Greetings my Crafty Friends!!
I’ve finally done it! It is so exciting, too! I have a great new site where you can now find EVERYTHING! If you are looking for great craft content, helpful crafty business tips or ideas for social media strategy, you can find it all at TheresaCifali.com! I have an all new look as well…so come on by and take a peek!
Artfully yours….Theresa
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Gobble, Gobble everyone! It’s November…which means that it will soon be turkey time! I am particularly excited this month because I have very special project for the Sizzix Fresh Vintage Blog Hop featuring new dies by Eileen Hull! Many of you have been following the hop…so you’ll already know what to do! If this is your first visit…welcome…you will find directions at the bottom of this post. Plus, find out how you can have a chance to win a really awesome die!!
As a professional designer, my studio is filled with all sorts of crafty goodies. One of my favorite things to do is to look at a product and use it in a in which it may have not originally been intended. That is exactly what I did with Sizzix’s new Petal Power die…
…designed by my good friend and colleague, Eileen Hull. This die contains all the components to create this gorgeous, bold flower…but I had other ideas in mind. So…..TA DA….
This is my Thanksgiving Turkey Table Topper!
There are a TON of pictures…along with directions…so I am just going to get straight to it! First off…you will need the following supplies:
Next, begin to layer your petals starting with the biggest petals around the outer edge working inward. You also may wish to alternate shades or colors. Like this:
Important to note: only glue the bottom part of the petal, as demonstrated….there’s a method to my maddness….you’ll see why:
Next, layer your smaller petals until your base is almost covered:
Then flip over your base and repeat on the back:
But this side you want to cover completely:
Then assemble a set of wings! I used a large dark brown petal and a small light brown petal to create a wing. Then using a DRY brush, paint the wings and the tail feather piece with a light coat of Folk Art® Extreme Glitter by Plaid® over front and back. This will make the “feathers” curl just a bit (which is why we didn’t tape them all the way down, btw)….which gives it a nice texture. If you use a wet brush…the “feathers” will curl too much. They will look all shimmery:
Set those pieces aside to dry. It’s time to work on the body! This is not a styrofoam ball…but plastic garbage bags bunched up and held together with rubber bands…and then wrapped with twine. You just form your ball, wrap it up and secure the loose end with hot glue! I learned this technique from Cindi Bisson, a wonderfully, creative designer friend. To see how to do this technique (which is great for the environment!) take a peek at this link which takes you to Cindi’s video on When Creativity Knocks!
Once you have your body done and your painted elements are dry, use a hot glue gun to add the tail. Out of card stock, create a head…being sure to leave tabs to stick under the twine.
Add your finishing touches…like googley eyes, pipe cleaner feet and painting the beak a nice bright yellow or orange! Then stick this lil’ cutie on your dining room table this Thanksgiving. It’ll make a great conversation piece. Everyone will just love it!
Now….here’s the skinny on how to enter to win Sizzix’s die Flower Layer’s #9! Go to the Oh My Craft’s Blog and leave a comment. Yes, it is that simple! So now it is time to hop….all you need to do is click “hop forward” on the Sizzix Fresh Vintage Blog Hop by Eileen Hull in my side bar over there———–>
Artfully yours……Theresa
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Hello Crafty Friends!
It’s October already and a very special month indeed! This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! So to start I want to send my very best wishes to all those affected by this very devastating disease. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you!!
This month, Designer Crafts Connections brings a very special hop…one that will hopefully raise a lot of money towards the research to fight Breast Cancer! This month all the projects featured have a very special sponsor…click the logo to read more about our efforts!
Yes! Westcott! Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools is one of my very favorite companies to work with because they are generous, thoughtful and supportive to many fine causes! This month, they have helped us coordinate this Blog Hop by partnering with VELCRO® Brand Hook and Loop Fasteners, The Duck Brand® Duct Tape and Charity Wings! Many of the projects featured here this month will be auctioned off and the proceeds used to help fight against Breast Cancer. There will be a lot more details to follow regarding the auction. But there is MORE! Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools will also be giving away a great prize (to be shipped to a resident of the US). To find out more about that, be sure to check out the Westcott Blog! (UPDATE: To find out more about the auction for check out this link from Charity Wings!)
Personally, I know a have a number of friends who have fought the fight against Breast Cancer…many survivors and some sadly who have left us. As I reflected on my project for this month’s challenge, I was brought back vivedly to my very first experience with discovering that someone I loved had cancer. My mother is a Cancer survivor. It amazes me how still to this day just thinking about it can bring me right back to that time. My mom is a 28 year Cancer survivor! I was only 14 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma! What a scary time! While that particular form of Cancer has a very high cure rate…even back then…my mother was a stage 4 and had a mass in her chest the size of a football. She endured a lot. Six months of chemo, five of radiation and another 5 of chemo…being sick from treatment, loosing her hair, exploratory surgery and a spleenectomy! I am sure that she was just as frightened as my sister and I were, but you’d have never known from my young perspective. Looking back, I am most struck at her level of positivity. With the exception of treatment days, my mother got up and went to work everyday, celebrated holidays and just did the normal things that well people do, like run a house and raise her two young children. At no time did I ever see her lay around and feel sorry for herself…that must have been a tough thing to do. That’s my mom though…sometimes down, but never out!
It is with those memories that I decided to use the great supplies provided to me by Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools, Duck Brand Tape and VELCRO® Brand Hook and Loop Fasteners to alter a journal intended to record all the positive thoughts and feelings that people fighting any disease need to keep in the front of their minds. In this spirit, I created a bright, vibrant, cheerful looking journal with a reminder to “Be a SURVIVOR!”
I was really excited to receive some fantastic products from all three companies…in PINK! Perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools sent a mess of awesome PINK tools to use…including a giant cutting matt which is not depicted in this photo.
Plus, to my delight, we had a special gift included with this stash…a new PINK leopard scissor holster designed by our own talented and funky designer friend, Marisa Pawelko! Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools unveiled her new line at the Craft and Hobby Association’s summer trade show. I really dig the leopard print.
VELCRO® Brand Hook and Loop Fasteners sent us some awesome PINK product as well. I got some black and white sticky back Velcro…but much to my surprise and delight, there was some PINK VELCRO included! This product is not only pink…it’s duel sided with the male and female on opposite sides…AND there are SHEETS! So I was able to run it through my Sizzix Big Shot…which is how I was able to get that cool pink dragonfly.
The Duck Brand® Duct Tape sent a whole mess of pink and white Duck Tape in rolls and sheets. Check out the cool patterns they have…including this new Gold Tape that will hit the store shelves very soon!
No matter what your struggle…the message of this simple journal is to STAY POSITIVE! Be a SURVIVOR! You can do it…and know that you have a lot of good thoughts in your corner. So, go and take a hop around the ring to see what other fantastic projects the DCC designers have created in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month…then visit the Westcott Blog to see details about the giveaway (to a lucky US recipient) and the Charity Wings Auction.
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