I'm Still Alive! - Also a tutorial for some pretty cute monograms

So guys, I'm finally back to having internet! So to celebrate, I'm going to post one by one my techniques for using old Lilly Pulitzer planner pages to create something totally adorable for my sisters.

Materials for a beach themed one:
Chipboard pendants- picked up at Hobby Lobby ($3.49 for 9)
Chipboard letter ($0.99)
Sand- taken from my little sisters sandbox
An old Lilly planner page- this one with a crab print
Paper flowers- from scrapbooking section
Mod podge- matte and sparkle finish
Clear acrylic spray sealant
Hot glue gun
X-acto knife

For this extremely pretty monogram, (made for my one follower, and it is by far my favorite of them all) I started by covering the chipboard pennant in matte mod podge. This only takes a thin layer, so don't use too much or it'll clump. I used a chink of kitchen sponge for all my mod podge application. I did this on top of a piece of construction paper to make the next step easier to clean up.

Next, dump your sand on top of the chipboard that is now covered in mod podge. Shake it around on there to get full coverage.

Wait a few minutes before doing this next step, ten minutes is probably sufficient. Then take your chipboard outside (the fumes are strong) and carefully coat it with the clear acrylic (matte finish) spray. Make sure you stay a good distance away and don't overuse the spray.

Now, while your chipboard is drying you can start covering the letter with the print. Pick a position that you want the letter to be in. I put my printed page face up on the table, laid my letter on top of it, and then carefully used the x-acto knife to cut around it. This is easier than cutting it after you glue.

Once your print is cut out, apply a light coat of the matte mod podge to the letter and then adhere the print to it carefully. Again, it doesn't take much glue to keep it in a good position. Let this dry for a few minutes as well.

Now comes the fun part...glitter! Use your sponge chunk to gently brush a thin layer of the sparkle mod podge over the top of the print letter. Try to eliminate "brush marks" as much as you can, but in all reality you won't notice a lot when it's dry. Let that coat dry, then apply a second one just for good measure.

Now that your pennant is dry, position your letters and accessories (in this case flowers and a quote) on it. Lay it out the way you think it'll look best and then hot glue each piece on individually.

If your pennant seemed to curl after your clear coat layer, don't worry. The letter, once hot glued on, will hold it flat and straight!

Now look at that! You have a super cute monogram to hang up! I would've totally done a whole name to hang by string for her room, but I was worried about getting everyone else's done as well. Wouldn't a whole name look cute strung up with some braided twine? Try it out yourself! More monogram styles to be posted soon. :-)

Melty Crayon Art- Alternate Techniques

So, I've been slacking on the updating lately, and for my one and only follower I'm sure this is disappointing.

This tutorial is a continuation of my melty crayon pointillism. I'm going to cover two other techniques I've used to create some awesome artworks. Two for sorority purposes (big/little gift and a gift for a beautiful Zeta Tau Alpha friend of mine), and one for my own decorative purposes.

The first technique I learned, and probably the easiest to do, is to line the crayons up on canvas and use a blow dryer to melt them down.

First, pick out your colors and peel the crayons. If they're off-brand, test the color on a piece of paper first. I once had a "gold" crayon melt into a nasty chartreuse sludge that ruined a Chi Omega design I'd worked hard on. I've never had a problem with Crayola crayons doing this, but God help you if you use a cheaper brand. Still works, just check the colors. From there, I snapped each crayon in half. You're using less crayons this way, and you don't have an overflow of color.

Now the trick is to secure the crayons to the very top of the canvas. (I've never tried this on a different medium, but the wax sticks very well on the canvas and looks great) I tried a LOT of methods to getting them to stay where they belong instead of blowing away and sticking crayon to your wall. So far, the best was a line of hot glue to secure them in an orderly fashion. I tried simply melting them slowly first so they would stick to the canvas, but that was a disaster. Don't even try that method, I promise its not worth having to peel twenty more crayons. After that, I tried tying a string around them. That sorta worked but it still wasn't great. And then again I tried tape around them, which didn't work at all. The hot glue really is the best way to go.

Space the crayons out a bit. They don't need to be all together in a line. I probably left a half inch between each 'pair' of crayon point and top. This also keeps from too much wax being in one spot.

