Crystal Lacquer make me happy HAPPY!

Crystal Lacquer has certainly sparked my creativity.  I've been experimenting and trying all sorts of techniques using this versatile product. 

 One of the fun techniques that I tried was pouring the Crystal Color Lacquer out onto my craft mat (you might remember seeing the little dots of color from my Easter Egg post a few weeks ago).  I decided to try a shape using this stuff and came up with a flower shape that you can see in the photo below.

This first photo shows how the Crystal Color Lacquer looks wet (I used Red) - and then the next day after it's dried, peeled off the mat, with an antique button poked through the center. The color dried more of a bright pink color.  This is where the idea of my card started.  I'm a flower-nut, so I just kept adding layers of scalloped circles (I used my AccuCut machine and a 4"scallop circle die) cut from an old recycled book, and old sheet of music and some paper towels I had saved from my egg-dying adventure.

 After crinkling the layers and spritzing with a little Glimmer Mist, I was satisfied with the flower and moved on to the card layout.  I used a bazzill cardstock for the card itself and a torn piece of old sheet music for the background.  I adhered the flower and added the scrap piece of "happy HAPPY" ribbon I had in my stash.  I printed the words for the sentiment flag using "my underwood" font, cut it out and distressed it a bit with Vintage Photo Distress Ink (as I did on the flower also, along with Spun Sugar Distress Ink).  I cut out the flag shape from a plain old paper bag and used Crystal Lacquer to adhere the words onto it.  Crystal Lacquer is a great adhesive and I used it to glue on all the elements onto the card.

Close up of the flower.

 

Finished card.

Thanks for checking out my project for this week.

Karen

visit my blog and leave me some love - http://www.katscrapstudio.blogspot.com/

and for ordering Crystal Lacquer products, check out http://www.sakuracraft.com/. 

They have great tutorials and ideas as well!

Book Thong and Kindle Charm

I’ve been having fun with jewelry findings, beads, and 3D Crystal Lacquer. Both of my sisters are avid readers–one used to be a librarian–and I wanted to make each of them a bookmark. These are so much fun to do. And easy!!

To make the charm I cut a word out of an old dictionary that I got at a yard sale. I put my jewelry finding on top of the word I wanted to use and traced around it with a pencil. I used the tracing as a guide for the initial cut, but did need to trim it up to fit inside the finding.

When I was satisfied with the cut out, I put a very thin layer of the clear 3D Crystal Lacquer in the bottom of the jewelry finding. Then, using tweezers, I placed my dictionary cut out into the finding. Adhering the cut out with this thin layer of lacquer prevents it from floating when the finding is filled with crystal lacquer.

Now’s the time to add any micro beads or other tiny gems. Next, fill the finding with your choice of colored crystal lacquer and finish off with a dusting of ultrafine crystal glitter. Some of the colored lacquers are more translucent than others, so you may want to test your colored lacquer on a scrap before filling the finding.

Here are my Kindle charm and book thong.

To make the thong you’ll need two crimp beads, decorative beads, a length of beading string or fine twine. I used a length of beading string about 12 inches long. You can adjust this for different size books. First, put one of the crimp beads on the string followed by the charm that you just made. Thread the end of the string back through the crimp bead and pinch it closed. On the other end, put on the other crimp bead, followed by your decorative beads. The last decorative bead should be a very small bead. After the last decorative bead is strung, thread the string back through the remaining decorative beads and the crimp bead. (The last decorative bead has only one thickness of beading string through it. The other decorative beads have two thicknesses of beading string.) Close the crimp bead and trim any thread ends.

Visit my blog for more fun projects.

Transformations

I found this 16" x 20" print for free at the farewell party of Gallery at the End of the World in Altadena. I was not really attracted to the print other than I through the blues and greens would match the Metallic & Pearl Color 3D Crystal Lacquer I had waiting at home -- ready for a project to manifest.

Below are some close up details of the print - before I applied the Crystal Lacquer.

Here is the 3D Crystal Lacquer package with the print. The green is a dead on match and I had a dark pearl blue 3D Crystal Lacquer from another set.

I failed to take a picture of the print with the lacquer applied; however, I knew it could not stay on the flat background. It was just blah, so I cut out the pieces and looked for a small canvas. I found an 8" x 10" canvas in my garage which I then spray painted black and coated with a glitter glaze.

I decided that the blue flourish would represent the sky and the green, the earth. I placed the sunflower between. The composition still needed something, so I added a ScrapFX Chipboard Flutterby which I coated with Bronze Crystal Lacquer.

After applying the lacquer and letting it dry, I glued the butterfly to the canvas.

After the glue was set, I filled in the butterfly wings with the 3D Crystal Lacquer. I did have to use a toothpick to move the lacquer into the smaller wing areas.

The green glitter button in the center of the flower was a last minute addition. I was cleaning out something and found the button. I started to toss it into the scrappy pile (yes, I have one) and then realized it was the same size as the center of the flower.

A final tip - on the petals of the flower, I squeezed the lacquer from the base and pulled it towards the edge releasing the pressure on the tube. This is what created the nice even look on the petals.

