Relax Beach Sign

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today with what I hope will be a sign to help you relax, slow down and enjoy summer.

 

 

I started with a sign I picked up after  St. Patrick's Day.  I wasn't a fan of the sign but thought I might be able to repurpose it.

 

Using the Delta Sander, I sanded down the panels removing the embossing and some of the wording.  Once sanded, I painted on several coats of Jamestown Blue Milk Paint by Plaid, allowing each layer to dry before painting the next layer.  After it dried, I painted on a very light coat of Petticoat Milk Paint by Plaid on top.

I knew I wanted to use RELAX as the main theme, so I drew the letters on squares of Balsa-Foam from American Foam Technologies.

 

 

Using the Scroll Saw, I carefully cut the letters apart.  It was easy to cut these Balsa-Foam letters with the newest addition to my tool collection.  I'll admit I was a little nervous using the Scroll Saw, but you have total control of the speed of the cuts.

 

 

Once the letters were cut, I painted them with Jamestown Blue Milk Paint by Plaid. 

 The letters fit perfectly across the top of the sign.  I love how 3 dimensional they are.

Next, I die cut a beach chair, then lightly brushed on a touch of Petticoat Milk Paint by Plaid to create a distressed effect. 

 

I can totally see myself sitting on that beach chair and relaxing, can't you?

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to visit the blog often as we have so many projects to share with you.

Steph

 

A Pretty Necklace for a hot Summer Day

Whenever I cut the top off a gourd and don't use it on that particular project, I save it and use it for something else. This is a necklace that I made by using a piece of the top of a gourd I had saved.

Materials needed for this project:
Proxxon Rotary Tool
Proxxon Jigsaw
Proxxon Oscillating Sander
Proxxon Belt Sander
Gourd top or other piece of scrap gourd
Acrylic Turquoise paint
Black Gesso
Concho
Beads to match
Krylon Kamar Varnish
Necklace String

I took several pictures of the project that I'm showing you today.

The gourd top that I used

This is the disgusting inside of it that hadn't been cleaned.

This is after I did some cleaning and sanding on that side.

After cleaning it, I drew a design that I wanted to cut out and drilled a hole in the top for the necklace string to go thru while it was more stable to do.

I then cut around the design with my trusty Proxxon Jigsaw!

Once it was cut out I used this Proxxon Belt Sander to smooth out the edges.

And this Proxxon Oscillating Sander to sand the bottom to make it smooth.

I used my new Proxxon Rotary Tool with Flex Shaft 

and a diamond burr to create some neat little spots around the outside edge.

 

Once I finished with the tools, I painted the indentions and around the edge with the turquoise paint and the back of the piece with the black gesso. I then sprayed the piece both front and back with the Krylon Kamar Varnish. After the Varnish dried I drilled another hole in the gourd piece and inserted the concho,strung the gourd piece with some turquoise bears and some beads onto the string and voila'.

Pretty fancy looking isn't it? I really liked the way that it turned out. 

I'm also pretty pleased with the new Proxxon Rotary Tool and the FlexShaft is awesome. I hope you noticed it in the picture above but it's just like holding a pen. It's very narrow and comfortable to use.

Check out all of these tools at www.proxxon.com. 

You can also follow Proxxon on Facebook.

Barbara

 

Meet our New Design Team

Is excited to introduce their newest Design Team Members

Terri Sproul - Team Leader

Terri Sproul is a Maker and member of CHA and love to make mixed media art.  She has a stamp line with Sincity Stamps and enjoy teach technique to others.  She and her husband have the pleasure of living on Palomar Mountain in San Diego county. She hosts a live online class on Tuesday nights, visit her YouTube channel for some inspirations 

Joe Rotella

Joe's a maker at heart. His favorite projects are 3D and feature upcycled/recylced components. His work has appeared in Scrap & Stamp Arts, Just Steampunk! and Somerset Studio Gallery magazines. He’s filmed a segment of Crafting at the Spotted Canary with Joy Macdonell (airs on PBS Fall 2011) and many segments for Scrapbook Soup TV. Joe has won Archiver’s One-of-a-Kind Wall Art contest (Ohio, August 2011) and ribbons in Paper Arts Competitions at the Ohio State Fair. He’s served on the Viva Las Vegastamps! and USArtQuest design teams.

Joe’s an expert on the KNK Cutting Machines including the MAXX, Zing and the new Force. He's a frequent teacher at events including Memories Expo, Artiscape, Stampaway, and Gen Con.

Joe is a Designer member of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) and founder of Create & Craft,LLC. When he’s not making art, he works as Chief Marketing Officer at Delphia Consulting – a software consulting company based in Columbus, Ohio.

Carole Lassak

Along with mixed media and paper crafting projects, Carole also enjoys jewelry making, egg

piercing, beadwork, and lacemaking. She brings together different techniques to create
unique jewelry and paper art pieces.

Steph Ackerman

Bio:

I have been crafting for as long as I can remember.  I am quite versatile and create an assortment of different projects.  My day is just not complete if I haven't spent some time crafting. I have a dedicated craft area where I create as well as teach a wide variety of classes.

My classes/workshops are geared to any level of crafter and I teach my students to reach outside their comfort zone to see what they can create.  I also teach at my local store and have the ability to teach with whatever products I choose. I am a believer in playing with your supplies because you won't know what you can create until you play.  I create my own samples, putting together products that complement each.  I generally don't start out with a project in mind, I tend to create "on the fly" letting the products I want to use "guide" me. 

I am a CHA Designer, Copic Certified, Ranger Certified, Etchall Certified.  I relish working and teaching with a wide variety of products.

