Donna Downey Class at the Art House Studio

I had the pleasure of meeting Donna Downey this weekend and taking one of her classes at The Art House Studio in Kitchener. Donna was extremely fun and entertaining. I had a one hour drive home after class and I was feeling so inspired that when I was pulling off the highway I realized that I was in "autopilot" and had been dreaming all the way home.

 This was Donna's sample for the Friday night class ... "a life inspired". Donna's iron ons were great ... it was the first time that I had used them.  I'm made my own before but these ones were great because you could layer the iron ons ... something that you can't do with the ones you make yourself. And the "inspire" iron on has a velvet like texture that is so nice. You get two in the package so I have another one to play with on another project. 

I wish that I could have taken some of Donna's classes on Saturday because the project samples for those classes were amazing too. Many of the ladies that were in my class had signed up for all of Donna's classes this weekend ... I'm sure that they had a great weekend.

This is my finished project ... I didn't finish my project in class because I wanted to sew my photo to my canvas page so I had to complete it at home on Saturday morning.

I realized on Saturday morning that I had lost the inspiring words that Donna had supplied in the class so I had to cut out my own words from one of my books.  I felt very inspired after talking to Donna so my words say "believe in yourself always" ... and I wrote about the class on the side of the canvas so that I will always remember where I created this piece.

I took this picture before class started ... don't you just adore the groovy aprons! On the left is Karen from The Art House Studio she made her apron, of course that's Donna in the middle and on the right is Lisa from Scrapfest who is wearing a Donna Downey apron.

Donna has a great blog/website and I especially love her "inspiration wednesday" posts ... check out her last inspiration wednesday post here. I found this post very inspiring ... I love to see her in "action" ... Donna has such a great sense of humor ... she is sooo entertaining! Donna had her journal with her so I was lucky to see the original art from this post. I have to tell you  that it was just a beautiful as what you see on her post. I love all of the details and the layering.

Thanks to Karen of The Art House Studio for putting this weekend with Donna together. It was a night that I will remember for a long time. You can see our Friday night class picture here!

and the winner is...

{add drum roll here}

Debbie Saenz! Congrats Debbie ... I'll get your prize in the mail as soon as I get your mailing information!

My charms kits are in Scrapbook Queens now and I will be selling them at Scrapfest in April. I'm still working on my finishing touches on my display unit for these charm kits ... it's a little over the top and I'll post photos once it is complete!

Thanks so much to everyone for visiting my blog, leaving comments and linking up with me!

glass charm tutorial and 1st anniversary blog giveaway

I love to make and wear my glass charm necklaces and I thought that I'd share with you how I make them.

Before I start ... I'm going to give you a little warning ... making these charms can be additive and you will not be able to stop at just one!

Let's gather our supplies and tools ... here's what you will need:

a) artwork sized to fit the glass tile - my photos are professionally printed on matte paper

b) glass tile, a bail and a chain necklace

c) scrapbook paper cut to fit the glass tile

d) diamond glaze - i.e. "Inkssentials Glossy Accents"
e) strong adhesive - i.e. "E-6000"

f) x-acto knife, emery board, straight pin, wax paper and self-healing mat

Let's get started! Cut your photo slightly larger than your glass tile and set it aside.

One side of your glass tile will be very smooth (front) and the other side has a slight texture (back), place the smooth (front) side down on the wax paper. Now you are ready to apply the diamond glaze to the back of the tile.

Things to remember when you are covering the tile with diamond glaze:

1. you don't want any air bubbles so it is important not to shake the bottle

2. if you do get an air bubble, try to pop it with a pin or move it off the edge of the tile

3. you want to cover the entire back surface of the tile with glaze but not so much that the glaze goes over the edge of the tile

Once the tile is covered with glaze, the next step is to flip the tile over and set it on top of your artwork.

To flip the tile, begin by picking it up with one hand as you see in the photo above. Quickly turn the tile over and grab the tile with your other hand.

Place your tile on top of your art being careful not to press down on the glass tile. If you see any air bubbles or notice that the edges are missing a bit of glaze, you can gently slide the tile over the art to move the glaze around a bit ... do not lift or press down on the tile.

The diamond glaze will take a while to completely set and for the first few minutes the glass tile can "move" especially if the surface you are working on isn't completely level. Watch your tile closely and if it does shift simply slide it so that it is positioned where you want it to be.

Leave your glass tile to dry for about 4 hours ... drying time will vary depending on how thick you applied the glaze. The next step is to remove the excess paper from around the glass tile. Using a sharp x-acto knife, cut the paper as close to the edge of the glass tile as possible on a self-healing mat. You can also cut away any excess glaze from the sides of the glass tile.

Using your emery board, sand the paper along each side of the glass to clean up the edges and remove any excess paper and glaze. To file, always use long downward strokes ... never file back and forth in two directions.

Squeeze some glaze onto the back of the glass tile and place a small piece of scrapbook paper on top. If needed, once the glaze has dried, sand the edges of the scrapbook paper.

Next, add the E-6000 adhesive to the back of the bail.

Pick up your tile and figure out which side is the top of your tile. Turn the tile around and attach the bail to the top centre back. Press down on the bail and set it aside to dry for a while.

Gently squeeze some more diamond glaze onto the back of the glass tile. Be careful not to put glaze on the bail. This step gives your back a nice glossy finish and seals the paper. Let this dry for a few hours before wearing. Please note that these glass tile charms are not waterproof or water resistant.

Add your chain necklace to the bail and your glass charm necklace is ready to wear!

This weekend was the first anniversary of my blog and I wanted to do something special to celebrate so I'm going to do a giveaway!

One lucky person will win one of my glass charm kits ... it includes one glass tile, one silver plated bail, one silver plated chain necklace and one of my original set of four {prince} charming art. You can see a finished charm necklace from this kit in the photo along with a picture of the kit (front and back).

Here's how to win:

1. Become a follower of my blog ... if you are already a "follower" you've already been entered!

2. Get another chance to win if you leave me a comment!

3. Link my glass charm tutorial to your blog and you'll get another chance to win ... just make sure to tell me about your link so that I will know!

I'm going to pick a name at the end of the day on March 21st and post the winner on March 22nd!

Good Luck everyone!

I'm linked up to the following parties:

Whatever goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Tuesday To Do at Blackberry Vine 

Anything related Tuesday

in the studio - sneak peek friday

digital scrapbooking party

I've been busy this week working on a project that I'm going to launch in April at Scrapfest. Not to give away too much ... but I have designed a line of digital files that you can personalize and print yourself ... and the kit has a PARTY theme! 

There are lots of great projects to make ... decorations, invitations and other goodies. I am in "print test" mode now and I'm looking forward to making samples of the projects so I can photograph them.

I love to scrapbook so it was a no brainer that I'd also add into the kit lots of digital papers and elements so that you can create digital scrapbooking pages too! Although the kit has a party theme to it I think that the elements can be used to scrapbook more than just a child's birthday party!

I'm going to Costco to pick up these four 12x12 pages later today ...

I can't wait to see how the colours look and add them to my album!

I've got a busy weekend coming up ... teaching two classes, prom dress shopping with one daughter and playing taxi driver for the other daughter who has a birthday party to attend. It's also my 1st anniversary for my blog tomorrow and I'm still trying to think of something neat to do to celebrate!

I'm linked up to In the Studio today!