GIU Day 5 – Anything but cards

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Well we are at the end of my time as a GIU girl and I have to say that all of your wonderful comments are certainly a boost to my spirits and my mojo.  Remember that I will be randomly picking two winners on Sunday out of all the comments for a grab bag of 25 Unity Stamps.  I will also pick one winner from those following my blog for two of my extra Unity stamps.

When planning my themes for each day of my week, I knew that I wanted to do a day of crafts and not cards with the stamps.  What a coincidence when the current challenge on Unity {show and tell} was pretty much the same thing. After pinning all these great ideas on Pinterest and I decided to try some of them. The first is transferring stamped images to candles. Splitcoaststampers has great instructions on doing this here. The candle below is made for my brother.  He suffered four years with Chronic Pancreatitis before having it removed over a year ago.  They separated his Islet cells (the ones that produce insulin) and transplanted those into into his liver where they produce insulin.  The miracles of modern medicine are incredible. The color they use for Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer is Purple, so I used a Distress Oxide in purple. The stamp sets used were Worth it All and Pain and Strength I used an electronic candle that is made with wax.  The picture on the right shows it in the dark.

 

 

Next I stamped and heat embossed on an empty dressing jar.  I chose this jar because it had flattened sides.  I wiped it down with alcohol and then used an embossing buddy before stamping with Versamark.  I didn’t put the stamp on block but instead put the jar on its side and carefully laid the stamp on it pressing all over with my fingers to make sure it stamped on the slightly rounded edges.  I ended up wiping it off twice because it didn’t stamp or accept the embossing powder well.  The third time was a charm and I could go ahead and apply the heat.  Glass does take a lot longer than paper to get hot enough to melt the embossing powder.  This stamp called bubbles {fashionista}was perfect since I filled it with homemade bath salts. A really cute, but inexpensive gift idea.

Friday_jar

I like seeing the glass blocks that people decorate and had an idea that I thought could work.  I started by putting a liberal amount of alcohol blending solution on one side of the glass block and adding a couple of colors of alcohol ink all over it.  I tried tipping it around to get them to move, but ended up using my gloved fingers to blend them together.  After it dried I stamped big snowflakes from the October 2017 KOM called Conspiracy of Love and the little snowflakes from a set called A Joyous Season with Versamark and then covered them with silver embossing powder.  I will tell you right now that the embossing works, but it took about 15 minutes of the heat gun on high and constantly moving around the surface to get the glass finally hot enough to melt the powder.  It probably didn’t help that my craft room was a little chilly, so the glass was cold.  Next time I might put it in front of the heater for a little while before stamping and embossing. I put miniature lights on the inside, but couldn’t get a good picture with them on, so here is one without the lights on.

Friday_glass_block

Here is what happens when you hit the tip of your heat gun on the melted powder.  I turned this side to the wall, but might try to cover it with some sort of tag.

Friday_mistake

 

Finally I did another hot pad, using a 6 x 6 tumbled tile, but did a slightly different method.  I stamped images from the set called Winter Blessings (I just love this set) in brown Stazon ink and the sentiment in green Stazon.  I then used a brush and green alcohol ink to apply the green to the needles.  By leaving the tile plain instead of using a background of alcohol ink, it was easier to paint the needles on and they didn’t run. I tried doing it the other way and it didn’t work out.  The great thing about alcohol inks is that if it didn’t work out on the tile, you can just wipe it all off with rubbing alcohol. I will probably heat set it in the oven before using it and putting the cork on the bottom.

Friday_hot_plate

I have had a blast being a Gui girl and look forward to the creations others make in the coming weeks – Denise

88 thoughts on “GIU Day 5 – Anything but cards”

  1. Very neat!!! Great projects….. I think I may have to try!!! Glad that you showed your mistakes as well, probably we will run into the same problems!

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  3. Wowsers, Denise! These projects are fabulous! All of them! I never knew you could heat emboss on glass…I definitely need to try that! Wonderful ideas for Christmas!

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  7. You’re projects are amazing!! Love love love your jar project, tile decor, candle is so cute, the glass block has me inspired to make a project. Thank you for sharing and also the inspiration to try something new and different. Just beautiful everything you made!!

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  18. Those were terrific projects! Can you say where you got that beautiful blue glass? I am not really into blue that much & that with the snow flakes is so fab!

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    • Thank you. The glass block is one of those clear hollow ones that you can buy at most craft stores. I covered it with alcohol inks (Tim Holtz Adirondack alcohol inks) in two shades of blue and a lot of alcohol blending solution. If you haven’t played with those type of inks, you can search Youtube and Pinterest for ideas as they are so fun to play with. Word of caution, make sure to wear disposable gloves as that ink will stain your hands easily.

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  19. OMG, what a great grouping of gifts you’ve made here! I love them all and want to try them all. lol I really love the last one, the coaster. I have really enjoyed your GIU week.

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  25. Denise I love your “not a card “ projects. I think I will have to try heat embossing on a glass jar…. never knew you could go that. I also have been meaning to try the candle. Yours is beautiful and meaningful. I have made a bunch of coasters on times for a craft sale but had never heard of baking the tiles… do you cover them with a clear lacquer too? Thanks for all your fabulous sharing this week!
    Dorothy Green aka dorothysdoodlesblog. 😊

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  31. Great projects. I especially love the coaster since I’m obsessed with that stamp set right now. That’s amazing what the doctors could do for your brother.

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  32. Wow! Just Wow! I love the hot pad and the snowflake glass block. Everything is stunning, but those two are my favs. Just so darn wonderful. Thank you fro sharing with us this week. Loved all your GIU Posts.

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  36. Day 5 is just as amazing as the other 4 days. I have so enjoyed your projects!!!! Very creative and definitely encouraged me to step outside the box. Love the candles for your brother, will keep him in our prayers. Have a great Thanksgiving Denise and thank you so much for all of your beautiful designs this week!!!

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