Sometimes I feel more like a collector than a crafter. I see things, new and old, and say to myself, “Ooo! That’s so nice! I know I can make something with that!” I buy it and then it sits—sometimes for weeks, months or even years. That was this case with the Kimono stamp #2545 I from JudiKins. I’m always drawn to Japanese influenced or themed things and I just had to have this stamp. That was probably two years ago. I had never used it, until this project.

The first time I played with USArtQuest’s MicaColor Watercolor Metallic & Pearlescent Palette I was fascinated by the resulting effect. I can’t really say they “sparkle” because it’s not that harsh. It’s more of a subtle shimmer or sheen that is embedded into the paint (versus layered on top). It reminds me of the beautiful sheen that silk has and I immediately thought of the Kimono stamp. I applied the MicaColor to white quality cardstock to create a background. It even feels silky as you apply it—almost creamy! I took this photo holding the paper at an angle against the light so you could try and get a feel of the sheen. To me, it looks every sophisticated and elegant.

Next I stamped the background with the Kimono stamp. I did this twice so I could layer the finished project.

Take the first stamped imaged and dry emboss it using the Koi folder from the Plum Blossom Set by Cuttlebug. Take the second stamped image and cut it in half vertically. Emboss each half with the same folder, shifting each one slightly, so the embossed image doesn’t line up when you layer these halves beneath the first image. That helps create the illusion that the Kimono has folds on each side. It’s a little detail that most people won’t notice, but it really does help the finish product look more polished.

I found applying Duo Adhesive to the raised portions of the design using a cotton swab. It was the easiest way for me to just hit the embossed areas without getting any adhesive on other parts of the piece. If you have a steady hand, you could apply the Duo Adhesive to Cut-N-Dry Stamp Pad and just kiss the embossed areas.

Wait just a bit for the Duo Adhesive to dry. Remember what Sue says, “When it’s white, it’s not right. When it’s clear, it adheres!” Apply Gildenglitz Leafing Metal to the embossed areas and burnish with a Texture Sponge. The Draw and Gild Kit is a great way to get started. It has everything you need to get started with gilding!

To create a hanger, take a bamboo skewer and cut off the ends. Save the middle portion for another project! Cover the two ends with Duo Adhesive, wait till it’s clear and then apply Gildenglitz Leafing Metal. Burnish off the excess.

Fussy cut each stamped image. I left extra paper at the top of the Kimono for the top layer so I could fold it over the bamboo pieces. Mount the top Kimono to the bottom layers (remember, there are two pieces here, since you cut it in half) using foam tape.

I found a great shadowbox at a thrift store and was able to repurpose it to hold this little Kimono. It looks fantastic against the deep black background—just like a tiny silk Kimono.

You can see my other projects on my blog at Create & Craft.

Happy Crafting!

Joe

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

]]> http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/24/keeper-of-this-and-that/feed/ 3 lesleyvenable tin-1 tin-2 tin-3 tin-4 tin-5 tin-6 buttons-1 buttons-2 words-1 words-2 words-4 tin-7 tin-8 http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/21/colorful-altered-tray/ http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/21/colorful-altered-tray/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:00:30 +0000 parkergirl1962 http://usartquestblog.com/?p=1493 ]]> Hi and welcome to my second installment for US Artquest! I love all the cool products that US Artquest has to offer and allows creativity to just flow. My project today has a lot of steps but many are repeated. So let’s get started!

These are the products I have on hand from US Artquest.   I will be using the Perfect Pigments, Mica Tiles, Mica Flakes, brushes and PPA!

This is the tray I started with.  It is made by McGuffey Woodworking.  These trays are by far the best I have worked with for several reasons.  They are made in the USA, made from solid wood and you can take the back off to make it easier to decorate/paint.   I will be using the other design for my Chattering Robin’s post on Monday!

1.  I took a pencil and marked off the sections.  This makes it easy to see where the dividers will be so you can, in this case, paint just over the lines and there will be no bleed over.

You can see the grid marks and I charted which Perfect Pigment color I wanted where.

2.  Paint each section with color desired and then paint the same color on the tray dividers.

3. Continue to paint until you have the entire board painted.  I confess, I goofed a little and marked the colors I was going to use with INK…UGH..so had to paint a coupe of coats.  Fortunately what I am adding will cover any trace of pen marks.

