Sunday, April 28, 2013

Acrylic Paint Transfer

We are having gloriously sunny days here in Cape Town with temps in the 80's
Must be Autumn's last goodbye,

Anyhoo this week I tried the acrylic transfer method. Here is how I did it!

Supplies needed:
Acrylic paint in a color of your choice;
A print of your image. I believe a photocopy works best, but I could'nt wait to get to the office to photocopy my inkjet images; Remember that you will need a mirror image if your graphic contains words. I used several French typography images from The Graphics Fairy. Thanks Karen;
Water;
Paint brush;
The object you wish to transfer to, like card stock or canvas. I used $1(ZAR10) metal buckets which I painted off-white!
Oops! Forgive me for the shadows in my pic!
Paint your object with the acrylic paint. Make sure you get a good smooth, coverage - no blobs of paint! As you can see, I did'nt want neat painted edges! 
Trim your image. You want to get it right on the edge. Flip your image over and lay it in the paint. Gently press it down and ensure that there are no folds.
Leave to dry - I placed my buckets on my sunny balcony. If you are impatient you can wait a couple of minutes before using a heat tool to blast it dry.
When it is completely dry, wet your image lightly(I used a spray bottle). You don't want to get it too wet. Then gently rub the paper off with your finger. Spritz and rub until all the paper is removed and your image is clear. Using my graphics straight from my inkjet printer gave me a faded, distressed look which I love!
I sealed my buckets with a clear coat of gloss varnish!

I was featured at Rain on a tin roof - give-me-goods-monday









I was featured at Green Willow Pond - What we accomplished Wednesday 


Next I am trying the gel medium transfer...stay tuned!

You can often find me at these fabulous parties:



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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Collage on Canvas

I am often attacked by a dose of self-doubt. This was the case with my first attempt at making a collage. I almost canned the post, then I reckoned "how am I going to learn if I don't get some constructive feedback"?

So, here is my post and these are my gripes doubts!
 
German glass glitter - could you have been a little less messy?
Grunged paper rolls - easy on the grunge!
Little doily - Eh! what for?!
Color washed French script paper - less color, more French script please!
 


 

First I prepped the canvas with gesso;
I tore the French letters into random pieces and gave them a wash of color with my artist paint stiks. I used podge to stick them down on the canvas;
I then rolled pieces of paper left over from other projects, color washed them and podged them onto the covered canvas; I never discard left over paper:). Then I had a wild hair to grunge them up a bit and gave them an antique stain;
I printed the bird cage image on sheet music and podged it over the rolled paper;
Now this is where I went wrong with the glitter. I used a dispenser with a wide spout and could'nt get a neat edge around the image and the glitter went all over the place;


I stencilled some images here and there and I added the sheet music heart;
I used my glue gun for the lace trim and the little doily;
I grunged up the sides with burnt umber;
Then I sprayed it all over with my Artist varnish;

Then I stepped back, had a hard look and noticed the little things I did'nt like.Then I sat on this post for an entire week before I hit the 'publish' button:)

What do you think?




Free French letter printables from:Vintage Country Style used to cover the canvas.

Bird cage vintage image from: The Graphics Fairy

Eveything else: From my own stash
 
I was featured at The Honey Suckle Bus Stop - Moonshine Monday


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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Embellished tins

I had an idea to turn ordinary tins into pretty storage containers for my craft supplies!
 
 This is what the tins looked like before!
 
I started out with the intention of simply doing a decoupage with the paper ephemera and, everything just evolved from there. Before you could say 'podge' I had the glue gun heating up and I was rummaging through my stash and plucking out trims and buttons!

 

 
The paper ephemera and adorable fairy images are from The Graphics Fairy.
All the embellishments are from my own stash!
 

Hope I didn't go overboard this time...lol   
 
Off to fill my boxes with pretties...see ya soon!
 


You can often find me at these fabulous parties:




 


 
 
 


 
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Friday, April 12, 2013

Trugging along nicely!

I mentioned the other day that I am creating a few things to use in my kitchen once the remodelling is done.
The work on my kitchen extension is starting this weekend...yay! My garage is stacked with building material. Tomorrow first thing I am taking before pics!!

This simple little trug is another piece done!
I found it on the fleamarket for about $2 and wanted to give it a chippy paint effect!
 
I added the definition of TRUG to the side!
I distressed the heck out of it using a credit card!
You can see the effect of the distressing with the credit card to make it look chippy...yummy!
 
 
It would look nice filled with fruit, veg or pine cones!
 
Dreaming of a farmhouse kitchen!:)

 
 
You can often find me at these fabulous parties:
 

 
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Monday, April 8, 2013

Curbside find turned advertising sign

My first dumpster dive...okay I did not have to dive into the dumpster, because this baby was leaning up against the wall behind the dumpster. But I like the sound when I hear myself say "I went dumpster diving"...Yay!
 
Anyhoo! It was quite a challenge getting this baby to my house, but so much fun turning her into a big poster/advertising sign!
 
