On, Comet! Card

Hi Everyone

Here's a quick little card project for anyone who needs to send a Christmas card to someone they know is going through a bit of a tough time. Sometimes you just need a 'not too jolly' Christmas theme and preferably blank inside for you to write whatever you want (no point saying Happy Christmas when you know that it won't be)...

On, Comet!

 

Materials Needed:

Efcolor Tealight Stove

Aluminium Circle Blank

Fine Sandpaper

Texture Blue and Silver Efcolor Powders

Large Reindeer Punch

Square Card & Card Offcut

Light Blue Paper

Grand Calibur Die Cutter & Venetian Motifs Die

Fine Silver Tinsel

Dekofix Glue, Double-sided Tape & Scissors

 

Use the reindeer punch to create a stencil from a card offcut.

Lightly sand the aluminium blank.

 

Cover the blank with a good layer of Texture Blue Efcolor Powder.

 

Place the powdered blank on the tealight stove and leave until the powder has melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

 

Place your stencil over the top of the enamelled blank and cover it with just enough Texture Silver Efcolor Powder to block out the blue.

 

Carefully lift and slide the stencil over to one side. Place the blank back on the stove to melt the powder and then leave it to cool.

 

Take a square card and stick a light blue diecut Venetian motif in the centre. (You can use four of the diamond pieces you remove from the points to decorate the corners of your card.) Use double-sided tape to stick the enamelled blank in the centre.

Add touches of Dekofix glue around the edges of the blank.

Stick a piece of fine tinsel to the Dekofix around the edge of the enamelled disc to finish!

Efco's aluminium blanks for their Efcolor low melt enamelling powders are perfect for card makers as they are light and so don't make cards topple over in the same way that copper blanks do. Add a touch of Spellbinders magic to finish and you end up with a very simple but classy card!

For a downloadable version of this project go to the Christmas Card page on Projects4Crafters.com

Happy Crafting!

Fee x

Product of the Month - Efco's Kumihimo Range

Hi Everyone

Kumihimo is the ancient art of Japanese cord braiding and is currently rather popular with jewellery makers. You can use a variety of threads or cords to create the braids and can even combine beads with it to make stunning jewellery and accessories. 

Long ago, the Japanese used Kumihimo braids in everyday life, even the Samurai would use them to lace their armour. Traditionally performed on a wooden braiding stool called a Marudai, artisans would have to know their patterns by heart. Nowadays it is much easier with Efco's Mobidai® and pattern discs. The Mobidai® are made from dense foam which have slots around the edge into which the individual strands can be firmly tucked, meaning that you can pop it in your bag and take it anywhere, to work on as and when you have a moment. Efco also do a range of satin weavecord, cotton waxed cord and alacantra cord (all of which can be used to make Kumihimo braids) as well as a wonderful selection of jewellery findings to give your braids a professional finish.

Here are the latest projects to give you an idea of what you can easily achieve with Efco's Kumihimo range:

KP/0013M - Scoubi Doobi Do

F/0008M - Braided Jewellery Set

F/0009M - Funky Braid Bracelet

F/0010M - Fiery Cube Necklace

(These projects are just the tip of the iceberg as far as what can be achieved with Efco's Kumihimo range.)

If you're looking for a last minute Christmas present for a crafty friend or are in need of a stocking filler then why not consider Efco's Kumihimo Craft Set. It's an ideal set to get you started with Japanese braiding as it has everything you need to create several braids using two different pattern discs - just perfect for nights in, in front of a roaring fire!

Check out the Product of the Month page to find out more about Efco's Kumihimo range of products.

Happy Crafting!

Fee x

Efco Storage Jars

Hi Everyone

Efco do a range of Storage Jars which are ideal for personalizing! You can create decorative storage for around the home or turn them into attractive, multipurpose packaging for Christmas presents! There are two new project sheets on the glass painting page of Projects4Crafters which use Efco's fab Color Dekor 180.

DP/0020 - Striped Jar

DP/0021 - Floral Jar

Color Dekor is a fabulous product as it makes decorating round objects a breeze. It is paint in sheet form which can be cut or punched. Once baked at 180ºC for 30 minutes it is hand washable. Your finished items will be smooth and run-free!

If you're into home baking and want to give your creations away as presents then the larger storage jars are ideal for packaging your wares...

If you're giving sweeties at Christmastime then you can make them extra special by 'wrapping' them in a unique storage jar. The fir tree felt border was stuck on the jar below with a hot glue gun and then it was finished off with a bow. The Color Dekor range also has black and gold letters so why not personalize the jar first with the child's name on the lid!

If you're looking for a new way to wrap up a selection of toiletries this Christmas then why not try one of Efco's largest storage jars...