4. I got out my trusty Dreamweaver Stencils and decided which designs I would use for background.  I then used the Perfect Pigment to tint the White Glossy Paste.  This way I had lighter shades of the same colors.

secure stencil

get out small amount of paste

add Perfect Pigment

Mix and apply to stencil.

NOTE:  Due to dry time I started in opposite corners with the stencils and allowed them to dry then moved on.

5. I got out my Mica Tiles and split them into thinner sections so I could sandwich mica powder/mica flakes/PPA/Perfect Pigments between the layers.

6.  At this point you press them together and moosh them around.  Yes, MOOSH!   It blends the colors and anything you have mixed in.  This also makes the tiles stencil ready.

7.  For this project I now attached the back to the frame.

8.  I now choose other elements I want to add to each square.  I use a paper flower, wire and wonderful crystal beads from Connie Crystal.  This is how each section turned out!

Crystal Effects, Perfect Pigments, PPA and Mica Powder tile.

PPA, Perfect Pigments  and Mica Powder Tile

Flower was touched up with Stargazers.  PPA, Perfect Pigments and Mica Powder Tile.

Flower touched up with Stargazers paint. Mica Flakes, PPA and perfect Pigments Tile.

Plain tile.

PPA, Mica Powder, Perfect Pigments Tile.

AND NOW THE SUM OF THE WHOLE!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed my post for this week.  US Artquest will not have a booth at CHA but you can see this piece on display in the Dreamweaver Booth #863!  Come by and see this project up close and personal!  Until then, you can order all the great products used today at US Artquest!

Happy Creating,
Kristi

One of the biggest challenges with printing from  glass or acrylic panels is that you can not ’see’ what you are printing. The paper you print upon covers the image but if you really NEED to see what you are doing  you are out of luck!  Using Studio Paper you will now be able to mono-print over backgrounds and in a more controlled manner. You gain a ton of flexibility – you can print in your art journals or other non-flat surfaces with ease.

Here is the Studio Paper Mono Print technique tutorial -  and here, is one simple result !

Morning Song Mono Print

I know some of you are looking at this and thinking – it looks messy with blotches and missing paint and is not aligned. I love this look . If you need to be more ‘perfect’, you can achieve that – make sure your paint is evenly distributed before printing.

The biggest benefit of  a mono-print is instant texture. The Studio Paper, becuase it is wax based, resists some of the acrylic. The more watery the acrylic, the more resist you will see in your print. 

 I did not, but you can also mist the paint with water just before you print.

You can also add an object resist (I will make another tutorial for that and add it to my blog). You can remove some of the paint in a pattern with a rubber scrapper or other Texturing Tool before printing !

This particular print was outlined with a Sharpie pen. It isn’t always necessary, but I liked the sketchy look it adds.

Have fun and EXPERIMENT !

- love ann

Today I decided to make some earrings for Valentine’s Day and my 25th anniversary, which is coming up soon as well.

I took a mica tile and ran it through my die cutting machine using a heart-shaped die.  I love the scalloped shape of this die for earrings.

The mica cuts beautifully.  Even the small details come out well.  It’s easy to trim a bit with scissors if you want – but I like the natural edges of this mineral on any overlap edges.

I wanted something swirly for the background of the mica hearts.  Because I’m stamping on a non-porous surface, I know it’s highly likely that I’ll have difficulty getting a crisp image.  Therefore I pick a pattern that will work well for this situation.  A large background patterned stamp would work just as well, but I wanted to maintain a border around my heart that wasn’t embellished on the mica.

I put a little bit of Duo Embellishing Adhesive onto a square of Cut ‘n Dry foam to make a stamp pad.  Use this as your ‘ink’ to stamp the image onto the mica hearts.

Once the glue is dry (clear) and tacky, apply leafing foil and brush off lightly using the texture sponge.

Here is what they look like now.  You can spray a sealer onto the leafing foil to prevent tarnishing.  I am going to flip them over, so the foil is peeking through the mica when I wear the earrings.

Now for a bit of wire working.  I wire-wrapped a couple of Czech glass beads and added a small key on a jump ring to these adorable tiny door plates with crystal knobs from my stash.

