Glittered Sugar Skull Tee

If you are near a Michaels store these days, make sure to look in the apparel section for my new Crafty Chica Dia de los Muertos endcap! I have a lot of fun, new items to embellish your projects, all celebrating Dia de los Muertos. 

Click here to see the store list!

Click here to buy online!

Here are some glittered iron-on skulls that are super easy to apply! I made this shirt for my daughter! 

New Crafty Chica Products & Michaels Tour

It’s that time of the year again! I’m headed out to California for the 4th Annual Crafty Chica Michaels tour! Come Wednesday, September 25, we’ll kick off the road trip here in my hometown of Phoenix, and then the next morning we are headed out to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Santa Barbara! I’ll be demoing the new products and MayaInTheMoment will be giving out Crafty Chica Glitter Tattoos that were provided byiLoveToCreate (they also manufacture my line and made it all happen!). Please come see me if you live in the area!

How to Make a Zig Zag Chevron Canvas

Learn how to make a super cute glittered Zig Zag Chevron Canvas in a few quick steps in this easy to follow tutorial from the talented Miss Avalon Potter for iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts!

You'll need a canvas, some scrap cardboard, painter's tape and a pencil to trace. Print a chevron pattern out for a guide, cut the cardboard, line it up and trace, then add tape. 

Mix up some Crafty Chica Little Chica Paints to make a soft yellow and turquoise blue. Paint on canvas in exposed areas with a Tulip paint pouncer. Let paint dry completely. 

Once paint is dry, remove tape. 

Apply a very thin bead of Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue Paint Pen to top edge of stripes. Start with the yellow stripe adding gold Crafty Chica Goddess Gold chunky glitter to the top of the stripe. Allow this to dry completely before applying more glue and Crafty Chica Nova Blue chunky glitter to the top of the blue stripes. Allow to dry.  Make some coordinating canvases for a wall filled with pattern and color!  Here's a tutorial for the Op Art Decoupage canvas shown above!

Crafty Chica Design Team Projects - Round Two!

The Crafty Chica endcap program at Michaels is going strong, thank you to all of you out there who have been shopping and proving that there is a market for crafty Dia de los Muertos items! Here is the latest round of craft blogger designs using everything from the totes to the flocked  iron-ons to the juicy fabric inks!

Click here to see if your local Michaels carries the line.

Here we go! Please visit their sites to see each projects tutorial and to learn more about them. They rock - as do you!

Weekender Bag by All Things Belle
Sugar Skull Fascinator by Crafty Lady Abby
Dia de los Muertos Apron Skirt by Barbe St. John
Milagro Market Tote by Art, Like Bread
La Catrina Pillow by Pandora's Craft Box
Revamped Apron by From Married to Merry
3D Tote by Lollipop Royalty
Reconstructed Muertos Couple Tee by Rain's Embellishments
Fabric Scarf by Enspired Visions
Custom Car Mats by Kustom Kissers

More to come next week!

MayaInTheMoment TEEN CRAFT: Dia De Los Muertos Shirt #DayOfTheDead

Hello! MayaInTheMoment here! Since Day of the Dead (also known as Dia de los Muertos) is quickly approaching AND my mom has her product line, "CraftyChica" out in select Michaels stores........... ;) I thought to turn this plain shirt into Day of the Dead glam! 

Dia de los Muertos (Nov 1 and 2) is a celebration of life. It's 3,000 year-old Mexican holiday where you honor your loved ones and ancestors who have passed away. You remember their lives and celebrate all they brought to the world. It's not meant to be scary, but fun, meaningful and colorful.  :-)

 SUPPLIES:

• Crafty Chica Flocked Iron-on Transfer 
• Tulip Fabric Spray in Black and Neon Pink
• Crafty Chica or Tulip Fabric Markers
• Blue Painter's Tape
• Fabric, iron and Aleene's Fabric Fusion Peel and Stick Sheets

 Place tape in vertical strips, I narrowed mine in the center to emphasis a smaller waist.
Press the tape so it if firmly on the fabric with no bumps. Spray the black on the fabric.

 A lot of paint will collect on the tape, so use a brush and pick it up and use it to paint over the opene spaces to make the black even more opaque. If it's easier, you can even pour some of the paint int a cup and touch up smaller areas that need it.

While the paint dries, go ahead and iron on your Crafty Chica transfer to a piece of fabric. Let it cool and then peel off the plastic.Use pinking shears and cut around the edges of the design to make your applique.

