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This evening our studio will be taken over by lots of fun ladies for the Girls Night Out Globe Extravaganza with Beth Kingston. It got me thinking of hosting a crafty girls night out for my friends, and I thought I would share some of the fun ideas I’ve come across to help you host your own event.  Hosting your own crafty girls night out is probably a lot easier than you think! Here are some key points to give thought to. 1. Where to host? Do you have enough room, and more importantly, table space for your friends? You could set up card tables or other folding tables in addition to your dining room table. If your craft night is held on a day that has nice weather you could use your patio table and other tables outside (or keep the event exclusive to your closest friends to make seating easier). If you would prefer to not have it in your home, remember, you can rent out the Palette & Paper Studio. It is climate controlled, has lots of tables and chairs and more for your crafty night (details here)!
2. How to decorate? The main focus of the night will be the crafts and getting together with friends. Don’t stress thinking you need the perfect balloon arch or tassel garland (even though they are really cute)! Your friends will be more focused on the crafts and fun at hand. If you do want to decorate, make a little entry table showcasing a completed example of the featured craft project and chalkboard welcome sign.  3. Decide on food. Offer a few beverages and some light snacks that are easy to eat. Keep in mind you don’t want to serve Cheetos or other messy foods because that could lead to an orange smudge on your gorgeous new craft project, and no one wants that!  4. What to craft? This might be the hardest decision you have to make! There are so many fun ideas for a crafty girls night. Below are some easy fun ideas with links to their sources. Moroccan Candle Holders – Nuvo Crystal Dots and Ranger Enamel Accents would be perfect for decorating the outside of the containers (both available at P&P).  Tile Coasters – these can be created in several ways from the super easy way of using decals or pretty paper on the ceramic bath tiles to using alcohol inks and more. Don't forget to edge your tiles with some gorgeous Viva Decor Inka Gold (a metallic beeswax paste that comes in a variety of colors). Or make large tiles into trivets! P&P offered a class on this a couple of months ago and the creations by all the attendees were stunning! P&P has in stock many items that can be used on your coasters. Magnetic Memo Board – Burner Covers, some pretty paper (I know where you can get that!), magnets and ribbon make this craft simple and inexpensive!  Tote Bag – using paint, stencils and brayer you can create an awesome canvas tote bag. Have you seen the gorgeous stencils P&P has in stock? You will have a hard time deciding which ones to get!   Still can’t decide on a project? Or do you have an idea, but not sure of the specifics? Want to hire a leader for your craft night, so you can sit back and enjoy the creativity with your friends? Contact us and we can hook you up with one of P&P’s creative team members to talk to about your craft night. 5. Decide if you want to charge for the craft night. Keep in mind, your friends will love the idea of getting together to craft and won’t mind paying a small fee to cover the cost of supplies. Once you have determined these things, decide on your guest list, pick a date, send out some invites, gather your supplies and HAVE FUN!
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Yupo Paper is tree-free synthetic paper that offers a super smooth surface that is durable, water-proof and bright white in color. The Tim Holtz Yupo Paper is 86 lb. weight that resists buckling. It is perfect for experimenting with alcohol inks on and other mixed media techniques on. Alcohol Inks can be used on a multitude of surfaces including metal, plastic, glass, glossy paper and more. They are fast drying and blend together to make gorgeous and unique backgrounds.  Now, when Yupo Paper and Alcohol Inks come together magic happens! After last week’s blog post talking about “one little words”, I knew I wanted to make a small wall hanging with my word for the year to hang in my craft area. I decided to make the background using yupo paper and alcohol inks. I dropped a few colors of alcohol inks on my yupo paper (be sure protect your work surface as alcohol inks are permanent. As you add more and more drops they will “dance” together to create a one-of-a-kind background. Go slow adding your drops as they will continue to mix for a few minutes. Click through this slideshow to see how the drops mix together.  Next I cut my word from black and white cardstock with a Silhouette machine. I used a Spellbinders Tool ‘n One to loosen the cut-out word from the sticky mat. This tool makes it so easy with its spatula end to loosen cut items from the mat without tearing them.  I wanted to mount the yupo paper on a small canvas to give it stability for hanging. I knew a small amount of the canvas around the edges would be visible, so I added some Inka-Gold around the edges to add a gorgeous colorful, metallic shine.  Next I glued the black cut-out word on top of the white cut-out slightly skewed to give it a nice shadow effect that makes the word pop. I love the way it turned out and can’t wait to hang it!  For another idea on what to do with this amazing craft pairing, check out the awesome card that our friends at CardMaker magazine shared using yupo paper and alcohol inks here and in their last Spring issue. Have you used yupo paper and/or alcohol inks before? What did you make? In the past couple of weeks I’ve shared DIY projects to decorate your home (here and here) and cards to send to loved ones (here) to celebrate Halloween, but today’s post is all about YOU! Or at least decorating yourself for Halloween. Today’s post is about making a Halloween Necklace and Bracelet using items you can find at Palette & Paper (you will be looking at the washi tape in a whole new light!).
BraceletDid you know that you can make a bracelet with a water bottle, washi tape (I used Little B's gold foil spider web washi) and gel medium? It’s pretty awesome, let’s take a look!  First up, grab a water bottle, one that has a circumference similar to your wrist and is smooth. Cut the bottle open and a strip that is slightly thinner than the washi you are using. I used my heavy paper trimmer to cut a piece of the water bottle ¾ of an inch.
Tear off a piece of washi tape longer than your strip of water bottle and lay it sticky side up on your craft mat. Liberally apply gel medium to the sticky side of the washi tape (this will help it really stick to the plastic). Place the water bottle strip on top of the washi tape, apply more gel medium to the back side of the bracelet and wrap the sides and ends with the tape.
