Locker Tags - Valentine Style

The women's clothing store where I work has lockers where we can stow our purses "and other valuables" (which in my case, means hairspray!) while we're working.  A couple of my coworkers have been making holiday-themed name tags for the lockers, so I decided to take my turn and make some Valentine ones.

I needed eight tags total so I kept them fairly simple.  I selected some pretty papers from The Old World Stack paper pad by DCWV (a stack that is several years old and still one of my favorites), and die-cut two sizes of scalloped hearts.  I then die-cut two plain hearts, one from sheet music and the other from a coordinating cardstock.

For the base, I die-cut a plain rectangle from ivory cardstock and a scalloped rectangle from the colored cardstock.  Overall, the tags are about 3x6 inches.  I added a paper flower to the center and hand-wrote the names.  I think these will look lovely on our old-fashioned school lockers, and "the girls" can keep them when the name tags get changed out the next time around.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day.

Supplies:
Spellbinders Nestabilities dies (heart, scalloped heart, rectangle, scalloped rectangle); patterned paper by DCWV, naturals ivory cardstock from Stampin' Up; paper flower by Paper Studio.

Take Me To Your Leader - Altered Envie

What happens when your mail art trading partner's interests are very different from your own?  Well, you can either disregard her likes or you can stretch yourself.  This month, I decided to stretch myself.  Science fiction?  Aliens?  No sweat!  (I told myself, somewhat confidently.)

I started with a monoprint I made a while ago using my Gelli Plate. Once folded into an envelope, the patterns in the print reminded me of photographs of the Milky Way.  That created a perfect backdrop for my alien.  I used an image I found on the internet as a guide and black, white and gray acrylic paints.  I was pretty pleased with how he (she? it?) turned out, since I can honestly say that painting aliens is not in my bag of usual tricks.

On the back, I stamped a simple message that always reminds me of the old Bugs Bunny cartoon character, the rather inept Marvin the Martian.  Is anyone else old enough to remember him?

Speaking of simple, this post will be short and sweet, as I try to get back into the habit of regular posts.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Metropolitan Magazine Mortals - Artist Trading Coins

I created these four artist trading coins for a swap, but just wasn't thrilled with them.  These were my first attempts at artist trading coins, and there was a learning curve (literally and figuratively!).  Each one had a problem or two that bothered me enough that I decided to start over.  (I ended up submitting these calendar car coins instead.)  I do like the guy in the top right corner.  He reminds me of a young Omar Sharif.

I cut the people out of a late 1890s Metropolitan Magazine, which was a New York-based monthly periodical with articles on theatre, literature, business and well-known "high society" residents of the day.  I bought a bound book of them at a garage sale and have enjoyed reading some of the articles, but it's the pictures I really wanted.

This guy's head is just a little too large for an artist trading coin, and I wished I hadn't added the brown stenciling on the right side.  I do like the green and purple color scheme.

I chose this woman because of her fabulous hat and determined look, but I had a mishap gluing her onto the coin (120 year-old paper is pretty fragile), and her head got ripped off.  You can see the "scar" across her chin where I tried to glue her back together.  In addition, I didn't get the text scrap on the right knocked back enough, and the brown stenciling is too prominent.

This one isn't too bad. I just wish the original photo had been a little darker.  Also, I didn't get that scrap of music in the background obscured enough for my liking.

This last one was my favorite of the four.  I like the composition and how the background pieces work together.  The stenciling frames him nicely without being too prominent.  The quality of the original photo is better, and let's be honest, he's better looking than the other guys!

Since I didn't use these coins for the swap, I'm not sure what their fate is.  The Omar Sharif lookalike may become a bookmark for my daily journal.  That way I can moon over him every day!  As for the others, they may get put onto a greeting card or get used in an art journal. 

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Have a great day.

Little Bird Blue Ornament and How to Pickle a Tart Tin

My mom liked her bird tart tin so much that she asked me to make one to give as a hostess gift to her friend Jackie, who she was going to visit.  Since I had only bright, shiny tins left in my stash, and I like a grungier look, I started by "pickling" or aging my tart tin.

Unaltered tin on left.  Pickled tin on right.

