Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

BRRRRR! the East Coast has had more than its share of winter weather this year.  I thankfully live in VA where we have felt the bitter cold, but have dodged many of the snow storms...that is until last week.  With the snow and ice in the process of melting I find my mind wishing for spring temps, buds popping, and flowers blooming.  What better way to coax the season out of hiding than with a vase design??  super easy to do AND (even better) I have done a bit of experimenting for you so that you can skip over my boo-boos and go straight to gorgeous results. Materials: Arnold Grummer's Papermaking kit (I use the Papermill Pro) Arnold Grummer's Paper Tints Arnold Grummer's specialty pulps ( white cotton rag pulp) LuminArte' Pure Color in Olive Vine ( www.luminarte.com ) Glass column vase Batik craft yarn by Princess Mirah Design ( www.batikbymirah.com ) fibers from my stash Optional: Buttons, dried flower sprigs, polymer clay flowers Procedure: 1)...

I recently became the Art Teacher at a local Catholic school.  I am responsible for grades K-8th, each coming once a week.  My background in teaching is with the Elementary grades (K-5) so 6th-8th may be a little challenging.  Thankfully the former art teacher left me a ton of fabulous ideas that I can use as a jumpstart. One thing that she had for middle schoolers was to cover an art journal in some permanent way (paint, paper, fabric, etc) that reflected a little of their artistic style.  Fabulous jump start to the year!  I gave the assignment to them during the first class and answered any questions that they had..."Can I use Duck Tape?"  "yes"  "Can I wallpaper?"  "yes"  "Can I...???" You get the idea.  I realized that I could not expect them to decorate a journal without doing one myself, so for the first time in my adult life I shall have an art journal of my own.  With that background, let's decorate a journal...

Catch a Falling Star and put it in your pocket....I know that you are singing along with me!  Make these quick tags when you need an extra little touch on a package or turn it into a notecard by adding a piece of cardstock to the back.  Read on for a super easy how-to. Materials: Papermill Pro Arnold Grummer's Metallic Multi Sprinkles Pinata alcohol ink (Sapphire Blue JFC1017) Shooting Star #710 ( http://arnoldgrummer.com/shooting-star.html ) Premo!Sculpey polymer clay in gold, silver, or pearl Optional: Pentel Metallic Brush pens, Silver Sharpie Place in Blender a handful of shredded paper, 2- 2 1/2 cups water, a few squirts of Pinata ink, and the hefty pinch of Multi Sprinkles.  Blend according to directions with kit (super easy!) and then pour into prepared mold. Follow directions to press out water and form a gorgeous sparkly blue sheet of paper.  Condition a bit of polymer clay and press into the large star only of the texture mold.  N...

Hard to believe that the start of school is just around the corner!  Where on Earth did the Summer go?!  I hear the sounds of that old Staples commercial playing in my head..."It's the most wonderful time of the year" (yes, I know it is now playing in your head as well...you are welcome :-) With Back-To-School firmly implanted, I started on design jump started by a journey to the craft store.  I wandered onto the soap making/resin aisle (don't ask me how I got there) and I found the BEST mold, an owl!  I had to have it as an idea had already jumped into my head and as we all know, once the idea is there it has to get out.  The only way to accomplish that is by running to the studio and creating.  Off to the studio.... Up first, the background.  I could see a blue sky, possibly a little twinkling of stars (after all when are the owls active??).  Using my Arnold Grummer's Papermill Pro I went to work.  Into the blender...

Hello again!  Have you ever needed a crafting "fix" but had no time??  OR wondered what to do with small scraps of handmade paper leftover from projects.  Well read on, as this will give you an answer to both crafting issues :-)       I found an adorable little shadow box frame at Michaels and had to pick it up (wish I had been able to get more!).  I am sure such a small area (4"x4") was created to showcase a small watch or mini work of art.  It created the perfect challenge for my paper & polymer crafting! Materials: scraps of handmade paper created with the Arnold Grummer's Papermill Pro Mini Textures Casting Mold ( http://arnoldgrummer.com/mini-textures.html ) Premo!Sculpey polymer clays in colors of choice ( www.sculpey.com ) 4"x4" Studio Décor Shadowbox (Michaels Stores) The Ultimate Glue ( www.crafterspick.com ) optional: Pearl Ex powder, mini eyelets, heat set crystals, sticky back pearls Procedure: 1) Remov...