Oil Paint Question

[temptress.livejournal.com]

The boxes cattereia posted reminded me that I have big plans to paint boxes myself (they're sitting unfinished on top of the bookshelf). I am going to latex/acrylic the base coat and oil paint on the motif...how do I protect them after that? What varnish (or something else?) would protect the oil paint but not make them tacky to touch (since I want these to be usable and touchable!).

Thanks for any advice!

More Christmas Cards

[phylsfrills.livejournal.com]

Yesterday was a productive day. I managed to get some more Christmas cards made. These ones will be going out to the grandkids, excpet for the "wolf" card, which will be going to a friend of mine, who is a huge wolf lover.
( kiddy cards here )

I used my computer to print out some of the characters on the fronts, and then used my Cricut cutter for some of the lettering and embelishments. Some glitter to jazz them up and viola! Some methods I used were machine stitching, chalking, embossing, gluing glitter.

Wee Prince

[koalajoe27.livejournal.com]

Wee Prince.  Sorry to tell you.  I didn't plan to make you at first, but my original project failed, and it became you.

How disturbing.

We are moved to tears by the size of this thing.

(no subject)

[ev-e-nes-ens.livejournal.com]

My mother is not a lucky woman, she never has been throughout her whole life.

I therefore decided to make her a lucky item, the Maneki-neko.

Maneki-neko come in a variety of different colours. Black is said to be the "colour of darkness", so the black Maneki-neko is believed to ward off evil and misfortune. Also, the black Maneki-neko with its left paw raised is said to "protect against the trouble that people bring".

( Beloved in Japan as a lucky cat that beckons good fortune. )

The parts to assemble, as well as the guide on how to assemble this paper craft can be found HERE!

Handbound Accordion Book

[talentshow.livejournal.com]

DSCN8331-
Originally uploaded by thekateblack.

This is my current favorite product photo that I've shot. I like the colors, the composition, and the little bit of rudeness -- it wasn't until I looked at the photo that I realized it said "MF" on the front cover of the book! It's like magic. I never get those stare- until- you- go- crosseyed puzzles either.


[[ Junkmail Square Accordion ]]

The covers on this are made from my favorite piece of colorful junkmail. This is entirely recycled from material sent to me by a stock photography company.

The sturdy textblock is made from bright turquoise blue Canson paper. This toothy paper can handle ink, pencil and many other media.

- 4.25" x 4.25" (11 cm x 11 cm)
- 24 pages, one sided. 46 pages if using both sides.
- 96" long when fully stretched.

Accordion fold books can be used like a traditional codex or stretched out flat.

Sometimes the world is like this.

[fallonmay.livejournal.com]

A whole bunch of stuff, some of it by me, some of it by my friend Heather.

Everything's behind a cut because they're big.

( Never fall in love )

Bearghan

[ariaya.livejournal.com]

Created for my niece over about 4 weeks. She went right for the nose ....



Original pattern from http://www.geocities.com/cdjsimon/bearghan.html

not jewelry

[bekochan.livejournal.com]

wow, i did something not jewelry related!
a friend of mine had a baby a little while ago, and i had meant to have this done before he was born, but i apparently am slow lol
well, since we are gamers i figured it was only right to give him his first set of dice. so i made a plushie version of d4. d6, d10, d8, d12, d20 and a percentaile die, and i made the bag for it as well out of nice soft plaid material. all of this was hand sewn and all the numbers are hand sewn on with embroidery floss, mainly because i was being lazy to drag out my sewing machine.
the pictures are small and bad because they are with my cell phone, (a digital camera is on my christmas list!)

( Read more... )

Business card holder?

[lilbrigid.livejournal.com]

I checked the memories and didn't see what I'm looking for. If it's in there, though, feel free to point me in the right direction. :)

Anyway, I have my first craft show coming up Sunday (yay!). I literally just signed up for it this morning -- seems the organizers didn't get the word out very quickly. It's just at my church. I've found lots of good ideas on how to display my jewelry, but I was wondering if anyone has any interesting -- or at least cheap! -- ideas for making a business card holder. Right now I have the box they came in, but that's kind lame. Thoughts? Thanks! And other advice in general is also nice. :)

And just so it's not text only, here are a couple of photos of the first stitch markers I've made. ( Over here! )

Journal Making Question

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

I am making my sister a journal because she likes to make lists and write down lyrics and such things and I'm looking for an excuse to use my "nesting" impulses. I did the binding part of the pages and such, I'm just having a little trouble with the cover. I used gorilla glue last night per the boyfriends suggestion and it turned out horrible! So, I'm starting over. (Thankfully I hadn't decided to complete the whole thing with that stuff.)

