Jennifer

I found these adorable DIY Glowforge Easter Bunnies and had to have a couple of sets to create for this Easter and Spring season! I am so excited to share this super fun and easy project with you today.

DIY Glowforge Easter Bunnies

If you have your own Glowforge laser you can cut yourself some bunnies or eggs, or any other Spring or Easter-themed shape and create your own fun DIY project!

Let’s get started on this fun project!

First, you will want to basecoat all the pieces (bunnies and flower overlays) with our Bondago Black paint. Just brush on one good layer keeping your brush strokes smooth and even, then let everything dry.

Next, you will apply a layer of our ArtsSyVille Embellishments Foil Adhesive to all parts. You will use a brush to apply the Foil Adhesive onto the bunnies, and use a sponge brush to pounce the Foil Adhesive onto the flower overlays. Making sure that the foil adhesive stays on the top layer of the overlay. Allow the foil adhesive to dry for at least an hour.

Then I grabbed some of my favorite foil colors and patterns. I actually changed my mind from my original colors, but that tends to happen around here with so many choices. I ended up going with Abigail Flowers, Aquamarine, and Light Rose for my bunnies.  Each bunny was foiled in one of the colors, and then I used the Abigail over the Aquamarine and Light Rose on the flower overlay and the Aquamarine on the flower overlay for the Abigail bunny. 

You will grab some of your favorite foil colors and patterns to get started foiling your bunnies. To apply the foils onto the dry Foil adhesive, just lay them over the surface with the Color or Pattern side facing you and rub/scrub the surface to transfer the metallic foils to the surface.

Viola! You have your own custom DIY Glowforge Easter bunnies 😁

You can purchase the Bunnies for $20.00 plus s/h, HERE!

I don’t know about you… but I love to create custom t-shirts with my Cameo!  And lately, I have had a lot of fun making some DIY Valentine’s Day t-shirts ❤️️

DIY Valentine’s Day T-Shirt

There are a few ways you can create your own DIY t-shirt with foils. We actually have four options to help you with all your fabric projects.  We have a Spray Adhesive to work with stencils, a Liquid Adhesive that you can use to outline or just free-hand with (it creates a raised line), a Gel Adhesive that you can use with stencils or free-hand with, and the fourth option is our Heat Transfer Vinyl Adhesive. The Heat Transfer Vinyl Adhesive has to be cut with a Cameo, Cricut, or similar type of cutting machine.

I created my “X’s and O’s” t-shirt with a Vinyl Stencil that I cut from my Cameo machine. I have a super awesome friend that I have collaborated with on some fun designs recently, and she helped me with this X’s and O’s design.

Let’s get started…

I cut the X’s and O’s stencil on a regular vinyl stencil so that I could use my Foil Spray Fabric Adhesive.

First, you will cut the vinyl and weed the design like a regular stencil, creating the openings to apply the spray adhesive through.  You want to shake this can really well, give it a good shake for 30 to 60 seconds (it’s a good arm workout haha).   Then hold the can about 8 inches away and spray over the openings with a thin even coat; not too thin but not too thick.  It’s not a bad idea to do a little sample piece to get familiar with the amount you need to apply.

Let the spray adhesive dry for about 10 minutes…

Next, you will apply your favorite metallic foil over the design and iron it on.  Turn your iron to medium heat and put a piece of parchment paper over the foil and iron over that layer.  This way even if your iron is too hot, it will not scorch the foils. Every iron is different and medium heat could be too hot on some, and not hot enough on others!

You will iron over the design for about 30 to 60 seconds with the iron constantly moving. Do not let it sit in one place.  Then allow the foil to completely cool before removing the foil.  All foils are a cool release, so never pull them off when they are hot.

Once the foil cools off completely, gently remove it from your shirt…

The Spray Adhesive can work with all pre-cut stencils as well.  Just make sure to use a repositionable spray adhesive on the backside of the precut stencil to make sure that the stencil stays in position and no spray gets under the stencil. Tape off and cover around the outside edges so that no overspray gets on the rest of the shirt either.

There are so many possibilities of creating with all these different adhesives we have available!

Grab yourself a fun Valentine’s Day-themed stencil and have some fun! If you create a custom t-shirt, text me a picture 😁 I’d love to see what you create! Text me @ 714-202-9356

Finally found the time to create a fun project for our new River House! I am so excited to share these custom DIY letters with y’all 😁

Custom DIY Letters

So… a little background on our River House! The River House is a double-wide in a mobile home park off the Colorado River, and it’s a “thing” in the park to decorate the outside of your home.

