• #TBT Traveling a Forgotten Path, with Diamond Art

    Hello! Continuing my Throwback Thursday posts, this time only going back to January, when I once again traveled to the Creativation Trade show, in Phoenix, Arizona. Held by Association For Creative Industries or AFCI, during the show I was honored to once again be invited to the 7th annual Prime Networking Event. This event gives bloggers, designers, authors and brands in the craft industry a chance to come together to network, make new partnerships, and learn about new product information. The event was fun, informative, and free product samples were provided by this year’s sponsors. After the event attendees were encouraged to try out and create art for the Favecrafts Best Blogger Craft Event. This year I won runner up in the Best Blogger Contest 2019 for my project!

    For my entry I decided to use products from these sponsors: Diamond Art by Leisure Arts, Tribe Design, Mod Podge  Ultra Matte Spray, FolkArt Crackle Medium and Home Decor™ Chalk Paint along with supplies from my personal collection of art supplies.

    Supplies:
    Diamond Art by Leisure Arts Diamond Painting Kit – Tribe Design
    Mod Podge ® Ultra Matte Spray
    FolkArt ® Mediums – Crackle Medium
    FolkArt ® Home Decor™ Chalk Paint in Java, Parisian Grey, White Adirondack and Black
    Liquid Fusion ® Clear Urethane Glue 
    9 inch x 12 inch Cradled Wood Board
    Assortment of artificial tropical plants
    1 Flat Paint Brush
    1 Round Paint Brush
    Scissors
    Ruler
    Pencil
    Cotton swabs
    Isopropyl alcohol
    Used and dried coffee grounds

    Since it took a few hours to finish the Diamond Art kit by Leisure Arts, I had time to consider the pattern.  In my mind it needed something more than to just be framed. It reminded me of patterns of old, and FolkArt Chalk Paint would help me with that.  To have it look like a wall fragment I would need it to be on a board, Mod Podge Spray would help apply the canvas. For water damaged cracks, I would need a Crackle Medium.

    Maybe it could be a forgotten image, now found once again? Slowly a story formed in my mind…..
    After traveling many miles, you start seeing the remnants of a once mighty city, now taken over by nature. Slowly walking through the dense forest a fragment of a patterned wall slowly appears. What ancient artist created this image and who was it intended for?

    I opened up my Leisure Arts Diamond Painting Kit and made sure I had all of the required parts. The printed canvas needed to be flattened a bit before I started so making sure to leave the sticky film cover on the canvas, I placed a book on top of my canvas for a few hours before starting.

    Following the instructions included with the Diamond Art I applied all of the flat backed diamonds to the canvas. It took me only a few hours to complete.

    Next I trimmed the Diamond Art canvas to the very edge of the blue background with a pair of sharp scissors.

    I carefully used a pencil and ruler to mark as close as possible to the Tribe Design pattern, creating a slightly elongated diamond outline. I then trimmed the canvas further with the scissors, using my pencil lines as my guide.

    Now that the Diamond Art canvas was cut to size, it fit neatly on the wood board I wanted to attach it to. Once again, I used my pencil to mark out the exact placement of my canvas on the wood board.

    Making sure my wood board was clean of dust or particles I sprayed it with Mod Podge Ultra Matte in the pencil outline of the diamond.

    Quickly and carefully I applied the diamond canvas to the coated wood board. I applied firm pressure to the canvas. The spray version of Mod Podge Matte makes it much easier to apply fabric without a worry of oversaturation or bubbles forming. I let the Mod Podge fully dry.

    Making sure to cover the sides and front of the wood board I applied on FolkArt Home Deco Chalk Paint in Java. Using the flat paint brush to apply paint to the open sections of the wood board and the round brush for the detailed sections around the diamonds. The Tribe Design canvas had a tendency to soak up more paint, so I applied a bit more paint to make sure there was even coverage.

    Before the paint fully cured I used cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove any paint that accidently covered the diamonds. I then let the paint fully cure before the next step.

    On the now dry paint I applied FolkArt Crackle Medium, careful to not over brush and to only apply the medium in one direction. This would ensure a better crackle formation later on. I let this layer fully dry.

