Ladder Scarf Tutorial

Hello again!

This post is a follow up to yesterday’s Frozen Scarf post.  I figured with all the photos it would be better to split it into two posts and keep the tutorial separate.

This is the scarf I shared yesterday:

Today I am going to give you a very basic tutorial to make this scarf. 

Disclaimer:  I have never written a pattern/instructions for crocheted ANYTHING… but this is so ridiculously easy that I don’t think I can mess it up too badly :) I am writing this for a  scarf for an adult… shorten as needed per size of the wee one.

LADDER SCARF PATTERN/INSTRUCTIONS:

This scarf is perfect for using up ends of skeins of yarn and misc scraps of yarn.  Mix the colors and textures up as you choose.

Hook size used for this project is a size “H/8-5.00 mm” 

Step One:
- Start first color with a long tail, roughly 7”
- Chain 315 stitches.
- End with a 7” tail. 
 
Step Two:
- Start second color in the same manner, leave a 7” tail.
- Chain 15
- *Count 15 stitches on the first chain and find stitch #16.
- Once you have found chain #16  single crochet with your second color (this will be stitch #16 on your second color) for the next FIVE stitches  You will have connected your two colors to each other with FIVE single crochets.  
-  Chain 15 more stitches.
- Repeat from * until you reach the end.  You should have 15 chained stitches at the ends with a 7” tail string.

Steps  Three – Eleven (Or however wide you want to make it):
- Continue this process until you have reached the desired width of scarf.  My Frozen scarf was 11 rows wide.

Finishing:
- Trim your tails to all the same length.  I tied knots in the ends to prevent fraying.

NOTE:  If you want more space between each row of the scarf you can do five double crochets  or five half double crochets instead of five single crochets.  This will give just a bit more spacing between the rows. 

Here are the instructions in photo format. 
(I have only crocheted a short length to illustrate the process.)

Find your size H/8 –5.00 mm hook

Step One:
- Start first color with a long tail, roughly 7”
- Chain 315 stitches.
- End with a 7” tail.

Step Two:
- Start second color in the same manner, leave a 7” tail.
- Chain 15
- *Count 15 stitches on the first chain and find stitch #16.

 

- Once you have found chain #16  join your colors with a single crochet (this will be stitch #16 on your second color) for the next five stitches  You will have connected your two colors to each other with FIVE single crochets.  

 

-  Chain 15 more stitches.

 

- Repeat from * until you reach the end.  You should have 15 chained stitches at the end with a 7” tail string.

Steps  Three – Eleven (Or however wide you want to make it):
- Continue this process until you have reached the desired width of scarf. 

 
NOTE:  If you want more space between each row of the scarf you can do five double crochets  or five half double crochets instead of five single crochets.  This will give just a bit more spacing between the rows.  {I believe in the original pattern, the artist used double crochet (posts) for her scarf. }

AND THAT IS IT!

And that’s it… easy peasy, especially once you’ve attached the second row/color.  You only have to count the 15 chain stitches and can zip right through the scarf. 

Here’s a peek at the chunky yarn scarf I made to test the pattern.  Chunky yarn crocheting achieves length very quickly with fewer stitches.  I think the length on this one is 150-ish stitches and the spacing is 10 chains, 5 single crochet.

Thanks for popping in.  If you decide to crochet this scarf I would LOVE to see it :) Link up in the comments.  (Miss Jeanne, I sure hope to see one or two made for your girls .. hehe..)

Inky Smiles!

~Erin

Birds of a Feather: A Tutorial

Hey friends! Back with the promised shabby chic feather birdie tutorial just for you!  I hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving and are recovering from the crazy Black Friday sales!  Brent and I skipped them this year and slept in in our nice cozy bed. :)

When I made the Christmas tree for my studio I wanted something fluffy and white for it to fill in some gaps and thought feather birdies would be perfect but I wasn’t able to find any in the stores so I figured I could make some.  These feather birdies are SO EASY and fun to make.

