Collage – a fabulous form in any type of craft

The definition of collage is: "An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface,often with unifying lines and color." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/collage)

It is one of the most exciting types of art or craft to create. There are no “rules” necessarily so the sky is the limit. The only limitation I have found when working on a collage piece is being able to attach the items in a secure form.

Choosing the proper base for your collage is very important. If you are making collage jewelry you need something that will hold up to some abuse and allow for a jewelry finding to be attached. There are many different bases you can buy. Some even have the findings attached so that is one less step to complete.

Here are some pins I made using a base that already had the pin back attached. These were simple ovals in metal with a raised edge. The raised edge allowed me to stack items into the frame. I used Alene’s Tacky glue to secure the items. They have held up nicely but I think today I would use E-6000 glue. I used all kinds of things from my stash – buttons, charms, stick pins etc. I suggest pulling out pieces that you think look good together and start playing with arrangements.

The main focal point of this pin is the velvet button.  It is a vintage button in deep plum.  The other items used were buttons, beads and a mother of pearl antique cuff link.

This simple arrangement is mostly new plastic buttons.  The combination gives them a more "vintage" look.  Adding the small green ribbon to the edge added just the right finishing touch.

This is one of my favorites.  The black and gold buttons came from my grandmothers button stash.  The large teal oval piece is an old ear ring.

 The flower is a clay flower I purchased.

 This pin is just fun to wear.  I love the bright colors and the bows.  The solid red heart is wooden and the checkered heart is made of fabric. 

This pin was focused around the rocking horse stick pin.  The soft blues and browns seem to bring out the rocking horse.

Here are some pendant necklaces I created using the collage method. The small wooden frames were originally chalkboard Christmas ornaments. I painted the frames and then glued in my pieces with tacky glue. After letting the glue dry securely I used Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to create a resin type finish. The dimensional magic creates a professional finish and is very easy to use.

  

This pendant is layered with scrapbook papers, crystal jewels and a small butterfly charm.

This pendant was made for my mom.  I took old watch pieces and layered them on black scrapbook paper.

 

 

This pendant has a center focal piece of a scrapbook paper tag and several puffy stickers.

 

As you can see the sky really is the limit when it comes to collage creations. There is no right or wrong way to make a collage piece. This art form is perfect for Pink Lemonade Ideas.

Danna

Inspiration - what sparks your creativity?

In the previous post I talked about my love for pins of all shapes and sizes. Over the

years I have created some unique pins for my new collection. When I am out

shopping the clearance isles, garage sales and thrift stores I am always on the

lookout for some unique piece that could the inspiration for my next pin creation.

Things that inspire me range from a clay mask, a unique button, a piece of lace or

fabric, an old ear ring and many other items.

 

When creating something that you will wear also consider what clothing color

combinations you prefer. I tend to lean toward the bright jewel tones. These are

the colors that look best on me. I have a friend who wears more of the autumn

colors. I enjoy making pins for her because I get to use colors I normally would not

consider. If you have trouble picking what colors look good together take your cues

from nature. When you look at a field of flowers what colors stand out? Does your

eye pick up the pinks and purples or do you prefer the yellow and orange? This will

give you some direction.

 

The creative process for me always begins with an inspiration item and then I move

to the colors I wish to use. All of my craft items and fabrics are divided and stored

by color. So, when I want to create a pin, for example, from my inspiration item I

found then I pull out my boxes in the colors I want to use. Usually in jewelry I work

in only two colors but on occasion I will add several additional colors.

 

Here are a few pins I have made over the years. There is a brief description of the

inspiration piece and why I chose the colors I used.

 

 

 

This pins inspiration was taken from the black clay mask.  I found several of these (on clearance of course) and it reminded me of the beautiful Mardi Gra masks.  The fan is made from a piece of wrapping paper.  I glued card stock in between two layers of paper for added stiffness. 

This is one of the silver masks I found with the black.  I made this pin first and used tissue paper to make the fan.  As you can see the tissue paper did not hold up well.  This is now in my craft/sewing area because I love the colors.

 

This pin was made from another clay mask.  This one just called to be made to look like the Mardi Gra masks.  I only added the feathers and the beads at the top of the mask.  The beads I strung on a piece of thread and then glued to the mask. 

It is a very festive look.

 

This pin is made from a simple wooden heart shape with added buttons and fabric rose.  I needed something to add a small detail to a jacket in a particular shade of purple.  This fit the bill nicely.

This pin I did not make.  It was given to me from a friend.  It did however spark several pins made from a piece of lace.  I did not take pictures of the pieces I made before I gave them away.  (A side note -- always take a picture of something you create.  You never know when you will want to refer back to your creation.) The base is simply a piece of lace.  It is fairly fragile but has held up well.