I placed the mica hearts, leafing side down, onto a cork tile and line up the embellishment.  Use a metal awl / piercing tool to punch a tiny hole through the mica tile.

I ran my ear wires through the hole and adhered the embellishment to the mica tiles with PPA.

These are super easy and really fun to make.  Now that I’ve made them, I am imagining all the other wonderful shapes I could die-cut.  The Mica Shapes, Corners would make great chandelier-style earrings.  A coordinating pendant is definitely in my future!

US Art Quest Products used today:

• Mica Tiles
• GildenGlitz Leafing Metal in Brilliant Gold, #ANC202
• Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) in Matte finish
• Duo Embellishing Adhesive
• Texture Sponge
• Cut ‘n Dry Stamp Pad Material

Misc. products for this project, two of each:

• Earring Wires
• Jump Rings
• Head Pins
• Czech Glass Beads
• Embellishment, if desired.
• Die, Die-Cutting System or pre-cut shapes.

Make sure to check out HSN today!  Susan Pickering Rothamel will be on at 7:08am est and 12:26 in the afternoon.

Thanks for looking!

Sally Lynn MacDonald
www.sallylynnmacdonald.com
www.facebook.com/sallylynn.macdonald

Iris Journal Cover

I love Irises!  Purple, bearded Irises are my favorite.  Everything in nature touches me deeply, and I appreciate that nature is not perfect; patterns happen hap-hazardously!  Oh, so beautiful.

For my first USArtQuest  DT project, I decided to create a cover for a journal.  2012 just started, and so we have lots of resolutions to make, or maybe you just would like to start writing your thoughts with words and doodles!  I found a journal set at 70% off because it was missing the end screws to put the journal together.  I use ribbon to tie the journal together.

USArtQuest Supplies:

MicaColor Palettes™ - Stargazers, Pastels, and Metallic & Pearlescent

Perfect Pigment – Purple Mist, Dark Violet

Perfect Glaze – Clear

Fine Liner Pen (Kit)

PPA Matte

Perfect Brushes

Studio Cups

Palette Knives

Folia Cardstock – White

Great Tape

Other Supplies:

Scissors

Ribbon

Journal

Iris Stamp Image

White Stamp Ink, Permanent Black Stamp Ink

1.  Prepare your Pefect Pigment Paint by squeezing Purple Mist to fill the bottom of the Studio Cup.  Then add a drop of  Dark Violet into the cup and mix with a Palette Knife.  Refer to the photo for the color I achieved, or mix the color the way you’d like.  If the paint is too light, add one drop at a time of Dark Violet until you attain the shade you like.  I also added a drop or two of Clear Glaze to thin the color a bit.  Clear Glaze is great because it keeps the integrity of the paint pigment, is not watered down, it is full-bodied!

Texture Sponge for many artistic uses

3. Prepare the gold shade in the Metallic MicaColor Palette by dipping your round brush into water and dripping the water onto the gold shade  and swirl around.  Let sit a second.  You want a creamy consistency so you can pick up the color and add to the well of the Fine Liner Pen (Make sure your liner pen is always clean and dried – refer to Sue’s DVD for hints and tips).  With the tip of your brush pick up the gold shade and let it drip into the well of the Fine Liner Pen.

MicaColor Watercolor Palettes

Fine Liner Pen in action with Duo - use the MicaColor Gold from the Metallic palette instead

4. Stamp the iris image 4 or 5 times with white ink, with a couple of images going off the page.    Take the Fine Liner Pen and draw over the white ink turning the white into shimmery gold sheen!  If some of the white shows through a little, it adds to the ambience of the art piece.

5.  Stamp the iris on white  Folia cardstock with the black ink.  Following instructions from above for wetting your watercolors, use the round brush and paint the light purple from the MicaColor Pastel Palette painting the iris as shown in photo.  Paint the edges of the iris with a darker purple – the Stargazer’s MicaColor Palette has a great color.  Lastly, I picked up a little gold from the Metallic MicaColor Palette and brushed it into the well of the palette (the open center part for mixing).  I watered down the gold, and once the iris is dried; I lightly added a wash of color.  Follow these instructions and paint one more iris so you have 2 in total.  Cut them out once they dry.

