I did that. I was getting more spam than I could filter.
At one time, spammers were posting advertisements to my blog. I was selling bootleg Viagra and fake Rolex watches. My old childhood friend, Dannie, said he’d take two; watches that is! 😆
I cut the comments off.
I found a piece of a lid to a styrofoam take-out box, going through my crafty trash stash, today.
I have heard you can mark on styrofoam, or styrene, and make a stamp.
There’s an old coloring book from when the grandkids were little in a cabinet of saved books. I remember seeing cute little birds.
I tucked the foam under a drawing and traced it with a dull colored pencil. I couldn’t find my ball-end stylus.
So, I colored around the bird to compress the foam.
I got out a couple of ink pads and some scrap paper. I tried the blue first.
I re-inked and tried again.s
I cleaned the stamp and re-inked with red. I could be more precise with the small ink pad.
I tried a copper Sharpie.
It barely transferred at all, but now, I can see the stamp better.
I’d only count this as a success if I only wanted a suggestion of a bird.
If I try this again, I might color inside the bird, to depress that area, and maybe produce a reverse image?
Oh well, it was fun to try.
I got them glazed, today!
And we had record breaking heat and high pollen counts. When these are dry, I’ll put them in my “winter” box for next year.
Most people love Fridays, and I’m no exception! Friday is when my freebie rolls in from Karen Watson, The Graphics Fairy!
Just look at this week’s!
Some of these days, I’m going to print this, or something like it, onto Aida cloth or linen, and embroider the flowers!!! I am very pleased!
Here are a couple of other, recent Friday Freebies:
I currently have 257 images in my Graphics Fairy Album. I have been collecting for years. Here’s my first one saved on iPhone. It’s from a different season, but still precious!
Many thanks to Karen!
Chad, that’s the nickname I gave Chatgpt.
If we remodel our house for accessibility, the space between our two kitchen doors will be a major thoroughfare.
The table will have to be moved over, become a bar or removed all together.
After two nights of working on this, and some careful measuring, I finally decided what I wanted to see and the bot could not render it.
I want this, only with the table rotated 90°. I also used the term perpendicular. The bot could not render it. I got four more of these:
Oh well, I can turn it myself, in real space, since it doesn’t require construction.
Chad and I did have a fun discussion when I accidentally typed barn instead of bar. We discussed what animals I’d want in my barn, and he guessed chickens from the vibe in my kitchen! 😄
My friend, Eduardo Jr. Reyes, just finished a live stream about gel printing basics. You can find him on You Tube at Eddie Makes Art.
You can watch the replay, as soon as it renders, here, Gel Printing Step by Step
He discussed paints, paper and process! He produced some spectacular prints!
He really took us to school! Thanks, Eddie!
I’ve been wanting to try this experiment for years! (Off and on, when I remembered it.) Have you ever looked at all the luscious colors in a catalog and thought, “What a waste for that to go to recycling?” Well, I have.
If it’s a large enough area, I punch a shape out of it. Imagine this with a star shape punched out.
(I should say that I’m using an old Land’s End catalog for illustrative and educational purposes.)
But what if it’s a stack of colored items in that image, or a pretty page border:
What if it’s a row of dots?
Sure, you could take your scissors, cut a strip, and save it in a baggie or envelope. That pink checked page border would be easy, but the others? I hope you can cut straighter than me!
Enter double sided tape. I like this skinny stuff from Dollar Tree.
Now’s the tricky part. Choose an image you want to turn into decorative tape. You have to put the tape on the BACK of the image. (A light box would’ve been helpful, but I was too lazy to go hunt mine. A tablet or iPad set on a white screen might have worked as well, but I just thought of that.)
This is my first goof up. Remember, you got to go for the back of the image. So, I aimed for the lower row of dots. My result:
Next try. I chose an image where I thought I couldn’t miss:
Here’s the back with one side of the tape adhered:
(Yes, I was working in my lap.) I trimmed the tape:
This is what I got:
Next time, I’ll use a light box or iPad. I’ll still call this a success!
I hope it goes without saying that I pulled off the other side of the tape. (I’m saving those strips, too. They look like they’d be good for applying alcohol inks.)
Next try, MAGAZINE WASHI!
My mama left me her house in 2013.
I tried to turn it into a craft studio with a library and teaching space.
I tried to make it fun and inviting.
I couldn’t be there enough to make a go of it. My heart was with my grandchildren in Charlotte.
I eventually sold the house to my cousin, who was putting pieces of our old family home place back together. He rented it out for a while, but I opened my email from Zillow, and saw that it is for sale. I am so sad.
I just put the last coat of gel medium on the bottom of my lantern/candle!
I used Liquitex Satin Gel Medium both as an adhesive and as a sealant.
Since the cylinder is round, I made it a cradle of big bubble wrap. I painted on a thin layer of gel medium, just on the exposed surface. I used a soft, wide bristle brush.
I draped Patricia Carmichael Cline’s print, stained side down, over the glued area. Using a tip I learned from Sharon Duran Wilson, I used my misting bottle to wet the print. Sharon said when applying paper to a wet surface, wet the paper lightly, to prevent wrinkles.
I pulled and smoothed, like making a bed.
Then I placed the cylinder with glued paper down into the cradle, while I continued to glue and wrap from the right.
glue, roll, stretch, smooth and repeat.
I used a tip, also from Patricia, for smoothing. Use a dry paper towel to help smooth wrinkles. It also removes excess water.
I tore the white edges from the sides of the paper and finished gluing the right side.
Next time, I will pay more attention to getting the paper straight in relation to the bottom of the glass.
I trimmed the white edges, and stained what was left with the pink gel.
The next day, I glued and pulled and tugged and sprayed and smoothed the left side. I folded the extra paper on the bottom underneath and glued it with the gel medium.
I turned the upper edges over the rim and glued them down, too.
I finished everything up with a coat of gel medium.
I let it all dry, lit the electric candle and dropped it inside the cylinder.
And There She Glows!!!
I use deli lids for palettes.
Yesterday, I poured too much gel medium in one.
I used what I needed, but had lots left. The stuff is $17/bottle. I didn’t want to waste it, but didn’t want to try to put it back in the bottle, either. I took out another lid. (I bought a whole case one time.)
I flipped it.
I put it upside down on the other one.
Air could still get in, so I found something to weigh it down.
Today, it was like it was fresh from the bottle!
That stack of lids got me thinking.🤔 As many as I have, there ought to be a craft that uses them. 💡I have an idea! When I try it, I’ll report! 😉