Cross Stitch on Chicken Wire

First, apologies for not posting for a very long time. I have been diligently working on my 365 Days of Art Challenge. I started watercolors, which I love. I never thought I could draw so I didn't even bother to try. I realize now that you just have to deconstruct the image. Then once you have the basic shell down, the watercolors do all the rest. I will post some of my work at a later time.  Now on to my new favorite obsession! Cross stitch on chicken wire.

 

Last year I found this inspiration piece on Pinterest.  I love the look but really felt that I 1) didn't have a large enough wall to hang this large of a peg board; and 2) that it would be a real challenge to work with that medium because it doesn't bend. It seems like it would be a real gross motor activity to produce this work.

 

 

 

So I started looking and thinking of an alternative canvas. I was at Lowes last week when it came to me: chicken wire! It is bendy so it can be rolled up to make it easier to work with. Plus I love the juxtaposition of mediums - the hard, industrial look of the chicken wire and the softness of the yarn. 

 

 

I found a neat old school rose cross stitch pattern on Pinterest.  I had an old picture frame I wanted to repurpose so I cut the chicken wire several inches bigger than the frame. I put duct tape around the cut edges so it didn't tear up my hands/arms/legs while I was working with it.  I used garden cutters to cut the wire because I didn't have wire cutters. It worked pretty well. But it did leave a rather jagged edge that you really need to cover up so it doesn't hurt you.

 

 

This is the final, framed picture. I really like the openness of the work.  I have the picture just sitting in the frame until I can have my son in law frame it tightly for me. I want to hang on my back porch so it will be right at home there. 

 

What do you think? I rather love it!  I found two large poster frames at a yard sale last weekend and they will be my next project. I will make sure to post them also.

 

 

Craft a Week #8: Tagxedo Revisit

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on the website Tagxedo. I did a quick word picture then but wanted to go back and revisit the site. I made the coolest pictures of four of my grandkids!  Here they are:

DeAndre

Timbo

Nat

Jas

I so love how these came out! I printed them out on good paper in high resolution and framed them. (They are currently on my mantle and will eventually make their way to their permanent space in the spare room). I also made copies for their Moms. These would make a wonderful Mother's/Father's Day gift!

Lesson learned: School photo head shots work really well for this project. This may be one of my new favorite (and easy) projects.

Happy Crafting!



Craft a Week #4: Tagxedo Word Picture

Man, I am on a roll this week!  I found this great site that allows you to upload pictures AND words, which then makes the words become the picture. So very cool.  The site is Tagxedo.  The program pretty easy to use and self explanatory. 

I think the greatest challenge is finding the right picture to use. My first one was a picture of Jasmine.  I used this photo:

I used this picture because it was a head shot and I thought it would work best.  First I uploaded the picture.  (Go to "Options" and click on "Shapes". Once there, either use a shape they already provide or upload a picture under the "Add Image" on the bottom right. 

Then I went into Word and typed in as many words as I could think of that made me think of her. I used words like amazing, funny, smart, creative, beautiful, daughter, sister, granddaughter, (her name), etc. When I got stuck I highlighted a word I already used and looked up synonyms.  Once I had a bunch of words, I saved it as a "txt" document so I could upload on the Tagxedo site.  To do this, go to the "Words" tab, and click "Load". Once there, click on the "File Browse" tab and upload your word file there.

And voila! your word picture is created. You may have to play around with some of the settings (under the "Word Layout" tab).  Once done, make sure to save your final document.   Maybe there's a way, but I could only figure out how to save a thumbnail on my computer.  The larger word picture does save on the Tagxedo site but I wanted to be able to save and play with it as a picture on my C drive. 

Here's my final product:

I don't like this Polly Pocket version because you can't see the actual shading of her face that compliments the photo (and really helps define it).  It does print out okay though. I think I'm going to work on these for the grandkids: print, frame, and hang in the spare bedroom. That way when they come to spend the night, they can see how their Gam really feels about them (lots and lots of love). 

You can also chose a shape, link a website, and create a word picture. Here's my RBG Word Picture:

I think this is a very cool site and worth playing with. Who wouldn't love a gift of a word picture that lets people know how much you love them?! And it allows me to do two of my favorite things at once: writing and crafting!

