Art and Soul Configuration Box

 I've finished the Art and Soul configuration box that we started at Jan's house during our WI Art Camp in October.  Here is a look at the entire project.  It will be fun to see everyone else's box.  I had various ideas for how to finish this project and even started looking at the craft stores for things to use.  BUT... then I decided to use items I already had on hand.  I've been trying to use up things I've had so why not in the case of this project!!
It is amazing what a person can accumulate over the span of several years.  All the items I added were so small that it didn't even make a dent in my stash.
However, I really enjoyed this project and could see doing more of them in the future.

 Here is a closer look at the embellishments hanging off the right side of the box.  The only item I added since leaving Jan's is the shrink plastic torso.  There are some beads, one being a die, attached to the stamped shrink plastic torso using red artistic wire.  Would you believe this is a left over charm that I made years ago as a swap item for the Raeven's Nest retreat in Cedarburg... where the Bev, Carol, and Margaret met us face to face for the first time!!!  I guess this charm was meant to be part of this project class that we took together.

 In the lower right corner is a small rectangular box.  This one gave me a bit of a problem.  I tried out one idea and ripped it out.  Then I strung colored beads and a gear charm onto artistic wire.  I pushed one end of each string into a small hole in the sides of the box and secured with some diamond glaze.  Then I found some silver fan charms and attached it to the corner of the box with diamond glaze and then added a pearl embellishment.

 Standing on the small rectangular box is the torso.  I found  a beaded chain, that I think I pulled off some other project, and wrapped it around the torso securing with stick pins and diamond glaze.  I added a gear charm in the chain at the torso's waist.  I had a package of jewelry heart charms so I chose the silver one and attached to the chest of the torso with diamond glaze.  Jan had given us some embellishments to use as we chose so I took a couple of the gears and a large spinner, secured them together with a colored brad and used liquid nails to attach to the torso.

 In the lower right I had placed a square box.  I found a metal 'castle' and 2 copper star charms that someone had given me in my stash.  I used a piece of thick cardboard to attach and prop the castle up with and placed one star so that it hung in the opening of the castle.  The other star was attached using a black brad into the side of the box.  I used another fan charm in the corner of this box using red line tape and diamond glaze to secure.

 I placed a small square box on top of the larger box, but before doing that, I used red line tape to attach decorative trim to all four sides on the front of the box.  Using a small piece of artistic wire I hung a decorative metal piece from the top of the box.  I had 4 of these metal pieces and can't remember who I got them from, but I've had them for years.  To the right of the box I attached a small bottle that Carol had made.  I think it was from some charm swap that we did years ago on CCSwaps.

 Just above the small square box and to the left of the torso I used the clock face, angel wing, and spinners that Jan had provided with this project.  I used another one of my 'gem brads' to secure the hands to the clock face and then used red line tape and dimensional tape to secure the items to the back of the box.

On top of the box I added 2 more of the metal embellishments like the one I had used inside the small square box.  I used liquid nails to secure them to the light bulb.
This project was so much fun.  Thanks Jan, for having this class for us.  It opened my eyes to a lot more project ideas... now all I have to do is execute them!!!

Altered Apron

I'm finished!!!  Here is a shot of my altered apron that was started during our WI Art Camp in October.  The only thing I added since the art camp are the 2 TAP transfers of our art camp group.  Here is a run down of who did what to my apron; I'll start at the top and work my way down the apron from left to right...
- Maggi created a small pin using friendly plastic we played with during our art camp.  It is in the upper left corner of my apron.
- Jan drew the artistic letter 'C' in the top center.
- Pea created the friendly plastic black and white checkered heart that is velcroed onto the apron just below the 'C'.
- I added the pic of Molly that had placed on a TAP transfer.
-  I added the small butterfly transfer on the left side.
- And there is the TAP transfer that Margaret sent to all of us.  It is a pic of all of us in our altered aprons.
-  Carol drew the butterfly on the right side using fabric markers.
- Margaret applied glittery paint over a flowered stencil and then added gems in the center of some of the flowers.
- Pea stenciled the letters 'W', 'A', and 'C' for WI Art Camp.  I added the other letters using scribbles fabric paint.
- I added the smaller TAP transfer of our artsy group that Margaret also sent to us next to Pea's WAC.
- I drew the fish using the scribbles fabric paint.
- Bev hand embroidered the word 'create' onto a piece of burlap fabric and then added a decorative button and flower before attaching to the  apron using french knots.  I'll bet she thought she'd never finish.
- Mary had stamped an image onto a piece of muslin and added some color prior to art camp.  Then she sewed it onto the apron pocket.
Needless to say... I don't think any of us will wash these aprons and take the chance of losing all the wonderful artwork.  It was a fun project and I think everyone enjoyed it.

WI Art Camp 2012 - Day 5

It's our last day... sooooo sad!!!  But we're taking a class with Jan..... soooooo fun!!!!
Our class is called Art and Soul and we're working with one of Tim's configuration boxes.  The project was supposed to be Heart and Soul, but the hearts that Jan ordered didn't get to her in time so we substituted Mary's paper mache torsos.  And as it turned out, I think we all liked using the torsos more than we would have liked the hearts!!!
Some things just happen for a reason!

 On the way to Jan's house we met Pea at Artist and Display and did some 'damage'.  The TAP paper that Margaret turned us on to, and the gelli plate that Jan demoed at my house were popular items!
And then it was on to Jan's for fun and more shopping!!!







We had printed instructions that Jan made for us and we began the project step by step.  But like any project we all work at a different pace and Jan had great patience with us all.  We started by punching holes in our box covers so we could install the wheels and various other embellishments.