    To create a highly textured topcoat I mixed a tablespoon of used and dried coffee grounds in a small cup, with 4 parts FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Paint in White Adirondack, with 1 part Parisian Grey.

    I quickly applied my textured topcoat to the crackle layer, making sure once again to not over paint, and for the most part, go only one direction with the brush strokes. Any time the paint built up too much on the brush I cleaned the paint brush with a paper towel and then reapplied fresh paint mixture to the brush.

    Once again before the paint fully cured I used cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove any paint that accidentally covered the diamonds. I then let the paint fully cure before the next step.

    In a small cup I heavily diluted some Black FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Paint with some water and applied it to the cracks, textured elements and raised portions of the wood board, careful to avoid the flat backed diamond pattern. I left the paint to fully dry.

    I cut and placed the artificial tropical plants on the board, finding the placement I liked best, gluing the plants in place with Liquid Fusion Clear Urethane Glue. Once the glue was fully cured my pieces was ready to be displayed. 

    Until next time, safe travels!
    *This is an affiliate post, which means I received an assortment of products as a compensation for the creation of art. To read my full disclosure, click here

  • 2018 Creativation Trade Show with Amazing Casting Products

    The Creativation Trade show, held in Phoenix, Arizona is the must-go event for craft and hobby industry professionals.  It is held by Association For Creative Industries or AFCI, showcasing the many facets of the creative industries from edible arts, painting & drawing, kids crafts, sewing & fabric, paper crafts and more.  This year’s 2018 show was a plethora of arts and crafts manufacturers, new products, demos, classes,  and networking opportunities.

    Once again I was a demonstrator at the Amazing Casting Products/Alumilite Corp booth at Creativation! Here we are first day, right before show floor opening happy to have the booth up and running before the rush of attendees. It was a pleasure and honor to being working with such talented and devoted people!

    So many samples were showcased in every corner of the booth!

    The Amazing Casting Products Design Team had sent in a wonderful array of projects.

    Anything from home decor, kitchen wear, mixed media, jewelry, toys, garden decor, and fine art applications could be found in the booth.

    The demo area always had some sort art going on.

    With so many samples there was bound to be some art application that would catch the interest of an attendee.

    All three days I did demos; First day “Frozen in Time” How to embellish mixed media projects combining Amazing Clear Cast Resin with powders, dyes, stamps, found objects and more! Second day “Crafting Conversation Curios” How to mold and create unique handmade resin pendants, charms and curios with Amazing Casting Products! Third day “Wearable Art, Clay Time” Exploring the creative possibilities of wearable art that can be achieved using Amazing Casting Products and polymer clay! Manufacturer partner, Polyform Products

    Yours truly working on the “Crafting Conversation Curios” demo.

    Amazing Casting Products Design Team Leader Susan M. Brown starting with her “Moldmaking 101” demo. At this demo people learned how to make quick and easy push molds using Amazing Mold Putty that could be used with Amazing Casting Resin, polymer clay, chocolate, fondant, plaster, soap, and more! Susan also did a fun interactive game “Texture THIS?!” exploring texture plates with polymer clay while learning quick and easy techniques to make and use texture in varied mediums/applications. Game entrants were entered to win a prize package of Alumilite Corp/Amazing Casting Products & Polyform Products.

    The wonderful and talented mixed-media artist Cat Kerr‘s demo “Bezel Bonanza” on the first day of the show. Demonstrating three resin bezel techniques that add dazzling dimension and texture to empty bezels combining Amazing Casting Resin, Amazing Clear Cast Resin, and polymer clay. Manufacturer partners, Polyform Products and Nunn Design. A video tutorial of her demo have be found here: Clay and Resin Dimensional Pendant
    Cat’s second day of demos was “Personalized Photo Holders” was about making quick and fun personalized gifts using Amazing Mold Putty and Amazing Casting Resin.

    Creativation came and went so quickly it almost seems a dream filled with good times, amazing creative people, inspiration and a gateway into the creative industries. Hope to see you there next year!

    Until Next Time, Safe Travels!