Frames To Celebrate Special People - Deflecto

June will be "busting out all over" very soon!  With the beginning of this new month comes the end of the school year, graduations and Father's Day.  Here are some ideas for either gifts or displays.

This lovely clear acrylic easel frame stands on its own quite well but by adding simple yellow pencils and clay apple embellishments, make it into something special for that favorite teacher.

This chalkboard holder goes a little bit beyond just a message board by adding a clear pouch to hold a photo a the special graduate and some celebration balloons.

Here is a favorite frame of mine.  Again this frame stands well all on its own.  For that special "dad" make it more personal or fitting.   For the "Do-It-Yourselfer",  I added some clay pieces that are made to resemble pieces of wood to embellish the front of the frame.  The same clay, letters were die-cut to add "daddy" to personalize the frame.

Embedded In Pulp - Arnold Grummer Papermaking

The blender came out again to work on some papermaking ideas.  After making a couple batches of paper pulp for more experimenting, I created two interesting "organic" sheets.

The first was made by placing a number of skeleton leaves onto the papermaking screen. This is layered on top of the white support grid that is sitting on a pan with a lip to catch the water from pressing.   After they were in position I took small clumps of the pulp and placed it over each of the leaves.  NOTE: The weight of the pulp helps hold the leaves in place.  Continue to cover the entire leaf pattern with pulp, going beyond the edges of the pattern.  Place enough pulp to cover but not too thick.  Experiment with the thickness and placement of the pulp.  Place the mesh cover screen on top of the pulp and begin removing water with sponges.  Remove as much of the water as possible and flip the screen over, pressing again with sponges or rags to remove more water.  Remove the papermaking screen and cover with a couch sheet and press and process just as you would when making any sheet of paper.  Cover with a dry couch sheet, weight the piece with heavy books till dry.

This piece looks great on its own just placed in a simple frame or it would also make a lovely background for a photo.

Wanting to try the process again, I chose a length of yarn from a recent crochet project.  I first wet the yarn with thinned white glue.  I placed the yarn randomly onto the papermaking screen then repeated the same process for embedding the yarn in pulp.  Looking at various things that I could work into making more interesting organic looking sheets.

Visit the Arnold Grummer website for information, ideas and supplies.

JOY®-ful Letters

Add a letter or two, or three, or more, here and there to label something special.  I have never used these letters before and found them easy to use. plus an attractive addition for any type of base.

First comes this little white linen bag that I created for a previous manufacturer challenge for Decorative Trimmings.  Someone happened to give me a suggestion (thanks Julie), about using these wonderful letters for this challenge.  Personalizing items for any occasion can be fun, why not something for a brides special day.  Take this idea beyond the bride and add the names of your bridal party to a special item for this special day.

Why not add a monogram to all your traveling paraphernalia. Here I added my own initials to a fabric travel pouch that I made for myself.  I definitely like the look of these on the pouch and think it would be a great idea to add them to all my other travel bags.

Totally love the look of these large letters when I first saw them.  My original plan was to make something for my two youngest granddaughters that they could use for taking on a trip or a sleepover.  Unfortunately I made a big mistake when choosing the letters and could only make one.

Using a purchased plastic tote from Michael's, it was perfect for the base of a cute carry-all.  These great letters were glued on and stand out on this tote, add some die-cut duck tape flowers and iridescent gems and that's all that is needed for sweet carrier for any little girl - what JOY!

Use this link to check out and read the Creating with Joy blog: Link

Working With "Earth Safe Finishes" Begins

After becoming aware of Earth Safe Finishes a few years back and using them in a teaching venue, I realized how I enjoyed the versatility of all the mixing aspects of the products in this line. Now as a part of this team, it will be a great way to further work with these products and discover more about them.  I look forward to learning and experimenting!

This first effort is an easy one but I was still impressed with the results.  I have worked with the majority of paints that are on the market throughout the years. The first impression that stuck me was with coverage of the Earth Safe Finishes paint.  The way the paint performed for this little project surpassed my expectations.

There was a need to create a project using this wooden chalkboard holder, but wanted to change the original wood finish.  I began by sanding the wooden surface to remove some of the slick finish. Wipe away the sanding powder with a tack rag or slightly damp cloth.  I brushed on a coat of ESF Chalk It Up Huckleberry Cobbler paint.  It was so easy to apply to all the surface of the wooden frame.  There were not brush marks and it went on very smoothly.  After drying, which was quickly, another coat of paint was applied, but the first coat gave great coverage.  After allowing the paint to dry for an hour, I applied a coat of the ESF No Voc Wax, folllowing manufacture's instructions.  This was the first time I had used something other then a brush-on finish.  The finish of the painted surface was lovely and I can see using this product for many future projects.

To add a bit of color for the project theme, I took yellow ESF Colorant and just dabbed it onto the back of clear plastic pouch and let it dry.

Using three products changed the look of two surfaces for this Graduation Celebration display.

Mixing It Up With Makin's Clay and Mother Nature

There is a new post up on the Makin's Clay blog!  Had some fun playing around with the clay.  This project shows texturing, stamping, molding and coloring.  Stop by and read the post!

Link to Post HERE