 Remove tape then let it dry for at least ten minutes or until paint is completely dry.

Spray on the hot pink paint, let dry then if you want more design/texture add dashes with the fabric marker.

Turn over the applique and apply the Fabric Fusion Peel and Stick Sheets. Press the applique in place. The adhesive is meant to be washed and even dry cleaned, so no sewing is needed!

And here it is!!
Thanks for checking our my project! Come visit me on Facebook, http:www.facebook.com/mayainthemoment

ALSO...check out my new love song video! Let me know what you think!

LINK

CRAFTY CHICA: Check out these cool projects!

We sent out items from the CraftyChica™ product line to some creative and crafty bloggers and look at the cool things they made! The Crafty Chica line is ucurrently on sale at 200 Michaels Stores all across the country. You can click here to see if your local store carries it.

Here's some tutorials for you to check out!

- DIY Dia de los Muertos Pennant Banner by SandiaFria

- Glammed Up Crafty Chica Eco-Tote by MothershipScrapbookGal

- Cardigan Makeover and Cucuy Doll by StudioLongoria

- Dia de los Muertos Pillow by Sabor a Cajeta

- Crafty Chica Market Tote, Part One by CultGrrrlCreations

- DIY Coloring Book T-Shirt by SeeVanessaCraft

- Embroidered Wedding Couple (in progress!) by @AllThingsBelle

- Corazon Shirt (in progress) by NachoMamasBlog

Check out the CraftyChica™ Pinterest board - share images of things you made with my product line and I'll share them! Hashtag: #CraftyChica

CRAFTY CHICA: My new products at Michaels! Plus a tutorial!

I'm super excited to announce that the new round of CraftyChica™ products are now on sale at select Michaels stores!

Here is a video showing how to use a transfers:

Click here to see if your local Michaels carries the line.
Click here to read about the Crafty Chica California Road Trip Tour!

To celebrate the launch of the new Crafty Chica Dia de los Muertos craft line at Michaels, I'm going on a Crafty Chica California Tour, sponsored by iLoveToCreate, Michaels, and La Quinta Inn & Suites, for a series of personal appearances at select locations! If you live in Phoenix or California, I hope you come visit me!

For those who attend - we're going to have a special gift if you purchase Crafty Chica products, plus freebies: commemorative Crafty Chica temporary tattoos, buttons and more! I'll also have a display of finished craft projects showing what you can do with the products. Oh, and I'll have books too! There is limited supplies of the goodies, so get there early!

Click here to see if your local Michaels store is carrying the line.

Now wait, what if you don't live near one of the stores that sells the products? You can buy the items online at iLoveToCreate.com (should be posted soon). Now, I'm going to have fun on this road trip. I'm making special pieces of art and will be leaving them along the way throughout the tour in random places. I'll be posting the locations on my Instagram and my Facebook page - so if you live in Phoenix or California, stay tuned, you might score one of them! If you do, share a photo on my Facebook page!

Lastly, I have to give special thanks to La Quinta Inn & Suites for sponsoring this tour. They are providing us rooms each night, we couldn't have done it without them! And also, gracias to iLovetoCreate and Michaels for making it all happen!

APPEARANCE DATES AND LOCATIONS

Phoenix Kick-off party! Thursday, September 13th, 6-8 pm
1925 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ

Friday, September 14th, 6:30-8:00 pm

1652 Camino Del Rio N
San Diego, CA 92108-1514

Saturday, September 15th, 4-6 pm

561 Coleman Ave
San Jose, CA 95110-2047

Sunday, September 16th, 2:00-3:30 pm

3340 W Century Blvd
Inglewood, CA 90303-1305

Sunday, September 16, 6:00-8:00 pm

4240 Pacific Coast Hwy
Torrance, CA 90505-5526

Monday, September 17, 10 am-12 pm

13410 Whittier Blvd
Whittier, CA 90605-1932

Monday, September 17, 2:30-4 p.m.

10345 Magnolia Ave
Riverside, CA 92505-1809

ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts: Spring has Sprung Pop-up Card

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Spring has Sprung Pop-up Card
Avalon Potter for ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts
“Teen crafted, Mom approved.

