Being a creative person also means I'm a packrat. I hate to throw ANYTHING away because I might need it, or I have attached memories to it. One solution I have to holding on to this memorable junque is to up-cycle and re-cycle it into something new. I have a couple quilts from my Grandmas that are over 100 years old, well loved and in shreds. They really needed to be trashed, but I couldn't bear to part with them. Repurposing them into something new keeps the memories alive and gives them new purpose and meaning. The die templates from the Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ line are just the perfect size to create mini treasures from these small bits and pieces.
Project Dimensions: Quilted birds approximately 2" wide and about 3" tall on the stand
Spellbinders Supplies:
MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine
MD2-011 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Birds One
MD1-005 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Hearts One
Quilt or fabric scraps
Small amount Fiberfill or batting
Thread (contrasting color)
Needle
20 gauge wire
Small cork
Small wooden spool
Decorative paper (i.e., dictionary pages)
Embellishments of choice (buttons, small charms, etc.)
Tacky glue
Scissors
Wire cutters
Pliers
Cut two birds from the #2 die (with #1 being the smallest) Note: Cut One bird on the right (patterned) side of the fabric and one on the back side of fabric. You should have two birds facing each other.
Place birds together with right sides facing out.
Beginning at bottom, stitch around bird with a running stitch. Leave bottom open about ½" inch.
Stuff with fiberfill and stitch opening closed.
Decorate and embellish spool as desired.
Cut a length of wire and press into cork to create hole.
Glue cork to spool and allow to dry.
Insert wire between stitches on bottom of bird. Glue to secure.
Trim wire to desired length and insert into cork. Glue to secure.
Designer Tip: These would make adorable place card holders for a country wedding or baby shower, each guest could take them home as a little party favor! Spritz with essential oils to create a sweet mini sachet. Use the #2 heart from the MD1-005 Hearts One template to create quilted hearts.
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This post is coming to you from London England where Mariah and I are beginning our first day of photography on a new book due out in February. We will have a busy busy week but hope to pop in and share some of our journey along the way and give you maybe an insider's behind the scenes look at developing, writing and producing a diy how to book.
Today's DIY how to Mixed Media Monday video is all about dimension and "small".
I love to create dimension in my work and took the Explore Beyond theme to heart to create this 3-dimensional 360 degree birdhouse charm. Birds and birdhouses are among my favorite things to create. It reminds me of Grandma and her love of birds – she had figurines everywhere! Now, when I wear this pendant, I think of her and she’s still a part of me.
Project Dimensions: approximately 1”
Spellbinders Supplies:
MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine
MD1-003 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Rectangles One
MD2-003 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Houses One
Cereal box
Decorative papers (one pattern for house, one pattern for roof and base)
Head pin or eye pin
Embellishments/charms as desired
Chain or ribbon
Clasp
Jump rings
Aleene’s Tacky Spray
Double Stick tape
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
1/8” hand held round hole punch
pencil
Craft knife
Ruler
Scissors
Round nose pliers
Wire cutters
Adhere decorative paper to cereal boxes with tacky spray adhesive
Cut 1 rectangle using the #2 die (with #1 being the smallest) from “house” paper and one from roof paper with the Artisan X-plorer™ machine.
Cut two house shapes using the house small #1. Punch a hole in one house using 1/8” punch.
Trim approximately 1/8” off the top of the body rectangle shape.
Using the diagram, score at 1/8”, ½”, 1 ¼” and 1 5/8”
Apply tape to shaded areas on front side of rectangle using diagram. Fold backwards at lines.
Center house shape over center tape area.
Adhere side tabs to remaining house shape.
Using the base shape as a guide, trace outline onto a roof rectangle. Cut out with scissors leaving approximately a 1/8” edge. Poke a hole in center and insert headpin.
Glue base to birdhouse with tacky glue
Make a hole with a needle tool in the center of roof rectangle shape.
Bend in half to form a “V”.
Apply glue to roof angle on house and set on roof, threading headpin up through the hole.
Allow glue to dry.
Create a loop in the headpin with round nose pliers. Trim excess with wire cutters.
Embellish house as desired with charms or other findings of interest.
