Happy Snow Day

On Monday, I made a rare stop at Burger King for lunch.  I rarely eat fast food but I could hear my stomach growling over Haydn's Symphony in C, so decided to get off at the next exit for some lunch.  When I pulled up at the window to pay, the cashier handed me a dollar bill and told me that it was from the lady in the truck in front of me. He said "The Lady in the green truck told me to give this dollar to you and tell you to have a happy snow day." It just so happened that the forecast was calling for 3 inches of snow later that day. I handed the dollar back to the cashier and told him to pass it along to the man in the truck behind me with the same message. Hopefully it brightened his day as much as it did mine.  This lady has no idea how much her act of kindness actually meant to me.  Lately everyone that I have had to deal with has been crabby, surly and some of them down right mean, but this little act of kindness made me realize that there still are nice people who care about others. Hunger aside, I was actually glad that I took the time to stop for lunch that day.

Like everyone I'm getting a little tired of the cold, snowy weather and can't wait for it to end.  I am taking advantage of this time to work on some craft projects and really try to learn all of the features of the Silhouette Cameo. We have a plastic memo paper holder (attached to our fridge) that has become faded and worn over the years.  The decal on the front of holder has country themed designs in slate blue and mauve.  Not only are the colors dated ( from 1990's) but the decal is faded.  I contemplated throwing it out but I couldn't bear to part with it because it is useful and Michelle sold it to us for a 2nd grade school fundraiser.  This became a snow day boredom, makeover project.  I used the Cameo to print and cut some cute little owls that I found on Miss Kate's Cuttables for 50 cents. I printed the owls on white card stock with a HP Laser printer and then sent them to the Cameo to cut. 

Finished Memo paper holder.  

I should note that the flower stickers on the owls are not actually on my memo paper holder, I just placed them there for copyright purposes so I could share this project with you.


Directions for Owl Memo Paper Holder:

Plastic Memo Paper Holder or something else that needs a makeover, this would also make a cute card.
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Embossing machine- I used the Sizzix Boutique
Pale pink, white and scraps of pink card stock
Ranger Liquid Pearls- platinum, blue, pink and white. The blue, pink and white were part of a set purchased at Michaels
Four self adhesive gold beads
Mod Podge and foam brush
Cutting machine that has print and cut capability- I used Silhouette Cameo
Owls sitting on a branch design downloaded from Miss Kate's Cuttables


1.   Unzip the owl zip file from Miss Kate's Cuttables.  Import the image to the cutting machine (Cameo) and resize if desired.  I sized the owls at 3 1/2 inches wide.  The next instructions are for Cameo users. Set the page size to letter; click show registration marks (make sure the image is inside the grey area); open the Trace window- turn off the high pass filter, move the threshold until the image is completely yellow, click trace outer edge; open the cut window and click cut- thick red lines should outline the image.  Click the printer icon and print the design.  Place the printed card stock on the left edge of the Cameo mat and load into the machine.  Click send to Silhouette. Turn on a light is the room is not well lit so the Cameo can detect the registration marks. I rotated my desk lamp to provide more light for the Cameo.  Carefully remove the image from the mat. The hearts each cut separately from the owls.

2.  Cut a piece of pale pink card stock approximately 3 1/4 inches high by 4 1/4 inches wide.  Use the Swiss Dots embossing folder to emboss the card stock.

3.  Liberally apply Mod Podge to the back of the pink card stock with a foam brush.  Cover the front surface of the memo paper holder with the card stock. Smooth out any air bubbles with your fingers. Apply Mod Podge to the back of the owl design and center on the memo paper holder and repeat the process for the hearts.  Cut four small triangles by snipping the corners off of a scrap of pink patterned paper.  Glue the a triangle in each corner of the card stock. 


4.   Apply Mod Podge over the entire surface and set aside to dry.  After the surface is dry, attach a gold bead to each corner.  Apply a dot of platinum Liquid Pearls to the ends of the branches, a dot of blue to each of the blue owl's feathers (on his head) and a dot of pink to the pink owl's feathers. Apply small dots of the white Liquid Pearls to the center of each heart.

Mona Lisa Plaque

Lately I have been experimenting with Ranger's Distress Inks. I decided to use distress ink to make my own paper. I gathered up my ink pads, a stencil, white card stock, some foam blending pads and spray bottle filled with water. After applying two different colors of ink with the blending pads, I laid a stencil over the paper and applied vintage photo distress ink. Then I misted the paper with water and let the droplets dry on the paper to create a mottled effect. Now the paper is ready for use in a project.

I had a picture of the Mona Lisa and Graphic 45 Couture Collection tags laying on my drafting table. The colors in the Mona Lisa painting worked well with the distressed paper. I found a small wood panel to use as the base for the project and grabbed my trusty Mod Podge and a foam brush.

