Not Created Equal

All paints are not created equal. I discovered that fact this week when making some Gelli prints with a different kind of paint than I typically use for my ATC backgrounds.

The DecoArt Crafter's Acrylic craft paint from the dollar store has been the paint of choice up until now. The colour selection is not huge but there's enough variety for my needs and it is easy to blend colours to get a custom palette.

What I don't like about it though is the dull, grainy finish when it's dry. A coat of Mod Podge gives it a sheen and brightens the colours but then it is hard to stamp or use marker on top of it without smudging.

I picked up some Time 4 Crafts acrylic paint in tubes a while back on clearance at a discount store. There was only a few colours to choose from, but I picked up one of each one (about 5 in total).

This paint dries with a glossy finish that I like so I thought they might be good to make Gelli prints with. Which leads me back to my opening statement...All paints are not created equal.

You don't need to use as much of the Time 4 Crafts paint as you do the dollar store craft paint. I put down way too much! It spreads differently with the brayer too. By different, I don't mean good or bad, just different. My first attempts are less than favourable in my eyes. Frankly, the word 'ugly' comes to mind.

 

I think it is going to take a bit more practice with this paint before I get results that I'm happy with. Now, I have to decide what to do with these (plus three others) to rescue them from the horrible fate of getting thrown into the shredding pile.

Perhaps some stencilling will help, or a coat of white paint on top to mute the colours down a bit. What would you suggest?

Making it Work: One Way or Another

It seems that my recent ventures into tablet weaving have been both challenging and rewarding. Not without its own issue, this project is almost completed.

This is the first time that I've made a piece of trim in three colours but that was not my initial intention. It was supposed to be royal blue and lemon yellow only.

A not so funny thing happened when I was warping up the loom. I had miscalculated how much of the blue that I had left and I ran completely out at 16 cards. That would have resulted in a very narrow trim, about 1/2" wide only.

What was I to do? After a few minutes of head scratching and concentrated thought, I decided to add a third colour to give the piece a double, two coloured border. That brought it up to 20 cards, approximately 3/4" wide.

I'm quite happy with how it's turning out and will 'purposely' add a two coloured border in future projects. It will be a great way to use up some of the bits of leftover crochet cotton I have hanging around here.

This piece, when finished, is destined for my Etsy shop also. And who knows what adventure or discovery the next tablet weaving project will bring!

Unexpected Results and a Giveaway

I've been playing around with my Gelli plate recently and coming up with some interesting backgrounds for my artist trading cards.

I don't have very many texture tools (yet) and have been trying to find everyday items around the house to use to create different effects. I've used bubble wrap, popsicle sticks, yarn and cardboard tubes, among other things.

The one that I got the most unexpected result from was a kitchen paper towel. Doesn't this look really wicked? I was only trying to gently dab off an excess of paint from the Gelli plate but when I pulled up the paper towel, this design was left behind.

To be honest, at first I wasn't sure that I liked the resulting print but I knew if I tossed it, I'd be sorry. It was several days later that an idea how to use it came to mind.

I recently purchased the Dina Wakley Scribbly Women acrylic stamp set (with a 40% off coupon, of course). I stamped one of the images onto each of the cards. A couple of them don't stand out as much as I would have wanted but I'm pretty much committed now.

I did an online search for quotes that I could add to each card. I collected a long list of them but needed to narrow it down to six. It's more of a challenge than you think to find good quotes that are short enough to use on such a small canvas.

I was going to print the words on white paper and outline them with black around the edges but thought that it might be more effective to use yellow paper instead. I had to 'audition' both options before finalizing my choice. I ended up choosing white paper afterall.

Here are the final ATCs. I outlined the words with a black gel pen and went around the edges of the cards with archival ink applied with a sponge blending tool. I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

And now for the giveaway. To qualify, add a comment to the bottom of this post and your name will go into the hat. One winning name will be drawn on Wednesday, June 15th. I will announce the winner on my facebook page but will also contact the lucky person privately to arrange delivery of their prize, a Forever In Time clear acrylic stamp set. The sentiments are ATC size.

Don't forget to leave a comment below for your chance to win. Good luck to you all!

Update June 15, 2016: All the names of people who commented below were entered into Random.org and a winner was selected. Congratulations to Sarah Ruth! Your stamp set will be in the mail tomorrow.

New Camera

This little Sony Cyber-Shot (7.2 mega pixels & 10X zoom) camera has served me well. I acquired it many years ago with my Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum points. For the last couple of years, I have not been able to download photos directly from the camera, even with a new cable.

I had to purchase a card reader and remove the card from the camera each time I wanted to download photos. An extra step, for sure, but still relatively easy to accomplish.

My Optimum points have slowly been adding up and today I finally had enough, the very top level, to purchase a new camera. I've been waiting and planning for this day for months.

Here is my new camera...

To my surprise, when I went into the store this morning a big sign greeted me...Seniors Day - 20% off regular price items.

What a bonus day for me! Between the senior's discount and my Optimum points, I got this beautiful Nikon Coolpix L340 (20.2 mega pixels & 28X zoom) camera for under $20. I am doing a happy dance today! I'll will be spending some time this weekend playing with my new toy, you can bet on that.