Here’s your supply list:
Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
String (I used beading string)
Pearlescent beads (10 mm and 2 mm)
A Feather Boa (you know you have one in your closet)
Scissors, Piercing tool or other pokey thingy
Styrofoam balls (about 2.5” diameter)
Something to press feathers down so you don’t burn your fingers (I used a bone folder)
Craft Mat to protect your work surface
Sparkly paper

{Yes, I forgot to include the sparkly paper for the beaks so it’s photoshopped in. :P}

Step One: 
Strip off a whole bunch of feathers from the feather boa and make a pile to the side of you.
 


Step Two: 
Spread hot glue in sections on the styrofoam ball, careful not to burn your fingers in the process.  Then carefully add feathers so that the styrofoam is completely covered.


 
  

Keep covering it until you have a big fuzzy ball of loooove like this:

 Step Three: 
Using very sharp scissors, begin trimming down the feather fluff… kind of like giving a fuzzy pet a haircut.  Don’t cut too much off, just enough to “smooth” and tame the frizz.


Step Four:
Time to build a tail for your birdie…. Snip off some nice “full” feathers from your feather boa and set them aside.  Begin gluing the feathers on one “end” to form a tail.  You might need to work in some extra fluff feathers to give it some body and trim up as needed.
  

Step Five: 
Glue on one of your 10 mm beads to make a head.


Step Six:
Snip off some beads from the garland that was too wimpy for your tree and dip in some hot glue using a tweezer or your fingers if you’re not a klutz like me and then adhere to either side of your head to create eyes.
 

tep Seven:
Cut a small triangle from your sparkly paper, score from one point to the longest side with a paper piercer or other tool, fold in half (trim if necessary) and dip in hot glue.  Adhere to front of bird head to create a beak.



Voila! Your ball o’ feathers is starting to look like a birdie! How TWEET!
 


Step Eight:
Cut a small piece of string to desired hanging length and tie the ends in a knot like this
 

Step Nine:
Using your paper piercer or other pokey tool, poke the knot down through the feathers and into the styrofoam on the top of the bird.  Be careful not to put it too close to the tail or your birdies will be nose diving from your tree.



And there you have it!  A loverly shabby chic feather birdie for your tree, wreath, or other happy place in your home! 
 

Now realize you and everything around you is covered in feathers, which, according to your husband ranks right up there with you and everything around you being covered in glitter….

                     
I
nky  Smiles & Happy Birdie Making!

PS.. If you make some birdies please link up and share what you’ve created!  (I m trying to figure out the Mr Linky thing and add it to the blog posts… )

Tutorial: Popped Metal or Metal Popping

I had so much fun making my last SSD card and figured I should share with you how I did my background for my “masculine” card.

I think I will call this technique “Popped Metal” or “Metal Popping”. I was going to try to use a “Chalk Popping” technique on the card but realized I needed to think up something else when I peeked at my chalks and saw that I only had pastel colors… so I pulled open my “messy embellishments” drawer and my eyes were immediately drawn to my metallic pastes. VOILA! IDEA!!! BLING BLING!

This is amazingly easy (basically TWO steps) but gives a really cool result… so here we go…

You will need:
* Versamark Ink Pad
* Metallic Rub On Paste (mine came from Gina K Designs)
* Detailed stamp ( I’m using Rustic Tiles from Skipping Stones Design)
* Sponge
* Colored Cardstock & Scrap paper (to protect workspace)

Step One:
Ink up your image with a clean Versamark pad (you don’t want to use one that is stained with colored ink because it may transfer to your artwork – ick!)

Begin stamping your image. I like to start off the page so the design runs off the page. Stagger the images on each row so you don’t have “running seams”.

Cover the entire piece of cardstock with the Versamark stamped image. Be careful not to “smudge” the images with your fingers while stamping… what you smudge will show up in Step 2.

Here you can see the CS covered in Versamark images:

Step 2:

Gently rub your sponge in the Metallic Rub On Paste. Don’t glop it on because it will come off too thick on your artwork and make a royal metallic mess.

