Would you believe this fun little Steampunk Angel was designed using 6 of our wonderful products, plus 2 fabulous products from our friends at Beacon Adhesives? Now that’s packing it in!
For our first giveaway of the new year, you can win a HUGE prize package that includes all 8 of these products! That’s right…one package of each of the four surfaces, one jar of paint, one bottle of ink, and one bottle of each of the adhesives!
To enter to win, leave a comment here or on Facebook telling us whether or not you will be at the CHA SuperShow or the CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show….or if you will be attending CHA vicariously through us, by reading our live daily blogposts and tweets during the shows!
If you are coming to CHA, stop by the Beacon Adhesives booth #3069 on Monday, January 25th at 4:00pm — and I will show you how to make this Steampunk Angel! If you’re not coming, we’ll miss you…but I will post the project instructions for this little Steampunk Angel here on the blog in February.
Comments will be closed at 9amPST on Monday 1/18/10 and the winner will be announced later that day. Good Luck!
I just can not get enough of this stuff—Lutradur® Mixed Media Sheets are ALL that! Like paper, but better…like fabric, but better! We’ll be demonstrating lots of different creative ways to use Lutradur at both the Super Show and the Trade Show.
Here is a lovely Lutradur dahlia, designed by Glenna Valley, that we can show you how to make at the LisaLizaLou booth #758 on Saturday morning, January 23. But if you can’t make it to the show…Glenna provides her instructions at the end of this post.
I also wanted you to see these earrings that artist Heidi Rand designed. She uses her own nature photography in her work—she took a pict
ure of a butterfly, inkjet-printed the wings on treated Lutradur, then trimmed and stitched two wings together for each earring. You can run Lutradur sheets through your inkjet printer straight out of the package if you want a softer or rougher looking image. But if you want a crisp image like these wings, then paint Lutradur first with a clear medium, let it dry, then print on it.
Heidi won’t be at CHA, but if you’re in Northern California, you can learn how to make these earrings and many other beautiful projects with Lutradur in her classes. Continue Reading…
There is nothing more frustrating than stitching a seam and then seeing that the stitches are imperfect. You may need to adjust the thread tension, but before you do that, try a couple of other simple things first.
Troubleshooting the problem:
•Clean out any lint in the feed dog area.
• Make sure the bobbin is wound smoothly and evenly. If not rewind it.
• Rethread the machine, both top and bobbin. It is crucial that the presser foot is up when you do this.
• Try putting in a new needle. If you are using a specialized thread, be sure the needle is designed for the particular thread you are using.
• Change to a different thread altogether. Occasionally the thread is bad. Never buy cheap thread—it is simply not worth the agony!
Continue Reading…
CHA is right around the corner! Formally known as the Craft & Hobby Association Winter 2010 Convention & Trade Show…this event will keep retailers busy for four whole days, exploring thousands of art and craft products in Anaheim, CA on January 24-27.
But never fear, dear general public! You get two days of your own to play and shop at the CHA Craft SuperShow on January 22-23.
We’ll be at both shows with bells on—with a full schedule of demos to show off our new Liquitex® Surface Design Center, our spectacular books, and creative surfaces.
During the trade show on Sunday, I’ll be at the ColArt booth (makers of Liquitex) demonstrating surface design techniques from Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter. Katie’s exercises for experimenting with shapes and lines are invaluable for quilters or anyone who wants to paint their own designs on paper or fabric. I’ll show ways to blend acrylic paints, inks and water to get different colors and effects on watercolor postcards.
A creative life is filled with challenges and rewards, puzzles and curiosities. This ongoing series of poems attempts to express the “Aha”s and “What if”s, the deep ponderings and casual observations of an inquiring mind trying to make sense of reality. May it serve, for you, as a bit of “Everyday Inspiration” along your own creative path.
I’m a
Long distance runner—
Not a sprinter.
So when it comes
To projects
I need a sprinter
On my team—
Otherwise
I never start
And I never finish.
Which are you?
A sprinter?
Or a marathon
Runner?
We all hate junk mail. On average, Americans receive about 41 pounds of junk mail each year! According to 41pounds.org, that’s equal to over 100 million trees, 28 billion gallons of water, and more C02 than 9 million cars! Yikes!
Here are a few free and easy ways to cut down on junk mail:
Get Your Address on the Do Not Mail List
Remove your address from national marketing lists by registering online for free with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
Reduce Bundled Flyers & Ad Supplements
Look for the mailing label attached to the flyer and contact the company directly to request your address be removed from their mailing list. Here are a few of the major resident mailers to contact:
- Valassis or Red Plum > Fill out their online form.
- Penny Saver or The Flyer > Check their site to opt out via email or phone.
- Val-Pak Savings Coupons > Fill out their online form.
Catalogs, Mail Orders & Magazines
Opt out of the Epsilon Abacus Coop database, and/or contact the catalog or mail order company directly to be removed from their mailing list.
Have any other junk mail tips? Anyone upcycling their junk mail into cool collages or other crafts? Post your projects and share your junk mail ideas with us!
Lutradur vase painted with Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic Paint
They say that “necessity is the mother of invention,” and I agree.
Here’s the story: It was a Saturday, and I still didn’t know what I was going to do at my Japanese flower arranging class the next morning. I’d been playing with Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic paints a lot lately, and had also been using Lutradur.
I’ve made a few Lutradur vases, so I figured I’d make another one. I decided to use the Ellipse Vase (Fish Bowl) from Linda Johansen’s Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Vases book. I painted the Lutradur with the Liquitex paints and hung it up to dry. I wanted the vase to be bigger than the large size in the book, so I enlarged the pattern.
As soon as the Lutradur was dry, I cut out the pieces and sewed them together. Because the Lutradur doesn’t fray and I didn’t need to satin stitch the edges, it went together in a flash. To give myself a few more design opportunities, I cut a hole in each side of the vase and voila.
In case you’re interested, the flowers are Bougainvilla and the silver strands are wrapped cords called mizuhiki.
Did you know there is a National Dress Up Your Pet Day? There is and it is coming up – January 14th. If you are anything like me, there is nothing better then seeing Fido in a perfect princess costume, or depending on my mood, we may choose ballerina, snow bunny, cowboy, etc…
Now, I know what your thinking. “OMG, I just finished celebrating the holidays, how will I ever prepare for National Dress Up Your Pet Day? Well, have no fear, I have the perfect solution. Two words: Wearable Arf. The book has 16 adorable, show-stopping costumes that you just can’t live without. Just look at these:
Order your copy today!
Yes, she did it again. C&T author Claudia Clark Myers has taken home another quilt award for one of her breathtaking quilts. Author of the new release, A Passion for Piecing, Myers recently took home the Best Machine Workmanship award at The Pacific International Quilt Festival. She won the award for her quilt titled “The Geisha and the Serving Girl,” that she made with Marilyn Badger. It’s a stunning masterpiece that involves painting on fabric. We asked her to tell us the details behind the making of the quilt.
Continue Reading…
The project was spurred on by an invitation in the summer of 2007 from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod to lend a piece for an art exhibition, entitled “Self Portrait Cape Cod”. The show, which opened the next winter in 2008 at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, included dozens of Cape Cod artists’ self portraits in a variety of mediums.
Continue Reading…
