Deflecto Challenge with Designer Craft Connection

So what becomes of a Stackable 4-drawer cube (#350301CR), a black border 5" x 7" acrylic craft frame (#69675CR) and an Interior Image® sign holder nameplate (#89105) when given a challenge to transform them?

These three items, plus one other Deflecto product, became an entire set of accessories for a granddaughter's desk.

Beginning with the Stackable cube, I used Ann Butler's Iridescent Emerald Paint, by Earth Safe Finishes, and sponged the paint onto the cube on all sides.  Once the paint was completely dry I ran two coordinating rows of washi tape along the edges of the four corners.  The cube was finished off by gluing mini white rick-rack around the front and back edges.

Next comes the black border 5 x 7 frame.  Using a Deflecto craft magnet sheet, cut it to fit just inside the black border of the frame.  Use a thick tacky glue to hold in place.  Place a heavy book over the sheet and allow to dry completely.  Using one of the coordinating tapes, run it along the center of each of the four outer black area of the frame.  Glue mini white rick-rack down the center of the tape. The corners are embellished with little felt, die-cut flowers and leaves.  More tiny flowers of another color are made and glued onto small, round magnets.

The biggest challenge was what to make with the sign holder name plate.  Why not make it into a special name plate for a special little girl!  The metal edges of the holder were painted with the same iridescent paint as the cube.  Glue a strip of mini white rick-rack down the center of the two metal edges..  Cut a piece of decorative paper to fit the holder.  Use die-cut letters from felt for a name; glue to the center of background paper.  Cut several flowers and leaves from felt.  Arrange them as desired to cover the black plastic part of the name holder.  NOTE: I created a stand for the name holder from a thick piece of cardboard and attached it to the holder.

An extra desk accessory was added to the set by using the Deflecto Black Pencil Cup with Border Frames (#35004)  Using the same washi tapes from the other items, alternate the tapes all around the holder.  Use the wider tape around d the inner frames.  Finish off with mini white rick-rack as shown in the photo.  All the pieces were made to coordinate with the "new" refashioned desk for one of my own granddaughters.

NOTE: All of these items can be found on Amazon and some other online retailers.

Please hop through the blog posts to check out all of the various ideas created by other designers.  Leave a comment on one or all the blogs, "LIKE" the Deflecto Facebook page and enter to win a Deflecto Giveaway on the Designer Craft Connection Blog by using the Rafflecopter widget there.

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...So Just like that, Summer fell into Fall...

    I smell Autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin and crisp sunburnt leaves.

Only one week left to the month of August.  Many schools are back in session.  The final holiday of the summer season is quickly approaching.  The sun is setting a bit earlier and the nights are getting cooler.  Autumn is coming  - like it or not!  This has always been my favorite season and it will never change.  There are personal things that have taken place during this season that should maybe affect me, but I won't let that happen.

It's been some time since I last wrote a blog post just because I wanted to say something and this will be one!

Some favorite things to enjoy about the time is my fondness for baking.  Yesterday it began with a new recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread.  Made with zucchini from my son's garden, this recipe will be a "keeper" for sure.

Having decided to not deal with plants this summer, for some reason when I see pots of mums I can't refuse them.

It won't be long before we could be seeing some signs of autumn that I enjoy the most, which is the changing of colors.  Watching the leaves change from greens to an array of vibrant colors is truly amazing.  While playing around with some of Makin's Clay colors that I had on hand, I created some lovely leaves of my own before nature could get in on the act.  I made several leaves.  I decided to use two of the leaves for a redo of a used candle container.  The others look good just used alone as a decoration on a table, but could be used in a variety of different ways.

So as the seasons change and so do I, I will leave you with some autumn thoughts -  "Fall has always been my favorite season.  The time when everything bursts with its last beauty as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale."  - Lauren DeStefano

ETI Blog Hop with Desinger Craft Connection

Being a novice user to most of the products from Enviromental Technology Inc. this challenge truly was a "challenge" for me.  My experience with resin was for a few projects on a larger scale and the results very satisfying.  I chose to work with EnviroTex Jewelry Clay® and EnviroTex®Jewelry Resin.  After following the mixing directions for the Jewelry Clay® I wanted to try a number of ways to use the clay.  For my first attempt, I used two different type molds, a stamp design and a couple of rubber texture sheets.

Here are the resulting pieces:

Follow instructions for drying the shapes. For the molded and stamped pieces, I was able to clean up the edges with carefully using an X-Acto knife and some sandpaper.  The two pieces that were used for my projects were painted with acrylic paints after being primed with gesso.  NOTE: I am not sure if this step was necessary, but it was one that was done.  

Mixing the two parts of the resin was easy enough by following the instructions  completely. The next step was to apply the Jewelry Resin to both pieces. This step was a bit tricky for the stamped heart image.  Sequin hearts were placed in the indented areas of the heart before adding the resin. Here is where I realized that the stamped image should have been slightly deeper to hold the sequins and resin in place.  We DO learn by our mistakes!  It is mentioned in the instructions that the working time for the resin is 25 minutes which was helpful for the way the resin was applied to both pieces.

The second piece was the molded sun image that was glued onto a laser cut wooden butterfly shape.  Once glued to the wood, I placed it over the first empty mixing cup on a piece of parchment paper.  NOTE: The parchment paper can collect any resin that may drip off the piece and then be discarded. The method used to apply the resin was to use a popsicle stick and drip it into the resin, then allow it to drip and spread over the molded image and the wooden butterfly.  Some of the resin remained in the openings.

The hardest part of the entire process is NOT TOUCHING till dry.  Since I did not make a hole in the heart shape once the image was stamped, nor drilling a whole after drying, a small length of ribbon was used for a hanger and the piece was backed with felt cut to fit.  A jewelry finding was glued under the sun image to hold a cord.

I look forward to working with both these products more and experimenting more.  After this first-time effort, I can see some changes that I would make when applying the resin.

Would you like a chance to try some products from ETI?  During this blog hop, you can enter to win some.  Follow this link:
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