Distressed card stock.

Mona Lisa picture and distressed card stock decoupaged to wooden panel.

Finished plaque.

Directions for Mona Lisa Plaque:

Mod Podge
White card stock
Ranger Distress Inks- Broken China, Vintage Photo, and Peeled Paint
Ranger Foam Blending Pads and Blending Tool
Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil
Graphic 45 Couture Collection Tags- A girl should be two things: Classy and fabulous.
Buttons
Self Adhesive Pearls- medium and small
Small violet silk flower
 Black gesso
Art Minds medium laser shape ( 5x7)- available at Michaels
Small picture hanger

1.  Print a 3x5 image of the Mona Lisa with a laser printer. Image of Mona Lisa courtesy Leonardo Da Vinci- The Complete Works. Plain white paper works better than card stock.

2.  Trim the white paper away from the edges of the picture.

3.  Coat the wooden panel with black gesso and let it dry.

4.  Fold an 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch piece of white card stock in half. Cut the paper on the folded line. Randomly apply Broken China distress ink to the card stock with the ink blending tool. Leave areas of the card stock white. Next using a clean foam pad, apply the Peeled Paint distress ink in the white areas of the card stock. Overlap some of the blue areas and blend in a circular motion. Using a clean foam pad, apply some Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges of the card stock.

5.  Lay the Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil over the distressed card stock. Apply Vintage Photo distress ink over the stencil until the diamond shapes appear. Go over the stencil a second time with the distress ink for a darker diamond image. Remove the stencil and lightly mist the card stock with water. Let the water droplets dry on the paper for a mottled effect.

6.  After the card stock is completely dry, cut it to fit the wood panel. Apply Mod Podge to the panel and glue the card stock to the panel.  Coat the back of the Mona Lisa with Mod Podge and center the image on the panel.  Apply Mod Podge to the wood panel to seal it. When the Mod Podge is dry apply two more coats, letting it dry between coats.

7.  Punch out the Classy and Fabulous tag from the Couture Collection. Brush the back of the tag with Mod Podge and glue to the lower right corner of the wood panel, slightly overlapping the picture. Cover the entire wood panel with Mod Podge and let it dry.

8.  Attach four small pearls to the bottom of the tag and glue the silk flower to the top of the tag.

9.  Attach the medium pearls to the center of the buttons and glue the buttons to the left side of the wood panel (evenly spaced).

10.  Attach a small picture hanger to the back of the wood panel and hang.

Decoupage Makeover

After the last post I began looking around my studio for more ways to display my favorite paintings via decoupage.  The candidates for this makeover were my watercolor paint box, the Jet Max craft carousel and the light switch cover.

I use a Jet Max craft carousel to store my frequently used art supplies. Like all Jet Max products the craft carousel is white so that it matches the other pieces in the line. The craft carousel is divided into six segments which means that I could display six of my favorite paintings. I chose paintings from Van Gogh (of course), Monet, Degas and Berthe Morisot and decoupaged them to the craft carousel and then painted the dividers for each segment and tiers in light blue. I really like the transformation. The carousel could display your favorite photos instead of prints. Just be sure to use a toner based copy and not the original photo for the project.

Decorated Jet Max Craft Carousel

While I had the Mod Podge out I decided it was time to give the light switch cover a face lift. This project required a little planning to make it work. I needed a vertical print that would not lose it's integrity once the holes for the light switches were cut out. Finally the only print that seemed to work was Van Gogh's Road with Cypresses and Star. I printed the painting at 4x6 and checked the fit print to page option, with a laser printer. I printed the image two times. I cut out both copies of the print, setting the second copy aside for later use. I centered the switch plate cover over the print and traced the openings for the light switches onto the print and carefully cut them out. Next I placed the print over the switch plate cover to align the switch openings. This is when I discovered that my print was 1/8 inch to short on the top, bottom and left side, so I trimmed 1/8 inch from the corresponding sides of the second print. After gluing the print to the switch plate cover, I carefully matched the 1/8 inch strips to the print and applied decoupage.

Light Switch cover.

My watercolors came packaged in a nice wooden box. I really liked the box but not the cheap label that was glued to the top. When I tried to remove the label it left large chunks of paper and glue stuck to the lid. Sanding removed most of the residue but left the box stripped of it's finish. The perfect candidate for a makeover project!  For this project I painted the top of the box with light lavender acrylic paint. After the paint dried I applied a coat of Martha Stewart Living silver Metallic Glaze. After the glaze dried I sponged light aqua and purple metallic acrylic paint over the top of the box and then decoupaged Van Gogh's Women in the Field to lid.

