Bad Girls

Elements D'Art - Tis the Season

 
  
  
for a handmade holiday!! Every year on black Friday, I make my way over to the local Hallmark store to pick out the perfect holiday ornament for our gift exchange. This year, I brought along my 5 yr. old, Alaina, to help with the decision. She promptly found the display of Advent calenders and absolutely had to have one. Now being the scrapbooker that I am, none of that commercial stuff would do and I started dreaming up cute ideas for making our own calendar this year!

I decided to make our calendar using a small 2 ft. Christmas tree that we're going to display as our table centerpiece. All 25 of our day ornaments are made using super cute Sassafras Paper Whimsies and Sassafras Paper Flowers. (They look like they were made for this project!!)  I collected extra items for embellishing each card like; jingle bells, toy candies, tinsel, glitter, snowflakes, stickers, toy wreathes, flowers, trims and small pieces of lace. There are so many cute little items that could be used, and most likely already in your stash!   
 Next, you'll start by embellishing each card and layering the paper flowers to together. ** To make the sugared clothes pins, just paint small clothes pins a neutral color and sprinkle glitter on. This was the perfect little project for Alaina, and it kept her occupied while the glue was drying!!**

 
  
   
  
 Once all of the cards are embellished you can print a page of numbers, or search through your stash and use stickers! I glued and sewed each of the tiny numbers onto a card/flower using an all purpose glue. I recommend Aleene's original Tacky Glue.  

 
  
I used a bright pink a red ribbon as garland for our tree. It also made it a little easier to clip all of the date cards too. Alaina can't wait to start adding each card to the Christmas tree and we hope maybe this project will be something you can share with your own little ones! Happy Holidays xo~ Tara

 

Elements D'Art-Sweet Noel

Hello Bad Girls!!

I am getting super excited about the holidays coming up and I have been busy working on some festive projects. This project is in two parts. Maya Road came out with an adorable chipboard house with a clever little chip book inside. The house is the perfect gift box to hold the display i created. I used Cosmo Cricket papers, vintage music paper, thicker letters, fat ribbon and lots of clear sparkly glitter.

I started with the Noel display first. I covered the front and back panels with paper and cardstock. Then lightly sanded the edges, and added ink around the edges for a vintage look. I kept all of the papers relatively neutral or light in color for a cohesive look.

I made rosettes to back the letters. First, i cut 1 1/2 inch x 12inch strips of patterened paper. Then I started accordian folding the strip-about 1/4 inch for each fold.

Fold the entire strip. Place glue dots on the last fold and bring the ends together to form a circle. It will probably pop up, which is fine.

 

Now, punch out a circle from old book paper. This will be the center of your rosette. Glue the punch out to your circle. This will help keep it flattened. I made four in total and glued them down to my panels.

And then-all you have to do is adhere your letters.

At the ends of my display, I added diecuts that i covered in clear glitter. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the glitter. Let them dry for a bit before adhering to your panels. I also used foam tape to adhere them for a little dimension.

Last but not least-I tied two bows to the jump rings. Grunge up your ribbon by adding Distress Ink-it gives the ribbon a nice vintage look.

Next-you'll decorate your chipboard house. I covered the bottom with patterned paper, sanded the edges and added ink too.

I covered the roof with vintage music paper and added glitter to the whole surface. I also added the vintage paper to the little door with a gem brad and glittered that too.

Then-when everything is covered, tie a ribbon around it and add a diecut to the top. I added red pearls to the diecut-they look so cute!

I hope this little project motivates and inspires to get those Christmas projects started. I have a lot more to do myself and i plan to share more in the BG gallery.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

xoxo Cari

My Head's In The Clouds...

For today's Element d'Art... I have been doing a lot of daydreaming and watching the clouds lately.  We've had some spectacular sunsets and sunny days lately here in Central New York.  So, I took the opportunity to create a wooden mini album documenting my whimsical images of clouds and myself.  I used a lot of image transfer techniques in this album.  One is using a common item that you are sure to have around in this time of battling the illnesses.  Purell hand sanitizer can be used to transfer images and creates a distressed and interesting look.  Here's the project I used it on:

 

This little wooden album was given to me my Genuinely Jane and it was perfect to use for this project!  The cloud cut out was already a feature!

I printed most all of my images on an ink jet transparency and used this one for the window.  Behind it was the transfer of trees from my backyard without their leaves (ours are all bare now).

