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Free printables are now a regular feature of this craft blog and this week…

…I am pleased to bring you a colorful design depicting the sun, moon and stars.

Made with the two largest sizes off this week’s free sun moon and stars free printable.

Free printables are very easy to use (as long as you have access to a printer of course!)

Each week, I create a new page on here with a new free printable for you.

The page is always password protected, so you will need the password to get in.

This week’s free printable – Sun, Moon & Stars

To get that free printable password, you need to watch the YouTube tutorial that shows how I used the images.

In that video I will give out the password and all you need to do is write it down, come back here, follow this link and put in the password.

Simple! There is no catch to getting the free printable, the only thing I ask in return is that you watch the video and if you like what I do, perhaps subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel – that’s it! Not a bad deal really😍

Once you have your free printable, you need to print it off on good paper.

But should it be on glossy or matte paper?

Well that depends on how you are going to use your design.

If you intend putting a glass dome over the top using a medium such as Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents, you will need to use a matte finish photographic paper.

Glass dome/cabochon
A glass dome fixed to a circular design with Glossy Accents – the design was printed onto matte paper.
Glossy Accents and Diamond Glaze are brilliant for sticking glass domes to designs printed onto matte paper.

As you can see above, using a special medium like Glossy Accents to stick the design to the glass dome is very effective when your design is printed onto matte paper.

But if you like printing onto glossy paper, as I do, what happens if you try to use a wet medium to stick the glass dome on?

The pendant design on the left was printed onto glossy photo paper and stuck to the glass dome with Diamond Glaze.

The same pendant design on the right was stuck to the glass dome with a special, crystal clear double sided tape designed to be invisible.

In all the years I have been making glass pendants, this is the fastest, easiest, least messy way I have found to fix glass domes in place on my designs for pendants.

When I first decided to experiment with using double sided tape to do this, I had all sorts of disasters. Most double sided tapes have lines in them that you don’t realise are there until you use the tape on something transparent, such as between a glass dome and a design.

Every single ordinary double sided tape I used from the craft store had marks in it.

And then I discovered a company online called SK Tapes and I found the perfect tape to stick the glass domes to my designs.

Design was fixed to glass dome with crytal clear SK Tapes double-sided tape.

This tape is made for commercial use for companies making signs and nameplates etc, however, listed in the description on their website, it does also say for use in arts and crafts.

It’s not as straightforward ordering this as it would be if you were ordering, say, on Amazon for example. You can’t just go and make a few clicks to order.

Don’t be fooled by the red appearance – that’s just the transluscent liner – the tape is crystal clear.

You have to go to their website and go to the products drop-down menu and click through to double-sided tapes (it’s at the top of the menu). Once you are on the double-sided tapes page, click on the one that says, Butt Cut Double-Sided.

On that page is an enquiry button and I sent them a message from there.

When they came back to me, I told them what I wanted, the 25mm one, paid over the phone and they sent it straight out.

It is expensive, but, this is a quality commercial product. Last year, I paid £12.96 for my roll but that included postage and Sales Tax. And it will last me absolutely ages.

USA readers may know of similar products stateside that we don’t have here.

And if you do, please scroll down and leave a comment to let people know what it is called. Or you can leave a comment under the video over on YouTube.

If you want any of the other items I used in my tutorial, such as pendant trays, glass domes, paper punches or ball chains, you can visit my Amazon shops and have a look through the items I have listed on there.

Paper punches do make life easier when cutting any shape accurately. And pendant trays (right) are ideal for making unique gifts for friends and family.

Here are the links to my Amazon shops:

https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/rainbowlane

Amazon Affiliate Statement

Next week my YouTube tutorial will be showing you how to use the smallest design on the sun, moon and stars free printable to make a dainty little pendant that will appeal to those who prefer smaller, more delicate necklaces.

Come back next week and join me for that. And if you like my free printables, please consider subscribing to this blog and also my YouTube channel. In the future I will be giving free printable designs to my blog subscribers only, so make sure you sign up now so I know who you are.

