8 Simple Mixed Media Cards & A Photo Tutorial- Guest Design Post By Preeti Datta

Hi Dear Crafty Friends!

Preeti Datta (aka Dutt Preety) here. 

Hope you are having a fine day. I am thrilled to be on the Crafter’s Corner Blog as a Guest Designer today. It is such a huge honor, so a big thank you to Shalini, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire & the wonderful owner of Crafter’s Corner. 

For today’s post, I will be sharing 8 Simple Mixed Media Cards and a photo tutorial for one of the cards. I’ve used Dress My Craft Stencils, Glitters, sequins & papers here. 

Dress My Craft (DMC) stencils are beautifully designed and would work brilliantly in all kinds of crafting especially for making Mixed Media Backgrounds. They are A4 in size & premium quality. Since they are thick, one can use them easily with various art mediums, pastes, sprays, inks etc and wash off the residue to ensure longevity. Because of their big size, one can use them on 12 by 12 layouts, on fabrics, walls etc... to get a seamless design. 

The 3 DMC glitters are beautifully packed in a wide mouth jar, so, it is easy to use one’s fingers to sprinkle them. They come in 3 varieties of fineness, with the DMC Microfine Glitter powder having the smallest white, shiny, powdery particles, DMC's Rainbow Glitter Chunks being multi colored and biggest in size & DMC's Rainbow Glitter is multi-colored, sparkly and has medium sized particles. I tried using various glues to stick down the glitters and all of these worked well-Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Dovecraft’s Acrylic Craft Glue, Ranger’s Multi Medium Matte & Glossy Accents. 

My favorite technique of adding loose glitter to these cards was to heat emboss an image and then sprinkle on some glitter on top of the heat embossed image and heat it with a heat tool so it got set within the melted embossing powder underneath. This way the glitter does not fall or rub off and it gives a great sparkly & shiny look to any project. 

For today’s cards, I’ve used the stencils with different mediums. 

All the cards are 5 by 7 inches in size and easy to create. I also wanted to minimize 3-D elements so that these cards could be easily put into available envelopes and mailed. 

So let’s get started.

Card 1: New Beginning

For this motivational card, I applied white gesso in the background on top of kraft cardstock (using a palette knife to get a rough, grungy look) and then sponged on black acrylic paint through the DMC- Alphas Stencil. The sentiment was stamped, matted and foam mounted on the card. All the edges were distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink.

Card 2: Thanks

For this Thanks card, I created the background panel with the gelliprinting technique using inks, paints and the DMC-Thumb Print Stencil. Then splattered on some watered down white gesso and matted it with a pretty text design paper from the DMC-Hydrangea Lawns Collection. To finish, added the die cut sentiments and the butterfly which is stamped from the Mudra Butterfly Layers Stamp and heat embossed on vellum.

Card 3: Hello 

For this hello card, followed a similar procedure as Card 2 by using the DMC-Alphas stencil to create the background. For this card, I also wanted some sparkle, so I put a layer of glossy accents on top of the die cuts and then sprinkled on some DMC-Microfine Glitter Powder on top. This added a wonderful & subtle sparkle which is hard to capture in photos.

Card 4: You are Enough

For this motivational card, I created the green background by using the Monoprinting with stencils Technique, in which I sprayed Lindy’s sprays onto the DMC Thumb Print stencil and then sprayed some water. Then used the stencil to stamp onto the panel. For layering, I then sprayed a darker brown color through the same stencil onto the dried background. Finished it off by stamping an apt sentiment, darkening the edges of the panel, matting & foam mounting the panel. Using this technique, one gets the positive and negative impression from the stencil.

Card 5: Happy Birthday

This motivational card was made alongside card 4 so the same techniques and stencils were used. Spraying ink on one panel and then flipping the stencil over to stamp with it onto the second panel. This way we can create 2 cards and reduce wastage of inks/sprays. For this card, I did some background stamping as well and then added the die cut sentiment.

Card 6: Cheers

For this celebration card, I created the background by sponging on white acrylic paint through the DMC-Thumb Print stencil and then Black Archival Ink through the DMC-Couture Fashion Stencil. The sentiment is a die cut and to add sparkle to it, I used some multi medium matte and then sprinkled on the DMC-Rainbow Glitter Chunks. In real life, it looks very shiny & sparkly.

