November 1, 2015 by Candy Spiegel

Let the Light Shine!

Today is a beautiful fall day, but my heart is ready for Christmas. I am not ready for the cold outside, but I am all set for a little faux snow, like I put on this lantern.

The lantern began as a plain, black lantern I found at a big box store for less than $20. I love that it has a battery-operated candle that screws to the base and can be turned on and off from the base. It was the perfect blank slate to transform!

I started by removing the glass panels so they could be etched. Then I added a bit of Distress Paint to the filigree on the top of the lantern and to the latch that holds the front door closed.

Then, I coated the ledges with Art Glitter Vintage Glass Glitter.

I cleaned each of the glass pieces with water and a paper towel (do not use Windex) and then added stickers from Elizabeth Craft Designs. (I should have taped the backside of the glass pieces as well — since the etchall got a bit messy and some of the pieces were etched on the wrong side. You cannot easily see the mistakes in the finished lantern, but I thought I should pass along my lesson learned!)

Next, I coated each piece with etchall. (it gets brown as you use it, but it still works well) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then, I scraped off the excess and put it back in the jar and rinsed off each panel.

I love the soft, frosty feeling the etched glass provides.

And it still allows the light to shine through!

Are you ready to make one of your own?

etchall is ready to help … use the code CANDYS and you will get 10% off your entire order! Click here and get etching today!

NOTE: I received compensation for this post.

April 13, 2015 by Candy Spiegel

Peeps Canvas

For those of you who don’t know, I am obsessed with chickens. I fell in love with them during a trip to Key West years ago and have been in love with them ever since! For the past three years, I have been blessed with raising chickens and Peeps, one of my original hens, is my favorite. Peeps is a commercial breed — valued because they lay an egg almost every day for about two years. But she is my favorite because of her calm, loving personality.

When she was just a chick, she hopped up on my hand and we became fast friends. She doesn’t mind being held and hugged for a minute or two, is always curious and willing to try new things and is never afraid to take on a dog (through the safety of her fence).

I thought she deserved a place in the house, so I created this canvas of her.

I started by painting the canvas in Distress Paint — I mixed silver and a couple of blues.

Then I used Texture Paste and a stencil to add a chevron pattern. I cut out a silhouette of Peeps and adhered it with dimensional foam adhesive. The title is cut out of cardstock. The other words are rub ons from Tim Holtz. I love them … they are not typical rub ons and they go on easily on canvas, fabric, metal or whatever.

I used some leftover buttons and flowers and some feathers from the chicken coop … I think the little one in the front is actually from Peeps.

I added a little burlap behind the photo and used embossing paste and a stencil to add more dimension to the top. The tag is an actual tag that came on something my husband bought at the farm store. I thought it was cool, so I kept it and used it here.

I love how it turned out … it makes me smile every time I look at it. Peeps could use some love and well wishes right now … she is currently trying to fight off an infection that makes it hard for her to breathe. I’m hoping she’ll get better because I absolutely love my Peeps!!

April 9, 2015 by Candy Spiegel

Crystal Flowers Vase

It doesn’t take much to turn a plain second-hand vase into a unique work of art.

For this project, I started with a vase I picked up at Goodwill for less than $2. I used washi tape to tape off the area I wanted to etch. Then I used Crystal Flowers Peel-Offs from Elizabeth Craft Designs to create my design.

Then I coated the entire area with Etchall etching cream. Spread it on thick with a squeegee (a brush will not get it thick enough) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then scrape it off and put it back in the jar for next time (it’s reusable!!). Wash off the residue and then peel off the tape and stickers ….

(I put a towel inside so you can see the etching.) But I didn’t stop there … I knew that etching made glass easier to paint because it gives it tooth so the paint can stick. So, I decided to try an experiment — and it worked!

I painted the area with Distress Paint (Distress Paint is thinner than most acrylic paints and reacts with water while wet … I’m not sure if this technique will work with traditional Distress Paint or not …) As soon as I painted the glass, I took a paper towel and wiped it off. The paint stuck to the etched parts, but not the rest of the glass. If you make a mistake, you can wash it quickly and all of the paint will come off and you can do it again.

After it was completely dry, I sprayed a bit of Windex on a paper towel and used it to get any remnants of paint off of the glass.

I love how much easier the paint made it to see the etching, while still remaining light and transparent. Gorgeous!

Then I added some May Arts ribbon and some little dots of Liquid Pearls to some of the flowers.

I love how it turned out … what do you think?

