Highlight Picks

Flaming Muse Workshop:
Angi Sullins has a light-hearted approach to coaching people in the ways of creativity. See these 4 video workshops to rekindle your creativity:

• Session 1: Fanning The Flames
• Session 2: Ash
• Session 3: Flame
• Session 4: The Hearth

Get Unreal: A Writing Exercise
Are you a fiction writer? Do you struggle making your written word as real as possible? Does your story need to be realistic? Can this way of thinking squash your imagination? Part of the fun of writing a story is convincing your audience that the plot could happen within the framework of your book. Develop your Picasso within you!

Are You Your Audience?
... I thought to myself (in run-on sentence form), "If I need to change the title and take the fun out of the writing, never mind publishing conventionally, I think I'll just publish the book myself because it is after all, a book on CREATIVITY so I'm thinking MAYBE it can be DIFFERENT." Two months later an agent grabbed the original version and within two weeks, five of the biggest publishing houses in New York were bidding for it. ...

... I had followed the advice of one of the Muses I wrote about—a Muse called Audacity.

The Wildwood Cottage - www.wildwoodcottage.com

Joy St. Germain : Make Sparkling Snowflake Christmas Ornaments

Raised Stencil Designs for Winter and Christmas

How to Make Sparkling Snowflake Christmas Ornaments

By Joy St. Germain

Sparkling Snowflake Ornaments Raised stencil snowflake ornaments sparkle during the day and glow at night. They're unique, colorful and very easy to create.

Decorative raised stencils (aka Dimensional or 3D stencils) aren’t just for walls. You can use them to create Christmas ornaments, window decorations, wall art or holiday gifts.

They’re created by pushing Stencil Paste through a heavy weight stencil. Once the stencil is dry you can decorate it with a variety of different paints, glitter or leave it unpainted. Attach some decorative ribbon for a sparkling Christmas ornament or window display.

They sparkle on the tree during the day and glow at night when backlit with Christmas lights. This is a family friendly project that your kids will love.

When was the last time you played in the snow?

Project Instructions

Step 1

Tape the raised stencil down to the decorative cardstock and add a dollop of Stencil Paste.

Step 2

Slowly press the Stencil Paste into the stencil being careful not to slide the cardstock.

Step 3

Remove all of the tape on the side and bottom, leaving only tape on the top.

Step 4

Slowly lift the stencil being carefully not to smudge.

Step 5

Allow the stencil to air dry for 24 hours. This is a step that you can't speed up with a hairdryer.

When stencil is dry, it's bendable. Note: Stencil Paste takes about 24 hours to air dry. When dry it’s bendable, and has the texture of soft rubber. It will stick to a variety of different surfaces including walls, wood, glass, cardstock, foam and some plastics. You can make quite a few stencils from just one container of Stencil Paste. However, I always have some on hand.

Next: Sparkling Snowflake Ornament Examples

Joy St. Germain About the Author | More by Joy St. Germain
Joy St. Germain started The Wildwood Cottage out of her love for art, stenciling and crafts. She's a hands on "Do It Yourselfer" that enjoys creating new and unique crafts. When she's not working on a craft you'll find her in one of her many gardens. Visit her Web site at www.wildwoodcottage.com.

11/2/09

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