Tic Tac Drink, Nightmare Style

Last year I made a few different tic tac drink games using glass cutting boards and dessert glasses from the Dollar Tree.  I had made a couple different Harry Potter styles, Star Wars and even an Army vs. Navy.  But then I was at a loss as for what other theme to use for my last set.  I thought about a DC Comic hero vs. villain.  However I changed my mind as I didn't want to use just one hero and one villain and that could become messy.

Eventually I settled on a Nightmare Before Christmas theme.  Deciding what characters to use for the shot glasses was easy.  It was deciding what I'd do for the tic tac toe board that was the hard part.  After much thinking the idea hit me to use a skeleton arm and hand as my board diagram.

I went searching through the various skeleton designs in the Silhouette Design Store, and found the perfect skeleton by Amy Robinson here.  I welded the different bones for the arm and hand together and sized them for what I needed to create my board.  

Now the hard part was adhering the vinyl to the glass board.  Needless to say, if I ever make another one of these I will cut the four different lines separately and adhere accordingly.

As for the images of Oogie Boogie, Zero and the Jack and Sally I used in the center - those were images I found from a search that I traced in my Silhouette software.

Walking Dead Christmas Ornament

We might be two months away from the start of season 8, but it's never too early to make some Walking Dead swag for Christmas.  (The new season starts October 22nd to be exact.)

When I was playing with my alcohol inks I decided to play around with some yellow and red which gave me a perfect canvas for this ornament.  After all the Walking Dead is all about slashing those zombies while our lovable characters fight to survive.  And so the run of red kinda reminded me of that which is why I chose to create a Walking Dead ornament with this one.

The file that I used for this ornament is one that was shared in one of my Facebook groups, and is a personal use only file.  It's the second Walking Dead ornament I've made and in case you missed it, you can view my first one here.  That particular ornament featured Rick and Carl so of course this time I had to feature Daryl.  

What do you think?  Perfect gift for a Walking Dead fan?  

Skelegro Potion Bottle

The Skelegro potion is an awful tasting potion that caused lost/vanished bones to regrow in a slow and painful process.  So goes the story in the Harry Potter world.

It's been a while since I've created a Harry Potter project, but when I found these awesome skeleton bottles in the Halloween décor at Michaels I knew exactly what to do.  They're great bottles made from a polyresin and measures approximately 9 inches in height.  And while it's not the exact design of the original Skelegro bottle it's probably as close as I'll get.  At least for a bottle that I can buy and alter myself.

Once home with my new potion bottle I turned to our friend Google search (actually I use Bing) and began searching for the Skelegro label.   There were quite a few out there and I had to look at pictures I took of the Potions for All Afflictions shop in the Wizarding World at Harry Potter to make sure I chose the right one.  You see this is where I could be even more authentic in my recreation of the potion bottle.

After finding the accurate label I opened the picture in my Silhouette software, traced and created the cut file I needed.  Now the trick was to cut those silly words out in the size I needed and not lose any of them in the weeding process.  After all the space I had to work with for my label was 2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall.

Using my Oracle 651 vinyl, it took two different cuts and a couple play arounds with sizing of each line, but I got it.  And now I have a great, fun new potion bottle to add to my collection.

Rock Painting

So I thought I'd try something new - again.  Over the past few months I've noticed a growing trend in painting rocks.  First it was just in my FB group Universal Studios Annual Passholders.  But then one of my friends started sharing pictures almost daily. 

And then my son and I each found a rock.  Well that meant I had to join some group on FB so that I could post pictures letting the painter know that we found them.

Being in that group meant that I had to start checking out pictures on Pintrest.  That lead to my husband and I both being on the lookout for rocks that I could paint.

Are you seeing how this all "snowballed"?  😀

Seriously though.  I just decided one day to start playing around and paint a couple of rocks to see how I'd like it.  Of course they looked like a child painted them.  After all I am not a painter.  But I still hid them and started painting my next set.  To this day I don't know if those first ones were ever found.  All I can do is imagine someone without a computer or FB did find them and are enjoying them somewhere.

