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How to Use a Face Stencil on a Plate

Rita Barakat has a clever line of stencils to help people draw faces. The first thing I wanted to do when I got my hands on her face stencils was to put it on a plate! These stencils are unique in that they lay the base, but the artist really shines through by adding in the details, focus and colors according to personal style. My passion is hair.

I have created numerous journal pages with these stencils. Finally, I was able to get one on a plate!

Directions:

Gather material making sure to choose paint colors.

This plate had a perfect 6 by 6 square in the center that held the stencil.

Trace the image with sharp pointed object. A pencil works, but the color will transfer, so do so with caution.

Paint the image according to your desire. Make sure to do at least two coats per area!

Once the paint has dried, place the stencil back on the image and trace again.

Connect all the lines on the face.

Start to add the details.

Working with pottery paint is forgiving. Do not worry if you paint something and it does not turn out. I had to replace her mouth three times.

Use puffy paint for details.

Create eyelashes and eyebrows by laying a thick layer of puffy paint, allowing it to dry and going back in with a needle to remove hair like spots.

Once the face is to your liking, have it fired and glazed.

I really like crazy hair and spent a lot of time adding color and texture to her mane.

Rita Barakat stencils can be used on so much more than paper. Think outside of the box. You never know where your creativity will take you!

Until next time ~ Happy Crafting!

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Geo Metric Card Set

When I received this box I was drawn to the chipboard pieces. I had so much fun creating stained glass effects out of them that I wanted to make sure they got on cards. I have rainbow DecoFoil in my stash and knew it needed to go with the unicorn. The rest just kinda happened.

The January 2019 Hedgehog Hollow box has to be my favorite so far! As a mixed media artist I was a little intimidated by it at first. Everything in it was amazing, but I did not know how I would use all if it, but I did! Sometimes getting out of our comfort zone stretches our creative muscle. We grow as artist and end up creating amazing things. That is what happened with this card set.

I wanted to utilize the stencil in the box. To do so I created several backgrounds with DecoFoil Transfer gel. Transfer gel is easy to use, but it does require time to dry. Therefore, I create several backgrounds at once. My original thought was to create five cards, but I thought it would be fun to clean the palette knife I was using to lay the gel out on a piece of paper. The effect was stunning! Each card was foiled with a different color. I also wanted to use the embellishments I created through out the month. To see how I made them please check out these video tutorials:

Stain Glass Effect with Chipboard

3D Geometric Animal Shapes

Heart Card

Butterfly Card

Unicorn Card

Lion Card

Deer Card:

Owl Card

If you have not played with the January 2019 Hedgehog Hollow kit give it a go!

Happy Crafting!

Betz Golden

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Crawling Through Georgetown

Why title a blog “Crawling Through Georgetown”? After spending a week in a half in Washington DC visiting all the national hot spots and filling our brains with history, we needed a day to just chill out. Georgetown provided us with that day. Well, it provided my daughter and I the day we needed. The boys came with us and left for the zoo about an hour into it.

Smithsonian National Zoo

Food Crawl

Georgetown proved to be a great place for an epic food crawl! We started of with a stop at a cute little tea house.

We found a great little American bakery that my daughter got a sweet treat to go with her tea.

Just around the corner the most marvelous French Bakery I have ever gone to in the United States. It specialized in macaroons!

After a 10 minute walk we found Sprinkles and indulged. Sprinkles is a famous Cupcake shop made popular by the show “Cupcake Wars”. It has a large variety of cupcakes including gluten free and dog ones.

Georgetown Shops

The shops of Georgetown are charming. They are in historical buildings and keep the integrity of the history in the area.

High end chain stores make up a good portion of the town’s shopping district. However, they stay true to the area more so than the chain they are representing.

Georgetown provided to be the perfect relaxing day we needed after learning so much about history.

Please visit here to see more of traveling in Washington DC.

Until next time ~ Happy Travels!

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Smithsonian Air and Space, History Museum and National Archives

It is easy to see the Smithsonian Air and Space, History Museum and National Archives in one day. All three are big hits for different reasons.

Air and Space Museum

Air and Space Museum is a family favorite because it is interactive and fun. There is a 3D Imax movie theater that plays new releases after 5:00. This is a great museum to hit after lunch because you can end your day at the movies!

