Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Decoupaged Glass Plates tutorial

Hello all,
Well, today I am going to jump in and try my hand at showing a tutorial. The project is super simple with the right tools and product.
Don't even talk to me about doing a video!


Decoupaged Glass Plate Tutorial:
you will need:
   clear glass plate clean, oil free (fingerprints, etc.)
   ModPodge matte, gloss or glitter!
   sponge brush
   glass of water for glue brushes
   plastic lid or plate to pour glue into
   damp rag/paper towel for finger clean up during project
   newspapers to cover your craft surface
   craft mat or placemat size rectangle of waxed paper
   pretty napkins
   sharp scissors

Step 1
  Spread newspapers, wax paper etc. to cover work surface
  Get damp rag and place in a bowl or on plastic plate/lid
  Prepare napkins:
      remove extra plies so you have only one ply of decorated napkin. You can use the leftover white napkin plies in later steps and also use them as napkins!
Step 2
   Cut motifs from napkins. Cut many more than you think you will need!
Very Important: lay out your napkin cuttings frequently so you have an idea for placement. Continue to do this as you cut.

Do your final placement layout.

Now is the time to trace and cut out a background sheet of tissue paper or napkin. This is when the other napkin plain plies will work well.

Set aside.

Step 3
   Pour a glob of ModPodge onto plastic lid.
   Place clear glass plate FACE DOWN.
   Spread a little glue to cover where you want to put your first napkin cutting.
   Place napkin cutting FACE DOWN, and dab more glue on with brush.

tip: remember that you will be placing your motifs down from the front to the back.
Example - if you are gluing down a watering can full of flowers, you will first place the watering can down. Then you will place flowers on top of that, so when finished the flowesr will be inside (or behind) the can. Then you will place any clouds/sky on top of the flowers, so the finished scene will look like clouds in the back, flowers in vase.

   Continue spreading a little glue, placing napkin motifs and dabbing with more glue until all your first pieces are in place.


Problem?  It is very easy to tear the thin napkin pieces. You can smoosh some of them together with the wet glue. Hate it? Remove it quickly and do another piece instead. Or, make the tears part of your overall look, and be sure to do more of them. Think crackled Venetian vases or old paintings.

tip: make sure all the napkin pieces are covered with glue.

Step 4
Set aside on wax paper. Let dry.
Now is the perfect time to start on another glass plate or bowl, while your first is drying a bit.
Here, my lovely assistant Pam is starting on a small bowl. She has cut out a few pansy motifs from one napkin, then has taken another blue striped napkin and torn it into small strips.
Remember! You are gluing napkin pieces face down onto the bottom outside of the bowl.
Pam has glued a few pansy motifs first, and is then applying blue strips on top of them.

Step 5
Pick up your dry/wet glass plate carefully.
Get the set aside one large piece of tissue paper/napkin that you have cut out.
You can now apply the covering "back" layer. This usually goes on top of all your glued pieces, but doesn't have to. Play around with looks, but do this BEFORE you start gluing things down! It is very difficult if not impossible to remove motifs once the glue has started to set (which is within seconds sometimes!)
Remember your steps: Put down a layer of ModPodge first, being careful not to tear or smoosh the already glued down motifs. Then place tissue paper/napkin on top and dab glue to cover it all. If you don't get glue everywhere on this step, it will leave a dry spot that is okay but doesn't look great!

This plate is drying. After first layer of napkins, I am now adding a layer of yellow behind the lion, and torn strips of light blue and white napkins around the edge.

Step 6
Set aside to dry thoroughly.
Go back to your second bowl, plate or whatever, and apply finishing touches.
Here is a Happy Birthday bowl that I made.
Here it is done, but drying:

Here it is dry, and shows you the unfinished edges where the tissue paper is sticking up. I actually did this on purpose, to give a finished edge when I am done .
 
Here I am holding the bowl up to the light so you can see it at a different angle.
I used a mixture of matte ModPodge, and glitter ModPodge.

Step 7
Finish up any decoupaged pieces you have more steps to do.
If you want to do a small piece now you can decoupage small candle cups, or in this case, we used mini clay pots:

Here are the finished products:

In the above 2 photos you can see the mini bowl and the bunny plate still need their edges finished.