6.  Apply Great Tape to the back of the irises you stamped, painted, after you have cut them out, and adhere them to the front of your journal.  Take a few colors of ribbon (3 times the vertical length of the journal) and run them from the back to the front of the journal and tie a nice bow at the top.

Cut stamped/painted iris and mount using Great Tape

Now you have a complete journal to write, draw, and paint in.  Experiment with your USAQ products, make color swatches and write your dreams in this journal.  It is handmade with love!

Hope you have learned some new techniques and try this project out soon.  Until next time – I’m CreativeLea Yours – Lea

Don't Forget To Watch Sue on HSN, Jan. 17th at 6 am & 12 pm -EST

]]> http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/15/perfect-pigment-and-watercolor-journal/feed/ 8 usaqlea IRIS-JOURNAL-SMALL (2) Texture Sponge Watercolor palette Fine Liner Pen iris close up Sue's DVD http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/14/altered-canvas-2/ http://usartquestblog.com/2012/01/14/altered-canvas-2/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:01:21 +0000 kaybear52 http://usartquestblog.com/?p=1409 ]]> I love to take something totally simple and make it into something that will be loved and remembered. My life revolves around making others happy and smiling. It is what makes me tick. So I was super excited when my first project with USArtQuest hit me head on. I decided to alter a canvas for a dear close friend of mine at work. She just recently got married in September. I was so upset that I couldn’t attend her wedding as we had a large family outing that day also. But even if I couldn’t be there…I wanted to make her something so that she new I was there in heart.

This is a fun and easy project that you can make for yourself or as a gift for that special someone.

To start off – find the size canvas you would like to use. For this project I used a 12×12 stretched canvas. I also have a few pages from a book I picked up at the GoodWill, a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper and some Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) in Matte.

Step 2: Tear the pages into strips and cut down the scrapbook paper to about a 10.5×10.5 size. With a sponged brush I spread around the PPA around the edges of the canvas and then began layering the paper. Layer a good thick coat of the PPA on top of the pages also.

Step 3: Now layer the scrapbook page onto the canvas with the PPA.

Step 4: While the paper is still lighlty damp…I added some PPA to the back of the photo and adhered it down where I wanted it to be. I lightly brushed the PPA around the edges of the picture. Because this is a matte finish adhesive it left a light matte finish around the pictures edges. I then took some cream paint and just brushed around the edges of the canvas so that it would have an aged feel. Let the canvas totally dry before proceeding.

Step 5: Once the canvas is dry…take a black pen (I love using the Pilot Permaball) and go around the edges with some doodling. You will find that doodling is one of my favorite things to do on projects

Step 6: Now it is time to start layering the embellishments. I used the PPA to adhere the sticker letters.

This project took approx 30 minutes to complete, including drying time.

Becky Thackston

I’m so excited to be sharing my first project as a member of the USArtQuest Design Team (DT)!  I first met Susan Pickering Rothamel at a scrapbook convention in 2009. She was demonstrating technique after technique all while answering questions from the crowd. I watched in awe. She made everything look so easy, I was hooked! I bought one of her many books, The Art of Paper Collage, and  a bottle of Perfect Paper Adhesive™ (PPA) Matte, and I was ready to roll! Now, 2 years later, I’m on the DT! Please don’t pinch me because I don’t want to wake up from this dream come true!

This project started as a plain frame I picked up at a thrift store for $0.75. It had nice wide borders – lots of space to collage.  It finished as a sparkly flower garden filled with birds and butterflies!

And best of all, it’s quick and easy to do!! The project took me somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes. And it was fun! As you put down piece after piece of napkin, you start to see this amazing scene come in to focus. Topping it off with the dazzle you get from Crystal Effectz™ makes it magical. It’s so fun and fast I decided to capture the process on film! Check out this short YouTube video to see the process from start to finish.

See how easy that was? Why not give it a shot? The Napkin Collection from USArtQuest has everything you need to get started. All you need to do is find something fun to cover!

You can check out my other projects on my blog on Create & Craft. Enjoy and Happy Crafting!

Joe

I am loving all of the beautiful tutorials by my fellow Design Team Members and I hope you are too!  My name is Lesley Venable, I am a self taught mixed media artist and I am sooooo excited to be a part of this wonderful and special group of artists!!!

