36-hours to go

My book deadline is in 36-hours. I'm far from the finish line. Instead of crying and freaking out, I'm working hard to get as far as I can. I'm mad at myself for spending to much time editing early in the process back in November, when I should have just been writing. Now I'm paying for that!

Every chapter is a scenic road trip with lots of adventure and sights. But the hard part is in between chapters. Sitting at the rest stop, taking too much to stretch. It's hard to get going from zero level. But as soon as I get going, the words and scenes fly and I can't go fast enough.

I'm at the rest stop at the moment, getting ready to put my foot to the pedal again. Break over. Last night I wrote for 12 hours straight. Hoping to have that magic again tonight!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Spanish-language Sweethearts @ Target. Great for VDay crafts!

Valentine Heart Bottle

I am a sucker for these dollar store bottles. I never have anything to put in them, but they just look so cute on a book shelf or in a bathroom, etc. Maybe you could put little love notes inside, or a wish list of what kind of partner you want to come into your life!

Supplies:
1 glass heart-shaped bottle
Crafty Chica Mojito Papers (newsprint design)
Crafty Chica Loteria (milagro heart image)
Crafty Chica Glossy Gloss Varnish (doubles as a light adhesive)
Crafty Chica Pink Glitter
A small chunk of cardboard (to make heart stand out)
A bead for the top of the bottle
hot glue

Directions: Cut a heart shape from the paper, glue it on the front, add the cardboard to the center. Cut out the heart from the game, hot glue it to the bottle to cover the cardboard. Add dots of glue, sprinkle on the glitter. Add the bead to the top of the bottle.
Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Me with Mark Montano

Kathy and Mark
Originally uploaded by ilovetocreate

He is a creative genius!

Pattie Wack's fan

Pattie Wack's fan
Originally uploaded by ilovetocreate

From the Craft Super Show last week!

INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Edith Gurrola

This is a wonderful submission I received for Inspiration Friday. It is about a young woman's memory of her mother sewing...enjoy!


My Mother's Lullaby
By Edith Gurrola

A rumble. A pause. A rumble. The rumble became louder as I slid onto the linoleum floor in the living room with my baby blue knit socks. As a child, they were my favorite. I saw my mom, a tiny fixture behind a giant industrial size sewing machine. She didn’t lift her head but peeked at me over her thick pink glasses and pressed her lips into a smile. Seeing the mountains of collars she had to assemble I knew it was going to be a long night for her. I went to her side and placed my small hand on the rumbling giant, feeling the humming vibrations run through my arm. My mom traced a cross on my forehead and brought her index finger and thumb to my lips to kiss. The bitter taste of the fabric from her fingers lingered on my lips. As I walked to my bed, the rumbling continued and persisted throughout the night. It was as steady as my breathing.
***

Would you like to submit an article for Inspiration Friday? Click HERE for the guidelines. -SUBMIT your piece with INSPIRATION FRIDAY in the subject line and email to kathy[at]craftychica[dot]com

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

4th Annual Crafty Chica Cruise: SOLD OUT!

But have no fear, we are doing another one in April 2011!



Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

These are my kind of freebies! See why I love crafts?

Lips on sticks party favors!

Glitter as home decor. Just glitter!

Glittered heels in our @ilovetocreate booth!

I made a button bouquet today!

Dinner. (i swear i don't do this all the time!)

Demo video of Tulip Paint Cannon!

My daughter, maya, with Mark Montano #ilovetocreate #cha

Brini Maxwell in da house! @brinimaxwell #cha

Tricked Out Tee

One of the biggest rewards of crafting is seeing a high priced item at a swanky boutique and grinning - because you know you can go home and make it for a fraction of the cost. On a recent trip to New York City, I came across a wildly adorned (and very expensive) rock star T-shirt that had all kinds of hand-applied crystals all over it.

Talk about going from grunge to glam!

I could hardly wait to get home just so I could make my own version. I decided to take it up a notch by starting with a faux-vintage tee and adding on some sequins and glitter too. The various sparkly textures play off each other nicely without being too over the top. Note: This project will take one solid afternoon (or two chick flick DVDs), but will be worth every second of effort.

