Altered Travel Case with Sakura Hobby Crafts Crystal Lacquer

Happy Monday Morning everyone! Leslie-Rahye here. A year ago next week I began my 1st term with Sakura Hobby Crafts--sharing the allure of this amazing product. For my first project with you, I concentrated on the high viscosity lacquer in the pink and white bottle with Luggage Tags for my son and for his girl friend for their band instruments. It is merely a coincidence that today's project is an upcycled travel case; but that I'm focusing on the lacquer in the pink and white bottle again is not! I've altered this case to hold my felting tools and wool roving! I hope you enjoy my project! 

The Method

I began with a travel case that my friend Marie found at a garage sale for me! I new immediately that I wanted to make it into something for my fiber crafts. I sanded the surface of the case to remove some of the smoothness giving the paper and lacquer something to hold onto. 

I layered tissue paper and white paper to the entire surface of the travel case--adhering it with brushed on Crystal Lacquer--until I was satisfied with the look of it. I sanded the metal hinges so that they looked like brushed metal. I added back more paper as necessary to cover any blue that showed through from the case.

Finally I used these fantastic pink glittered letters that my friend Molly gave me to spell out Felting on top of the case. I adhered them to the top with Crystal Lacquer. I love the clean feeling the white lacquered paper gives the case. It's the perfect home for my felting tools.

...and goodbye

It is with this final project that I bid you farewell. I have enjoyed my time creating crafty projects using amazing Sakura Hobby Crafts Crystal Lacquer and Sakura products.  I will continue using them in my paper crafting and altering projects for years to come. You can continue to connect with me as I travel my crafty adventures here. Thank you for looking! Have a wonderful day! ~leslierahye

Turning a "Good Fortune" into a Stylish Altered Bangle

Happy Wednesday! What do you do with a leftover cardboard tape spool and a fortune from a fortune cookie??? Susan back again to share another project I've created using Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer with Terri Sproul Mixers - this time I'm GREENCRAFTING!!!

I've made a CHIC artistic bangle out of a recycled cardboard tape spool that I have painted with Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul Mixers and collaged with stamped paper misted with my Mixers Mist. The feature of my bangle is a fortune that I saved from a fortune cookie.

I cut a section away from the tube and cut the edges rounded. I sanded the edges with an emory board.

On a strip of scrap patterned paper, I stamped I used Viva Las Vegastamps! patent stamp #1687 with waterproof royal blue ink.

I misted paper with my sheer Mixers Mist to dampen paper. CLICK HERE to see post on how to make your own Mixers Mists.

Gently crumple the paper to break up fibers to that it is not so stiff - AND - it will give a nice suede texture.

I also misted with some bronze/copper penny Mixers Mist to add extra shimmer and this brings out detail of distressed paper. I set aside to dry.

I mixed up some Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer and Garnet Pearl and Garnet Shimmer Terri Sproul Mixers to apply a base layer to the bangle.

I apply Garnet Mixers to base of tube with 2-3 coats to seal paper and also to build up a nice layer of color.

Completed painted cardboard bangle - which looks lovely just like this! But this is just a starting off point...I want to make it more "ME". So I'm going to make it all painted and inky, too! 

Now I adhere the stamped and painted paper I prepared in the beginning. I cut lines into the paper around the rounded sides to get a smooth wrap-around. I mounted my fortune to a rectangle of chipboard and adhered to bangle with Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer. I finished off by painting entire bangle in a nice coat of Crystal Lacquer.

Presenting "Art-cycled" CHIC Bangle

My bangle is all artsy and recycled! It looks lovely...and is the perfect home for my GOOD FORTUNE "You feed your body every day. You must also feed your mind".

I hope you enjoyed today's post - and all of the projects I have created during my time with the Sakura Hobby Craft Design Team! I have had a wonderful time creating with Sakura Hobby Crafts products and I look forward to what the new Design Team dreams up. If you would like to continue to keep up with me and my creative adventures - please visit my blog sbartist : painting in the dark by clicking here.

Keep Creating! Sb : )

It's snowing in July!

Happy Monday everyone! I am enjoying crafting for for the holidays to get my mind off these 100°+ weather. I choose July to begin my projects for the holidays so that I can take my time and do crafting with my kids along the way. 