Finished Paint Box.

Directions for Decoupage Makeover Projects:

Switch Plate Cover:

White Switch Plate Cover
Mod Podge Hard Coat
Foam Brush
Print or photo- toner based copy
Mod Podge sealant

1.  Remove the switch plate cover from the wall (if using an existing cover). Wash it and dry it.

2.  Print the picture of your choice with a laser printer, using the 4x6  fit print to the edge option, on white paper. Print the picture twice. Cut out both prints.

3.  Lay the switch plate cover over the print and trace the openings for the light switches on the print. Carefully cut out these openings.

4.  Apply Mod Podge to the back of the print. Center the print on the switch plate cover, aligning the openings for the light switches. Smooth out any air bubbles in the print and seal the edges. If the print does not completely cover the switch plate cover then trim the other print to cover these areas. Apply Mod Podge to the edges of the switch plate cover that are not covered by the print and align the print strips so that they match the print and press to seal.

5.  Apply two more coats of Mod Podge to the switch plate cover. After the second coat of Mod Podge dries spray the switch plate cover with sealant.


Decorated Jet Max Craft Carousel:

 Jet Max Craft Carousel
Foam brush
Mod Podge Hard Coat
Mod Podge Sealant
Light blue acrylic paint
Paintbrush, small round
Toner based copies of prints or photos (6)

1.  Paint the edges of the top and bottom tiers of the craft carousel with light blue paint using a small round paintbrush. Next paint the dividers between each of the six segments of the carousel and the top edges of each segment. Let it dry and apply a second coat of paint.

2.  Print six photos or prints with a laser printer using the wallet and fit print to edge option. Trim the prints.

3.  Apply Mod Podge to the back of the print. Center the print on the white area of segment. Smooth out any air bubbles and repeat with the other five prints.

4.   Apply three coats of Mod Podge to the prints, letting the prints dry before applying the next coat.

5.  Seal the prints with the spray sealant.


Decorated Paint Box:

Wooden box
Print or picture
Martha Stewart Living Metallic Glaze-Mercury color
Folk Art acrylic paints- light lavender, light aqua and metallic purple
Foam brush
Craft sponge
Mod Podge Hard Coat
Mod Podge Sealant

1.  Paint the lid of a wooden box with light lavender paint and let it dry. Paint over the lavender with the Martha Stewart mercury metallic glaze. Let it dry overnight- it takes about 12 hours for the paint to dry completely.

2.  Once the glaze is dry, sponge the light aqua paint randomly over the lid. Next sponge the metallic purple paint randomly over the lid, overlapping the aqua is some areas. Let the paint dry.

3.  Print the picture of your choice with a laser printer using the 5x7 and fit print to edge option. Cut the print out and apply Mod Podge to the back of the picture. Center the picture over the lid and press it in place, smoothly out any air bubbles with your fingertips. Apply Mod Podge over the entire lid and let it dry. Repeat this process two more times. After the third coat of Mod Podge is completely dry, spray the lid with the sealant and let it dry.

Decoupage Projects

When time permits, I love to browse through craft supply stores because I always discover new and interesting products. I also like being able to share these products with you. On my last excursion to Michaels I discovered Mod Podge Hard Coat and the Mod Podge silicone craft mat. This is a great idea! The mat protects work surfaces from paint, Mod Podge, glue and ink and simply wipes clean. The Mod Podge Hard Coat was designed for use on wood, glass, terra cotta and furniture. I used it on a glazed pottery vase with good results.

I love art, especially paintings by Van Gogh and the Impressionists, but there is only so much wall space to hang prints. In an effort to find ways creative ways to display my favorite prints, I have turned to other objects.  The vase I use as a paint brush holder was a good candidates for the makeover. The vase was a pottery piece that I had purchased from a street vendor in Washington, DC in the 1980's. It had originally held wooden spoons but eventually found its way into my studio as a brush holder. I really liked the shape and the quality of the piece but the colors were a bit outdated. On a recent trip to Home Depot I found Martha Stewart Metallic Paint Specialty Finish in Cast Bronze and decided to use it to paint the vase. The Martha Stewart paint went on smoothly and dried to a beautiful bronze finish.

Original vase with coating of gesso.

Finished Vase

 




Directions for Mod Podge Vase:

Pottery Vase
Laser or toner based prints-do not use original pictures or prints
Martha Stewart Living Metallic Paint-Cast Bronze-available at Home Depot
Foam craft brushes
Mod Podge Hard Coat sealant
Mod Podge Sealant Spray
Gesso



1.  Apply gesso to the vase. Completely cover the piece including the top rim. Let it dry. Repeat the process if you are covering a glazed piece of pottery. Once the piece is completely dry (I let mine cure overnight), apply a thin coat of metallic paint with a foam brush. Let it dry thoroughly. Do not use heat or a hair dryer to dry the piece or it will damage the paint. Once the vase is dry apply another coat of paint and let it dry. Again I let my piece dry overnight so the paint would harden.

