Showing posts with label Wall Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wall Art. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Halloween: Crackled and Jeweled Floral Sugar Skull Wall Art

 


I FINALLY got back to my craft room to make something last week! After the Summer from H*LL, the near septic abscess that tried to kill me followed by weeks of recovery, a move, and then surgery to remove the abscess host ovary and more weeks of recovery, it hasn't exactly been a productive Summer. But doctors know things and it was almost like clockwork when my energy level finally started coming back around week 5 post-op. 

Supplies: 
  • Wood Art Board (Target Clearance but available at Art Supply Stores)
  • Acrylic Paints (Folk Art and Craftsmart)
  • White School Glue (Elmers but store brand will work too) 
  • White Vinyl, Transfer Tape (Cricut)
  • Jewels (Art Minds, Michaels)
  • Dimensional Glue ( Glossy Accents, Ranger)

Before all of this started, I'd stumbled on these fabulous Art Boards at Target which screamed "buy me" especially since they were on clearance for something like $3 so of course I bought all the ones they had! Seven of them for what two cost at regular price. 


I had this mega pack of purple jewels from a previous project so it became the inspiration for my color choice of Purple, Black and White which will fit right into my primarily Black and White Halloween decor.


 
I painted the board with a coat of Folk Art Violet Pansy. I didn't care about a perfect finish because that's not my thing and besides, I knew I was going to add black with the purple showing through the crackle. 

My go to process for achieving a crackle finish is good old white school glue. I stock up on it during school supply season! Apply it straight from the bottle and then spread it trying to use complete strokes in one direction. 


You want a medium coverage of the glue. Too thin and it won't crackle. Too thick and you won't have a smooth surface. Let this coat dry to tacky. I use my handy craft tool...an old blow dryer set on cool, to speed up the process. You don't want the glue completely dry. Go over the glue layer with the black paint, using the same one direction brush strokes as the glue layer. If you're patient, you can let this air dry. If you're me, grab the blow dryer again, this time set on warm to help the crackling process. 

Q: "Can I use my heat gun?"
A: NO! It's too hot and everything will bubble and peel which might give you a cool effect but it won't be THIS effect. 



Don't worry if the glue shows through. Once dry, it dries clear. Even though I help the drying process with the blow dryer, set it aside to dry completely which gives you time to work on the vinyl piece. I found this image on Creative Fabrica ( Disclosure: I am an Affiliate so if you use this link to purchse, I do receive credit to their store).




Download your image  then bring it into the Cricut Design Space Software ( these files work with all of the different cutting machines but I used my Cricut) and size accordingly. I cut this from white Cricut Vinyl, using my Explore Air 2. 




Weed your vinyl (if you're new to vinyl, weeding is the process of removing the vinyl from the negtive spaces to reveal your image) and then apply the Transfer Tape (this is clear tape, I used the Cricut brand, that allows you to position and apply the vinyl to your surface). 


Position your transfer tape lightly on your surface until satisfied then use a scraping tool ( I use the one that came w/ my first ever Cricut or they sell them at craft stores and you can also use an old credit card etc. ) to apply your vinyl to your surface. Peel off the transfer tape.  I do this slowly vs ripping off like a bandaid in case there are spots the vinyl isn't sticking. It allows you to maintain the positioning and fix any issues. 

Then it was time for the jewels! I used a strong glue (Glossy Accents by Ranger) to adhere these and just randomly placed using the different sizes and shades. 


Et, voila! 



I haven't hung it up yet because I haven't started my Halloween decorating yet but I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and I have some other projects planned using this color scheme! Happy Haunting Season! 




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Monday, July 5, 2021

Home Decor: Repurpose Paper and Coffee Filter Flowers Into Giant Wreath


I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Fourth. I'm hoping we get some peace and quiet tonight because the dog was not happy last night. And when the dog's not happy, no one's happy! We're getting organized in our new home and took a few minutes this morning to whip up something for my new office. 

In my last office, I had an accent wall for which I'd made a border of flowers that ran along the top. I couldn't bring myself to toss them when I took it down and knew I had an oversized wreath form that I was going to use for something in our old house but never did, so it was pretty easy to visualize this oversized wreath. It was quick, easy, and a great way to re-purpose a bunch of rolled and layered paper and coffee filter flowers I'd already made. 

