A Bit of Summer

This month, Craft-Dee BowZ has had the honor and distinction of featuring USArtquest products in our posts.  While most of my design team had never touched any type of mixed media, I think they did a super job with it.  Kudos to them.  It's not easy coming out of one's box - I can testify to that myself!

In collaborating with Susan Pickering Rothamel and her crew, we decided to use the following products in our projects:

DICROFIBERS (if you've never used these, you are MISSING the boat!  Like spun sugar, they can be heat fused and can be stamped on, ironed on or just added as is to a project. They come in lovely pastels, jewel tones and wonderful metallics.)

MICA FLAKES (so versatile and stunning to work with and add that bit of sparkle to your project and have you wondering -- just what is that sparkling at me?)

PPA GLUE (oh my!  This has got to be the best glue on the market.  Not only does it work will with paper and card stock, but it's super on metal.  Yes!  I could not believe it.  One of the most perplexing properties (I mean that in a good way) of this glue is that it is NEVER sticky on your hands, but it adheres whatever you are using for a medium without fault.  WOW!)

PRILLS (what a wonderful accent to any project! These darling tiny little "pebbles" come in a huge variety of colors and always seem to add that final touch to your project.  I have so many colors in my stash and plan on adding more.  Love them!!)

Just coming off of a week long heat wave, this card says volumes and I wish I had been this fishy last week.

Each of the products mentioned above are used in this card.  The fish was done using the pastel Dicrofibers and a fish stamp.  While difficult to see,  the gauzy edges of the fish giving it the look that he is in motion.  Love how these fibers fuse together!

You'll have to admit, adding a bow to a seascape or beach scene can be challenging, but I combined the earthiness of the burlap ribbon (to mimic sand) with the glittery-ness of the bow (to mimic the sun sparkling off the water).  

Here you can see the addition of the Mica flakes melted into the embossing powder.  The addition of Prills in and around the shells and on the "sand" gave it that texture.  Since I had my stash of Prills out, I decided to add more texture to the little tag on the side.

Well, a HUGE thanks to USArtquest for their wonderful products.  I know I'll be using more in the future.  Hmmm, gotta look into those Mica Tiles next...

Have a Bow-ti-ful Day!

Donna

Sand between your toes

 Hello everyone! It is my turn to bring to you a project made using the Craft-Dee BowZ maker along with our theme for this month and some extra goodies from USArtQuest. Our theme this month was the colors blue and tan along with a beach theme. The goodies from USArtQuest included Mica Flakes, Prills, Dicrofibers and Perfect Paper Adhesive. Time to put on the thinking cap!


I decided to make a card as we have never been to the beach so no pictures for a scrapbook page. But I do have beach theme stamps! I pulled out a beach theme saying from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps. Using some burlap ribbon, I made my bow with the Craft-Dee BowZ maker as you can see the close up below.

Time to pull out the "Cottage Garden" Dicofibers and have some fun. "These fine, luminescent fiber threads are both light reflective and light refractive. When pressed between parchment paper with a medium-hot iron they produce a brilliant, flexible fiber sheet that can be used like paper or fabric." (taken from the USArtQuest site)

 I used two different colors, lilac and periwinkle, fusing them into fiber sheets. I then ran them through the cuttlebug using a flower die that cut three different sizes. Using the Perfect Paper Adhesive, I attached the Prills to the middle of each flower. Also used the PPA to attach my flowers.

Look closely to the picture above... do you see the gold edging? That is the Mica Flakes. I again used the PPA to attach the flakes to the outer edge of my oval.

Now that you have seen all the snippets of the card..... are you ready to see the finished product? Here you go!  Look how well the Mica Flakes and the Dicofiber/Prill flowers set off the card.

Hope you have enjoyed my take on the beach theme and on the USArtQuest products. Now if only I was posting this from the beach, my life would be complete!

~ Amber

Craft-Dee Bowz and USArtQuest!!!

It's time for my post this month here at Craft-Dee Bowz and thismonth we had a little extra challenge! We had to use the colors tan and blue, keep a beach theme, do a double loop bow, and use some fabulous products from USArtQuest. We got Dicrofibers, Prills, and Mica flakes.

This is my layout, this is one of my very good friends beautiful daughter. I had fun mixing in these products, they were mostly new to me, so it was quite a challenge, but fun!