2.  Position the print on the front of the vase. You may have to make small slits around the edges of the print where the vase curves so the print will be flat. Don't worry you won't see the slits after the Mod Podge is applied.  Apply Mod Podge to the back of the print and adhere to the vase. Apply one end of the print and smooth out any air bubbles or wrinkles as you glue it down. If there is a small gap where the print won't lay flat against the vase, cut a small V in the picture and a matching square from the duplicate print. Apply Mod Podge to the square a place it over the V, smoothing it out so that it blends with the picture. Coat the entire vase with Mod Podge and let it dry. Coat the vase two more times. Once the Mod Podge is completely dry, spray the vase with the sealant.

Afternoon in Paris Clipboard

I'm finally back in my studio again. I was on vacation at Myrtle Beach, SC. Myrtle Beach was great, the weather was beautiful and the beach was relaxing. It was the perfect vacation and then three days before the end of the vacation I came down with Strep Throat and a 102 degree F. fever. C'est domage! That's what it's like to be me!

Now that I'm back in my studio the first thing that I did was to finish a project that I started in March. The Afternoon in Paris clipboard is based on a project in Julie Nuttig's book Collage Couture. I came across this book while browsing in the bookstore. The Collage Couture is beautifully done- the pictures are inspiring and there is a step by step guide to completing projects shown in the book. I was inspired by the Japanese Garden clipboard. I could use a clipboard in my studio to corral stray notes. Just because clipboards are functional items why do they have to be plain and boring? For my project I chose a French theme (of course). I covered the clipboard in printed paper using the instructions on page 106 of the book. I drew a fashion figure using the instructions on page 10 of the book and added clothing. Next I used the Cricut to cut out the Eiffel Tower and the poodle. I added an inspirational quote and a butterfly to complete the clipboard.

 

Directions for Afternoon In Paris Clipboard:

Collage Couture by Julie Nuttig (available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble)

Lucite clipboard (available at Walmart)

K&Company Sera Sera Paper Pad- I used gold  and orange print paper and a scrap of blue print

K&Company Abrainna Paper Pad- blue and purple print paper- for figure's dress

Newspaper

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Butterfly- I used the Recollections gossamer butterfly from Michaels

Cricut cartridges- Summer in Paris and Paper Pups

White, gray, parchment, brown (for the figure's hair) and pale pink card stock

Tim Holtz Tea Dye and Tattered Rose distress ink

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist- Pearl, Cherry Blossom, Raven

Black Sharpie

Narrow blue ribbon

Recollections self stick gold beads

Piece of pink tulle

Decorative edge scissors

1.   Tear gold and orange print paper in pieces and apply to the clipboard following the directions on pages 106 and 107 of the book.

2.   Draw a fashion figure on tracing paper according to the instructions on page 6 in the book. Draw the clothing and the hair as directed in the book. I cut my figure out of news print. I tied a piece of pink tulle around the figure's waist as a belt.

3.  Cut a 6 1/2 inch Eiffel Tower out of pale pink card stock using the Cricut Summer in Paris cartridge.

Apply Tattered Rose distress ink randomly over the tower. Next apply Tea Dye distress ink around the bottom, top and sides of the tower. Lightly spray the tower with Cherry Blossom Glimmer Mist and let it dry. Lightly spray the tower with Raven Glimmer Mist and let it dry.

4.   Using the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge cut a poodle at 1 3/4 inches out of gray card stock. Next press the black out key and cut the poodle out of white card stock. Assemble the poodle and lightly spray with Pearl Glimmer Mist and set aside to dry. Use the Sharpie to color the poodle's nose and eye.

5.   Type the quote: Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything. -Eugene Delacroix and print it on parchment card stock using the font and size of your choice. Cut the quote out using decorative scissors. Glue the quote on to a small piece of blue patterned card stock.

6.   Position the Eiffel Tower to the left hand side of the clipboard and glue in place using Modge Podge. Position the fashion figure in the center of the clipboard and glue in place using Modge Podge. Glue the quote to the right of the fashion figure's head. Glue the poodle to the right of the fashion figure's foot. Cut a piece of narrow blue ribbon and loop in around the figure's wrist and attach the other end behind the poodle. Place a small gold bead self stick bead around the wrist loop and at the top of the leash.

7.   Glue the butterfly to the clip. Cover the entire clipboard with a coat of Modge Podge to seal it.