Not your everyday Valentine's Day wreath

Hello all! It's Arin here and I'm back to share a sweet Valentine's Day wreath idea with you combining Globecraft and Piccolo products and an everyday household item you probably have lying around in your laundry room!

Love is in the air and so is my obsession love for clothespin wreaths. I wish this idea was my own, but sadly no. However, I saw the idea a while back and have been holding out making one specifically for Valentine's Day, using some of my favorite Globecraft and Piccolo products!

Arin Flynn
A Piece of Life's Pie

Materials List: 

• G&P Key to My Heart Charm Set (used only the mini hearts and keys)
• G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
• G&P Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze
• G&P Embossing Powder Adhesive
• G&P Poodle Skirt Embossing Powder
• G&P Berry Red 3D Enamel Gel
• G&P Pink Rose 3D Enamel Gel
• G&P Protectant Easy Grip Tweezers
• Queen and Co Trendy Tape-Valentine's Day Collection
• Recollections Tinsel Glitter- Cherry
• Recollections Course Glitter -Cherry
• Recollections Extra Fine Glitter -Cherry
• 6 inch wire wreath (found at local craft store)
• Rust-olium Painter Touch White Gloss Spray Paint
• 19 wooden clothespins
• Gesso white acrylic primer paint
• Close to My Heart - Embroidery Floss Baby Pink and Cranberry
• Recycled 1 1/2 inch ribbon from a gift from Pottery Barn Kids
• Heat Gun
• Foam paint brush
• Scissors
• Straight pin

Step 1: Prepping the wire wreath and clothespins:
Using a white spray paint, paint the wire wreath 2 coats per side and set aside. Prep clothespins by applying two coats of Gesso acrylic primer paint with a foam brush and let dry.

Step 2: Applying Piccolo Enamel 3D Gel to clothespins and Globlecraft and Piccolo book board charms: Apply Piccolo's Berry Red and Pink Rose 3D Enamel Gel to four clothespin tops and set aside to dry. Then apply Piccolo's Berry Red 3D Enamel Gel to one each of the mini hearts and mini keys from the Globecraft and Piccolo My Heart Charm Set. To assist in applying the 3D Enamel Gel to both the mini heart and key, use a straight pin. Set aside to dry. Repeat on other side.

Step 3: Applying Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze and Glitter to clothespins: Apply Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze to the top surface of of 3 clothespins, then dust each with glitter (used for this project was tinsel glitter, fine glitter and course glitter) and remove excess glitter and set aside to set and dry.

Step 4: Applying Embossing Enamel to clothespins and book board charms: Using Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive apply one coat to two clothespin top surfaces and to the mini heart and key charms from the My Heart Charm Set. Dust each with Piccolo Poodle Skirt Enamel Powder and use tweezers to handle the mini heart and key charm remove excess enamel powder. Set with a heat gun and let cool and then repeat the heat enamel process again two more times starting with the Piccolo Embossing Enamel each time (this will add a nice smooth texture, amazing depth of color, sparkle and dimension to the charms and clothespin surfaces). Once set and cool, repeat on other side of the key and heart. Once enamel powder is set and cool on both clothespins and charms, apply Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to each area that has enamel powder (use straight pin to assist in applying Glastique on mini charms). Set aside to dry.

Step 5: Adding Washi tape to clothes pins: Using nine clothespins, secure the washi tape to the top surface of each clothespin and trim all edges to size to the top surface (lining up one edge of the washi tape to one side of the clothespin and trimming down the excess is a quick and easy method to this process).

Step 6: Securing clothespins to wreath and adding final touches: Once all components are ready, begin to assemble the wreath by attaching the clothespins inward clipping them to the first three wire rows in a pattern of choice, leaving about an 1 1/2 inch gap at the top of wreath for the charms and hanging ribbon. Using embroidery floss, hang the mini hearts and keys to the open 1 1/2 inch area (be sure to secure the heart and key by knotting it at the top of the charms). Loop the ribbon through the wreath and it is ready to be displayed.

