Thinking Outside the Block Fridays!!!

ok i am going to apologize for myself now but i am just WAY to tickled with myself over the latest acrylic block creation! i have LOTS of pics so i can show each side. the cube is 6 of the square blocks:

I started by printing my pics using the contact sheet size. These fit perfectly on the blocks with some room to decorate. I put a tiny drop of glossy accents on each front corner of the pic and then glued it front side down so that it would be on the inside of the block.

next i inked the edges of the top and bottom block with brilliance pearlescent ink and heat set them with a heat gun. The top is sky blue and the bottom is ivy green.

i stamped littlew bugs and a phrase from a studio g set with brilliance pearlescent inks and heat set too. i ADORE these little dew drop inks i have added to the store - the size and shape of them makes it a BREEZE to ink up your stamp in several different colors.

next i attached two squares of patterned paper to the INSIDE sides of the top and bottom blocks with a thin layer of mod podge.

now for assembly. i used e6000 glue. i applied it to all four edges of the bottom piece and attached all four sides and let dry. then i applied the glue to the edges of the top piece, laid it down and slid the block down over it - perfect fit!

This pic really shows the 3-d looking effect of having the pic and paper on the inside and the stamping on the outside.

i decorated the top with a piece of grungeboard from the minis set, inked well with more brilliance pearlescent ink and two primas from the paper patch. i covered the centers with glossy accents and then loaded them up with various colored green seed beads. i dotted dimensional pearls around the edges.

Each corner is an indent so i ran a line of glossy accents along each one and dropped some Blue Lagoon bead pops in upside down. i did one corner at a time so they could dry. these are by catherine/silly skittles and available on my website - she does an excellent job with them - not just dies but all shimmery and variations in color are superb!

i plan on making more of these it turned out so cute. i may even make some two blocks high for larger pics or more pics.

remember to send me a link if you make this or any other project with your extra blocks! don't collect studio G and don't have any blocks - you can order them on my website! if you have an SCS gallery put TOTB in the keywords!

Studio G strikes AGAIN!! plus TOTB

here they are!!! the next two series of Studio G $1 clear stamps i have available on my website - halloween/fall designs:

Holiday designs:

in addition i will have two new sets of $1 pigment inks up as well from Studio G - one will be halloween/fall colors and the other one will be holiday colors. i have been very impressed with the summer ink set so far but still need more time to PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also working with hampton arts on a little exclusive surprise for y'all so be sure to stay tuned - not sure when it will happen.....and YES YOU HAVE TO BUY THE BLOCKS with these sets - i am gettuing TWO of EACH SIZE with every set i order - no choice - i am only passing on one to of each size to you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that brings us to our next segment - USE THOSE BLOCKS:
yep that's right - i made my initial! hee heee!!! the stamping is done with brilliance pearlescent crimson - available in my store and i used one of my background stamps. these blocks are AWESOME because i just laid the stamp ink side up - inked it and positioned the block so the design is all lined up the way i wanted it. dots of stickles in magenta and OF COURSE some sands of time bead pops - both also available in my store along with the blocks - http://www.pezadoodle.com/ GO CHECK IT OUT!!!!

fun project in store for you this weekend AND another new announcement coming on Tuesday - KEEP WATCHING......................................

now off to clean house - company's coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thinking Outside The block - better late than never!!!

Check this one out!!!

i have a pic of me and the two boys i want to put in here but have not gotten a chance to print it out. maybe i can update this later. So here are the steps:

Lay out your blocks - look familiar?? because of the way they are sized they don't meet up quite right at the bottom corner but we'll fix that later.

I am going to put a picture of the boys in here so i wanted something a bit more masculine. first i alcohol inked the whole thing with a little twist. i used Latte, Meadow and Lettuce. after putting the alcohol ink on my felt pad i took my brush and dipped it into bronze perfect pearls, held it over the inked up pad and lightly tapped to sprinkle it on. then inked up the whole frame. this gave it a nice shimmer.

next i added my stamping. i did all of this BEFORE glueing them together in case i messed up and needed to switch out a block or two. i used brilliance pearlescent dew drop ink pads in thyme, olive and chocolate. when i was done i glued them all together with e6000.

Next i needed to hide that bottom corner. i cut this shape from the home accents cart on my cricut. then i inked a corner of my stamp and pressed my die cut on it so it matched the designs on the frame. this is all done in an asian theme.

I attached the piece to the frame with a thin layer of mod podge. i also cut out the word family from the same cart, rubbed it with some ink and attached that with mod podge.

next i needed to add a hanger to the back. i held up the frame to find the center of balance since i knew one side was much heavier than the other. i attached the hanger with e6000.

working with acrylic can present problems - like my hanger showing through so i added more die cuts - stamped with the same stamp as the bottom corner to cover it up.

here are a couple close ups:

now go have some fun with your blocks! if you ave a project done with the acrylic blocks i'd love to see it - post a link here in the comments or if you post to splitcoast use TOTB in the keywords.

Blocks and other items used here can be purchased in my webstore!

