ATC Madness

I have been making ATC like crazy lately, and I love love love to collect them!

Here are some pictures of what I have been working with lately. I have a bad habit of forgetting to take pictures of the cards once I am done and they are ready to send. So, most of these are still in various stages of completeness.

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Super Easy DIY Magnets Using Recycled Magazines!

Making some cool art for your fridge can be really easy and fun! First, you will need to find some magazines that you can cut images from. These small pictures can be just about anything, for one of mine I used a of scan from a planet and it came out looking so cool! So use your imagination!

 I went to the dollar store for glass "beads" that are flat on one side... I dont know what these are called exactly, but some people use them for doing mosaic work. I think that clear work the best but feel free to go crazy and use colored!
Because I paint I already had gloss medium and that is what I use as the glue to adhere the picture to the bead and then the magnet to the back of it all. Simplicity is the best!
Also, you will need coin magnets. I have found them a few places, but just about any arts and crafts store will have them for sale.

I cut out the pictures that I think will look cool, bigger than I think I might need and then trim for their individual pieces of glass. I do this because the pieces of glass tend to be a bit irregular. One thing that you can do is have a piece of the glass handy and slide it over images you might think will look cool. You can get an idea of what your finished product will look like with little muss or fuss. So, I glue the images face down to the flat side of the "bead" and let them dry. The coolest part is flipping them over and seeing the really cool magnifying effect that is caused by the curved glass. Whatever I put underthere is made to look larger than life. That is why it can be fun to be creative and try different kinds of images. 
Once the gloss medium is dry I put another dollop on the wrong side of the image and gently place the magnet into the puddle. I like to have a bit squish out from around the sides just because I think it will hold better.


Once these are dry they are ready to be used as art on your fridge, locker or desk at work.

This is a highly gratifying project because it is fast, easy and most of all AFFORDABLE!

well, hello there!

I've been working a fair amount and it seems as if I forgot that I even had a blog. It's not as if I haven't been sewing or crafting. I've been taking pictures most of the time.  

for the first time tonight I tried and image transfer using liquitex gloss medium and varnish.  I tried a few different ways. Some glossy paper like you would find in a magazine as well as regular printer paper. I think they both turned out pretty well.

I have one more, a self portrait painted by Vincent Van Gogh, that I will remove the paper off of in the morning before I go to work. I can't wait to use this in a painting or handmade gift for someone. I can even tint the medium and give it any color I want. The possibilities are endless!