DeNami Krazy for Kraft Blog Hop

Welcome to the DeNami Krazy for Kraft Blog Hop!

You should have arrived here from Kerri Smith's awesome blog! What a great project!
 

If you want to start the blog hop from the beginning (or if you're a little lost) head over to the DeNami Blog for the entire list of blog hop participants.

Here's the 411 about the Hop:
  

When: The blog hop starts on September 8th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until September 9th, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize)

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website! 

Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!   

Kraft Paper has a great natural feel and for some reason makes me think of camping!
I'm going to show you how to make this super cute belt buckle using DeNami Stamps, Kraft Paper, EasyCast Resin, and an Aanraku Glass Studios Belt Buckle!

The DeNami Stamps I'm using for the project are: I60 Large Chickie and I20 Medium Pine.

The belt buckle is from Aanraku Glass Studios. They have wonderful metal pieces that work great for resin and other crafts too. You can check their store out here: http://store.abasg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc

This is a very papercraft based project. The first step is to create the background for the belt buckle.
 

 

I'm starting out by tracing around the buckle and cutting it out.

 

 

Using the bone folder, I creased inside the buckle...

 

 

Then I cut just outside the creased outline.

 

 

Make sure it fits (I also cut out some spares just in case I made some crafting boo-boos!)

 

 

Using Ranger Distress Ink in Crushed Olive I stamped a tree line using DeNami Medium Pine.

 

 

I added some more trees using Distress Ink in Forest Moss

 

 

I also added some Stickles in Clear Rock Candy to some of the tree branches. 

 

I then stamped a DeNami Big Chickie on some kraft paper using StazOn in Jet Black.

 

 

Next, I flocked the Big Chickie using a Martha Stewart Ballpoint Glue Pen and Yellow Glitter Flocking Powder.

 

 

I then fussy cut the Chickie.

 

 

For my camping theme I drew a tent and campfire on kraft paper and fussy cut them.

If you aren't keen on drawing you could print out some clipart onto some kraft paper instead.

 

 

I colored them in with some markers and did the outlines in Ultra Fine Black Sharpie to make them look more stamp-like.

 

 

Then I glued everything down and trimmed as needed.

This could also be a cute card front as an alternative project :)

 

 

I glued down the picture directly into the belt buckle using some Mod Podge.

 

 

Once snugly in place, I sealed it with a couple of coats of Mod Podge to keep the resin from creating "water spots"

 

 

While the Mod Podge is drying you can get your work area prepped for resin.

The belt buckle doesn't sit flat, when pouring resin you want to maintain a level surface.

A neat trick to get a level surface is to fill a bowl with sand or rice and nestle your buckle into it!

Decorative sand can be found at craft store (and Dollar Tree!) You can also use sand from outside but make sure it's clean and sanitized by rinsing it and baking it for about 20 minutes at 250F.

If you use rice, don't use it for food anymore just in case some resin got on it!

You can reuse the sand or rice for resin though as many times as you need to!

 

 

Nestle the buckle in the sand/rice and

Mix a batch of EasyCast Resin (See Tab at top of page for mixing instructions)
*ETI suggests wearing gloves for safety* Also, gloves help keep your nails nice!

Carefully and slowly pour in the resin filling the belt buckle cavity.

 

 

 

If you have air bubbles they can usually be popped by gently blowing on the surface through a drinking straw.

Let the resin sit for 24-72 hours until completely hardened.

 

 

Once the resin is hardened your piece of art will be preserved behind a super glossy protective coating and will be ready to wear!

 

 

Attaching your buckle to a belt strap is super easy.
Belt straps have snaps that allow you to change out the buckles. These can be found all over the web and are very common at western wear stores.

Just slide the loop on the back of the buckle over the end of the belt strap and snap the belt together!

Now you can show off your camping Chickie!

 

Thanks for joining me along the hop! Don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible for the Blog Hop Prizes!

Next stop on the hop is Wendy Elliot
I can't wait to see what she's made for the occasion :)