This requires a LIGHT touch, so if you have lead foot fingers like me and just want to SMOOSH that ink in stop now and take a breath. LOL!

Start at one corner or end. Using just a teeeeny weeeeeny bit of pressure… just enough to transfer the Metallic Rub On Paste to the paper…. rub the sponge over the Versamarked images in a circular motion. You will start to see the images POP out in metallic splendor.

If you have gaps between your images be careful not to rub the paste down in the gaps or you will get a “grid” look. But if that’s the look you’re going for, then hey, go for it :)

Continue rubbing the Metallic Rub On Paste on the Versmarked images, “reinking” the sponge as needed, until all the Versamark has been popped out.

Finish at opposite end/side of where you started.

I love how this looks… you can go back and darken areas for a more distressed look or for shadowing for the images you might be layering up for the final product and ink the edges darker with the Metallic Rub On Paste.

Here’s how I used this background piece:

Thanks for playing today! Inky Smiles!

Tutorial - Faux Stained Glass & A Bonus

Are you recovered from the Blog Hop yet? I’m not quite sure I am! LOL! I keep going back to various blogs and enjoying the art. I’ve got to work up something for the Sketch coming up on Tuesday still today but in the meantime I have been dying to share this with you….

A lot of people commented on how the butterfly on my card looked like stained glass. Thank you! That’s exactly what I wanted it to look like and so I am glad that it actually came across as I intended. The butterfly on that card was just stamped with StazOn Jet Black ink and then colored in. But, you know how sometimes you get this whizbangger of an idea in your head but can’t always get it out how you’re imagining it? Well, my first several attempts at doing “Faux Stained Glass” did not do my imagination any justice…. {I tried using Liquid Glass and pouring it out over a handn sketched design, then I tried embossing powder on my Silpat mat and nearly melted the mat……} and then this fabulous butterfly stamp from the Healing Wings Set came into my hands and it actually worked how I wanted it to!

Today I’d like to show you some real “Faux Stained Glass”. This project is a little different than the butterfly on my card. I was laying in bed thinking about stained glass (cuz I have this new fascination with actual stained glass now) and this is what I came up with.

Ok now, gather up your supplies. You are going to need the following:

* A Heat Tool
* Transparency Paper
* Mirror Platinum Embossing Powder
(I used CTMH)
* Bic Sharpie Markers
* Versamark Stamp Pad
* An “outline” style stamp with spaces
that resemble * stained glass
* Sharp scissors
* An “Anti static pad” {not shown}


{STEP 1}
* Lay your transparency paper down on your work surface. I am using a white sheet of paper under mine for filming purposes. Otherwise you can’t see it all that well.

*Rub down the sheet section you will be stamping on. Rub all the way to the edge of the transparency sheet.



{STEP 2}
* Lay your stamp face up and thoroughly ink with Versamark ink. (I lay mine face up because it helps limit the amount of excess ink that may get on your block. Those Versamark pads are awfully squoooshy.

{Step 3}
* Carefully stamp your image onto the transparency sheet. Be careful not to wiggle or slide the stamp. The transparency is slick and it’s easy to slide. Press down all parts of the stamp to make sure you get a good amount of ink on the transparency.

* The photo on the right shows a nice clean Versamark stamped image. It’s very hard to photograph clear paper. LOL!

{Step 4}
* Pull out a piece of scrap paper and put it under your image. Pour your embossing powder over the stamped image. You might have to pour it over a couple of times for a good thick layer. If some excess powder sticks where you don’t want it you can take a moment to gently scrape it off or brush it away before heating.

* The picture on the right shows a nice thick layer of embossing powder on the Versamark image.

Ok… now we’re going to melt this bad babeeeee… well, actually we’re only melting the powder. We really don’t want our transparency paper to melt so let’s take a precaution and HEAT UP that heat gun.

{Step 5}
* Preheat your heat gun for about 15-20 seconds. You’re going to want that air nice and hot so that you don’t have to have the heat on the transparency sheet for any longer than you need to.