September 7, 2014 by Candy Spiegel

The 3-Day Card

Things do not always go the way you plan — even in you are making cards.

For this month’s card swap, I wanted to make a pretty background and then stamp an image in the middle of it. It looked beautiful in my head.

I started by smearing several colors of Distress Paint onto my non-stick craft sheet. I spritzed it with water and then drug sheets of Specialty Stamping Paper through it. I randomly blotted them with paper towel and then dried with a heat gun.

The results were cool, but I wanted more. So, I smeared Distress Ink onto my non-stick craft sheet, spritzed it with water and ran the pieces through. I also added a bit more Brushed Pewter Distress Paint so I could get more metallic shine in the pieces. Again, I randomly blotted with a paper towel and then heat dried.

That was cool, but I didn’t think it was quite done. So I spritzed it with Perfect Pearls Mists.

After that dried, I was happy with the background and ready to stamp. So, I pulled out my stamp, made one impression and realized there is no way it would work. The stamp was too delicate to compete with the crazy background.

At this point, I was devastated. I had invested all of that time and energy into making 12 backgrounds and my idea was a total failure. I spent an entire day stressing over what to do. I was determined to use the backgrounds, but had no idea what to do.

With no vision in mind, I began pulling stuff out. I grabbed a stencil and some Metallic Silver Embossing Paste and coated the top of each card with it.

The next day, I added a few strips of Tissue Tape. Then, I punched out circles, die cut the word “Hello” and adhered them to the cards. I added a few Tiny Attacher Staples and some Glitter Dots.

Each card was slightly different, but I think they turned out well … even if they did take me three days to make!

September 2, 2014 by Candy Spiegel

Fun with Stencils

Welcome to a new month and a new challenge with Scrap It Girl … Stencils and Masks. I love stencils and I wanted to try them with a variety of mediums, including paint, paste and ink.

I started by coloring a piece of white cardstock in a variety of Distress Ink colors.

Then I used a stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop and Distress Paint to add a bit of chicken wire.

(the blue came off of the stencil. I thought it was just stained, but it came off. I left it there as a little character.)

Next, I used another Crafter’s Workshop Stencil, along with Dreamweaver’s Glossy Black Embossing Paste to add a few weeds.

Then, I punched out a circle and used Distress Ink and a Wendy Vecchi stencil to add the word “Happy”.

I covered chipboard letters with Distress Paint. I used Removable Glue Dots to keep the letters in place while I painted.

Then I adhered the front to a card base, put on the letters and added a few bees from Little B.

It’s bold and it is very different from my usual creations. I am still not sure if I like it or not … what do you think?

Now it’s your turn … create a project with masks or stencils and post it to Scrap It Girl. You could win an amazing collection of prizes! Good luck!

June 22, 2014 by Candy Spiegel

Created by Sydney

This is Sydney. She is my cousin’s ~~daughter~~ parrot. Becky, my cousin, has five parrots and each one is awesome, but Sydney is special. She is an amazing bird. She talks, she sings opera, she laughs at jokes. Sydney even senses emotions and responds accordingly.

I recently spent a few days with my cousin and while she at work, it was just me and the birds. While I was upstairs in Becky’s studio, Sydney, who was downstairs, called me repeatedly. We spent hours yelling through the house and mimicking each other. “Hi” “Hi” “Helllloooo” “Hellloooo” etc.

But, one day I was particularly sad (I suffer from chronic depression). That day, Sydney started calling me “Baby,” singing to me, and telling jokes — I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I figured it out when she started laughing. After a few hours, I really did feel better. I figured the change in Sydney was because she was getting to know me better, but the next day we were right back to “Hi”.

Anyhow, Sydney likes to go up to the studio when Becky is creating. She has a special cage on Becky’s desk where she works on her own cards and creations with leftover cardstock and adding-machine tape. I “stole” some of Sydney’s adding-machine tape when I came home so I could turn her work of art into one that would forever hang on my wall.

I started with a blank canvas that I painted with Distress Paint. (Distress Paint is like acrylic paint, but while wet, it reacts with water. And I love the feel the paint has after it dries.)

Then I used stencils, Distress Paint, Ranger Archival Ink and Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 Embossing Paste to create a background.

Then, I went over the top with a light layer of paint and some Distress Ink to help calm down the boldness a bit.

Next came Sydney’s work … I sprayed the adding-machine tape with Glimmer Mists and crinkled it up. All of the tears and cuts along the edge are Sydney’s work. After it was dry, I sprayed it lightly with Ink Refresher to keep it soft and malleable while I was gluing it to the canvas.