Monday = Crafter's Companion Post Day!

I need to remind myself of this on my calendar I think...I almost completely forgot to post at Crafter's Companion this week! Monday is my day, and the stress of these ornaments I've been making has gotten the better of me. For those who don't know, I have a friend who wanted an ornament she saw on the internet but didn't know who made it or where to buy one. So, of course I had to chime in with my two cents: "Oh, that's easy to recreate." After offering to show her how, she just asked me to make one and come up with a price...which led to a couple of people also requesting I make them some (you know how Facebook works!) which then led to the flood of orders I almost drowned underneath!

So...after three days of trying to figure out the best way to get the sentiment recreated, I settled on having a shop that normally does vinyl create a digital file I could use anyway I saw fit. Because the ornaments were so small, the intricate fonts wouldn't cut well, and would end up costing me an arm and a leg. Here's the original ornament my friend had posted on her Facebook wall:

Isn't it pretty? She's a graphic designer and loved the sentiment exactly as-is. Something about a nice blend of fonts...so nice. Anywho, I took the digital file that was created (it doesn't look exactly like those pictured above, but it's close) and tried my hand at homemade rubons. I don't know if you've ever seen tutorials out there for this process, but let me share with you: the hairspray trick only works with decent hairspray (think Aqua Net). Of course, I'm fresh out of Aqua Net...and my hairspray just wasn't working. You're *supposed* to spray the transparency with hairspray, print the sentiment, let it dry, and spray it again...well, this just doesn't work on a circular glass ball. The hairspray seemed to just seal the sentiment to the ornament, and when I did get a bit of transfer, it would smear all over the place. Just when I thought I had to refund all of the orders I had taken, I had an epiphany: spray adhesive! I printed the sentiment on transparency WITHOUT any adhesive on it. After about 15 minutes of drying time, I sprayed a super-thin layer of adhesive over the sheet. I let that dry for another 20 minutes, and applied the sentiment to the surface of the ornament one line at a time. And what do you know, it WORKED! Here's the finished product, my first order out the door:

Do you like my knock-offs? Of course, it isn't exactly the same.. The flower is different (Recollections), and I used Liquid Pearls in the center of the flowers. Other than that, they're pretty much the same! I think the shop that did my sentiment, RightSide Stuff, did a wonderful job. Amy, the shop owner, is such a sweetie, and she was quick to whip one up (which was much appreciated!) Thanks, Amy!

Some have requested other ribbon colors, and I'll be getting to those later...first, I wanted to make sure you head over to Crafter's Companion Info Blog to see my post for the day. It is a Christmas card using the Love, Joy, Peace stamp (which is a holiday favorite, for sure!) I love stamps that are intricate and great for coloring, but I also love those stamps that don't require coloring every once in a while. Here's a sneak peek (but I'm going to make you go to the blog to see it all!) You'll want to, as the giveaway we're having ends tonight at 6PM EST...info is all in my post, so head over and see how to enter to win a Strawberry Kisses - Party Girl stamp set!

Sneak peek of my project:

I'm out of here for now, with articles to write and more ornaments to push out. I'm hoping to get all orders I have out there completed today! Ambitious? Yes, probably. But I think I can do it!

Have a great day,

xoxo
Khristen