Itsy Bitsy - The Blog place: September 2016

Friday, September 30, 2016

Resin Jewelry

Hi there..Lekha

Today I would be sharing my first try with Resin, and had fun making these little pieces of jewelry. This craft resin & hardener is ideal for jewelry making, dome stickers, dome embellishments and to coat wooden furniture for sheen & protection. It is water resistant when dry and gives a glossy finish to your projects.

It might sound little tough to deal with resin and hardener , just follow the instructions. Resin going in first and than the hardener. Let the mix sit for few seconds so all the bubbles rise to the top,if there are many just scoop the top layer with popscile.
Itsy Bitsy resin comes in various colors, here I have used the clear resin.

You would need following items before you start working with Resin:

Measuring cup or if you do not have any then just take disposable paper cups and mark them.
Small plastic spoon or Popsicle.
Surgical gloves (avoid touching the resin mix with bare hands), you can get them at any pharmacy.
Toothpick (if you will be working with very small areas)
Glitter dust (make small batch of resin and mix any color of glitter dust to achieve some great looking pieces)
Sparkle dots
Straw (this would come in handy if bubbles arise after pouring the resin. A light blow with straw and you would be able to get rid of all the bubbles.)

Tip: If you do not have gloves at home and by mistake touch the resin do not panic, just rub any oil(hair/body/cooking oil) and wash thoroughly with soap.

Another tip I would suggest is keep all your pieces ready and then make the resin batch in small quantity to avoid any wastage.Resin and hardener mix would have a work window of 5 min approx so you can pour into all your findings simultaneously. As for the curing,resin takes 24 hrs to fully cure.
I would be making rings, pendants, earrings.So lets start...

Pendants

Cut round pieces from any pattern paper of your choice to the size of the bezel

Stick with silicon glue and let dry.

I also used metallic paints (teal metallic paint, broccoli metallic paint) to paint these bezels.

Here are three different pieces...

The first pendant in the picture has clear resin poured into the bezel and then I dropped few glass beads randomly before the resin set in.

The middle pendant (painted with teal metallic paint) has resin mixed with aqua glitter dust.

The third green has pattern paper and clear resin.

Rings

For the first one I painted the ring base in black acrylic paint and than poured the resin mixed with parrot green glitter dust.

For the second ring after pouring the resin mix (aqua glitter dust)I embedded crystal piece before the resin set in.

You would require Flat Aluminium wire, these come in various colors and are easy to bend and cut. I took the wire and bend it into square shape with the help of Jewelry pliers (Chain Nose Mini Pliers and than cut with help of Side Cutting Pliers). Next adhered the empty square piece to clear tape.

I have used the beading wire to wrap the square resin piece to form it into a pendant.

Earrings

I repeated the same procedure of adhering these metal heart charms to the tape and then firmly pressing it so no space is left for the resin to flow from beneath the charm. Once the resin has taken its time to cure (24 hrs), remove the tape and if you find any tape residue on the resin just wash it with mild soap water and pat dry.
For these earring pairs I made very small batch of resin mixed with different colors of glitter dust and then poured with help of toothpick as the the design is very intricate.

Another pendant I created is with square chipboard frame and Sparkle dots in different colors.

For this I painted both sides of the frame, each in black and silver colors. Adhere the chipboard frame to the tape and poured clear resin mix into the center of the chipboard frame and use popsicle to spread the resin evenly in all directions. Here I did not mix the sparkle dots in the resin mix but put it while the resin was wet.

Hope you liked my experiments with Resin.

Thanks for stopping by and do leave some love.

Supplies used:

resin and hardener

Popsicle

Toothpick

silicon glue

square chipboard frame

black acrylic paint

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Crafter In The Spotlight 17 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello friends!! Itsy Bitsy brings you "CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT" – a unique way of encouraging and appreciating the talented crafters. We recognize talented crafters week after week, turn the spotlight on them & feature them in our "CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT"! We love what you talented crafters create & are amazed at each of your unique creations every single day! We love the way you use Itsy Bitsy products & give life to those products.