Card 7: Hi

For this hi card, to create the background, I sponged on white acrylic paint through the DMC- Swirls Stencil and then with a soft touch created a sponged on white border. The sentiment is a die cut to which I added DMC-Rainbow Glitter using Dovecraft’s Ultimate Acrylic Craft Glue. 

Card 8: Sparkle

Photo Tutorial for Card 8 :

1. Created the card background by sponging on Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and Broken China Distress Oxide Ink through the DMC- Swirls Stencil using Ranger’s Mini Ink blending tool, Mini Ink Blending Foams and sponge daubers.

2. To add text to the background, sponged on Black Soot Distress Ink through the DMC- Couture Fashion Stencil

3. Then I did heat embossing through the DMC- Couture Fashion Stencil by first preparing the surface with an anti-static powder tool and then dabbing on versamark sticky ink through the dress form shape in the stencil & heat embossed it with Ranger’s super fine black embossing powder. 

4. To add shine to the dress form shape, as soon as the heat embossing was done, I sprinkled on some DMC-Microfine glitter powder onto the dress and heated it again with the Dovecraft Embossing Heat Tool, this enabled the glitter to bind to the melted embossing powder underneath and I had my glittery dress ready with no mess!

5. I heat embossed the die cut word “sparkle” as well and added shine to it (adding DMC’s Microfine Glitter Powder) in the same way by heat setting it. 

6. Then I did background stamping with Jet Black Archival Ink to create interest and adhered the sentiment with Tombow’s Mono Multi Liquid Glue 

7. In the end, I darkened the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress Ink, matted it in black and foam mounted it onto a white card base. Then added DMC’s beautiful sequins- (Golden Black, White Sunshine & Crystal Clear) with glossy accents to finish the card.

That's all for today :) 

I'm very grateful to Shalini and the wonderful team at Crafters Corner for this experience. I had so much fun playing with the supplies. I highly recommend that you check out their website, HERE and also, their brand- Dress My Craft for it’s Stencils, Glitters, Sequins, Flowers, Pattern Papers etc They have a plethora of cool options to choose from. Buy a few to try them out, experiment and see the quality for yourself. I'm sure you'll love them :) 

Please don't forget, there is a great deal on DMC stencils via a Grab Bag Offer, wherein you can pick up all 12, A4 sized DMC stencils at a discounted price, please click HERE to check it out. 

Thanks a lot for your precious time :)
Stay Blessed
Preeti Datta
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Treat Basket : Season of Love

Good Morning Everyone

How have you been?
Today I bring you some super easy treat baskets to gift to your loved ones. Since Valentines is around the corner and we all love to gift something or the other to our dear ones.

 

 Isn't it so lovely?? I have made this basket right from scratch and these floral beauties are also handmade. I have used lots of Dress my craft products here.

 

 Here are two sets {Treat basket and Mini card} that have created. It is super quick and easy to make and perfect to be gifted as token of love.

Dress My craft pattern paper that I have used to make this project are gorgeous Teenie Weenies collection.

The quality of paper is amazing it is super sturdy and thick. 

HOW TO MAKE BASKET -

In order to make this basket you will be needing some basic supplies,

List of Supplies - 

1- Thick piece of Card stock {12x12"}

2- Glue (Tacky glue)

3- Patter papers - Teenie Weenies by Dress my craft 

STEP 1

To make this set of Basket and Mini Card, you will be needing 

- 1 pc of Card stock measuring 5" x 4"

- 2 pcs of Card stock measuring 5" x 2"

-2 pcs of Card stock measuring 4"x 2"

 STEP 2- 
You will be needing 4 pcs of 1" inch strip to join the above card stock together.
- 2 pcs of 1 inch strip x 5" inch in length
-2 pcs of 1 inch strip x 4" inch in length
-4 pcs of 1inch strip x 2" inch in length

All you need to do is score in half these 1 inch strips

STEP 3-

To make the basket band you will be needing 2" wide and 10" inch long piece of strip

I have used Martha Stewart Border Punch 

STEP -4

Now glue all the pieces adjoining them with help of strips.

And decorate your basket using your favorite supplies from Crafters Corner store.

To make this card I have used 4"x3" inches of card stock and used beautiful DMC Teenie Weenies collection.

I hope you liked this fun easy peasy gifting solution this Valentine season.

And I hope I am able to inspire you.

All supplies used are available at Crafters Corner store.