If you're adding a monogram or design:
Tape your design out with masking tape. Any non-geometric/ non-letter designs should be drawn out on the canvas, and then taped over. For the monogram and fox, I taped the letter with no underlying outline because I wanted it to be completely white underneath. Then I drew my fox out in pencil, went over my final design with a fine point marker, and covered it in small pieces of tape to conform to the design as closely as possible.

This is my finished product for the monogram. As you can see, some of the top left crayons left their posts so I just tossed them out instead of trying to stick them back on.

For a complicated design, such as my ZTA crown and words, I used tiny shreds of tape to create the design. This took a lot of time and a heck of a lot of patience, but it turned out great. I did the words in colored pencil, then covered them with masking tape. After most of the melting was done, I removed the tape and did some slow speed-careful melting around the words to make it look not so square. I then went back over the words in colored pencil again to ensure that you could read them.

Now comes the fun part. Set your canvas upright, crayons right side up, with a garbage bag or plastic bag underneath/behind it. I set my fox one in the sink because it created a nice nest for it. Then start by using the blow dryer on a low speed setting to melt the crayons together a bit. Point your air stream so that drips fall down onto the canvas and are propelled down towards the ground. Don't get too close or it will go sideways instead of down! Once the crayons have melted a bit, you can switch to a higher setting and finish it up. Should you want to keep part of your design right where it is, or keep your crayon line from drifting downward (this does happen occasionally if not secured properly, they start to sink down) just switch your blow dryer to cool setting real quick and go over it until it cools, keeping enough distance so as not to blow the drop any farther down the canvas.

If you added a tape design, when you're done blow drying you can remove the masking tape. Start by laying the canvas flat on its back, and remove the tape while it is still soft. Otherwise, it can come up in chunks and ruin the shape under the tape.

Here is my simple one, no taping required:

The tag on the corner says "Sisters come in all different colors"

There you have it! I may re-read this and clarify any spots I feel need it after I finish my ridiculous amount of Chemistry homework for the week. :-)

Melty Crayon Pointillism

So, one of my favorite things on the planet is to melt crayons onto canvas. I know it sounds childish, but it turns out a product that is more artistic than you would ever expect it to be. I've done several of these now, and I'm still perfecting them. When I get time to find the photos, I'll post the Chi Omega one that I gave to my last roommate. For now, I'm going to show you one of the more unique ones I have done, which included the use of pointillism.

I started out by drawing out the letters that I wanted to stay "clean", as it were, of crayon. I did my sorority's letters since it was to become a gift for someone else's little. I made it monogram style, with the letters in the correct order but the middle letter bigger than the other two. Use a pencil to sketch this out, and do it VERY LIGHTLY. You can't erase efficiently off of a canvas, it will leave a smear. To cover up my pencil marks I later traced over it with orange marker. If you want it to be completely white underneath, tape it off with masking tape. I suggest using this since you can peel it off and move around your design to make sure you like what you get.

Next, I picked out the colors that I wanted to use. I chose two shades of purple and two shades of green. For this particular crayon melt, you do want variety in your shades so that you can actually see the end design. After you pick your colors, you must peel the crayons! You're going to be sticking them into open flame, and that wrapper on fire is not something you want to deal with.

Before you start melting, get an idea of the pattern you want to put on the canvas. Sketch it out if you need to. I picked a bunch of intersecting spirals of different shades. How I picked that particular one, I'm not sure, but it was probably a mental conglomeration of sixty different Pinterest projects.

Now it's time for the fiery goodness. Light yourself a candle that you don't particularly care for (the crayon drips will probably get on it and make it ugly). Now, this takes practice. Hold the crayon right above or beside the flame until a drop forms on the tip or it is running into a drop. This doesn't take very long at all, and the first few times you'll probably just drip it right into the flame. Once you get the hang of it, it'll be pretty simple from that point onward. Just take the crayon and drop, put it over the canvas in the spot you want it, and gently touch the canvas with it. It should form a nice roundy drop on the canvas when you pull the crayon away. Repeat, repeat, repeat until the pattern is finished. Yes, it is tedious, but it looks great in the end and makes a fantastic gift for anyone. Here's a picture of my final product!