Attach to chain or ribbon using a jump ring.
Attach clasp
Attach birdhouse pendant to chain/ribbon using jump rings.
Designer Tip: This is a fun way to use up left over paper scraps. Or try using aluminum, texturizing it with a texture plate for a silver looking charm.
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I
have a special drawer that I just throw stuff I want to keep in. It’s filled with letters, postcards, ephemera
– just all sorts of stuff that has more sentimental value than actual
worth. On gloomy rainy days, I often get
out the box and look through it. It was
on one such day that I discovered an old postacard that I bought at a flea
market in Paris. The flowers on the
postcard caught my eye and the color palette was so gorgeous. It was this card that inspired these flowers.
My family smirks and calls me the Trash Princess, because I love to upcycle trash and bring out it's "treasure". Using soda cans seemed like the perfect material. They're easy to find - FREE is good! and they're easy to work with. Just be careful as sometimes the metal can get kinda sharp. Enjoy today's video and remember it's easy to turn your trash to treasure!
Spellbinders
Supplies:
MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™
Machine
MD1-010 Susan Lenart Kazmer for
Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Hearts Two
S5-143 Spellbinders® Jewel Flowers and Flourishes
Aluminum Soda cans – 2 cans per flower
Item to embellish (i.e., vintage kitchen
grater, old book, photo frame, etc.)
Photograph or post card
Lace
Embellishments of choice
Brooch or large bead focal piece
Krylon® Spray Paint in two colors of
choice (one main color, one accent color) plus off white
Ancient Page Acid Free ink – chocolate
Tacky Dots
2-part epoxy glue
Makeup sponge
Knitting needle or needle tool
Pencil
Sanding block
Scissors
Instructions:
Carefully open soda cans with scissors
and flatten
Cut 6 petals from soda cans using the #3
heart (with #1 being the smallest), 5 petals from the #2 heart and one flower
from Jewels Flower and Flourishes with the Artisan X-plorer™ machine.
Spray paint the 6 hearts your main
color, paint 5 hearts your accent color and spray the jewels flower off
white. Allow all to dry
Lightly sand edges of petals to distress
Ink edges with brown ink using a make-up
sponge
Curl top of hearts backwards with needle
tool
Curl bottom forwards with pencil
Cut small angle snips into bottom of heart
(see diagram)
Bend sides towards center to give a
little more shape to the flowers.
Place two tacky dots together and
arrange larger hearts clockwise to form large flower. Repeat same process with
smaller hearts. Arrange flower petals
into a pleasing form and shape if necessary.
Attach smaller flower to inside of
larger flower with 2 part epoxy glue.
Attach jewel flower to inside of smaller
flower with 2 part epoxy glue.
Glue brooch to center of flower with
2-part epoxy.
Gather embellishments and arrange
flowers, lace and other embellishments as desired onto your main base (i.e.,
book, frame, etc) and secure in place with glue
Your
creativity is limitless - Explore Beyond™!
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Today is also a new installation of a new feature called Designers Craft Connection. The 1st Monday of each Month - this post will also become part of a Designers Craft Connection Blog Hop. Below this post and on the side bar you'll see a badge that will allow you to hop forward or backward. This is a great way to get your month kicked off on a creative adventure and I know you'll enjoy all the gorgeous projects that my fellow designers have designed. So don't forget to click the badge and hop on...
....but now on with the story....
I
was at BlackBerry Creek B&B in Rogersville, MO attending our girls creative retreat weekend when I first designed this canvas.
I can get lost for hours just playing with
paints and texture. It’s a real respite
from life’s little challenges. For me,
it’s about discovery, not following a recipe, not purchasing a lot of pre-made
embellishments, I prefer to create my own, not follow any rules and get down
right messy. The possibilities that the
die templates give you in creating your own foam stamps is beyond amazing and
fits right in with my “make it yourself” philosophy. When I took a step back at the canvas I was
working on, I really loved how the colors bounced off of each other and I
really thought – “Yeah, this IS MY HAPPY PLACE!”