Step 8 Final
Take an old emery board or file. File off the tissue edges that are sticking up away from the rims. Smooth the edges with the file, as needed.
Well, just hmmmm. I have no idea why this particular picture is tipped wrong. It isn't in my saved files that way! Sorry, guess you will just have to turn your head or hold your monitor up sideways!

Here are our finished samples:


 Oh just ick. Guess that is what learning new things is all about! I will have to play with this photo issue, but I do want to get this wonderful and easy craft to you, so please just bear with me, and do that crooky neck thing!

This is the plate I did years ago:
front:
back:

 laid down on  white napkings to show detail:
Yes! Those pansies and leaves are from a napkin!!

Here are some last minute finishing tips:

These are decorative plates and not meant to be washed. If needed, you can wipe the glass surface with a damp cloth, and dry immediately.
They are NOT food safe unless you spray with food safe finish.

The back side can often feel 'sticky', even after it is dry. Use a clear acrylic spray to eliminate this. I like Kryon.

Check and see, I believe there are food-safe sprays that you can use! After spraying with this kind of spray, you can put food on the plate, but still only hand wash with very mild soap and rinse with a damp rag.

If you can't find the food safe spray, or just want to use the clear acrylic spray, that's fine. You can put wrapped candy on you plate if you wish. You could use it as a serving plate for pre-wrapped tea bags, or 3 little tea cups. How about a creamer/sugar set?

I think the birthday bowl would be a great place to anchor some birthday balloons!

I hope you have enjoyed my first tutorial.
Print these out on sticker paper, and have fun decorating cards, lunch boxes or Easter eggs!

inkspired




Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Day 3 Irish countdown, Barbies, Decoupage and Vintage song sheet graphics

Welcome!

Today I would like to share with you one of my passions -

Barbie, Barbie, Barbie!
Yes, it's true. I am an adult (so my age says) and I collect Barbies! I love the fancy dresses and costumes. The outrageous hair.  All the glitter and glam.
The fantasy of it all.
Here are a few examples of Irish Barbies that Mattel has produced:
"It's just a Barbie kind of world...."

Here are some great vintage song sheets, from Indiana's Music Libraries. See side bar for the link.


So, what can you do with these great images except just admire them?
DECOUPAGE!!
Decoupage is such an easy project to do, and the results can look so professional.
My favorite decoupage medium? The standard Mod Podge is still one of the best. I have tried several others, which all seem to work fine. I do really like Aleene's products. She has a reverse decoupage glue and a napkin decoupage glue among many others.

Simple decoupage project:
Pick out an item. Some ideas:
   a frame with glass (use Aleene's reverse decoupage glue)
   a side table
   a frame with a large border
   a mirror with a large border
   a trinket box
   a wood stool
   a plaque
really, just about anything you want.

Now, just follow the directions on the bottle! I'm not going to repeat them here, they are so simple.

Hint: before you start, remove all surface dirt with a good scrubbing if needed, or remove wood dust with a tack sheet.

To use the Irish song sheets, click on the image. Copy and manipulate to the size desired. Watch for the pixels. That means if you blow it up too much it will be very grainy, or 'pixeled'.  Print. Wrinkling the printed paper can help some to disguise the larger 'pixels'. Lightly swipe a dark brown ink pad over the wrinkles to age it even further.
For a very distressed aged look, tear the edges. Practice! Then sponge on some of that great dark brown ink you have.

Apply decoupage glue as directed on the jar/bottle.

Fun hint: At this "wet" stage you can sprinkle on glitter! Try a little green sparkle, or some irridescent glitter!

While these examples are not done using song sheets, it will give you some ideas on how a copied picture can look:
Garden Shrine by inkspired

Here is an example of how decoupage glue can be used to glue
recycled paper scrap - in this case catalog pictures of book covers and then heavily sprinkled with glitter:
Fairy Book Box with closeup of inside by inkspired
Share your completed projects!
Found any tips that will help the rest of us?
Write and let me know!