I have been noticing the subtle differences of spring appearing around me. The trees have started to regain their leaves and butterflies have started to flap their wings. My grandmother sent me a card with a spring flower and Easter treats, and my mom has been saying one of her catch phrases every day “spring has sprung!” I wanted to thank my grandmother for the wonderful card so I decided to use ILoveToCreate products to make her a three dimensional butterfly card. Before I send it to her I thought I would take a few pictures and write some instructions so you could make one too! I left one of the applique butterflies uncolored so she can iron it on something and have fun coloring it in herself!

Materials
Colored cardstock
3 Crafty Chica Iron-on Appliqués butterfly
Tulip Fabric Markers Bright
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint
3-D small square stickers

Tools
Paint brushes
Scissors

Instructions
1. Take two of the butterflies and color them in using the fabric paint or the fabric markers. (These butterflies will be used to decorate the front of the card.)

2. Cut your card stock so that both the butterflies can fit on the front.

3. Fold the longer length of card stock in half and score with bone folder. This is your card.

4. Cut a small strip from the same color paper as the card and fold in half. Use bone folder to score fold.

5. Find the center point of each length of paper from your center fold. Fold again using bone folder to score. When attached, this should form a square or rectangular shape to create your pop up feature.

6. Place two 3-D stickers on either side of the two small ends.

7. Use the 3-D stickers to attach the ends of the armature inside the center fold of the card. The two ends should meet in the center at the card fold. Place the armature directly in the middle of the card; make sure that the shape bends with the card as it closes. If it does not reposition it so that it will bend with the card. This is forming a square/rectangle that will fold with the card, when opened fully it should become a full square shape.

8. Use the 3-D stickers to attach the blank butterfly on the front of the armature. Test to make sure it still bends correctly.

9. Use the 3-D stickers again to attach the colored butterflies on the outside of the card.

10. Cut out a strip of a different color cardstock that will fit on the top of the inside of the card.

11. Use the 3-D stickers stencil and the big phat pink marker to write spring on this piece of cardstock.

12. Repeat step 10 using a different color cardstock and writing sprung instead.

13. Attach the spring cardstock to the middle of the top of the inside of the card. Use two 3-D stickers on top of each other instead of one on this.

14. Repeat step 12 with the sprung cardstock and attach to the bottom of the inside of the card. Add above sprung on the card itself not the sprung cardstock the word “has” using the yellow big phat marker and previous stencil.

15. To complete leave a note on the instructions on how to make the iron on butterflies so your friend or family member can color in and iron on the blank butterfly!

Frosted Loteria Tags

I've always loved to buy and make little artful hanging tags for my paper and mixed media projects. Stamping is cool, so is sewing little fabric charms. This time around I used my Crafty Chica Loteria Game.

Supplies:

Crafty Chica™ Loteria Game™
Aleene's® Paper Glaze
Tulip® Fashion Glitter™ - White
Hole puncher
Scissors
Ribbon or embroidery thread

Click here if you can't see the video.



Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

Loteria Framed Art

I can't sit still around a blank wood frame. I have to glue something to it. In this case, it was a deck of playing cards from my Crafty Chica™ Loteria Game™ !

Supplies:
1 wood frame with a wide border
Crafty Chica™ Loteria Game™
Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®
Crafty Chica™ Little Chica Paint Packs™
Crafty Chica™ DIY Appliqués™ Value Pack™

Directions:
1. Paint the frame, and add contrasting accents to the outer edges.
2. Cut and glue the cards around the frame. Trim with black paint.
3. Iron on a sacred heart patch to a piece of fabric and insert in frame.
4. Enjoy!

iLoveToCreate Teen Retro Christmas Photo Frame

iLoveToCreate Teen Retro Christmas Photo Frame
Grandma’s Gift Idea
Copyright Margot Potter
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”

I’ve been collecting vintage goodies for over 26 years now. Much of my collections have been pared down due to the lack of storage here at our little school house and my many moves. The one collection I can keep expanding (and justify for my work) is my ephemera. That’s a fancy word for vintage paper and bits of things that shouldn't last. I just scored a little stash of 1950s era Christmas cards and I knew I had to use them for an iLoveToCreate project. (Truth be told these aren’t much older than me...which of course makes me vintage but I’m in denial so let's leave it at that.)

