#Cre8time takes Flight...

Hello friends... Happy NEW YEAR! Today I resharing one of my favorite and most popular makes from last year.

As my health has made itself my main priority, this has left me with a fraction of the time I used to devote to creating with abandon. Now when my muse comes out to play when she is fully rested and rejuvenated... I have found myself creating things with wings and making some fun stuff to accent my studio.

I've had this papier-maché torso lying around for more years than I'd care to admit - I used to have three and I passed two on to friends. I have to admit I was a bit unsure of what to create with this last one since I've had it so long. The possibilities are endless... so I decided to create an altered torso.

I've painted her up with spray paints and StencilGirl stencils and gave her some handmade resin tropical flair and WINGS!

I created several molds using Amazing Mold Putty: an Art Deco style vintage mirror, a hand-carved polymer clay palm leaf, and some interesting shaped shells. 

I selected three stencil designs: Art Deco Wallpaper Stencil L319; Tribal Leaves Stencil L213; and Mimosa 6 Stencil S126.

The first thing I did is put a border of clear packing tape around the edges of each stencil, on the front and backside, and burnishing with a bone folder. I remember hearing this trick from another artist and thought it was worth a try -- works for me!

First I added some color to the wood accents on the torso. I used Carbon Gray Varathane Wood Stain - it's easy to apply and dries quick. I never heard of gray wood stain... I happen to love this color and the color it achieved. I have an unfinished wood cabinet that is soon to be tackled with this lovely colored stain.

When this is dry I use some plastic wrap to cover the wooden parts to protect area from spray painting with stencils! I used a coating of Mod Podge Matte finish to seal the papier maché torso in preparation to accept a good layering of spray paint.

I have a bright gloss green and a bright blue which I sprayed alternating in no particular pattern.

After I had a nice base layer, I continued adding color spraying through the stencils. The shapes are organic and look like shadows peeking through palm branches at night.

While the paint is drying, I get on with casting my accent pieces. I brush the inside of each mold with Ocean Blue Alumidust and also mix some into a batch of Amazing Casting Resin. This resin turns an opaque white when cured and with the Alumidust mixed in, it will result in a pretty pale blue.

I always make sure to have extra molds on hand to pour any leftover resin so it doesn't go to waste. This is all of the molds poured with resin cured. I needed two of the mirrors so all the small bits are extras for the rainy-day project bin.

Look at the AMAZING detail in the front and back of each shell cast in resin. The overpour {flashing} tears away pretty easy while resin is still soft and any remaining can easily be trimmed away. I sanded edges with an emory board.

I gave a little shine and brightness to the resin pieces by brushing the high points with Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse. This color is a nice pearly pale blue... perfect for beachy themed projects! 

I finished off by adding a section of recycled jewels around the neck to dangle the resin palm leaf and a faceted gem. I crossed the mirror shapes and wrapped with wire to form wings and secured with wrapping wire around the torso. I brushed a little of the spray paint onto the wire to blend it in to the background pattern. I'm so happy with how this looks that I left off the other two shell pieces I prepared {they won't go to waste -- stay tuned}! I hope you love my tropical winged torso as much as I do. She make's a beautiful beachy addition to my creative workspace.

This lady is making a trip to Phoenix, AZ to be on display in the Alumilite Corp./Amazing Casting Products Booth #2214 during Creativation January 20-22, 2018. I'll be demoing all three days, so if you are attending -- drop by and say "HI"!

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Thanks for dropping by and I'd love to hear what you're favorite make from 2017 is... leave a comment with a link!   xo Sb

From Spicy Salsa to Jar of #Cre8time Eyes... DIY Halloween Decor with Etchall®

Hello friends!! Halloween is right around the corner and my Cre8time is in full SpOoKtacular gear. I have a brand new Halloween project to share today - one that I am so excited about!

On Tuesdays it's recycling day and I am always inspired as to what I may find in my recycling bin to make things out of. Today's I am sharing an amazing jar transformation using Etchall® Etching Creme and a few things from my crafty stash... a salsa jar transformed to a spooky jar containing "Eyes of Newt"!

I begin by soaking the label off of the bottle and using some rubbing alcohol to clear off any residual glue and stamped information on the glass. This was from some delicious spicy salsa.

For this project, everything I need to etch glass is from the Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit. It has everything you need to get started... and in minutes you will be hooked on etching!