It’s really easy to subscribe and I do not share your email address with anyone.

Enjoy your sun, moon and stars free printable – and see you next week.

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Art Chill-Out
An image from my chill-out video – See YouTube link below.

https://youtu.be/vWXPP6Xuzdk

(If you are missing the weekly craft tutorial, I’ll let you into a secret, it’s not on YouTube yet but last week I made a step-by-step tutorial over on Instructables showing how to make a beautiful bracelet from a piece of wallpaper and an old pair of pantyhose/tights. See image below.)

A bracelet made purely from discarded scraps.

Art chill-out is a video I put together last week showing a collection of my artwork.

Why? Well sadly I hurt my back and was unable to complete my usual weekly craft tutorial as I was flat on my back.


So, armed with only my iPad, I decided to use a folder full of images I took of my artwork and create a video using the iMovie app.

Then I selected some chilled music to add and I was able to go ahead and publish a video as I usually do each Saturday at 8.30pm London time..

My Art Chill-Out video is for anyone who wants to relax and unwind for ten minutes.

The music is quite soothing and the images are colorful. They are all created by me through painting, photography or digital art. Sometimes I create my pieces using a combination of all three.

So if the current worldwide pandemic mess is stressing you out, watch my art chill-out video and escape into surrealism and fantasy for 10 minutes of peace.

But if it’s crafts that are keeping you sane, go over to my Instrucables page and find out how to turn junk into something useable, wearable and/or very pretty.

See you next week with another craft tutorial and another free craft printable!

And next week I will be giving you an image in three sizes to make a beautiful pendant with a sun moon and stars theme. So subscribe to this blog now if you don’t want to miss out on your free printables.

This is how to subscribe

And if you really want to keep up, go over to my YouTube channel and subscribe there too.

Oh and I hope you enjoy my art chillout video (there is a clue in the video to next Saturday’s free printable😍), can you find it?

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paper beads
Watch my latest YouTube tutorial and then get my free printable to make this pretty bracelet.

Paper beads still remain my favourite go-to craft of all time.

And with this ongoing crisis, which we all hope will end soon 🤞, I am really enjoying sharing some of my printable paper bead designs for free. My latest YouTube tutorial shows how I used my design, seen below, to make the double strand bracelet above.

Continue reading

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You can make this with my free download printable – details below.

DIY BoHo bracelet – A lovely bright cuff bracelet for you to make using my free printable design.

I’m back this week with another craft tutorial on my YouTube channel and this week, I’ve brought you a chunky cuff design in warm colors with a Mexican influence.

Paper beads made with my free designer template in warm colors with a Mexican feel.

This DIY BoHo bracelet is a stark contrast from the delicate blue and white ceramic look of last week’s project.

Click here to see that post.

DIY BoHo bracelet
Faux china beads made using last weeks free download.

The full tutorial showing how to make this week’s bracelet is over on my YouTube channel where you can get the password to unlock your free DIY BoHo bracelet printable design.

Get this free printable
To make this beautiful bracelet

Why am I giving away a free printable design each week at the moment?

Well, so many people are stranded at home without access to craft supplies right now and so I began my Crafting In a Crisis series of videos that I am uploading each week.

See the video for this bracelet here.

See the video for this bracelet here.

See the video for this bracelet here.

This week is Crafting In a Crisis No 5 and as with the other free downloads, you need to watch the video over on YouTube using the links further up this page and get the password from the video.

In the video I show you yet another way to easily make paper beads without a proper bead tool.

Once you have watched the video and you have the password, you need to come back here and click this link.

That will take you to the password protected page where the free printable is. And all you have to do is use the password I gave during the video and choose between US Letter size and UK A4 size. That’s it!

What can you do in return?

All I ask is that you subscribe to this blog. And that is optional. You don’t have to and you can still get any free downloads that I have previously offered to non-subscribers in the past but it would make me very happy to have you here.