Supplies:
1 T-shirt with a simple image
1 piece of cardboard lined with freezer paper to slide inside the shirt
1 large package of Tulip® Glam-It-Up!™ Iron-On Crystals™ that match the image color (you will need about 100 of them, depending on how much you want to apply)
Tulip® Cordless Heat Setting Tool™
1 crayon
Crafty Chica™ Chunky Glitters™
Sheet of paper
Sequin trim
Crafty Chica™ Extreme Embellishment Glue™

Directions:
1. Slide the cardboard inside the shirt.
2. Working on a flat surface, open the crystals and lay them in front of you.
3. Working on a small section at a time on the shirt's image, pick up a crystal with the crayon and place it on the fabric. Use the heat tool to adhere it by pressing it on the crystal until its adhesive backing melts.
4. Place more crystals where you want them (in groups of four or five work good), and then continue applying them the with heat tool.
5. Add the glitter. Work over a sheet of paper. Fill in other areas of the image with the glitter by painting the surface with the permanent fabric adhesive, and pouring the glitter over it before it dries. Tap off excess.
6. For other areas, apply the fabric adhesive and add the sequin trim. Let it all dry.
7. When finished, remove cardboard. Gentle wash, inside out, hang dry.

Tips and Variations: If you don't want to fill the entire areas with crystals, just use them on the outline of the image. You can choose to apply the crystals very close together, or spread out a bit. The closer they are, the more you will need and the longer it will take. If you do not have a heat tool, you can apply them with a mini-iron, standard iron, or permanent fabric glue.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

I made a flower pin (from paper bag!) for each day of show. #1

INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Living an Artful Life

Oh, to live the life of a bohemian artist. No clocks. No 9 to 5. No cable TV bills. Just a creativity carnival 24/7. Sweet, huh? It’s called living the artful life, and anyone can achieve it with the right frame of mind.

Introducing Fashion Graffiti!

The company I work for, iLoveToCreate, has a brand new Fashion Graffiti lineout at Michaels. Check out this video where Traci Bautista shows how to use all the products!

AND if you are at CHA this week, come checkout our booths so you can try it yourself!

Visit iLoveToCreate.com for ideas of things to make, as well as things to buy!


LINK

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Bookmarks in progress!

Giving these out at my book signings this weekend at Craft Super Show!

Focus and center

(Art: Focus and center, by my friend, Tracy Dove, TracyDove.com)

I'm starting to worry. CHA is next week in two days, and I'm not quite ready. But I will be.

Focus and center.

My novel manuscript is due next month in two weeks, and it's not done. I'm hoping praying it will be.

Focus and center.

I'm giving up parties and dinners at CHA so I can scurry back to my hotel room to continue banging out the stylish saga of Scarlet, DeeDee, and Mary Theresa.

The thing about writing fiction is you can't rush. I can't stay up all night and finish this project like I can with my artwork and crafty assignments. Yet, at the same time, I know what is going to happen in the plot and I'm excited to get there, so I push harder and faster to write each chapter.

In my last book (the one that comes out in March) all the characters had a lot of "me" in them. That helped my fingers fly across the keyboard. However, none of these new characters resemble me at all. This book stretches beyond crafting and touches into fashion design and costume-making. There are scenes in New York, Miami, Glendale, and Phoenix. It's hoity toity in some parts. The eras span from the 1950s to present. I never thought I could "go there". I always thought as long as I stayed in my comfort zone of what I know, I'd do just fine.

Instead, I'm tackling a marathon through the woods! And I'm very proud so far, even though I've had many deletes and do-overs. All of this makes writing my characters' story lines more interesting because they are people I normally would have nothing to do with, and now they are all I think about! I love them because they have lots of drama and sparkle surrounding them.

I've been writing until 1-2 a.m. every night, on weekends I start at 10 a.m. I haven't seen the news, any new movies, or gone out to dinner. I'm washing the same clothes over and over to shave time off of deciding what to wear. I haven't coated these lashes with mascara in weeks, but I do still wear red lipstick. I apply face cream when I need to think through a scene. My skin is super soft right now. The kids make me coffee, Patrick makes my meals and serves them to me at my desk. I hide when company comes over so they won't see me in this state.

I do take breaks. Weekdays are prepping for CHA and other stuff for my job, and sometimes at night I'll catch an episode of 30 Rock or Ugly Betty. (LOVE!) Half of me is 100% burnt out. I'm beyond anxious to get in the art room and paint, draw, sew and stitch. But I can't. I have to finish this book first. I WANT to finish this book first.

I'm probably boring you to tears. The good news is that I'll be blogging from CHA starting Thursday night, so be ready for a lot of crafty reporting! And when I return, you'll see oodles of new, juicy love spell-friendly Valentine's projects!

Until then...focus and center!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Looking for bloggers/reviewers for Crafty Chica blog tour!

We are starting to put together a blog tour for when my novel comes out! If you want to:

- participate in reviewing the book on your site
- having an interview or feature

send me a message (kathyATcraftychicaDOTcom) or leave a comment, and the publicity department from Grand Central Publishing will be in touch!

Yikes, I can't believe time is getting close!

Thanks!!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Crafty Chicas of the week

Thank you to everyone who bought art in honor of Haiti this weekend. We were able to donate $100 to the cause!!

Today's post is about shout outs! This is a new random feature I'm adding - Crafty Chica(s) of the week. Enjoy, and expect more to come!

Giselle Gonzalez, adorable animator and illustrator! I must buy this print! Here is her Etsy shop and Web site.

*******************


The flirty and sexy street art of SandOne, here is her blog and here is her web site.

********************

And my cyber friend, el ponk! She paints they crazy-fun handbags! Here is her site and blog! And her Etsy store too!

******************

This is by Melanie Cervantes, an amazing activist/artist who works in all kinds of mediums to relay her voice. Here is her web site and her blog.


Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

'Our Family Wedding' movie trailer!

I'm looking forward to this movie, I hope it is good! I'll have to think up some fun chicafied wedding crafts to go with it!

Our Family Wedding:
In this clash-of-cultures comedy, two overbearing dads must put aside their differences to plan the wedding of their son and daughter in less than two weeks.

Starring Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King, and Lance Gross. In Theaters March 12!



LINK

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Handmade for Haiti

We keep hearing about celebrities donating a million dollars to Haiti relief efforts. I wish our little familia had a million dollars to donate too. But we don't. We have bills, bills, bills.

But we do have art and craft supplies!

Today and tomorrow (Sunday and Monday), we are donating 100% of our Etsy store sales and even what is left of our Yahoo merch to Doctors Without Borders.

Even though daily life can be a struggle, it is nothing compared to what these people are going through right now. I know our crafty donations will be a drop in the bucket, but at least it is something!

NOTE: Other crafty friends of mine are doing the same! Chick out Vickie Howell's fund-raising efforts, as well as Alisa Burke!

Etsy Buy Handmade craftychica

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

REPOST: Michaels

Crafty Chica @ Michaels, Part Two!

More about the new program! It has a little bit of items from the first round - and new designs too! Here is the store list.

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered for the street team, I am so flattered and honored you want to help! I'll be in touch with you this week for details!

If you go into a store, look in the fashion art aisle for the display. It is on the side of an end cap. Today we went into the AZ location (59th and Bell) and looked at every end cap until we found it! And then we jumped up and down and squealed!

It was so hard to choose what to put in the program because there were so many cool things to choose from. The team at iLoveToCreate showed me the reports of what has been selling the best: glitter, flocked iron-ons, markers, totes, Loteria game, appliqués. Actually everything is selling good! Ack, what a dilemma!

I took a deep breath and thought back to a project I made for Creative Home Arts Magazine. I had taken a new flocked iron-on transfer I designed and then applied it to a fedora. I colored in the areas with my Crafty Chica markers, and then applied Glitter Bond and Crafty Chica glitter. It came out so cool. Maya wanted it so bad that I had to make her an exclusive one! I went on to demo this technique for Michaels at the CHA Super Show and the crowd loved the idea too. I'll have a tutorial later this week.

I had my program! Iron. Color. Glitter! I even got to develop my own adhesive – Crafty Chica Extreme Embellishment Fabric Glue!

The Crafty Chica power panel has glitters, glue, and new iron-ons: Glittered milagro hearts, a pink flocked Chihuahua, sugar skulls and more. Even better – each transfer is large AND comes with a second mini-transfer too! You’ll also find charms, appliqués and my mojito papers because people just can’t get enough of those!

And for those of your who do not live by a Michaels store that carries the line – please do not be offended! As long as the items sell in this program, they could go on to be in all stores in a bigger display (that is the glorious vision I have in my head!).

Don’t forget, you can always buy items at iLoveToCreate.com!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Pretty Peso Frame

Do you have a can of old coins hanging around? I did. I used them to make this frame go from blah to bam! By the way, if you ever want to remove the coins undamaged, you can.

What you need:

- Old chunky frame
- Crafty Chica™ Little Chica Paint Packs™
- sandpaper
- assorted old coins
- Liquid Fusion™ Clear Urethane Glue

First you want to take a chunky wood frame and distress it with a meat tenderizer, etc. Choose four-five colors of contrasting acrylic paint colors and apply them TWICE, one, by one, letting each coat dry in between layers. Now use the sandpaper over the whole thing - you want to bring up those different layers of paint colors. Distress the frame more and sand more. Think you are done? Sand again. OK, now glue on the coins. You're done, mama!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

4th Crafty Chica Cruise : SOLD OUT

If you are thinking about going on this year's 4th Annual Crafty Chica Art Cruise we have less than 10 spots left - and the deadline is February 5th (after that, the price goes up).

Thanks to Jim West and the shiny team at ScrapMap.com, all the details are set in place for the 4th Annual Crafty Chica Art Cruise!

Special guest: superstar podcaster and savvy crafter, Sister Diane of CraftyPod.com! She will be reporting from our event and sharing some of her amazing crafty energy!

I took the feedback from the last cruise (yay, we added one more night to the package!) and put together a fun 6-day artsy adventure. Here are all the details!

CALL 1-877-887-1188 TO REGISTER!

Crafty Chica Cruise 2010!

DATE: April 10-15, 2010 (5 nights/6 days)
PORT: San Diego
WHERE: Cabo San Lucas (2 days in town, 2 crafting days at sea)
COST: $663.00 Inside Cabin. $710.00 Window Cabin (based on double occupancy). Discount for roomies who do not want to craft but want to join in all other group festivities.

PACKAGE INCLUDES:
Accommodations on board the Carnival Elation, port charges, all taxes.
All meals, entertainment
Farewell cocktail party
Special totebag and gifts
Art swaps
5 Crafty Chica workshops/1 Mantastic Craft workshop
3 mini workshops ($5 each)
Crafty Chica T-shirt
Prizes
Book reading from Kathy’s new novel
Art technique demos
Mercado night (on the last night, we set up the room as a private art fair - bring your art to sell!)
Surprises galore!

OPTIONAL: Private arts & crafts shopping tour on the second day in Cabo. Info TK.

CLASSES: We will be making a tree of life sculpture, glittered resin collage jewlery, plus others including tin, fabric/sewing, assemblage, paper arts. Theme is always self empowerment, making visual representations of your life goals, and discovering something new about yourself!

TWO SWAPS: 1. Artist Trading Cards to trade on the first night. 2. Secret swap to be exchanged at the closing cocktail party!

DAY OF THE DEAD COMMUNITY ALTAR: We will make and assemble a beautiful altar to celebrate the lives of our loved ones and friends who have passed away. Cruisers are invited to bring or make a small shrine to add to this.

ALL SUPPLIES INCLUDED: We bring more than enough supplies and tools! Students are encouraged (but not required) to bring personal/favorite supplies, scrap fabric, task lamp, trims etc.

CRAFT ROOM PLUS DINING WORK ROOM!: We will have our own 24/7 craft room - AND access to a large dining room during the days with plenty of sunlight, and spacious tables to create on.

Aside from crafting, there will be shopping in Cabo, entertainment, a full casino, a $10 shop, coffee bar, karaoke, Bingo, a spa, (cost is separate).

Returning cruisers $25 discount + $25 off if you bring someone new.

PHOTOS from past cruises! HERE and HERE and HERE.

Itinerary and pricing are subject to change. Some restrictions apply. Space is limited and on a first-come first-served basis. Please read our Terms and Conditions before placing deposit. Prices are per person based on double occupancy. Non-crafter companion rate is $125 less.
Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Craft Super Show: One week away! Freebies!

LINK

	Show Highlights SHOW DATES & HOURS Friday, January 22 - 12:00noon - 8:00pm Saturday, January 23 - 10:00am - 6:00pm TICKET PRICES: $20.00 - 2-Day Pass $15.00 - 1-Day Pass Children Under 10 - FREE CLICK HERE for Ticket Discounts

If you are in the Los Angeles area next weekend, come check out the Craft Super Show at the Anaheim Convention Center! Click here for discount tickets.

I'm way excited because I'll be debuting my new novel at 1 p.m. on Friday, January 22nd and noon on Saturday, the 23rd.

Look for this sign:


The first 50 people to come to the Craft Star Station at 1 p.m., Friday OR noon on Saturday, will receive a FREE advanced reader copy of WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER, and in addition, the first 25 will receive a commemorative handmade bookmark, direct from our art studio!

Aside from that, here is my schedule:

FRIDAY and SATURDAY: iLoveToCreate booth, we'll be making these silk fans.
FRIDAY, 1 PM: Celebrity stage, book reading & signing.
FRIDAY: 6-8 PM, Michaels booth: Silk scarves!

SATURDAY, noon: Celebrity Stage, book reading & signing.
SATURDAY: 3 PM: Love Shrine Workshop, $20.

W1108 - Power of Positivity Love Shrine

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Price: $20.00

Register Now!

SPONSORED BY: iLoveToCreate INSTRUCTOR: Kathy Cano-Murillo Ready to infuse your life with some heartful inspiration? Under the instruction of Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, you will make a vibrant, glittery love shrine dedicated to whatever aspect of your life you want. Whether it is love, career, travel, pets, family, or food - the goal is to make a happy focal point that will always bring a smile to your face. All supplies are included, but students are encouraged to bring personal pictures and mementos. Kathy will also share her favorite ideas for turning dreams and ideas into reality! Level of Difficulty: Beginner Additional Supplies Needed: Optional: Personal photos and mementos Workshop Category: Indie-Crafting

Sunday-Wednesday is the CHA industry show. you can find me inthe iLoveToCreate booth showing off the new Tulip Graffiti line! Tuesday at 3, I'll be in the Potter Craft booth showing projects from my sewing book!

Come on out!


Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

INSPIRATION FRIDAY: Connecting With Your Alter Ego

You were once there. You had it all – awesome twists to the game. Genius, innovative ideas that flowed as smooth as a Greenwich Village poet at a peace rally.

But then it all stopped, and now you’re freaking. Newsflash – this kind of stuff happens to everyone: musicians, painters, your kid’s fourth grade teacher and even high rise office managers. Our creativity fountain clogs up like the tip of a bottle of liquid squeeze glitter. Your game isn’t called out, so relax already.

In order to get back on track, you have to go back to that bottle of squeeze glitter. The only way to free it up is to remove the lid, turn it upside down and poke the gucky stuff out of the top of the hole with a pin. The creative process works the same way. You have to go the opposite route to purge out the guck.

I call it connecting with your alter ego. The side of you that rarely gets attention. First of all, ditch those first instincts, they have no use here. Now, take your middle name and become a new person! Jot down personality traits about this person - things that you secretly yearn for (or have always wanted to try), but aren’t practicall. Maybe they don’t work for the current you, but they will work for your alter ego. Once you can get in that mindset of a different person, the world, as you know it will change.

Spend one day as the new you. Look at the spectrum of your life - one day is not a big deal. And it’s not like you have to strut down the street like Jan Brady in that big Afro wig. Just keep the image in your mind. Practice the thoughts and ideas this person would have – see the world from their point of view. I betcha a million flat-back crystals you’ll discover new meanings, notice new types of designs, maybe even hook up with some new pals.

Once you allow yourself to connect with your alter ego, here are five ways to make the most of it. Before you start this exercise, take a journal with you, so you can jot down all the magnificent treasures you come across. When you are finished, you’ll see how you’ve unclogged the stale guck that was holding you back!

1. Make a collage or shadow box dedicated to your alter ego. Gather up magazine photos, phrases and pictures of you. Grab a piece of construction paper and a glue stick and go to town. If you’re a scrapper – perfecto! Make a spread based on it. Hang your finished collage or shadow box up so you can look at it the next time you feel like you are in a slump.

2. Once you know about this person, do things they would do. Go see a movie you normally wouldn’t go to. Visit a record store and listen to all the discs that you would normally overlook. Watch TV shows the normal you would snub. You’ll be surprised at how many entertaining angles you’ve been missing out on.

3. Act the opposite of the normal you. If you are a chatter cheerleader, keep quiet and reflect - take a yoga class for a day. If you are an exercise freak, go lay in the grass at the park and just do nothing but feel the softness of the lawn against your body and stare up at the clouds. If you’re a homebody, go read a book at a coffeehouse, or join a conversation group there. Better yet, go check out a live band – support your city’s local music scene!

4. Keep track of what emotions you feel. What made you gasp? What made you say, “Awwwww…” Why did they make you feel that way? These kinds of thoughts will come in handy next time you are art your art table and thinking “Hmmm. What should I make, what should I theme it around?” You can say, “Hey! I know! I’ll make a fairy sculpture from polymer clay in honor of that weird psychic lady I met at the bookstore!”

5. Have an alter ego party with your friends. Use Step One as the foundation. Everyone meets at one place and bring crafty supplies. Try to keep the collages secret from each other until the end of the meeting. Have one person hold them up, one at a time, and have people guess which alter ego belongs to which person.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Painted Suitcase

I painted this suitcase in June 2007 and it is still holding cup strong!

I photo blogged about my suitcase recently and how it stood out in a sea of bland bags. Seriously, this is a GREAT idea. Recently I had to change flights minutes before departure. The attendant had to call the luggage people to retrieve my bag.

What does it look like? she asked me.

It's purple! And covered with paint and glitter! I replied.

She speaks into the phone receiver to the luggage person: It's purple and has glitter... and then she looks up at me and says They found it!

See? It also is perfect for when you are waiting for your bag to come out of the conveyor contraption. You will be able to spot it right away!

Not only that, but traveling is about letting loose and relaxing, so why not add that bouncy energy to your wheelie wares? It doesn't mean you have to go all funkadelic on your Samsonite, but you at least could take a rubber stamp to it. If you have a red suitcase, imagine how cute shiny white polka dots or swirlies would look all over it? Or maybe the names of your favorite cities around the world.

If you want to give this idea a try, but don't want to touch your pristine designer set, visit a local thrift store and pick up a small carry-on bag for those little excursions. This is also a wonderful project for kids to take on to help burn off pre-trip excitement.

I also added Crafty Chica varnish to the painted areas, and accented everything with a Tulip Crystal Icycle 3D Fashion Paint. To top it ALL off - I sprtized the whole thing with Tulip Glitter Spray.

Here is a crafty chica secret: If you want to add a layer of sparkles to your paint projects - Tulips "Crystal" line does the trick. I usually use Icicle, which dries clear, but if you use other shades, it will dry with just a hint of color - plus the sparkles, of course. You just squeeze some out and rub it (or brush) it on over the painted surface. Argh, it kills me to give up these little tricks, but oh well, if it works for you and makes you happy - it makes me happy too. Besides, there are lots of other Crystal crafty secrets in my bag of tricks, but I'll share those another time...

