Faux stained glass suncatcher

the inspiration for this project is about two things I am missing the most lately...sun and flowers!

Actually it all started out when I was at Joann Crafts buying items for a class and saw this square acrylic block (normally used with unmounted rubber stamps) in a discount bin for .25 cents!    Good grief, I can't pass that up.

I used a hand held Fiskars drill to drill a hole in one corner.  Then I placed Peel Off Stickers (flower and leaf images) onto the block.   Peel off stickers are laser cut outline images and can be used with most paper crafts and non porous surfaces like glass and plastic. The outlines are great to color in with markers, colored pencils, gel pens, or what I used here...Sakura Glaze Pens.

The raised outline of the stickers holds in the ink from the glaze pens.  Glaze pens have a pigmented ink that flows quickly from the pens and dries to create a stained glass effect.

It works best to place the piece on white background and hold it up  to check to see if you've colored in all of the areas. 

The ink is very fluid and I usually just tap the tip of the pens on the plastic to get it flowing.  You can also add a few colors together and the colors will blend together before drying.

Just a few more details and then I added a ribbon to hang in the window.

and even though we didn't have much sun today...I still like how it looks in the window.

tattered floral challenge

Tim Holtz issued an art challenge to create something using his Tattered Florals Die.  

Flowers AND an art challenge? Bring it on! 

I really enjoyed this project.  Since my blog is so new this is my first blog art challenge.  So excited!  I am very happy with the results of my project.  The flowers are now "blooming" in a glass jar (jar was colored with alcohol inks, of course) on my desk.  I created small butterflies out of one of the flower dies and attached them with wire to hover over the blooms. Also had enough petals to create a flower pin for my jacket.  

Below are photos from my studio on the project.  First let's set the stage with the necessary equipment (photo at left).  It is also important to note that no household budget was harmed in the making of this project. All of the supplies were in my studio.  I can't always say that...so it's worth noting ;-)

I had some mixed media papers that I created and was holding on to for...well, something.  I just couldn't bring myself to use up the papers.  Ever had that problem?  Reluctant to use some supplies?  Decided that this project challenge would be the perfect time for me to go through all of my fav papers and use them! Wow, felt so good to go thru and actually USE these papers.

Also had scraps of muslin and pieces of denim (from old bluejeans) and wondered if they would work in the die? Yes! the tattered flowers die worked beautifully.  Love how the old faded denim flowers look!

 

 

 

I used Distress Reinkers mixed with H2O in Mini Misters to spritz color on the muslin and denim blooms.  Some papers were inked with Distress Inks.  Now I had a garden full of flowers just waiting to be put together. 

 

 

But first, had an idea to create butterflies for the flowers. I used the small flower from the die and cut out one of the petals. I punched a hole and added wire for the antennas and to attach to the flower. Used game spinners for the body of the butterflies. (Game Spinners - Tim Holtz Idea-ology)

 

 

 

Next I punched holes in all of the blooms using a small awl, added wire for the stem plus a round brad for the center of the flower.  The brad had a ring that I used to wire the butterflies. The main wire was wound around a chopstick and covered with tape.  (note to my husband...we need to go out for Chinese food again to get more chopsticks!).  I wanted floral tape but didn't have any.  What I did have was some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape - with a Christmas design.  Hummmm.  I wrapped this around the wire and chopstick then colored the tape with Distress Stain (Peeled Paint).  You couldn't tell it was Christmas images! And now the flowers were sturdy enough to stand up in a jar. Leaves were cut from leftover scrap from the flower die cuts.

 

This challenge really made me think of using the tattered flowers die in new ways.  Especially using denim fabric.  I just love the texture and worn look of the denim petals.

I chose bright colors since I am longing for spring and with the amount of snow outside now it seems like spring is still far away.  These colorful flowers make me smile and I'll enjoy them for a long time.  So I'm going to upload my photos and blog to Tim's site and enter the challenge.  Winner gets a wonderful goodie bag of stuff from Tim Holtz (wow, that would be so cool!!).  Wish me luck!