Also, at some point soon, I am going to start making my future free printables available to subscribers only.

So subscribe today by clicking on the subscribe button in the menu on the left – see video below. You may have to click the gear icon on the left to get the menu to appear if you are reading this on a held-held device.

It would be lovely to have you subscribe to my YouTube channel as well when you go over to watch the tutorial that goes with this blog post.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope see you next week with a tutorial on how to make faux wooden beads with another free printable I will be uploading.

And for those who don’t have access to the 1mm elastic like I use in my videos for stringing the beads…

…I have a special tip in next week’s tutorial for how you can still make your stretchy bracelet without elastic. Yes really! I’ve been racking my brains for how it couild be done while people can’t get out to buy craft supplies and I have cracked it!

You won’t believe how easy it is!

Hope you enjoy using your DIY Boho bracelet template – see you next week.

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Faux willow pattern china beads made from another one of my free printable designs available on this website.

As you may know, I have been making some of my free printable designs available to my YouTube viewers.

Most people worldwide are confined to home at the moment and many may not be finding it easy to get hold of craft supplies.

So that is why I have been trying to think of tutorials using stuff from around the house, such as kitchen towel, like I used in this tutorial to make the bracelet below.

free printable designs
The bracelet I made using kitchen towel

This week I have been working on some new free printable designs but then I thought of one I designed a few years back.

I will be making the new one available as time goes on but for my YouTube tutorial this week, I have made this pretty faux willow pattern china bead bracelet.

This is the design I use in my face to face workshops with people who are new to making paper beads.

Faux china beads with a willow pattern look.

As with my other free printable designs, my YouTube viewers can download the template for this and follow the tutorial to make this bracelet.

My finished bracelet

All you have to do to get access to the download is watch the video here on YouTube and listen for the password. It is different to last weeks password because it is on a different page. Once you have the password, click here to go to the download page for that design and use the password. Simple!

What if you don’t have all the other things I used to make my bracelet?

As long as you have a printer, a paper shredder (or scissors and a ruler) a bamboo skewer or toothpick and a glue stick, you can make these beads.

If you don’t have the tiny silver beads, craft eyelets or elastic, you can roll lots of beads and then make your bracelets when the craft stores are open again.

I’m not sure if US viewers are able to order on Amazon at the moment but here in the UK we are.

So I will be stocking my Amazon shops for the other things you need in case you are able to order right now.

My Amazon shops are here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/rainbowlane

https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

Amazon Affiliate Statement
My Amazon affiliate statement

And what if you don’t have a bead rolling tool?

free printable designs
The bead tools I manufacture and sell online

https://folksy.com/shops/PaperBeadToolsAndSuppliesUK

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ImagesForCrafts

Ideally, you will have a bead rolling tool such as the 3mm one you see above.

However, if you don’t have a tool – don’t panic!

In a couple of my previous tutorials, I have given you ideas on how to make paper beads without a tool.

Click the links below to see my other ideas for making paper beads without a bead tool.

https://youtu.be/yrRF8DEvX3c

https://youtu.be/8oQlNGIua-Q

This week in my YouTube tutorial, I bring you a third idea and show you how to make a simple homemade paper bead rolling tool that is good enough.

The homemade bead tool is a return to the 70s for me when I was making paper beads this way using cocktail sticks (toothpicks).

This method is fine for making paper beads when you can’t get a proper paper bead tool.

I developed the paper bead rolling tool that I sell online for people who are making lots of beads all the time and need something that is quick and easy to use.

But if you aren’t rolling hundreds of beads, my homemade version will be fine for you.

Have fun everyone and I hope you are enjoying my free printable downloads as much as I enjoy creating them – see you next time with my next tutorial and maybe some more free printable designs!

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This is what you can make using my latest designer template for paper beads.
For a short while, you will find the template on my free printables page but grab it quickly as it will soon be in my Etsy shop where you will have to pay for it.