Today we made ornaments and light reflectors for our holiday tree. The best part about this project...it's upcycled water bottles!!! The bottoms of water and soda  bottles, Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer,  Terri Sproul's Mixers, Glitter and Want2Scrap Bling make beautiful ornaments and lights! I can't wait to put up my tree completely this year to show off my new sparklies!

The Process

for this project you will need:

empty bottles
Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer
Terri Sproul Mixers
Ultra Fine Glitter

With sharp scissors, cut the bottoms off of the bottles.

trim them close to the turn of the bottle to get the scallop edge.

Mix the lacquer and the mixers for your snowflake ornaments and reflectors.

For my tree I used aquamarine, rose and purple. I applied 2 to 3 coats of lacquer

Mix glitter and lacquer to paint several coats onto the backs of 

several blank bottoms and onto some of the already painted bottoms too.

Those painted with JUST GLITTER next had a coat of silver mixer applied
to make the reflectors.

The bottle bottoms looks fabulous and sparkly...

They are ready to be made into reflectors and ornaments

For those made into reflectors, drill a hole into the center
big enough to fit the light.

For those being transformed into ornaments, glitter the
tops of the bottles and add BLING! To add string to the
ornaments, cut a hole in one spot and thread it through.

Earlier this month on leslierahye's crafty gig I recorded how to cut, paint and glitter the bottoms. Check out the replay for additional ideas!

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Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial!~leslierahye

Upcycled Napkin Rings

I have been enamored with making these upcycled t-shirt roses lately and thought, I wonder how they would look with Terri Sproul's Mixers on them...let me tell you...they are FANTASTIC! These fabric flowers can be used for a variety of applications--hair and fashion accessories, paper crafting, and fabric crafting. I chose to use my flower to embellish a napkin ring for a fun spring table.

For this project you will need:

tshirt & pattern

Orange Pearl and Pink Pearl Mixers

Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer

Terri Sproul Ultra Fine Glitter

paintbrush, scissors and hot glue gun

small piece of felt

paper towel tube

Trace your pattern onto a recycled t-shirt. You need 9 flowers for this project. Paint the edges of the flowers with Terri Sproul's Orange Pearl mixed with crystal lacquer. Then paint the inside with the Pink Pearl Mixer mixed with crystal lacquer. Trim out the flower just inside the pattern line. Paint the underneath edge of the petals with Pink Pearl Mixer.

Fold up 8 of the flowers in the same manner. First fold in half so that the petals stagger. Then fold in half again.

With the remaining flower, fold it in half so that the petals stagger. Mark the "center". Began rolling up the flower from the right using the "center" as the tip of the cone that is made by rolling up the flower. Once the flower bud is complete, add a touch of hot glue to hold it in place. Curl the edges of the petals--the crystal lacquer give the petals stiffness to hold the curl.

Place a dot of hot glue on the felt. Add 4 folded petals to the felt so that each petal takes up one-fourth of the felt. I placed the petals in the same direction all the way around.Next add another dot of hot glue on top of the layer of the 4 folded flowers. Continue in the same fashion only have the petals center over the seams of the petals underneath. When all 4 of the second layer of petals are in place, add a dot of glue and hold the flower bud into place in the center. Add short lines of glue to the flat surfaces of the 2nd layer and bring the petal up to adhere to the bud to "fluff" the flower up. Add as many as necessary to shape the flower. Once you are happy with the shape of the flower, curl under all the petals to make the flower look more rose-like.

A dusting of Terri Sproul's Ultra Fine Glitter gives the petals that extra sparkle I love...I thinly touched the edges of the petals with crystal lacquer to get the glitter to adhere to the flower.

To create a ring worthy of my upcycled t-shirt flower, I started with a paper towel tube that I cut into 1¼" sections. I adhered a piece of yellow t-shirt to the tube with crystal lacquer, folding under the cut edges for a more finished look. Pink Pearl Mixer was added to the ring to help it match the rose.

A simple leaf was fashioned from a piece of grosgrain ribbon and the leaves and flower was attached to the napkin ring with hot glue.

Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial on making upcycled t-shirt roses with Sakura Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul's Mixers.

~leslierahye

See my blog for the pattern and a video replay from my bi-monthly crafty show.