Since my first attempt at painting rocks I've bought new brushes and paints.  I hear some people use markers and sharpies but if I'm going to paint a rock I'd rather just 'paint' it.  I've improved a little but really it's about having fun.  It's been a great new outlet just sitting there thinking about nothing but painting that silly rock that someone will hopefully enjoy.

How about you?  Have you tried painting and hiding rocks yet? 

Sesame Street Party Prep

When your granddaughter turns one year old, and your daughter asks you to help get things made for party décor you do it.  And sometimes the good ol' Dollar Tree comes in rather handy for such an occasion.  My daughter stopped in the Dollar Tree by her house and had little success in finding the colored "bins" we needed for different characters.  However, when we stopped in the one by where she works we had better success.

Using files that were shared in one of my FB groups I turned these bins into different characters.  I'm not sure what all my daughter will put in these but I know at least some of them will be food holders.

While scouring Pintrest for other ideas I came across one using the Dr. Seuss book Happy Birthday to You! as a guest sign in book.  I loved this idea so much that I went in search of a similar book for Sesame Street.  You can imagine my excitement when I found the Happy Birthday!: A Birthday Party Book by Sesame Workshop.  

When I arrived back home from picking up the book I started searching for pictures I could use for the sign telling everyone to sign her book.  That's when I came across The Printable Party Shop.  This blog has free printables available for download and so I downloaded a couple of the items including this sign.  Well, actually it's an invitation but I altered it a bit and added the verbiage I needed to create the sign.

Now I just need to get the other items printed so we can finish putting it all together and then next week I'll share pictures with you showing how we set it all up.

Love You, Coffee

I'm excited to share today's project with you because I think it's just the cutest thing ever.  While browsing through files over at Apex Cuttable Designs I came across this Love Coffee design.  It immediately made me think of my oldest daughter who is a coffee addict.  And so of course I had to have this design so that I could put together a little gift for her.

Instead of using the same old, boring black vinyl that I generally use on my white mugs I opted this time to use a red vinyl.  For my vinyl projects I like to use the Oracle 651 vinyl since it's a more permanent vinyl with a life expectancy of up to 6 years.  I have 'bumper sticks' on my car that are now six years old and they look just as new as the first day I applied them.

Now I just need to find some of the edible coffee beans so that I can slip a pouch of them inside the cup and give this to my daughter.  I know she'll love it.  Only draw back might be that the cup isn't big enough.  🤣

Potion Bottles

My husband and I have started scouring the antique stores in search of items that will compliment our Harry Potter collection.  Thus far we've found a courting candle and snuffer, a set of 1880's French Pathologie books, a set of eyeglasses (not sure of the time period), skeleton keys, apothecary bottles, and a 19th century ebonised scale.  

Today I'm sharing with you, three apothecary bottles we found that I turned into potion bottles for my collection.  The large bottle on the left has a glass lid which we fell in love with.  It's the first one we saw like that that was not a perfume bottle.  The store had a couple of them but I purchased only this one and now I wish I'd grabbed another one or two.  A different store had the other two. 

The small snuff jar was missing it's lid as were all the snuff jars we saw.  Fortunately the craft stores sell an assortment of corks.  After finding the right sized cork I used my distress inks and inked the cork then gently roughed it up by rubbing it across some pavers.

The bottle on the right had a cork top that was cut up so I got the idea to alter it by adding hot glue around the neck of the bottle.  Then I thought about adding a bead to the top and searched through my drawers until I found this last flat bottomed one in my stash.  After the hot glue dried I painted the glue and bead in a chocolate brown metallic color.

The labels are ones that I found doing a google search.  I wadded them up and then brushed across them with my distressed ink.  I then ran them through my Xyron creative station and adhered them to the bottles.  After that I added twine to the large bottle along with one of the Tim Holtz Crossbones adornments.  On the Amortentia potion I added a flat backed heart I found during Valentines.

Now I need to find a small cauldron, beakers, test tubes and other odds and ends to complete my collection.

