USAQ Blog

Hi Everyone!

I hope this Tuesday finds you all doing well and not as shocked as I am that January 2012 is almost ready to end its yearly appearance.

Today’s tutorial is truly near and dear to my heart because I love to have pretty little containers in my studio that hold all of the little bits of this and that and what not that are left over after I finish working on a project.  You know what I mean…a few brads here, tiny screws there, the bling of some stray rhinestones, glass beads and those lovely vintage buttons everywhere and well you could end up with quite a mess if you don’t take steps to keep those little treats safe until the next time they are needed.

I have become quite the, dare I say, hoarder of little tins.  First because I love to alter them and make them into beautiful trinkets  and secondly because they make the best holder of those “smalls” that we all have hanging around.  Tins are magical and, if you forget to label your little keepers, it can literally be like a holiday every time you open one.

For this tutorial you will need the following supplies…..

UsArtquest Heavy Artist’s Cement

UsArtquest Artist Essentials Palette Knives

UsArtquest PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive)

A discarded tin or two (think candy tins, watch part tins, etc.)

A few flea market finds – costume jewelry earrings, flat glass marbles, buttons, etc.

UsArtquest Snap Paint Brush

Rubber Stamp Writing – Click here for some amazing writing stamps at UsArtquest.

Wet Cloth/Paper Towels

Apron

Toothpicks

Instructions:

Choose your tins based on what you may be storing in them.  I have chosen a small square hinged tea tin and a round tin with a lid that is removable.  Let’s work with the square tin first.

I have decided to leave the color of the tin as is.  The top of the tin will be covered with the Artist’s Cement so the only color truly showing will be the sides of the tin and edge of the lid.

Next, using the larger palette knife I spread a layer of the Artist’s Cement over the surface of the lid…

I cover the lid and then wipe around the outside edge of the tin to clean any excess cement from it….

 

Next I take one of my word stamps and use it to add a bti of texture and the illusion of writing. The cement hold wonderful peaks and shapes and is also great to use for texturial stenciling.

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Next I place my vintage earring, with the back removed, into the center of the tin’s lid. The cement makes any other adhesive totally unnecessary……

 

 

Let’s set the square tin aside to dry and move on to the round tin. For this tin I have simply used the cement as the adhesive for the buttons that I have layered to cover the tin lid. I used the end of a large match stick but a toothpick would work just as effectively to apply the glue to the back of the buttons. I layered them up until the right height was obtained.

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While these where drying I printed out little labels for the edges of the tins. My studio is pretty organic so I don’t worry about many frills on my little keepers however you can add a bit of fancy and frill by using pinking shears or scallop edge scissors to cut out your labels. The little labels are adhered to the edge of the tins easily by using the PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive).

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Now that the cement is dry on the square tin I use my Snap brush with a touch of water and black fluid chalk ink to “paint” the top of my cement. I chose the black ink because my old earring was a large black stone surrounded by rhinestones. Be sure to use the edge of the brush to get the ink into the crevices. If you are not into the darker colors you can use Pearl Ex to add a bit of shimmer to your tin lid or you could even sprinkle a bit of mica flakes into the cement while it is still wet. This is a great product to have fun and experiment with. There are so many duties and roles that the Artist’s Cement can play in your studio it will make some of your other items obsolete.

 

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Remember to have fun and experiment!

xo,

Lesley V.

www.flatwoodsfolkart