Tag – You're It... StencilGirl® Collaborative

Hello friends! Remember the good old days of Yahoo groups and swapping art through the mail. Well it seems that though the platforms have changed, creating and trading artsy mail with creative friends is still widely popular.

Today I am participating in a special collaborative project hosted by Tina Walker where she challenged 14 artists to some mail art fun.

Each creative was to apply a base of StencilGirl® Stencils to No. 5 tags and send two painted tags via snail mail to each player. The challenge: make a Tag Book using the tags received.

I cut my tags down to size from larger #8 tags which left me small pieces that I included for fun. Base Layer: Liquitex White Gesso pounced with sponge through StencilGirl® Stencils S288 Matus deMeng. Top Layer: Sprayed through StencilGirl® Stencils S532 Borloz with Art Anthology ‘Wild Orchid’ Colorations Spray. This made the face appear like magic.

This was a really fun collab challenge. I waited until I was ready to make my project to open all the envy's and spread out all the contents.

The color and design of each painted tag were so beautiful and unique, the best thing to do was to showcase them by making a mini star book to hold inspirational quotes.

First I edged all the tags with

Tarnished Brass Ranger Distress Paint.

Then I cut, tore and folded all the pages

and pieces to be stitched into the signatures.

 

Each signature is stitched layered with a base stenciled tag, 

torn map, printed vellum and a piece of fabric.

After stitching, each signature is glued back to back forming star base.

Star book base with stitched elements before finishing layers added.

For the outer cover I selected Sara Branson's tags made from an old file folder and acrylic paints with StencilGirl® Stencils S682 Walker and S262 Dube.

"Out of this World Star Book"

This tiny book is out of this world! Full of layers, texture and pattern made from a base tag layer of joined stitched signatures, with scraps of map paper, vellum, and fabric scraps; followed by two floating layers of tags nested above... all tied up with sari ribbon.

On this quote page the tag base had L607 Soulful Scribbles - Let Go (Bautista). I added Ranger Distress Paint Tarnished Brass through S576 Art Deco Peacock Feathers (Lafleur). The other elements were chosen from the extra tidbits and goodies sent from the collab players.

It was a challenge to tie all of these tags together into a completed book and I'm so in love with this tiny tag book!!

CLICK HERE to jump over to see more Tag creations made for the Tag – You're It... StencilGirl® Collaborative.

Thanks for dropping by! Sb

Mail Art Friends reap #Cre8time Halloween Goodness

Hello everyone! I have a Halloween make to share today-- one that I was inspired to create. I haven't made any jewelry lately so I was excited and inspired by the theme and jumped at the chance to make some new Witch-worthy jewels for a "Witch's Cupboard" charm swap with some art friends hosted by Michelle Frae Cummings. 

I knew immediately that I wanted to create some glowing apple charms. I have an old apple pin that I found at a thrift store in my "TO MOLD" box that is a nice size and would be a nice pendant or charm made in resin... and with Halloween just around the corner, perhaps a POISON apple??!

I would normally break out the Amazing Mold Putty, but with the high gloss enameled surface and the fact that I wanted to make multiples -- I decided on using Amazing Remelt to create molds for my Cre8time Witchcraft!

Amazing Remelt is a Non Toxic, one-part reusable mold making material for room temperature or low exotherm materials. Amazing Remelt softens at 120˚F and becomes liquid at 135˚-140˚F. It can be remelted and reused to make new molds time and time again. This is ideal for making molds for smaller items such as jewelry, embellishments, and chocolate molds. YES, this stuff is FOOD-SAFE and it works great with chocolate and fondant!!

Before making a mold I need to add some tape to the backside so that the molding material won't flow through the hole where the stem touches the apple. I burnish the tape down really good with a bone folder to ensure good adhesion.

A couple criss-crossed recycled stir-sticks through the pin back will help suspend the original over a small silicone bowl that I will be using as a mold box.

Amazing Remelt is easy-to-use but you need to be patient. Amazing Remelt requires melting... the best way is in the microwave LOW and SLOW {CLICK HERE to view preparation}. It can be melted in the container it comes in, but for molding small items, I prefer using this cup fashioned with Amazing Mold Putty which I formed around the outside of a shot glass. I like this cup because it can be baked up to 375º F, is easier to pour from, and it helps keep the melted material from cooling off too fast.

I place the mounted apple over the top of a small silicone bowl then pour the melted Amazing Remelt over the top, completely covering surface of item. I stop for a brief moment after first coating, then repeat with a second layer. The overpour is collected in silicone bowl below which will be the mold box in the following steps.

After cooling off for a couple minutes, the Amazing Remelt hardens, and I have a skin layer which helps prevent air bubbles from getting trapped on surface of original.

I fill the bowl and flip the mounted pin with remelt skin layer over, then place face down into the liquid Amazing Remelt. After leveling it on the bowl, add more remelt to fill up to edge of suspended apple pin. Mold making doesn't always look pretty... it just needs to WORK! I set this in the refrigerator for about a 1/2 hour to cool and harden.

My little apple mold is hardened and ready to pop out of the bowl and demold.

I love how Amazing Remelt gives you the detail quality of Amazing Mold Rubber – and it's reuseable {you know how I love GREENcrafting}!!

I can make my charms, then melt the molds down and mold something else later. I don't have to store umpteen apple molds for eternity. I plan to make a few extra molds for FOOD USE ONLY to make some poison apple Halloween treats with chocolate melts. YES, this molding product is foodsafe and is perfect for chocolate and fondant.

