Sunday, July 17, 2011

UTEE flowers

It's been forever since my last post, or at least it seems that long. I've been in a creative funk lately, but I think I've been able to shake it and get back to what I love to do, craft!


I was checking out YouTube videos looking for paper flower tutorials when I came across a video that caught my attention (here it is). "Faux Porcelain Flowers" by Sherry Cheever, I was intrigued... I watched that video a few times, and kept thinking, how cool would the flowers from the Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut cartridge look done in the same way. I had seen jars of UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) in craft stores and a local scrap shop or two, but never really knew what to use it for. I have embossing powders and don't really use them very often, so I figured this was just a more expensive embossing product that I wouldn't use - oh was I wrong!


I printed off my AC Moore coupon and off to the store I went to pick up some UTEE and a Melting Pot. ACM had the UTEE (which I bought), but didn't have the Melting Pot, so I cruised on down to Michael's and found it there. 


Enough story telling, here's my first UTEE project:




Aren't those flowers fun? Here's how I made them:


Pour some UTEE into the Melting Pot





And watch it melt... You should cover the pot with the lid provided, it will speed up the melting process.


While the UTEE melts, give your paper pieces dimension by using an embossing stylus to either make lines in leaves, or as I did in the layers pictured below, go along the back side of the paper in a circular motion along the edges of each petal. This will make the petals curl. I also rolled the yellow layer's pointed edges over a bamboo skewer to make them curl.



Once you have the petals formed and your UTEE has melted, drop them into the pot and swirl them around to make sure you have coverage on all sides. 



Be sure to flip your pieces over :)



Take the UTEE covered pieces out and let them cool on your non-stick heat-resistant craft mat (a "must have" for this technique!) Note: the UTEE doesn't dry clear, so expect some yellowing of your pieces. I used very bright colors and the finished project doesn't look too bright.



After the pieces have cooled, stack them together in a way that looks good to you. When you have them in the right place, hold them together with a skewer and using your heat gun, re-heat the stack. 



As you can see in the picture below, the layers will melt together and become attached.



Even upside down it stays together :)




Now, I have to say that for one of the flowers, I had to use a hot glue gun to keep the center attached. It worked great!


The picture below was the first flower I made - my very first UTEE project. I love how it came out. The cartridge I used was the Mother's Day Bouquet.



Here's a close-up of the flower grouping. 



I used Tim Holtz corked vials filled with sand and teenie-tiny shells we found that day on the beach.




The base of the wall hanging was cut from the Lacy Labels Cricut Lite cartridge cut as large as it would fit on my mat. I used my Gypsy to change the dimensions (height/width) slightly and then made a second one slightly smaller so I would have a nice border. I used Colorbok whiteboard for the base, but I also used Colorbok chipboard underneath it, which I had to cut by hand as it's just too thick for my Expression to cut. 


Papers I used were "Backyard Splash" by American Crafts (waves) and "Caribbean" by Reminisce (the "Paradise" collection). The dotted paper for the photo mat was from an older DCWV Summer Stack.


I have to admit, the layout was scraplifted from Sherry as well (she's awfully talented!) 


Thanks for stopping by and...


Happy crafting!
Barb

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Fabulous & 50 Blog Hop - TODAY!!!

Hi and thanks for stopping by!


If you are here for Angie's Paper Passion's 50th Birthday Blog Hop and you have just come from visiting Michelle at http://paperaffair.blogspot.com/ then you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our fun hop, you can go to http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/ and start at the beginning.


Here is the complete list of participants to help you on your way:


Angie - http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/
Dawn - 
http://scrappyrn-scrappyrn.blogspot.com/
Janice - 
http://www.cricutconfessions.com/
Normea - 
http://mmdezigns.blogspot.com/
Nancy - 
http://lanancyworkshop.blogspot.com/
Michelle - 
http://paperaffair.blogspot.com/
Barb - 
http://craftinginparadise.blogspot.com/ <- YOU ARE HERE!
Debbie - 
http://www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com/
Marcia - 
http://scrappin-times.blogspot.com/
Veronica - 
http://www.iteachscraps.blogspot.com/
TinaGale - 
http://tiggersscrapplace.blogspot.com/
Monique - 
http://mixonthememories.blogspot.com/



My birthday project for the blog hop is a fun way for my beautiful daughter Ashley to organize the photos from her 21st birthday trip we took to Key West Florida last month - what a blast we had!


The inspiration for this mini came from Kathy Orta's Paper Phenomenom - Kathy is one talented lady!!! 


Here's a photo of my take on Kathy's mini:
I haven't embellished it or added photos yet because I want to see which photos Ashley wants to include. 


I used papers from Paper Pizazz "Retro Sarapapers" for the inside pages, Glimmer papers for the title letters ("Happy Birthday"), and the cardstock used on the tags and box are ProvoCraft Accentials. Cricut cartridges used were Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, Alphalicious, and Forever Young (these cuts are not pictured) to cut some fun phrases that Ashley can add to the appropriate photos. 


Here's additional views of the mini:


I will post more pictures after the mini is completed with the embellishments and bling by next weekend. I hope you can stop by again to see the completed project :)


I hope you like my project & will become a follower of my blog.


If you would like to see a YouTube video on how to make your own paper bag mini like this, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgOCLtAJxw4


If you are continuing on to the next stop in the Fabulous and 50 Blog Hop you can get there by clicking here.


Happy birthday Angie!!!


Have a creative day!
Barb

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Fabulous & 50 Blog Hop



I've been MIA for almost a year (YIKES) but that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting :) 


My Cricut Demo Army friend Angie is celebrating her 50th Birthday on Saturday, February 26th with a "Fabulous & 50 Blog Hop" and I'm honored to be one of the 12 blogs in the hop. I hope you stop by and check out the crafty birthday projects these talented ladies have created.


Have a creative day,
Barb