#Cre8time in the Looking Glass... Marabu Creative Challenge with Designer Crafts Connection

Hello Friends! Have you ever painted on glass? Today I am part of a Designer Crafts Connection Bloghop challenge and the designers are creating with Porcelain paint from Marabu Creative.

For this challenge I was provided a starter set of Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint which has 6 colors including a paintbrush and four (4) Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pens (white and rose pink 0.8mm fineliner; and Sunshine Yellow and Reseda multi-purpose 1.2mm tip). I've never used glass or porcelain paints before and I'm excited to try them out on a dollar store framed mirror that I have waiting in the crafty stash for a transformation.

Marabu Porcelain is a waterbased porcelain paint has a wide color range that is also air-brushable (I'll have to dust mine off), is dishwasher safe without oven fixing after 72 hours of drying time and is saliva resistant. 

Porcelain is a medium viscosity and highly pigmented, water-based paint designed for glazed and unglazed ceramic. Porcelain can also be used on other surfaces such as Plexiglas, vinyl, and polypropylene. After 3 days Porcelain is dishwasher safe or can be baked in the oven at 320ºF for 30 minutes to make it dishwasher safe. How easy is this?!! The pens do need to be heat set, but for today's make... I don't need to worry about that.

It makes my Cre8time heart SO happy that Marabu Creative is a green company which embraces in it's philosphy, sustainability – out of responsibility. Almost all of Marabu Creative's current creative products are water-based.

The first thing I did was grab a piece of glass out an old frame and test out the colors and the mixability. The Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint colors are transparent when brushed out. If applied in a thick layer, looks opaque.

Even though the solid puddled areas look opaque, the color of the Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint remains transluscent. Ooh-LA-LA I love the rainbow puddle I made with these colors!

I am a stencil hoarder, so I grabbed a couple stencils that I have never used that are Catherine Scanlon designs to alter my framed mirror. I took apart the frame and cleaned the mirror glass to prepare it for the Marabu Creative Porcelain Paint.

Using blue painters tape, I tape

the stencil in place on the mirror.

Using the white 0.8mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pen, I traced the design of the stencil onto the glass being careful not to let too much paint pool up and seep under stencil.

I like the dimension created just from these simple white lines... but I continue on and plan on something with COLOR!

With the first design completely traced.

I am ready to add color!

I repeated the steps using the other stencil I selected -- this one having a floral design. I planned to reserve one square in the design, and as I was tracing I went over into this space. I was able to quickly remove my mistake by scraping dried paint away with the edge of a razor blade (please use blades with caution).

Following the lines from the pens, I begin to fill in the areas using the Marabu Porcelain paints and a paintbrush. This paint works best painting in thin layers, letting each layer dry before applying another layer. Some areas I left with thicker layers with brush strokes mainly because it dried quicker than I could spread it around the large areas.

After a base of color was painted in, I added a second layer overall. Then when dried, I went back and applied another layer using the yellow and green 1.2mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter pens in a stipple pattern to add texture and dimension. This application built up the color and gave it a look of stained glass as the reflection in mirror glass amplified the dimension. 

When done with adding all the yellow and green, I went and outlined flowers with the rose pink 0.8mm, then went back and traced over the white 0.8mm Marabu Creative Porcelain & Glas Painter to add the lines back in. The white pen is opaque in comparison to the other three colors.

This step really brought the whole design

together, giving it a stained glass feel.

The paint dries pretty quickly and I gently placed the transformed glass back into the frame and my new art is ready to display!

This was so tricky to photograph -- but I love how it has been transformed and looks like stained glass and a bit Van Gogh! 

an ARTful Looking Glass...

These paints are different than any other paints I've ever worked with and will take a bit of practice to build up thin layers. I look forward to using these to customize other glass and ceramic pieces I have around the house and breaking out my airbrush.

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For more information on Marabu Creative or to where you can purchase these porcelain paint products please visit website HERE and find more projects and inspiration on the Marabu Creative Blog HERE.

What would you create
with these paints?

CLICK HERE to POP over to the DCC BLOG for info on how you can enter to win a Marabu Creative Prize Package February 22-27!

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Thanks so much for visiting! CLICK HERE to pop over to the beginning of the Designer Crafts Connection "Marabu Creative" Bloghop and enjoy more holiday decor inspiration.   Sb :)

** This is a sponsored post. Marabu Creative USA has provided porcelain and glass paints for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

#Cre8time Love for Crochet and Ultra VIOLET... 2018 Pantone Color Collaborative

Hello Friends! Thanks for popping in today for a special celebration of color as I am participating in a collaborative project hosted by Tina Walker with artists from around the world. PLEASE CLICK HERE to jump over to Tina Walker's blog who is our hostess and organizer of this Cre8time adventure and see her gorgeous violet creation. Please take a moment to leave her a comment and give her some love for dreaming up these fun events to inspire and challenge our muses!

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet

Inventive and imaginative...

Ultra Violet lights the way for what is yet to come!

OH YES!!!

How could I possibly say no to a challenge using the 2018 Pantone color of the year - ULTRA VIOLET??! This is MY color. My living/dining room wall is painted THIS color. I drive my hairstylist crazy trying to get my hair this color. 

I am all about ALL THINGS PURPLE, it just makes me smile! In my creations it's usually the first color I reach for {CLICK HERE to see what these glorious purple gears became}.

To be honest, this is not the purple project I planned or imagined... I have been out of town for a few weeks caring for my 94 year old grandmother since my uncle who cares for her had a stroke and is in hospital indefinitely. Life has been upside-down. I reflect and write this as I sit in the airport waiting to head back home to take care of my own health issues and my next Entyvio infusion. My heart is heavy with what may happen with my uncle {and godfather} in the coming days and weeks.

