Celebrate Box

Hi everyone - Dale here!
Hope your holiday week - CANADA DAY here in Canada and 4th of JULY in the USA are AWESOME for you!

I am always telling people to CELEBRATE their accomplishments, whether small or large. So, my first project for July is a little CELEBRATE box, where I can put a note in there for each achievement, goal, etc. through out the year.

I started with a little chocolate box that has been kicking around my stash of boxes for awhile.  The box measures 2.75 X 3.5 inches and is 1 inch deep.
I covered the lid with a scrapbook paper, and gessoed the print on the bottom of the box. The inside of the box was untouched.

The hardest decision - which one of Sakura Hobby Craft’s glass tiles and matching bezel cup.
The glass tiles are available in rectangle, square and circular shapes.
I decided to go with the bronze round one for this project.

I cut the word - "CELEBRATE" from a large print book, then added it to similar colour of paper, then used my only border punch to add similar paper as the box over & below the word.  I used 3D Crystal Lacquer to glue the glass tile over the word.
I tied the organza coloured ribbon through the bail at the top of the bezel cup.

I added a piece of vintage lace over a document seal sticker and a teal paper scrap, then used 3D Crystal Lacquer to glue down the bezel cup. Used it also to glue down the 5 beads around the bezel cup.

I added more vintage lace all around the side of the box top, then added the teal trim over the lace.

For each goal, or achievement that is reached, I will be adding a little note inside. At the end of the year, will record all those achievements in my journal and then start again in January 2014.

July is the perfect time to order all your Sakura Hobby Crafts products, because for the month of July, you can get 20% off your total purchase from Sakura by entering coupon code Summer07 at checkout!

Burlap Necklace with Crystal Lacquer (and a coupon)

This project was fast, easy and fun!

I have been hand dyeing fibers and I thought it would be fun to incorporate some of my ombre burlap into a necklace:

I also wanted to try Sakura Crystal Lacquer in Susan Lenart Kazmer’s new Media Mixage bezel cups.  So I decided to put some of my burlap into the heart bezel cups.  Here’s what they look like empty:

Each cup has a corresponding die, so you can cut whatever media you choose and it will fit exactly.

I stiffened some burlap with Mod Podge to keep the edges from fraying.  For instructions on how to do that, see my tutorial here.  When it was dry, I cut out the hearts using the Media Mixage dies that matched the bezel cups I had chosen.

You can put anything you want into the bezel cup, and make multiple layers.  I wanted to keep it simple, so I poured a little Crystal Lacquer into the cups first, then laid my burlap on that, then added more Crystal Lacquer.  Then all I had to do was let it dry, and assemble my necklace!

I also decided to use a couple of rectangle bezel cups:

I did have a few air bubbles show up in the Crystal Lacquer, which hadn’t happened to me before.  I don’t know if it was because I had multiple layers of Crystal Lacquer, or because I got some air bubbles when I poured some Crystal Lacquer from a big bottle into a small bottle.  It wasn't hard to get them out, but I learned something important.  When I used a toothpick to pierce a bubble, the result was multiple smaller bubbles.  When I used the toothpick to sort of lift the bubble up, it would disappear.  You need to get the air bubbles out before the Crystal Lacquer hardens.

The Crystal Lacquer was perfect for this project!  It holds the burlap in place and protects it at the same time!  You could use almost any media, including paper and other fabrics. It looks a little cloudy in my photos, but in real life, it is crystal clear!

Now is a great time to try Crystal Lacquer, because during the month of April, you can save 20% by entering the code Terri04 when you check out at Sakura Hobby Craft.  You will be amazed at how easy it is to use!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions about this project!