Happy Crafting

Random Bits of Goodness Angel Mirror

I was so excited and inspired by the original Random Bits of Goodness Mirror that I made another!  For the past few years I've been collecting religious icons, not really sure what I wanted to do with them. I really wanted to create a picture that had representation of many world religions, but I was very heavy on Christianity (including 4 strings of rosary beads - and I'm not even Catholic). Given that, I decided to make this one with crosses, angels, and other Christian artifacts.  I love it!

I love this little cherub. It's actually ceramic.

I picked up this tiny bible somewhere....I wanted to include it but couldn't "bronze" it. So for now, it's just sitting atop the frame.  I may try to attach it somehow.

Another corner with angels and crosses.

Here's the two frames hanging on my wall. 





Random Bits of Goodness Mirror

Those who know me understand that I truly enjoy kids, toys, and crafts. I love my grandchildren (and their friends, and my neighbor's kids). Our family has six children between the ages of 3 and 9 (and another sweet little baby joining us in March 2012). 

Five of our six children are within 2 years of each other so they've gone through the same developmental cycles around the same time. That means I've got alot of little plastic toys all over my house! Now that the most of the kids have outgrown them, I was on the lookout for something to do with all the residual playthings. (Obviously, I wasn't about to just toss the stuff out).  I came upon this very cool project!

The good people at the website "Can't Stop Making Things" (don't you love that name?!) gave me a solution. They call it a Faux Metal Mirror. I call it Random Bits of Goodness! I love all the little chachke that comes with little kids. This project gave me a great way to recycle, save and display toys that would otherwise have been thrown away.

It's a proces, so bear with me!

Supplies:

• Artist Canvas (mine is 16" x 20")
• Mirror tile (mine is 12" x 12")
• Lots of discarded plastic toys, or anything in your junk drawer (mine took alot. I knew there was a reason I saved all those KinderEgg toys)!
• Liquid Nails glue
• Spray paint for plastic (I bought pink because it was on sale at Ollie's for .99)
• Primer spray paint (I used rust color)
• Copper Metal & Patina Glaze by Valspar
• Antiquing Glaze by Valspar
• Clear spray

Tools

• Masking tape
• Paint brush
• Clean cloth (to apply the Antiquing Glaze)

Note: "Can's Stop Making Things" said to use Copper Topper but I couldn't find it locally so I substituted the Valspar products.

This is what I started with. I centered and glued the mirror onto the canvas.

Glue all the goodies onto the canvas, around the mirror.

Here's a close up. This was a process for me. I put things where I thought I wanted them but let it sit overnight before glueing in place. I'm glad I did because I changed some things. When you are satisfied with your placement, glue them into place.

Tape off the mirror. Spray paint with a paint made for plastic. The color doesn't matter. (Mine was pink). This coat is just so the true base coat will adhere appropriately. Apparently it will stick better if all pieces are covered in the plastic paint. I used several light coats to make sure everything was covered without dripping.

Allow to completely dry. Once that is done, spray with the rust primer.  Again, use light coats but make sure to completely cover all sides of the objects with the paint.

The Valspar product says to allow the base coat to dry at least 4 hours before using. This was a total test of patience for me as I really wanted to see the completed project!



The next step was to apply the copper glaze. I put two coats on, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second. While the second coat is still wet, I applied the antiqueing glaze. I let it dry overnight and then sprayed with the sealer.

Viola! My completed project!  I absolutely love how it came out! I don't think the pictures really do it justice. I'm still waiting for the sealer to dry and I will take more pictures later. Looks like metal, right?! I was going to hang this in my spare bedroom but I love it so much I think I will hang in the living room.

Since this came out so well, I'm going to make another picture. I'm interested in religious iconography and think I shall do one with crosses and angels. Stay tuned!

My $2 Picture

I've been looking for the right picture to hang over my fireplace for almost a year now. I'm REALLY thrifty so it makes my choices rather limited. Yesterday I stopped by a church rummage sale and found this picture. It's nothing spectacular but I loved it for several reasons. First, it's rather large (3.5' x 20"). Second, the colors match my living room colors (sage, rust, red, and off white). You can't really tell from this picture but the frame is gold and sage. Third, it was only $2!

What I didn't like about the picture is that it's just a print and the colors seemed kind of washed out. So I got a creative idea to spark it up with some acrylic paints I have. This is the after picture:

I'd still like to add more highlights but I only had toothpicks to work with (!). I figured little was way better than too much! I also need to get some gold leaf to spruce up the frame. I think it came out pretty nice for the first draft. I promise to post pictures when I do more to it.