This one has diecut straw paper fir trees stuck on, with Efco's Snow Liner adding a touch of snow to the tree tops. It has then been finished off with a ribbon!

'Cookie in a Jar' pressies seem to be very popular this year, so why not make your own by decorating one of Efco's large or medium sized Storage Jars! Here, the word 'COOKIES' and a holly motif have been punched from their Color Dekor 180 sheets and stuck on. Once baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 180ºC it is then hand washable. Leave it to cool before adding your Cookie Mix ingredients. 

There are a range of cookie in a jar recipes available for free at AllRecipes.com

If you want to use a medium sized jar like the one above rather than a large one you may need to halve the ingredients. I chose the 'Cookie-in-a-Jar I' recipe which would normally make 4 dozen cookies but I halved the ingredients to fit the jar. Don't forget to write out the instructions for making the cookies and attach this to the jar. (If you've halved the ingredients you will have to remember to halve the remaining ingredients on the instructions too ie butter and eggs.) By decorating and personalizing the jar you make that part of the present, a very important part too as the cookies will soon be eaten but the jar will still be there!

There are so many different ways you can decorate storage jars but Efco's Color Dekor is definitely a quick and easy way when you're pressed for time!

Happy Crafting!

Fee x

Quilled Christmas Decoration

Hi Everyone

If you're getting into the festive mood then why not create your own Christmas decorations. There are various project sheets available on the website. Check out: http://projects4crafters.com/Special-Occasions(2296752).htm  

However, if you enjoy papercraft techniques then why not try this Quilled Decoration which I've just uploaded to the Papercrafts section...

P/0003 - Quilled Decoration

Materials needed:

Christmas Quilling Set

Dekofix Glue

Transparent Thread

Topaz Acrylic Gems 4mm

Extra Pins

Scissors

Step 1.  Cut 7 4mm strips of quilling paper into quarters (gold has been used here). (A) Take 4 pieces and create scrolls by curling first one end into a round and then curling the other end in the opposite direction. Make one end slightly larger than the other. The more uniform the shapes are the more symmetrical the finished decoration will be. (Smear a little glue over the ends to help them hold their shape.) (B) Take 4 pieces and curl one end into a round, leaving a 15mm tail. Use your finger nail to gently curl this slightly in the opposite direction. (C) Take 4 pieces and curl one end into a round, this time leaving a 20mm tail. Again curl this in the opposite direction, making the end a slightly tighter curl. (D) Roll 8 pieces into 10mm rounds, gluing the ends of the strips to fix them. Pinch them to create drops. (E) Roll the last 8 pieces into 10mm rounds, gluing the ends of the strips to fix them.

Step 2. Take the 4 scrolls (A) and stick them smaller ends together to create a cross shape.

Step 3.  Take the longer tailed rounds (C) and fix them to the arms of the cross shape by wrapping and gluing the ends around the ends of the scrolls. Fix the shorter tailed rounds (B) to the back of the (C) sections by gluing the ends of the tails to the back of the scrolls and the rounds back to back with the rounds of the longer tailed sections.

Step 4.  Add 2 drops (D) with a round (E) in between the drop points in between each arm of the decoration.

Step 5.  Add the last rounds (E) to the end of each arm. Stick them into the curls of the (C) sections.

Step 6.  Use more Dekofix glue to stick some acrylic gems on. Stick one in the centre of the decoration, one at the beginning of each arm and one towards the end of each arm.

Step 7.  When dry, turn the decoration over and stick gems on the other side. Finish by feeding a length of transparent thread through the top of one arm to create a hanger.

For a downloadable version of this project go to: http://projects4crafters.com/Papercrafts(2296746).htm

Of course, if you like a lot of bling for Christmas, before sticking the gems on in Step 6 you could spray the decoration with spray adhesive and dip it in ultrafine glitter.

You don't have to make your decoration gold either, as you can choose paper and gem colours to tie in with your Christmas theme. 

Happy papercrafting!

Fee x

Efcolor Leaf Windchimes

Hi Everyone

Here's a rather topical project, what with all the leaves turning beautiful colours and falling from the trees. They are easy to create using Efco's Efcolor enamel powders...

EN/0034 - Leaf Windchimes

Materials needed:

Leaf Copper blanks

Efcolor Powders

Efcolor Tealight Stove

Deco Wood

Transparent Thread

Gold Flat Beads

Dekofix Glue

Fine Sandpaper

Pliers & Scissors 

Step 1.  Lightly sand the leaf copper blanks on both sides and wipe them on a clean cloth to remove any grease or grit.