Smithsonian Air and Space museum gives an excellent history of the industry, however it is not cutting edge. It you are wanting to see the latest and greatest this is not the place. The technology showcased id out of date. You will leave with an appreciation of how air and space has come. The hands on discovery area is excellent! It is a great way to learn about basic physics and scientific principles for all ages.

Discovery Area at the Air and Space Museum.

National Archives

The National Archives is home to the nation’s founding documents. It is open to the public. There are no pictures of inside the building because taking them is not allowed as to the safety and preservation of the flag and documents contained here. In addition to the first American flag, one can find the constitution, Bill of Rights and 10 Amendments.

Smithsonian National American History Museum

The first thing one sees when entering the Smithsonian National American History Museum is the Bat Mobil from the Batman movie.

The museum can get quite crowded so it is best to start on the third floor and work down. My oldest was excited to find Kermit the Frog in glass case on the top floor. Though one would think this museum would be full of older items from our Founding Fathers there is also lots of pop culture that every generation recognizes.

The First Ladies Dress Collection along with each President’s China is fantastic to see. The china was an unexpected surprise. The stories behind the sets gave insight into the first families that have served in the White house. It is fun to see the correlation between the china sets to the dresses the First Ladies wore. You could see their personalities and a little glimpse into who there were as individuals. Some of the First Ladies opted not to get sets and use what was in the White house. Others just ordered more to what was there. The First Lady is responsible for hosting dinners and such. Having appropriate dinnerware is crucial.

There was another area that was fun. It was like the pop culture walk down memory lane. I felt old when I saw things from my childhood — like the “See and Say”. Julia Child’s kitchen was also on display along with Sesame Street puppets.

Of course there were national treasures like President Lincoln’s top hat and remains of ships that sailed into harbors during the Civil War.

Please check out the first blog post on traveling to Washington DC here.

Until next time ~ Happy Travels!

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Ford’s Theater

Ford’s Theater and the surrounding area was my favorite part of town. It was close to where we were staying and we passed it almost everyday. Abe Lincoln is one of my favorite US Presidents. I remember visiting Ford’s Theater as a teenager and I was excited to finally take my three teenagers to it.

The Tour

The first portion of the tour of Ford’s Theater was a fantastic walk thru of a museum three floors down. The presentation in the theater was great! It was a monologue in which the actor portrayed the head of the police department that was in the theater the night Lincoln was killed. Walking to our seats down the hall there was a tick tock sound in the background like a clock. One one side of the hall it gave a time line for the Lincolns. On the other there was a timeline for Booth.

Background on Booth

Booth was part of an eight person Southern sympathizing crime ring. He handed his card (a well known actor) to Lincoln’s security before entering the suite President Lincoln was in. Booth wanted to be known. In fact, Lincoln had seen Booth perform and might have been a fan. There is a possibility that he would have invited him into his suite.

Lincoln died 10 hours later in the boarding house across the street from Ford’s Theater.

Boothe was apprehended and captured in Virginia along with his crew including a woman. She was the first female to carry out the death sentence in the United States of America.

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Lincoln emotionally broke upon the killing of her husband. She buried her son and husband and it was to much for her. The nation did not like her because Lincoln’s first two months in office she spent $20,000 on her wardrobe and the White House when the Union troops fighting the Civil War did not have so much as blankets. No matter what she dd she just never could redeem herself.

Mary Todd was charitable and often extended a helping hand to to those in need. Lincoln often looked to her for advice on political matters too which rubbed the cabinet the wrong way. Her heart break and public criticism lead her to be committed to an asylum for a time. Mary tried to sell some of her gowns in New York because she was broke, but no one was interested. She was black balled by society and forever gone down in history as a whack job — which upsets me. it just goes to show that we need to deal with negative stigmas associated with mental illness.

Abe’s Cafe

The little home in the wall across the street from Ford’s Theater has the best little cafe upstairs over the gift shop. The Vietnamese coffee at Abe’s Cafe was one of my favorites that I had while in D.C. The shop was clean and picturesque with a perfect view of the historical Ford’s Theater.

Until next time ~ Happy Travels!

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