I found these large letters at Hobby Lobby and thought they would be great for the house!  Just need to find the “&” sign to go between the D and J and they will be complete LOL!

Here are the steps for the letter D:

First, you will need to find our letters. I found these large letters at Hobby Lobby, but I’m sure you can find them at Michaels or even Amazon.

I started by lightly sanding the imperfections on the “D”. Then I applied a thin layer of our Texture Medium using our Mini Trowel. Next, I rolled the Crocodile Roller through the wet material.

I allowed this to dry and once it was dry, I sanded down any of the high areas to smooth it all out.

Next, I applied one coat of the Bondago Black Paint and allowed it to dry

Once the Bondago Paint was dry, I applied a layer of Foil Adhesive and allowed it to dry for at least an hour (the longer it dries, the better).

I applied the Nevada Sun Foil. I wanted some of the black paint to peak through, so I made sure to put less pressure in certain areas when applying the foil.

Finally, I applied several layers of Golden Paintworks Topcoat for protection.

Here are the steps for the letter J:

I started the “J” the same way I started the “D”, by lightly sanding any imperfections.

Then I applied the Texture Medium with a Chip Brush to create a soft Stria finish and while it was wet, I rolled the Lotus Pattern Art Roller through the material.

I allowed this to dry and then sanded any high areas the Lotus Roller left.

Next, I applied a layer of Black Bondago Paint and allowed it to dry.

Then I applied a layer of Foil Adhesive and allowed it to dry for at least an hour (again, the longer the better).

Fro the “J” I chose to transfer the Leopard Bronze Foil. Still allowing some of the black base coat to show through.

Finally, I applied several layers of Golden Paintworks Topcoat for protection.

With Christmas only a few days away, I wanted to re-create an HTV Christmas Tree holiday t-shirt I saw online and absolutely loved. Having a Cameo to create custom designs for my projects is so much fun, and I’m super lucky that I have a FRIEND that helps with all the designing!!

HTV: Christmas Tree Holiday T-Shirt

My friend Crystal created a few designs that I have been wanting for a couple of projects I had in mind. The Christmas Tree and Snowflakes are the first of many different designs to come.

I used Heat Transfer Vinyl Adhesive to create these one-time-use adhesive stencils.  To create your own, you will need some type of vinyl cutter. A Cameo, Cricut, or whatever you have will work perfectly.  Make sure to put the setting on Heat Transfer Vinyl Adhesive when cutting your designs.

I’m super lucky that Crystal sends me the file that imports directly into the program. All I have to do is cut the design. Make sure if you are cutting a design with a word in it that you mirror the design!

Once you cut the design into the HTV Adhesive…

You get to have the fun project of “weeding” out the parts you don’t need.  With HTV Adhesive you remove all the negative pieces that are around the design itself, leaving the trees and snowflakes on the clear stick backing.  Make sure to remove all the little pieces, and that nothing is stuck on the sections you are going to transfer other than the design itself.

For this project…

I cut apart the stencil so I could place each element individually. I used the main Christmas tree first and transferred the vinyl adhesive to the surface by ironing it on. You can also use a Heat Press if you have one.  Release the clear backing when it’s warm and then place a piece of foil over the HTV adhesive and iron on the foil to the adhesive.  Allow the foil to completely cool before removing it (our foils are a cool release).

Position your next design element and cover everything with parchment paper to protect the sections that have already been foiled.  Repeat the steps above until you have transferred and foiled all the design elements.

My Green Shirt

Foils used:  Cheetah Silver, Leopard Bronze, Leopard Blue/Teal, Cheetah Gold, Coy Cheetah Gold, Red Glitter Stars, Confetti Green, Twinkle Silver, Sparkle Gold

My Red Shirt

Foils used:  Wild Leopard Spots Small Gold, Wild Leopard Spots Small Silver, Leopard Bronze, and Leopard Silver

This is a project that has been in the works for over a year now, and I’m sure some of you can relate to projects getting started and taking forever to get finished.

Whether I got bored with the project, or I just didn’t like what I was doing, I have had many projects go sit in the corner until I figured out something else for them.

Upcycled Patio Furniture

The original finish that I picked for this project was a fabulous Rust & Patina finish, but it was just not as conducive to the surface area as I’d hoped.  To create a great Rust finish it takes many layers and these chairs are mostly just 1” slats. After the first chair, I couldn’t make myself do the rest! It was just too small of a surface area for that many layers.

