iLoveToCreate Teen Room Decor: Patchwork Paper Wall Letters

iLoveToCreate Teen Room Décor
Mixed Media Patchwork Paper Wall Letters
Margot Potter Teen Crafts
“Mom crafted, teen approved.”

Teens love to personalize their rooms and this is a fun and easy way to do that in a flash. You can make an entire word to fill a wall or just an initial like I’ve done here for a door. I really fell for these retro themed papers, but you can use any papers you like including recycled scrap stash papers, wrapping paper and magazine pages. You don’t have to save this idea just for your teen’s room; these would be adorable anywhere in your home. I love the idea of seasonally themed words done in this patchwork style. Avalon squealed when she saw this, so I'm pretty sure it’s a winner!

Materials
Wood letter or letters
K&Company Carolyn Gavin Scrapbook paper (or other paper of your choice)
Liquid Fusion Glue
Traci Bautista’s Collage Pauge medium in matte finish
Vintage or new coordinating button
Tulip clear crystal to fit inside of button
Wired tinsel

Tools
Paint brush
Scissors
Exacto knife
Pencil

1. Select your papers. Place your letter on the paper, hold it down firmly, trace and cut with your Exacto knife. (If there’s a little overlap you can trim it later.)

2. Cut the accent papers (I made a small border with a coordinating paper and cut out a coordinating paper flower.)


3. Adhere the papers using an even coat of decoupage medium and paint a coat of medium on top. I love using a brush because it gives you texture, but you can opt for a foam brush if you prefer. If you get bubbles, wet your fingers and gently work them out. (Don’t fret, they will deflate when the medium dries. I promise!) Allow medium to dry.

4. Paint a second coat of decoupage medium over surface and allow to dry.

5. Run a thick bead of Liquid Fusion along the edge of the letter and above your borders and adhere the tinsel wire. IMPORTANT: Do not smash the wire into the glue or it will flatten and lose its dimension and sparkle. Just gently lay it into the glue bead. For the longer pieces you can place something small (like small glue bottles) on each end and the center until they’ve tacked into place and then remove them and allow the tinsel to dry overnight. This is kind of like using hot glue without worrying about the heat melting the tinsel or burning your fingers.

6. Attach a button to the center of your flower using Liquid Fusion. Attach a Tulip crystal to the center of the button with Liquid Fusion. Allow to dry.

Behind the Scenes Photo Shoot

One of the things that happens on a daily basis here at iLoveToCreate, are the photo shoots with models, products, and projects. Scott, our photography/videographer (and my hubby) set up a shoot for our December t-shirt of the month in the manufacturing/bottling facilities this week.

Our models were perfect with their houndstooth pattern t-shirts with gradient dye, up against the black drums. I designed the shirts and thought it would be great to have an edgy background for the shoot. I loved it!

After Megumi (one of the models) changed clothes, we discovered that in the storage area was a poster she had modeled for 6 years ago! She flipped out, and I couldn't wait to get a cute pic of her posing with the poster. Too funny!

As you can see in these pics, our plant is huge, and we have to wear protective glasses and closed toed shoes to walk around.

Check this out. It's one of the glue vats being mixed with a humungous mixer about the size of my little car.

We have tons of mannequins awaiting another trade show, and big drums of paint.

The bottling area was humming away, and there were rows of plaster waiting to become bisque pieces for our ceramics division of products.

I'm fascinated by the conveyor belts of bottles, and huge drums of paint and glue being pumped into spray bottles and squeeze bottles before it gets labels and shipped to the stores.

Alexa, aka Swell Designer, is pretty fascinated too, I might say.... heehee.

But alas, it's just another day behind the scenes at iLoveToCreate!

DIY Fabric Design

Recently I took a 3 part sewing class at Stitch Lab. For the first class we made a little drawstring bag. I brought in some fabulous vintage Barkcloth to make a pillow in class number 2. For the 3rd class we were making a skirt and I could not decide on the right fabric. Sure the stores were full of choices, but I thought it would be more fun to make my own. No, I didn’t go out and grow my own cotton and start from absolute scratch I should say I thought it would be more fun to embellish some fabric for my skirt. Today for I Love to Create I’ll show you what I came up with.


SUPPLIES
Black and White Cotton Fabric
Sponge Roll Brush
Tulip Fabric Spray Paint
Stencil 101 Décor
Tulip Slick Fabric Paint


The first thing I did was snag a few yards of black and white polka dot fabric. I thought it would be a nice back drop. Next I spread my fabric out in the yard and emptied a few bottles of Tulip Cool Color Spray onto the fabric in a random pattern. My pumping finger was sore for days, but the effect was worth it.


Chronicle Books had recently sent over a copy of Stencil 101 Décor: Customize Walls, Floors, and Furniture with Oversized Stencil Art for me to review. You might recall from my Raised in Craftivity and I Love to Create: Stencil 101 that I am a bit of an Ed Roth fan. I am still trying to find just the right piece of home décor to embellish with the stencils, but in the meantime I thought I would use one on my skirt. The book is full of several cool choices like birds, butterflies, circles, hounds tooth and more. I also love that new patterns are plastic which makes for super easy clean up. I always wondered how people who stenciled walls got the patterns to line up so perfectly and after reading Stencil 101 Décor I now know all about handy dandy registration marks.


