Mixed media fun

Hi Everyone!!

Here is another mixed media project. I tried to take pictures while I was working on it. I hope you try this project or one similar.

Here is the project when it was finished. The words in the center say " see the beauty in every day things

I used a 8x10 canvas. I actually recycled one that I had glued some music note paper to.  It was rather hideous and I was so happy when inspiration hit.  I honestly hated the original piece so much I did not take a pic of it. :)
I then painted a layer of crackle medium onto the canvas. You can use Elmers clear/gel glue if you do not have crackle medium. there is even a tutorial HERE if you would like to know how.
I then painted the canvas with Apple barrel brand paint in the color Cloudless. I added black India Ink splatters. I let it all dry while I dipped the paint brush tips into paint and set them aside to dry. I also gathered materials from all my stash piles. Metal pieces, scraps of crochet doilies, chipboard pieces, and Flowers. The words are from past Maya Road ware house boxes!!

I got some artist pallets for another project and they came with a full set of (ehhh) paint brushes. Not wanting to throw them away I decided to recycle them and use them on this project.

Before I added gesso. I hate wasting anything so, I used the bottoms of the paint brushes that I cut to fit in the bottom corner.

Still needs to be lighter

Needs a bit more gesso

hmmm, now it seems to fade into the back round too much.

I recently got some 13 arts glass beads, I totally love them. I use them every chance I get.

I love the way the piece of doily peeks out from beneath the chipboard daydream word. If you look really closely you can see the mess that hides underneath.

Here is another close up of the grouping of items covered in gesso and sprayed with white sprays. I thought about going all out and using all my Lindy's and Prima sprays, but I really liked the simplicity of this piece. In the final piece way back up there at the top of the post, I solved the problem of the  groupings fading into the backround by adding a "Halo" or "brightning" effect with some white gesso.

I really hope you enjoyed this piece . Let me know what you think or if you would like to see a more detailed tutorial or even a video.
Have a wonderfully crafty day!!
Haley

Altered paint brush

Hi Everyone!!

Today I wanted to share with you an altered paint brush. I was at my local mega store and I was looking for some spackle to use in my mixed media projects. Please don't get me wrong, I love modeling/texture/embossing paste as much as the next crafter, but I don't always need it to be archival safe. Any way, as I was walking down the aisle I saw these paint brushes for 81 cents each. I knew one would work for a substitute for a Hake' brush for my daughter. The other I bought for me to try to do something with.  Here is what I came up with. I want to do a series with seasonal colors and ephemera.

All these amazing flowers and metal pieces make me so happy.

Here is a full frontal view of the paint brush.

I used the button on the back to hold the ribbon in place and to provide a place to hang it on the wall.

I hope you will try one of these super simple, but beautiful altered paintbrushes for yourself.
Have a great day!!
Haley

Challenge

Hi everyone!!

This Tuesday I was given a canvas that was going to be thrown away. The canvas had been used to tryout some melted crayon art work. I must say I very much regret not taking a before picture. I was given the canvas to upcycle. :) Below are some pics of the finished product and proof that Tim Holtz tissue wrap can be glued down with melted wax. It was really fun to play with a medium I don't normally use.

       The handle across the top is a purse handle a sweet friend of mine gave to me to use.

   Recollections micro beads that have been in my stash  for easily 5 years. Check out that super cool giant glass stone wrapped in copper foil (or something similar). It is super cool.

Have fun and give upcycling a try.
Haley

Up, Up and away.

I totally love Hot air balloons right now. I looked up some projects about hot air balloons and found THIS   Super cool right??  Then I saw THIS  I really liked the idea of hot air balloon being on the chipboard. My husband is really tall and our ceilings are, well, not. SO hanging anything from the ceiling is a no go.

Here is my completed project, Tutorial to follow.

I recently got some awesome October Afternoon
paper. When I saw this cloud paper I thought I
would never find a use for it. I think it works perfectly with the hot air balloon.










Here is a picture of the template my hubby made me on the computer, printed on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

the "bulb" is 10 inches. The length is 8 inches.












I traced this pattern onto all of my patterned paper. I made a chipboard template. Now I will have one for a long time.

I traced and cut 8 of them.

Next, I folded them in 1/2 length wise. I then glued them back to folded back.

Here are several photo's of them after they have been glued waiting to dry.

 Here I used my crop a dile to add a small hole for threading seambinding.

Here are all the sections glued together.

Now I took a 12x12 sheet of chipboard and paint it or cover it with paper. I chose to cover it with black cardstock.

 next I covered it with this October Afternoon sky paper.

 

 Next, I glued the spine to the paper. If you don't glue the spine down it will flop around.

 Here it is after I glued it down. I also glued the two most end pieces to the back-round.

 Proud of my stitching on this.

 Here it is with me attempting to get tall enough to stand over it and take pics.

I placed a strip of pearls for the body of the butterfly. I had never sewn thru chipboard before. My VERY elderly sewing machine required some assistance, but I really like the way it turned out.

 Here is a close up of the distressing. I punched out a cloud and tucked it in. I really went to town on the edges.

 I love this seam binding. I get it from Cheep trims. It come in 100 yard spools for about 10 bucks. I have white and black. I dye the white one all the time.

A few years ago I was given these "learn Chinese cards" and I have been slowly using them in my projects. I just love them. The bling in the bottom corner came from ETSY. 

 Here are some flowers from my stash pile.

Here is a close up of the trim I used and the lace.
I really hope you enjoyed this and make one for yourself. If you do leave a link down below in the comments.
Happy crafting!!
Haley

We're all Mad Here how about you??

Hello Everyone,

I was looking around the internet for some idea's for a new project. I am finished with the enormousness wedding album I did for a lovely lady locally. I must admit that I do not want to scrap with purple for a long time. That being said I really did enjoy doing this for her. I scraped 120 photo's. Now that I am done with the album I am back to being able to work on my own projects.

I was thinking about steam punk stuff and I came across a website with a pattern for  mini mad hatter hats.  Well, I knew that my GS would love making these for our annual Very Merry Un-Birthday party. They are SO easy to make. Here is the link to the PATTERN.
You will need to go about 3/4 of the page down to find the link. There is a tutorial on how they created theirs, but I changed mine up a bit.
Materials Needed:
Patterned paper, cereal boxes ( I have also used tissue boxes, mashed potato boxes, ect)
 Step One:
Print off your pattern. (click on the word PATTERN above) Print onto 8.5 x 11 paper.
 
Step Two:
Cut your pattern out of cereal boxes. I use as a chipboard template  to cut out the pieces from cereal boxes. IMPORTANT side note: the top of the hat can be chip board but the brim and the body needs to be flexible in order to make the shape.

Step Three:
Next, I cut all my paper pieces.

Step Four:
Adhere the  paper pieces to your cardboard. ** Make sure that you bend the cardboard for the body by rubbing it along the edges of a table.

Step Five:
Gluing the body together. Hot glue the body of the hat together first. Then the top. Lastly the brim. * Before you glue the brim on you want to curl the edges. I do this by running the brim over the edges of a table like you did with the body.

Step Six:
Decorate in any way you wish. Flowers, trims, ephemera, charms, lace, stickpins, ect.

Here are some of the ones my scouts made:

It was kind of a silly face day. :)
I hope you enjoy making these as much as we have.