Freelance Friday: Breast Cancer Crafts

I am sure you are aware that October, is breast cancer awareness month. We here are Plaid are very dedicated to supporting the cause, and spreading awareness. Today I wanted show off some crafts from around the web that were made to show support for breast cancer. Please let us know if you have made any breast cancer crafts. We would love to see them.

Ribbon Wreath

Breast Cancer Paper Wreath

Hope Pumpkin

Pumpkin Bra

Pink Feather Decor

Glitter Pink Pumpkin

Belinda Goes To Canada

As you may imagine, the people who work for Plaid do a lot of crafting in their spare time. One of Plaid’s employees, Belinda Harris, not only makes crafts, but she teaches craft classes as well. Belinda is a very talented, and experienced crafter. She normally teaches classes in Georgia, but beginning tomorrow Belinda will be attending a craft show in Canada, to teach. Belinda will teach 4 classes this week in Saint Hyacinthe, which is a city close to Montreal. Belinda will be attending and teaching at Salon des Arts Decoratives. See Belinda’s schedule below. She will be giving demos and classes just for this weekend. We are excited for Belinda, and we will definitely post pictures here on Paint Me Plaid from her trip.

The  Salon des Arts Decoratives hours are:

Friday, October 14th : 10 am till 8 pm
Saturday, October 15th : 10 am till 5 pm
Sunday, October 16th : 10 am till 5 pm

Belinda’s Schedule:

Thursday, October 13th – “Proud Rooster” 8 am to 12 pm. This is a 3-D, Layered Glass Painting

Friday, October 14th – “Days of Wine and Roses” – Wine Decanter and 2 Wine Glasses.  8 am to 12 pm.

Saturday, October 15th – “By the Sea” –  6pm to 10 pm.  This is a 3-D, Layered Glass Painting

Sunday, October 16th – “Winter Forrest” – 8 am to 12 pm.  This is a 3-D Layered Glass Painting

The demo’s will be :

Friday @ Creations Country Bear booth  from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Belinda will demonstrate FolkArt Enamels and FolkArt Glitter in the booth.

Saturday @ Madame Pickwick booth from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Belinda will demo Mod Podge Gloss, Matte, and explain our Simply Brush Set.

For more information on the show, please visit,  http://www.salonartsdecoratifs.com/

Teaching Thursdays: Martha Stewart Pumpkin Centerpiece

By: Chris Williams

Who does not like the fall season and decorating a gorgeous fall tablescape this time of year?  The contrast of weather crackled wood and glittering glistening paints is fabulous.  You too can create and enjoy this gorgeous fall centerpiece incorporating three everlasting pumpkins displayed at varying heights!  Now let’s gather our supplies …

Supplies:

Martha Stewart Crafts

32056  Adobo – Satin, 32165  Carnelian – Glitter, 32057  Mace – Satin, 32166  Fire Opal – Glitter, 32058  Marmalade – Satin, 32155  Orange Sorbet – Glitter, 32082  Beetle Black – Satin, 32075  Summer Linen – Satin, 32070  Chestnut Brown – Satin, 32201  Weather Crackle Effect, 32256  Birds and Berries Stencil, 32243  Foam Pouncers, 32245  5 pc Basic Brush Set

Surfaces:

9.5” Chippendale Plate, 7” Wood Candlestick, 4.5” Wood Candlestick, Large White Pumpkin,Small White Pumpkins (2)

Miscellaneous Supplies:  Brush Basin or container for water, foam plates, paper towels, white craft glue and fine grit sandpaper

The wood candlesticks and plate are given a weather crackle finish that is fun and so easy to do.  Gather your wood items, Summer Linen and Chestnut Brown along with Weather Crackle Effect medium.

Begin by removing the bottle cap to expose the heat seal.  Remove it and replace the bottle cap.

Basecoat all wood surfaces with Summer Linen using a small utility brush.  Allow to dry and sand smooth using fine grit sandpaper.

If desired, add an accent of Mace on the edge of the plate as well as a ring on the candlesticks.

Again using the small utility brush, basecoat each pumpkin a different shade of orange.  (My pumpkins were purchased white, however, you may choose to use orange pumpkins instead.)  The large pumpkin is Adobo.