Flying Keys

While we were in Alabama last week, my husband and I took a trip to Hanna Antiques, one of the antique flea malls in the area.  Not having been there before, we were quickly amazed at the items they had and decided it could be a dangerous place to shop.  However, we behaved ourselves since we were looking for specific things that we could use as 'fillers' in our Harry Potter collection.

For example, we came across several booths that had antique spectacles so we picked up a pair of those.  We also found a couple of skeleton keys which we quickly snatched, along with a candle snuffer to go with a courting candle we found at a different venue.

After arriving home from Alabama, I searched the Silhouette store looking for some wings that I thought would work for flying keys.  I found two files that I liked.  The first was a set of fairy wings. The second was actually a butterfly that I cut the wings from using the cutting tool in Silhouette.

I cut the wings from vellum and attached them to my keys using hot glue.  I then curled the wings a bit so that they weren't so flat and lifeless.

Since these keys are the real deal and not the 'decorative' type they're heavier.  So instead of trying to hang them from the ceiling I'm just going to place them on a shelf in my curio cabinet.

Harry Potter Craft Room

 

You've heard me talk about it, and you've seen sneak peeks.  Today I'm going to take you on a tour of my new craft room.  When I started the remodeling in this room it was still my son's bedroom.  But since he's in process of moving out I talked to him about wanting to start on the painting and he was okay with it.  In the room was a white accent wall that I thought would be perfect for transforming into a brick wall. 

 

After researching several techniques on how to do this my husband sat down with me one evening to help with the taping off for the 'grout' lines.  Once that was complete I used a Cello sponge and a can of brick red paint and began my faux brick painting.  After allowing the paint to cure for 24 hours I came back with another shade of red in the pallet and lightly sponged on each brick to add color/depth.  This same process was used to paint the wall on the outside of my room.

 

 

I recently purchased a china cabinet for next to nothing and turned it into my fabric cabinet.  Each fabric swatch is folded and wrapped around a comic book board and filed in the cabinet.  Because this cabinet would not fit into my craft room it sits on the wall in the hall just outside my room.

 

 

Last week I shared with you the owl lamp and Diagon Alley 'sign' that are just outside the doorway.  If you missed that post you can find it here.

 

 

As you enter the room you see the wall where I have my crafting tables set up.  To the right of the window I have hung the pictures I created using alcohol ink and vinyl.  The post on how I created these can be found here. 

 

To the left of the window is my wand holder.  I love the way that this turned out.   Especially because it was made in such a way that it can be added to.  This was a fun project to create and you can read that post here.

 

 

Turning to the next wall you see my sewing space.  To each side of my sewing table are a set of drawers on which I have used vinyl to create labels identifying what is inside.  Below the table is a garbage can I vinyl'd using a file I created from a picture I found doing a google search.  To the right of the table is my cage of Cornish pixies.  (Eventually I will fill in that dead space on the wall.  😀 )

 

On the next wall is my curio cabinet that holds my still growing collection of horcruxes and other collectibles.  On top of the cabinet is my potion bottle display.  This too is a work in progress as I will be adding other items to this display. 

 

 

The post for how I created the bottles and potion book can be found here and here.  Eventually I'll be adding another death eater mask to this wall. 

 

In the meantime though, I wanted to include a trail of spiders (Why can't it be follow the butterflies?) so I found a set of spiders in the Silhouette Design Store and used them to create my trail.  I cut the spiders from vinyl and adhered them to the wall and trim.  My Lumos Nox plate cover is one I created a while back after being inspired by others I found on FB.

 

 

On the last wall I have more of my storage drawers and shelves.  Here I was able to use a bit of space to display my Cornish pixies light, Savings Managed bank, and owl.  The owl is a bank that I found on clearance at Michael's.  It was solid white but I wanted to give it a bit more life and so I altered it. 

 

 

I used some gray paint and lightly edged under the 'feathers' and painted the beak.  Using vinyl I colored his eyes and gave him glasses.  The scarf was crocheted by my baby sister since her crochet skills are far better than mine.

 

And there you have it.  My new happy space!!

