Projects

How She Did It: Window to the World 4×6 Art Card

Projects

So, a while back I shared about a 4×6 art card swap I’d participated in that used several different techniques: collage, embossing, watercolor pencils, and word art.

Rose Colored Glasses 4x6 Swap piece

Well, after that post the Blond Duck herself (of A Duck in her Pond and Words & Whimsy) asked for a tutorial and while it took me a little longer to get to this than I’d planned, I’m happy to say I finally bit the bullet this weekend and created a similar card and filmed the entire process.

I still have a bit to learn when it comes to making these sorts of process videos, but I hope this helps disspell some of the “mystery” of heat embossing, watercolor resist and collage for those who haven’t given it a try yet.

(Direct link for the feed-readers: Window to the World: 4×6 Process Video w/Embossing Demo)

There you have it. Any questions?

The entire process, start-to-finish, took about half an hour. Some parts took longer than usual because I was explaining for the benefit of the camera, but then I also don’t show the time spent flipping through the magazine looking for words and images to use. So 30 minutes is about right. A 4×6 art card is one of those great instant-gratification projects and I hope you’ll give it a go and, even more, hope that you’ll share what you’ve been up to.

Now that I’ve finally gone and done this first video, I’m kind of excited to do more and will try to plan ahead enough on future posts where it might be appropriate. That said, I’m also open to requests, so just let me know if there’s something you’d like to see explained a bit more, demonstrated, or just a bird’s eye view of and I’ll do my best!

Oh, and in the spirit of true confessions, I committed one of my crafter’s pet peeves and I can’t believe I did it. During the course of the 30 minute video I must have said Mod Podge a few dozen times (some during those sped-up portions where you are spared my blathering) and, upon play-back, I heard myself (just once–but it was enough) call it “Modge” Podge. I thought about going back and dubbing the right word in, but I figured I might as well leave it and fess up rather than spend ages trying to get a seemless fix in place.

Keepin’ it real!

~Scraps~

Wrap It Up!

Everyday Adventures, Projects

2 Ways to Dress Up a Boring, Square Box

When I decided to give one of the paper brooches as a birthday gift, I needed to wrap it up quickly before I saw her again. Thankfully I had a suitable box handy, now I just needed to wrap it. Reaching for the tissue paper, this is what I came up with:

I really need to start taking pictures when I do this, but I never know how it’s going to turn out when I start!

I started by wrapping the box in a long piece of tissue paper several times. Just rolled it up like a piece of candy with plenty of extra paper on each end. Then I pulled both of the ends up and towards the center, pinching it together a bit. It was at this point that I realized the upturned ends of the paper kinda looked like petals, so I grabbed some clear tape and secured the center, then fluffed the “petals” a little, crunching those that were longer, and separating the layers to give the impression of lots and lots of petals.

While that was pretty good on it’s own, it needed a little something, so I took two lengths of green ribbon and tied them around the base of the flower. Then I hand-cut and decorated a tag in the shape of a leaf, attached it with the ribbons, and knotted the hanging ribbon ends to make it look pretty.

And to open the gift? It’s tissue paper so it’s very easy to tear through the back of the paper, slip out the box, and leave the pretty flower intact!

——————–

The next week I decided on a spur-of-the-moment gift for another friend–our DM at the DDE sessions on Wednesday night and our season was coming to an end–but it, again, equated to a boring square.

I just stuck with a straightforward wrapping job on the gift in gold tissue paper, and turned the card into a scroll for kicks. To make the tag, I drew and cut out a d20 (20-sided die) of red cardstock, and cut two small slits at the top and bottom to slip the tails of the ribbon through, then added the “to” and “from” to the back of the tag.

Hint: With this sort of decorative closure, it helps to tie the ribbon in a loop, first, then roll the scroll a little smaller, slip it through, and let it unfurl to fill the space. Otherwise you’re just juggling a bunch paper and ribbon and you might as well be trying to dress an octopus in a onesie.

Project | And Yes, They’re Paper

Projects

For those who haven’t subscribed to the Gauche Alchemy monthly newsletter (and just why not?), I’m thrilled to get to share a project I’ve had to keep close to the vest for more than a month! I know, the suspense was killing me, too–I hate keeping fun stuff from you guys. Even if you did see the project in the newsletter, I’ll be showing step-by-step photos of the process, so it’s worth a peek if you’re curious how I put these awesome Paper Brooches together.