"May the good Lord take a liking to you...
but not too soon!"
- Irish proverb

inkspired


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Butterflies, Fairies and Shamrocks

Hello!
"May the roof above us never fall in.
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out."
- Irish Blessing

I am starting a 10-day countdown to Saint Patrick's Day, March 17.
We'll be doing a bit o' green each day!
This front cover of sheet music is from one of my favorite web sites:

Bit of Irish History
Paragon Publishing Book, ISBN0-75256-139-1
Around AD600 the Irish imported books and copied them in their monastaries. They also took these books with them wherever they went.
An important library was established at Bobbio AD613.


If you are still working on your fairy wing mobile from March 6th blog, here is a web site that has MANY full color butterflies to be inspired by and to gaze upon:

Here is a vintage Irish fairy for you:

If you would like to give a live shamrock plant for the holiday, here is a site I found on Amazon:
I have always loved the delicate shamrock plant with white flowers. Browsing around, I have found there are several different types of shamrock plants. So, do some shopping and pick which one you like best!
image from:
27249-irish-womans-hand-holding-a-green-shamrock-clover-by-the-stem-over-a-white-background-stock-photo-image-by-anastasiya-maksymenko[1]

Altered Paper Doll Wing Project:
Let's make an Irish Fairy Altered Paper Doll!
Take a look at the butterflies on the web site mentioned above.
Put  your Green Oz Glasses on, and envision them in green!
Here is a base doll to get you started:
This is one of Tom Tierney's paperdolls from Dover Publications.

Here is a dress to go with her:
BUT....I want you to turn her into an Irish Fairy!  So, get out those pictures of wings, and play. What style looks best on her? How about detachable wings so she can have new wings for every day of the week?
I bet velcro would work? A sewing hook and eye?

Do I want to make the wings glittery? Refer to the tutorial on Fairy Wing Mobile and apply the glitter/paint suggestions.  Ranger's Stickles would also work great!

Have fun with your Irish fairy altered paper doll. Add some green crepe paper. Add a bit of green lace, or an interesting button. Cover her in shamrock stickers!

You can print out the base, and glue it onto a sturdy piece of cardboard (yeah - cereal boxes!).
What about gluing the base doll to a thin piece of balsa wood? You can cut this with your x-acto knife fairly easily. Balsa wood can be found in Hobby Lobby, or other craft stores.
OR -
Use just the outline of the doll to get you started. Now you can make the face or clothing style any way you want. Give her wild red wire hair!!! Give her dried moss for hair, and twigs for her arms and legs!  Add tiny white silk flowers at her wrists and ankles.  Does she need a proper white lace shawl around her shoulders? Use a bit of an old handkerchief with lace border.

I would love to see your Irish Fairy Altered Paper Dolls. Send me a picture!

Stamped  with Peddler's Pack rubber stamp.

I am so looking forward to getting a new printer/scanner soon. Right now I can't scan any of my projects to show you; I am relying on "old" pictures and clips.  Ah, such a reliance on the electronic age. Once you have it, you think you can't live without it. And perhaps we can't...

"There are only two kinds of people in the world -
the Irish, and those who wish they were!"
- Irish saying

inkspired


Friday, March 4, 2011

Greetings!
I have another post all ready to go, but I just don't feel it is right for today. Had a bad evening last night, but I know that God is in control, and He has a perfect plan for me and my loved ones.

As a mother, I have incredibly fierce feelings of protection for my son - he's 23! Sometimes I truly feel like a mama bear protecting her cubs.

Yet, he is 'grown up' whatever that means.  I have to let him deal with problems to strengthen him and mature him. But oh, I would so like to go and just punch someone in the face. Okay, it would be a slap because if I ever tried to punch someone I know I would end up with broken bones! Believe me I am not a violent person at all. I don't even like to yell, much less speak in a loud voice.

Yet, here are those protective mom feelings.
I can just pray, and it is so hard to not do more.

How dare someone deliberately injure my son! Perhaps I want to be part of a Tennessee clan, where the motto is: "you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us, and all of us will take care of the problem."

Well that brought a smile to my face. That's good.

Something else that brought a smile to my face was JT the visiting cat, and Tanner the resident Great Dane.

Tanner loves to hang out on the couch. He prefers our bed, but darn it, we just don't offer that to him very often. So he is sprawled on the couch, taking his morning snooze in the sun.