Owl Lamp

My new craft room is now complete, but before I share how I transformed my room I thought I'd share the lantern I made to hang outside the doorway.  My room sits at the end of a small hallway and since it's a Harry Potter themed room I thought why not faux brick the wall outside as well as the inside accent wall.  (More on how I did this later.)

 

After I was finished with the brick I wanted a sign.  Only problem with that is that the clearance above the door was only 5" - much too short for a good sign.  And since the doorway is the size of the hall, it too did not provide much space on either side of the door.

 

Finally, it hit me - why not add a lantern?  After all I had one in reserves.  Using this cute file I found in one of my FB groups my I created my lantern.  Even after hanging the lantern on the wall I still wanted a sign.  Then it hit me.  Why not make the sign from vinyl?

 

Again using a file I found in one of my FB groups I created my sign.  However, I had to flip the main part of the sign so that the hand would point towards the door to my craft room.  After that it was just layering the remaining pieces together.

 

And now the entrance to my craft room is complete.

Ollivanders Wand Holder

I made the move into my new craft room this weekend and what a whirlwind of a move it was.  And now that the move is complete I can begin the decorating.  However, it won't be complete for a couple of weeks as I wait for things I've ordered to come in, or have the time to finish making the items I need for my décor.

 

Today I want to share with you one of the items that I just completed (with hubby's help).  For the past couple of days I've been working on creating a wand holder for some of the wands we've started collecting.  What I love about this one is that I can still add another one or two plaques to it as we collect more.

 

To make this holder, I started with some pine "innkeeper" plaques I found at Michaels.  These are 9" x 19" and perfect for the wands.  I stained this with some leftover oak stain that I had on hand.  After that dried I came back and dry brushed around the top outer edge with a dark brown paint.

 

The Ollivander's logo was from a file that was shared in one of my FB groups.  The verbiage for the wand descriptions were done using the Modern Fraktur font.  The wand owner's names were done using the Vinque font.  Both from dafont dot com.  I cut the logo and verbiage out of Oracle 651 vinyl and adhered it directly to my plaques.  I then sealed each plaque with a clear laquer spray paint.

 

After the plaques were dry my wonderful husband drilled out the spots for placing the brackets and plaque hangers.  For the wand brackets we used 3/4" brass shoulder hooks which we purchased from Lowes.  As we decided our placement for the brackets we decided to go outside the box and place them so that our wands would have a little slant here and there instead of being perfectly straight across.

Magical Theory and Potions

 

I sat down on Sunday and played around with making another floating book 'shelf' for my craft room and added a couple of extra potion bottles as well.  This time instead of just painting the bottles (this time purchased from Michaels so I'd have a bit of variety in style) I wanted to fill them with potions.  I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do but I did know that I wanted one of them to be Gillyweed.

After searching around on Pintrest I found a great idea for using a product called Enviro Tex Lite.  You mix it up, pour it into your bottles and it sets us to be a solid product so there's no risk of spills or ick.  For my Gillyweed I put a piece of a plastic plant into my bottle.  Since I didn't have tiny pebbles I tried using skittles but as the resin mix did its thing my skittles lost their color and blended in.  The Veritaserum bottle was created using more of the EnviroTex Lite mixed with a couple different colors of food coloring.  I'd add one color, swirl, let sit for a moment then add the next color and repeat.  If you look closely the resin mix set up so that it appears there is potion mix running down the bottle.  Finally, my Mandrake Root potion is filled with a bit of Spanish Moss.

 

As for my book, it's a paper mache book box that I found at Hobby Lobby.  Online they only sell it in a set but in the store I found the books individually.  In my first post on making these I provided a link to the video that explains how to make these.  Below is a condensed step by step version.

 

1.  For the book title, hand write the name and then using a hot glue gun trace over what you have written.

2.  Along the inside of the book where the pages are you will need to fill in that space with some type of wood.  I opted for balsa wood because it's thin and easy to work with.  The type I purchased gave an almost perfect size for the medium box I purchased and required 6 sheets.