We are delighted to announce this week’s Crafter in the Spotlight “ARPITA TORNAL”! This talented & extrovert crafter loves to try new things & says that sitting in one place & being committed to one project was never her cup of tea. :-) She is extremely versatile & has tried her hands on different kinds of crafts like decoupage, candle making, mosaic & crochet.

She is fond of Itsy Bitsy’s flower embellishments & beads & mentions that they instantly brighten up any project. Simple, sober and elegant is her style, to know her favourite quote & all about her, please read her interview & leave your comments for her.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Arpita:

Rashmi Closepet, MD, Itsy Bitsy : Tell us a bit about yourself & your background?

Arpita Tornal : I have grown up seeing a lot of my aunts, sisters doing a lot of hand works like crochet, embroidery or just making some beautiful decorables for their homes. But i was always interested in outdoors, sitting in one place & being committed to one project was never my cup of tea, so ironic :-)

RC : How did you get into crafting?

AT : I never thought craft would be my full time thing or even knew I would enjoy arts and crafts so much. Due to my health issues a couple of years back I had to be home and had nothing to do, so my mom taught me some hand embroidery and that's when my journey into the craft world began and since then, there is no looking back. l have tried my hand in candle making, decoupage, mosaic, crochet to mention a few. I am always looking forward to learn a new form of art.

RC : What is your favourite type of craft?

AT : I don't like monotony, so I am always doing a new form of craft. I enjoy what I am doing and that becomes my favorite for that period.

RC : What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

AT : Love your flower embellishments and your collection of beads. They instantly brighten up any project you are working on. Something I came across recently is the silicon glue and I love it.

RC : What products from Itsy Bitsy do you think are must have’s for a crafter?

AT : Depends on your choice of craft, but handmade flowers and chipboard embellishments from your store is something I always have them stacked.

RC : What product would you like to see at Itsy Bitsy?

AT : You guys have pretty much covered it all, if I have to say may be more products for mixed media and more variety of decoupage tissues and papers.

RC : You draw inspiration from?

AT : Everything I find is pretty and beautiful is my inspiration.

RC : What are your other interests?

AT : I enjoy socializing, watching movies, love spending time with my friends and would love to travel.

RC : If you had magic powers, how would you contribute to the Crafting world?

AT : Hmm, if I had magic powers I am not sure what i would contribute but i would use them to learn more forms of arts and crafts from all over the world.

RC : Your prized possession in your craft stash?

AT : This one is going to sound silly, but I have this scissors I use and I could not work without it.

RC : How would you describe your style of crafting?

AT : I like simple, sober and elegant.

RC : How do you organize your time for crafting?

AT : I am a full time crafter, there is no day that goes by without me doing some craft.

RC : Tips for people who want to craft?

AT : Enjoy the process of creating, don't overthink it and when something goes wrong that is when you are actually learning so just keep crafting and have fun with it.

RC : Your all -time favourite quote?

AT : "I don't focus on what I'm against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest."

Here are a couple of Arpita's awesome creations:

Many congrats Arpita for being the CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ITSY BITSY

You will receive Rs.500/- Itsy Bitsy gift voucher :-) :-) & a Crafter in the Spotlight badge, which can be proudly displayed on the side bar of your blog and other platforms.

Also, visit our Youtube channel to view & to know more about this crafter – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZuZVuEcGI

Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!

Monday, September 26, 2016

Treasure Trove Tissue Box

Dear Friends ,

Remya here with a tissue box which reminds us of a treasure trove. During all my drives have been frustrated with the blanche look of the tissue box in the car. Today I decided to overhaul it and give it a look of a treasure trove.

Ready for the overhauling session with me ? Lets begin !

Itsy Bitsy has a huge variety of white washed items which are game for any mixed media encounters. I chose to work on tissue box since I had a need for it.