Have fun creating!

Heather Morrow

www.cr8ivesouls.com

Faberge Box

The Metallic Color Lacquer made me think of Faberge Eggs for Easter.  Since a few of the DT ladies did such amazing Easter Eggs witht he Color Lacquer I decided to make a Feaux Faberge Box, and Easter Pendant.  Here's what I used.

Metallic Color Lacquer

3D Crystal Lacquer

Jewelry Finding

Altoid Smalls Tin

Easter Images from Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash 

For the Pendant, I trimmed a Vertical Easter image to the size of the finding, glued it in place with a small dot of Clear Crystal Lacquer, and filled the top of the image, inside the Jewelry Finding with Clear Crystal Lacquer and set it aside to dry.

For the Box, I painted an Altoid Tin with blue paint. I centered my Horizontal Easter Image and adhered it with Clear Crystal Lacquer.  I framed the image with the Gold Metallic Color Lacquer, and created my Fabrage design.  I let that dry and then filled in the blue spaces with some Blue Color Lacquer to give it a more enamel look, like faberge has.  I added metallic details on the image itself, then filled the whole image in with Clear Crystal Lacquer.

I set it to dry over night and Voila!!

I think this could make a lovely Easter Hostess Gift.  I love the way it turned out and just working on it I got a lot of fun ideas of ways to make faberge designs with Metallic Color Lacquer.  For more great ideas check out my blog and the Sakura Craft Design Team Blog!

Have a Happy Easter!!

~Chelsea

Sakura Design Team submission April 19th

This submission is total bling.  I experimented with charms, glass micro beads and crystal lacquer.  I used  

Sakura findings and placed my cupid and heart charms filling all the other space with the glass micro beads and covered with crystal lacquer and set this aside to dry for at least 48 hours (do not try to increasing drying time with heat, it will liquify the lacquer and only increasing drying time)

With this piece I again laid down my Cupid charm and poured Crystal lacquer around it.  I then added a few glass micro beads in each corner.

With this piece I again laid down my Cupid charm and poured Crystal lacquer around it.  I then added a few glass micro beads in each corner.

Zentangled Pendants!

Hello everyone from sunny San Diego!

When Sakura Hobby Crafts sent me the jewelry findings in my goodie box my mind instantly thought of Zentangle. I had never Zentangled in such a small space but thought it would be a great challenge for me and one I definitely wanted to try! For those who don't know about Zentangle you might want to check out the official Zentangle website once you are done checking out today's blogpost here!

Anyway, I decided to use a black 005 Micron pen because it can draw in such fine detail and the color won't change over time or with exposure to the sun, which with a jewelry pendant can happen! I cut out pieces of smooth paper that would fit inside the pendant pieces. I used a pencil to outline the outside of the pendant on the paper then cut on the inside of the lines and had very little trimming to do to get the pieces to fit. I do suggest that you not put the pieces all the way into the pendant until you are ready to use the crystal lacquer in the final step. Otherwise you might crinkle a corner trying to get it back out! (Just trust me on this one! wink wink)




So then I Zentangled my design on the small pieces of paper, did some shading with a soft lead pencil and we were ready for the crystal lacquer!



Another hint, put a little crystal lacquer on the bottom of the inside of the finding, a very thin layer and put the piece of paper inside and let it dry for a bit before filling the entire finding with the crystal lacquer.



Then you fill the entire finding and set it aside to dry. You will know when it is dry because you will see your artwork clearly....the crystal lacquer looks cloudy when you 1st put it in.



I left mine sit overnight so I am not sure exactly how long it took to dry. You can also use a pin to pop any bubbles that are in the lacquer if any appear when you fill the finding. Pop them right away or bring them to the surface and pop them, otherwise you will have bubbles of air once the lacquer dries....a neat effect, but not if that wasn't what you were aiming for!



I hope you like the pendants! I sure had fun making them!!!

Jennifer - The Stamp Addict
Check out my blog for other ideas

Hippity Hoppity - Easter's On it's Way!

It's been a few weeks since my last Sakura Design Team post, so I've been experimenting quite a bit with my Crystal Lacquer products. My studio work table has been in complete creative chaos and I love it!

I chose an Easter themed project this week, with the holiday fast approaching.

I've loved coloring eggs since I was a kid, so it only seemed natural to try incorporating the Crystal Lacquer products with coloring eggs - and I must say, they turned out better than I had expected!

I had never blown out eggs before, so I thought I'd give it a try - it was simple and easy to do . I colored the eggs first (raw), using the old fashioned food coloring way. I prefer using this to the tablet type coloring because the colors come out brighter and more vibrant. After they dried, I poked a hole in each end of the raw egg with my paper piercer and blew the yolk and whites into a bowl. - easy peasy.

I used the NEON set of food coloring for vibrant colors.



My first attempt at blowing an egg out was a success!

Colored eggs ready for Crystal Lacquer.