3.  Using a dark brown paint as you base, paint two coats of paint on the outside AND inside of your box.

4.  After the brown paint is dry, using a white and another color of your choosing (I used a metallic red) dry brush over the brown to add some color.

5.  Finally, apply a sealer to the inside and outside of your box.  I believe in the video she used a mod podge; however I opted for using a laquer spray sealant.

This is such a fun and easy project that's perfect for any Harry Potter fan to create.

Sale Sign

What do you do when you have merchandise that you want to move out?  You have a sale right?  During craft show season this can be a bit tricky.  How do you let your customers know that you have one going on?  Well you post a sign - or two of course.

 

See when I do most of my craft shows it's not just me in the booth.  My mom, sister and I will buy two or three slots and we'll set up together.  The pro to this is that it helps to really draw in a crowd for us because of the variety of merchandise we can offer.  They crochet  and paint.  I papercraft, loom knit, sew and embroider.  The con is that our booth can seem very disorganized in that we do not tend to create multiples of items but rather one of a kinds. 

 

A while back work was getting rid of all these small sign holders, and since the office manager knows I craft she figured I could use them.  I went through the stack and took several of the ones that were in the best shape.  Not knowing what I'd actually use them for I set them on the shelf.  A couple months later I came across this Sale It design from Cuttable Designs and knew it would be perfect.  After all our area is know as the World's Luckiest Fishing Village.

 

In my stash I had scraps of this great water paper that I used as my sign insert.  I then cut the sale design from Oracle 651 and applied it to the front of the acrylic holder. 

 

Now I have a sign that's perfect for grabbing the attention of our customers.

Floating Wall Shelf

Today I'm sharing another fun project I created for my new craft room.  Right now it doesn't look like much but once I decorate my room it's going to be a wall shelf.

I first came across this idea in one of my Facebook groups when another member was sharing how she decked out her bathroom in a Harry Potter theme.  So many members loved her floating shelves and wanted to know how they were made so a short video was created and shared here.

 

In a nutshell, you start out with a paper mache book which can be found at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  The ones at Michaels are a bit fancier like the one used in the video but since I was at Hobby Lobby for other items that's where I purchased mine.  After handwriting the name of my book on the spine I traced back over it with hot glue.  I even added a couple of skeleton buttons that I had in my stash for a little extra effect.

 

On the 'inside' of the book where the pages are located you will need to glue a strip of thin wood like balsa wood so that it fills in the gap between the pages and the outer edge.  This is where you are going to insert the nails or screws for hanging your book to the wall.

 

As the glue dried I gathered my paints.  I used a burnt umber for the base coat, covering the entire box inside and out.  After the first coat dried, a second one was applied.  After the second coat dried, I came back and dry brushed over the outside of the box with a white paint.  I then used a bright red metallic paint for a second dry brush to help mute the white.  Once the paint was dry I sealed the box with a spray laquer I had on hand, but mod podge or another sealant can also be used.

 

Pretty neat huh?  Now I just need to make a couple more.

 

Slytherin's Secret Potions

Since I didn't babysit my granddaughter last night I had some extra time to play in my craft room last night.  So  I took the opportunity to begin making the first of what will be many items to come for my new craft room.  You see, my two youngest boys are in process of moving out of the house and that means a free, larger room that I can take over for my craft room.  And with that means a new décor - Harry Potter themed of course.  😀

 

This project was inspired by one I saw at Over the Big Moon.  There were two posts that together made for a great potions set.  One offered free potion labels to print (which is where a couple of mine came from - others I found doing searches for them specifically), and the other was for the potions book.  Using her inspiration, here's how I created my project......

 

For the potions book, I used book I purchased from the Dollar Tree.  That way I wouldn't feel bad about cutting it up.  Measuring the cover, I cut an opening in the center of the cover using an Exacto knife.  I then used the knife to scrape around the edges of the opening to rough it up a bit.  I also sanded over the cover (front and back) to rough it up and to remove the indention of the book title from the spine.  Once satisfied with the roughness, I mixed together Ivy Green and White craft paints and with a sponge painted over the cover. 

