladies 2
Valentine Hearts 1	Valentine Hearts 2
Valentine Hearts 3	Valentine Hearts 4
Blank Hearts 1	Kiddie Valentines 1
A Dozen Valentines 1	A Dozen Valentines 2
A Dozen Valentines 3	Cute Cupids Slides

Be sure to visit our website to purchase collage sheets for Valentine's Day and for all year long!

www.PennywiseArts.com

Pennywise Arts, where your favorite color can be clear!

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