I am alive and well and I'm happy to say that I survived living on a cruise ship for eight whole days. I never did acquire those sea legs everyone kept talking about, though! Fresh air was my best friend on this trip.
So were my daily piña coladas.
Ahem.
I met so many amazing people and we had plenty of adventures happen on the
Crafty Chica Cruise 2012. I thought I would share all of the cool projects and techniques I learned over the next few weeks. I was a little out of my element as I delved into the world of rhinestones, glitter,
shrines, milagros,
resin, DIY silkscreening,
Decoden, dye cut machines and
fabric, all guided by the lovely
Kathy Cano-Murillo. But I dove in headfirst because that is the type of chica I am. I'm so glad I did because I learned so many things that just blew the roof off my artistic mind! My creative juices are flowing. Abundantly!
One of the first projects we worked on were
DIY Bangles. Simple, unfinished wooden bracelets in various sizes and shapes. They were the perfect blank canvas to make something amazing and unique. The possibilities are limitless--I saw artists using fabric scraps, paint, glitter, markers, you name it.
My poison was markers. Specifically, Tulip's fabric markers. I know the surface was not fabric, but all the amazing colors that came in the set made me do it--they were so rich and bright. Don't judge me! I couldn't help myself--and hey, I was on a cruise ship, away from my vast collection of non-fabric markers at home. But seriously, these Tulip markers did not disappoint. I'm also working on another pair of TOMS using these same Tulip fabric markers which I am dying to share!
But anyhow, about these really cool bangle bracelets...
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| Getting started. |
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| It helps to have a hot man to look at from across the table occasionally. |
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| I didn't make any preliminary sketches, I just created some organic shapes and created several small patterns. |
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| I like to incorporate natural shapes as well as geometric shapes. |
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| Love the hearts. |
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| Oh la la. |
Once I finished the design, I applied a generous coat of glossy
Collage Pauge. This sealed my artwork and gave the bangle bracelet a nice shine to it. I'm so impressed with myself, since this is the extent of my "jewelry-making" thus far. This would be a fun project for a girl's birthday party or craft group. Oh, and it would make an amazing Mother's Day gift, too, don't you think? So simple and you can make it as unique as you are.
