Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Candy Dots



Here I am getting my mojo back!  I love when I am able to spend time doing all things crafty.  I was going through some of my stuff and I realized I have a lot of enamel dots.  I have paid a lot of monies for those dots.  Then I had a thought how hard can they be to make?  Well the answer is NOT HARD AT ALL!  I found these great little beads at Michael's and imagine my surprise when I discovered that these little beads that my kids played with when they were small were going to work so well, and they were made my EK Success. *if you don't know this EK has been around forever, and make many products for scrapbookers!*

Here is what I did.  

Pre-Heat your oven to 400 degrees. NOTE be sure it is preheated!

Collect these items: 
Perler beads (buy at Michaels or other craft store or even AMAZON.  (<-- The link will take you to 11,000 perler beads for $10) Pony beads work but they are much bigger.  

Parchment paper and a baking sheet

NOW  simply set them up on the parchment lined baking sheet.  (Don't lay them on the side-- well you can, but they don't come out round but more like a tic-tac) 

TIP: Be sure to leave space so the beads are not too close together, if they are, they will of course melt together and that's a bummer.   
Carefully place them in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.  
Now a fun thing is to buy the striped beads... look how cool they come out
   
Here is the size they are, if you use pony beads they will be larger but these little gems are perfect for my paper art! 
Attach these with a mini glue dot.

Well I hope you get a chance to try this little idea, I have been very happy with the results! 

Friday, December 19, 2014

Its a Zen-Thang



Again!  I admit it!  School absorbs me.  Finally I am off class and will not be back in the classroom next semester.  I am going to try and spend more time on my blog and my creativity. The last semester in school taught me something very valuable.  I need to create.  I hate getting lost.  That is how it felt.  Sixteen weeks of NO and I mean NO creativity. It almost killed me.  I was sad, depressed angry and just not happy. I began to obsess over my grades and overall became consumed.  I don't like that side of me.  

Tonight I am awake. It is 1:35am and I am writing this post and not sleeping.  I started zenthangling a few hours ago and I had some realizations.  I need to create. It really is a part of my make-up. Some kind of creativity... scrapbooking, writing,  quilting, crocheting (which I am still terrible at), drawing, painting, zenthangling or something else I must create to be happy. It is a nice place when one discovers and admits the importance of creating.  I did tonight. I long for it. 

 For weeks I studied and suffered. I love school. I love learning, but I need to create.  Did I say that already?  Hear me my fellow creative souls, don't stop.  It will eat away at you.  It is okay to want to create something beautiful.  A pretty scrapbook layout, a lovely story, a carefully planned quilt.. it is a part of you. I for one appreciate the beauty that you make.  Don't stop, life will forever attempt to get in the way of the creative process, promise yourself heck promise me you will find balance and continue to make the whispering of your spirit!  Your talents are valuable and perfect!  
This is what I love about Zenthangling, it allows you to just create and think. 

Keep creating friends!  
xoxo 
e