 
When I passed the dumpster on my way to catch the bus to work, I spotted two of these boards propped up against the wall. My heart jumped outta my chest like this!
It was pure adrenalin pumping through my veins, blood pressure dangerously rising. I had no idea whether I could just take it and walk off. It felt really weird, and I had two voices shouting in my head!
 
Daredevil: "Take it, Sumaya. Take it"
Scarredy cat: "Nooo, it feels like stealing"
Daredevil: "Take it, take it. It's there for the taking"
Scarredy cat: "Uhm, I'm not sure. I'm a little bit scared...no I am petrified"
Daredevil: "Take it, take it, its now or never!"
 
That song is playing in my head right now...

It's now or never,
Come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling,
Be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late,.... LOL!

I bravely scooped up a board and started down the road, expecting a booming voice calling " Hey, come back here"
But no call came...lol and I made a run for it with board tucked under my arm!
 
So, now another dilemma! I can't carry this big thing through the bus and arrive at the office with people looking at me funny!!!!
Uhm, think, think. Aha, I asked my sweet friend at the discount clothing store to stash it till the weekend. She jokingly said "it will cost you a can of soda". I said "I will throw in a big slab of chocolate"
 
When I got the board home, I was so excited to start, so I can only share the before, with one side already stained. I just thought it would be cool to try some color blocking!
  
 
You can see the lovely knots and texture of the wood veneer.  I did'nt bother to try and fix the splits as it adds to the character. Here you can see the two sides, one side stained, the other with a layer of paint!

 
I went over to The Graphics Fairy for the corset advertising signage. The hand was an afterthought, but I think it looks pretty cool!

I made the image bigger on my computer and used the graphite transfer method. I used the same method to transfer the hand, but kept the dimensions the same. Then it took me hours to paint in all the details by hand.

I aged the painted side up a bit as well as the actual image!

 


 
What do you think? Was it worth sending my blood pressure sky high??
 

You can often find me at these fabulous parties:

Rain on a tin roof - give-me-goods-monday
Knick of Time
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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Loving tinted book pages


I mentioned that I love playing with altered art and mixed media. I am still very much a newbie at this and I don't know all the secrets, but I am experimenting and loving it.
 
This is another project inspired by the talented Rosemary @ Villabarnes. I love the way she has fun with aging and tinting paper.
 
This is my version!
 
 
I used old German dictionary pages and treated my paper bundle with Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution. I gave the top page only a wash with blue and silver paste after I thinned it down a bit!
 
I added string, a fresh rose and skeleton leaves. One can also use dried rose buds, but I was too impatient to wait for my roses to dry. I have four more roses hanging out to dry right now:)
 
 
I played some more with my little bundle and added a tea soaked scrap of lace!
 
 
 
 
I think I will be making a lot more of these!
 
 



You can often find me at these fabulous parties:
Rain on a tin roof - give-me-goods-monday
Knick of Time

 
 


 
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Monday, April 1, 2013

Playing with faux finishes and altered bottles

Hope you had a very happy Easter!  

Hmmm! I am finding that I have a passion for altered art, mixed media and faux finishes!
 
 
I was inspired by the very talented Rosemary @ Villabarnes. She makes the most beautiful silver aged bottles. Go over there and you will be amazed. She achieves stunning olde worlde finishes!
 
Another inspiration was this little bottle of mine with its pretty patina!
Rosemary uses liquid silver leaf, but I don't have that. Plan B to the rescue. I used my pots of different colors of Baroque paste and just randomly aplied it to the bottle using more silver than the dark blue and aqua! 
 
(By the way the bottle was a curb side find). For future altered bottle projects, I must get my hands on older bottles with lettering on it!
 
 
When I was happy with the look I started with the embellishment, using what I had on hand. I covered the cap with german glass glitter using craft glue and spraying it with artist varnish to set it.
 
I adorned the bottle with some lace and roped one of my bracelets around its neck. Then I made a small fabric tattered rolled rose and hot glued it to the lace. I found a cute aqua vintage button in my stash and hot glued that in the centre of the rose.
 
 
I found the image at The Graphics Fairy and printed it onto a scrap of cream fabric. I used the same method from Here to print the image onto the fabric! Then I used craft glue to attach it to the bottle. I could have printed the label a little smaller to show off more of the bottle's patina, but I will remember it for next time:)
 
 
 
I hope you love my first attempt at altering a bottle!
 
 
You can often find me at these fabulous parties:

Rain on a tin roof - give-me-goods-monday
They love me at Transformed Tuesday
Youre-gonna-love-it-week-Tuesday - Kathe with an E
lizmarieblog - inspire-me-please
The Honey Suckle Bus Stop - Moonshine Monday
The Graphics Fairy - Brag Monday
Redoux
Knick of Time
Share your cup
Green Willow Pond
Homespun Happenings
funky junk interiors
lifeonlakeshoredrive
Feathered nest friday
Serendipityandspice - Manic-Monday
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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