- Mushroom shaped corks ( eg champagne)
- Acrylic Paints
- Gnome Figurine (Target)
- Reindeer Moss (JoAnn)
- Glass Cloche
- Cork
- Floral Pick
"I'm so impressed with your handmade cards and gift tags and wanted to say THANK YOU so much for your wonderful donation.
I've been putting a card and gift tag in each birthday box I've been creating and it adds such a personal touch to each box. Thank you so much for donating these as I'm sure they took a lot of time and energy to create. They're so beautiful and made so well and I'm just blown away and grateful :) "
I was thrilled they were happy and would be put to use and immediately planned on making more! As I've written about (probably ad nauseum!) June was a bust for creating between prepping for a planned move and spending an unplanned week in the hospital. So once things had settled ( somewhat...life is life!) in July, I wanted to get back to it and on Saturday dropped another three dozen cards in the mail!
Supplies:
This time around I used some American Crafts birthday themed papers I found at JoAnn along with some Park Lane birthday themed washi tape I scooped up on sale there.
Like some of the sheets from the Recollections "Cake Day" stack, this sheet had panels I cut up to use as the focal for the cards, matting each with coordinating glitter papers. The washi tape coordinated perfectly with the colors (and it didn't hurt that it was an additional 50% off clearance).
The Balloon background paper is from the same American Crafts collection. I kept things simple, matting the image on glitter paper, then another coordinating paper ( great way to use scraps) and attaching to the card with foam squares.
If you're making clips, the first step is to glue the clip back to the base with a good drop of the Loctite Glue. I like this because it's thicker and doesn't run. Use clamps or clothespins to secure and let dry while you assemble the other pieces. If you're making pierced earrings, see below for when to attach the earwire.
I've been having fun with some St. Patrick's Day decor. In addition to my Layered Shamrock I had fun with this $1 wood sign from Dollar Tree.
Supplies:
Ignore the red hearts. I thought I was going to layer them onto the sign and changed my mind. I found this line of Top Notch paints at JoAnn. I'm not sure if it's an in house brand or not but they are another line of reasonably priced acrylic paints. They make a whole host of other products as well. The Zinsser paint booster is an alternative to Floetrol which is used in a lot of paint pour projects. The silicone you can get at any hardware store.
I chose to go with a more muted green palette along with some white and a couple drops of gold. So first step was to mix the paints. My formula for small projects is about a capful of the paint booster to 1/3 cup of paint. It's not scientific, I just found it gives the right flow. If you're starting out with paint pouring play around to find the consistency YOU like for your projects. There's no absolute. I squeezed 2-3 drops of the Silicone in and mix well until your paint just looks like paint again.
Re-using cups is great in practice but I didn't think about pictures. Note to self. Use new cups. But I didn't, so don't be confused by the other colors you see.
For this project I did what's called a "dirty pour". What this means is layering the paints in one cup vs pouring each color individually. You can see them start to interact in the cup which they'll do more as they flow once they're on the surface you're painting.
For a "clean pour" you pour your paints from their respective containers onto the surface one by one. For a "dirty pour" there's the flip step. Place your surface atop your cup, then holding the cup, flip until your surface is on the bottom and the cup with your paints sits atop it. Some paint may leak out but that's OK!
When you lift your cup you'll see your paints begin to spread and how they've blended and their magic is revealed. I love this part the most! From here, just tilt your surface to spread your paint until your surface is covered. I ended up having to add a little more paint to my pour cup which was fine. I was trying not to have too much and ended up with too little. It's a Goldilocks process!
I love paint pouring so much because no two pieces are alike and each takes on its own personality. If you want exact replication, this art is not for you!
Once dry, I finished with some black and white check ribbon and kept it simple, just hanging it on a mirror in our entryway.
I'm happy with it and it was $1!
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