 

This was a Purell transfer!  I will show you how, below...

First, prepare your surface paper, wood slightly sanded, fabric, or any bare surface that is NOT sealed with acrylic or medium.  It won't work over those materials without a sealant added.

Print your image onto an Apollo Ink Jet Transparency and trim to size.  Using a brush (I like a soft bristle brush, but I think you can use a foam brush too) brush a layer of Purell onto the surface.  It will dry fast so add another layer.  It should not be too thick.  This is a fast process... 

Immediately put your image face down onto the wet surface and lightly burnish with your fingers or bone folder.  Don't rub too hard or it will smear.  Lift a corner to test if it's transferring.  I did some test runs on watercolor paper or shipping tags to see how much I'd need to make it work. Trial and error is key!

Lift off and viola! If some ink smeared, use a tiny bit of Purell on a Q-tip as an "eraser". You don't want to keep it on too long or the coating that the ink is printed on will come off and stick to the surface causing some tearing and issues.

Here are the rest of my pages using Purell transfers and Golden gel medium transfers!  It was fun to work with the wood surface and these techniques!

 

 I hope you have been inspired to use your hand sanitizer in a whole new way!  While the images are not as clear as the traditional gel medium transfer, it is fun to play with and your brushes will be super clean and sanitized as well!  

XOXO

Jen

A Home for the Holidays

It's never too early to get started on your holiday crafting!  So, today I have a project to share with you that makes for a lovely gift (or something wonderful to keep all for your own mantle).  *wink*  A home for the holidays...

 

This waterless snowglobe captures a glittery winter wonderland inside a gallon glass jar!  So, pour yourself a piping hot mug of hot chocolate, and join me for some holiday crafting fun!

Some basic supplies that you will need: a gallon glas jar (available at WalMart and some crafting stores), a thin piece of chipboard (like the kind you might find on the back of a paper slab), a craft knife, a corner-rounder punch, a ruler, a bone folder (or other scoring tool), a Xyron machines (or your favorite paper adhesive), hot glue, glue dots, pop dots, fake snow, fishing wire or clear/invisible jewelry thread, patterned paper, and various decorative elements.  Here are some embellishments that might suit your fancy...

We'll start off by constructing our house.  I used the Cottage House pattern featured here.  Don't worry about the roof or the base... we will create our own later.  Resize the pattern (either through Photoshop or on a copier) until the base of the triangular front of the house measures 3".  Any bigger, and it won't fit in the jar.  Print the pattern out on a thin piece of chipboard, then adhere the unprinted side of the chipboard to the back of a piece of patterned paper.  Use a craft knife to trim off the excess paper...

Next, use a bone folder and ruler to score along the fold lines...

Fold your house up, and use a line of hot glue along the edge to secure it together...

You'll end up with something that looks like this...

Now, we're ready to make the roof.  I used some of the new American Crafts pre-glittered cardstock (it's GORGEOUS), cut it to 2" x 6," then used a corner-rounder punch on the edges. Use a bone folder to score along the middle of the roof...

 

Secure the roof to the top of the house with hot glue...

Now, we'll make the base for the house.  I have this old plastic water glass that I saved for projects... it always seems to be the PERFECT-sized circle.  The diameter of the mouth of the glass measures 3 1/2".  Use a craft knife to trim around the glass onto another thin piece of chipboard, creating the base...

The chipboard I used is white on the backside, and will camoflage itself under the stove.  If yours is kraft on both size, either paint one side white or cover it with white cardstock.  Next, we'll make the door and windows for the house.  I made them using the same pre-glittered cardstock as the roof.  Cut a 3/4" x 1 1/4" door.  Adhere a stick-on jewel for the "door knob."  For the windows, cut (2) 6/8" x 7/8" pieces.  Let's create the "window panes."  You can see how I marked them off, and cut them here...

After you get one measured and cut, you can just lay it over the other piece and use it as a cutting guide.  Before we adhere the base, door and windows, let's create a miniature wreath. Wrap a silver pipe cleaner around your thumb twice, trim off the end, and secure with a dot of hot glue...

Use a piece of red and white baker's twine to tie a tiny bow, and attach it to the wreath with a small dot of hot glue.  Then, adhere all of the pieces to the house so that it looks like such...

This is a gift for my daughter, so I made a little tag and attached it to the back of the house using pop dots.  You don't have to do this, but here's what it looks like...

Next, use hot glue to adhere the house and trees to the inside of the glass jar...

