sbartist : painting in the dark: May 2016

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Catch a #Cre8time Dream... Designer Crafts Connection Smoothfoam Wreath Challenge

Hello friends! I have been dreaming of having some Cre8time revisiting my newest obsession... weaving. Last month some crafty pals and I tried our hands at weaving {click here to see more}, and today I am weaving in the round for the latest Designer Crafts Connection challenge using Smoothfoam™ Ruled Wreaths! CLICK HERE to hop on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog to see a ROUNDup of seasonal decor!

For this challenge, Smoothfoam™ generously provided 12" and 14" Ruled Wreaths to let my imagination run wild! These brand new wreaths have molded lines and numbers stamped into the foam to make design and layout simple.

The wreaths come in five sizes from 8" to 16", are round and will not break like the extruded Styrofoam wreaths.

The Smoothfoam™ Ruled Wreaths make design and layout easy with 12 sections divided with lines and numbers... 12 sections on one side, 10 on the other. NO MEASURING... say what??! As someone who is short on time, taking out the steps of having to measure/divide things out is very exciting!!!

I've always loved dreamcatchers, and these ruled wreaths are the perfect base to try out some weaving in the round. So I gathered up a few supplies from my crafty stash and set off to getting messy painting natural twine.

I took a 12" wreath outside and quickly sprayed it a light teal blue with Design Master Über Matte spray paints in Mist.

I wrapped the natural paper rafia around the wreathform aligned with the pre-measured sections... easy peasy. This part took the longest to wrap the raffia flat and taught around and around {I got in a nice upper arm workout too}.

I kept wrapping all the way around, leaving a gap at each of the section markings where I will use twine to weave the center webbing.

To secure raffia wrapping, I set with some staples at the back to ensure it doesn't come loose. YEP! This is a NO-GLUE project.

Before moving on, I also tied a knot in a section of twin to fashion a hanger on the back and stapled in place.

I dry-brushed the sections in some earthy, beachy hues with Ranger Distress Paints, adding just enough color and giving a weathered feel.

Now it's time for weaving the magical web in the center. I roughly followed a tutorial by Kat from "We Can Re-do It" HERE. The divided lines in the wreath make it easy to space out wrapping to create a woven pattern. I went around the wreath twice to nicely fill in the webbing.

Since this dreamcatcher has taken on a weathered beachy feel, it is only natural to add a special piece in the center of the weaving... a clear resin cast crowned starfish. I had pulled out so many other beads and baubles to add, though I really like the simplicity of the woven twine.

I fashioned a bow for the top with the same natural paper raffia that wraps wreath form.

The finishing touch is tails added to the bottom fashioned from knotted sari ribbon. So pretty!

Catch a Seaside Dream...

As summer heats up here in South Florida, I'm going to enjoy this touch of the beach I have added to my powder room. The touches of color complement the neutral and white paint and accents... looks like I need some new hand towels to match ;)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! CLICK HERE to hop on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog for more ideas to deck your walls with Smoothfoam™ Ruled Wreaths! and a chance to win some for yourself! :) Sb

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A Sight for #Cre8time Eyes... Altered Eyeglass Collaborative

Hello friends! I'm so excited to welcome you to a very special bloghop today... a MUST SEE!!! Several creative pals and I gathered to take another challenge posed by the super imaginative Tina Walker. This time she posed the question, "could we alter old eyeglasses"?? Tina wears glasses and she said she had plenty to donate to the Cre8time cause to have our crafty playtime with.

These are the eight pairs that she had and she graciously donated for us to use if we didn't have our own in our craft stash. I was squealing with delight!! I selected pair No. 8 as it was the perfect size and shape for a bunch of metal and electronic junque I have been hoarding for years... just waiting for a magical project to use them in.

These are my blank canvas upon which to create! CLICK HERE to jump over to Tina Walker's blog who is our hostess and VISIONary of this Cre8time adventure.

These glasses have nice sturdy frames, though the arms posed a challenge as they were thin - I had to be creative in attaching bulky items to them as there isn't much surface area to glue things.

I knew exactly what I was going use before my pair of glasses arrived. My whole project is centered around this recycled component that I have been hoarding for years {I'm not ashamed to say it}... saved perhaps for an altered book project with a bunch of other electronic disassembled junque. My hubs goes crazy taking apart stuff that no longer works. I think this came from a pre-historic digital camera or an old cel phone.

I created an eyelid and eyelash with a small computer board and some fringed metal pieces that I can only imagine serves a cooling purpose. The COOLEST stuff is inside electronic stuff.

Combined with some found rusty pieces and old broken jewelry pieces, I layered to create a contrasting eye for the other lens.

I added some color with paint pens and alcohol inks, then I layered and glued items together with some E6000®.

After a couple of assembling fails... creative and strategic wire wrapping was the best method to mount the bulky items.

I scuffed up the edges of my lenses with some sand paper {since I scratched one of them attempting to drill tiny holes on the frame} which added some interesting dimension. Frames were painted with a combination of plum and metallic alcohol inks - easy peasy!