First of all I used the "Dicrofibers". They are fibers that look like cotton candy! You use a rubber stamp and cover it with StazOn, then you put the fibers of your choice on top, cover with the included paper and heat with an iron!!! The iron melts the fibers and you just peel off the design!! I then use the different colored "Prills" in the center. I attached with "Perfect Paper Adhesive", also from USArtQuest, this is a fabulous glue, it dries totally clear and it's not sticky to touch. I used a hibiscus stamp and just cut into a circle.

I took the light blue "Prills" and first covered the swirl stickers with the "Perfect Paper Adhesive" and then poured the Prills over it. I let it dry and then shook off the excess! I used the Mica flakes in the bottom corner and across the bottom of the mat to mimic a sand look.

Here is a better view of the Mica flakes!

I used some Moxxie paper and stickers, the little leaves are stamped and the little blooms are just small blooms layered together and scrunched! I had so much fun playing with these products!!! I urge you to check out all the fantastic products that USArtQuest has to offer!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate it, and please check back to see what's next!!!!

Patti~

PRODUCT REVIEW alert!

WOW!  It just doesn't get any better than this!  Craft-Dee BowZ had a product review and video posted on July 8, 2013 by Cool2Craft on www.crafthaul.com!  Here's the post and a phenomenal video done by Tiffany Windsor.  Did you know that Tiffany is the daughter of Aleene Jackson of Aleene's Tacky Glues?   My thanks to Tiffany and the incredible job she did on showcasing this super tool.  Follow the article below and enter to win a free Craft-Dee BowZ - this offer is only good until July 21st, so hurry on over to the link posted below.

Product Review: Craft-Dee BowZ

july 8, 2013 by tiffany leave a comment

Reviewed by: Tiffany Windsor for www.crafthaul.com

The Craft-Dee BowZ tool is a super cool, self-contained bow making tool. It’s easy to make single or multiple loop bows from 1″ up to 4-1/4″. I followed the package instructions to set up for my first bow. The metal rods are stored right inside the Craft-Dee BowZ Tool so they are easy to access.  Just insert the dowels into the pre-drilled holes, cut your ribbon and follow the instructions to make bows in a snap!Check out my video tutorial!

I started with a single loop narrow ribbon bow but quickly grabbed my wider ribbons to also create double and triple looped bows. I’ve been hand-tying bows for as long as I can remember so I thought “why would I need a tool like this?” But let me tell you, I was wrong! This tool really helps seasoned crafters like me to tie bow after bow after bow perfect each time! Much faster, much easier and perfect sizing every time!

For my first try at using the Craft-Dee BowZ tool, I used narrow ribbon to create a 1″ bow. I found the step-by-step instructions easy to follow and with those narrow, sturdy metal dowels you can easily create those tiny bows that can be very difficult to create by hand-tying.

I quickly graduated to a double loop bow. I wanted to try out a larger bow with some new ribbons that I had recently hand-dyed…and…I wanted to try a double loop bow. Once again, the results were perfect!

But I wasn’t quite finished there! Could I take on a triple loop bow? Yes! My only suggestion when working with the triple loops is to keep the layers of ribbon squished down to the bottom of the dowels so that you can tie the knot tightly in the center.

The Craft-Dee BowZ tool is promoted as ideal for card making and scrapbooking but I can see this used for many more crafts including kids hair bows.

The Craft-Dee Bowz tool is $20 plus $5.50 shipping per unit on domestic orders only and can be ordered at their website – click here  – where you will also find lots of design ideas and inspiration!

The Good Life!

Hi everyone! Brenda here with another scrapbook layout.

Donna of craft-dee bowz, gave the design team a challenge with guidelines to follow. Our challenge was to use the color tan and blue, a beach theme, a double loop bow and she also sent us some neat things to work with from this company called UsArtQuest.

 This is a 6x6 two page layout for beach pictures. I used UsArtQuest Dicro Fibers for the lighthouse. It almost gives the effect of it being in a fog, which I thought was cool! The bows on the flip flops are made with the Craft Dee Bowz bow maker. It's a double loop bow with the loops cut dove tail style. My sand is made with The Paper Studio wood grain embossing folder from Hobby Lobby.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this cute little layout. Don't forget, Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do! Hugs Brenda

Fun at the Beach

Hi everyone,
Thanks for stopping in today. It's Barbara here and I am back with my post for July. The theme this month is The Beach and all  the other designers are busy getting their  fabulous projects designed and ready for their posts.