I used a mixture of mostly hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, and kosher salt to pickle my tart tin.  I put the three ingredients in a small plastic container and stirred them until the salt was dissolved.  (I didn't measure anything so I can't tell you any amounts or ratios.)  I swished the tin around in the mixture, shook off any excess, and set it on a paper towel in a glass dish to dry.  (Some folks on the internet suggest using a spray bottle to apply the mixture, but I didn't have one handy.)

As the tin dried, I turned it over every so often.  I repeated this process several times over the course of two days, until I liked how the tin looked.  Basically, I wanted to reduce the shininess of the tin but I didn't want a lot of heavy, orange-colored rust.  Once I had the amount of patina I wanted, I sprayed the tin with a matte acrylic sealant.

Jackie's finished ornament

Without further ado, here is Jackie's completed tart tin!  Doesn't that bird look adorable sitting on her little nest?  I love how the white berries really pop against the darker background, and the bows on top are so sweet.  I was super pleased with how everything came together.

Since I had just finished my mom's tart tin ornament and the steps involved were still fresh in my mind, Jackie's tin was easier to complete.  In case you're interested (and for my own future reference) here are the steps I followed.  I don't take step-out photos as I create, but I have inserted some closeup photos for you.

1.  Dab matte gel medium around the rim using a plastic palette knife.  Sprinkle on chunky glitter.  Let dry completely (overnight).  Spray tin with acrylic spray sealant, paying special attention to the glitter, and let dry.

Closeup of die-cut sheet music and leaves on Mom's tin

2.  Attach a piece of vintage sheet music to cardstock and die-cut with a scalloped circle die.  Sponge distress ink around edges.  Cut smaller circles out of chipboard and adhere to the back of the sheet music.  The number of additional circles needed will depend on (a) how deep the tin is and (b) whether your bird is small enough to fit down in the tin or has a tail that will extend over the outside edge.  Adhere the entire sheet music 'stack' to the center of the tin and let dry.

3.  Adhere "nest" to bottom of tin and let dry.  Amount needed will depend on size of bird.  Make sure it's packed in tight and adhered well.  I used regular matte gel medium.

4.  Adhere bird to nest and let dry.  Make sure the nest and bird are centered so the sheet music behind them is level.

Closeup of die-cut leaves on Jackie's tin

5.  Adhere vintage book page to cardstock and die-cut several small leaves.  Tint leaves with distress inks, and use fingers or craft tools to shape and bend them.  Trim leaves as needed to fit, dip ends or backs into adhesive (I used matte gel medium), and tuck them behind the bird and into the nest.

6.  Trim berries as needed and adhere behind bird, tucking stems into nest if possible.

View of jewelry bail and cord for hanging Mom's tin

7.  Adhere jewelry bail to back of tart tin (I used E6000).  Make sure the bail is centered with your bird so that he's sitting level.  Dry completely (overnight).

Closeup of ribbon on Jackie's tin

8.  Choose lace and/or ribbon(s) to make a bow.  On a larger tin, use wired ribbon so the bow will maintain its shape, like I did for the first tart tin I made.  For Jackie's tin, I used needle and thread to sew together two pieces of white lace to form a foundation bow, onto which I sewed the blue bow made of dyed seam binding.  Adhere bow to top of tin, making sure it is centered (I used E6000).  Let dry completely (preferably overnight).

9.  Adhere pine cones using E6000.  (You can't tell from the pictures, but there are three super cute, super mini pine cones on top of the blue bow.)  Let dry.

Closeup of bail and cord for hanging Mom's tin

10.  Cut piece of twine, ribbon or cording and thread it through the jewelry bail so you can hang the ornament.  One thing I discovered is that my tins wouldn't hang straight, because the weight of the bird made the front dip a little.  This isn't too big a deal if you plan to use the tin as a Christmas tree ornament, because you can usually tuck the ornament into the branches to steady it.  Or forget hanging the tin, and just set it on a small easel to display.  I may try to figure out a different way to add a hanger on future tart tins, or I may not.  Usually a problem like something not hanging straight would bother me, but for some reason it isn't in this case.

Another satisfied customer

And finally, here is Jackie with her tart tin!  She was thrilled to receive it and because we also got an easel for her, she can display it immediately (straight or not!).

