Stickers!

I have always had an interestingly deep fondness of stickers! However, all the fancy stickers at craft stores were quite expensive. So, I decided to try my hand at creating my own! Here's Go Brushes' first ever craft video! Yay! Hope you enjoy!

Stamping

Many rubber-stamp creating techniques require you to carve "negative" spaces out on your eraser's surface using a carver. This process can be very difficult and time consuming- especially when you have to carve out all the details! Luckily, I came across an idea on how to make much faster stamps.

Ingrediants

• Craft knife
• 1 Standard Pink Pearl Eraser
• Eraser Carver (Optional)
• Hot Glue
• Markers

1. Slice the eraser into 4 equal slabs across the side.
2. Separate the parts with the pre-made smooth surface and the ones cut from the middle of the eraser.
3. The middle parts will be used as a base for the stamps. (You can make 2.) The outside slabs will be what you will use to make the stamp images from. Separately, you can now cut the main shape of the entire desired stamp image. (Ex: if you want to create a grape image, just cut the outline of it.)
4. Using the eraser carver, you can now go ahead and carve in the details. You can also use the knife for this step, too, of course.
5. Hot glue the finished image onto an inside eraser slab- be sure to press the image on top of the glue firmly before it dries. I used hot glue because, it creates a strong bond, but you can use other types of liquid adhesives, too,
6. Fill the image with marker inks, and stamp!

Tips-

*Draw an image in graphite on a thin paper. Then rub it on top of the eraser part you need to cut to help you see where you'll need to cut. You shouldn't draw the image directly on the eraser b/c it'll come out in reverse when you stamp with it!

*Having a very sharp blade helps with smooth cutting.

*I like using markers instead of traditional stamping inks because, its cheaper and it being a marker and all, I can easily direct specific colors to specific parts of a stamp!

On Play Dough

I have found that using colored play dough is simply the better option when creating figurines. It sells for about a dollar at Walmart for a container of about 3 oz.- cheaper compared to clay. Plus, it can be air dried, so you don't have to buy a super expensive kiln!  Here are a few extra tips and info on using Play Dough...

• It takes 3 days to dry about 2-3 gumballs of Play Dough
• When dried, there will be a kind of salt-like texture to the surface of your works; just paint a layer of clear glue to make the texture glossier and smoother!

• Play Dough is much softer than clay.

Stay tuned for more ideas on using play dough! See you next post, and have an awesome day!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom's birthday's coming up, and I decided to make her this super adorable card! It was inspired and adapted from a Mother's Day card found in Paper Crafts magazine! I used the flowery black paper from Colorbox, and trimmed the edges a bit with those special edged scissros (I forgot what they're called). Then, I cut a pink paper ribbon out, and glued it near the left. Then, using transparent, rose colored paper, I cut a strip at about the same length and width as the paper ribbon, folded it in half, and glued it in the middle of the ribbon. The cute nametag was a lace- edged lager hot pink circle under a white circle with "Mom" written across it. Now, for the ribbon flower to finish the card off! First, cut a strip of the transparent rose paper a bit smaller in width than the other two strips of paper (eyeball the width). Cut a short length, and fold both ends towards the center. Tape this down. Repeat this step- each time almost doubling the length of the paper strips, and tape them in criss-cross  patterns below each other. I wrote a sweet sentiment on the inside afterwards. Happy Birthady, Mom! Well, thanks for reading my second post- see you next time, and have a tremendous day!

Welcome to Go Brushes!

Welcome to Go Brushes, the super awesome place where you can go to to find inspiration, tips, and recommendations for fun craft projects! Each week, I'll try to share at least one project I've finished, tips on crafting, essential tools, challenges, or add links to amazing craft blogs or websites! See you next post! Have a creative day!