Supplies needed:

• Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit
• Amazing Clear Cast Resin, Alumilite Green Dye and Alumilite Phosphorescent Powder 
• scissors 
• recycled plastic knife 
• Recycled Jar {mine was from Salsa} 
• wire wrapped beads and misc jewelry findings 
• silver wire 
• cast resin pieces, spooky tchotckies, found objects or misc. ephemera 
• Cricut Expression Air and Cricut Design Space 
• blue painter's tape 

Etchall® is a REUSABLE, easy to use etching créme that creates permanent etched designs on large or small areas of glass, mirror, ceramic, porcelain, marble and slate. No curing, or drying required... it just takes 15 minutes! CLICK HERE to read more about this fantastic ACMI Certified product.

The actual etching cream is very quick and easy the most of the work I did was in preparing the resin pieces and decorating and embellishing the lid of the jar the etching was the fun part and the easiest part.

But before I prepare some artwork to cut vinyl with my Cricut Explore Air -- I mix up some Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast Resin with some Fluorescent Green Dye and Phosphorescent Powder, then pour a little in the bottom of the jar and set aside to let that cure. This needs to set overnight to cure.

I create the words on my computer in Adobe Illustrator, then I convert that to a format that can be imported into the Cricut Design Studio. I scale it to size and cut it on a piece of the vinyl provided in the Etchall® Glass Etching BEE-Ginner Kit.

 

With the vinyl cut out I remove the letters and separated them from the backing/border so that I can place it on the jar. I'm actually going to etch the letters so I actually need the what would normally be the waste section around the vinyl lettering. I pick up the section of vinyl with a piece of contact paper to transfer to jar.

Being fairly new to vinyl cutting I didn't know what I was thinking and I cut away all of the excess not realizing that I really needed it... so I used some blue painters tape to fill in around the vinyl and protect the glass. In hindsight, when I do this next time, I will make sure to cover even MORE area around the vinyl on the glass because I found that I was a bit sloppy in applying the Etchall® Etching Créme. I use the squeegee tool to burnish down everything real good to ensure the etching creme doesn't seep under the edges. 

Using a recycled plastic knife to reach down into the bottle, I scoop out and apply a nice slather of the Etchall® Etching Créme to the exposed area, then I let it sit for 15 minutes. 

While I wait for the Etchall® Etching Créme to do it's magic, I quickly add a patina finish to the jar lid and resin pieces with Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks {gold and pitch black}, then rubbing the high points with a gold paste wax.

After I'm done painting my embellishments, I return to remove the Etchall®. Using the squeegee tool, I Gently scrape away and drop the Etchall® Etching Creme right back into the container! I love that this product is recyclable!!! This one little bottle of créme can be used over and over again.

Once all of the Etchall® Etching Creme is removed, I wash the remaining residue completely from the glass with just plain water, then pat dry with a soft cloth. 

Using the detail pick tool, I gently peeled off the vinyl and the blue tape, then gave it another rinse and let dry. I removed any sticky residue from vinyl/tape with rubbing alcohol.

The ETCHING and the Green Glowing Resin look so creepy... but let's CREEP it up a BIT more!

**BEWARE** Now I'm going to let you in on a little tip on how I made the "eyes of newt". This is a food product BUT THE WAY I HAVE DONE THIS IS NOT TO EAT -- FOR DISPLAY ONLY. You are going to want to only prepare/use this when you're going to have this on display for a party. You don't want to leave this in there all the time because it will mold... it gets real gross, pretty fast! I soaked Chia seeds in water. When Chia seeds are soaked in liquid they swell up sort of like a tapioca, but not so large and they have little black thingy in the middle that looks like an eye. I have these to put in smoothies because they're supposed to be very high in omega-3 vitamins and I happen to have some on hand! PERFECT! I added a bit of my fluorescent Green Alumilite resin die and Alumilite Phosphorescent powder with some rubbing alcohol to this to add additional spooky glow. You could use green food coloring too.

Now for the top of the lid -- I have embellished with handmolded and cast resin pieces from some found objects: one being a broken faucet handle; a bleached piece of bone {cast 4 times}; and also a recycled mini perfume bottle {which also has a bit of glowing resin inside}. I used some wire to wrap the ends of each resin bone together with a wire wrapped bead between and twisted wire snugly to secure around edge of jar lid. The top of the jar is layered with the recycled perfume bottle atop of the resin cast faucet handle. 

 

The completed jar is just so SpOoKy cool!!

