Monday, April 30, 2012

SEI May Desktop Calendar

April didn't bring us nearly enough showers! So we're all crossing our fingers our may flowers still bloom okay. We can't be too sad to look out and see the sun shining though!


1024 x 768   1280 x 1024   1600 x 1200   1900 x 1200   2650 x 1440
ipod 640 x 960    ipad 1024 x 1024
 

As always let us know if you have any questions and thanks for using these!

Winner + Tumble Dye Sale!

Thank you for commenting last week! We love to get your feedback. We think Tumble Dye is pretty cool too and wish everyone could try it. Since we can't give it all away, we are doing the next best thing...


...having a sale! For this week only, Tumble Dye 2 oz bottles are 10% off. That is only $2.70 a bottle. So, go ahead place your order and give it a try! We'd love to see what you create.


And finally the giveaway winner is... #152, brenlubrant! Please send your mailing address to seiblog{at)shopsei{dot}com to claim your prize.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Tumble Dye Project Ideas + Giveaway

It's the last day of our Tumble Dye week. We hope you love the ideas we shared as much as we do. Have you started imagining the possibilities? We have even MORE to share today!


This artwork was created with a canvas, tumble dye, cream acrylic paint, a brush, a monogram, and yarn.

To make your own, mix Tumble Dye with paint for the perfect match to your room. Use a brush and apply it to your canvas. You need to work fairly quickly because the paint dries fast. After your paint is dry, add the monogram. We wrapped our monogram in custom-colored yarn first (using tumble dye of course!).


We also dyed yarn for this crocheted banner. To make it multi-colored, simply spray the bundled yarn with a few colors and let it dry. After most of the dyed yarn is used, spray it again and let it dry.


Tumble Dye can be used like watercolor. For this book art, first we printed our design on an old book page. Then we accented it by painting with Tumble Dye.


Why settle for plain white when you can have exactly the color you want? Tumble Dye works great for fabric. For these skirts, we dyed a think elastic yellow and lace mint.


To create the ombre look, like our lace-trimmed sheets, use the dip-dye method. Mix Tumble Dye and water in a large bowl, dip one end of sheet in one color and the other side in another color. Let the sheet hang to dry. The colors will blend beautifully as it dries.


Are you excited to give Tumble Dye a try? Enter our giveaway and you could win some of your own! Just leave a comment to enter. We're curious to know how you'd use tumble dye if you won. Remember, each post you leave a comment on this week gives you an additional entry for up to 5. We will announce the winner Monday. Good luck!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

DIY Pillow Designs with Stencil Downloads

Ready to use Tumble Dye on your home decor? Pillows are a great, inexpensive way to update a room or a piece of furniture, and aren't they fun?


We even have some free downloads if you would like to create your own! For the chevron pattern, click here. For the alphabet pattern, click here.


Supplies:
Canvas or cloth fabric
Tumble dye
Stencils
Paper towels


Cut your fabric into the desired pillow size you would like. We made 12" pillows. Place your stencil (hint: if you use a little spray adhesive on the stencil, it will give you a crisper line). Make sure to block off any areas you don't want dyed. Spray your tumble dye, then immediately blot excess with a paper towel.


After the excess dye is gone, remove your stencil. Tile your stencil to make a continuous pattern, and repeat the steps. If using a paper stencil, you may want to make multiples or let the paper dry in between applications. After the dye is dry, heat set in your dryer for 20 minutes, then sew and stuff!

To create our gray color, we used Charcoal Tumble Dye and diluted it with water. Test concentrations to get the color you would like. Ours is about 10 water: 1 Tumble Dye. The alphabet pillow was made with our Mustard Tumble Dye.


These are so fun and easy to make. Plus, there are so many fun color options to choose from!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Custom T-Shirt Tutorial

We hope you have been enjoying our week so far! We all know Tumble Dye works great for creating a traditional tie-dye shirt, but today we are excited to show you some fun ways to create some fashion tees. It also works great for creating a more thrify, diy version of so many tees we have seen it stores! Can you spot our copy cats?




We used 2 techniques to create these shirts. The anchor and text shirt were created using elmer's glue for a resist technique; the lavender used the lace as a stencil.


Lavendar Shirt supplies: 
Shirt 
Lace piece or shirt 

Resist technique supplies: 
White shirt 
Elmer's gel glue (white or blue, but must be the gel kind) 
paint brush 
Large bowl (not pictured) 


We originally saw this technique here, but it is even easier with our Tumble Dye! You will love it! First, place a board, piece of plastic, or even a cookie sheet in between your shirt so the glue won't soak through. Create your design with the Elmer's gel glue and then let the glue dry completely. For our anchor, we painted the glue on with a paint brush. For the text, we hand wrote it directly out of the bottle.


Fill a large bowl with enough water to completely submerge your shirt. Add as much Tumble dye as desired, the more dye, the more concentrated the color will be. Once the glue is completely dry, submerge your shirt in the dye. Make sure the entire shirt is covered, then remove from dye and hang to dry. 

Let dry completely, then heat set in the dryer for 20 minutes. Once the dye is heat set, hand wash the shirt with warm water and soap to dissolve the glue. Now you are ready to wash and wear! For the anchor we use the sports blue Tumble dye, and for the text shirt, we used hot pink with a bit of sports gold mixed in!



Can you believe you can make that with a little water, Tumble dye, and Elmer's glue? We thought it turned out pretty great! It is such an easy way to make a copy cat of this Billabong tank we found.