This pin was made for my friend who wear alot of fall colors.  She commented on how she liked the feather pins that were popular.  The feathers are glued to a base and the center is a vintage clip ear ring.  Under the ear ring is a small piece of lace to add a little spark of off white.  (Sorry about the blurry picture)

 

This pin is made from a domino.  The picture is taken from a greeting card

I was going to discard.  I added the simple word to of "love", cut from a book. 

The edges of the domino are colored gold. 

 

Find what inspires you and see what wonderful creations are sparked.

 

Danna

Flower Power

When I am picking out what to wear I work from a different angle than most people. I don’t choose my clothing first, I select my accessories first. This may seem odd to some but it works for me. I love jewelry, scarves and pins. So most of the time I look at what ear rings, scarf, necklace, or pin I am in the mood to wear and then build the outfit around that item. One of my favorite accessories is pins.

When I was in high school I had a huge pin collection. I wore at least one or more a day. At that time the popular pins were more of the “button” size with different pictures, words or characters. Some of my pins were shaped like objects. I remember several that were items such as a box of crayons, a piano, a cloud with a face and many more. I had a smiley face button in every color of the rainbow and all different sizes. Like most guys who got rid of all their baseball cards I wish I had saved my pin collection. I have a few that my daughter has now taken over but most of them I discarded.

Therefore when pins became stylish again I was truly excited. Now I could create a new collection of handmade pins to wear. Some of my favorites are the popular flower pins. I made several to coordinate with different outfits. Here are a few:

The zipper rose in the middle I purchased.  Then I built the flower on a denim base.  I added a layer of batting between the denim to give the layers a little more bulk.  The red tail under the twisted rose and yo-yo is the end of a zipper.

 

 This flower is one of my favorite shapes.  You cut circles and then gather pinch one end to create a petal.  Attaching the petals together creates your flower.  The purple "fringe" flower is the next layer.  The jeweled piece is a vintage clip on ear ring.  The blue rosette is made from tulle.  I added some small beads in various places to give a little extra sparkle.

I wear this flower alot.  It is the same pinch gathered pattern as above.  The only difference is I cut smaller circles and added an inner layer of petals.  I like how the frayed edges give it an extra measure of character.

 

This flower is made from the fabric of a skirt I shortened.  Using extra fabric from a garment makes the perfectly coordinated accessory.  This pattern is a layer of flower shaped pieces in various sizes stacked.  I fused fabric together with Wonder Under to add some stiffness before cutting the shapes.  Having the layers in coordinating colors adds a little more interest. 

 

This is the same pattern as above with the stacked flower shapes with one difference.  The bottom layers are four shapes folded over into quarters and then fanned out to create the layer.  The top two layers are the solid flower shape. 

This flower pin is made from pieces cut from a discarded sweater.  I built it on a base of deep purple fabric.  Then added the two large twisted rosettes, feathers and the light purple sweater petal flower.  The center is a large button.

Each time I pin one of these to my outfit it makes me smile.  My mom always told me that anything looked better with a smile.  So I guess when I wear my flower pins I look better.

Danna

A Simple Birthday Gift

I have the best mom in the whole world. She has always been there to support and encourage me. We have a great time when we are together. I am fortunate that we only live a few miles from my parents so I get to see her often.

When it comes to gifts she prefers something simple that comes from the heart. This year for her birthday I purchased a potted plant and placed a simple plant poke with a celebratory message. I knew she would love the plant and attaching the simple handcrafted message made it unique.

Here is the plant.  I wrapped the pot in patterned tissue paper and tied it

with a piece of bias tape binding.

 I made the plant poke out of card stock.  Then attached the scalloped square and the paper flower I bought on clearance for a penny for the whole package.  I then punched holes in the top and bottom and placed on a wooden skewer stick.  I put the pointed end into the potted plant.

As in an earlier post I stated that sometimes the simple things in life are the best. Many times today we feel we must “buy” the perfect gift and it must be more expensive than last year. Recently I was talking with a friend who was telling me about a Mom’s group she attends that sends a package to their college students who live away from home. In the package are various “gifts” and treats. They also enclose handwritten notes from each of the moms. She was telling me how much her daughter appreciated the package from home. But the one thing that she appreciated most was the encouraging notes. The notes were what made her feel loved. Not the gifts or treats but the simple thoughtful words from people who knew and loved her.

So, the next time you have to look for a gift for someone special in your life. Take the time to send a message of love and encouragement. It can be as simple as a plant poke.

Danna

Fun with Tagxedo

Finding the perfect gift when you are a teenager can be a challenge.  My son was trying to decide what gift to get his girlfriend for an occasion.  We were tossing around ideas from jewelry, flowers etc. when I remembered a website that we had used at school. Tagxedo.com

Tagxedo is a free user friendly site where you can create a word cloud picture.  You can put in a URL and tagxedo will create the word cloud from the website, or you can type in a list of words to create the cloud.  The more times a word is repeated the larger the word will be in the cloud.

