Paper Hearts

Paper hearts. . .

for Valentine's Day

Papier-Mache Snowball in Create & Decorate January/February 2012

~image used with permission of Create & Decorate, January/February 2012

and Sean O'Brien Photography~

If you're looking for a new papier-mache project, be sure to check out the latest issue of Create & Decorate, which features my papier-mache snowball on page 44.

For this project, I used Celluclay from Activa Products. I also used Americana acrylic paints by DecoArt, American Painter brushes by Loew-Cornell, Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®, and STYROFOAM brand foam by The Dow Chemical Company.

Liz Revit Designs Featured at CHA Summer 2011 Trade Show

 ~ Image copyright Christoper Hanson ~

I'm honored to have had my jewelry designs featured in Westcott's booth at the summer 2011 CHA trade show. Although I was unable to attend this year's show, I obtained a photo of how my jewelry looked on display.

Since my jewelry ensemble consisted of interchangeable pieces consisting of Duck Tape's "flames" and "camouflage" motifs, I'm thrilled to see how they arranged my necklace on top of the camouflage print. Nice job!

The CHA designer challenge was a lot of fun. I might add that there was a lot of pressure with this year's challenge due to a delivery problem with one of the products, which resulted in a week-long delay in my receiving the product. Working under pressure is never a problem. You just do what needs to be done.  

I'd like to thank the generous sponsors of this year's designer challenge: Westcott, Velcro Brand Fasteners and Duck Brand Duck Tape.

A big note of thanks to Marisa Pawelko aka Modern Surrealist for organizing this challenge.  She was so gracious to reach out to the CHA designer members to participate in this event, and she was very helpful throughout the designer challenge.

As a reminder, our projects will be auctioned to raise funds for CharityWings.org. Please be sure to check out this wonderful organization and all that they do.

I'd also like to mention that I used Swarovski crystals and Beadalon's German-style wire in my designs. As always, Swarovski always provides that extra sparkle, and I love using Beadalon's wire as an alternative to sterling silver.

Patriotic Ornaments in Create & Decorate August 2011

~image used with permission of Create & Decorate, August 2011 

and Sean O'Brien Photography~

If you haven't already seen the latest issue of Create & Decorate, be sure to check out page 78, which features my grand old flag star ornaments.

For this project, I used Celluclay from Activa Products. I also used Americana acrylic paints by DecoArt, American Painter brushes by Loew-Cornell, and Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®.

If you love making primitive crafts, give this project a try.

Art of the Doodle

My Art of the Doodle workshop at King's College was lots of fun. The kids created wonderful works of art, and I had the pleasure of teaching a great group of kids. Following are some pictures of what the students created this week.

CHA Designer Challenge Update

With a deadline looming over my shoulders, I devoted the entire day to creating my mixed-media project for the CHA designer challenge. There was a delivery problem with one of the products, and it resulted in a week-long delay in my receiving the product. Designing under pressure is not a problem. It forced me to pick one of the many designs that I put to paper.

Wanting to offer both depth and versatility in my design, Velcro Brand Fasteners worked marvelously. The animal print Duck Brand Duck Tape served as the bottom for each link, while the flames and the camouflage prints worked well for the interchangeable pieces. 

The Duck Tape folks provided me with many colors and prints to choose from, but the prints just jumped out at me. 

This is what the necklace looked like from the beginning. Then I decided to shorten the length of the chains because the design can not be more than 12 inches long. At this stage, I was cutting it close because I didn't even start to add the beads.

I chose to keep the clasp as an animal print because when I added another layer to the mix (a total of three pieces stacked on top of one another), it was just too cumbersome as a clasp.

I thought a bit of blue thrown into the mix would work well with both the flames and the camouflage.

Miyuki seed beads and Swarovski crystals were added for a bit of bling.

 

I created scroll headpins for each dangle. Again, I think the hint of blue adds just a little extra color to this piece.

 ~ The finished necklace with flames ~

 

If you prefer camouflage, this is what the finished necklace looks like. 

