• Acrylic,  Association For Creative Industries,  Chalk Paint,  Contests,  Convention,  Diamond Art,  FaveCrafts,  History Inspired,  Home Decor,  Mixed Media,  Mod Podge,  Throwback Thursday

    #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

  • Beads,  Chalk Paint,  Halloween,  Home Decor,  Mixed Media,  Recycling

    Upcycle Plastic Skulls into Ghoulish Glam Decor

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-1 - Copy

    The first day of October: the leaves are starting to fall and the temperatures are slowly starting to drop at night! With only a month left to get all of my Halloween projects, I have been traveling to all sorts of places for interesting supplies. One of my favorites is the many local Thrift Stores in our area that support local charities. At this time of year many will get in all kinds of Halloween items and one store had a lot of plastic skulls. I noticed that while the paint job on the skulls wasn’t particularly grand the sculpting of the skulls was nice. It got me thinking how they would look if I changed the paint and finish, replicating the look of ceramic!

    Supplies:

    Plastic Skulls and Metal Candle Stands
    Liquitex Gloss and Matte Varnish
    Black Chalk Board Paint
    iZink Pigment Ink bottle – Gold
    Fiona Accessories Red Crystal Drop Beads, Black and Red Crystal Rondelle beads
    Beadsmith 1 Step Looper Tool
    Black enameled chain, jump rings and headpins
    Paint Brushes
    Cosmetic Sponges

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-2 - Copy

    Along with the skulls I found some old candle stands with a old bronze finish. I noticed the skull fit perfectly on them so I bought them along with the skulls. I scrubbed the plastic skulls and candle stands, removing any dust, stickers and uneven edges.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-3 - Copy

    While I could have easily spray painted the pieces, I wanted to go with a nontoxic and child friendly direction by using chalk paint. I painted the skulls and candle stands with 3 layers of black chalk paint. Most chalk paints require a 1-2 hour dry time between coats of paint for best coverage and adhesion of the paint.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-4 - Copy

    The skulls already looked better than they used to but I wanted them to look more like ceramic. Using a cosmetic sponge I applied Gold iZink Pigment Ink to the raised portions and detailed parts of the painted skulls. The ink dries rather quickly allowing me to add several layers on sections for a dramatic effect.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-5 - Copy

    I applied Liquitex Gloss Varnish to the sections on the skulls with gold ink to make the gold tone visually stand out more and give the illusion of ceramic.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-6 - Copy

    Compared to the original factory paint I was pretty happy with the new version, replicating the look for ceramic. However I felt the skulls needed something more.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-7 - Copy

    With the candle stands already painted with black chalk paint all I needed to do was paint them with Liquitex Matte Varnish to seal and protect the stands.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-8 - Copy

    On four black enameled headpins I threaded on one black crystal rondelle and one red drop. On four more black enameled headpins I put one black crystal rondelle and one red rondelle. These will become embellishments for the candle turned skull stands.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-9

    Starting with two beads threaded on a headpin I threaded the wire through the Beadsmith 1 Step Looper Tool, cutting and creating the loop I needed for the start of the beaded dangles. I repeated this the rest of crystal drops and rondelle beads on the headpins.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-10

    I cut black enamled chain into 2 inch lengths and placed eight black enamel jump rings with each chain and crystal bead drop.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-11

    I opened up a jumpring with flat nose pliers and put the jumpring through one of the crystal bead headpins, and one of the cut lengths of chain.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-12

    Flipping over a candle/skull stand I lopped the chain around one of the metal curls. I picked up the end of the chain not looped on the jump ring and carefully hooked the still open jump ring on it. I closed the jump ring with the pliers, making sure both ends of the chain and beaded headpin were threaded on the ring. Chain and beaded headpins were added to all four sides of the stand, then the stands were flipped over allowing the chain and beads to become a decorative element.

    ArtResurrected-Skull-Decor-Chalk-Paint-Tracy-Alden-13

    I placed the plastic skulls on their stands and placed them along with my ever growing collection of Halloween decor!

    What old decorations might you find in your travels that you can upcycle?

    Until Next Time, Safe Travels!