This frame cost a buck and the rest of the supplies are very affordable. You can find vintage cards on Etsy or eBay. They’re super cheap and super fun for your artwork. My daughter finally fessed up to knowing the 411 on the jolly old elf, but we’ve known for a while she had it figured out. I just wanted to keep that Christmas magic alive as long as possible. This is a great holiday pic of Avalon from a few years back and I thought it could make a terrific gift for one of her Grandmothers or for us to use in our regular holiday décor. Teens can have a lot of fun with this project, and they get to enjoy a little bit of Christmas past if you use vintage cards. (Note: Don’t scan and copy the images from the cards and use them again, these images are under copyright. You can cut them out and use the physical card, but you can not reproduce the images. US copyright protection lasts 100 years.)

Materials
One wooden frame with heart shaped opening
Wired tinsel
Image from vintage greeting card
Text from vintage greeting card
Green cardstock
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Liquid Fusion
Crafty Chica Little Paints White
Tulip Fashion Glitter White Pearl
Archival ink jet black
Adirondack ink red pepper
EK Success clear snowflake stamp
Inkadinkado flourish stamp
Dimensional foam stickers
EK Success metallic writer pen in silver

Tools
Martha Stewart lace edge punch
Scissors
Paper cutter
Tracing pen or pencil
Paint brush


1. Paint frame white. Sprinkle a fine layer of glitter over paint. Shake off excess. Allow to dry.

2. Randomly stamp snowflake over frame (try not to overlap) using archival ink in jet black.

3. Randomly stamp flourish over frame (try not to overlap) using Adirondack ink in red pepper.

4. Select image you like for bottom right corner of frame and cut it out. Use writer pen in silver to accent parts of image.

5. Spread a thin layer of glue on parts of image you’d like to coat with clear glitter. Sprinkle glitter on image and shake off excess. Allow to dry.

6. Cut out words you want to use. Using cardstock make a frame for the words. Use the scallop edge punch to decorate the edges of your frame. Adhere words to paper frame using two dimensional foam stickers.

7. Run a thick bead of Liquid Fusion along edge of frame. Place tinsel on edge, cut off excess. You can put some small glue bottles on the tinsel to secure it while it dries.

8. Adhere Santa to bottom right of frame using dimensional foam dots with a layer of Liquid Fusion under them.

9. Adhere text to top left of frame using dimensional foam dots with a layer of Liquid Fusion under them. Allow glue to dry overnight on images, text and tinsel.

10. Select and size a picture to fit the frame. Keep the cardboard insert to trace and cut image to fit inside of frame and to secure image inside of frame.

Free Halloween Craft Project for iLoveToCreate Teen: Spooky Sparkly Ornament Centerpiece

Sparkly Skull Halloween Ornament Centerpiece Copyright Margot Potter 2009
(This sphere is 8" in diameter!)

It has been positively Poe-esque around these parts this week and it looks as if it's going to stay that way for a few more days. Insert melodramatic sigh...here. Alas and alack it also means my step out photos for this post are rather dark and dull as well. Do forgive. Would that I had a state of the art photo studio and a team of stylists to make my projects look fabulous, but I am the entire team and this is a 130 year old school house with limited lighting capabilities...therefore I'm dependent on the sun for good pictures.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Sparkly Skull Halloween Ornament Centerpiece
Margot Potter (The Impatient Crafter) for iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts
Copyright Margot Potter 2009
Mom Crafted-Kid Approved

My daughter has officially stopped trick or treating this year, so instead one of her friends is throwing a Halloween bash. So that got me thinking about teen friendly party décor. I’ve been working on some retro style Christmas ornaments using foam, sequins and ribbon for an upcoming taping, so doing a Halloween version wasn’t a stretch. This is a fun and easy project and the potential variations are endless. Put this 8” ball in the center and add some smaller sizes wrapped in netting and other thematic ribbons and sequins and some Halloween themed confetti and you’ve got an adorable centerpiece for a teen party. You could also hang several of these on a wire from the ceiling.

Materials
8” foam sphere
Crafty Chica Little Chica Paints in black
Crafty Chica Glitter in Be Bop Black (you’re going to need TWO tubes to cover this ginormous sphere!)
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky SprayAleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Orange crystals (I used CRYSTALLIZED-Swarovski Elements™ 6mm Hyacinth bicones)
Off white flower sequins
Thematic ribbon (I purchased this ribbon at Michael’s last year, but all of the craft chains have fun Halloween ribbon around this time of year)
1” thick satin ribbon with loop edges
18 gauge Colourcraft wire2" silver plated head pins

Tools
Wooden dowel or paintbrush handle
Paintbrush

1. Begin by painting your sphere. I inserted a paint brush handle into my sphere so I could hold it while painting. Foam sucks up a LOT of paint, so you may need two containers to cover an 8” sphere. Allow to dry.
2. Spray sections of the sphere with Spray glue and pour glitter over them on to a newspaper or non-stick craft sheet. Keep refilling glitter container as you work. You will need two tubes of glitter to cover an 8” sphere. When finished, tap off excess glitter and allow to dry overnight.
3. Use your paint brush handle to shove one end of a pre-glued ribbon into your original indentation. I used a thick smearing of Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue along the entire length of ribbon.