Armed with my stencil, pencil, foam roll brush and some Tulip Slick Fabric Paint I spread the dyed fabric out on a flat surface and got busy. The stencils are large squares so it went quickly. I allowed the print to dry completely.


After that my fabric was ready for sewing class. The material worked perfect for my drawstring A-line skirt and I was pleased as punch with the results!


I just so happen to have enough fabric and enough time in class left to whip up Tallulah a matching version!

Lotta's Printing Studio + Stencil Painting on Knitwear

I'm a big-time fan of graphic art and block printing, especially as applied to textiles. Simple, clean, yet often kitschy shapes work amazingly well to create images--that can range from subtle to subversive--on fashion and home decor pieces. There aren't many who do it better than textile artist Lotta Jansdotter, so I was thrilled when I got my hands on her new kit, Lotta's Printing Studio.

The kit includes design sponges, 2 knives (for lino cutting), and 5 of Lotta's signature drawings in stencil form.

As a knitter and crocheter, I'm always interested in how I can incorporate other media types into my yarnwear. I've done a bit of experimenting with some super basic painting and lino printing on knitted pieces but thought it'd also be fantastic to give stencil printing a shot. In a recent I Love to Create article, I showed how to hand-dye organic yarn and knit it up into a CowlKerchief which as it turns out, makes the perfect canvas for said stenciling. Here's what I did and how you too, can print on yarn-y garments!

Hand-Dyed CowlKerchief, Enhanced with Lotta's Printing Studio

Get pattern for CowlKerchief here!

How-To Use Lotta's Kit with Knitwear

Lay CowlKerchief (or desired knitted garment) with stencil on top, on a flat surface. Dip printing sponge in fabric paint (I used Tulip's Soft Fabric Paint), then blot over stencil. For darker image apply more paint and pressure; for lighter image apply less. You'll find that the design sponge works really well with the yarn because of how absorbent it is. Keep in mind though, when working with the hills and valleys of the knitted stitch, you're not going to get the perfectly solid, stencil line that occurs when printing on fabric. I actually love this aspect of it though; the unevenness adds an additional textural layer!

I chose to use the Wall Motif on my knitwear (I'm an anarchist, like that ;-)) which requires two stencils. If you do the same, then repeat the step above; using a 2nd color of fabric paint. The design sponges are puffy enough that you should be able to just use the opposite end for the 2nd color, without having to dirty an additional one. One less thing to clean = more time to craft!

What you end up with is a mixed-media accessory that because of color, placement and textile choices, is uniquely you. Now that's something to be proud of!

Jaunty neckwear not your thing? Try printing on knitted blankets, pillows, sweaters, scarves (still neckwear, but less jaunty), hats and more--have a great time printing!

Craft.Rock.Love,

Vickie

Psst! I dig this kit so much, it's one of the first items I'm carrying in my new, Open Sky Shop.

iLoveToCreate Glitter Cupcake T-Shirt by Margot Potter

iLoveToCreate Glitter Cupcake T-Shirt
Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter™ Teen Craft
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”

My mission was to make two coordinating fashion items using Tulip Fashion Glitter and Stencils for a print ad going into teencentric magazines. I took the resident teen to the craft store. Avalon loves muffins and cupcakes, so when she saw this cupcake stencil she simply had to have it. We decided on black long sleeve t-shirts and did a black, pink and silver look. I love the way the cupcakes pop against the dark background. Tulip has a huge array of fun stick on stencils from which you can select the one that suits your style. Here’s how to make the cupcake shirt! (Mine is a simple variation on the theme with two flame heart stencils.)

Bad Shirt Prototype One: Circus Clown Chic!
Bad Shirt Prototype Two: So many colors, so many wrinkles, so little style!

Before I got to the ‘Mom’s shirt is going to be black and match’ final version, I thought maybe Mom’s shirt should be white and contrast the black. Alas these two incredibly horrid 80s inspired t-shirts above were the result of said bad idea, I think I can save one of them but I’m not quite sure yet. E...gads. I managed to mess up the first version of the black shirt with an unfortunate glue globbing incident just as I was dabbing on the last bit of glitter, sigh. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and realize that design is a process and even good designers sometimes go horribly, horribly wrong.