 

While the paint dried I found a picture of Professor Snapes, printed it and then laminated it.  This would later be taped to the inside cover of the book.  I cut the book title out in vinyl and applied.  No one really knows the "exact" date that Hogwarts was founded but what everyone does seem to agree on is that it was "around" 990 AD. Some use that date and others I've seen using 993 - so I went with 993 for my book date.

 

The potion bottles were various apothecary bottles I picked up at Hobby Lobby - although you could use bottles from around the home.  Before I painted my bottles I tried roughing them up using sandpaper.  However, that wasn't working too well so I decided to try dragging them gently across my brick pavers which worked beautifully. 

 

After roughing up the bottles I painted them with different mediums.  The blue and white bottles were painted with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint.  I also used a clear crackle paint on my Dragon's Blood bottle and then used red alcohol ink on the inside.  The brown bottle I painted using a dark brown paint mixed with a dab of water.  After applying the paint I immediately began wiping it away with a paper towel.  Once dried I came back with a gray paint (didn't have black on hand) and splatter it haphazardly around the bottle.  For my Floo Powder jar I used Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint in Diamond Dust.

 

After printing and cutting out my labels I distressed the edges with my Tim Holtz paper distresser.  I then wrinkled each one up and inked over them with Tea dye Distress Ink (Dragon's Blood I did with Fired Brick).  I then ran the labels through my Xyron and applied them to the bottles.  I then sprayed the bottles with a laquer spray paint to seal.

 

Right now only two of the bottles have "ingredients".  The Floo Powder I filled with a glow in the dark glitter and for the slug repellent I used a mixture of purple/silver glitter with a brown flock.  I haven't decided what, if anything, I'll use in my other bottles.  Since they are not as transparent I may just leave them as they are. 

Deadpool Wall Art

Since it's Friday I thought we'd do something a bit different.  Today I thought we'd shift away from the Princess theme and look at one of my husband's favorite characters - Deadpool.   

 

I belong to several different crafting groups for the Silhouette on FB.  They're all for different fandoms (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Horror, Disney, etc, etc) and it's exciting to be able to get in there and see what everyone is crafting.  Recently one of my groups shared different Deadpool files and this is one that I knew would be perfect for something.

 

Remember a couple weeks back when I shared my Pulp Fiction wall art?  I had two of these frames that my hubby found in storage.  So when I did my thing with the alcohol inks, I did it for both frames that day.  Yep, that means I've been staring at this one for a couple weeks trying to decide what would be a good design.  That's when I remembered Deadpool.

 

Now I'll be honest and tell you that I initially used a different design.  This one was only the character so I found one of the movie posters and traced the Deadpool verbiage.  After looking at it for two days, my husband and I both agreed that we didn't like it.

 

I picked.  I peeled. And I picked some more until I got every piece of vinyl off the glass.  Then I wiped it down and started over.  This time using the design you see now.  (And yes, that is the same glass.  Funny how turning it different ways and using different colored vinyl makes it look different.)

Pulp Fiction Wall Art

 

My husband loves the movie Pulp Fiction.  So, when I saw this file Pulp Fiction file over at Cuttable Designs I knew that I had create something with it.  Now hubby is not the type to wear something like this on a shirt so it would have to be something different.  Something he could display.  Since he has his own game room I thought I'd create a piece of wall art for him.

 

He recently went through a bunch of boxes he's had in storage and one was full of nothing but different award certificates he had framed.  Given that he's not been with that company for almost 10 years he decided it was time to take them out of the frames.  And when he did I snatched a couple of them to "recycle".

 

After cleaning the glass and allowing it to dry I grab my bottles of Purple Twilight and Stream colored alcohol inks.  I applied a couple drops of Purple Twilight to the applicator felt and began stamping across the glass.  I then applied a couple drops of blending solution followed by the Stream color and started stamping across the glass in the opposite direction.  As I did this I ensured that I filled in any spots missed while stamping the purple.  Then I decided to gentle smear the colors together on one side of the glass to add more textural look.  Once satisfied with the ink coverage I allowed it to dry overnight.