I constantly submit my work for publication and have had my work published in an assortment of magazines; have had my work showcased in CHA booths; have had my work displayed in several catalogs and in several advertisements for manufacturer's products. 

My blog:  http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/

My resume: http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/p/resume.html
My publications: http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/p/published-work.html
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stephackerman/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Steph-Ackerman-Designs-415353015311552/timeline/ and

https://www.facebook.com/steph.ackerman1

Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv4CJaq0SQaOPESv0uMYcHg

Most of my blog posts are in tutorial form as I love to share.

Tammy Santana

Hello, my name is Tammy Santana and I am so excited to be a part of the Bowdabra Creative Team. My background is in interior design and product development. I have always been creative, love to work in many different areas of design, and enjoy working with different mediums and tools. I am constantly challenging myself to try new things and reach outside my comfort zone. I live in beautiful Southern California with my husband of 17 years and our creative 10 yr old daughter.

Barbara Moore

Arkansas native Barbara Moore has established herself as an artist and a resident of Flippin, Arkansas, where she lives with her husband and son. Barbara first “fell in love with gourd art” when she attended a Gourd Festival in Missouri and began her journey of creating artwork from nature’s own.

Barbara went on to develop her own style and uses many techniques and mediums in her work, such as wood-burning, carving, cutting, embossing and painting. She further enhances her art using ink, dyes, paints, gold leaf and leather. “I continue to learn new techniques to improve my artistic skill.”

Barbara is a member of the American Gourd Society and the Missouri Gourd Society and she and her husband have also started a “Gourd Patch” in Arkansas which meets in her studio. She has received several awards for her original pieces in competition events. Barbara will also be one of the juried artists in “The Art Odyssey” which is a self-guided tour of artist’s studios in Baxter and Marion Counties in Arkansas for the third year. Barbara teaches classes for aspiring gourd artists in Mountain Home and at her private studio in Flippin. Her art is currently offered at Interior Design and Marketplace in Mountain Home Arkansas and also at her studio in Flippin

Larissa Pittman

My name is Larissa Pittman. I live in the beautiful Texas Hill Country with my husband and 2 fur-babies. We have a 25 year old daughter. I am blessed to be a stay at home housewife and crafter. I have a degree in Graphic Design and hold a Texas State Certification as an E.M.T and  Nail Tech.  My passion has always been in cardmaking but I love all things crafty. I work with a lot of different mediums and am always eager to try something new.  I am excited and looking forward to creating fun things with Proxxon tools.

Engraved Wedding Gift Featuring The Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit

 Hi everyone, Tammy here today with a easy tutorial for an engraved wedding gift sure to please the bride and groom! Wedding season is here, so why not add a personal touch to your next wedding gift? Personalized gifts are always in high demand by brides. The Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit makes it so easy to create personalized gifts in just a few minutes, that will be cherished by the bride and groom for years to come. You can also create a cherished anniversary gift using the same technique.

Supplies:

Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit

Large glass serving plate

Printed image for tracing

Glue Dots® Adhesive

Directions:

Start with a reverse printed image

Flip the paper over and use removable Glue Dots®  to temporarily adhere the paper to the front of the serving plate.

Flip the plate over and engrave the image on the back of the plate. The reason you engrave the back of the plate is so food does not stain the engraving.

Flip the plate over and remove the paper to expose the beautiful engraved image. 

That's it, how easy was that? A personalized engraved wedding gift in about 10 minutes! I am in love with the Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit. You should try it out today!

Let's be friends!

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Pot Vent

This handy little gadget is a great addition to my kitchen tools. This pot vent is perfect for those times when I need to let off a little steam!!

I started by adhering the pattern to my plywood blank.

I covered the plywood with painter's tape, sprayed the reverse side of the pattern with spray adhesive, then mounted the pattern on the tape-covered wood.

I used my Proxxon Scroll Saw to cut out the pot vents.

Next, was a quick sanding session using my Proxxon Delta Sander. The sanding discs mount on the sander with hook-and-loop backing, so swapping out sanding discs of different grits makes it easy to use. And, the triangle shaped sanding head makes getting into tight spots a breeze.

Since these little duckies are going to be exposed to moisture, I coated them with resin to complete seal the surfaces, and hung them to dry. I inserted a corsage pin into an unobtrusive area so I could coat all the surfaces at one time, and suspend them for drying.

These cute little pan vents are a great addition to any kitchen, and they make an unusual gift.

A Whale of a Shadowbox

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today and I've created a whale of a shadowbox.  Sumer is here and I wanted something summery to hang in my studio.

I started by painting a chipboard whale from Eyeconnect Crafts with  FolkArt Milk Paint by Plaid in Jamestown Blue.  Once dry, I assembled the whale with brads, then painted the waterspout with Petticoat.

I found a delicate wood shadowbox and lightly sanded it with my Delta Sander.  Next I painted the shadowbox - Jamestown Blue around the outside and Petticoat inside.  Once dry, I lightly sanded the shadowbox again with the Delta Sander then painted on a second coat of Jamestown Blue.  The Delta Sander is perfect for accessing small areas.

 

Around the edges of the shadowbox, I stamped a small design in complementary colors of ColorBox Crafter's Ink by Ann Butler. 

I adhered the whale across the middle of the shadowbox, then placed assorted die cuts in the boxes.  An anchor holds a sentiment from Rubber Dance in the top box - mesh was adhered along the edges of 3 boxes and some coral die cuts were placed in several other boxes.

 

To finish I created some clay shells, a fish and a starfish created from Makin's Clay Sea Shell Push Mold and assorted colors of clay which I mixed together to create a variety of colors.  They were mixed amongst the mesh and coral and adhered in place with Beacon Adhesives

Be sure to check out the Proxxon website and see all the amazing tools available.