Scrap N Grow

Archive for the ‘Vinyl’ Category

Good morning everyone!  It is finally Friday and also the start of a long holiday weekend for many including myself.  I have a few things planned but no travel, just staying close to home this weekend.  In lieu of sharing a new project today, I instead wanted to take the time to thank everyone for the wonderful comments and encouragement regarding my new blog feature called Paperie In Bloom that I launched earlier this month.  I started this feature on the first of August and featured the hydrangea bloom.  Throughout the month of August, I created several other projects that highlighted or showcased the hydrangea.  So I thought that with today being the end of the month,  I  would compose a recap post featuring each of the Paperie In Bloom projects featured throughout August with their appropriate hyperlinks.  I have decided to hold till Monday before showcasing September’s Paperie In Bloom since it is a holiday weekend, otherwise my intention is to showcase each month’s bloom on the first of the month.  Thank you  again everyone for making my new Paperie In Bloom series a success. Be sure to stop back on Monday for September’s featured Paperie In Bloom bouquet.  Until then, enjoy a recap below of each of the projects I featured throughout August showcasing the beautiful hydrangea.  See you on Monday.  Have a great and safe holiday weekend.

Michelle

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012

Blooming Hydrangea Bouquet

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Bouquet

Hydrangea Note Cards

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Note Cards

Hydrangea Picture Frame

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Picture Frame

Hydrangea Mixed Media Canvas

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Mixed Media Canvas

Etched Hydrangea Glass Vase

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Etched Hydrangea Glass Vase

Hydrangea Stamped Candle

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Stamped Candle

Hydrangea Pillow

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Pillow

Thank you again for stopping by and have a great Labor Day weekend.

Good morning everyone.  How was your weekend?  Mine was productive but went by way too fast as usual.  Today, I have another Paperie In Bloom project to share, a etched glass hydrangea vase.

Paperie In Bloom: August 2012 Hydrangea Vase

I purchased the vase from the Michael’s clearance section for a mere four dollars.  I did not want to spend a lot as this was my first attempt to etch glass.

To begin, I selected my image and size.  The hydrangea image is from the Walk In My Garden Cricut cartridge and was cut at 10 inches out of vinyl.

Afterwards, I used vinyl transfer paper to transfer the negative of the image onto each side of the vase.  I found this to be a bit putsy.  I think because of the vase’s rounded nature.

Once the image was transferred, I carefully removed the transfer paper and finished smoothing out the edges to help prevent the etching cream from seeping.

Next, I applied a liberal amount of Armour Etch (from Michael’s) to the exposed hydrangea images and set my timer for 20 minutes.

Afterwards, I rinsed the etching cream off in the sink and removed the vinyl.  Wow etching cream is magic stuff! I only had 1 small inconspicuous spot where the etching cream seeped a bit. Not a big deal.

I am so glad that I finally tried to etch glass.  It was so easy!!!!

Have you tried etching?  I would love for you to comment and tell me what you etched and/or leave a helpful tip that you learned in the process.

Thank you for stopping by.  I do hope that you will stop by again soon for more inspiring ideas.

Michelle

Happy Easter! I have a fun project to share with you today…decorated ostrich eggs. A generous client of mine recently gifted me a few dozen ostrich eggs after she found out that I was a mixed media artist. I have to admit that ostrich eggs are a totally new concept to me. For up until I received these eggs, I had never seen one in person, nor realized how large, and how hard the egg shell is.
Throughout my client’s dental appointment, she told me that she used to paint the exterior of the eggs and gift them to her family and friends. She also carved into others and created miniature scenes for the various holidays. Her ideas kick started my brainstorming of potential ideas.  While I had some initial thoughts regarding potential projects, I decided to perform a Google image search for ostrich eggs and was completely blown away from several of the returned results. There are some very talented egg artisans out there. While several eggs were decoratively painted, there were several more that were intricately sculpted. I thought the idea to paint the outer shell was an ideal place to start.

Ostrich Easter Eggs

So today is my first project ever created using an ostrich egg. I wanted to keep it relatively simple. Because the outer shell of the egg is quite slippery and feels almost glass like, I started by using some medium grit sandpaper to roughen up the outer surface so that paint would adhere. I then applied 2 coats of Gesso art medium to prime the egg for paint. Afterwards, I applied 2 coats of Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Paint to each eggs. Next, I cut out my desired images using my Cricut expression and the Damask Cricut cartridge. I thought I would experiment to determine which material would best adhere to the egg’s surface. So in each corner of my mat, I placed a different surface: a piece of Cricut vinyl, a piece of heavy weight decorative cardstock, a piece of lightweight decorative paper, and in the last corner, a plain piece of smooth white card stock. All surfaces cut well at 5 inches. I chose to use the purple vinyl image for my yellow egg. It adhered well and easily. For the blue egg, I initially fussed with the heavy weight decorative cardstock and this proved to be quite fussy and was to stiff to bend to the contour of the egg, so I set that aside and picked up the lightweight decorative card stock. This worked well, I applied the decorative cutout without any problem using a thin coat of matte Mod Podge and let dry. And lastly, for the green egg, I really wanted to paint on it but did not wish to take the labor intensive time to trace the image onto the egg and then paint. The image is quite intricate and would be time restrictive. Instead, I decided to paint the smooth white card stock with a complementary color using again Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio paint. This painted well. Afterwards, I decided to try a different adhesive and used Americana’s Decoupage Medium. This was a lighter weight medium compared to Mod Podge and I felt as though I had to fuss more to ensure the decorative cut was burnished well onto the egg, but it did adhere well. Overall, I am egg-cited and pleased with my initial egg-periment and have generated some new ideas for other projects.

Supplies Used: Ostrich Eggs, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint, Cricut Die cutting Machine, Damask Cricut Cartridge, Provocraft Vinyl, Decorative Paper, Decoupage, and Mod Podge

If you wish to create your own egg masterpiece..leave me a comment and I will draw 2 names on Friday April 13, 2012.

 
Thank you again for visiting and have a Happy Easter.

Michelle

Welcome to Scrap N Grow.  My name is Michelle Nun and Scrap N Grow is my new blog where I will showcase my original mixed media artistic creations.  You will soon notice that I enjoy exploring the possibilities within various mixed media and mediums including paper, metal, wire, and fabric to name a few, and credit Mother Nature as my primary source of inspiration.

I remain yet in the initial planning stages regarding the format and content for this blog and invite you to check back again soon as I plan to kick start this blog’s future posts with pictures of past projects. Thank you for stopping by and I hope  that you will visit again soon.

Michelle