Is regular Elmer's glue really the best choice for adhering the fabric to the cardboard? I haven't used Elmer's glue since grade school and I always avoided the stuff since... Do I have any other options?

Thanks in advance!!!

Wooden Box Chrissy presents

[cattereia.livejournal.com]

I made my Christmas presents this year, after realising that i have no money. I bought the boxes for a few dollars each from the Reject Shop. I painted them. Then i printed off pictures that i edited in photoshop and stuck them on with a lot of PVA glue. after that dried, i used another layer of glue which adds a glossy shine. :D

( Take a look )

They only took a day or two, including the time taken for the pva glue and paint drying.

Christmas Kid Craft: Texas Snowman (aka: melty man)

[drowningmermaid.livejournal.com]

This year for Christmas, I decided I wanted our daughter, (lil_lily_b) to make something simple and cute for family. Something just from HER.

Together, we made pie pan ornaments (cut holiday shapes out of an aluminum pie pan, and hammer holes in it with a nail, file down rough edges, thread and hang) for family, but it was mainly me doing the hard work. Sadly, I don't have pictures but they weren't OMG, impressive, so no big deal.

This, however, is absolutely adorable and Lily did most of it.

I saw the idea for the Texas Snowman [click for an image of the marketed version] but didn't have a babyfood jar big enough. Also, didn't like the name. We're not in TX and though my sister and her husband live there, we don't. Boo. I don't like TX.

And so, my own rendition:
( The Melty Man )

Dr. Strange Mod; Or how I learned to love the lj-cut

[parasitegirl.livejournal.com]

Hey there,

This is just a modly reminder. We're a high traffic community and thus we ask you to adhere to the rules on our information page. If you're new here, it's a short read and not an unpleasant one. I wouldn't say it'll win awards or anything, but it might just win some friends.

This friendly reminder is brought to you by today and this rule:

Lj Cut ~
When posting large pictures (wider than 600 pixels), multiple pictures, or long posts, you need to use the LJ CUT TAG. If in doubt, use a cut.

Want to learn more about the joy of the lj-cut, a simple but elegant creature, then click here.

Take care!

almost forgot this

[bekochan.livejournal.com]

while looking in my cell phone for the plushie dice pics i found pics from a purse i had made back in may for a friend's birthday, she's a huge fan of nine inch nails as am i (it was really hard to part with this wonderful purse) these pics are a little bigger. the pictures of the nin logo and of trent reznor are iron on transfers for dark fabrics, i made a mistake to begin with and bought the transfers for light tshirts and needless to say it did not work in the slightest for what i wanted. this was mostly machine sewn, except for when i put together the front and back to the sides, that was hand sewn as the interfacing was too stiff to turn it inside out to sew. lots of fun to make though! there are two straps to this purse, one was made out of boning for corsets and such, and the other was the checkered ribbon, nice and long.. it looks kinda dirty in spots because the interfacing kinda came through when i ironed the transfers on. the black fabric was thin (from some old sheets i think)

( everyday is exactly the same... )

Tel Aviv's Craft Fair

[skywookiee.livejournal.com]

This site features works of some people at Tel Aviv's Arts and Crafts fair. None of this is mine, so not advertising, I hope.

( Under cut some photos taken there )

boo! its a little late for halloween :P

[shewhosews.livejournal.com]

almost a month late for halloween,
but hey, better late then never, right?
i'll just cut to the pictures
and describe as they go.
( a mouse, a lab tech, and a pirate )

Gussett Question

[pumpkinpi52.livejournal.com]

I saw a soft sculpture snowman in County Marketplace magazine and I'd like to make a large version to put out on my  porch to sit on one of my white wicker chairs this winter.  Maybe even a girl and boy version for each chair, if I get ambitious.*smile*.
I can figure out how to make the body and clothing, but I have no idea how to make a round gusseted head,  any ideas?
Thanks.

Sewing/Fabric Question

[kixeldorado.livejournal.com]

If you put the no sew fleece in the microwave, would it melt? I'm presuming it's not made from a natural fiber, but would it be completely a bad idea?

I wanted to make some rice bags, and I thought to make them extra cozy I could make them from fleece since I can't find flannel I like. Then it occured to me that microwaving it might get...well...sticky. (Doh, bad pun...)

Anybody have a clue or experience?

I could microwave a swatch to test, but I'm not really keen on having to clean melted goop out of my machine if someone else has the answer already. :)

(no subject)

[frayedgray.livejournal.com]

Quick question, can I not wash tshirts before stenciling?

Also, I bought a bottle of (clearance) waterbased fabric paint. It's a bit chunky, can I add water to give it a better texture since I'm guessing that it has dried up.