Next up, cut a piece of washi tape to measure the exact width of your bracelet (in this case ¾ of an inch). Cutting washi tape with a paper trimmer is so easy and such a great way to make “skinny” washi for a multitude of crafts. Add more gel medium to the back side of your bracelet from edge to edge (over the part of the tape that you previously wrapped around). Adhere your skinnier piece of washi to the back of the bracelet. Hold the ends down with whatever “paper weights” you have handy and leave the bracelet to dry.
To add to the spider web theme of my bracelet I wanted to add some spiders. I had a pack of Tim Holtz spider charms (available at P&P), so I carefully, with a pair of needle nose pliers, broke off the charm eyelet and colored the spider with some alcohol ink (available at P&P individually or in packs of 3 colors).
Once your bracelet has dried, dab on a liberal amount of gel medium (P&P offers a few varieties of gel medium) where you want your spider(s) to be and glue the spider on. I added two spiders to my bracelet so they would counter balance each other weight wise. And lastly, a small piece of sticky Velcro can be added to the bracelet to keep it closed.
Viola - - a Halloween bracelet and no one will believe it is a water bottle washi tape!  NecklaceFor the necklace, I gathered my supplies – Tim Holtz Spider Charms, Tim Holtz Crypt Cameos, Tim Holtz Typed Tokens – Halloween (all available at P&P) along with some other miscellaneous Halloween charms, bezel and a necklace chain I had.
I love adding in purple and green to Halloween décor and jewelry, so I decided to cover the two Crypt Cameos I was using with Alcohol Inks to make one green and one purple. I also covered a few more spiders with alcohol ink.  For the Typed Tokens, I painted a quick coat of black gesso and once it dried (in a matter of minutes) coated it with Inka Gold in a gorgeous copper color and in platinum (this product is so versatile, you should a color or two next time you are in the Shoppe).
I wanted to make a center bezel for my necklace that tied into the bracelet, so I put some of my scrap washi tape on a piece of paper, coated the back side of the clear cabochon with gel medium and glued it to the washi tape. Once it dried, I cut the cabochon out, painted gel medium inside the silver bezel and glued the washi backed cabochon inside the bezel.
Once I had all of my pieces created, I laid out the chain and the charms in the order I wanted.  Then with some jump rings and a pair of needle nose pliers I attached the charms to my necklace chain.  I love the results and can’t wait to wear my new Halloween Jewels over the next couple of weeks!  When the Tim Holtz “Curiosities” Ephemera came into the shoppe, I just knew I had to do something with it. The pack was filled with 97 pieces of vintage and creepy ephemera for only $5! I usually use packs like this on cards that I send to friends and family or in my planner and traveler’s notebook. I knew this time though that I wanted to use the ephemera in a way that I could see it more and enjoy it this Halloween Season.  I decided to create some Halloween décor for our living room. I started by buying three 4 x 6” frames from the dollar store. The color of the frames didn’t matter because I was planning to give them a coat of my favorite Art Basics Heavy Black Gesso. I love the black, chalky finish this gesso provides. I opted to add a little metallic finish to the frames using a little Viva Décor Inka Gold in Copper and Platinum. This tied the project nicely to the mirror I showed in last week’s blog.
Next, I cut three pieces of 4 x 6” paper from the Carta Bella “Haunted Collection”. Not only does this paper pack have great designs, but the texture of the paper is wonderful. I cut the one B and two Os using my Silhouette Machine. You can use a die cut machine, hand cut, or buy large letter stickers to achieve a similar look.
Since I removed the glass from my picture frames I decided to use small 3D Foam Squares (217 for $3!) to mount the letters on the paper rectangles to give some dimension before framing them. A pair of tweezers is so helpful when removing the backing to these little dots (definitely get a pair and keep them in your craft bag, $3).
In addition to the Tim Holtz Curiosities Ephemera I grabbed a few more Tim Goodies, including a pack of bones, brooms, skeleton cameos and small apothecary jars (I filled them with a mix of sequins and beads). I used these items to decorate the outsides of the frames.  I love the finished look of these dimensional frames, and I know these will be displayed during the month of October for years to come. For more Halloween Paper Craft Inspiration be sure to check out our Pinterest Board!  This blog post was provided by Creative Team member, Kimberly Eaton.
I love the fall season and decorating for Halloween. A couple of weeks ago, I was at Dollar Tree and saw this fun skeleton mirror. It was large enough to hang on our gallery wall above the fireplace, but a little cheap looking (not surprising given it's price point).  I decided to go ahead and buy it, but planned to give it a mini makeover! I prepped the frame by painting it with black gesso. The black gesso gave the frame a nice matte black look with an almost chalkboard-like finish.
I waited for the gesso to dry and then moved on to the next step of adding some color. I knew I wanted to use Viva Decor's Inka-Gold for this step. I am a huge fan of Inka-Gold. It has a gorgeous metallic finish and the product is so easy to use!
I decided to use Inka Gold in Copper, Platinum and Violet. I started with the Copper - a rich metallic orange color and simply dry brushed the Inka Gold on the high points of the scrolled frame. Next, I added the Platinum and Violet on other areas of the frame.  For the last step, I dry brushed a bit more of the Platinum Inka Gold on the mirror to give it a streaky, vintage look.  And Voila! For a $1 and some products that I already had on hand I made a fun, new piece of Halloween Decor. What have you been making this Fall season? This blog post was provided by Creative Team member, Kimberly Eaton.
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