Basecoat one small pumpkin Mace.

And basecoat the last pumpkin Marmalade.

Once dry, next step is to gather the Weather Crackle Effect medium. Apply a coat of Weather Crackle Effect and allow to completely dry.

Once dry, paint Chestnut Brown over the Weather Crackle Effect in a criss-cross pattern.  The heavier you apply the paint, the larger the cracks. (Be careful not to over-brush the paint as it will move the cracks.)

Continue crackling the edge of the plate and two candlesticks.  Set aside to dry.

Next begin glittering your pumpkins!  Using a foam pouncer in a dabbing up and down motion, apply several light coats of glitter paint to each pumpkin until desired effect is achieved.  Paint Carnelian on the Adobo large pumpkin, Fire Opal on the Mace pumpkin and Orange Sorbet on the Marmalade pumpkin.

Paint pumpkin stems Chestnut Brown and allow to dry.  Then add Brownstone glitter paint.  What good is a glittery pumpkin if the stem does not glitter too?

I decided to accent the glitter pumpkins with a silhouette stencil or branches, berries and a bird.  Using a foam pouncer, stencil a Beetle Black branch and berries first.

Add a black bird (maybe a crow for this time of year).

The largest pumpkin has the most detail with a large branch, several berries and the black bird.  Accent the two smaller pumpkins with smaller sections of branches.

Apply a ring of Beacon’s Tacky Glue around the rim of the shorter candlestick.

Attach the Fire Opal glitter pumpkin to the candlestick and allow to dry.  Apply glue to the rim of the second (taller) candlestick. Attach to the center bottom of plate.  Allow to dry.

When dry, create your fall centerpiece; maybe add a garland of fall silk leaves and berries at the base to accent and enjoy!

Web Wednesday: Easy to Paint Damask Box

One craft that I believe you can never have enough of are, keepsake boxes. Throughout our lives we are always accumulating little trinkets and treasures that we want to hold onto. Photos, jewelry, hair bows, etc… The best way to keep track and to organize these items, is to place them in a keepsake box. A box is a great surface to craft on, and one of the easiest ways to decorate your box is by using stencils. Recently Plaid just released a new line of Easy to Paint stencils. One of our in house designers created this amazing Damask box, using one of the new stencils. Click here to find instructions on how to re-create this craft, and visit your local Michaels or AC Moore craft stores to find the entire line of Easy to Paint products. Is a box one of your favorite surfaces to paint on?

Mod Podge T-Shirt Giveaway

It’s giveaway time again here on Paint Me Plaid, and boy do we have a treat for the lucky winners. Now most of you only think of Mod Podge as a great product to use while you are crafting, but now it can be used for more fashionable purposes. Plaid would like to announce that we are now selling Mod Podge t-shirts. To celebrate the release of these fabulous shirts, we are having a giveaway. Four lucky Paint Me Plaid readers will receive a Mod Podge t-shirt. These t-shirts are 100% pre-shrunk cotton and come in S – XL. Although we are giving you the chance to win a shirt, you can also buy them anytime you want, here.

Check out Cathie and Steve, along with Candi Cooper rocking the fashionable Mod Podge shirts.

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below, letting us know why you love Mod Podge. Only one entry per person. The winners will receive one shirt in the size of their choice. The contest will close Friday October 14th, 2011 at 12 noon EST.

Tuesday Huesday: Halloween Living Room Decor

Many people often assume that you can only use Halloween themed colors to create scary or Halloween only decorations. Well I am here to help inspire you to use traditional Halloween colors, to decorate your interiors with. I recently stumbled across this living room on a blog called, Modern Design. Look at how unique and different this living room is. I was amazed by the colors used to decorate this room. It looks so vibrant and modern. These colors I normally would only see during the Halloween and fall season, but clearly after seeing this room, colors such as these can be used to decorate all year round.

This palette was created using FolkArt acrylic colors: #627-Tangerine, #508-Orange Poppy, #416-Dark Brown, and #2241-Apple Orchard

We Celebrated Plaidurday!

