More Jewelry Options from Close To My Heart!

I'm so excited that February is finally here! I have had my new products from the brand new Spring-Summer 2014 Idea Book for several weeks, just itching to share them with you! For this blog post, I will focus on my new favorite products - new additions to the Base & Bling line: Pendants, Chain, Charms, Glass Covers, and Style Sheets. The chain, pendants (both round and square) and charms come in both faux antiqued silver and faux antiqued gold. There are currently 5 different themes of charms available, and four different style sheets. Here is what I got for myself:

I just loved the colors and patterns of the "Dreamer Style Sheet". I also chose to work with the "Square Pendants" in the silver color and the "Rhinestone" charms. Here's how to use these cool products to create a fun necklace. Start by getting out your materials:

Next you will choose one of the fun squares from the Style Sheet to place on the inside of your pendant. I used this colorful chevron pattern, and also used the tip of my bone folder to make sure the square was securely and evenly fastened to the pendant (the Style Sheet images are self-adhesive):

Ooo, it's cool already! But there's one more thing to add - a glass cover! To adhere that to the pendant, I used the clear choice - Liquid Glass. Use enough to cover the square when spread around with the tip of the bottle (the first one that I did, I just filled the square with Liquid Glass - it was WAY too much!!!):

Then gently place the Glass Cover on top and tap it down until the Liquid Glass spreads evenly underneath (you will be able to see where there are bubbles that need pressing out):

That's it! Now just wait for this to dry, slip it onto your chain with your charm(s), and wear proudly!

These are so easy and fun to make. And each package of pendants comes with three for only $4.95 (U.S.). You only need one chain, because you can change the pendants in and out on the same one. What surprised me was how thick the Glass Covers are! Check out the profile:

I immediately made the other two pendants in the package:

Then I decided to experiment with other things for my second package of three. I used a postage stamp from last Christmas (how cute!), and two photos from our latest cruise:

After they dried, and for the first couple of days, these looked fantastic. But when I went to take a picture of the three of them (several days to a week after I made them), I noticed that the two I had put photos into were covered with bubbles beneath the glass. I can only conclude that this had something to do with a reaction the Liquid Glass had with either the photo paper or the ink that I used to print the pictures (they were printed by me at home). I also considered that I had not let the photos themselves dry long enough before using them. I am curious to know if I would have the same result with photos that were commercially processed...but I have used up all of the pendants that I had, so I will have to wait to test that one!

This was so fun! Next week I will be showing you three cards I created using two of the newest paper packs! I can't wait to show you!

What Do You Do With That?

Have you ever been browsing your favorite store, seen something that looked really cool, purchased it, then put it in a drawer or closet never to be seen again? Yeah, I've got plenty of that stuff - in my craft room. Tons of cool, fun stuff that I just had to have, but have never used. Well, today I decided that I was going to do something about that. Today I brought out something I bought years ago, and never used - a box of Melissa Frances™ Mica Flakes.

What the heck do you do with that? Well, they're shiny, so they would be a great way to add some flash & bling to a project. My first thought was of the stamp set that comes with the "Laughing Lola" Card-making Kit from Close To My Heart. I just love that starburst background stamp, and I thought it would be cool to bling-up those rays. My first step was to stamp the image. I chose to stamp in white ink on black paper (figuring that flakes would show up better on a dark color).

Next, I applied Liquid Glass to the outsides of the rays (I knew I would be covering up the middle, so I didn't bother putting anything there).

Then I sprinkled the Mica Flakes onto the glue - just like glitter. I found, however, that when I did this and shook off the excess, the mica flakes were so big that the space between the rays got covered up. Hmmmm. I guess this was not the best image to work with when using the mica flakes.

Soooo...I decided to go a different route and use the mica as some sparkly snow. I pulled out my favorite "Flakey Friends" stamp set, stamped one of the snowmen, and applied the Liquid Glass and mica to the "snow".

This worked much better! I finished the scene off by adding some Stickles™ to the snowflakes (adding several of my own).

How fun! I went back to my original stamped image from "Laughing Lola" and "weeded" through the spaces in between the rays with a paper piercer. This ended up working pretty well for clearing out the spaces (except on the sides - the spaces there were just too thin to bother), so I finished the rays and this is the final card:

Flashy, huh? So the Mica Flakes experiment was a success. Just remember that if you are using them, they are much bigger than glitter, micro beads, or most anything else you would sprinkle onto your projects...just something to keep in mind when planning how to use them.