Supplies: 
  • Giant Wire Wreath Frame ( I don't remember the dimensions but it was the biggest one Michaels sells)
  • Rolled / Layered Paper Flowers. You can design your own or use patterns for your cutting machine. 
  • Coffee Filter Flowers. I made these freehand. I love coffee filters because they retain their shape and don't wilt like tissue papers. 
  • Glue gun and glue. 

 


I started with the largest of the paper flowers. I had three this size so I did kind of a triangle shape to evenly disperse them. 





Then, I took the smaller paper flowers and distributed them in between, just kind of eyeballing the spacing. 


When I made these, I intentionally made different styles of flowers because I didn't want everything to match. After I had all of the paper flowers placed, I started adding the coffee filter flowers which again, I didn't make all the same. 


These were easy to fluff back up since they'd gotten a little squished being boxed up! I filled in the bare spots, fluffing along the way until the wreath form was filled in. It went very quickly and now is the first thing I've hung on the wall in my new office! 


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Monday, February 1, 2016

DIY Wall Art




Art is subjective and therefore it's subject to what you like. I don't want Art majors and MFAs after me so that's my humble but subjective opinion but as a result, I'm not one to spend a lot of money on it (mostly because of reality!)  and my walls tend to be decorated with things I make. This project is no different. 

I wanted something for a bare wall in our master bath so when canvases were recently 50% off at Michaels I decided to play around with some paints and some gold leafing. I'd seen a couple of ideas on Pinterest that inspired me. 

Supplies Needed: 
  • Pre-stretched canvas  (I used 18x24 from Michaels)
  • Paints ( I used Acrylics)
  • Glue (ideally, specific to leafing)
  • Gold Leaf  (Art supply section of craft stores or where art supplies are sold) 





I went into my paint drawer and just pulled out a bunch of stuff. I gravitate towards neutrals and our bathroom is very neutral but I decided to stretch a bit and pulled out some blues as well. 




Next I applied the gold leaf to my canvas. There is a specific type of glue you're supposed to use with the leafing but I forgot I was out and wasn't going to the store. I used Mod Podge and let it get tacky but not dry and applied the leaf. Not perfect but it worked. 


Then I just kind of went to town with the paints. I brushed some and stippled some. And then brushed some more and stippled some more until I was satisfied. In some cases the gold leaf got a little muted by the paints ; in some cases not. After the paint was dry I added a little more leaf here and there. 



And since my canvas came in a two pack, I have another one to play with!

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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Knock Off or Knock It Off #2

Copycat Crafts
Call it ICTMTM ( I Can Totally Make That Myself) Inspired By-itis or Knock Off Fever, all of us creative types have it in some form or another.

I had fun with my first real knock off piece that even got featured over at Copy Cat Crafts, it emboldened me to try again. I may have exhausted my skills!

This time, the inspiration came from Ballard Designs. Both in their current catalog and on their website they have several pieces of abstract art, either paintings or digitally printed glicee prints…and they range from $249 to$459. GULP. I can’t draw to save my life but these aren’t still lifes they’re abstract so no one can tell me that my apple looks like a pumpkin.

I liked these from Ballard:
Breaking Through II Handpainted Canvas
First Light I Giclee Print
Grey Haze Hand Painted Print
because even though our house isn’t contemporary, these are really muted and I think they go with many styles. And they’re $249-$429!

So, I had a canvas (previous DIY art) that had been hanging up that I was tired of, and I had paint, and I even had some Golden Gel Medium molding paste that I bought for reasons that weren’t clear to me at the time. I think an art store was closing.

I covered the whole thing in black paint, then smudged ( sorry all you Fine Arts people whom I do truly respect) some of the Gel Medium goop all over with a plastic knife. Dried that overnight. Then I started splotching ( another technical term) various paints on. I used a combination of pewters, silver, grey, black, white, gold. Whatever I had wherever it went. Added some silver rub n buff in places.
IMG_5060

IMG_5056
Closeup of the layering of molding paste and paints
IMG_5057
Another closeup from another section

I know the Louvre or MOMA won’t be calling any time soon but hey, it was stuff I had on hand and it works for now. Be honest. I can take it…I have chocolate.
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UndertheTableandDreaming






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