To see how the other half of the Globecraft and Piccolo My Heart Charm Set was used to make a romantic and easy table-top decor to coordinate with this sweet Valentine's Day wreath, head over to my blog, A Piece of Life's Pie.

Tips for decorating G&P Bezels

Hi everyone, Rebecca here with a few ideas you can use on the new G&P Bezel designs! One of the greatest things about all G&P bookboard products is that they are a blank canvas, just waiting for your ideas to spring to life. You can use so many techniques and mediums on them, and I want to show you two ideas to keep in mind when creating with G&P pieces.




Use paint: I love painting by hand. If it sounds scary or you don't believe you have the talent to do it, just remember that expressing yourself is the greatest thing you can do and you don't have to be Picasso to paint simple things! On this new large circle bezel (above) from G&P, I did a very simple sky scene with clouds, sun, and rainbow. The piece is full of whimsy, and it's unique! I urge you to try painting a scene, it really is relaxing and brings a great sense of accomplishment!

                                              

Use pretty papers: This is a fun and easy tip, just pick your favorite patterned paper and adhere it to the piece using G&P Glastique. When dry, cut along the edges, and distress/ink it for depth. Then just decorate as desired. You'll get lovely results with minimal effort!

Tips & Tricks: Creating texture with Glastique

Hi, it's Candy with a neat trick I discovered using Glastique Gloss.

Glastique Gloss is a clear, dimensional adhesive and sealer that has a beautiful shine to it.

Because it is dimensional, it dries exactly how it is applied. If you drag a squiggly line and let it dry, you will have a raised, clear squiggly line when it is dry.

For this frame, I applied Glastique Gloss to this frame that I painted black. Then I used a paintbrush to drag the Glastique around. I kept going from the outside toward the center. With each swipe, I got a larger edge of Glastique on each side of the paintbrush, which I thought was a great way to add texture and a bit of shine. (In this picture, the Glastique is still wet, so it is opaque, but will dry clear.)

Be sure to wash your paintbrush immediately when doing this ... otherwise your bristles will be glued together!

Here is a photo after it dried ... notice the texture inside? In contrast, the outside frame is coated in Glastique Gloss straight from the bottle. Two great looks with one product!

Visit my blog for more tips using Globecraft & Piccolo products!

Valentine or Love Challenge

Happy crafty Tuesday! Valentine's Day is coming up so SweetStamps.com's challenge #102 this week is...

Valentine or Love

We'd love to see your creation! Remember to use a SweetStamps image on your entry to get an extra chance at winning $20 of rubber stamps from SweetStamps.com. Rules are listed in the sidebar and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.

Take a look these beautiful cards our Design Team sweeties have created this week:

Bonnie Brown

Calypso Bastian

Dawn Bennett

Jacki Randolph

Jacqueline Hill

Joni Mastronardi

Kendra Sand

Linda Jover

Shelly Schmidt

Tamara Morton

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WIN FREE STAMPS! 

Join our weekly challenge

You can use any stamp on your challenge entry, but if you use a SweetStamps image, you will get two entries into the giveaway! To enter the challenge, please add the URL to your actual blog post or online gallery to the InLinkz at the end of this post. Please do not link to your main blog; we want to be able to find your post to leave you comments. Also, please link back to our blog.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Remember, you can only enter the challenge one time, use a SweetStamps image to get an extra entry in the challenge. Please limit the amount of challenges to 10 (including ours).  You must link back to us in your blog post.

Please turn off word verification so we can leave comments on your challenge entry!

Next Tuesday our challenge theme will be Think Pink! Hope you'll join us for your chance to win some Sweet Stamps!

Happy Stamping! Have a super sweet week!

P.S. Our Monthly Technique Challenge: Embossed Embossing runs through February 14th 

Pearls & Lace Winner

The winner of SweetStamps.com's #101 Pearls & Lace Challenge is...

Gunn Olsen

Congratulations!

Please contact me for your winning prize of a $20 shopping spree for rubber stamps at SweetStamps.com.

Thank you to everyone who joined in on the challenge, we hope you had fun and will join us again — we have a NEW challenge every Tuesday, and also a monthly technique challenge!