If you recall my altered make-up box, I used  the Intricate Design stamp for the faux-hinges and I believe I mentioned that  I’d had other plans for that stamp to begin with. This is what I had in mind when I ordered that stamp.

After stamping the image on colored card stock and embossing some of each in gold and silver,

I antiqued the embossing with some metallic rub-ons, applied with a cotton swab.

Antiquing the embossing with metallic rub-ons

Since I wanted to hang chains from the motifs, I wide-trimmed each design,

Wide-trimming the motifs before punching the holes

punched a few strategic holes (3 sets along the bottom for the horizontal brooch, one on each side and at the bottom for the vertical) with a 1/8″ hole punch. After that it was time to fussy cut the images, leaving little circles around the punched holes.

One the holes are punched, trim about 1/8" around them

I cut different lengths of jewelry chain and used needle-nose and round-nose pliers to open the links, slip them into their holes, and close them back up. (You could also use jump rings–much easier if you’re stringing multiple chains together, like I did with the silver brooch).

Adding chains for movement and insterest

After that it was all about the decorations. The beads for the silver brooch came from the Black Out mixed media color kit, while the flat-backed gem and coppery brads for the gold brooch came from the It’s All Gravy Baby brown color kit. Also on the silver brooch is a Tim Holtz button (I punched a hole in the center of the paper background to allow for the shank and used clear glue to secure it to the front).

Added buttons, gems, brads and beads to jazz it up

To help the chains on the gold brooch hang correctly, I added a beaded spacer bar between the 2 outer sets–the gold-tone bi-cones added a little sparkle while also serving a purpose.

Beaded spacers to keep the chains hanging correctly

All that was left was to add the pin-backs and let them dry.

The backs of the cards, just about ready to wear

On my next go-round–because I do plan on making more– I think I’ll reinforce the back of the pin with another layer or two of card stock, just to make sure the brooch can stand up to lots of wear. (Probably only necessary if you’re a klutz, like me!) The gold/coppery brooch went to a friend as a birthday gift and was very well received, the silver one I plan to keep for myself.

Wheel of XP

#35 Woodworking | Step Right Up and Spin the Wheel!

64 Arts, Projects

You know you want to!

When my cookbook was finished and ready for its official launch party, I decided I wanted to offer something extra to folks purchasing the book at one of our upcoming events. Since each recipe carries with it a certain number of XP (eXperience Points), I figured it’d be nice to give them some bonus XP to get them started. (And, since it could only be redeemed online, by creating an account on the book’s website, it was also incentive for them to log in and stay connected.)

So was born the Wheel of XP.

Those prize wheels you see at conventions, casinos, trade shows, and other events are really irresistible–you hand just itches to spin the wheel! So first I looked at buying one, figuring I had just enough time to have it shipped before the launch party.

Do you know they want $250 (or more!) for a flimsy plastic version?! Definitely not in my book launch budget, but it can’t be that difficult to DIY one, right? And ours would be better!

Wheel of XP

About 2 weeks before the launch I proposed my plan to Todd, who I’ve already explained is the handyman in this family, and we proceeded to spend that Friday night’s date night traipsing through Lowe’s, looking for all the pieces we’d need.

I was a bag blogger (not really intending on making our own how-to post out of it) and didn’t take copious amounts of photos of the process, but here’s the general idea:

  • 3/4″ plywood, 2 ft square, trimmed down to 18″ x 24″, the back of the wheel
  • 15″ round wooden disk, the wheel of the wheel
  • 1″x4″ cut down into 2-18″ lengths, the legs–though this could also work flat
  • 4 brackets, to hold the legs on and make them removable for easy storage and packing
  • 1 lazy susan mechanism, to make the wheel spin
  • 24 wooden pegs, attached around the outside edge of the wheel, for the flag to thwack through
  • Screws, washers, and nuts for all bits (wing nuts on for the 4 assembly screws make it easier to tighten and loosen without tools)
  • Long carriage bolt, for the flag
  • wood glue for wooden pegs
  • varnish for wood pieces
  • duct tape and a mini playing card for the flag (inelegant, but effective)
  • Paper and markers to make prize signs
  • Hook & Loop tape to make the signs removable (aka Velcro)
  • WD-40 (the wheel needs lubing up for each event)

And do you know what all of that cost us? A whopping $50. (Not including the duct tape, playing card, paper, Velcro, and WD-40 that we already had.)

