May 7th, 2014

Vintage baby block

With Mother’s Day a few days away and my daughter only a couple weeks away from becoming a mom herself, I wanted to create a vintage baby block for her. My daughter loved her baby bonnets and wants me to make them for the little one on the way. She also has a favorite childhood teddy bear, so I made sure to include that in my design.

You will need:
5” Smoothfoam cube
2 sheets Quilt Attitude Inkjet Film
Vintage images (copyright-free)
Kunin Craft Cuts Felt – 3 shts Classic Pink, 2 shts white adhesive Prestofelt
2 yards ribbon
2 paper flowers
3” lace doily
3 buttons
16 brads or small buttons
Adhesive pearls
1 wood skewer
Scissors, ruler, rotary cutter
Inkjet printer, glue gun

1. Choose your vintage imagery (scan your own or use this site that I like) and print it out on a Quilt Attitude film sheet, following manufacturer’s instructions. Use 4″ square images for the cube and fussy-cut images for the top. Remember to print directional images in reverse. Allow the ink to dry, then cut the images out of the sheets, keeping the liner in tact.

2. Cut six 5” squares from pink felt. Cut four 4” squares from white Prestofelt. Glue each pink square to one side of the cube.

3. Peel the backing off a white Prestofelt square to expose the adhesive. Peel the backing off a square image and carefully place (ink side down) on the sticky side of the Prestofelt. Smooth the film with a credit card and trim the edges of the film and felt flush together if needed. Repeat for remaining three square images. Glue these squares to center of each side of block, on top of the pink felt. Push decorative brads into the corners on each side of the cube (make a pilot hole with the tip of your scissors first.

4. Cut rough shapes from the Prestofelt to fit the fussy-cut images. Peel off the backingfor both and adhere together as in step 3. Cut the felt more closely around each image as desired.

5. Make a pilot hole in the top of the cube with the point of your scissors and insert the pointed end of the skewer down into the foam. Cut off the top of the skewer as needed to fit your image(s) and glue them to the skewer, standing up. Glue the doily to the top of the block as shown.

6. Tie and stack a couple ribbon bows and glue to the front of the stand-up image. Add flowers, smaller images, buttons and pearls. Embellish away!

May 6th, 2014

Theme park character party decoration

by Jennifer Priest

My son recently wanted a Disney-themed birthday party, and we had so much fun putting it together. I knew I could use Smoothfoam to make a great front door decoration to welcome our guests and celebrate that theme park’s most beloved character.

As a crafter, I like to round out the assortment of store-bought party décor with some handmade décor. The Smoothfoam half-balls were going to be well-suited for my task! This project takes only about 30 minutes to complete. Click here for more details on my blog and enjoy my how-to video!

May 2nd, 2014

Welcome our new designers!

by Lisa Fulmer

We’re thrilled to have some new designers join our team – keep an eye on our blog this month to see what they create with Smoothfoam!

Sue Eldred is a freelance designer in the craft industry, specializing in papercrafting, altered arts and scrapbooking.

She loves teaching and working with new products. She has also been intrigued by nostalgia and old pictures for as long as she can remember…once she bought a crate of old pictures at a garage sale and spent hours looking them over, piecing together a family tree other than her own. Sue has lots of great photos hanging in her home of people she has never met!

Anita Scroggins is a self-proclaimed “rabid” scrapbooker who loves to make layouts and mini-albums, and she dabbles in altered projects from time to time.

Her scrapbooking addiction started a few years ago when she decided to make a small album about a Disney World trip…a whole lot of money and a custom-built studio later, here she is. Anita loves the time she spend with friends, creating together. Her style changes a little here and there, but she’s not a fan of “less is more.” In her words, “less is less and more is best, and white space is my enemy.”

Michelle Frae Cummings is a mixed-media artist, instructor and writer. She studied painting, drawing and fashion design in college and has taught at local scrapbook stores. She sells her art locally and online.

Michelle’s passion is color – and as long as she’s painting, sewing or gardening with color, she’s content. She uses color to express her dreams and inspirations.
She believes creating is both therapeutic and energizing…her mind is in constant motion, dreaming up new ideas, trying new things, making art and telling everyone about it!