XOXO

Isha 

List of Supplies- 

Black Card stock - Dress My craft

Teenie Weenies paper collection Dress My craft  

Tacky Glue

Pastel Pollens

Microfine Glitter dress my crafts 

Martha Stewart Border Punch  

Spray Adhesive Review

         Hi Crafters, Dr Sonia here back to the crafting world after a brief sabbatical and special thanks to all who messaged and mailed me to ask why I was missing!Shalini announcing the new dynamic DT was just the impetus to get me back to crafting! Thank you Shalini for being such an understanding and wonderful person to work for!

Glue Spray

This is a super long post but if you have been following my blog and my DT posts here at Crafters Corner I guess you will be used to my photo packed reviews and tutorials!
Adhesives are every crafter's necessity and I had always been intrigued on reading about spray adhesives on craft sites so it was especially exciting to get my hands on a spray adhesive...by E6000!

Spray adhesive

In case you missed the other adhesive reviews here are the links: Super Adhesive E6000 glue Review and 12 Uses of Red Tacky Tape
What is a spray adhesive...?
Simply put  its a glue you can spray on real quick and easy! If you are like me and love spray painting you will understand my excitement when Shalini got spray adhesives  to Crafters Corner !
What is especially cool about E6000 Spray adhesive?
Not all spray adhesives are the same. Many spray adhesives are toxic and I even saw one in the local market which even had a scary label saying it was inflammable!
The E6000 spray  is non toxic ,has no smell [ unlike the E6000 tube glue],and you dont have to use it outdoors [since most crafters work indoors this is especially advantageous!].And the big plus point for me is you can use it with children around and yeah even little crafter can have a go at spray gluing as its nontoxic and so easy to use!
Tips to use E6000 Spray
It is super easy to use the E6000 spray adhesive but here are a few tips I would like to share

• Keep your project to be sprayed on a  plastic sheet to protect the surrounding area from the glue spray - the spray is like a fine mist and yes it will fall on adjacent areas but it can be easily cleaned with plain water if needed.

  

  Spray Adhesive
• Keep a glass of water at hand while using the spray. Once you finish using the spray.....unscrew the cap, dip the nozzle with the tubing into the glass of water and spray...the water will spray out of the spray mechanism and it will clean it so that your glue spray bottle nozzle does not get clogged.

  

   Nozzle cleaning

• Drying time depends on the material you are using it on...metal and plastic can take hours to dry while paper dries in minutes.

Materials you can use it on

The E 6000 spray can be used on a huge range of materials : Paper, Wood, Cardboard, foil,Fabric,Foam, Thermocol[styrofoam], Glass, Plastic,Metals etc

Special Properties 

• Photo-safe 
• Dries clear
• Fairly strong adhesive
• Does not Yellow
• Non toxic

Sharing a few of my experiments with this awesome Spray Glue

1. Gluing Glitter and Sequins
The first thing that came to mind on thinking of a spray glue was trying it with glitter and sequins.

My little girl is ever ready to try out new products and she is the one who eagerly inspects all the DT goodies Shalini keeps sending us!

Spray glue

Spray the glue from a distance of 8- 10 inches from the surface. Here we chose the super slippery CD to glitterify![yeah there is no such word as glitterify...but I am sure there will be in a few years time!!]I originally wanted to stick on a circle of felt on to the CD but the felt seemed to slip off and we didnt have the patience to put a weight on it or allow it time to dry.

Add sequins and glitter

So on went a generous sprinkling of glitter and sequins.

gorgeous glitter - sequin  covering

Dont you just love the thick shimmery coating! But if you poke at it some sequins will fall off! 

Verdict- avoid sequin- glitter combination while spray gluing or alternatively spray between the layers.And glitter sticks better to paper and plastic than a CD.

Sospeso Transparente 

I added Sospeso Transparente blooms and a few heat embossed parchment flowers and pearls  to my glittery red background .

Sospeso Transparente 

My kiddo was quite critical of how this altered CD looked and kept suggesting how to improve it but try as I might it didnt quite reach her standards!

Sospeso Transparente 

2. Altering curved and odd shaped objects
Many of us love beautifying objects we buy or have at home. Covering with pattern paper and painting are the most popular ways to alter something but if the object had lots of curves regular gluing can be quite tricky .

Altered art

Here is the boring cello-tape cutter and pen-stand my kiddo and I altered using E6000 spray and good old glitter.

