And let's not forget St. Patty's day…

I liked working with the word/letter art so much that I made a set for St. Patty's day too. Same thing again, I painted large paper mâché letters and then chalked the edges with a deeper green. I created the rainbow and assembled a variety of objects to create the pot if gold. I think it turned out how I had anticipated it to so I was happy with the end results. 

Valentines day decorations

I had a few extra days I got to spend at home this past month or so because of the weather we've been having so I decided it was a perfect time to get my craft on!  I had pinned some valentines decorations from Pinterest and I wanted to make my own versions of the ideas. I have in the past created my own paper mache letters, but for convenience this time I decided to go ahead and use the pre-made versions from the craft store. Here's what I ended up making and they fit pretty nicely on the mantel. 

The XOXO has valentines themed scrap paper covering them and the smaller LOVE I painted a pale pink and chalked the edges with a darker pink. I also was inspired by a cute banner I saw and here's my version of that. 

Overall they I was happy with how they turned out, but would definitely change how I had strung the pieces of the banner. They ended up getting a bit unruly and didn't hang as nicely as I would have hoped. 

My Pinteresting Break

So I decided to be productive with my winter break, for once. :)  I have been, over the past year, pinning a lot of great things on Pinterest and I figured it was about time to get down and dirty and get a couple of them accomplished.

It all started out with trying to do a snow globe.  My attempt was absolutely pathetic and not even worth taking a picture.  One of the pins I read suggested using tinsel glitter.  I must have used too much or something because it just did not at all work out.  So back to the drawing board on that one...

I did however, have a couple of other attempts at my replicas or own modified versions of pins that I felt to be much more successful and I would like to share them with you.

Success #1 -- A growth chart measurement ruler

Above, you can see the example of my finished work.  The original pin can be found on my "Cute Stuff for Kids" board. (user name should be found under Monica Light-Dase on Pinterest if you'd like to see the original pin)

I pretty much followed the plan that was linked to the blog identically in the layout of the measurements and even down to the font style that was suggested.  I really like how this one turned out and I can't wait to start using it with my little guy now that it has been mounted to the wall.

Success #2 -- Shirt bleached with negative shape/masked shape

The original pin that inspired me for this is found on my "Crafts" board, pretty far down on the board because this is something that I pinned nearly a year ago.

The original image was associated with The Hunger Games, but i decided to go much more simple.  I drew and cut out a heart from a piece of heavy weight card stock to use to block the negative space on the design.  (as an art teacher, I am choosing to call the shape the "negative shape" for terms of reference but I do know that an argument can be made for the reverse...)

I used a dark heather grey t-shirt that I've had for quite some time and used bleach to create the distressed coloring effect.  Bonus that it looks reddish (because of the color of the shirt) on a heart shape...

I was so pleased with the outcome of this, that I tried my own variation on it...

Success (to be determined) #3 -- Shirts with negative space color splatters

Being an art teacher, I just had to try my hand at creating this idea that I had...

I wanted to try the idea of the negative space with a simple word and instead of bleach, use color.  I pick up some MDF letters from Michael's along with a pack of neon colored fabric paint spray bottles.  Initially I was pleased with the results, but once the shirts dried (the picture above is them just after spraying and removing the letters), I was a little disappointed in how much the color had faded on the grey shirt...

...so I repositioned the letters and sprayed again on the grey shirt.  So this is it now with two dried layers of color.  I also felt the white shirt, once the color had dried and faded a bit, that it was lacking a bit, so I outlined the letters on this one with sharpie in a very rough style to make the letters pop more.  I will see how well the color sticks once I'm able to wash them.  The directions say to wait for 72 hours after applying before you do so.

Success #4 -- Word Art on Canvas

The last project I will share with you today are these three word art panels.  I believe the original pin can also be found on my "Craft" board.  The idea behind this project is to choose a word and a color and paint the word and background the same color.

I had a couple of varieties of sizes of canvas available for me to use and I purchased the precut words from Michaels.  Originally I had wanted to use individual wooden letters, but the selection they had was definitely lacking and I wasn't able to complete a single word I was looking to do, nor were they of the correct size, so I went with these pre-cut words.  

I painted the canvases separate from the words and then adhered the two together.  I changed the location of the word on the canvas for some visual interest, rather than have them all lined up in the same spot on each surface.    I like how this turned out, the orange looks a little garish in this picture, but it works in this combo.

So, that's all I've got for right now.  I would say that I had a pretty productive break this time around!

Tunnel Book is DONE!!!

Ok, just let me start off with a disclaimer.  The swap for this month's (July) COF was a tunnel book.  I will state up front that I realize that this is no longer a tunnel, nor a book form.  But whatever right, it's art and art likes to break rules.  The host of this month was inspired by some tunnel books that Alpha Stamps had posted recently and a handful of us were excited to give it a try.  This is a one on one swap this month, and I was very excited to have the wonderful Caroline at Glitter Tart Designs as the person I am to send to.  I really wanted to step everything up a notch, or two, or three with what I ended up sending her, so I really pushed the boundaries of tunnel book.  I chose a circus theme (obviously I hope?...) and made it 3-dimensional like a tent.  I really struggled with how I wanted to put the top of the tent on, and after a few trial and errors and some Google searching, I decided on this shape.  Again, a lot of my images are from collage sheets from Alpha Stamps (I really need to branch out don't I?...) and I used a variety of scrapbooking paper for the interior of the tent.  I painted the outside, papered the back and the bottom and used my favorite mix of glitter (Blaze) for the floor of the tent.  (Caroline, if you're reading this, I have a nice coating of glitter all over my work surface :) )  Here's a look at the front, head on...

I actually had plans to go a bit more elaborate with this, but I am running out of time and frankly, I think that if I touch it anymore I'm just going to ruin it.  The top of the tent was made out of a paper substructure and then I paper mached the top to the sides and back onto the bottom to make sure that this piece would be solid and survive transport and be able to be displayed easily.  Here is side view look at the piece so you can get an idea of the dimensions...

Overall, I really had a lot of fun working on this piece and hope to do another one for myself maybe in some time of ocean theme.  I just picked up a really great set of ocean collage sheets that I think will work great, so we'll see!

Mermaid Bookmark

As I mentioned in the previous post, the COF is working on another journal go-round.  I just finished up Andrea's and will be sending it on soon, and her theme was fun to work with, Mermaid Bookmarks.  Fortunately, I had just taken advantage of the sale that Alpha Stamps was having on their sea themed collage sheets and I had picked up a mermaid sheet, so it all worked out!  The images on the sheet are gorgeous, and I had no trouble picking the ones I wanted to work with and enhanced the subtle colors in the image with metallic and glittery papers.  Here is the front side of the bookmark, and I didn't take a picture of the backside.  Andrea, it will just have to be a surprise for you and Sandi M., sorry, I didn't get a chance to take a pic of the work I did on your journal that I sent on already!  It too will be a surprise for you when you get it!

COF Journal Swap

I am participating in the latest round of the COF "journal" swap.  I am using journal in quotes because my contribution this time really isn't a journal, but instead a set of empty boxes that each participant in this round is tasked with creating an inner world in.  The outside of the box (and sorry, I don't have any pictures of them) is just a plain rectangular, approx 4"6" white surface.  The inside and the outside can be designed/decorated/embellished in whatever way each person would like to.  I chose to keep my outside pretty plain, not really giving away any of what you would find in the interior...

Here is a picture of the outside with just a litte peek into the interior.  I chose a contrasting/complementary color scheme for the outside vs. the inside and used some leftovers I had from some collage sheets from Alpha Stamps and Art Chix.  And here is the inside...

Again I used the central image and text/supporting images from an Alpha Stamps Collage sheet.  She is from a Paris Showgirls sheet I believe...?  I've been really into using feathers lately, so I wanted to integrate those somehow and I used a lot of blingy paper and glitz.  The outside of the box seems demure, but inside this is an explosion of glam.  (the picture isn't doing that great of a job of capturing it...)  Here's another angle...

I wanted the central image to really take the stage, so I put a good thickness of dimensional foam behind her and also on the phrase plate at the bottom too.  I rimmed the inside of the box edges with a holographic paper so it acts almost as a mirror ( you can see that effect in the picture above this one) and extra light catcher.

So....I enjoyed working on this one a lot and think I will do a few more of these.  When I get the other pieces back from the participants in this round, I will post all of them for viewing!

COF Altered Altoid ATC Swap

The May swap for the COF group was an altered Altoid tin with ATCs (one for each participant) inside.  You could choose your own theme and look for both components of the project swap.  This time only 4 people participated, so I felt I could embellish the ATCs a little bit more "thickly" lets say!  I had a lot of fun doing this one and I am thinking I'd like to take and make a spin on this for my Round Robin journal which will be starting again next month.  Here is a picture of the outside of the altered tin

And here is the tin open with most of the cards displayed.