Step 2.  Cover each blank in a good layer of powder, adding touches of other colours as desired. Place them on the tealight stove until the powder has melted. Then remove them & leave to cool.

Step 3.  Turn the blanks over, and repeat Step 2 for the other side, this time placing each blank on the stand to both heat and cool.

Step 4.  Join 2-3 leaves together with transparent thread. Tie knots in the thread and secure with a touch of Dekofix glue. For a stronger finish you can use flat beads squashed with pliers to secure the thread.

Step 5.  Lay the threaded leaf sections out roughly how you would like them to hang in relation to each other. Fix more transparent thread to the top leaves, leaving a long length to attach them to the wood pieces.

Step 6.  Attach the tops of the threads to pieces of wood, using glue to fix them in position. Keep checking how they hang and make adjustments as necessary by sliding the threads along the wood pieces to balance them.

Step 7.  For extra strength use two strands of thread to attach the wood pieces together and to create a hanger for the top piece of wood.

If you'd like a downloadable version of the project go to http://www.projects4crafters.com/Enamelling(2296749).htm

Happy Crafting to one and all

Fee x

November Product of the Month

Hi Everyone

What a busy month November has been. Besides the ongoing work on the new website (almost there!), I also had an enamelling show on Ideal World tv to prepare for. Sadly, the show was 'a bit of a disaster darling' with the air conditioning blowing gale force cold air across the set which meant I couldn't do a single demo! Usually, when enamelling in the studio I can see the powder melting within a minute or even seconds but not one piece lost the powdered look in the whole hour of the show (rather frustating after struggling to land some powder on the blank in the first place!). When I looked at the tealights underneath the flames were positively horizontal! No wonder the stove never got hot. Having said that, the producers were so happy with the samples that I had taken with me and with the fact that despite everything we sold out of the stoves, that they have asked if I would go back and do another two shows. So watch this space to find out when they will be on...

In light of the Ideal World tv show I decided to feature Efco's Efcolor Enamelling as the November Product of the Month. I know it was one of the products I featured on the website when it first started back in 2010 but it never hurts to revisit a product, especially when it has evolved and grown over the years. So here are the new projects to tie in with the Jewellery theme of the show:

 EN/0028M - Blue Sparkle

EN/0029M - Safari Keyring

EN/0030M - Sundown

EN/0031M - Autumnal Flourish

EN/0032M - Silver Wave

EN/0033M - Sweet Marguerite

At the end of the month you will be able to find these projects along with many other Efcolor enamelling project ideas on the enamelling page of www.Projects4Crafters.com.

Happy Crafting

Fee x

A rather long post!

Hi Everyone

Sorry I haven't 'blogged' recently - it's been rather crazy in the Creative Craftworks studio this last month. Here's a quick catch up for those of you who don't follow the facebook page...

Efco do a fabulous set of three little PappArt boxes, perfect for filling with sweets and hanging on the tree at Christmas time. 

The first box is in the shape of a Santa's boot which I've painted with red Decoupaint and Efco's Snow Liner paint and decorated with gems.

 

The second box is in the shape of a little Christmas tree which I've covered with Efco's Relief Paste for a textured look. When dry, I painted it with dark green acrylic and then dry brushed a lighter green over the top to give it depth. The trunk was painted brown and then it was decorated with glitter thread and gems.  

 

 

Last but not least is the Star which, having basecoated it with white Decoupaint and a few random splodges of light blue Decoupaint, I decoupaged with a napkin and sparkle Mod Podge. When dry, I stuck small gems in the middle of the snowflakes with Dekofix glue.

I had a wonderful day at Colemans Craft Warehouse on Saturday 27th October for their Big Demo Day. Both staff and customers were lovely. I had a great time demonstrating assorted techniques for creating Christmas decorations. I also uploaded a new project sheet to the Special Occasions Page: Festive Xmas Lights 

If you like making jewellery for presents, whether beaded or enamelled, then you might like to make your own decorative jewellery boxes from mini Papp Art boxes. Make them distinctive and unique by using the Bullseye Cane technique guide on TheCraftLibrary.com site to decorate the box lid with Fimo. All you need to do then is to paint the base with acrylic paint to finish.

Here's a few more Christmas decoration ideas I've been working on over the last few weeks:

Last, but not least, I will be appearing on Create and Craft tv at 1pm on Tuesday 13th November where I will be demonstrating Efco's fantastic Efcolor Enamelling Range. If you've not discovered Efco's low temperature enamel powders and tealight stove I suggest you watch the programme as not only is it a lot of fun to do but it would also make a great Christmas present for a crafty friend! Here's a taster of the sort of jewellery you can create with this fab product:

Hope you can make it!

Fee x