Spray glue

Here is my little crafter using the spray glue .When I spray paint I usually dont allow her anywhere in the vicinity so that she wont inhale toxic paint fumes but since the spray glue was non toxic I allowed her to use it to her hearts content!
The glue dries pretty fast so you have be ready to sprinkle on your glitter on the sprayed surface!

See uniform cover of glue and glitter

I love how the spray glue leaves a thin uniform layer of glue on the object it is sprayed on [ as you can see by the white film of glue in the picture above] and this helps to get a beautiful uniform covering of glitter.

Glittered Stationary set

We used silver and blue glitter to get a 2 toned effect.

Heartfelt creations flowers

The heat embossed parchment[vellum] flowers were made using the heart felt creations sun kissed fleur stamp and die set.

Heart felt creations flowers

I inked the embossed flowers with distress inks to match the glittery blue background !

Pen Stand Set

3.Using with Stencils

If you are a seasoned crafter you will be well versed with different ways to use stencils but if you are a novice here are 2 simple tutorials showing how to use Stencils: Stencil Art tutorial , Stencil Glitter Art tutorial . 

What is especially wonderful about using spray glues with stencils is its super quick and easy. 

Though I have shown 2 small sized projects here , you can hand-cut / die cut or use store bought stencils [ Crafters Corner has some beautiful Stencil designs] to quickly decorate large surfaces for eg a birthday party. Wouldnt it be fun to stencil a child's name  in glitter on balloons or banners for a fun birthday party...the ideas are unlimited!

Stencil + Glitter

Tape the stencil to paper/ cardboard/ thermocol/ balloon or whatever it is you want to add glitter to . You can use any kind of glitter.....sophisticated glitters such as the yummy distress glitter I have shown above or local glitters for your first experiments.

Spray stencil

Place the Paper- stencil on a plastic sheet and spray from a distance of 8- 10 inches. I gave just 2 squirts and got a nice even coverage as shown below.

Sprayed stencil

Pour glitter on the stencil

Glitter

You can smear the glitter on gently with your fingers to help improve adhesion.

Tap off glitter

Tap off excess glitter and remove the stencil from the paper.

Stencilled Lord Ganapathi

I was surprised myself at how beautiful it looked

Stencilled Glittered Ganapathi

Here you can see the neat stenciling...no mess unlike liquid glue and it was so quick too!

Spray Glue Art

Since it was my first experiment and frankly I hadnt expected such good results I hadnt taken much care to mask off areas of the die cut , so if you look closely you can see glitter on the edges of my die cut where the spray glue had fallen and glitter adhered!

And since my first try turned out so good , here is another one using a Christmas tree stencil.

Stencil + Spray glue

Tape stencil to paper

Stencil + Spray glue + Glitter

Add glitter generously and even smear gently with your fingers[ yeah maybe you dont need to touch and get your fingers glittery... its just an obsessive compulsive habit of mine!]

Glitter + Spray Glue

Tap off the excess glitter, whip off the stencil and "Ooh and Aah " at the beauty you created!

Glitter + Spray Glue

Now a super important tip: Dont forget to wash your stencils quickly. In my excitement at the gorgeous results of my experiment I forgot about cleaning my stencils and found that the glitter had stuck on quite fast and strongly to the plastic surface of the stencil! I had to actually use a brush and vigorously scrub for several minutes before I could get the glitter off! Goes to show that the glue spray is pretty strong!

Glitter stuck on stencil

4.Gluing something extremely thin 

Plastic sheets

Spray glue is the ideal adhesive if you want to glue something super thin and flimsy such a plastic wrapping material or foil quickly and easily.
You could use red tacky tape too for that but red tacky tape gives you no leeway..once you stick something on it...you cant change your mind and try and re-position it! With glue spray you do get a little margin of time to fiddle around with your positioning [ very handy for the perfectionist trait in all of us!]as it does not create an instant bonding but takes a little time like other wet glues.

Spray glue and stick

I had this roll of wood grain design plastic sheet which was so thin I really couldnt use it for anything apart from wrapping gifts[ a waste to use such a pretty design to wrap gifts!]Sprayed the E 6000 glue on the plastic and  gently stuck it on a sheet of card.