USArtQuest was very gracious in sending the team some of their great products. USArtQuest is the number one source of Mica based products and they also offer quality art supplies. So you will be seeing the designers using their great products in their very creative projects this month.

This month, I decided to make a little 2 page booklet that will be a great spot to put a few pictures from vacation at the beach. I thought it would be great to use stamped images and spotlight USArtQuest products on the front of each page. The backs of the pages will become the spot for the pictures from vacation.

Here is the front of the booklet. I am showing a mermaid under the sea. 

Here is a close-up of her:

I made this mermaid by using the USArtQuest DicroFibers. I had never used this before and let me say WOW!!! easy to use and so so pretty. Look at the shimmer!!

Next I wanted to incorporate Prills into the scene, so I used Perfect Paper Adhesive (sometimes referred to as PPA) to adhere my seashells to the chipboard. While the PPA was still wet and after I placed the seashells, I added the Prills to areas to add additional visual interest and more color. Prills are little beads of a few tiny sizes and they have no holes. 

Here is a close-up of the shells ladened with Prills. They look like colored pearls, don't they??

Let's check out the 2nd page of this little book.

I used a digital image of a fish and colored it using the USArtQuest Pearl Ex Watercolor Pallette. The shimmery watercolors were perfect to use on this digital image that I used. I also used the same watercolors on the seashells. Notice that chunky sand at the bottom. Thats Mica Flakes and again I used the PPA to adhere that to the chipboard. The red net, oh thats from a bag of onions. LOL

Here is a closer view of those Mica Flakes. I used 2 different colors.

Lets take a look at the bow I made. It's kind of different and it was so fun to come up with this style, and the great thing is it can be made using the Craft-Dee BowZ tool. So, here is another type of bow you can make.This style reminded me of Ribbon Candy so I named it the Ribbon Candy Bow.

I used twine on the burlap ribbon to make and tie the knot. I think it goes with the beachy theme.

I want to thank you, USArtQuest, for all the fabulous product that you so graciously sent for us to use this month. I rounded up all my other USArtQuest products and now have them all neatly stored together so they are easy to find. It's amazing how many different products I had already and now I have even more. YUMMY!!!!

Don't forget, the designers post every Tuesday, so stop back to see what goodies they've come up with. And the Challenge has started for July and we are looking for your entry!!

Thanks for stopping in today

July Challenge

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the July Challenge here at Craft-Dee BowZ, 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our June Challenge!!! 
The submissions are all fabulous.

Every one of the submissions were so  beautiful and I think everyone is a winner. However I had to pick the top 3 and the grand winner for the month, let me tell you, it  was really difficult again this month, with all the talent out there.

Just to let you all know that the Winner and the Top 3 are all chosen on their merits, so make sure to get your creative juices flowing and send in your best submissions.

Who won the Grand Prize for the June Challenge??  Well, without further ado the winner is:

Angela Wood (submission#4)

Congratulations to Angela Wood

You will have until July 15 (that's 2 weeks) to claim your prize 

Monthly Prize
The Craft-Dee BowZ tool

Please contact me at bbruder@fuse.net by July 15th to arrange for your prize to be sent and to receive a winners badge to display on your blog.

TOP 3 WINNERS

1. Julie P (Submission # 40)
2.Krafty Karen (Submission #3)
3. Mynette (Submission  #27)
Please grab the "top 3 badge" on the sidebar here and post it on your blog .
We'd love it if you'd link back to our site here.

You will always be able to access the current challenge or view prior challenges by clicking on the Monthly Challenge tab at the top of the page.

The July Challenge Theme:

Anything Goes and include a HANDMADE BOW
This months code to use is CDB03

Here is some inspiration for you for our July challenge.
  

The link to guidelines for playing are on the top tab.

If you have any questions please email me at bbruder@fuse.net
We are looking forward to seeing your creation here.
Don't forget, the prize is The Craft-Dee BowZ tool.
 I use mine all the time, you will love it!!

The July challenge closes on July 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET