Masked Ball - By Barb Black

IMAGINE Crafts and RubberMoon Art Stamps are excited to share with you the amazing projects that our design teams have created to kick off the Holiday Season! Over the next few days, we'll be sharing with you inspiration and techniques using IMAGINE Crafts' line of ink products featuring rubber stamps from RubberMoon. Be sure to visit the IMAGINE Crafts and RubberMoon blogs daily for more projects and ideas!

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I've been playing with masks, Rubbermoon stamps, and IMAGINE Crafts products and some Gina's Designs laser cuts... and I've been having a ball!

It all started in October when I bought some inexpensive paper pulp masks. It so happened that they arrived right around the same time as a whole bunch of goodies from the above-mentioned companies. I dove in and only emerged when I was told that it was time for dinner.

For this one, I began by painting the mask with a sponge using dark blue, purple, and black acrylic paint. 

Once dry, I stamped stars all over it using Rubbermoon's star stamp from the Dust Collection set and Silvery Shimmer Delicata ink. I wasn't sure I needed another metallic inkpad, but, wow! The Delicata metallics really stand out and I love them.

After the ink dried completely, I drew in some light "veins" (for lack of a better word) with Black Diamond Stickles. I drew on eyelashes with Diamond Stickles. 

I gave the "cheeks" a few spritzes of IMAGINE Craft's Sheer Shimmer Spritz in silver. Then I glued on some rhinestones that I've been hoarding for a few years.

For this next mask, I was itching to go all steampunk with some of Gina's Designs Texture Sheet Gears.

I began by sponging metallic copper acrylic paint all over the sheet of gears.

I let it dry slightly and sprayed it with IMAGINE Craft's irRESISTible in bronze. IMAGINE Craft's irRESISTible sprays stay beaded up for texture. In this case, it makes it look like the gears were victim to an oil leak. Pretty cool, huh?!

I set the gears aside to dry and went to work on the mask. I began by spraying the blank mask all over with IMAGINE Craft's Sheer Shimmer Spritz in silver. 

I used Tim Holtz masks and sponged on thin copper and gold acrylic paint for some of the gears.

I outlined the eyes with Black Diamond Stickles and made little metallic beads with Copper Liquid Pearls.

I cut out the gears to fit the face and glued them on. Once they were in place, I filled some of the holes with IMAGINE Crafts Pico Embellisher in black, and with a few rhinestones.

After playing a little with the IMAGINE Crafts Pico Embellisher, I decided to go a little crazy with it. So, I did another butterfly mask.

For this one, I sponge-painted the mask with various shades of yellow and orange. Then I sprayed it liberally with IMAGINE Craft's Sheer Shimmer Spritz in gold. 

Once it was dry, I doodled all over the lower half and drew "veins" on the top half using IMAGINE Craft's Pico Embellisher in both black and white. I also outlined the entire piece with the Pico Embellisher. 

I added dabs of other colors using Liquid Pearls.

Again, I finished it off by gluing some rhinestones in place.

I hope you've had as much fun looking at these as I had making them. To see other projects I've done, please check out my blog at In the Studio with Barb. Thanks!

A Cloth Frida Pin

Hi Lovelies!  Let me introduce myself, in case you don't know who I am.  I am mischievous Maggie Barbour and I'm a mixed media artist.  I have been making things since I was a tiny girl, when my momma taught me to sew a button onto cloth at the age of three.  I LOVE all mediums and flit from one thing to the next, often incorporating mediums together.  

Other things about me?  I play the mandolin and love all music, but especially bluegrass.  I have three rescued chihuahuas and a fat min-pin, five hens, and a cross eyed cat named Cricket.  I love to garden, so excuse the condition of my hands in the photos on this tutorial.  

My tutorial is on how to make a Frida Folk Art Pin, using RubberMoon's Frida Stamp, because I love all things Frida!  So let's get to it!

Frida Pin

Supplies:

Muslin (size depends on the size stamp you use or size of pin you want to make)—cut 2 the same size

Scrap piece of print fabric, or solid color (same size as your muslin)

Needle and embroidery thread

Staz-On stamp pad

Colored pencils, I used Prisma Colored Pencils

RubberMoon Stamp

Pin back

Scissors

Supplies I used to make the pin.

 

Finished Pin Front

 

Finished Pin Back

 Using Staz-On stamp pad, get your stamp good and inky!  My stamp pad was a little dry, so my image wasn't as crisp as it could have been.

Stamp image on muslin.

Cut stamped image piece, MAKING SURE you leave an EXTRA ¼ of an inch all the way around to be folded over later and stitched down.  You can just eyeball it, this isn't rocket science--tee hee!  

Cut an extra layer of muslin the same size.

Cut print fabric the same size.

Color image with colored pencils.  After coloring, I blend the hard edges of coloring with a white Prisma colored pencil.  If you color over the stamped lines, you may want to use a fine tip permanent marker to go over some of the stamped lines that may have gotten covered by colored pencil too much.

Lay your print fabric WRONG side up.  

Put the plain piece of muslin on top of the wrong side up layer.

Lay your stamped and colored piece “pretty side up.”

Get your needle threaded with the embroidery thread and make a knot.  Fold the edge of your choice over about ¼ of an inch over the top of your stamped layer.  This is what helps make the “frame” around the pin.  The layers make a nice little edge to stitch around.  

I let my knots show, and the raw edges of fabric, and intentionally made my stitches messy to give it a folk art look.  I like color, so I changed colors of thread as I went.   Just whip those stitches around the edges!   If you are a tidy person that can’t stand that look, hide them on the backside.  Or if you know how to do a blanket edge stitch, you could do that, instead.  

Continue folding the fabric over as you go and keep on whip stitching.  You might have to take a few extra stitches on the corners.

Sew a pin back on to the back of the finished piece (you can get them at just about any arts and crafts store, Wal-mart, Joanne’s, Hancock’s.  Heck, even some dollar stores carry them).  

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Wear your new pin!  And when people ask where you got it, tell them you bought the stamp from RUBBERMOON, made it YOURSELF, and there is a tutorial on how they can make one for themselves!

Also, imagine the possibilities if you did some beading on this little pin!  Or if you hung some dangly bits of trims and fibers!  Or…ooo…ooo!  Or added little charms or buttons!!!   Or sewed or glued lace around it!   I get so excited!!!   Oooo!  They could also be hung on a necklace chain or sewn to a ribbon to become a cool choker!  They could be sewn or glued on to an art bag or hat!  

Have fun!

Love, Mischievous Maggie Barbour