After my eggs were colored, dried and blown out, I slid them onto a bamboo skewer, so I could coat them with Crystal Lacquer and sprinkle with fine glitter. The skewer also came in handy as I could just stick the end into a piece of foam so the egg could dry. I just used a very thin layer of Crystal Lacquer, as I didn't want any puddling on the bottom of the egg as it dried.

For this polka-dotted egg, I used little circles of dried Crystal Color Lacquer. I had squeezed out a bunch of tiny circles of Crystal Color Lacquer on my mat a few days earlier and wanted to do something with them.....so I placed them on a plain white egg. The dried Crystal Color Lacquer stuck on the egg without any adhesive. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Here are the dots of Crystal Color Lacquer (some I mixed with the clear Crystal Lacquer) ready to dry overnight.

*The egg in the center is actually just a shell of a cracked egg that I dropped dots of the Crystal Color Lacquer, then covered the Crystal Lacquer while still wet. It came out awesome with muted colors and shine. I put the shell on the end of a pencil and stuck it in foam to let it dry.

Ta-Da! Another view of my Crystal Lacquer Egg creations. These eggs are very elegant and since they are blown out, I'll be able to wrap them up carefully and have them for decorating for years to come!

Crystal Lacquer is SO versatile. I've had a great time experimenting and playing with this great line of product. I can't wait to show you more of the things I have created.

Until next time - Happy Creating!

Karen

check out more ideas and products at

http://www.sakuracraft.com/

and

http://www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com/ for more fun!

Easter Eggs with 3D Crystal Lacquers

Anybody thinking about decorating Easter eggs??? You can definitely add a new dimension to your egg decorations with colored 3D crystal lacquers from Sakura Hobby Craft. I started my egg decorating project by coloring hard boiled eggs. I dissolved a tiny amount of paste dye (the kind used for cake icing) in one cup of hot water. To that I added one teaspoon of white vinegar to help set the colors. After removing the eggs from the dye bath, I let them dye completely before decorating with the metallic and pearlized 3D crystal lacquers. Here are the results.

I also used the pearlized and colored 3D crystal lacquers to decorate this Easter Card. Much easier to mail this beautiful card than a real decorated egg I cut the egg pattern on my Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot software and an SVG file that I found on SCAL Efiles blog. I love the name of the cut file–Fabergewannabegg. The Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer embellishments really make this card reminiscent of the famous jewel-encrusted Faberge eggs.

Detail of Easter Egg Card

You can learn more about Sure Cuts A Lot software at Create & Craft.

Clowning Around

I had a few sheets of Graphic 45 scrapbooking paper that I was wanting to play with. It was from their Le Cirque Collection.

I used the rectangular jewelry finding to figure out which image worked best out of the sheet of Circus themed tags. The running clown caught my fancy, so I carefully cut the front part of his body out of the tag and glued it into the finding.

Tip: You want to make sure that you put a little Crystal Lacquer under the image, to hold it in place. If you do not, the moisture in the Crystal Lacquer applied on top will float the edges of the paper up.

I covered the image with Crystal Lacquer and set it aside to dry. As I was cleaning up, I realized that the second half of the image would also fit in the rectangular jewelry finding (and it was pretty), so I repeated the same steps and also used another image from the same sheet in a round jewelry finding.

I did not really intend for their to be two halves of the clown; however, once they dried, I realized that I had a match and I knew they had to be put together as one jewelry piece.

I used Crystal Lacquer to glue the pieces together and then filled the findings to almost overflowing with additional Crystal Lacquer.

Once it was completly dried, I tied knots on the ends of two black waxed cord and then tied them together with an adjustable slip knot at the top.

Very easy to create a unique piece of jewelry that people will notice.

Heather Morrow

Creative Souls

Spring Tag

For this tag I decided to use the Metallic Crystal Color Lacquer as a glaze.

To make the charm, I simply used some springy rose stickers I had and arranged them inside the Jewelry Finding, filled it with Crystal Lacquer and set aside to dry.  

I used the metallic blue Lacquer on the Acrylic S (Heidi Swapp Ghost Letter), by spreading it with my finger.  I added some dots in silver for detail, and set that aside to dry.  I distressed the edges of a plain white tag with Distress Inks in Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage, and Broken China.  Next I stamped the Fairy Swing stamp (Crafty Secrets) in black ink, and wrote "pring" for the word Spring at the top.  It's important to make sure you do all your ink stuff first, before you move to the next step.  

I applied gold, silver and pink Metallic Color Lacquer again with my finger as a glaze coating to add shimmer and texture.  It dries fairly quickly because it's so thin, so you can layer them over each other as you go, and it adds a neat effect.

Next I filled in spots on the fairy image with green, pink and blue Metallic Color Lacquer.  I adhered the S using Crystal Lacquer and filled the images of just the fairies with Crystal Lacquer to make them stand out.

Finally I attached some lace and ribbon at the bottom with Crystal Lacquer and Tiny Attacher Staples, and tied the charm on (once it dried) with some fairylike ribbon.  Tada!

~Chelsea

*Check out my blog and the Sakura Craft Design team Blog for more fun ideas*