In the picture above you can see a 1″ hole drilled through the center of the front disk, that’s so we could eventually add another carriage bolt with a round sign (decorated CD) that would stand out enough from the moving parts but not move itself. That part’s still not done yet, but it will be in time for our next show at the end of September. At the one convention we’ve taken it to, so far, though, we had plenty of people come up and ask us what the wheel was for and if they could spin it.

Mission accomplished? I think so.

The tools required for this were a drill and various bits and a table saw or circular saw for the straight cuts. Of course, if all you’ve got is a drill (or it’s all you’re willing to invest in at the moment), most hardware stores will do straight cuts for you at a nominal cost (.25 a cut) or sometimes even free.

Now, we use our wheel the give extra presents to our customers, you may not have such a need, so why is knowing how to build your own prize wheel a useful bit of trivia? Oh, I don’t know, how about for use at a school carnival or carnival-themed birthday party, a prize wheel for your next work fundraiser, or incentives for your kids accomplishing goals. Along that line, you could make one into a chore wheel or a rainy-day fun wheel.

#35 Woodwork | Fairies, and Toadstools, and Witches–Oh My!

64 Arts, Projects

Since I haven’t picked out my new woodworking project yet, I thought I’d show you some projects that Todd and I worked on together in the past.

Our first year living together we threw a Midsummer-themed housewarming party, but it wasn’t exactly what I’d envisioned. So when we moved again and took another shot at our Midsummer Fairy Fest ( not a housewarming party, this time), I shamelessly took advantage of Todd’s willingness to help, and cooked up these little guys.

We made 3 fairies and 5 toadstools from 4, 4’x8′ sheets of plywood and still had some leftover. Of course, lacking a truck, we had the hardware store cut the boards into 4’x4′ squares with the thought that they’d fit in the backseat. Lengthwise, sure, but they were still too tall to fit through the door. Oops! This is yet another reason Todd keeps a bundle of bungee cords in his trunk.

Fairy and toadstool under a lit arch

To keep the shapes workable in our 4’x4′ wood, I drew out my designs on a square of cardstock and then measured out a grid over top. Remember those pages in the coloring books where you’d have to transfer a picture by drawing each square, one at a time? Yup, same thing works here. I laid out a grid over my picture, with each square equal to 6 inches, and then Todd could measure out a grid on the plywood and transfer the picture there. I cleaned up some of the details before he cut the first one out with the jigsaw, and then he used that first one to trace out the other 2.

(If I can ever track down my original pattern, I’ll update this post with it, so you can better see what I mean.)

The toadstools worked pretty much the same, only we could fit 2-3 pieces on each square of plywood and it took 2 pieces for each toadstool–1 with a notch from the bottom, 1/2 of the way up, and 1 with a notch from the top, 1/2 of the way down. The great thing about this was that we could combine 2 pieces to get a 3-D toadstool but take them apart to stack in the off-season.

The fairies were painted white and then sprayed with a bit of silver glitter. The toadstools got a coat of white, a couple coats of orange for the caps, and then white spots painted on. We scattered them around the back yard, nestling some in the camellia bushes on our patio. A white, gauzy butterfly on her hand and it was done.

Fairy and toadstool nestled in our camellia bushes

When Halloween rolled around we really wanted to dress up the yard more and I thought back to the fairies. With some rip-stop nylon stretched over them and stapled in place, a witches hat & wig combo, and a broomstick made of a branch from the yard and some grass table skirt left over from a beach-themed wedding shower we threw ages ago.

I left the wings loose as if it were a cape fluttering in the breeze, and dagged the skirt at the legs. I didn’t plan it this way, but the leg and hand pose fit the idea of sitting across a broom perfectly.

All lined up you can see how we cut the conduit to different heights. On the back of each are two metal conduit straps for each conduit leg and a small cup hook to act as a stop for the conduit so they won’t slide down the pipes or flop around in the breeze.