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How did the Glitterbugg project get started?
By SPEEDO
The Spark
In the spring of 2023, I was chatting with a coworker, Bonita, about the rocks on her desk that were painted like ladybugs (see Figure 1). I was curious about where they came from. She said she loved lady bags and had received them as gifts from a friend who loved to paint rocks. Janine, another co-worker sitting next to Bonita listening to the conversation says, "Hey Speedo, you're creative and love to work with glitter, why don't you make me a glitter bug?" That is the birth of the Glitterbugg project.
Prototyping the first Glitterbugg
The first Glitterbugg I created had a white base color and blue wings with with clear acrylic beads. Before gluing the flat sided acrylic beads I mixed Modge Podge with blue glitter and applied that over the painted rock. Next, I drew the eyes on with some fine tip sharpies (see Figure 2). I got good feedback on this design, so I continued using different size and shaped rocks, glitter, paints, nail polishes, acrylic beads and other objects.
Introducing Tech to the Glitterbugg Design
I created a QR Code that when scanned with your smartphones camera, it would navigate to the Glitterbugg.com website. I printed the image of the code on a small square sticker and placed the sticker on the bottom of the Glitterbugg and used a decoupage medium called Mod Podge to seal it to the rock.