We saw these shirts in Walmart from their new Bella Bird line and thought, we can do that! We found a clearance lace tank and went straight to our tumble dye. We stretched our shirt over a board so it was taut. We then put the lace tank over the top as well. We sprayed our fashion Plum color, more concentrated on the top and gradually less the further down to give it a nice, soft line. And done! We removed the lace, let it dry completely, then heat set it the dryer for 20 minutes. 

Hope you have enjoyed this new technique. It would be great for a party activity as well. Use the lace shirt over and over, or dip several shirts in your bowl of dye! What great designs would you create?


Leave a comment on this post for another entry into our giveaway!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

DIY Stained Wooden Bracelets


Today we want to show you how to stain wood with Tumble Dye! It couldn't be easier too; you'll love it. We'll show you how to TD some wooden bracelets.


Supplies:
Tumble Dye
Paintbrush
masking or painters tape
wood object
(not pictured)
scrap paper, preferably card stock
paper towels

Make your pattern with your scrap paper-we chose a more graphic triangle style. Do whatever! Using your tape, make your pattern. Remember wherever wood is showing is what will be dyed. 


Using the scrap papers as your guide, brush your Tumble Dye on the exposed wood areas. Let dry. Repeat until you're happy with the saturation.

Seal it with a clear varnish if you want it to last, or leave it be if you like the matte look.


Another way to use your Tumble Dye is simply by spraying a paper towel and wiping on the color. For wood it's always better to paint or wipe-spraying will give you a very uneven look because of how quickly it absorbs the dye.

Here are some more ideas for how to dress up wood! What will you stain first?

a sweet sewing kit

birdhouses-embellished with Vanilla Sunshine borders!

Kids wooden toys, a treasure chest and a silly little kleenex box. (Monster pieces ironed on after!)

Don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Tinted Glass Jars + Giveaway

We LOVE Tumble Dye! So, we are super excited to have a whole week to show off some of the fun new projects we have been creating lately.


Today we have these pretty colored jars. Wouldn't they make such lovely centerpieces for a wedding reception? Tumble Dye makes it possible to mix up any color you'd like. Would you like to make some for your next party or spring decor?


Here's how to do it: 
1. Mix a few of tablespoons of Tumble Dye and Mod Podge in a glass jar. For a brighter color, use more Tumble Dye. For a softer color, use less Tumble Dye and more Mod Podge. 
2. Carefully twist your jar around over a bowl to cover the inside. Let the excess drip into the bowl. 
3. Dry your jar upside down on a paper bag for about a half hour. The jar should become more clear and the excess liquid should now be on the paper bag. 
4. Place your jar upside down on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. 
5. Put the cookie sheet in the oven on warm for 10 minutes. 
6. Using oven mitts to protect your hands, turn the jar over and put back in the warm oven for an additional 20-30 minutes. 
7. Let them cool and decorate! Any questions?


If you would like to enter a GIVEAWAY to win some SEI goodies, including Tumble Dye, simply leave a comment on this post. The giveaway will go all week long. So, you can leave one comment each day for up to 5 entries!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Mother's Day Breakfast

Mother's Day is May 13th this year. So, it's definitely not too early to start making plans. How about a lovely breakfast in bed?


Club SEI has some great ideas that will make your Mother's Day breakfast extra special. It's all about those thoughtful special touches.


First, make a special breakfast tray. For ours, we used some of the contents of the April Scrapbooking kit, including the rays of bright perf sheet and Vanilla Sunshine alphabet stickers.



Add a special gift to your tray. We recommend her favorite book with a bookmark made just for her. No gift is complete without a handcrafted card.


Last, add simple touches to her meal to make it look as good as it tastes. We added a few little borders to our cup and muffin wrap. Then put a die-cut on the spoon. We also added embellishments to a skewer and placed it inside our muffin. 

 These projects were made as an alternate project using some of the contents of the Club SEI April Paper-crafting Kit. To learn more about Club SEI, go to www.clubsei.com.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Notepad, Clipboard & Pen Set

Don't be afraid to repurpose an item. I bought this clipboard and pen set that came with a skateboard-themed notepad. But, then I found this butterfly tag-shaped notepad and instantly was inspired to use Field Notes! The paper pad and patterned paper worked perfectly together!


You'll want to make sure that the altered clipboard is flat. Try playing around with your punches and notching patterned paper strips.


The pen didn't match, so washi tape is the perfect solution, just wrap it around the pen and you're good to go!


Texture is always the perfect addition to any project. I like natural twine tied in a simple bow. It's the perfect finish without distracting from the design.

Emily

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Enjoy the Journey

I love the "Vanilla Sunshine" collection with its bright colorful papers! I matted a piece of pattern paper with white cardstock and stitched around the edge. I placed the bicycle sticker at the bottom of the card and used pop dots for the sentiment. A quick, simple little card that will brighten someone's day!


Melissa

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Tree Hugger

In this layout I wanted to capture the same whimsical feel that I get when I look at my son's dreamy face in this photo. So I used the fresh colors in the Vanilla Sunshine embellishments to set a cheerful tone in my page and then accented the page with a few special touches including some glittery clouds in my background and some fun doodles throughout the page.


My favorite detail about this page is the title. I love these corrugated cardboard alphas--infact I love them so much I've used up almost all of my vowels! So I decided to cut out around the voids where the letters used to be and use their negative shapes to make my title. Then I scribbled inside of them to add another touch of whimsy.


Amy
 

newsletter | shop sei

Free Blog Counter

Pin It button on image hover