I love the way the Velcro provides that added lift and dimension to each link. The Westcott Titanium Bonded non stick scissors were fabulous to work with. As mentioned on the product packaging, the scissors provide superior adhesive resistance. With that said, the Duck Tape did not stick to the scissors. This is the first time that I've used Westcott products, and I'm sold!

Here's a quick look at the earrings in progress. I only need to add the ear wires. I like these earrings just the way they are without the beads. Any thoughts? If so, feel free to comment, but I'll be shipping these babies out on Tuesday.

CHA Designer Challenge

Westcott Brand is giving 24 designer members of the Craft & Hobby Association the opportunity to participate in a designer challenge, and I'm happy to participate.  The sponsors are Westcott, Velcro Brand Fasteners and Duck Brand Duck Tape.

In addition to using the tools and supplies provided by the sponsors, designers can also use at least three
other items in their pieces.

Our mixed-media projects will be on display at the Westcott booth at the summer 2011 CHA show in Rosemont, Illinois. Our projects will also be auctioned to raise funds for CharityWings.org.

The tools and supplies have arrived, and I'm ready to roll. Now all I have to do is decide if I want to make a necklace or earrings. I'm torn, but I have to decide soon as I only have a week to create my mixed-media project. I'll keep you posted.

A big note of thanks to Marisa Pawelko aka Modern Surrealist for organizing this challenge.

Fun With Small Works of Art

 I'm teaching my Fun With Small Works of Art workshop at King's College this week, and the kids are creating some of the most interesting pieces of artwork.

 This little kitty never goes out of style.

 ~ A patriotic sailboat ~

Love is in the air.

Five-Minute Card

Perhaps you need a  Mother's Day card or a card for that special person. With minimal supplies, you'll be able to crank this baby out within a few minutes. Here's what you'll need to create this card.

Materials

* A piece of white construction paper
* Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®
* Faber-Castell PITT "S" artist pen
* Scraps of decorative paper

Tools

* Fiskars paper edgers (scallop)

* Fiskars scissors

Instructions

1) To create the card, fold your construction paper in half, and then fold it in half again. 

2) Using the scallop paper edgers, cut a stem, leaf, four petals, and a center from your decorative paper.

3) Glue the stem in place with Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®.

4) Glue the leaf, the petals, and the center in place. Let dry completely.

5) Draw light outlines around the flower with the Faber-Castell PITT artist pen.

Spring Peep in Create & Decorate

~image used with permission of Create & Decorate, April 2011 

and Sean O'Brien Photography~

Although there's plenty of snow and ice on the ground, spring is just around the corner. In fact, I understand we're supposed to have some warmer weather this week. I'll take 50 degrees over single-digit temperatures any day.

Speaking of spring, be sure to check out the April 2011 issue of Create & Decorate. My paper mache spring peep is featured on page 58. I had visions of marshmallow peep candies when I was sculpting this little guy.

I use a lot of different clays in my sculpting projects. For the spring peep project, I used Dixon Prang DAS Pronto Modeling Clay. I also used Americana acrylic paints by DecoArt because they're smooth and easy to work with. For the base of the peep I used some STYROFOAM™ and a little bit of old newspaper. I chose American Painter brushes by Loew-Cornell for this project. If you're into sculpting and painting, give this project a try.

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~image used with permission of Create & Decorate, April 2011~

A big thanks to editor Beverly Hotz for choosing this project for their April 2011 issue, which is loaded with fabulous craft projects and recipes. I especially enjoyed the article about Jim Healy, the junk architect. I also love Nancy Malay's Blue Bird of Happiness project on the cover as well as the Spring Chicks project by Cheryl Wall on page 86. It's a great issue. Be sure to pick up a copy today.

Happy crafting!

More Valentine's Day Crafts

The kids in my mixed-media workshop created the neatest works of art yesterday. Going with a Valentine's Day theme, the kids came up with all kinds of cool stuff.

My glue of choice for this project is Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®. This glue does a fantastic job in gluing hard-to-glue items, such as buttons.