 

 



Alcohol Inked Tile Card (Happy B-day Ted)

Happy Birthday Ted! (a.k.a. Mr Stampers Anonymous).  Stampers Anonymous is an Art Stamp company and their owner Ted is 50 years young this month.  To celebrate customers were encouraged to make Ted a b-day card.  Since I love making cards and love the stamps from this company I just had to do this. The result was an alcohol inked tile card.  And of course I had to doodle the envelope too.  Instructions for the tile card are listed below.

The key to this project is making the paper first, then cutting the squares, and then doing the rubber stamping.

I started by making two pieces of alcohol inked paper.  (the steps for working with alcohol inks will be another post).  Then I cut the paper into squares using a 1 inch square punch.  I needed removable tape to hold the squares for stamping and for some reason couldn't locate the tape in my studio (yeah, that's never happened before LOL!) so I grabbed some tissue tape instead.  The tissue tape is a little tacky but not strong enough to glue the squares.  I placed tissue tape strips sticky side up (taped down on the ends to keep them in place) and then placed the paper squares on top of the tape.  The squares are placed edge to edge, alternating between colors.  The tape is just there to hold them in place.  After the squares were down I rubber stamped an image.   The Mona Lisa image is from Tim Holtz "Mona's Sketchbook". (Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz collection cling mount).   The ink used was StazOn Jet Black.

Once the rubber stamped image was dry I gently removed each square and adhered it to a piece of black paper using a tape runner. Kinda like putting together a puzzle. I left spacing between the squares to get the tile effect.  I then trimmed the black piece of paper and adhered the whole image to a card stock base.   

I added lettering using Micron pens and finished up by doodling the envelope with more Micron pens, Zig Markers and Copic Markers. Hope Ted likes that card as much as I liked making it.  

Rubber Stamping 101 Class @ Artist & Display

I will be teaching a rubber stamping basics class at Artist & Display ( Artist and Display) on Sunday March 17th.  This is a mini class (1 hour long) that will focus on the basics of rubber stamping. 

If you are new to rubber stamping or just need a refresher then I encourage you to take this class.  In addition to learning the basic techniques, you will go home with two handmade cards and a bookmark.  Warning...rubber stamping can become addictive!

Altered Note Dispenser

I received this pop-up note dispenser as a door prize at my calligraphy/art guild meeting.  I knew I had to alter this item to make it more "me".  In my haste to start I forgot to take a "before" photo so I included the original box in this photo.  Made by 3M, this note dispenser was a black purse.  It measures about 5" x 5" x 2" in size. 

I wanted an aged copper look.  First I grabbed alcohol inks (my fav) and used gold to lighten up the piece overall.  Next I applied copper alcohol ink.  After that I sponged an acrylic paint (patina color) over some parts of the piece.  The leaves are polymer clay and leftovers from a project years ago ( I love leaf themed anything - and I'm so glad I saved these pieces).  I glued the leaves (and all other embellishments) using Glossy Accents.  The "K" scrabble tile is actually from a scrabble set (picked up in a rummage sale) but the smaller tiles are wooden stickers.  I could have left them out and still used the piece as a post-it-note dispenser...but I liked the "couture" idea and the stickers were a perfect fit.  Now the piece is an objet d'art for my studio.  So do you think I should show this to 3M?  

Now is the TIME

Finally diving into blogging.  I’ve been talking about starting an art blog for some time now and finally got up the courage to get it going.  Always felt a bit scary to me.  Technology challenges were one part of it.   I’m much more comfortable with ink, gesso, and paper than with pixels, vectors, and keyboard shortcuts.  Thank goodness for my wonderful tech savvy husband who handled the tech part of getting my images arranged for this blog site.   

I am passionate about art and photography.  I’m a mixed media artist that loves creating greeting cards, altered art (especially glass bottles), anything with alcohol inks, making art journals, nature and architectural photography, and basically getting into as much art stuff as I can.    

I always feel better when I spend some time in my studio.  I crave studio time as much as chocolate! For those who know me that’s quite a bit.

I believe art is meant to be shared.  I learn so much by meeting other artists and viewing their work.  Art is just one wonderful way to explore our world.  I am happy to share my art with you.