The best part... this whole project is created with stuff I have around the house {crafty stuff included}. This looks great by itself, but I have a few other oddities to pair up with this gruesome collection of eyes. In a day or so I will discard the "eyes" and rise out the jar... but the FOOD SAFE glowing green resin goodness in the bottom will remain.

How would you transform a jar with Etchall®?

Wishing you a Happy ETCH-O-WEEN!! Stay tuned for more ideas on transforming items with Etchall®! :) Sb

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** This is a sponsored post. Etchall® has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.

#Steampunk Owly's #Cre8time Secret... Starting from the Same Place #artistcollab

Hello Friends! Thanks for popping over today as you have arrived at a very special web art event... an ARTIST COLLABORATIVE project hosted by Tina Walker with over 60 artists participating 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 two AMAZING creations... and also give her some love for dreaming up these fun events!

This is the contents of my bubble envy of crafty goodness from Tina. Everyone got the same assortment to use with the only stipulation that we use it all.

Amazing Casting Products provided supplies needed to produce hundreds of molded resin cast pieces to be made for each player {all handmade} and Beacon Adhesives supplied Fabric Tac adhesive.

This collaboration project took lots time and Cre8time love donated by countless volunteers who gathered, prepared and sent in goodies to Tina who undertook the effort of dividing up and shipping care packages to each artist... and don't forget all of the technical coordination for getting everyone linked up for viewing today.

In the effort of full honesty... this collaborative has been months in the making and my piece just began in the last 12 hours as I wasn't sure what my muse wanted to make and for the past several days I have been lending my techy-ness to the group in helping everyone sync up online today. 

So you can say this project is "freshly hatched" LOL!

I grabbed 3 bottles of acrylic that were within reach one this purple distress paint. The other two were Paper Artsy - and aged gold and an espresso brown color. So I set off painting items purple.

Using the Stencil Girl Stencil... I started out applying purple with the dauber top, then I ended up smudging it out with a dry paintbrush. The purple "POPPED" so nicely on the swatch of green upholstery fabric.

I layered purple, gold and espresso brown paints on a flower accent and the resin and chipboard pieces building up a purple metallic patina finish. At this point there's more paint on my hands than the items I'm painting... it's a GOOD THING! 

I also stenciled another painted scrap of material and a word flash card that had "decorate". I think I decorated it proper.

I use the Beacon Fabri-Tac to start assembling my critter's wonky eyes. I love these little tubes with a precision application tip... it made getting precise application easy without having to use toothpicks to apply from the larger bottle.

Here's the final layered eyes. Love them!! I included a circle of fabric to help the flower accent pop in the center of the smaller gear.

Now with all the pieces painted and assembled... I freehand cut shapes to make the body and features. No pattern and NO SEWING today. And I'm about an hour into project creation.

I don't know what this fabric is but it's a thick and felt like. I especially love the coloring. I folded in half and cut into two pieces. Then I shaped them to have pointy ears making a front and back.

I used these electronic bits to act as stitching for my bird's belly by pressing ends through the layers of fabric and folded over on the inside. I did glue fabric to body also for added stability. I love the interesting detail these create!!!

After gluing the ears and top of head, I folded ends over and used remaining stenciled fabric to close in the bottom and act as a base. I didn't even trim this - it just happened to fit!

I added other pieces to accent ears and glued on the eyes. I love how fast the Fabri-Tac sets up. I have an OWL!!

On the backside, my owl has a backpack from his mountain climbing journey to Pike's Peak... see his ropes. I couldn't bring myself to cut this little piece of history so I made some kitschy accessories layering the remaining electronic bits and my painted word strip. I have used everything and the only a few trimmed scraps of felt and green fabric remain along with the resin dragonfly. OH YEAH... I just remembered, I was going to cut the wings off and use them for feet. Well, since it didn't get painted that will have to wait until my next play day. 

I'm totally in LOVE with my wonky steampunk owl... and from start to complete in under two hours. 

So what is OWLy's Cre8time Secret??!

He's now the official secret hiding place to stash my flask - LOL!! How fun is that! I was going to fill with polyfill beads, though I can't remember where I stashed it. I think this was serendipitous that the flask happened to be a perfect fit nestled inside my quirky birds belly.

To visit all the other stops of

"Artist Weaving Collaborative"...

check out the squares below.

Make sure to stop at Amazing Casting Products... 
there's a giveaway for some of their amazing stuff!!!

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are inspired to go grab some random bits and see what you can create! Have a creative day :) Sb

An InLinkz Link-up