Gel Glass Stain Feathers & Teacups

Hello Magic Monday crafters!
Today I'm experimenting with Glass Stain, and all the ways to combine images with typography! I was curious about combining a very flat matte sea glass spray with the glossy shine of the gel stain, and I have to say, I think they make a perfect pair! I also thought it could be fun to throw some glitter or textural elements into the gel stain as it was hardening and it looks so amazing!!


SUPPLIES:
glass vase with at least one flat side
assorted colors of Glass Stain
Glain Stain - black leading (don't worry, it's not really lead based!) 
glitter, foamie balls, confetti, micro-beads, or any other fun textural elements! 
Sea Glass Spray in the color "Ice"
DecoColor oil based marker pen in the color "black" 
twinkle firefly lights!

 


















In order to draw complex pictures and designs you can use a coloring page and tape it to the inside of your glass vase and trace the lines using your black leading!

Next wait for you leading to harden for about 45 minutes!


Then squeeze your gel Glass Stain into your shapes! This gel is self leveling, so make sure the images you draw are closed shapes, as the leading borders will act like walls that keep the gel from running everywhere. Then throw some of that fun shiny glitter in there! I sprinkled just a pinch of it so that I could still see the color of the gel stain. This gel will need to completely cure overnight before it is hard enough to not get scratched. 

You can then add your lettering skills with the black oil based marker pen, and write straight on to the glass! 

On my "cup of tea" vase, I sprayed the sea glass spray as a base layer first before applying the gel stain to give it that etched frosty look. 

Have fun with your Glass Stain vases! And don't forget those twinkle lights to really make them pop!

Love, Bethany @Enchanted Lake 



 

Address-a-Lopin' Around...

Are you someone who has trouble writing in a straight line when it comes to

addressing envelopes and packages?  Are you a perfectionist?  Well, guess what?

We now have that perfect tool that will help you write in evenly spaced and straight lines

on every parcel and letter you mail!

 

Meet the ADDRESS-A-LOPE!

 

 

Looking at something this simple makes you think of boring mail like bills and what not, but let me tell you, you don't have to give up your creativity when using this!  Here is an example of the different looks you can achieve when you mix your media up!  Pictured are kraft paper, black and cream colored envelopes livened up with some stickers and designer scrapbooking cardstock from collections we carry in our stores.

 

 

All you need to start off, is a nice, clean envelope in the paper of your choice, some pens, embellishments and, of course, your handy-dandy Address-a-Lope!

 

 

If you would like, decorate your envelope first!  I chose a simple but cute and colorful paper from Amy Tangerine's On A Whim collection and used that like a washi tape at the very bottom of the envelope.  I then used a brown stamp pad to lightly rub the edges of the envelope, giving it an aged and distressed look.  Then, I chose a pretty floral sticker from, you guessed it, the Amy Tangerine On A Whim clear sticker sheet! I am in love with the collection's bright, summery and colorful look!

 

 



 

Third, line up the address-a-lope on the left side of your envelope.  There are two window sizes to choose from.  Focus on the smaller size, because this is the one for return addresses.  Here, you are going to left-face your name and address.   This is how I started off using a snazzy imaginary name.

 

 

After your return information has been filled, move the address-a-lope down and to the right of the envelope, and focus now on the larger windows.  Here is where you will write the name and address of the person you are sending your letter to!

 

 

Now, you're special SNAIL MAIL is FINITO!

Don't forget to put a stamp on that!

Have fun!

 

Erika @ PC

Stenciled Succulent Love

Hey all!
Happy Monday! 
I am so in love with succulents, tiny plants, and little garden scenes and wanted to share with you how you can turn your love for succulents into a cute home decor wall hanging!

SUPPLIES:
succulent stencil
foam on a stick
acrylic/fabric paints in lavender, azure, mint, leaf green, lime
embroidery hoop
white leaf patterned fabric 
pinking shears or sharp scissors
hot glue
jute/twine

First thing's first: Take your fabric and tightly secure it into your embroidery hoop. Pull taught on all sides, and trim excess fabric with either your pinking shears or sharp scissors leaving a 1-2 inch border around the hoop.

Using your foam on a stick, dip lightly into your acrylic/fabric paint colors. Use a DABBING motion, not a brushing motion. If there is too much paint in the foam it may get blobby so test your technique on a scratch piece of fabric or paper! Hold your stencil very still, and dip your foamy stick into the other colors on your palette without cleaning your foamie in between dips. This technique will create a really smooth blended look. 

I focused on more blue in the center, and lavender on the outer tips of the leaves.

Then cut strips of jute/twine and hot glue them into words like 
fun,
relax,
summer,
and of course Succa!  aka succulent! 

SO MUCH CUTENESS!

Check out our blog every weekday for a new project!

Love, Bethany @Enchanted Lake

We-R-Memory Keepers Tab Punch Board

Hey there, planner folks and scrapbooking lovers!

We just got in an awesome new punch board from the famous We-r-Memory line. 

They just keep on coming up with all these new boards, it's insane!

This new board is nice and compact, and is light blue and white just like their

popular Alpha punch boards.

Meet the new Tab Punch board!  This little guy's purpose is a simple one, and it is also
fairly simple to use, but there is so much you can do with it.  The tabs can be used to make dividers for planners, mini file folders, and even recipe cards!  Today, I will be showing you how to make mini folders with one of the papers from the incredibly adorable Simple Stories Emoji Love Scrapbook paper collection!  I cut out a 8x5 piece and then folded it, making one side of the fold about a 1/2 inch longer than the other.  This is so that there is room for the tab to pop out.

 

First, this little transparent blue bit, that you see right here can actually be moved around. Right now, it is lined up with the CORNER ROUNDER, which basically helps line the paper up to the puncher right above it so that, when punched, it creates a cute rounder edge on your page!