Making your own HAPPY PLACE Art Canvas Linda Peterson
Project
Dimensions: 8 x 10 Canvas or any canvas
size you choose
Spellbinders
Supplies:
MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine
MD1-007 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Circles One Die
S5-143 Spellbinders®
Jewel Flowers and Flourishes Die
(You can also add your favorite patterns and dies to this list)
Other
Supplies:
8 x 10 Canvas ( or size of choice)
Dictionary pages, music sheets
Craft foam – any color
Clear packing tape
Repositionable tape
Plastic sheet
Decoupage medium
Acrylic paint in desired
colors
Black ink stamp pad
Phrase/words printed on
ink jet printer
Scissors
Brayer
Wax paper
Baby Wipes
Instructions:
Creating
your own foam texture stamps with positive and negative images
1.Cut
foam using Shapeabilities® Expandable Patterns – Basic Lattice
2.Apply
packing tape over the entire back surface of the foam, press foam firmly
3.Carefully
remove lattice pattern leaving the small squares attached to the packing tape.
4.Spray
backside of packing tape and one side of lattice work with spray adhesive
5.Align
foam stamps onto plastic sheet and cut out
6.Repeat
this step till you’re blue in the face cutting out all different shapes using
the various die templates. You’ll want
to have lots of choices
Creating
the Canvas
Decoupage sheet music,
dictionary pages and other decorative papers to front of canvas. Let dry.
Apply paint to wax
paper. Load paint randomly onto
brayer. Hit and miss over different
areas of the canvas. Repeat with
coordinating colors. Allow paint to
dry in between each color so that they don’t muddy together.
Add touches of paint
with your fingers or a brush randomly over the canvas.
Selectively wipe away
some of the paint in random areas allowing portions of the background
paper to show through.
Cut a heart out of
music sheet paper and decoupage onto front of canvas over background
patterns. Water down paint and
lightly paint over top with a coordinating color.
Apply paint to foam
stamps with brayer.
Randomly stamp lattice
pattern to canvas. (I use darker
colors around the edges to give it a framed look and lighter colors on the
inside to add interesting texture and pattern.) Repeat for as much pattern and color as
you like. Don’t worry if you do
not stamp complete patterns
Repeat step 6 except
this time use the circles stamp.
For this particular pattern I used black permanent ink.
When your background
has been completed, cut out words from paper and decoupage to front.
Jump up and down
because YOU DID IT! – You now have a certified HAPPY PLACE!
Designer
Tip:
You
can’t make a mistake! Baby wipes will
take away paint in unwanted areas and are really handy to have when creating
canvases.
If
you are totally dissatisfied with your results, you can wipe away most of the
paint with a baby wipe or simply decoupage more paper over the areas you don’t
like and work from there.
I
have mentioned the above dies because they are among my favorite shapes to work
with when I create mixed media canvases.
EXPLORE BEYOND my suggestions and mix and match dies that you have in
your collection to come up with your own unique stamps.
These
stamps can be used with cardmaking, art journal pages and because they are
flexible they are ideal to stamp curved projects – like paint cans, candles and
more!
Your
creativity is limitless - Explore Beyond™!
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"Good things come in small packages" my Auntie said to me..........
So much of my artwork is inspired by my family, old memories, old photographs and times gone by. I feel it much more important to hold those memories close as I get older.
This pendant/Art Journal is inspired by my Aunt Jeanette - my "Auntie" - {when I was little I couldn't say Jeanette}. She passed away in the late 70's when I was in 7th grade. We had a very close bond.. She was my Mom's oldest sister, 10 years older than my Mom. She was sort of like my Mom's second Mother. Auntie had no children and so she spoiled me like I was her own.
She had a love of miniatures and all things tiny. She would tell me stories of how she always dreamed of a having a doll house to fix up and decorate just the way she wanted. I think this might have been a way to keep her thinking young. So in 1973, she had a doll house custom built for her. It was golden yellow, looked like a beautiful farmhouse with a big front porch and bay window in the front and a side porch off one side. It had a gorgeous winding staircase. It was built by hand and she paid $300 for it. I bet you can picture how my eyes lit up the first time I saw it. To a little girl, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen - it even had a chandelier and a miniature sized Tiffany style lamp that lit up!
