Wise Owls Write It Down! √

As I get older, I find that I am a tad more forgetful that I was in my youth.  I am always writing myself notes so I won’t forget to go or do or be somewhere important.  Post it note pads are a staple of life at my house.  But they definitely don’t have to be boring!

PWA designer, Marianne Colschen created this cute post it note pad cover with layers of coordinating papers and ribbon.  The owl has been paper pieced from a die cut!  All the little white parts are the background paper showing through with micro beads inside the openings.

Here  is a link to the free svg file that Marianne used to create her owl!   Click here to get owl.

Are you feeling inspired?  If you make your own post it note cover and send a photo of it to me suzanne@pennywisearts.com  I will add it to this post and enter you into a drawing to win Marianne’s wise owl “PIN” pad!  (You have until March 31st to get it in!)

C’mon!  It won’t take long to do and you’ll be happy to have a cute PIN pad of your own on your counter for taking down notes!

Hugs,

Suzanne

You Have Me In Stitches √

 

This month our featured designer is Marianne Colschen.  A long time “beadie bud” and talented artist, Marianne has been an important part of our Pennywise family since the beginning.  Here is Marianne helping in the Pennywise booth at the Auntie Amy’s convention in 2005!

 

Marianne’s first project is a fun little sewing kit that she found at a Dollar Tree store.  She embellished the top of the kit with coordinating papers and ribbon adding a clear micro beaded  ivory paper flower and beaded border.

O’So Sticky Tape sheets can be cut with a personal die cutter which makes O’So more versatile and exciting than ever before!

The sentiment, “You have me in stitches” is from Close To My Heart.

If you would like to have this darling sewing kit for your very own, just place an order from the Pennywise Arts website this week – one lucky person will find it as a surprise in their envelope!

Happy 7th Birthday PWA!

Today is our birthday!!  It’s hard to believe!  It’s been seven quick years and tons of beads! 

 
We wouldn’t have made it this far without YOU – our faithful friends, customers and community!  So today we celebrate that – the amazing people we’ve met on our journey.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for propelling us to this 7th birthday celebration!

I created a fun little mix of beads for some shaker card projects and I made way more than I can use anytime soon, so I thought it would be fun to bag it up and call it the “PWA Party Mix”.  You can’t buy it, but I’ll send you some to play with for FREE with any order placed today – on our birthday, March 11, 2010!

If you’d like to make some yourself you will need to take all of the bits you have left over from all of the bead colors you have and toss them all together in a plastic bag.  If you’re like me and you have a lot of colors you’ll get real close!  If not, then you need to order more beads anyway!  Ü

www.PennywiseArts.com

Luck O’ The Irish

We have three new collage sheets to inspire your St. Patrick’s day creations!

View Full Album

Be sure to skip on over to our website and order yours today!

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.  Ü

New Pennywise Product!

Pennywise Arts is pleased to announce that we have a new product added to our adhesive lineup!  We think you will find these 4 -1/4" by 1/8"  foam tape strips to be o’so helpful when making our fun shaker cards!

Each package contains 80 strips.  To show you just how much that really is I took a photo of 33 atc shaker cards that I made using one package of the foam tape strips – and I still have 4 strips left over!!  WOW!!  I was totally blown away by how far they went!!

These sweet little strips saved so much time!  And best of all there was no waste in using them to make these shaker cards (which are for a technique sway we’re having on the PWA Yahoo Group.)

These 1/8” foam tape strips can be found on the adhesives page of our website.  The cost is a sweet deal at just $ 3.50 per package – it’s a pennywise and thrifty purchase you’ll be glad you made!  Ü

And don’t forget that three lucky customers this week will be finding a beaded box surprise in with their order!  It could be YOU!  http://www.pennywisearts.com/

Beautifully Boxed And Beaded √

I just love Michele’s artistic style.  Her creations are always so thoughtful and clever and they often leave me asking myself, “why didn’t I think of that?!”  These darling boxes are perfect for little gifts, tokens or candy treats. 

Projects made with micro beads can be a challenge to photograph clearly, the distortion in the collage images is from the clear beads over them reflecting the light back at the camera.  In real life, they just glisten and sparkle like crazy!

Would you like an opportunity to receive one of these pretty boxes FREE??

That’s right!  We’re giving them away! 