With molds ready, it's time to fill with Amazing Clear Cast Resin colored with Alumilite Fluorescent Green Dye and Alumilite Phosphorescent Powder {an additive that glows in the dark}. CLICK HERE to view mixing and preparation.

I mix up the resin and set aside to rest for about 15-20 minutes so the resin can COOL and DEGAS {letting the air bubbles escape}.

 

 The addition of phosphorescent powder makes magic in the dark.

Most of my time making these charms was spent on mold preparation. I made 16 molds which took me a a couple hours one morning plus a whole entire day. Making one mold takes about a 1/2 an hour... the time consuming part is melting the Amazing Remelt slowly and then waiting for it to harden to demold the original. 

Before pouring resin, I gently cut a slice in each mold where I suspend a headpin with two glass beads {these will be embedded in the resin}. I will use this to form a loop at the top to affix beads and a jump ring for hanging on a chain. With a tiny brush, I added a bit of color to the leaf and stem using Alumidust.

I gently pour resin, guiding it with a stir stick to fill each mold. I cover the tray and set aside to cure overnight.

VOILA... my apples are cured and are ready to embellish! I decided to use a glass leaf bead, so I bent and broke off the leaf of each resin apple. I gave each a light and quick sanding around edges with an emory board, then I finished each charm with 2 wire-wrapped beaded danglies placed onto the embedded headpin. I close headpin off and form a loop for a jumpring... these gorgeous glowing apples are complete.

How charming is the glowing green apple?!

After making the green apples... I couldn't stop there! I took this idea further by altering the original, then remolding/casting to make a glowing resin POISON apple! This right is a one-of-a-kind, but if anyone would love a custom pendant, I will entertain custom orders for with drips in your favorite color.

Here is mine with an accompanying ATC {artist trading card} as part of swap rules.

"Dip the apple in the brew,

let the Sleeping Death seep through..."

Here are the ghoulishly glam charms made by all the players. I'm going to have fun dressing these up into finished pieces and having SpOoKy jewels to wear for the coming weeks up to Halloween. CLICK on NAME to pop over to a tutorial {if available}.

Michelle Frae Cummings {hostess}

Kathleen Sites

Lyn Gill

Ashani

Erin Reed

P.J. Waldrop

Carol Hoffman

Thank you ladies for participating in this swap and for your beautiful work and craftsmanship. I look forward to joining in another for the holidays {ideas for themes are being tossed about}. 

I may have one or two Halloween makes up my sleeve before month's end. Thanks for dropping by and Happy Creating! :)  Sb

#Cre8time play and a Collage-a-Palooza of Mail Art with Unruly Paper Arts

Hello everyone! Today I have my first "Thoughtful Abstractions" column published today over at the Unruly Paper Arts Blogozine. I am sharing a review of Altered Pages collage images and this Mail Art for this month's theme "Mail Art and Moos". I have to say that for me creating mail art and ATCs are a bit of an addiction and I love to get all of my supplies out and play. Please CLICK HERE to read my first column at Unruly Paper Arts.

With my column, I've created some mail art to coincide with the April theme, "Mail Art and Moo's". I've selected some Altered Pages collage sheets and created this whimsical mail art using envelopes that were headed for the recycling bin. Don't you just love the free art goodies that come via junkmail - I do! My base is a recycled 6" x 9" kraft envelope that has some ink picked up on it from some other project I had painted. I use papers and envelopes to mop up leftover ink or mists - I don't want to let any of that goodness go to waste.

I have this fantastic mask that is brickwork from UmWowStudio. I traced the brick shapes onto my leftover sections of the background from fussy cutting my Police Man.

I had a return address that I wanted to camouflage. Using butterscotch, earl grey and chocolate Faber-Castell Gelatos, I applied color into the brick shapes and smudged around with my finger to fill in. This fills in the background quickly and makes a nice base to collage upon.

Using a glue pen, I filled in the bricks that were stencil traced and cut from my collage sheet and arranged to make a nice pattern.

I distressed an ATC border with Ranger Distress Stains and Gelatos to use for the address block. I stamped a London Skyline scene using Ranger Vintage Photo distress ink above the address block. I had a small section of address label from previous use to cover - an easy fix! Add another collage image. On the Black and White ATC collage sheet, there is a London skyline image. I fussy cut the bridge section of the skyline and adhered in place over the stamped scene. I glued the address block in place and bordered with postal stripe washi tape, then layered in my policeman and pasted him in place.

I fussy cut a few fun birds with hats to perch around my scene. Using pencil and also grey EK Success Brushables markers, I added some shading and shadows around my fussy cut birds and figure to add depth.

I used a little sky blue gelato smudged at the top of the envelope to add a little color for the sky.

Now my envelope is ready to mail some crafty goodness! It's so wonderful to have so many artist friends all over the map to correspond and swap art with. I know my sister is going to call me up asking for this - London is one of her favorite places to visit.

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Supplies: Collage sheets from Altered Pages - Police Man enlarged from AP-2600 Dad's Day, London Scene from AP-778 Black and White ATC, border from AP-1828 ATC Decorative Borders, and birds from AP-1561 Birds with Hats; recycled 6"x9" craft envelope; Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink; Ranger Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress Stains; various EK Success Brushables Markers; pencil, postal stripe washi tape; Elmer's Craft Glue Pen; various colors of Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos; EK Success Cutterbee Scissors; London Skyline stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps!; and Brick Mask from UmWowStudio.

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Thanks so much for visiting! I'd love to see the mail art you've created. Please leave a link in the comments where I can view or you can share on the Unruly Paper Arts Facebook Group HERE. :) Sb