When working with Chipboards, We would have left over Chipboard pieces which normally finds its way to the trash can, my habit of retaining them (although am blamed many a times) helped here and I have used them here. You would be able to see few broken chipboards here ( Piling up all the hoarded chipboard can cause few of them to break !). I stuck them randomly on the sides of the box.

After the chip board pieces get stuck on to the substrate, its time for giving a common layer, covering the entire surface with kitchen tissue paper and let it dry completely.

Once the tissue dries up its time for GESSO. Here I have covered the box with black gesso. Its mandatory for this to dry completely before you apply any color to it. Else you would land up with colors which you may not desire with colors smudged.

Treasure is always (almost always) golden and hence the trove had to get a rustic golden color. To give it the rustic appearance was a bit tricky with use of multiple colors where black base with pearl yellow and green had to roles to play. I stared by buffing the box with Pearl Yellow dimension paint from Monte Marte. You might get your hands dirty while doing this but trust me the result would be better than using a brush.

Once that was done, rubbed off the color from certain areas for the background black to be visible - to get the aged look.

Once I was happy with the outcome of this, I applied Monastral green dimensional paint on the broken chipboards to highlight them. It looks white in the sunlight though.

Few flowers near the chipboard, it transformed into a treasure chest:) The wording are cut out from an old magazine - did I say that I dont have a trash can at home ;)

Hope you all enjoyed this journey !

Materials Used :

Tissue box
Chipboard - Square frame
Chipboard - Garden bird
Any tissue paper
Black gesso
Dimensional paint - Yellow
Dimensional paint - Monastral Green
Flowers

Hugs,
Remya

To check my previous blog posts with Itsy Bitsy - click here

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Crafter In The Spotlight 16 - Itsy Bitsy

She is a hotel management graduate, a post graduate in Human Resource & that’s not all she is also experienced in Customer service Industry! This very talented Crafter & Blogger took break from Corporate life for the sake of her son & found her true calling in Craft! Seema who comes from a family of creative women thinks creativity is in her genes! Seema who loves card making, mini albums, mixed media, quilling, making gift boxes says Itsy Bitsy was the first store she bought supplies from! :-)

Earthy, vintage and bit grungy is her style, her projects elegant & her paintings absolutely full of life!

What really inspires Seema, her tips for fellow crafters, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to crafting world if she had magical powers ?? To know all these & to know more about her interesting journey, please read the interview & leave your comments for her!

Here are excerpts of my interview with Seema:

Rashmi Closepet, MD, Itsy Bitsy : Tell us a bit about yourself & your background?

Seema Mishra : First off, thank you so much for this honour now for my background I am a Hotel management graduate with my PG in Human Resource Management and have 7 years of experience in the Customer service industry. In my family all the ladies have been into embroidery, crocheting, knitting and sewing; so maybe that genes got passed into me too; as a kid though, the idea of sitting and doing something was alien to me but loved to watch my mum make my dresses and home furnishings for the house.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

SM: In the little spare time I got I loved to make small home decor items for gifting out to close friends which was well appreciated but I never got the time to take this any further due to the busy corporate life. When I took a break for my son I realized I wanted to pursue my true passion for creating and crafting. Started with making home furnishing for myself and later did some custom work for my friends but my love for stationary drew me into paper as my medium and for the last 4 years I have been paper crafting and have never looked back since.

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

SM: I love all types of crafts and have tried my hands on various thing but majorly I love, card making, mini albums, mixed media, quilling, love making gift boxes etc.

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

SM: Itsy Bitsy was the first Indian store that I bought supplies from and the journey continues and has better getting better and better. I love buying stamps, dies, beads, pattern papers, embossing powders and the list keeps growing.

RC: What products from Itsy Bitsy do you think are must have’s for a crafter?

SM: Itsy bitsy has an awesome collection of beads that are very fairly priced and the big shot machine I would say is a must have for full time paper crafters.

RC: What product would you like to see at Itsy Bitsy?