She would tell me "Lindy Lu Lu, good things come in small packages". I believed her.
It wasn't but a couple of years later, that Auntie fell very sick. And one day, she told me, as I sat on the bed beside her in the hospital "Linda Lu Lu, when I am gone, I want you to have my doll house". The doll house became mine in 1979. Years later, I passed it along to my Aunt Molly who was able to fix it up in ways I couldn't. But one day, I hope that it will become mine again.
Auntie was right, good things DO come in small packages. And that my dear friends, is my love for all things in small packages started and the inspiration for this piece came about.
In today's video, I'm going to show you how to EXPLORE BEYOND using Spellbinders® die templates.
and look beyond the shape and use the die to create this adorable little mini book that you can fill with your personal thoughts and memories. Think Dimensional - Think 3-D and Explore BEYOND!
How to make a Mini Art Journal - Mini Book Pendant
Designed by Linda Peterson
Project
Dimensions: Book Size 1 3/8 x 1 1/8 x ¼
Spellbinders
Supplies:
MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine
MT1-003 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™
Grate Works Two Texture Plates
MM1-001 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Foil Pack One
MM1-004 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Aluminum
S5-143 Spellbinders®
Jewel Flowers and Flourishes Die
MD1-013 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Rectangles Two Die
MD1-001 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Ovals One Die
MB1-501 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Ovals One Bezel
bronze 5 pack
MP1-001 Susan Lenart Kazmer for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Ephemera Papers One
Other
Supplies:
Dictionary pages (optional)
Lace or ribbon
Acrylic paint in coordinating colors
Makeup sponge
Ancient Page® Acid Free Dye Ink – Chocolate
Copic® marker – Copper E-18
Envirotex™ Light -2 part epoxy resin
Tacky glue
Decoupage medium/paper sealer
Beads of choice
Bead caps
Headpins
Small piece of chain
Jump rings
Pin back
Stapler
Jewelry Pliers
Sanding block
2-part Epoxy resin
Instructions:
Creating
your own foam texture stamps
Cut aluminum rectangle
from Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Rectangles Two #3 (with 1 being the
smallest). Cut 20 rectangles from
dictionary or paper of choice.
Place texture plate,
texture side up on to base plate.
Secure with tape
Place aluminum
rectangle on texture plate and tape in position to achieve the pattern you
like. Finish with Cutting plate C
and run through Artisan X-plorer™ machine.
Distress one side with
paint or alcohol marker and sand off some of the textured areas to allow
aluminum to show.
On back side draw a
line 1” and 1 ¼” from the edge.
Use a straight edge to
bend at lines to form book
Stack 5 paper
rectangles, bend in half matching edges and crease.
Staple along the
crease lines at the top and bottom.
Repeat for 5 signatures
Stack signatures and
apply glue at the edge. Allow to
dry
Glue signature into
book
Cut butterfly from the
Spellbinders Jewels Flowers and Flourishes using bronze colored foil. Distress with sanding sponge.
Daub a bit of paint to
distress Ovals One bezel. Allow to
dry
Cut photograph using
Ovals One die template #1. Seal the
photo with decoupage medium.
Place photo inside
bezel and fill bezel with resin.
Allow to dry overnight
Collage lace,
butterfly and bezel to the front of book and glue.
Add pin back or attach
a jump ring for a pendant.
Designer
Tip:
For
a variation of the book, attach a jump ring at the top and punch a hole in the
lower right corner. Set an eyelet and
attach charms and dangles with a jump ring.
I use silk cording for the necklace and tie in the back of the neck so it
can adjust.
Add
pictures, words, short phrases or decorate the pages with Ephemera pages one
book. It’s a work of art that you can
wear!!
Your
creativity is limitless - Explore Beyond™!
Tags: Linda Peterson , Spellbinders, media mixage,
craft, diy, how to, tutorial, vintage necklace, vintage, mixed media, mixed
media jewelry, jewelry making, jewelry techniques, texturizing brass, brass
blanks, make jewelry, collage, found object, junk jewelry, Spellbinder die
templates, art journals, miniature art journal, mini books, book pendants
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