Thinking Outside The Block Fridays & Studio G update

Is it Friday already??!! Before we get into our tutorial a studio G update - since today is sort of all about Studio G or at least those annoying little blocks we have all grown to hate but i hope to help you learn to love!!

All of the studio G items have arrived!!!

you will receive a shipping notice when i print your label - international folks just know they are on their way as i will probably not be able to get you an email in a timely manner! i am down my two sweat shop workers as they are off visiting their dad (my two teenage boys) so i will be on my own for this one! HAHHAHA!

and now on to the good stuff - Let me start by saying this is NOT my idea - i totally scraplifted this from my friend Jen - see hers here. And now my friends what you have are adorable little wall hangings!

These two are matching - one for me and one for my mom.

i love the bead pops from sugar and scraps around the edges.

This is a larger one that says Welcome and is hanging in my foyer. closer pics later in the tutorial!

now for supplies - blocks, patterned paper, mod podge, brayer (optional), brilliance pearlescent dew drops or other pigment ink pad, stamps, die cuts or stickers, foam blender, zip dry glue or glossy accents, bead pops and stickles.

start by cutting the squares of patterned paper for the back of your blocks. i just lay them down and mark it - forget the ruler.

on this one for the foyer i used different patterns. on the art one i used the same paper for all of the blocks.

apply a thin layer of mod podge to the block - i use a foam brush. it doesn't need to be very thick.

i find it helps to use my brayer to smooth it out and get the air bubbles out. Check it from the front to be sure.

here they are all covered on the back. now if you are sloppy like me they also have smudges of mod podge on the front or hang over one edge a bit. i used the edge of my plastic tim holtz ruler to get the smudges off, just be careful not to scratch up the block. trim edges with exacto knife if needed.

now for the stamping - ahhhh LOVE it. i used crimson brilliance pearlescent dew drop ink here so it would match my foyer wall. i used various studio g stamps from series 11 (crazy those peeps who say they never use theirs - mine are out constantly!!) i decided the top and bottom block would have an edge stamp on them and then i also decided to push them all together so the stamps go over the edge of one on to the other and i just stamped randomly. REMEMBER to dry the ink with your heat gun.

here you can see how they overlap and the edge stamp on the bottom. the pics don't begin to capture the shimmer - you'll just have to trust me on that one!!

I cut my letters with the base camp cart on my cricut and the top and bottom design from the home accents cart (a MUST HAVE if you don't already own it!) Notice they don't really stand out very well. The solid paper is SU certainly celery and patterned paper is also certainly celery.

i took my chocolate pearlescent dew drop ink and my foam blender (and this is what i most love about the foam blender) and i dabbed the foam a bit on the ink pad and then just rubbed and smudged lightly on the cricut die cuts. these makes edging those intricate cuts SO easy - it sort of automatically makes the edges darker and now you can see they stand out much better. it will also highlight the detail cuts on pieces with those.

now for the ribbon hanger. i used more mod podge and attached a very wide celery ribbon (Michaels) - i turned each block face down and laid the ribbon on top so i could line them up. I left a piece at the top and looped it back to make a hanger and then tied another piece around it in a bow.

the whole 3D effect of these little blocks just fascinates me (i know it doesn't take much does it?!) i dotted Dimensional Pearls along the edges in Lettuce which matches perfectly.

these give you a closer look - sort of!

and now for some shippin fun!!! you may not see me for a couple days!! ha ha ha!! If you make a block project and upload to SCS please use TOTB so we can view them in one place!

Thinking Outside the Block (TOTB) Friday!

It's that time again! time to take all those extra studio g blocks you have (or get some if you like the projects) and give them a new purpose! today is small but cute! a little thank you gift:

~too cute!~ HAHAHAH!!!

ok supplies - i square and one rectangle acrylic block, alcohol inks, blending solution, felt and tool, E6000 glue, Staz on ink (i used black here), stickles or glossy accents, tiny stamps - Studio G OF COURSE!! and some Mixed Berry bead pops.

first we color the blocks with the alcohol inks - these give a super nice sort of transparent wash of color. here i have wild plum and stonewashed to match the bead pops i have picked out. the wild plum is much stronger than the stonewashed so i put a little of that on each side of the felt and quite a bit more of the stonewashed in the center. then i added two drops of blending solution. the more you add, the lighter your color will be. i dabbed around on the blocks until i got the color the way i wanted it.

Once dry i turned the square one over to stamp on the front (uninked) side. I lightly sanded my studio Gs, then inked with stazon and stamped onto the block.

Next I glued them together with a thin line of E600. Time to add the mixed berry bead pops. Initially I went with stickles which is a nice glue for acrylic.

I put a thin line along the top and arranged the bead pops along the edge. Each edge needs to dry so the beads don't slide down in the wet glue.

At first i had too many bead pops so i took one off. I also changed my mind and decided against the glitter and used glossy accents instead. i continued adding bead pops to all three side.

And here it is!

This looks awesome when the sun shines through it and the whole thing almost glows! also a candle behind it would look awesome too! Because the alcohol ink is on the back and the staz on image is stamped on the front there is a sort of floating effect.

happy block day!! remember if you make something leave a comment with a link OR post it on SCS and use TOTB as a keyword!