{Step 6}
* Don’t leave your transparency sitting on your work mat. Hold it up in the air to prevent melting or warping of your cute pink Fiskars work mat. See left photo. Ergh.

* Taking care to keep your fingers away from the heat, gently wave the heat gun in front of the stamped image on the transparency. Keep the heat moving so that you don’t overheat one spot and melt a hole through the transparency. You will notice the powder turn shimmery and look like molten metal. Looooooverly schtuff that molten metal is!

*It’s hard to photograph with both hands being busy… LOL… sorry for the blurrrrrrr….

{Step 7}
* Now you can cut out the section of butterfly. Just roughly cut it out, don’t trim closely just yet.

* Here you can see the embosses image of the butterfly. Doesn’t it look splendid? Like pure molten metal or flux and solder like real stained glass. I love that the mirrored platinum gives such a nice patina’d effect. Don’t worry, it’s actually platinum, not so greenish. It’s difficult to photograph this at midnight.. LOL!

{Step 8}
* Now flip that bad babeee over we’re ready to color. You will want to color on the backside. I am sure you could color on the frontside, but who wants to risk coloring that beautiful embossing with Bic Sharpie marker? Not me. Flip it. Just flip it.

{Step 9}
* Begin by coloring focal points or areas you want to stand out. Then fill in the areas with contrasting colors. You can also blend for a graduated color merging.

* See that stray stringy looking thing on the right side of the image? It's a bit of embossing powder that got heated. It’s not on the stamp… weird.. Not sure how that got there, but I like it. It looks like cracked stained glass. Even more fun!

* Keep on coloring until you get the desired effect. Tip: You can go back over some of the colors with a different color if you don’t like how it turned out… be careful what you mix or it may end up looking muddy.

* See the scribbles on the transparency? That’s me trying out colors before I color in the butterfly and why I don’t trim out my image just yet. It’s also nice to have an extra spot to put your fingers to hold your image. The ink is a bit sticky and your fingers can leave finger prints and lift the ink if you’re not careful.

{Step 10}
* Now you can trim it out close to the image. I left a little tab of transparency attached to my butterfly so I could attach it to my project. (Posting soon… once I snap the photos in daylight.)

Here’s what I ended up with (left pic = backside of image, right pic = front side of image):

{BONUS TECHNIQUE}
And here’s a bonus for ya! Remember back in the 80’s when those holographic style foil/shimmery backed pictures were all the rage? {Ok, maybe some of you youngins might not… but I do…LOL!} I looked all over the web for an example, but the closest I found was this cool version of Starry Night by VanGogh. Click HERE to view it. (A separate window will open.)

So while I was playing around with this butterfly I decided to try another “technique”… Faux Foiled Images.

Take your beautimous butterfly and flip that bad baby over so that the back is facing up.

Pull out your handy dandy Sakura Clear Star Gelly Roll glitter pen (it’s #38450 from Sakura) and lightly roll it around the back of the butterfly until you see the glitter covering the color. Don’t rub too hard or the tip of the pen will scrape off the Bic marker color.

Wait a few minutes for it to dry… watch your fingers, you’ll have glitter everywhere…. then flip it back over so the embossed side is facing up and VOILA!

You have a beautiful Faux Stained Glass Foiled image. :) {Click on the image – which is a totally different butterfly than the one we made in the tutorial - to see the sparkle better.} I bet you could probably experiment with different glitter pens for different effects, too. I imagine that a gold glitter pen over gold/dark yellow marker might look like gold leafing… hrmm…. I might have to try that out!

~Inky Smiles & Happy Stained Glass making and Foiling!

PS… if you do have Copic Markers you CAN use those as well. I only own 5 Copics at the moment, 2 brown, 1 skin tone, 1 blender & 1 gray. Not exactly the best for coloring a butterfly but I did try the markers out on a transparency. Both types of marker colors change a bit so try it out on scraps of transparency before you begin coloring.