The joys of glitter, glue and old cataloges.
An industry buzz word being thrown about rather heavily lately is “Indie Crafting” : Art that is not standard or common, using everything including the kitchen sink and maybe even a good dash of recycling. Oddly enough most artists were already doing these things before it was trendy because we didn’t like doing cookie cutter art, were/are on a budget and honestly like nature.
Which brings me to a problem I have, I go to a lot of conventions and events, receive oodles of catalogs and paper, often when I don’t even ask for them. The ones I can I shred into animal bedding or for making homemade paper. But often there is a design or pattern I like, so I save the best for cutting up to apply to wood and in this case DIY Bangles. The people at DIY Bangles are very friendly and honestly listen to consumer requests, such as making bracelets in larger sizes, they also carry many shapes and cuts to the bracelets which makes them very easy to stain, wood burn and attach small objects to.
In this selection I have used acrylic paints, mica powder, glitter, wood burned, Pentel Arts pens and even used Washi paper scraps. All get many thin coats of Mod Podge as all purpose glue for paper and small objects or Diamond Glaze for anything I want to have a glass like finish (remember thin coats with a touch of water make it go on even smoother). Always let the first coat dry, be it paint, glue or glaze, before doing another coat, this way you make sure nothing moves, smears or gets wiped off.
This selection I have used acrylic paints, glitter, wood burned, Pentel Arts pens and cut panels from scrapbooking cataloges. Same coats of Mod Podge and Diamond Glaze as before. The key element is to really work with any paper you apply, carefully getting all the creases out and cutting small bits of the paper, like cutting darts in a gown, to make it fit better on the round curves.
The fun part is by using scraps, small treasures and saved items makes sure it will be a fun and different look every time you make one. 🙂
Until next time, safe travels!