Just two final notes I want to share about these tart tins.  First, quality adhesives are essential when you're adhering items made of different materials.  I recommend Golden brand matte gel medium (regular or heavy) and E6000 industrial adhesive.  Second, these tart tins require a lot of drying time after certain steps to ensure that pieces are firmly attached before adhering the next ones.  Give yourself plenty of time to make one of these, especially if you're not keeping it for yourself.

I hope you found this post helpful.  I know for myself, I found it useful to write down the steps and some of the little hints I had forgotten since I made that first tin.  And if someone else can benefit from them, even better.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab day.

Calendar Cars - Artist Trading Coins

Artist trading coins are all the rage right now in the mail art community, so I thought I'd jump in and make some myself.  At 2.5 inches in diameter, the coins are the same width as an artist trading card but not as tall and, of course, are round instead of rectangular.  I created these four coins for a swap with an open theme.  They're kind of a riff on the calendar car postcards I made a couple of months ago.

I started by adhering a road map to a piece of heavy cardstock, then used a Spellbinders Nestabilities circle die to cut four coins.  I used an old gift card to scrape on a thin layer of white acrylic paint, which mutes the background so it doesn't compete too much with the focal images.

After fussy cutting the cars, I selected vintage postage stamps to coordinate with each one.  Then I chose the stencil, which required some consideration due to the scale of these coins.  Achieving a good composition can be tricky when working on such a small piece, especially when it's round.  I settled on the Harlequin stencil by Tim Holtz and used distress inks to add the design to the background.

After adhering the cars, I stamped on some spatters and the text, added the postage stamps, then stamped on two types of faux postage cancellation marks:  the wavy lines in gray and the round mark in red.

The "Fig. #" images are rub-ons that were the perfect size for these coins, and they helped to ground the cars so they don't look like they're floating in space.  The final step on the front of the coins was sponging gathered twigs distress ink around the edges.

To finish the backs of the coins, I adhered patterned paper and a mini label with the name of the swap, my name, and the date.  I like my art pieces to have a clean back, and the additional layer of paper made the coins a little sturdier.

Other than working with the small scale of these coins, the biggest challenge for me was with the shape.  I've made a lot of really small collages, but most of them have been on substrates with straight edges. The curved edges of the coins was a new twist.  Have you tried making artist trading coins?  If so, what did you find most challenging about them?  And if not, what are you waiting for?!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day.

Chickadee-dee-dee Tart Tin for Mom

Last December I made this tart tin ornament for an art exchange, and was super pleased with how it turned out.  My mom really liked it, too, and has been waiting for me to make one for her.  Well, Mom, your long wait is over!

This tart tin is smaller (only 3.5 inches at its widest point) than the one I used for the goldfinch, so I used a smaller bird which looks somewhat like a chickadee.  My mom wants to display this throughout the year so the sheet music in the background is not a Christmas song, and I used darker berries that will go well with her furnishings.  The steps to create this ornament were pretty much the same as the first one I created, with minor adjustments needed due to the size of the tin (for example, the ribbon and pinecone are smaller).

I've started to prep more tins, because now my mom wants me to make one for a friend of hers, and I still need to make one for myself!  Stay tuned...

Have a beautiful day, and thanks for reading my blog.

Fishing Tackle Vintage Collage and Flying Fish Get Well Card

The 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America in my stash is full of beautiful images that I've started to mine for collages.  Today I'm sharing two projects featuring fish.

This collage started with the lovely brook trout.  He appears to be leaping out of the water after a fly, which sent me on a search through some old geography textbooks for water photos.  The fishing tackle text came out of a reproduction 1900 Sears and Roebuck Catalog.  I chose the vintage orange postage stamp because its color complimented the fish, and the final touch was a postal cancellation mark stamped on top.

Since the first fish collage turned out so well (if I do say so myself), I made a second one as a get well card for a co-worker who was recently in the hospital.  She and her boyfriend love to fish, so I think she'll like this card.  I believe this fish is a tuna, and he is really leaping out of the water.  I chose a pink vintage postage stamp which played nicely against the green water, and stamped on two postal cancellation marks.  This collage was matted on vanilla cardstock before being adhered to a black card base.

In case you're wondering where I got a 1952 Hammond's Nature Atlas of America:  it was in a box of books that my dad purchased at an auction.  After he pulled out the books he wanted, he let me sort through them and take what I wanted.  My vintage book stash has definitely benefited from my dad's joy of reading!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fabulous day.