Packing Tape Transfer

Hooray for no Tsunamis 0r technical difficulties! (We hope everyone is doing OK, by the way.) I can finally do my blog again, so as promised I'm going to show you how I did that neat little label on my altered box. The technique is very simple and all you need is some clear packing tape, an image to transfer, and a spray bottle filled with water.



Tape transfer works best with glossy magazine images but you can use almost anything including scrap booking paper or images printed with an ink jet or laser printer. For my image I used a Cartier ad out of a wedding magazine. First, you need to place the packing tape on the image. You're only working with about two inches of tape so choose your area carefully.









Next, I cut out the image to make it easier to work with and used a bone folder to burnish the tape to the image. Make sure to burnish the whole image and watch out for any air bubbles. If you end up with a crease in the tape the transfer will still work but you'll also be able to see the crease.

After your tape is nicely burnished, flip the image over and spray the back with water. Wait for a little while to let the water soak in, then gently rub the back of the image with your finger. This will start to take all the paper off of the tape while leaving the image on. When you've rubbed all the paper off the back, let the tape dry. Your image will end up being transparent with darker colors looking more opaque than lighter colors.

Here's my finished piece:

The rose at the bottom of the card is the image I transferred from the magazine ad, but I also used this technique to make the "thank you" wording at the top. I've found that this technique comes in handy for making personalized sentiments or for when you need another size for your wording, sort of like customizable rub-ons. It also works well for putting images to paper which may not be appropriate, or the right size, to send through the printer.

I hope everyone likes the idea, I've had a lot of fun playing around with it. I'm sure you'll see more of my upcoming projects using this technique, I seem to keep finding more and more applications for it.

Thanks for reading!

Puna @ Enchanted Lake

Tsunami

Hey there everyone... Sorry for the late start, but we (Kahului, Maui) are now officially open for the day. Luckily our mall didn't get flooded, but there were road closures all around us this morning. Here's a picture (thanks to my friend) of the receding water from Kihei, Maui this morning...

So if you're off of work or school today & are trying to figure out what to do... it's the perfect time to start a craft project 8-) so come over & visit us... be safe & have a good day

* our thoughts & prayers go out to the people & our partners in Japan

A hui hou..... Trina

TOWEL TREATS

Sweet Towel Treats!

Don't these look yummy? They are not just cute but look delicious! In the stores now, these are perfect favors or centerpieces for your Spring parties. Or you can use them as samples and create some yourself with colorful washcloths or dishtowels. Many of you may remember making the little bunnies by folding washcloths. Fold the washcloth into a triangle, roll up, add google eyes, a pompom nose, ribbon bow and you've got a cute bunny....insert a plastic egg filled with treats and you have your Spring favor!

See you soon!

Gloria @ Pearl City

"It's for the birds!"

Over here at Market City, we're not leaving it all up to the birds. Although we did have lots of fun since Girls Day making mochi with the microwave and making paper dolls.

Here's another great wood project but not just for the birds. You'll need a few supplies: wooden bird house, ceramcoat paints, grass punch, green cardstock, McGill punch, stylus and of course, birds.

Before we forget ... it's National Craft Month and to celebrate, here at Market City we'd like to personally invite you to our Make 'n Take Celebration on Saturday March 26 from 10am-2pm lots of demonstrations and make 'n takes (of course) a fun filled day, celebrating all the different crafts.

See ya 'all then.

Inspired by Coby K.
Posted by Chris

Don't know what to do with all of your keiki's artwork?

One of my daughter's favorite activities is drawing & coloring... so of course I have tons of artwork all over my house that are just filling up the refrigerator door & every wall space available. Finally I decided that I need to figure out different ways to display them.

Here's some of the ideas that I came up with...

I scanned the drawing into the computer & printed out in different sizes.

• The key chain was simple to make, just cut the image & pop it into the key chain.
• The post-it note holder is a bent acrylic frame with the image inserted & the post-it note adhered to the top.
• The magazine holder is an unfinished wood item that I painted & decoupaged the image to the front.

Now I can free up some of my wall space, but still be able to proudly display my daughter's artwork...


A hui hou....Trina

Lei Book

Our newest Lei book, Volume IX is available now at the stores! Just in time for Easter, Mother's Day and, of course...... Graduation! There are 16 lei making ideas for you to try; haku leis, crochet leis, ribbon leis and straw leis are in the book. And, new ideas to use a Kumihimo disk or a Hana-Ami loom to create more unique leis. Don't forget to make a cute pom-pom lei for that Kindergarten graduate! The stores will be demonstrating these leis, as well as leis from previous books, come and see! Want to sit and make one?....Pearl City store has lei making classes starting this month. There are crochet leis on Tuesdays, ribbon leis on Thursdays and lots of demonstrations.

Do you remember this Lei book? I can't find the publishing date but it must be one of our first! It contained fabric leis and rick rack leis which we don't do very much of now. Rick rack (do you remember them?) is so hard to find these days! And, the eyelash yarns make it so much easier than cutting and stripping fabric! Although the book cover is in color, the inside instructions are in black and white! What a difference from our latest book!

See you soon! Happy Lei Making!

Gloria

Cows that go "MOO"

Hi ya 'all... here's a cut cow project... that we did over at Market City. Made it for my "moo" me. We had so much fun with the wood burning that we look forward to doing more projects with the woods.You'll need a few items, like a wooden cow frame and a wood burning kit.

Then just make the "black" spots on the cow with the wood burning kit and add some raffia for the "hay" in the cow's mouth and you're set.

Posted by Chris