4. Measure and mark an indent in the opposite side of sphere and repeat. Mark equal placement for four ribbon sections, using your paint brush handle to insert them into the indentations. There should be glue on the ends so they dry inserted in the indentations.

5. Insert a crystal and a sequin on a headpin and dab the exposed end of your headpin with Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. Insert this into an open section of your sphere. Repeat filling each section with sequin and crystal accents. Try to evenly space your embellishments. (I started with just crystals, but we decided the sequins added so much to the design, so we did a redo!) Allow to dry.


6. Create a bow using the thick looped ribbon.
7. Insert a 5” section of Colourcraft wire bent into a ‘u’ shape threaded through the knot of your bow into the top of the sphere as in photo. Allow to dry.(Disclosure of Payment and Samples Links: http://cmp.ly/2 http://cmp.ly/3 I purchased some of the materials used in this project and some were donated for use in my design work, this project was created for and sold to iLoveToCreate.)

Pretty in Pink Altered T-Shirt by Margot Potter for I Love to Create

Pretty in Pink Altered T-Shirt
Click on image to view close up!

This swanky top began life as a Fruit of the Loom boy’s value pack t-shirt. My daughter was mortified when I stood in the middle of the boy’s aisle at the store store and suggested OUT LOUD that we buy them and decorate them for her to wear. Can you imagine?

What is the fun of being a parent if you can’t humiliate your kid in public?

All joking aside...I wanted something with a more generous cut so I had more fabric with which to work. I always have a plan, even if it appears evil to my tortured teen.

Mwahahahahaha...

That was my evil parent laugh.

Okay then...here’s the project!

Pretty in Pink Altered T-shirt
Teen Craft Project
Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter for I Love to Create

Materials
Fruit of the Loom bulk pack white boy’s t-shirt
Black grosgrain ribbon ½” thick
3 safety pins
Tulip Fabric Spray Paint Hot Pink, Soft Pink, Violet Pink
Tulip Metallics Dimensional Fabric Paint Black
Crafty Chica Glitter Be Bop Black
Aleene’s Stop Fraying
Complements Border Stencil Graceful

Tools
Stencil brush
Bubble wrap
Fabric scissors
T-shirt form or cardboard insert to slide between tshirt layers while decorating
Heat tool

1. Pre-wash t-shirt. Slide your t over an insert or a form. This prevents the paints from seeping on to the back of your shirt.

2. Use your fingers to scrinkle the shirt on the left side. Spray a thin wash of each color, don’t overspray! Work paint from left to right, making coverage less dense on the right side.



3. Rescrinkle (it’s suggested that you wear gloves for this step.) Paint another thin wash of your colors. Allow to dry.

4. Pour black fabric paint on bubble wrap...spread with brush.
5. Dab on t, filling in the center of the spray painted areas. Allow to dry.

6. Place stencil on an angle across painted part of t.

7. Use stencil brush to apply black paint through stencil, dabbing the brush as you work to prevent paint from slipping under stencil.

8. While paint is still wet and stencil is still on your shirt. Pinch glitter on wet paint and gently rub in with your finger. Use a heat tool to adhere glitter, don't overheat or you'll melt your stencil! Remove stencil after paint has dried.

9. Cut neckline from shirt, leaving a 1” border on each shoulder. Cut along the top seam on the right border.

10. Use safety pins to secure this closed.

11. Cut along the top of each sleeve working up to the seam.

12. Cut a small slit on each side of the opening on the bottom of each sleeve.

13. Thread with a ribbon, tie ribbon and cut ends on the diagonal.

14. Cut a small slit on each side of the seam at the shoulder on the left side. Thread and tie another ribbon..

15. Use Aleene’s Stop Fraying on ribbon ends and allow to dry. Remove ribbons and safety pins when washing shirt.