Materials
Black long sleeved t-shirt
Tulip Cupcake sticky fabric stencil
Tulip Fashion Glitter Bond with applicator sponge
Tulip Fashion Glitter Silver
Tulip Fashion Glitter Black
Tulip Fashion Glitter Pink
Tulip 3D Fashion Slick Paint Poppin’ Purple
Tulip 3D Fashion Glitter Paint Ruby
Tulip 3D Fashion Pearl Paint Peppermint

Tools
Sea sponge or bubble wrap
Tulip Fashion Form

1. Pre-wash your shirt to remove sizing. Put shirt on cardboard shirt form and pin arms
together in the back.
2. Use a sea sponge or some bubble wrap to dab layers of paint on the left side of the shirt. Use one color at a time building up the layers. The paint will look much brighter when wet, allow to dry.
3. Decide where you want to put your images. We selected three cupcakes moving down the left side of the shirt. Adhere your stencil to top area (the stencil has a sticky back so just place it where you want it and smooth it down.)
4. Use sponge to apply adhesive to open areas on the stencil. Take care not to get glue on outer edges of stencil.
5. Generously sprinkle glitter on areas you wish to glitter spreading it out to fill area with your fingers. Allow to set for several minutes before dumping off excess.
6. Clean your stencil and dry and repeat two more times.
7. Allow shirt to dry overnight and shake off any excess glitter.
8. You can use a lint removal brush to remove any stray glitter after the shirt has dried.

ELECTRIC BLUE SUEDE SHOES

Not only do I love high heels, but I love dying fabric. And when you combine the two, you get these electric blue heels lined with fabulous turquoise animal print fabric. I know what you're thinking.... nobody will see the inside. But, the cute knotted strips across the toe are enough to dress up a darling dress and especially if you dye it at the same time!


So, before you actually line the heels, you need to dye the fabric. First, I washed 1/3 yard of white 100% cotton fabric to remove the sizing and to be sure the dye was able to saturate all the way through the fibers.

Next, I cut an animal print stencil from craft foam and laid it on the fabric. (Just google the words animal print stencil and you can print it from your computer.)

Then I sprayed over the stencil with Tulip One-Step Dye in Turquoise. I kept moving the stencil until the entire piece of fabric was covered with dye. I did it sloppily so that I had dye everywhere. Oh, and don't forget to wear the gloves in the kit and to cover your table with a plastic bag. I covered the wet fabric with the trash bag for 4 hours to let the dye do it's thing. Then I was able to toss it into the washer with a little bit of laundry soap for a full cycle, dry it, and then iron it. I absolutely LOVE the color.


I took just regular printer paper and stuck it into the shoe to get a pattern of the sole and the left side and right side. I used my fingernail to indent the paper as a guide for cutting. I labeled each pattern and cut out doubles of each for the 2 shoes.

Next step was to spray the paper patterns with Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Spray Glue and stick them to the back of the fabric, leaving at least 1/4" space around the edges.







I used Aleene's Fabric Fusion to glue the edges inward and cut slits in the fabric to ease around the corners.



I inserted the pieces into the shoes with Aleene's Fabric Fusion so they would be good and snug.

The last step was to tie 2 strips into a loose knot and glue across the toes. I cut the ends to exactly match the bottoms of the shoes perfectly. I'm in love and ready to kick up my heels!

I hope you love them as much as I do, and if YOU embellish your heels, I would love for you to send me a pic: http://www.blogger.com/pwilkinson@ilovetocreate.com and maybe next week I'll post a pic of your heels!

Free Halloween Craft Project! iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts Spooky Sparkly Flower Clip

Spooky Sparkly Flower Clip
Margot Potter for iLoveToCreate Teens!
"Mom crafted, kid approved"

If your teen is still not sure what to wear for Halloween, here’s a little idea that’s big on possibilities. This sparkly flower clip is a breeze to make and you can easily remove the faux web and spiders so it becomes everyday friendly. I purchased my flower clip at H&M, but I’ve seen these all over the place this season. You can opt to make these in any color, but I chose black for Halloween. Pin this to a thick black ribbon for a Morticia/Vampire style choker or to fashion a wrist corsage for a Dead Prom Queen, glitter up a bouquet of black roses for a Corpse Bride or attach a few glittered flowers to a headband for Frida Kahlo, or a bunch of them in various colors to a huge hat for a La Catrina Day of the Dead costume. You can find old prom dresses and wedding dresses for a song at your local thrift shops, then just shred and spray with black fabric spray. Easy peasy!

Materials
Large fabric flower pin/hair clip
Faux spider webbing
Three plastic spider rings
Tulip Fashion Glitter Bond
Tulip Fashion Glitter in black
Liquid Fusion glue

1. Pour a puddle of glitter bond on a non-stick sheet or a plate and dip the flower into it. (You’re looking to get a thin bead of glue on the edge of all of your petals; you can also opt to carefully squeeze the glue on the petal edges.)

2. Pour a small pile of glitter directly on your flower. Allow to dry for ten minutes and dump excess glitter on newspaper and back into jar. You can also opt to dump glitter on a non-stick sheet or a plate. Dip flower into glitter and let dry for a half of an hour and then dump excess glitter back into jar. Let glitter dry overnight.

3. Cut of a small section of faux webbing. Tie it around the width of the flower loosely with a knot in the back (you don’t want to lose your flower shape.)

4. Dab glue on the back of the body of your spiders and press the webbing into the glued areas on spiders. (Don’t glue the spiders to the flower or you won’t be able to remove them later.) Allow to dry.

Avalon looking Spooky Sparkly!