Irked I am.

[dietcokehed.livejournal.com]

I've been collaging for years, but only recently have I been making things to actually display in a gallery or something. When I started, i was using rubber cement...which anyone with the experience will know, it SO doesn't hold up. I was then referred to ModPodge, which I liked for the gluing and coating options. However, the warping of the paper is UNREAL!! So I asked a fellow collager what she suggested and she said she used Golden Gel medium. I confirmed this with a former teacher of mine who also used collage, and he said anything non-water based should work. Guess what? It so did not! Now I want to cry because what had the potential to be a beautiful piece of work looks like a warped piece of shit >:(
From a distance it looks ok.
I realized later how stupid I was to use the original pieces I glued...shoulda made scans or copies dammit. Then thought perhaps, if copied onto heavier paper (heavier than, say, the magazine it was cut from!) that it may not warp?
Or is all collage destined to warping?

Please oh please help. This is my medium, I must succeed!!

Penguin card

[trtlgrl.livejournal.com]

I made this card for my cousin who's turning 7 in a few weeks.

( Inspired by the movie Surf's Up )

"couture" cuffs

[stickysweetfun.livejournal.com]

i got an itch to embroider again
but i'm always kind of irked by the uselessness of embroidery.
and so:





freeform embroidered cuff bracelets with
linen, recycled fabrics, and vintage mother of pearl buttons.
entirely handmade, down to the knotted loop closure.

i kind of impressed myself with these, so of course i had to show them off here. ;P

(no subject)

[mybiznass.livejournal.com]

2 posts in 2 days...... go me!

i originally posted these in sew_hip but SEWING IS A CRAFT, RIGHT??

i love love love this fabric... upholstery fabric rules for totes, cases, etc because it holds up well

tote & clutch:

Cyborg mannequins

[madfishmonger.livejournal.com]

So this friend of mine is a DJ and promoter, and he's throwing a party in a couple of months and has a large space he needs to decorate. He's doing a sort of futuristic robot theme for it, and wants to have some cyborg mannequins around. He looked into them, and found they're quite expensive to get a whole one. We might be able to get some torsos and heads, but the arms and legs are where it gets expensive for some reason. Some of the thoughts we were throwing around were making our own robot arms and legs and such, but I wondered if some of you crafty people might have some ideas.I've seen patterns for making your own dress forms, but these usually have no arms or legs. I was thinking of trying to adapt one of these to make a robot, wanted some advice and ideas.

Also so this isn't a text-only post, here's some bags I made that I don't think I posted yet (but may have and forgot, sorry if that's the case)
( bags! )

Weird Question: Dying Plastic Eyeglass frames???

[whoisr.livejournal.com]

I noticed that when my hair was dyed purple, some of the dye came off to my eye glass frames. I am currently getting new eyeglasses, but I just don't like the color. I was thinking about dying the frames but, not have such of a hassle with some sort dye if I get accidentally get some dye on the lenses. I was thinking of putting clear tape on the lenses and cutting it so it won't get on the lenses. I just need to know if this is possible to dye the frames.


Any suggestions on if their are any types of dyes that will stain plastic but does not stain and wash off of glass?? O_O'

Broach #1

[miss-elysium.livejournal.com]

Broach #1, originally uploaded by katbret_photography.

I've been crafting, and here is what I ended up with...

(no subject)

[katjekattekop.livejournal.com]

( lil coin purse )

Decorated flip flops

[clndstnkidx33.livejournal.com]

Since I love circa survive so much :D haha        
I need to clean them up a bit, but I used sharpie and watercolor
um I'm not going to wear them because I don't want the design to come off, I wish there was a  way to preserve them :|
but for now they'll just have to hang on my wall.

Advice please

[http://users.livejournal.com/_delicateterror/]

Does any one have any experience painting on wood? I want to bring out the grain of the wood but I think that the wood still
has to remain porous so that the paint takes to it and isn't sitting on top of an oil based stain.
I don't want the paint to bleed either...so...should I use oils vs. some types of acrylics? Thicker acrylics wont bleed, I know
that much.
The little bit of vegetable oil applied to the below painting worked to bring out the grain of the wood but the car paint still bled a
tiny bit.
Maybe I should try mineral oil?
The way I see it, an oil would stop the bleeding but then the paint would sit on top of the oil and might bead up or not go
on properly.
I could be very wrong about this.

So that this isn't text only, here is my first (not yet completed) painting done on birch.

( Painting )