Last Friday was the first ever celebration of, Plaidurday. The inaugural worldwide celebration was definitely a success!  Over 1,300 people participated, from as far away as Singapore. We here at Plaid of course had to participate in, Plaidurday. We originally found out about Plaidurday via, Twitter. A follower of ours told us about it. We had a blast here at Plaid last Friday. Many of us wore plaid around the office. Check out below several pictures of us here at Plaid, celebrating Plaidurday. The second annual Plaidurday  will be on Friday, October 5 2012, so mark your calendars. We hope that next year you will join us in celebrating Plaidurday. It’s sure to be even bigger next year!

Make it Monday: Halloween Foot Stool

We recently found a new freelance designer, Trenice Bishop. As you can imagine we are quite busy here, more so than usual with all the holidays coming up. We are so thrilled to have more help. Trenice created a Halloween foot stool, using paint and stencils from the new Martha Stewart craft line. This Halloween foot stool is a beginner level craft that will take about 2 or more hours to complete.

Plaid Supplies Used:

Martha Stewart Paint – 32082 Beetle Black

Martha Stewart Paint – 32057 Mace

Martha Stewart Paint – 32065 Jonquil

Martha Stewart Paint – 32105 Yellow Gold

Martha Stewart Paint – 32059 Carrot

Martha Stewart Crafts  – Bat Adhesive stencil

Martha Stewart Crafts  – Crow Adhesive stencil

Martha Stewart Crafts  – Ghost Adhesive stencil

Additional supplies needed: Sandpaper, Utility paint brush, Fan brush, Liner brush, Flat brush, and Clear spray gloss

 Instructions:

1. Use sandpaper or a small sanding block to sand the entire stool before applying paint.
2. Remove any dust or grit left behind from sanding.
3. Apply one coat of Martha Stewart Paint in Mace to the base of the stool. Let dry for at least thirty minutes to one hour before applying a second coat of paint.
   
4. For the stool legs, mix Martha Stewart Paint in Beetle Black, and Martha Stewart Paint in Yellow Gold, to desired sparkle.
5. Use a Utility brush to paint the legs and underside of the stool.  Apply two coats of paint allowing the stool to dry for at least 30 minutes in between applications.
6. Let entire stool dry for one hour.
7. Add water to Martha Stewart Paint in Jonquil and use a fan brush to lightly shade a corner of the stool to create the moon.
8. Use your favorite stencil, trace or freehand the swirls on top of the Mace base color.
9. Use Martha Stewart Crafts Adhesive Stencils to add the Ghost, Bat and Crow details.
10. To create the hologram effect with the ghost, stencil on a ghost using Martha Stewart Paint in Yellow Gold and let dry. Gently peel off the stencil and place slightly to the left or right of the gold application. This time use Jonquil to paint over the stencil. Let Dry.
11.  To add the abstract pearls, simply dip the end of a paint brush (in the desired size) in the Jonquil Martha Stewart Paint and touch the end of the brush directly to the stool. The “pearls” will get smaller as you continue to create the design. Reload with paint as necessary.
12. Using the same technique to create the “pearls”, with a smaller brush end to make eyes for the bats, ghost, and crows using Yellow Gold.
13. Allowing all of the details to dry, use your favorite clear gloss spray to protect the stool and your art work. Be sure to find clear gloss spray that is non-yellowing and has a UV protector.

Congrats to the Winners of our Paint Me Plaid Halloween Giveaway

Two lucky Paint Me Plaid readers have won our Paint Me Plaid Halloween Giveaway. The winners are,

Melissa Cook & Ajsarts

 

They both won a gift package that includes the following:

A 4 pack of Apple Barrel Glow in the Dark Paints

A bottle of Glo Away

A 8oz. bottle of Stiffy

Thanks to everyone that entered our Halloween giveaway. Please check here on our blog, because we will be having another giveaway very soon.

Freelance Friday: Creepy Halloween Bottle Decor Using Mod Podge

It’s FRIDAY! I know you are excited for the weekend, and in case you are looking for a great craft project to do check out these creepy bottles from,  Joy’s Life. We stumbled across Joy’s blog awhile ago, and have loved seeing her creative crafts. Since Halloween will be here before we know it, we wanted to share a craft project you can use as Halloween decor. These awesome bottles are easy to make, and require very minimal supplies. Create these to add to your scary Halloween decor. To see how Joy created these bottles, click here.