Painted Suitcase

Supplies
1 soft suitcase, preferably with a fabric covering
1 roll of blue painter's tape
Assorted brushes
1 bottle of water-based white craft paint to be used as a base coat
Assorted water-based craft paints

Optional: Fabric images and fabric adhesive, foam stamps, stencils, patches

1 bottle of water-based polyurethane varnish

Directions: Tape off the areas that you do not want to get paint on. Using a wide paintbrush, cover the suitcase with a coat of the white paint. If you are going to be painting it red, or another strong color, mix a bit of that color with the white. Let dry.

Brush on the desired paint color all over the suitcase. Let dry. If you want to add fabric images, brush on a layer of fabric adhesive and affix to the surface, let dry.

Otherwise, add painted accents using paintbrushes, stencils, stamps or anything else you might want. Let dry. Brush on a layer of varnish, let dry and repeat. Remove the tape. Let your freshly painted suitcase air out in your garage for a few days before you take it on vacation.

Variations: Before you add the varnish, brush on a layer of water-based glitter varnish for a sparkly sheen.

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Featured item: Silk Scarf!

CLICK HERE TO SEE LISTING

This is from our new "Halfway Handmade" collection. This scarf has Dia de los Muertos scenes that Patrick drew on it with a black Crafty Chica permanent fabric marker. You can wear the scarf, or cut it and use it in your personal fabric collages. This scarf measures 8 x 54" and is made from Habotai silk. You can dye it or color it any way you like! All you have to do is continue coloring with your own Crafty Chica fabric markers!

Here is one I made recently so you can see how vibrant it looks once you are done!:

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!

Guest blogger: Swell Designer!

J'adore Junk Earrings
with Guest Blogger Alexa Westerfield

Hey y'all! It's Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner from the Swell Life guest blogging today!! Valentine's is right around the corner and I wanted to get a head start on my crafting, so I made some funky and chunky earrings for the occasion!! If you have visited my blog in the past couple of weeks, you may have seen my Make a Modern Statement Ring. Well, I took that same technique and made these bold earrings! The cool thing about them is that they really can be made with jewelry junk and left over trinkets and supplies!! And I'm kinda addicted. I love making these little collages and spray painting them!!! What can I say? I have fallen in love with spray paint all over again! Anyway, here are the instructions, I hope you LOVE making these fun earrings as much as I did.

J'adore Junk Earrings

Supplies
– Capiz shells w/ drilled holes (I purchased mine at Michaels)
– Plastic pearly hearts (also purchased at Michaels)
– random jewelry findings, jump rings, spacers, rhinestones, etc.
– Liquid Fusion glue
– toothpick
– red glossy spray paint
– clear spray sealer
– 2 ear wires
– round nose pliers
– paper plate
– newspaper or cardboard surface
– tweezers
– camera phone or digital camera

Instructions
1. On a flat surface lay out your wooden disk and various findings. Play around with shapes and combinations until desired collage look is achieved. At this point, I took a picture so that I could go back to this arrangement later.
2. Lay out your various findings and disk onto cardboard, laying flat.

3. Prepare area outside or in well ventilated area for spray painting. Following spray paint directions, apply several coats, letting dry in between each application. Make sure to also flip and paint other side as well. Don't overspray...this may cause puddling on your surfaces.
4. Review your composition on your camera and start reconstructing your arrangement. I applied a little dab of glue to the backs of each finding and placed it onto my wood blank. Depending on how picky you are, you may want to use a toothpick to apply Liquid Fusion or arrange your findings using tweezers. Let dry thoroughly.


5. At this point, I actually sprayed another coat or two of spray all over the piece. I then coated it with a shiny spray sealer.

6. Open and close jump rings with pliers and add to capiz shells. Open and hook ear wires to each jump ring and close.

7. Yay! You now have a really cool pair of earrings not just for Valentine's, but something to wear year round! Every pair is totally different and unique!


Thanks Kathy for letting me share my project on your blog and for inspiring all of us crafty folks on a daily basis!!!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. "Swelldesigner" is a graphic designer at iLoveToCreate by day and a swell, crafty lady by night. She loves being creative in all ways, from photography and jewelrymaking, to trendspotting and blogging. Connect with her on her Swell Life blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr!

Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!