The original thought was to create a word cloud using words that described my son and his girlfriend, print it out and put it in a picture frame.  Once we created the word cloud we began to review our options for printing and saving the word picture.  I found you could purchase items with your word cloud printed on the item.  There was everything from coffee cups, mouse pads, bags and tshirts.  We decided to print the heart shaped word cloud on a tshirt.

Here is the result:

There were several tshirt styles to select from.  We thought this one worked the best for our design.

The tagxedo can be designed many, many different ways.  My son liked the heart with the black background.  It did provide a nice backdrop to bring out the shape and the words stood out a little better on the black.

 

A tagxedo word cloud has an abundance of creative uses.  Here is a short list of some ideas I have considered.

1. Express your feelings about a person.
2. Put the names of everyone on a sports team, classmates, family reunion as a keepsake.
3. Words that describe a group (i.e. band, youth group, class, choir etc.)
4. Information about a special event (i.e. graduation, wedding, birth, anniversary etc.)
5. List of things you like to do - print it out and put it on the wall
6. Describe your company and what makes it stand out might be an interesting way to market your business.

Here is a tagxedo I created using the URL of my blog.

 

 

Try Tagxedo yourself and see what sparks your creative cloud.

 

Danna

 

 

 

 





Updated Mouse Pad

I am one of those people that likes everything on my desk to feel coordinated and bring a smile to my face.  So when I started my new job at school I looked at my mouse pad and thought "Oh, no this will never work".  It was ugly, ugly, ugly.  Now I know that a mouse pad may seem like an item that does not draw much attention.  But, since I teach technology my computer area is my area of expertise.  Therefore I use and look at my mouse pad all day long.  It also sits on the top of my desk not on a keyboard drawer. 

I did some research to find ways to do away with the ugliness.  I found that you can adhere fabric to a mouse pad using Mod Podge.  It is a fairly simple process.  My mouse pad had a type of plastic coating on the top so it was stiff.  I think the same process would work for one that is more of a fabric type material on top. But you may want to do a test first.

 

Here are the steps:

1.   Cut the fabric close to the size of the mouse pad.
2.   Brush the Mod Podge on the mouse pad in an even coat.
3.   Lay the fabric on top and press to remove any bubbles. (Be sure you take the time to get the bubbles out or you will have a rough spot that will be uncomfortable.) You may want to use something that rolls - a brayer, rolling pin or glass.
4.   Let it sit for about 5 minutes
5.   Brush an additional coat on top of the fabric to seal it.
6.   Let it dry for several hours.
7.   Trim the fabric
8.   Add an additional layer of Mod Podge to seal the fabric one last time and be sure to get the edges coated.
9.   Let dry completely. (If any parts are not coated add another layer of Mod Podge).
10. Use an emory board to sand down any rough edges.

I use my mouse pad constantly and have had no trouble with the fabric peeling up or fraying on the edges.  The Mod Podge gives it a surface that can easily be wiped down.

My challenge to you is don't settle for an ugly mouse pad.  Create one that makes you smile every time you look down.

Danna

More Dish Towels

Dish towels (in my humble opinion), should not only be functional but attractive.  They should bring an element of joy and fun to your kitchen.  This is especially true during the holiday season.  Even if your house is not full of guests your family will enjoy the extra dash of cheer. 

Last year I had several Christmas events to attend where I needed a gift for a gift exchange.  Since we live on a tight budget I have the "opportunity" to get very creative with these gifts.  I usually prepare a gift basket based on a theme and fill it with several handmade items plus a few bought items.  One particular event I was to attend required a gift for only ladies.  This allows for an abundance of creativity.  I started searching through my stash and came up with some plain dish towels I had purchased.  Now all they needed was a "pink lemonade idea" to turn them from plain to fancy. 

I decided to add some ruffled strips of fabric to the edge.  I used three different fabrics and made the strips 2 inches wide.  I cut the strips out with a pinked edge to prevent fraying.  When I was stitching these up at quilt group one evening (about two days before the event) everyone was complimenting how cute they were.  I knew then I had a winner of a gift.

I used the method of stitching a zigzag stitch down the center of the fabric over the thread tails.  You can find several videos on You Tube for this method.  It works really well and is very easy.

Using left over strips of fabric I tied the towels at the top to give them a nice presentation.

At the party we played the gift exchange game where you can steal a gift from someone else.  These ladies were having a great time "stealing" my towels from the person who first chose them.  The lady who finally won the towels was very excited.  It is always nice to know that a gift you made is loved and appreciated.

This year I have plans for some new dish towels and I think I may take them to our quilt group Christmas party.  So the next time you need a quick gift that everyone can use and enjoy look for a sturdy plain dish towel.

Danna