JT is an ornery little cat. Oh, that is, a big-22-pound cat who loves his mistress and would just as soon eat everyone else. He has to have his claws covered with vinyl protection nails. They put two on each claw in the front - and superglue them on. The vet staff has to put him asleep to do this as he is so mmmmm, well let's just say there are many scarred vet techs around that know JT by name, and would just as soon never see him again.

So this morning he was prowling around looking for mischief.
This could mean jumping up on to the counter (not allowed) or taking a bite out of one of my plants (not allowed) or jumping up on the side table in the LR (not allowed) or jumping up onto my big jigsaw table (otherwise known as a dining room table) and batting my puzzle pieces around (NOT ALLOWED)!

Well, he had tried all that and frankly he was just bored.
Wait, what is that? It is long and black and just sticking out from the couch!
So he took a swat at it. Tanner lifts his head thinking "what? I was sleeping!".
So JT swats it again. Tanner is looking at him now. Oh Fun! Let's do it again!

After a few swats Tanner just lays his head down again, hoping to sleep.
But JT wasn't finished. Swat! Swat swat! Swat! peeking at Tanner each time to see his reaction. So Tanner looks at him again, and then gives this little sigh of "I'm a Great Dane. I want to sleep. You are a runty little cat. Sigh. Whatever, I'll just ignore you." and puts his head back down.
JT does a few more swats, but he just isn't getting the desired results, so he wanders off.
Dog   1
Cat    0

RECYCLED CALENDARS:
Have your friends save their old calendars for you.
Carefully take apart a variety of envelopes and flatten them. Trace around the envelope shapes, and transfer to your favorite template material. Mine is the inside of cereal boxes. Cut out.
These will be your envelope templates. You should have one for a small notecard (but still mailable size), a regular note card, and a slightly over size card. If you want, you can certainly make other sizes for specialty cards. This will get you started!

If you have the material available, tracing the envelope pattern onto clear shrink plastic, crafting plastic etc. would be ideal.
Place your template over the picture side of the calendar page. Move it around so all the edges fit. Do you like what is in the center? The clear template really helps with this, but you can lift edges while holding page/template in place to adjust also.

Trace around with a ball point pen. I find marker type pens smear too much, and a pencil just doesn't show up enough. I also tried permanent ink, but it also smeared. Cut out. Lightly trace folding lines.
Using a scoreboard (if you don't have one, get one! They make a huge difference in how your cards fold, and so much more.) score on the envelope folding lines. My score board came with a round stylus. Bone folders are popular. I know one stamper that always uses the side of her fingernail!

Crease all seams and sharpen folds with a bone folder.
At this point, I usually stop and place the beautiful calendar envelope into a labeled box.

The next step is to place your card inside the folds. Make sure everything fits well. Sometimes things need a little adjustment, a fold here, a snip cut there.
After making a good fit, get out the double sided tape. Again, I really like VivaLasVegastamps miracle tape. It comes in several widths. For envelope making I like the skinny one.
Place tape on lower 2 side flaps, and fold up bottom over that. Make sure your tape is in a good position, and peel off backing. Press envelope pieces together. To close the envelope after adding card, you do the same for the top two flaps, bringing down the top flap to close.
TIP: Don't try to use glue or tape runners. They just don't seem to hold the envelope flaps in place, and glue has a tendency to run outside the lines, and you end up gluing your card to the envelope. Not cool.

TIP:For extra security, I like to add a folded over square of scotch tape to the top two edges where the post office will be running it through their machines - where you place your stamp and where you place your return address.

Now - to finish!
Place a blank address label somewhere on the front. This is where  you will print the "to" address. This does not have to be perfectly horizontal (sorry Hyacinth Bucket). Your return address does not have to be on the front either. Sometimes I use it as a sticker to the center of all flaps in the back as a 'seal'.
Sometimes I use a matching sticker.

These calendar page envelopes intrigue everyone. Make someone's postal deliverer day! Add a smile to a friend's blah...boring...bills mail!

That's it for today, I still have errands and appointments creeping up.
Thanks for letting me have a 'mommy fit'.
Hope JT and Tanner added some smiles to your day.
inkspired