Create a Trio of Votives with Tombow

I love taking conventional products such as Tombow Dual Brush Pens and MONO Aqua Liquid Glue and using them in unique and unconventional ways.  I recently developed a method to tint glass with these two products and decided to experiment with some additional techniques.  Some worked and some did not, but below are three that I thought turned out pretty cool.  Follow along to see how I made them...

Ombre Votives:
Pick three shades of Dual Brush Pens in the same color family, dark 606, medium 603 and light 620. Scribble the darkest color on the bottom third of the votive.

With the pen tip of the MONO Aqua Liquid Glue, draw squiggly lines around the votive.  Then set aside to dry.

Repeat with the medium and light tones of purple Dual Brush Pens, letting each each section dry before moving on to the next.  Once completely dry, you can remove the excess Dual Brush Pen ink with a paper towel.

Here's a close up of the ombre votive, the glue lines flattened some as they dried, but I have to say I love this effect.  Perfect for a wedding reception or baby shower.

Splatter Votives:

Start by coating the outside of the votive with a layer of MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.  Let dry.

Scribble Dual Brush Pens 856 and 837 on the Palette from the Blending Kit, then roll the votive into the ink.  This works best if you hold the Palette in your hand.  Repeat until the votive is covered.  Now, I thought I had picked a darker red and burgundy color, but they have definitely come across as bright red and this looks kinda like blood splatter. 

With this color scheme, these votives would be great for Halloween!  Change up the colors to match any color scheme.

Mermaid Votives:
Apply MONO Multi Liquid Glue in a scale pattern around the outside of the votive holders.  When set this glue will turn from white to milky, but will remain tacky.

Once the MONO Multi is tacky the foil can be applied.  I used Designer Foils from Clearsnap in Lagoon and Seaport.  Just apply the dull silver side of the foil to the glue, burnish gently with your finger and peel away.

Repeat with alternating colors until all the glue is covered.

To complete the look, scribble Dual Brush Pen 555 on the palette from the Blending Kit, squeeze a quarter size dollop of MONO Aqua Liquid Glue, mix with an old paintbrush and apply to the inside of each votive.  Allow to dry completely.  NOTE: Once the inside of the votive is covered in glue only use a battery operated candle.  Do not use a flame candle.

I love how these votives turned out!  Just the thing to brighten up a mermaid birthday party!

I hope that y'all have enjoyed my trio of votives with Tombow and that you will use my projects as a jumping off point to showcase YOUR Tombow creativity.  Try something new and experiment with your supplies.  You never know where inspiration will take you.

Thanks for stopping by!
Creatively, Beth

How to Create a Flowering HeARTfelt Journal

I am so very excited to share with you my Flowering HeARTfelt Journal featuring a die created by one of my craftiest friends, Eileen Hull!

My HeARTfelt Journal cover was actually a craft fail.  Painting over my ugly faux wood grain with black saved it from the trash bin!  Add bright pops of color by hand coloring a fabulous flowering die cut card stock, then accent with doodling to create my Idea Journal.  A special place where I can draw and write down all my inspirational ideas and thoughts.  I hope my journal will get your creative juices flowing!

Materials:

HeARTflet Collection - Sizzix® ScoreBoards™ XL Die - Journal by Eileen Hull™ #661906

Sizzix® Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack, 6 White Sheets

Americana Paint by DecoArt Lamp Black and Graphite

Decorative Scrap Book Paper – 12’ x 12”

American Crafts - Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life Die cut cardstock: Much Love

Pencil

Waxed Paper

Elastic Cord – black – 48” length

Grid Paper – 48 sheets

Assorted Ribbons – 8” lengths

Pearls – self-adhesive in assorted colors

Tools:

Sizzix® Big Shot with Multi Purpose Plate and Cutting Pads

Paint Brush – Flat wash ¾”

Paper Trimmer

Corner Rounder Punch

Tombow Xtreme Permanent Adhesive

Tombow Dual Brush Pens – assorted colors of choice

Ruler

Tombow MONO Drawing Pens 01, 03 and 05

Scissors

Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue

Instructions:

1. Die cut a front and back cover for your Journal.

2. Paint the inside and outside of both covers lamp black, let dry.  Dry brush the outside of both covers horizontally and vertically with graphite to resemble linen, let dry.

3.     Measure and cut two pieces of scrapbook paper 4” by 8 ¼” then round the two outside corners.  Attach to the inside front and back covers of your journal with xtreme adhesive.

4.     Measure two 4 ½” wide by 8 ¾” tall rectangles onto the die cut paper Much Love.  Color with a variety of dual brush pens, leaving the words white.

5.     Doodle over the hand colored paper with permanent pen, using the bullet and fine tips to give dimension to your design.

6.     Rough cut colored and doodled rectangles with scissors.  Flip over, and on a protected surface apply liquid glue to the back of the first paper rectangle.  Carefully apply to the outside front cover of your journal, layer with waxed paper and press down to adhere.  Gently lift up waxed paper and discard.  Press down in additional areas needed with fingers.  Repeat with outside back cover of journal.  Let glue dry.

7.     Once dry, trim any excess paper from edges of journal covers with scissors.

8.     Overlap the spine of the front and back journal covers and attach with xtreme adhesive.  Make sure to line up the top and bottom sets of holes on the spine.

9.     Thread the elastic through the holes in the spine creating four long loops.  Secure both ends of the elastic with knots.

10. Measure and cut 48 sheets of grid paper 8 ½” wide by 8” tall.  Make four groups of 12 sheets, then fold each group in half to create four signatures 4 ¼” wide by 8” tall.

11. Insert each signature through each elastic loop to create the inside pages of your journal.

12. Tie assorted ribbons to the elastic along the outside spine of the journal.  Embellish the front cover with self-adhesive pearls.

I hope that you will use my Flowering HeARTfelt Journal as a jumping off point to showcase your creativity using Eileen Hull Dies from Sizzix.

Thanks for stopping by!
Creatively, Beth

How to Create a Birthday Date Calendar with SRM Stickers

Happy Hump Day everyone!  The Designer Crafts Connection is hosting a blog hop with SRM Stickers and I am sharing how to create a Birthday Date Calendar.  A simple, easy way to stay organized and view all your upcoming important Birthdays all in one place!

Here's how to make it:

STEP ONE:

Select a 12" by 12" piece of decorative card stock.  Mine has a grid pattern to make creating your Birthday date Calendar a breeze!  Line up each month sticker from the SRM Sticker Live Life/Calendar Year sticker sheet in a three row by four column format.

STEP TWO:

Using the NEW Tombow USA MONO Drawing Pens in tip size 05 to fill in all of the important Birthday dates of all of the friends and family in your life.

STEP THREE:

Embellish with Tombow USA Dual Brush Pens in colors that match your stickers.  The Dual Brush Pens have a brush tip for bold strokes and a bullet tip for detailed writing.  Accent the borders and doodles by drawing over top of the color with the MONO Drawing Pens in tip sizes 01, 03 and 05.

STEP FOUR:

To further embellish your Birthday Date Calendar, add additional stickers from the SRM Sticker Live Life/Calendar Year sticker sheet.

Hang your Birthday Date Calendar in a prominent place.  Mine hangs on the inside door of my computer hutch, so it is always in view, reminding me of all the important Birthday dates that are coming up!

Now it's time to hop on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog to view what the other Designers have created with their SRM Stickers, I can't wait to check out all of the inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!  Creatively, Beth