Last month while attending Creativation, I was in awe at all of the crochet and knit inspiration and was introduced to LOVE knitting and LOVE crochet and returned home with some beautiful yarns to create with for the 2018 Favecrafts Best Blogger Contest. 

Growing up, my mom was always involving me in all things crafty and handmade, including cooking, baking and sewing... but I never learned to knit or crochet. 15 years ago I tried to pick up crochet and my mom helped me get started with a simple chain stitched crochet baby blanket. I finished the project, but being ambidextrous, I had a real hard time holding and working with the yarn. I hope my friend cherishes the wonky baby blanket I made for her.

Even though I had assembled a pile of purple goodness for this project, I threw a bunch of winter clothes and gear into two suitcases and jumped on a one-way flight to the winter tundra up north. I had no time to pack or even think, but I grabbed my beginner crochet/knit kits and threw them in the suitcase. This turn of events would be the perfect opportunity to learn this right of passage from my mother and grandmother.

LOVE crochet {and LOVE knitting} is a global community for makers everywhere. Visit any site in the LoveCrafts family and you’ll see a world designed for makers -- a dedicated place where makers’ projects are celebrated, advice is shared and it’s easy to buy supplies for selected crafts. You can even learn something new! So from my phone I perused LOVE crochet, watched some tutorials, and selected some designs I wanted to try.

I selected this simple heart pattern to try first.

I had hooks, but needed some yarn so my Mom and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby while having an hour to run errands around getting Grandma to her appointments. I found one skein of this gorgeous purple yarn called "VELVET".

This seemingly simple pattern was a bit of a challenge to a complete NOOB, but my mom stayed the course. We had to refer to more tutorials and my grandmother beamed with smiles, though declined to offer her help LOL. After many frustrating hours of my mom patiently showing me various ways to knit and crochet... and trying umpteen ways to sort out how my ambidextrous self could work the hooks... I settled on crochet. I have to wrap the yarn around my neck to manage the tension. This one heart project uses a variety of crochet stitches, so as we worked together, I learned by best by doing. 

This is my mom's heart, about 2 1/2" across

{as her yarn was a thinner gauge}. Isn't this so CUTE?!

After completing a wonky test square that I immediately unfurled as to not waste my limited PURPLE goodness -- I crocheted it into this finished piece... a glorious purple wonky heart 💜

I'm totally in LOVE with this chunky wonky heart! Once we got going, it didn't take long. I have more stitches in one side, than the other, but I'm OK with that. It's more important that during this trying time in our family, three generations put our hearts and minds together and enjoyed the blessings of being snowed in and our love of creating.

For the love of family and Cre8time heART!

I can't wait to make another and practice my new hobby. My heart is about 6" across since using a chunkier yarn. What do you think should I make with this?! Comment below with your ideas... I'm toying with turning this into a garland, a dreamcatcher, or continuing around it to enlarge into a larger heart to make a pillow.

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are inspired to go grab something ULTRA VIOLET and CREATE! Please feel free to add your NEW creation to the linkup.

Have a creative day!  :) Sb

Click on the squares below
for more VIOLET inspiration
from the

"2018 Pantone Color Collaborative"

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing Art from the #Cre8time Heart...

Who doesn't love a brand new bottle of paint?!! Except when it bursts all over the place - YIKES! In an effort to clean up a bunch of spilled paint – I quickly grabbed a bunch of stuff to paint red in a hurry. This beautiful tag full of mixed-media LOVE is what became of my crafty accident... READ MORE  

Hello friends! Today I am sharing some TAG-a-licious inspiration filled with mixed-media LOVE. This tag was born from a Cre8time mess created when opening and testing a new RED distress paint dauber. With some quick thinking, I scooped what I could back into the bottle. Then I grabbed some unpainted goodies that were within reach -- a chipboard heart, a pair of grungeboard wings, recycled book paper and blank tags to quickly use and mop up the remaining spilled paint. I think I was painted more than the items, but it was all in good messy fun!

A few things I've used are leftovers from other projects or from artsy friends. The "beauty lies within" came from a supply box purchased from my creative friend Catherine. This corkscrew topped lady head is from a box of very special stamps from a dear friend from my local altered book group who is no longer with us. This stamp will be perfect to take flight as a mini art doll on this tag.

There was a heart already collaged in this bezel, but I tore it out so that I could add a chipboard piece that was part of my red paint frenzy. I brushed the metal frame with some tarnished brass and red distress paint, then lined the inner edge with some mini red sequin trim held in place with Diamond Glaze.

Everything gets a rubbing around the edges with tarnished brass. This chipboard heart gets a red bling heart before it's mounted into the pendant.

The rest of this came together rather organically -- things just layered up so beautifully as I added scraps and leftover bits from my stash. Layered on the painted tag: a torn scrap of an embossed painted paper, some mini rick-rack, sari ribbon, gold trim and painted lace.

I stamped grungeboard wings with script text. The lady is stamped onto gesso painted recycled book paper, with a touch of color from with distress markers. I add tiny piece of embroidered trim for a necklace... even the littlest scrap of the border trim is put to use!

I finished off bodice with some other goodies in my crafty stash: a beaded dangle; some sari ribbon; fun fiber; and green/red raffia. A work of mixed media love!!!

Have you seen her??

 

I participated in the "Sharing the Creative Heart" while at Creativation a week ago. This was a collaborative art abandonment project by the AFCI Designer Section, where we dropped our creations around Creativation in Phoenix, Arizona to be found on January 21st. While I was demonstrating, my friend Tracy and her hubs scoped out and planted my lovely lady to be found in the park area at the show entrance. We are all excited to hear where she has landed!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy this Valentine's Inspiration! I would love your help in locating where this lovely tag has ended up in the Cre8time world by sharing. Hope you have a creative day!  :) Sb