Brenda Walton

Weekend Crafting

Earlier this spring, I had the wonderful pleasure of crafting with five very talented friends, for four days straight! It was an amazing, exhilarating, and often hilarious experience to create with artists Dena Fishbein, Anne Keenan Higgins, Cynthia Hegedus, Melissa Neufeld and Kathleen Francour. 

Our crafting retreats are a tradition that began more than a decade ago, and we always look forward to this very special time together. Each of us prepares a project and brings any unique supplies needed to complete it. A recent article featured in Where Women Create provides details on how our retreats began and how we organize them.

Our first project was a cloche, which looks like a vintage glass bell jar. It’s a wonderful way to showcase little treasures found at flea markets, or handmade miniatures up to almost 2.5" tall. What a sweet and special gift for a friend’s birthday, baby shower or thank you!

The original idea for this project came from Ashlee Park, whose delightful Spring Cloche creations and how-to were featured in the Spring 2013 issue of the online magazine, Inspired Ideas. In the article, Ashlee details how she used an acrylic wine glass (with the stem removed) for the dome.

We added some height and elegance to our cloches with pedestals that we made with my new Mini Cupcake Stand die for Sizzix. With a little cardstock, decorative papers and some glue, we put these together really quickly.

Anne used DAS air dry clay to make a sweet little birdie. When it was dry, she painted it using acrylics and sealed it with clear nail polish. Then she foraged in the garden for some moss and twigs and made this darling spring vignette.

Dena created a series of adorable air dry clay dogs inspired by her own sweet pups...

When our sculptures were complete, we let them air dry for 24 hours before painting them.

Kathleen’s elegant cloche features a miniature three-tiered birthday cake made with decorative papers, and embellished with vintage millinery flowers and metallic Dresden trims. 

More to come...so please check back soon for more projects from our crafting weekend!

CHA Winter 2014 ~ Sizzix Display

Doug and I just returned from the annual Craft and Hobby Show in Anaheim, where we introduced the newest additions to my line of dies for Sizzix. 

Although CHA only lasts five days, we’ve been working for several months with Sizzix art directors Cara Mariano and Beth Reames, set builder Marty Graff, designer Anna Pasquale and stylist Lauryl Lane; sketching ideas, creating examples using the new dies, and antique shopping for props.

The theme of this year’s whimsical display was magical fairy forest, with real birch branches overhead, vintage floral wallpaper, miniature handmade mushrooms in moss, little birds and nests, brightly colored pendants, floral wreaths, and tiny white LED lights intertwined everywhere.

Doug re-purposed an old oval mirror for the signage by replacing the glass with a chalkboard. I added my logo using a custom stencil made with the Eclipse die cutter, and used acrylics to paint the border roses freehand.

This year's CHA release presents eight new dies including several beautiful large flowers and leaves, a vertical pendant, butterfly gift card, cupcake stand and new embossing folder designs. Fortunately for me, May Flaum was there at the show to capture all the details with her lovely photography. Thanks, May!

The vertical Heart Pendant is really stunning and easy to assemble. It includes sweet icons like flowers, hearts and butterflies. I’m thinking it would look great suspended over a baby’s crib.

 

The eight new dies all coordinate beautifully with my previous Sizzix dies. The dozens of hand crafted examples show how well they all work together. 

 

These sweet little candy boxes are made using the Shadowbox die from my last collection. We taped a piece of 5 ml acetate to the inside of the windows, wrapped colorful seam binding ribbon around them and added some mini rick rack and vintage millinery flowers. Voila! An adorable Easter party favor.

The wreath features three lovely new flower dies: Gerbera Daisy, Camellia and Lotus. To bring in some textural interest, we used a variety of different types of papers: scrapbooking paper, gift wrap, dip-dyed coffee filters, tissue paper, crepe paper, and vintage book pages. The flower centers were made from pom poms, which were hot glued to floral wire, dipped in white glue and then glittered. After they were dry, we layered the individual flower parts onto the wire. We made about fifty flowers for this wreath, and it came together surprisingly quickly!

The Teacup die was used to feature a hand painted technique. We found some inexpensive white tagboard (available at any drug store or dollar store) and die cut the pieces. After assembling, we painted the cups with three coats of white gesso. Next, I painted them with acrylics and used a fine point felt pen for some of the details. The last step was a very thin wash of raw umber stain, to create an aged appearance.