This steampunk airship is smokin' hot

Hello crafters! Chrissy here with some steampunk fun using G&P embossing powders and the G&P Classic Airship.

Here's the breakdown on how I put together my airship and the product I used. 

• Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Piccolo Embossing Powders: Vintage Black, Copper Kettle & Gilded Rose
• Steampunk Airship Kit
• Glastique Finishing Glaze
• Vintage Gears Set
• Floral Whimsy Accents
• Halloween Graveyard Haunting Accents

Christina Colón
The Twisted Muse

Every piece of this project has been heat embossed using Piccolo embossing powders and then glued together using Glastique. You will have to excuse the nature of this tutorial. Once I got into my groove, I forgot to take the pictures! Doh! 

First, I embossed all of my little pieces.

While those were cooling off, I embossed the rest of my pieces and starting putting the main elements together.

Tip: Use a fine-tip paint brush to apply Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive onto the tinier pieces.

Start building and layering your elements. I used foam adhesive so that there was added dimension.

 

I like adding other Piccolo pieces for visual interest and to make my airship more unique. You may recognize the gears from my last post. Told you I had a project in mind for them!

I also used a small flourish as the 'smoke' and cut another flourish in half for the decoration on the hull of the ship, both from the Floral Whimsy Accents set. See that spiky 'Mohawk' on my ship? That is the fence from the Halloween Graveyard Haunting Piccolo Accents set!

And there you have it! You can use any G&P colors of embossing powders you like or you could even use paper, which will probably be my next idea.

For another steampunk tutorial, head over to The Twisted Muse and see how I made a piece of jewelry!  Thanks for taking a look!

Texas Winners

Whew, it's been a busy few weeks! I wanted to write a special post to shout out to all the recent winners from our Texas shows:

• Grapevine, TX winner: Linda Stenger
• Pasadena, TX winner: Betty Glona
• Houston show promotion winner: Billie Dee Jelin
• Mesquite, TX winner: Tiffany Taylor

Congratulations! You've all won a $50.00 shopping spree at SweetStamps.com! Please email Sandy for your coupon code to start shopping!

Happy stamping,

Wearable Valentine's Day Bling

Hello! Tracy here again with another tutorial this time using Globecraft and Piccolo for a little bit of Valentine's Day wearable bling! As you already know Piccolo bookboard charms come in all shapes and sizes, but did you know their lovely heart shape jewelry and card decor kits are just perfect for Valentine's Day crafts?

Tracy Alden
Art Resurrected

Supplies:

• G&P Key to My Heart Charm Set H006
• G&P Keys to My Heart Accents H009
• G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
• G&P Ruby Red Slippers Embossing Powder
• G&P 24K Gold Embossing Powder
• G&P Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
• Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers
• Gold Bail
• Red Real Silk Cord Necklace with Lobster Claw Clasp
• Red crystal stickers
• Gold jumprings
• 2 Earring wires
• Flat nose pliers

Carefully remove all of the Piccolos from the chipboard frames. Separate the large heart, the two small lock hearts and the large keys from the keys shown. Place all of the other pieces to the side for Steampunk Valentine, check out my blog for that tutorial. :)

I applied Embossing Powder Adhesive to the hearts and keys. Then I coated the keys with 24K Gold Embossing Powder and the hearts with Ruby Red Slippers Enamel Powder, heat to set.

Use Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to glue on the red sticker gems to the keys and hearts as shown. Let dry.

Carefully apply Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to the front of all the elements. Let dry. Repeat for the back of all of the pieces.

Open up jump rings and put one through each of the loops on small heart locks and keys, close jump rings.

Add a mini jump ring to the earring wire and attach to the jumpring on the heart lock, repeat for the other earring. Add three tiny jumprings (in succession) to the jumpring on the large key and attach to heart lock. Repeat for the other earring.

Open the gold bail and put it through the loop on the large heart locket. String on the silk cord necklace and crimp the bail shut.

You can give the jewelry set as a Valentine or wear it to be festive!

Jump on over to my blog Art Resurrected for a Steampunk Valentine tutorial for using the extra Piccolos from this project!

Until next time, safe travels!