Just a very quick post to go with my latest YouTube video which is about how to make this pretty, colorful bracelet from paper beads.

Paper Beads are ‘my thing’ and for many years I have been manufacturing and selling tools and templates to make it easier to make lots of paper beads.

But while this current crisis is still keeping us in our homes, I am devising ways for people to make paper beads without a bead rolling tool.

That’s in case you can’t get hold of one right now.

My latest video shows the second way I have found to do this, the first way can be seen here.

And to help out those who are new to paper beads, I have made a new designer template for you.

All you need to do is download it and print it out on thin glossy paper.

You don’t need to varnish the paper beads if you print onto glossy paper.

For a limited time, I am offering the template free on this website on my free downloads page. (Password needed, see below)

However, there is a catch!

You will have to go over to my YouTube channel and watch my tutorial on how to use it, to get the password for that page. You will see the password somewhere in the tutorial.

Sorry this is a very brief post – I am late publishing tonight!

Thanks for stopping by and please leave me a comment on over on my channel.

Have fun with your paper beads and see you next week!

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paper beads
You can make a very robust leather-look bracelet from a sheet of A4 card.

Cardstock bracelet? Really? Yes!

A cardstock bracelet isn’t so much of a crazy idea once you’ve watched my video on how to do it.

A sheet of A4 card is not the first material you would think of if you wanted to make a durable bracelet.

However, that is exactly what I set out to do when I made my most recent YouTube tutorial.

While we are all kept confined in our own homes, many people are turning to craft to pass the time away, some, probably for the first time.

So my goal in making a cardstock bracelet was to use a material that lots of people may have at home already.

In the UK, almost all of our craft outlets are closed because they are considered non-essential stores. I find that strange since Off Licences (liquor stores) are considered essential and are open.

The only place where we can get craft supplies, that I know of, is The Range because some, if not all their stores, now have Iceland food store inside and so can remain open.

Not sure what the situation is across the rest of the world with craft store closures but I’m guessing it’s pretty much the same as here in the UK.

cardstock braceelets

Gone are the days when we could wander around craft stores at our leisure, buying up half the store 😍

But there is still Amazon, at the moment.

So if you want to make a cardstock bracelet but don’t have the things you need, Amazon is a good place to start.

I have updated my Amazon stores to include the things you need to make this bracelet if you really can’t adapt this method to what you have to hand.

Here are the links:

https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/rainbowlane

Amazon Affiliate Statement

If you browse through all the craft items in my stores, you will find mostly everything I use in my videos.

I have still been managing to get my craft items through Amazon UK. It does take a little longer now but not too much.

In my YouTube tutorial, I use items such as a metal ruler and a bead rolling tool but you could easily adapt this method and still make the cardstock bracelet without those things.

When it comes to varnish, I suggest using clear nail polish if you don’t have something like Anita’s Clear Gloss or Triple Thick.

In the video, I also use the paper bead rolling tool that I designed and sell online.

cardstock bracelet

But if you check out the YT link in this post you will see my idea for making paper beads without a tool.

UK customers can check out my Folksy shop and find the tool there too if you still want it.

The two Crafting In A Crisis projects I have completed. Check out my previous post for details of the top bracelet.

And finally, as Garry, my husband is currently on furlough, he is now amusing himself with making things out of wood.

His usual work is very physical and so it’s good to see him busy chopping, sawing and designing.

So who knows, maybe he will have his own page on here soon!

Hope you enjoy the cardstock bracelet tutorial – let me know in the comments under the video on Youtube.

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Paper beads are a great way to keep on crafting when you can’t get out to buy supplies.

There is no doubt we are living in the most difficult times that most of us born since the last World War can remember.

The video clip below was shot yesterday in a town near where I live. I was forced to go out to deal with an urgent banking issue and had to venture into town.

It would normally be packed with people just before lunchtime on a Friday but this was the scene that met me – very eerie.