SM: Would love to see stamp and die combos from Itsy Bitsy.

RC: You draw inspiration from?

SM: My mom is a person with a never-ending thirst for knowledge and is always eager to learn and try new things (she recently learnt quilling and is quite good) and adapts easily to changes around her; this attitude is something that inspires me t never be afraid of change I would emulate this attitude in myself.

For my work I draw inspiration from everywhere, art, nature, other crafters. Here I would like to take the opportunity to thank a few crafters for the amazing work they do.

International - Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Vicky Papaioannou and many more

RC: What are your other interests?

SM: I love to watch the creation process for just about anything. I love visiting all sorts of factories big or small, I love watching all sorts of creative shows whether its about bikes, cars, houses, or other DIYs. My father is retired from the Armed forces, so travelling and exploring new places has become a part of me. The idea of an adventure still gets me excited like a kid. I also love adventure sports, trekking, camping, rafting, parasailing and such.

RC: If you had magic powers, how would you contribute to the Crafting world?

SM: Creative process challenges us to push our boundaries and think out of box. This is very important for children too so my magical powers would be used to create a world where everyone is creating and children can learn and explore their creative side making the world a beautiful place.

RC: Your prized possession in your craft stash?

SM: Everything in my craft is a valued possession for me.

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

SM: Earthy, vintage and bit grungy I guess.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

SM: I am a full time crafter and every minute I get after taking care of my responsibilities at home and my kid I like to spend either crafting or watching and reading about crafts and crafters. I also conduct workshops and share tutorials on my blog and you tube channel.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft?

SM: In this day and age where technology has made learning a new craft so easy, I would say that if you really want to learn something, there is nothing stopping you are just a click away so do not be afraid and create.

RC: Your all -time favourite quote?

SM: Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes it meaningful.

Here are a couple of Seema's awesome creations :

Many congrats Seema for being the CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ITSY BITSY

You will receive Rs 500/- Itsy Bitsy gift voucher :-) :-) & a Crafter in the Spotlight badge, which can be proudly displayed on the side bar of your blog and other platforms.

Also, visit our Youtube channel to view & to know more about this crafter – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWMQd2-H0vw

Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Mixed Media Canvas

This is Tanvi, welcoming you here today!

In her previous posts - here & here, DT Lekha used the Itsy Bitsy metallic paints & I knew I had to try them! Was so happy to find them in my DT kit this time!

Mont Marte Impasto & Mont Marte dimensional paints are two other products I am using for the first time & will talk about these in a bit.

For my post today I am working on a mixed media canvas.

After a base coat of gesso on a 8x10 canvas I started working on creating the background.

I used teal blast metallic paint. These colors are very creamy & rich, give very good coverage & the metallic sheen is simply amazing. Pearlized paints are available in an array of colors -

Also I have used these on a variety of media in this project as you will see soon - canvas, paper, MDF, chipboard, fabric, handmade paper, metal.

To even out the color I used a baby wipe.

Next I wanted to add some silver to the background & this is where I brought in the dimensional paint. Once again with the baby wipe blended it in the background. Mont Marte Dimension acrylic is a high viscosity fine art paint.

After this I wanted some stencilling to add texture to the background using IMPASTO.

Impasto is a technique of using very thick paint, usually thick enough so that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. When dry, impasto provides texture & thats how I experimented with it using a stencil. Mont Marte Impasto is a heavy bodied paint that is colorless. When mixed with the color it does not change color.

As you can see in the picture I mixed both the colors with impasto & it formed a rich creamy blend.

Carefully I used the irregular dot stencil, using both pastes randomly.

While it was drying I brought out some embellishments from my Itsy Bitsy stash!

For some more texture I glued some doillies on the canvas & also some gesso splatters all over the canvas.

Once I decided on the layout I glued all the embellishments using silicon glue.

I brushed gesso on all & later painted them with the teal color. The chipboard frames, pearl strings & metal charms I chose to paint silver. At this point I also added some silver stencilled script to the background,