Super adhesion

I was thrilled at how easy and mess free it was and I didnt even get wrinkles! This one is yet to be turned into a crafty project.
5.Gluing Metal and Foam

Metal Cans

Metal and foam are both especially tough materials to stick things on. Normal PVA glue is messy and takes a lot of patience and time. Red Tacky tape is perfect to glue metal and foam and I have shared projects in this post : 12 Red Tacky Tape Projects but I wanted to see how well the glue spray worked so
I tried to alter the tin cans shown above by spraying glue and sticking textured foam sheets

Foam on Metal

In a review I like to share exactly what a product does so that when you use it you know exactly what to expect.In the picture above you can see the foam sheet lifting up at the edges and if you pull it at this point it will lift right off the metal tin.....well does that mean the spray glue wont work on metal...well NO...it works beautifully on metal...but you have to actually hold the surfaces together to allow it to bond! I was expecting a super quick adhesion like the red tacky tape forgetting that the spray glue is actually a mist of liquid glue.

Metal + foam

I used masking tape to hold the edges together in the yellow tin and just plain finger pressure on the orange tin and within minutes I got perfect adhesion.

Heartfelt creations Flowers

Added Parchment flowers made using my current favorite Heartfelt creations sun kissed fleur stamp- die set.

Parchment flowers

6.Gluing intricate punch outs and die cuts
Nowadays die designs are becoming more and more intricate and beautiful  but gluing them to your projects with normal white PVA liquid glue can be tricky especially if your die cut is white!

Intricate die cuts

           Gluing delicate Martha Stewart punch outs and lacy die cuts  using regular glue can be so time consuming...you end up either missing lots of those delicate curves or end up squishing too much liquid glue which oozes out and leaves marks on your project when you stick it. I am sure you have wished like me that there was an easier way to firmly glue down those delicate paper cut outs we all love.

Delicate Die cuts

        The spray glue comes in quite handy here as you can get a gentle mist of glue on your delicate die cut/punched out paper with just one or 2 squirts and stick it on easily . When I read some of the online reviews on the spray glue this particular use of the spray adhesive seems to be quite popular among crafters

Tombow Glue Pen

      Another alternative adhesive for gluing delicate die cuts is the glue pen...the one shown above by Tom bow can be used just like a pen to roll over a thin line of glue over tiny areas.
7.Decoupaging
When you hear decoupage...the ever popular adhesive -sealant "modpodge" or other specialzed decoupage liquid glues come to mind! But successful decoupaging with Modpodge is a process requiring patience and finesse!

Decoupaging Plastic

Well how about if you are in a mood for a quick decoupage session with minimal mess, no brushes and little fuss....get out your  glue spray and spray it on!!

Decoupaged Box

In this altered project I sprayed both the paper and the plastic box with glue spray and while I sprayed the paper I made  sure I had a glue mist on all the edges so that it wouldn't lift off at the edges in future .

Decoupaged Box

I used only my hands to firmly adhere the paper on to the plastic surface as unlike Mod podge there  is not much liquid glue to squeeze out or wrinkle your paper.

Decoupaged Box

Kept the embellishment simple with just a handmade rose and some Sue Wilson faux quilled die cut leafy branches

Spellbinders Rose

The little shimmery white flowers are again embossed parchment flowers made using the same Heartfelt creations sun kissed fleur set I have been using in many of the projects in this post

Decoupaged Box Set

And here is the glue spray decoupaged box with matching penstand and paper holder decoupaged using modpodge...you actually cant make out any difference!

Yeah that's it for now folks...7 ways to use the Glue Spray E 6000. Thank you so much for staying with me till the end!
I do hope you enjoyed this lengthy write-up...do tell me how it is.

List of products showcased: All available at Crafters Corner

Adhesives
E6000 Spray Adhesive
Mod Podge
Decoupage materials
Foam Tapes
Red Tacky Tape
Tombow Glue Pen

Sospeso Transparente
Sospeso Transparente  Materials

Embossing
Ranger Heat Embossing gun, Embossing Powders
Stamps
Heartfelt Creations Sun kissed fleur and leaf Stamps
StampPads/Inks
Distress Ink - Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Peacock feathers,wild honey
Dies
Heartfelt Creations Sun kissed fleur Dies,Sue Wilson Faux Quilled Leaf , Spellbinders Rose creations, Heartfelt creations leaf ,Nesting Circles, Marianne Anja Leaf
Die cutting : Big Shot, Cheery Lynn  metal plate adapter,
Misc
Stencils
Glitter