 

 

 

Next, the TAB!  Take the blue bit and move it over to the SIDE TAB notch.  This is what will make the puncher create the wavy sides of the tab.

 

Ta-DAAA!

 

To make the other side of the tab, flip the paper over.  There are Small, Medium and Large sizes that you can choose from.  All you have to do is line up the side that you already punched out to the indentation of whatever size you want on the board.  Here, I have it lined up to Medium.  Then, press that punch and you have your full tab! 

 

 

Lastly, time to get rid of that extra piece of paper that's just hanging out next to that tab!
Lift up the blue magnetic arm, take that iconic We-r-Memory cutting blade out of its little home and slide that sucker right over the piece of paper to cut!

 
 


Here is the finished little folder!  These would be so cute as inserts for planners as well as just little organizers for school, work or at home!  Here are examples of how you an decorate your little folders using the scrapbook papers that we carry at our stores.  Pictured are the Kaisercraft Island Escape collection and Amy Tangerine's On A Whim collection.  (I LOOOVE the gold letter "thickers" and tropical/summery clear stickers in Amy's collection!)

 

Have fun, and stay connected for more We-R-Memory Keepers news
and updates!

Erika @ PC 



 

Shell Frame

                  Shell Frame

Starfish napkins

Shells

Blue twine

Distressed ink

Cream o coat White paint

Sponge brush

 Hot glue gun and Glue sticks

 The napkins are 3 ply, take 2 layers off. It will leave you with the printed layer.

Cut to fit the back piece of the frame. On the inside of the frame, you will mod podge it, set aside to dry.

When dry use the dabbing technique to cover it with the mod podge to seal the napkin to the frame. Let it completely dry and repeat again.

·        Take the frame, to give it a distressed look. Rub the distressed ink all on the frame (do not cover the whole frame). You want to make it look like it is white washed. To white wash, you put a small amount of white paint on the sponge brush, have a piece of paper handy and brush it onto the paper before you brush on the frame. This way you do not have too much paint on it.

·        When dry insert the back of the frame and close the back.

·        Take your shells and hot glue them on to the corner of the frame.

·        Take the blue twine on make a bow to glue with the shells

           Hilo Ben franklin

Lighted Vase

               Lighted Vase

Vase – Glass RTD Flared

Firefly lights- color: Frozen blue

Mod Podge

Seasonal Shell Napkins

 Take your napkin and Separate it (Due to it has 3 layer’s) and you only need the layer with the picture on it. Cut it into triangles with the shell in the middle. You will need about 4 to 5 triangles.

Mod podge the vase and arrange the triangles around. So the shell is showing on all. Set aside to dry completely.

When completely dry Mod podge over all of it. Do not rub or brush it on, dabbing it on gives the best results.

 Now that it is dry insert the lights to the vase.

Second project in the series

                                                              Hilo Ben Franklin

Pineapple Quote!

Pineapples!

Just can't get enough of this fun tropical fruit!

We've been getting in TONS of pineapple-themed goods at our stores including bags, ceramics and wooden serving platters.  This is the perfect time to stock up for summer entertaining, so it's time to come on down and get crafty!

Today, I have a great painting project that would be great for kids as well as adults for those artsy get-togethers.  It's time to bring the fun of the boozy painting classes home!  All you need are basic pineapple colors like yellows, oranges, greens, oranges and some tans, as well as a cool tropical blue and white for the contrasting background.  You will also need a tan Stabilo marker, a black fine tip acrylic Montana or DecoColor marker, as well as a White Gelly Roll. 

Here, I painted on a natural slice of wood for a rustic feel, but feel free to paint on a canvas or wooden pallet.  Whatever floats your boat!

 

 

I first laid down a coat of white and then, while it was still wet, blended in some Delta Americana AcrylicTropical Blue for a lighter toned turquoise blue.  Once that background layer was dry, I used Ceramcoat Acrylic in Butter Yellow to paint the top three quarters of an oblong shape for the pineapple.  This took two coats for good coverage. 

 

After this was dry, I went ahead and painted the leaves.  Using upstrokes, I started at the top of the pineapple and tapered the tops of the leaves by slowly turning my brush sideways. (As a note, I used a 1 inch synthetic flat brush.)  I mixed a different shades of green such as Ceramcoat Spring Green and Delta Americana Chartreuse just to add more depth and dimension.  Just don't add too much!  You will be writing over the pineapple afterwards, so don't put too much effort into making it too detailed! 

 

I then used the Stabilo pen to lightly sketch the "eyes" of the pineapple.  This is where I brought a bit more detail into the painting, but feel free to use a paint marker or regular acrylic paint.  You can add a little more detail in this area, depending on how long of a quote you use.  After this was dry, I wrote the quote "You are the pineapple of my eye." in black Montana marker straight over the pineapple.

 

 

Afterwards, I used the white Gelly Roll gel pen to add some 3D effects to the letters!  I love the sketchy look, so I went over my lines multiple times.

 

 

Once everything was dry, I sprayed the painting with a light and even coat of Acrylic Sealer.  This is to prevent the water-based pens like the Stabilo and the Gelly Roll from smudging in the future.

 

 

And there you have it! 

Again, you can always experiment and make it your own.  The steps I used only took me about an hour.  Having a blow dryer or heat gun on hand would help in speeding up the process.  (Waiting for paint to dry can be a real drag.)  If you want to have a more detailed pineapple, go for it!  Want to use a different quote?  Fantastic!  If you're having a painting party, everyone can put their own spin on their painting.  Seeing everyone's unique style is always the best part!  Plus, what better party favor to go home with than a piece of summery décor and some renewed artistic confidence?

 

Cheers!

Erika