The little cottages were made using the Country Cottage die. I really enjoy the versatility of this die. By changing the colors and materials used, it's perfect for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, birthday or baby. The house is designed to hinge open from the back, so a small tea light can be added. We used a wood paper to create this example, and added bits of twigs and moss for a woodland feel.

The roof of this house is made of heavy card stock with a doily spray-glued to it and then coated generously with clear glitter.

Finding all the antiques for this display was so much fun! Fortunately, we live close to the amazing Alameda Antique Faire (first Sunday of every month), which is the ideal spot to hunt for all kinds of irresistible vintage treasures, like old wooden frames, bell jars, vintage documents, woven baskets and (semi-functional) chandeliers. It’s amazing how much stuff can fit into one station wagon!

I am very grateful for the loving hands that helped to make my Winter CHA display a reality. Many thanks to the amazing and talented staff at Sizzix. You make a great team!

The newest additions to my Favorite Things Collection will be in stores in March. In the meantime, I’ll be busy designing my next collection!

Lettering Workshop at French General

I first studied calligraphy during college, and I’m still just as passionate about it today. There’s something so calming and delightful about writing beautiful letters, and so exciting about receiving an elegantly addressed envelope in the mail!

My January Lovely Letters Workshop during French General's annual Art of Craft event in Los Angeles is almost full, and I’m really looking forward to it!

If you’ve always wanted to learn the art of hand lettering, check out the workshop description and reserve a spot. It’s the perfect holiday gift for a close friend (or for yourself!). We’ll learn the basic strokes to create beautiful, contemporary letterforms, perfect for writing special thank you notes, place cards, and invitations. We’ll also create miniature personalized cards and envelopes, using dies I designed for Sizzix.

I hope to see you there on Saturday, January 11, 2014!

Festive Holiday Lettering

My talented designer friend Anna Pasquale recently asked me to do some flourished chalkboard lettering for use in her photo shoot for Raley’s Something Extra Holiday Magazine.

We only had about half an hour to complete the project, so I didn’t have time to plan or create a sketch. I sat down on the floor with the chalkboards and did the lettering freehand. The ephemeral nature of the medium can be intimidating; one wrong move, and the work is gone! But I suppose that’s what makes drawing on a chalkboard so exciting and fun.

If you'd lke to create something similar on a chalkboard or canvas, first sketch the design on tracing paper and transfer it to the chalkboard using Saral Transfer Paper. My friend Amy Powers explains the easy step-by-step process, including how to preserve the work, to make a delightful personalized keepsake for newlyweds. 

New Holiday Rubber Stamps

Here in Northern California, the air is turning crisp and cool, and at last it’s beginning to genuinely feel like the holidays are near. I’m starting to think about upcoming celebrations and family gatherings, holiday correspondence and gift ideas. It’s a busy but wonderful time of year offering many opportunities for adding a handcrafted touch to everything!

A shipment of my new Christmas rubber stamps from Inkadinkado just arrived on our doorstep, and I was so excited to do some crafting with them. Here are some of the results...

This large-scale Christmas Postcard stamp (3.5 x 5”) was inspired by Victorian correspondence. I wanted to add lots of soft color, so I did a little spot inking using ColorBox Pigment Brush Pads (red, green, gold and blue). Then I used a Quickie Glue Pen and fine glitter to add some delicate sparkle to the border, tree and holly.

 

The medallion (left) was made using the Seasons Greetings Postmark stamp, and makes a festive focal point for a gift topper. The card (right) uses the Christmas Wishes stamp in gold ink, with red and gold glitter highlights. A few adhesive gems and pearls add three-dimensional sparkly fun.

 

I used black Versacolor ink to stamp Celebrate the Season on this muslin bag. I really like the vintage effect of stamping on fabric, and I was delighted to see such a crisp impression. (Regular inks are fine for fabric that won’t be washed). This technique works best on finely woven fabrics.

 

The Special Delivery tag makes it easy to add a handmade touch to every gift. Since this gift was wrapped in faux birch paper, I wanted a chalkboard look for the tag, so I used Versamark ink and Opaque White Embossing Powder. I really like the rustic look it adds to the package.

 

 

 

The six individual stamps, including the Dear Santa Letter stamp (lower left) are available online and at craft stores nationwide. These high quality wood mounted stamps, made by Inkadinkado, are easy to use and (with proper care) will last a very long time. They capture a remarkable amount of detail in every impression. Happy Holiday crafting!