Three customers will discover one of these pretties in with their order from our website this week!  Place an order anytime this week (Through Sunday) and you just might find one of them in your package!!  You can’t win if you don’t play, so get an order together and visit our website!  www.PennywiseArts.com

If you want to create your own heart boxes, here is how Michele did them:

Heart Boxes by Michele Aiello-Zendejas

3 small heart shaped boxes (Dollar Tree)

Vintage Collage Sheets ("Greco-Roman Beauties I" and "Lovely Ladies II" by Swing Shift Designs)

Gold Ribbon or Braid

Gold Microbeads (Pennywise Arts)

Clear Mini Microbeads (Pennywise Arts)

O'So Sticky Tape (Pennywise Arts)

Small mulberry paper flowers (unknown manufacturer)

Small mulberry paper leaves (unknown manufacturer)

Small flat back rhinestones (unknown manufacturer)

Thick Liquid Adhesive (any brand you prefer)

Alcohol Inks (Ranger)

Heart Punch (Marvy)

1.  Separate the lids from the bottom of the boxes. 

2.  Apply alcohol inks to the box to give it some color.  Let dry.

3.  Punch 3 heart shapes from the vintage collage sheets and adhere them to the tops of the lids.  When they are dry, cover the lid of the box and the sides of the bottom of the box with O'So Sticky Tape, being careful not to place the tape where the lid overlaps the bottom of the box.

4.  Remove the protective liner paper from the O'So Sticky Tape and place a ribbon around the heart shaped images.  Pour some gold micro beads onto a paper plate or tray.  Dip only the bottom portion of the lid into the gold beads.  Then dip the entire lid into clear mini micro beads. 

5.  Dip the side of the bottom of the box into gold micro beads.

6.  Embellish the top of the box with small mulberry paper flower and leaves.  Use flat back rhinestones for the flower centers.

Happy New Year!!

It’s always fun to celebrate a new year, even if it isn’t our own!  The Chinese New Year started this month and it has inspired a flurry of Asian styled art throughout the Pennywise artist community.

These elegant tags by PWA designer Michele Aiello-Zendejas are a stunning sight. 

If you can’t get enough of Michele’s art then be sure to stop by our design team webpage and see more!   She’s a talented artisit with lots to share!  http://www.pennywisearts.com/micheleaz.html

Asian Tag Set by Michele Aiello-Zendejas

Gold Card Stock (90lb)

Cuttlebug

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Asian Flowers)

Floral scroll die cut (Silhouette SD)

Tiger Graphic (Internet freebie) or Rubber Stamp image

Chinese Female Graphic (Silhouette SD Design) or Rubber Stamp image

Tassel or ribbon

Hole punch

eyelets

Asian Coin

Square flat back rhinestones

Chinese text from a book

cardstock or paper (white and black)

Flower die cuts (Assorted paper punches)

Chinese money envelopes

Clear Mini Microbeads (Pennywise Arts)

O'So Sticky Tape (Pennywise Arts)

Foam dimensional tape

clear glue

Toothpick

1.  Cut one piece of  8 1/2" x 11" gold cardstock into three tag shapes.  Run them through the Cuttlebug with the Asian flower embossing folder.  The tags are longer than the folder, so you have to run them through twice - moving the folder down the tag to cover the entire tag with embossing.  Punch a hole in the top of each tag and apply and set an eyelet into the hole. 

2.  Cut out the images from three Chinese money envelopes.  Adhere them to the tags.

3.  Adhere the scroll flower die cuts onto the tags.  (I used clear glue, you can use whatever works for you.)

4.  Print or stamp the tigers. Cut them out and adhere one to each tag.  

5.  Print or stamp the girl graphic.  Cover the graphic with O'So Sticky Tape.  Remove the protective liner paper from the tape and place rhinestones onto each flower center.  Then cover the entire graphic with mini micro beads.  Adhere the finished graphics to the tags with foam tape.

6.  Punch three large flowers from a sheet of Chinese text.   Punch three medium flowers from Chinese money envelopes.  Punch three small flowers from the back of a Chinese money envelope.  Stack and adhere them to the tags.  Use a toothpick to curl the flowers to add some dimension.  Use a round flat back rhinestone for the flower centers.

7.  Adhere a Chinese coin with a square flat back rhinestone inside of it to each of the tags.

8.  Attach a tassel to the top of each tag. 

Here’s a closer view of Michele’s amazing attention to detail!