Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1 so come in for our demo on these Day of the Dead Earrings.  Images of sugar skulls have become popular in fashion so you can actually wear them anytime but it seems especially appropriate this time of the year and they are very easy to make.  We carry these skulls with our Imagine It gemstone line, they come in 2 different sizes and I used the larger size for these.  I  used 2 part epoxy to glue the Swarovksi 8mm margaritas into the eye sockets and then nestled them in a bed of uncooked rice while the glue dried.  Then I wire wrapped a bunch of our resin flowers from our bead soup collection with Swarovksi 3mm bicones and Sweet bead ball ended head pins.  Once I finished with the flowers my glue was set and I just stacked everything onto 20 gauge wire, topped it with copper beads and wire wrapped it close.  Add on ear wires and tadah!
Our demo will be at our Mapunapuna Bead Shop on Saturday October 20 and 27 at 2 PM so if you have time, stop by to check it out!

I'll see you at the store!

Lynn H. @ Mapunapuna BFC Bead Shop

GLAM OUT YOUR SKULL wood cut out!

I was so excited to get the Sierra Pacific Crafts Halloween wood cut outs! There are bats and witches shoes, spiders, etc, but I knew when I saw the skull that I wanted to do some kind of sugar skull design. I started with a Poly-brush foam brush, "Regal Purple", "Black" and "Gold" Deco Art Crafters Acrylic Paint. I love using the foam brushes when layering paint, because of the different textures you can so easily create by applying different pressure the the brush. I painted some purple on the chin and gold on the forehead and teeth, and brushed the rest with the black paint. After doing two coats of the black and letting it dry, I applied tacky glue with a foam brush where I wanted my purple glitter. I added flat-back rhinestones 5mm and 7mm with tacky glue to the eyes and one of the teeth. I used ProArt 3/0 Gold Nylon Liner brush to apply the spider webs and spider, and a 6 Gold Nylon Round for the purple dots and other details...around the eyes and mouth etc. The orange around the mouth was unexpected (it bled through when I painted the other side), but I love what it adds to it, so I kept it.

THE OTHER SIDE...it's ELECTRIC!

I love how this side looks like he was electrocuted..zap! First, I painted the entire side with "Pure Pumpkin" Deco Art Crafters Acrylic paint with a Poly-brush foam brush. After it dried, I took the foam brush and used black paint to circle the eyes. I took the corners of the foam brush and rapidly dragged the black out from the eyes for a shocking effect. Then, I lightly brushed over the teeth with the same brush. Next I took the ProArt 6 Gold Nylon Round brush and  painted cracks along the chin and forehead. That's it...so easy and fun. You can hang them in your window or classroom by the hole in the top of the cut-outs. Let the spooky fun begin!

-Market City BFC