Such a great start to the new year!

I came out with a bang and then fizzled like a dud firecracker. All smoke and no action. I have been preoccupied lately, to say the least. I was sick, (again), and have been trying to rebalance my schedule. Somewhere, my brain has decided that the best time to be fully functional is from 1:00am to 3:00am. Nice, huh?

Anyways, I have been creating when I can. I also put away a pile of stuff in the scrap space AND bought another table for it so now the Cricut and the sewing machine have a place to hang out other than under my desk. I was inspired by the creative geniuses on the Bombshell Stamps design team and had to lift their ideas of taking stamps off the page and onto other mediums. How about stamped UTEE hearts for Valentine's?

Aren't these cool? You can poke a hole in the top to make them charms or add magnets to the back. So many options. The color comes from adding some Perfect Pearls to the melted UTEE. Finally a reason to use those things!

Once you have poured the UTEE into the mold, (I used small metal cookie molds) and it starts to harden just a bit, then push the stamp gently into the surface. I used Brilliance ink. This step takes some practice. I ended up re-melting my first three attempts and almost ruined a stamp because I pushed it into the hot form WAY too soon.

Next there was a how to on adding stamped images to wood bangles. I LOVED this idea and in spite of not being able to find my plain Modge Podge, I ignored the Voices and used the glitter M.P. I used Danita's Alice in Wonderland stamps available from Cresendoh because I had yet to try them and I really wanted to. I totally heart this woman!

I stamped and colored my images before cutting them out and decopauging them onto the surface. On this bracelet I added some rub ons and mini pearls that I used Rock Candy Stickles to adhere.

I loved the outcome so much that I went and bought more M.P. to make a second, non-glittery one, this time featuring Danita's Frida Kahlo stamps. I tried to keep the bracelet more simple and focus on bright colors.

I think it is more fitting to Ms. Kahlo's personality and her culture. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the gems to this one.  Super fun and super cute!

If you would like to see more in depth tutorials for these projects, head over to Alison's blog for the bracelets and to the Bombshell Homepage to find a link to Diana's UTEE hearts.