Now, you can fill your snowglobe up with some pretty, glittery stuff.  I used a mixture of store-bought fake snow, clear mica flakes, and a sprinkling of the pink mica flakes by Melissa Frances that you will find in your October kits!  Looks how pretty...

Time to decorate the lid!  You can do whatever you'd like.  Coincidentally... that plastic glass makes the perfect circle to fir on the lid!  I edged the rim of the jar with some velvet scalloped ribbon, then added some chipboard touches.  The candy canes can be made by twisting together two pieces of pipecleaners.  OR... Bethany Lowe makes a lovely package of pre-made ones with a super-vintage look that I used here...

Now comes the most tedious and nit-picky part of this project... the dangling snowflakes.  I used these pearl snowflakes buttons from the craft store.  They have button loops on the back, so be sure to trim them off first...

Add a drop of hot glue to the back, then quickly (before it dries) smash the end of some fishing line into it...

Repeat until you have 5 snowflakes on fishing line.  I cut the lengths of fishing line at varying measurements between 3" to 5".  Use hot glue dots to adhere the other ends of the fishing line to the top of the jar as such...

Here's where the nit-picky part comes in... you'll have to fiddle with and adjust the snowflakes until the all face the same way (the front of the jar).  That's why I used GLUE DOTS instead of hot glue.  You can reposition the wire with glue dots.  Then, you can add some pretty pink jewels to the middle of the snowflakes, and have something that looks like this...

Then, just screw the lid onto the jar.  And, there you have it... a vintagey little snowglob filled with all the prerequisite sparkle of the season!  

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this project.  Happy crafting!

xoxo,

Holly

Elements d'Art - "Grateful" Centerpiece

Happy Fall, fellow Bad Girls!

Can you believe we're already in November? Thanksgiving is, of course, one of my favorite holidays because well... turkey. And mashed potatoes smothered with delicious gravy. And stuffingcranberrysaucesweetyamsbroccoli&pumpkinpie! :) Most of all, it's about getting together with family and expressing what we are grateful for.

This year, I wanted to "count our blessings" in a different way... in a way that can be documented while also serving a purpose (to sit there and look pretty-like) so we'll always remember what we were thankful for this year. This is what I came up with - a Thanksgiving centerpiece!

 
  
The best part about this is that you can get the whole family involved! I had each member of my family write down what they were grateful for on some Scenic Route journal spots and used them as part of their special "leaf". My youngest even helped with her own!

The possibilities are endless as far as what supplies you can use. Of course, you would want to use colors/products that would best match your decor. :)

SUPPLIES:

* LARGE "leaves" (floral picks) from your local craft store floral dept. (dry leaves work best, as they are sturdy and easier to work with.)

* An existing or purchased vase or container with floral filler of your choice

* Low temp glue gun

* Solid/Patterned paper

* various embellishments (ribbons, buttons, flowers, journal tags, etc.)

I used the Vintage Yummy line by Sassafrass Lass for the base of my leaves.  To get the shape, you can trace a rough sketch of your leaf onto a plain piece of paper and then use that as a template for your patterned paper.

 
  
I LOVE to use stitching of some sort on all of my projects, but stitching on these dry leaves was not an option so to achieve the look, I sewed my paper pieces together, as well as some lace, before adhering them to the leaves.

 
Once you have all of your paper "bases" complete, you can begin to adhere them to your leaves with a low temperature glue gun. And then the fun part begins... adding your photos, journal spots & dimensional elements to each leaf. Let your creativity soar!

When you are done, you will have a set of beautiful (and meaningful) floral picks to add to any arrangement you'd like, year after year.  

Another idea for this would be to have your "leaves", including photos, completed with just a spot left for a journaling tag. As friends/family arrive, you can give them each a journal tag, have them fill it out and then just add it to their leaf! It will be a centerpiece to be cherished for years and years to come.

Wishing you all a wonderful (& creative!) holiday season.

xoxo

Angie

Reveal Party Tonight!!!!

Hi Everyone! Tonight is the night that we reveal all of our new kits!!! How EXCITING!!! We have a total of 6 to choose from and I thought it would be very BAD of me if I showed you some sneaky peekies of what you can expect to see!!!.........

All of these peeks are from not only our Feature Kit, "La Traviata", but of all of our Art Kits, and our Specialty Kits too!

Enjoy and see you tonight!!!!.......

xoxo

Wendy