So after our newest foil “Pale Gold Fossil” arrived this past month, I thought it would be absolutely gorgeous on this patio set!

Let’s get started on this Upcycled Patio Furniture…

All the chairs, other than the one that was already finished in the Rust finish, was prepped and ready to go.  These are metal chairs, so I used a grinder to take off the old finish that had naturally rusted and then I primed with a Rust-Oleum primer to prevent rust from coming back, just in case I missed anything.

So I was ready to go…

Once your project is primed, you will apply one coat of my fabulous Foil Adhesive. I applied this with a brush.  You will want to take a little bit of the foil adhesive out of the container and put it onto a foam plate. Next, you will add about 1-2% water to your foil adhesive. I always do this when brushing on the foil adhesive because it allows the mixture to brush on smoother.  You will let the foil adhesive dry overnight and then come back and transfer your Pale Gold Fossil foil the next day.

To make the foiling easier…

I cut the foil into stripes about 1-2 inches wide.  Once your Foil Adhesive is “dry”, you will lay the foil onto the surface with the pretty side facing up (facing you) and scrub the backside until it transfers to the surface.

I started at the bottom and worked my way up. This foil is a super easy release and some of it can flake off the backing when it’s bent in different directions.  If you work from bottom to top, these flaking pieces will not get stuck into the tacked foil adhesive.

Once you have covered the entire chair with foil…

Make sure to wipe it down with a soft rag to remove any little bits that didn’t adhere.  Then you will want to seal your project. I used the Modern Masters MasterClear Topcoat to give great protection for exterior use.  This set is going out on our patio, so I want it to be protected as best as possible.

I only have two chairs finished, but I am trying to find time to do the rest. Two chairs and a table to go, and we will be set for some outdoor entertaining this summer 😁

If you try out this technique, I would love to see your project! Text me a picture to 714-202-9356!

Decorative rollers are a ton of fun to use on many different surfaces.  You can even use rollers on your walls!

Using Rollers on Walls

New to decorative rollers? Let me give you a little background.

My Decorative Art Rollers offer a wonderful creative tool to create patterns and designs and are so much fun to work with. I want everyone to try them!

Each roller is made of high-quality rubber and measures 7″ long by 2″ in diameter.

You can use a single roller pattern or combine several different patterns to create an infinite variety of surface treatments. Rollers allow you to create unique finishes that are fast, fun, and easy.

So, let’s talk about how to use Decorative Rollers on a wall project…

The Red rollers are designed to be a “negative” technique, which means we will roll through a wet material to create an impression.

To create a finish using Glaze, first base coat the wall surface in a paint that is a Satin paint. This will provide a “sealed” surface for the glaze to work well on.  You don’t want to work on matte or flat paint.  Also, allow the base coat to dry for several weeks if possible. This will allow the paint to cure better and the glaze will not soften in the process.

Paint the surface a light or contrasting color to the Glaze color.  The stronger the contrast the more visible the roller pattern will be.  The less contrast the more subtle the finish will be.

Let’s start a project…

First paint the wall a shade of gold, even a metallic paint would be fabulous. Allow this to dry for several days.

Create a glaze color using the Modern Masters Walls Glaze and Colorants. I used Coffee Bean/Tobacco Brown 50/50 mixture, approximately 3 tablespoons total to a cup of glaze.

Brush or roll the tinted glaze onto the wall surface working in approximately 3 to 4-foot sections. You could also do a section that is about 3 feet wide from ceiling to floor if you are rolling on the glaze.

While the glaze is wet, use your decorative roller and roll through the wet glaze leaving an impression in the glaze and exposing the base coat color.

Move on to the next section working from ceiling to floor and across the wall.

If possible, roll from ceiling to floor in one continuous roll. If it’s not possible, line up the pattern and continue to roll down the wall.

Off-load the roller onto paper to clean off some of the glaze.

Roll up another section with the glaze and continue to repeat the steps until the entire wall area is complete.

If you get to the end of the wall and don’t have enough room for a complete pass of the 7” roller pattern, the rollers can easily be cut to the size needed. Just use a hacksaw and cut the roller.  I remove the end caps first when cutting the rollers.

If you can’t get the roller pattern all the way to the ceiling line or baseboard, use the Wipe-Out Tool and hand carve the design into the glaze. This does not need to be perfect and also it’s not noticeable, so don’t worry about it.