More bling & a bonus tutorial!

Jessica brought us the first blog entry, Monday, which kicked off bling week. Again, with her charm and wit; with her beautiful blue sequin gown, hunky date and blue dyed shoes to match that smokin' hot dress. Well, you have MET YOUR MATCH, Miss Jessica! bwahaha!
I was stylin' my smokin' hot dress back in 1988! The middle of the glam rock era... Aqua Net hair spray and just all around fashionable times! (ha!) Notice the tamed down hoola hoop Bob haircut, white pantyhose and MY blue DYED shoes! Unfortunately, you can't see the blue shimmery substance around the waist, and the blinged out decorative flowers on the bust of my dress. If I'm not mistaken, our dresses may have been within the same blue color family. So I ask our readers to join in and say it with me... 'Jess, you blue sequined goddess, embrace your inner bling'.
(Oh, and my husband would also like to go on record that the young man in the photo is not him.)

Enough of the nightmare flashbacks from the late 80's...we have some current bling that you will love! Today's projects are from Miki, Sherry and Linda. Miki 'blings up' the end of this blog entry with a glam-rockin' tutorial on making your own Bangle Bracelets!

To note: The black/white background is created by painting black paper with white paint and then stamping the vine stamp over that.

Thank You card
By Linda Beeson
Materials:
Cardstock – WORLDWIN Papers/Deep Black and Crafty Brown/Treasures, WORLDWIN Papers/Berry Red/DoubleMates
Rhinestone swirls and little flower – Prima
Paint – Apple Barrel/PlaidBackground
Stamp – Cornish Heritage Farms
Black stamp pad - Stazon

First Steps Layout
By Sherry Wright
Materials:
Cardstock: Prism cardstock
Felt & Accents: Queen & Company felt, brads, and jewels
Stickers: American Crafts thickers
Adhesive: Zip dry adhesive by Beacon

Wooden Bangle Bracelets tutorial and images
By Miki Benedict

Make some bling just for yourself (or a friend!) using unfinished wooden bangles. After experimenting a bit, I found that quite a few of my scrapbook supplies could be used on them. In fact, I had so many ideas with the supplies that I already had on-hand, I wish I had purchased more bangles from http://www.diybangles.com/!

The first one I kept simple by only inking and adding flowers.

I simply inked with the Distress Walnut Stain using my blending foam. I kept adding layers until I liked the color of the bangle. Then I sprayed it with a few layers of acrylic gloss sealer, following the directions on the can. I let it dry for quite a few hours (it was hot here, so I wanted to make sure it dried thoroughly) before adhering the flowers & their centers.

Supplies:Wooden Bangles: www.diybangles.com Ink: Ranger Distress Walnut Stain Flowers: Prima Calypso Accent: Carolee’s Creations Jewel Droplets Adhesive: Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry Sealer: Plaid Clear Acrylic Gloss Tools: Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam

This one I was a bit more daring and used rub-ons for a decoration.

I found that smaller sized rub ons were easier to handle and that using a bit of scotch tape helped to hold it in place while I rubbed. Make sure they are all rubbed on really, really good! Once I had all the rub ons that I wanted, I went over the bangle with the Distress Shabby Shutters using my blending foam again. Then I sprayed on the same sealer as I used above. I have no idea how long the rub ons will last, but the sealer seemed to do a good job.

Supplies: Wooden Bangles: www.diybangles.com Ink: Ranger Distress Shabby Shutters Rub-Ons: Basic Grey Fall Leaves Sealer: Plaid Clear Acrylic Gloss Tools: Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam

The last one I did I used some stamps.

First, I painted it with Twinkling H2O Ocean Wave. I kept misting my jar until it was the right consistency and then I painted it on with a paintbrush. It took quite a few mists of water to get the whole bangle completed, but it was worth it. The color is really pretty in real life! Once it was dry, I stamped on some swirls using StazOn ink. The easiest way to do this is to ink the stamp, set it on your table (inked stamp up) and then roll your bangle over it. That way the stamp follows the curve of your bracelet easier. After the ink dried, I lightly sanded in a few random spots giving the stamps and paint a bit of distressing. Then I used a makeup sponge and lightly inked the bangle with some StazOn. Finally, I finished off with the sealer again.

Supplies Used: Wooden Bangles: www.diybangles.com Ink: Tsukineko StazOn Black Watercolor paint: LuminArte Twinkling H2O Ocean Wave Stamps: Scrappy Cat Designer Flourishes Sealer: Plaid Clear Acrylic Gloss Tools: water spritzer, paintbrush, makeup sponge, sand paper

And Jess will be back on Friday with even more bling! Remember to embrace your inner bling!
-Stace