We are all living in very worrying times, times that many people are finding extremely hard to deal with on many levels.

What should have been a busy UK town centre has been reduced to a ghost town.

Crafting is one way to try and stay occupied and keep our minds off this awful situation that worrying will not change.

So I have been trying to think of ways people can craft if they don’t have everything they need.

One of the projects I came up with is making paper beads without a bead rolling tool.

As you may know, I designed a paper bead rolling tool many years ago and have been selling it online and at my classes for a long time.

My tools and templates do make paper bead making much easier, if you are in a position to get them now.

Uk readers can get my paper bead supplies here.

US readers can get them here.

paper beads
The paper bead tools and templates I manufacture and sell online.

But what if you don’t have the tool for rolling paper beads?

And what if you are in a situation where you can’t get one now?

Can you still make paper beads? The answer is a resounding YES!

If you want to make paper beads but you don’t have the tools or paper to make them, watch my YouTube tutorial.

You will be surprised at how easy it is to make paper beads with two household items you probably already have.

And if you don’t have a template, you can still measure out long triangles on the paper and cut them out. Where there is a will there is a way!

You will be surprised at how I made these beads! You can easily make them too wth no bead rolling tool.

Our main craft stores in the UK are closed as they are not considered essential.

https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane

https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/rainbowlane

Amazon Affiliate statement

I’m not sure I understand the thinking behind that, especially as stores selling alcohol, (or Off Licences, as they are called in the UK), are.

It’s a very strange situation when, during a national crisis with most people like prisoners in their own homes, alcohol is considered more important than the very art and craft supplies that could keep people from going quietly mad in isolation.

Escapism through art/craft is much healthier than using alcohol.

I just don’t get it.

Keep busy everyone – crafting is a great form of meditation because it helps us forget the world for a few hours.

Hope you find my paper beads YouTube video useful in developing ideas for crafting without many supplies – see you next week.

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Tissue paper light shades are quite simple to make and you don’t need lots of expensive supplies.

Tissue paper light shades are only for use with battery operated tealights or battery operated candles – they must never be used with naked flames.

tissue paper light shades
Some of my easy to make tissue paper light shades
Please note these tissue paper light shades are for battery tealights only. Never use them with a naked flame.

You can find the full tutorial on how to make your own tissue paper light shades on my YouTube Channel.

All you need is coloured tissue paper and lots of white glue. The trick is being able to cover the sheets of tissue with PVA glue without losing your patience!

In the tutorial, I show you two easy ways to do that without using too many swear words.🤪

When I was making my tissue paper light shades, even I had a couple of teeny problems.

It wasn’t all plain sailing – these are two failed tissue paper light shades.

The hardest part of making these shades is getting the glue onto the delicate tissue evenly and then drying it without it all sticking to itself or to the drying surface.

You will see my easy methods in the video.

You can see by the above screwed up pieces of tissue – I had two mess up on me. I use waxed paper taped down to a glass cutting mat as a base on which to work and then I just let the sheets dry right on there.

But even then I had to keep moving the sheets around a little throughout the drying time to stop the tissue from sticking in places.

Once you see the basic technique for making tissue paper light shades, you can start exploring ways to decorate them using your own ideas.

For these purple ones I used some round gold cord I had. I sandwiched it in between the sheets of tissue.

I used lace strips for another one and fancy wool on a third.

But you could do stamping or doodling on the tissue with Sharpies before you put glue on.

When you put battery operated tea-lights or candles inside these lanterns it gives you room a cosy glow. NEVER use naked flames in them.

Hope you have fun making lots of lovely lights to brighten up these strange times we are all living through.

If you aren’t sure where to get any of the supplies and tools you see me use in my video, do check out my Amazon storefronts by clicking one of the two Amazon links below.

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

My Amazon Affiliate statement

If you made these tissue paper light shades, let me know how you got on by leaving me a comment on my YouTube channel.