 

Once the ink was cured, I added a sheet of white paper behind the side that was inked and closed the frame.  Then, on the outside of the glass I applied the vinyl design.

 

And now, my hubby has a cool and unique piece of art to hang in his room.

Blah Blah......Coffee

 

Coffee.  It's what keeps most of us running.  It lures us in with its scent as it brews and then we take that first warm sip and we're hooked.  Once the caffeine kicks it, forget it, we're like addicts who need more.

 

Kind of like this morning.  My internal alarm clock woke me up about an hour early again.  I don't know, maybe my body is trying to prepare me for the time change that's coming this weekend.  And if that's the case it can just stop.  In the meantime though, I find myself sitting here feeling blah as I wait for the caffeine to kick in and wake me up.

 

That's why today's project is such a perfect one to share. 

The coffee cup is one that I picked up from the Dollar Tree and altered myself.  I found the coffee heartbeat from a google search and simply traced the image to add with the verbiage.  I cut the everything from Oracle 651 vinyl and adhered to the cup.

 

The card was created using the Morning Coffee file from Marjorie Ann Designs.  For the sentiment, I remember seeing this saying on a sign in Cracker Barrel sometime ago.  However, I've shortened that to what you see on my card. 

 

Now I just need to add some candy - like coffee M&Ms - and gift it to my daughter who is a coffee addict like none I've ever seen.  🙈

Walking Dead Ornament

I realize it's only March but I have several boxes of ornaments screaming to be altered and turned into something other than clear glass.  Since I've been playing with using alcohol ink for wall art I thought I'd try my hand at ornaments as well.  This is just one of the half dozen I've inked.

 

Creating the ornaments was easy.  I gently added a couple drops of ink into the ornament, allowing it to run down the side and then swirled ever so slightly.  Then using a can of compressed air with the straw inserted I gave quick taps to allow the air burst to spread the ink inside the ornament.

 

Once dry I looked at how each ornament turned out and when I looked at this one I knew it was perfect for turning into a Walking Dead one.  The file I used for this ornament is one that was shared in one of my FB groups.

 

And there you have it.  My very first Christmas ornament AND project for 2017.  😁

Star Wars Wall Art

I decided to add another piece to my alcohol ink wall art collection.  Back around Valentine's Day I saw this fun Star Wars Valentine themed file over at Cuttable Designs.  At that time I wasn't sure what I'd do with it but I knew I wanted to use it for some crafty project.  Then after trying the alcohol inks for the first time I knew what I was going to do.

 

Since sharing the Harry Potter wall art I made last week I've received a lot of questions on FB about how I did it so I thought I'd break down the process here as well.

 

The first thing to do is to clean the glass with Windex and allow it to dry thoroughly before beginning the ink application.

 

I don't know if there's another brand out there or not but I used Tim Holtz alcohol ink for my project.  They're acid free, easy to apply and when applying to glass if you don't like the outcome you can wipe the glass clean with rubbing alcohol and start all over. 

 

I applied a couple drops of Sunshine Yellow to my ink applicator and began dabbing and across the glass in different directions.  I then applied a couple drops of blending solution and then a couple drops of Sunset Orange to the applicator and began the same process dabbing over the yellow as well as covering some of the 'missed' areas.  I carried this color scheme down about two thirds of the glass.

 

I then changed my felt pad and continued this process using the color Purple Twilight.  (These three colors come together in one pack - called Summit View.)  After looking at the glass from the opposite side I decided that I wanted a bit of blue in the mix so I changed my felt pad back to the first one I had used, added a couple drops of blending solution and then a couple drops of the color Stream.  (This color, my blending tool, solution and pads came together in the ink kit.)

 

After I finished with my ink applications I allowed the glass to air dry over night.  The ink dries pretty quick but since I was backing mine with paper I wanted to allow it plenty of time to cure.

 

The next morning I inserted a sheet of white cardstock between the side of the glass to which the inks were applied and the frame insert.  Then on the opposite side of the glass I applied the vinyl.

 

Now I have a fun piece of fan art to add to my wall.