Gesso is one of the most versatile and favorite supplies that I have in my studio so you can just guess my surprise and delight in finding Spray Gesso!!  When I found that I just knew what I would be creating for you this week….beautiful and simple journal backgrounds.

Here are the supplies I used in my journal page layout:

Spray  Gesso

Sandi Miller Original Art Stamps – Handwriting Background

Mica Tiles

PPA

Vintage Image, Fluid Chalks, Glue Stick, Scissors, Vintage Papers, Sketching Pencil, Plastic Doily (paper doilies work well also), your journal, copper foil (optional), fluid chalks, a spare piece of heavier paper or the back of a pad

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 Before I begin working with my journal pages I like to put a sheet of cardstock between the page I am working on and the page that follows.  This keeps any glues/paint/ink, etc. from getting on any of the pages below….

Using a brush and your PPA cover your pages using vintage ephemera…..

Use your scissors to trim away excess along edges…..

Use your fluid chalks (or your preferred ink) to add color to your pages having the edges a bit darker than other areas of  your page….

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 Remove your stamp from its packaging (it does not matter whether you use mounted or unmounted stamps and both are available at the UsArtquest website).  Lay your stamp down so that the stamp portion is face  up to you…..

Use your fluid chalks or preferred ink pad to “ink” the stamp.  Stamp your image onto your page in random patterns….

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Take your journal, your plastic or paper doily and your spray gesso to a well ventilated area of your home (garage, outside, patio).  Be sure to protect anything that you don’t want to be gesso’d (car, patio furniture, you (smile)).  Determine placement of your doily, shake the can well to mix up the gesso and then use short bursts to cover “gesso” over the edges, and any other cut out portions of your doily.  You may  need to hold the doily in place with one or two fingers.

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Remove the doily and Voila!!!!  A beautifully soft and romantic background is taking shape!!!!!  ALLOW TO DRY COMPLETELY BEFORE PROCEEDING

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 Once dry take your journal back to your work table and choose a vintage image to work with.  I cut out my image to be placed on top of a portion of my stenciling but you may decide you wish to use your entire image.  Use a glue stick to glue the image down.

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Print out a quote on plain paper and adhere it to the back of a piece of mica using your PPA – allow to dry completely.

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When dry use a bit of heavier adhesive, such as E6000, to adhere the mica covered quote to your page.  Allow to dry. 

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Use a bit of copper foil to cover the rough edges of your pages.  I did this along the inside spiral binding of my journal to make cleaner edges. 

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Next take your sketching pencil and draw/doodle along the edge of your copper foil and around your mica covered quote…..

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Your journal pages are now ready for you to fill them with your thoughts and feelings.

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I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and that you will continue to visit to see all of the wonderful creations, ideas and inspiration that the Design Team will be sharing with you.

Have a wonderful day!

xo,

Step 1: Check your US Artquest Supplies on Hand

Step 2: Take a DEEP BREATH….You know you can do this
Step 3:  DING DING DING…I need a notebook to take to CHA so why not make a cool one!

This is a piece of sticky back canvas and a regular composition book.

Step 4:  Collage/Paint/Stamp Canvas.  I used the Perfect Pigments Paint (PPP) and A Palette of Stargazers Paints.  This is the first time using the PPP and I must say I LOVE the rich color and easy way they work.  On the canvas I wanted the color less dense as I was going to use the stamped image over and then add other design elements.

Step 5: I used the PPP in burnt Umber to stamp the image.  I then hit the highlights of the pears with the Stargazer Paint.  The Startgazers have mica powder mixed into the pigment and get a nice shimmer to them.  Cut the piece down to fit the composition book and attach.

Step 6: Add Sty’lines pears as accents. I had a pear stencil from Dreamweaver and embossed with 101 artist cement.  After dry I added mica powder to the pear.  I then added some Diamond Glaze to the side of the pear and applied cool Mica Flakes!!!
Step 7:  I added word and outline accents using the Line Writer and Duo Adhesive.  After the Duo was applied I let dry then added the silver leafing.

So the finished book looks like this!

I added extra Duo around the orange colored pear for more interest.
In this last photo you can see the shimmer of the Stargazer paint.   See you in a couple of weeks on the correct day!

Happy Creating!!!
Kristi