Fabulous Frida Challenge

Fabulous Frida Challenge, a photo by flowerlily1 on Flickr.

Hand drawn/painted ATCs for the "Fabulous Frida Challenge" ATC Swap at atcsforall(.)com

Printed on card stock, retouched with markers, watercolors, color pencils for added interest.

How to make your own "embossing fluid"/ Como hacer tinta para gofrado

, a photo by flowerlily1 on Flickr.

The other day a friend of mine asked me if I knew how this fluid was made. I had never wondered about that myself. (Yeah, I know…unbelievable for such a diehard DIYer LOL). In any case, when I got home I googled it and found the answer here... gomakesomething.com/blog/041610tip/

Since the recipe is simple I decided to give it a try. Glycerin can be found at most pharmacies. I found it at Walmart (pharmacy section $3+). Craft stores sometimes have it as well. It is used to make fondant therefore; it should be in the “Cake supply” section.

I don't know if glycerin can vary in consistency but the ratio suggested in the above site (1/1) didn't work with the one I got. The mixture was a little too thin and only a little embossing powder adhered. I added a bit more glycerin (1.5 glycerin/1 water). This ratio yielded the right consistency and it works great!

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El otro día una amiga me pregunto si sabia de que estaba hecha la tinta para gofrado. Nunca me había hecho esa pregunta pero cuando llegue a casa hice una búsqueda en Google y encontré la respuesta aquí… gomakesomething.com/blog/041610tip/

Ya que la receta es tan simple decidí probar. La glicerina se la puede encontrar en farmacias. Yo la compre en Walmart (sección farmacia $3+). Tiendas de manualidades también pueden tenerla. Se usa para hacer masa elástica o fondant para tortas así que estará en esa sección.

No se si la glicerina varia en consistencia pero la proporción sugerida en el link de arriba (1/1) no funciono con la glicerina que yo compre. La mezcla resulto un poco ligera y el polvo de gofrado no se adhirió bien. Añadí un poco más de glicerina (1.5 partes glicerina/1 parte agua). Esta proporción me dio la consistencia correcta y funciona de maravilla.

Back to Dotees!

So...after taking a long break from making dotees, I am now back at it!

Kikuya is the first one I made at a get together with my crafty friends back in December.



Frankie and Frank were twin dotees I had started two years ago for the "Wacky Silly and Unusual holidays swap" (October 31 - Frankenstein monster day) on swapbot. Frank got finished but Frankie who was staying home has been laying unfinished until recently. He is finally done!



This past Saturday we had a crafty day get together with my friends. The theme we picked was "Steampunk". This little lady is one of the Steampunk dolls I made. However, since I was so distracted yapping away while I worked, after I was done attaching and beading her face I realized I had attached it to the wrong side LOL. I really didn't want to undo what I had done (because I thought it was too much work HA!). At my buddies suggestion I decided to make her a two faced dotee. In reality this turned out to be A LOT more work because, not only did I have to embroider and attach another face but I had to decorate both sides LOL…oh well….I really enjoyed making her anyways…DOUBLE THE FUN!

Craft apron - I finally have one!!

Yes...I am ashamed to say that until now I didn't own an apron for crafting. Recently I have been working several projects. I've been painting a lot and using all kinds of gooey materials and finally got tired of getting paint all over my clothes so at last made myself a craft apron.

I know, I know.... some may think the fabric I used is pretty BLAH. It was not my first choice, originally I was going to use a really cute "sewing and crafting" themed fabric but I thought better of it. I figured I was going to be using this apron for dirty jobs and did not really want to waste some pretty fabric just to mess it up so I compromised...I used the plain fabric but added the red trim and cherry pockets. I think it turned out pretty cute if I may say so myself!

First cloth and clay dolls - Day 5-6

I've made not made as much progress with my dolls asI tho ugh I would. This is because a friend of mine and I had been talking about doing some altered suitcases. After searching the thrift stores in the area we finally found a couple of great suitcases (mine is red her's is green). We worked a bit on them this weekend. I will post all that when we are done decorating them.

Anyway, back to the dolls. I did make some progress on them. I painted their tops and they are done. The skirts are done as well and ready to be attached. I will do this as soon as I am done with all the painting so I don't get paint on them accidentally.

The first coat of skin color has been applied. For the first coat I used the same base color for all of them. For the second coat (and 3rd if needed) I will give them different skin colors. Then I will work on their faces and give them their personalities.

Three out of the four dolls have clay sculpted hair which will be painted in different colors (not sure what those will be yet). On the forth one I will use some kind of fiber for her hair. However, before I start working on the above, I will fist finish their legs (socks and shoes) and arms/hands. More to come! ...