 Then we needed to paint our boxes.  We had choice of acrylic paints, distress stains, and the new distress metallic stains.  I chose the easiest... distress metallic stain.. and I only used one color since I don't trust my ability to blend colors.
We took a break for lunch and you just couldn't stop some of us from shopping.
And then it was back to work.
Jan's husband Carl got home from work and started working on our dinner... what a treat!
 

Poor Margaret.... There were so many of us that we had an overflow area since the rest of us took up the entire dining room table.

 We all used decorative tissue paper to cover the inside of our main box... simply applying with glue or matte medium, I used matte medium.

 Once we determine which of the smaller boxes we would use inside the main box we used paper tape and/or washi tape to cover the outside and inside of the boxes.  Jan had a ton of choices for us... black, white, colors, patterned, etc. 
This was the first time I had used the tapes and after a little practice with them I like them and would use them again.

Margaret took a different approach... I like it!!!
Rather than have her inside boxes with the openings facing out, she turned them around, painted them to match the outside of the box, and attached embellishments on them so they looked like drawers.  How cool!!!

 I think this is Pea's.  And now we're almost ready to move on to adding embellishments to the box and then working on the torso.   We added metal corners to the box cover, a 'skate' key to the side with embellishments hanging from it, a key to hang off the front, and a numbered plaque attached to the top.

 We covered the torso with metal foil.  But before we did that, Jan had us practice with flashing tape on a paper mache heart so that we could see how easy or difficult it would be to work on a curved surface.
We tore the metal tape in pieces and then applied to the entire torso.  After smoothing it down we used various items to create texture... like a tracing wheel, a pen, a piercing tool, and a credit card.  When we were satisfied with the texture we created we used alcohol inks to color the torso.  After coloring the torso we used steel wool on the torso.  You could rub as little or as much as you wanted.
Carol did something different with her torso... only part of it was covered with the metal tape and the other part was covered with a napkin.

 This is my box to the right.  I didn't rub my torso as much as everyone else.  I noticed that the more you rub, the more color that comes off.  I wanted my torso to have lots of color since there was so much white, black, and silver to my box.
If you notice on the bottom of the box there is a metal plate, and each of us needed to come up with a 6 or 7 letter word to punch with a dymo  that we slipped inside the plate.  My word is 'petite' and Pea's word is 'sweet p'... so appropriate.  I think Margaret's word was 'armoire'.

 I think this box is Bev's, but I'm not sure.  We were all so busy I couldn't keep up with what everyone else was doing.

 Maggi's box is on the right.  She painted the insides of a couple of her small boxes instead of lining with the paper tape. 
There would be more work to be done on our own.  We did not finish the insides of our small boxes at Jan's ... that is to be completed at home.  I'm glad because at this point I need to think about what I want to do with them.
And you can see on Margaret's below that our next steps were to embellish our torso with some of the items that Jan provided and to attach the slides across the top of the box.
The original project that Jan found on line showed using a circular slide from a viewfinder, but she couldn't find any of them.

 Above is a picture of all 7 of our creations.  Now, it is up to us to take them home and finish them.  Hopefully we all remember to post pictures when we finish them.  This project has given me more ideas for projects I can make as gifts.  Thanks so much Jan!!!

 Check out this grill!!!
Chef Carl is making us dinner... are we lucky or what??
Carl made chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, and if that wasn't enough, he also made pork tenderloins that were covered with coarse ground dijon mustard while they were cooked.  It was all sooooo delicious!

We returned home from our wonderful day of crafting, shopping, and eating at Jan's and Bob had already started a bonfire for us.  Too bad we were full from eating dinner... no one had room for s'mores!  It was such a mild day and night that the fire was just enough warmth to keep us cozy.  It was our last night before Bev, Carol, and Margaret flew away.
Another successful Art Camp!!!  And yes, we are doing it again.  We may  squeeze a CA Art camp in there, but I think we're all wanting to come back to WI again in 2013.  It works for me!!!

WI Art Camp 2012 - Day 3 Addition

I forgot something!!!  Jan had to leave early, but the rest of us decided to tackle one of the melt pot techniques; however, instead of using the melt pot we used the griddle.
This technique involved using jewelry bezels and charms.  You started by placing the bezel on a craft sheet on the hot griddle.  First we sprinkled various colors of embossing powders into the bezels.  The instructive utube video showed using ultra thick embossing powders, but we didn't have those so we just used the regular embossing powders.  That may be the reason some of our colors ran together after we added the clear UTEE.  I hadn't taken any pictures of all of us as we worked on this project so this picture is of the 2 bezels I had created.
After sprinkling the colored embossing powders lay charms inside the bezels and then sprinkle clear UTEE  into the bezel.  We found that adding too much UTEE resulted in your charms being completely covered and since the colored powders appeared to be mixing with the UTEE as it melted the charms would disappear!!!  You needed a tweezers so you could grab the bezel and pull it off the griddle as soon as the UTEE melted.  I like mine, but if I ever get some colored ultra thick powders I would try this again and see if the results are different.

WI Art Camp 2012 - Day 4

 It was Day 4 already... where was the time going??  If I remember correctly we started by finishing off the melt pot techniques.  I had failed to take pictures during our melt pot session... so you are stuck with pictures of my creations.
This is the cloisonne technique from Suze Weinberg.  Using a tweezers dip a Formica sample chip into melted black UTEE to cover one side of the chip.  Remove and let cool.  Using a brush, apply various colors of perfect pearls to the chip.  Now heat the chip using a heat tool to soften the UTEE and immediately press a stamp that has been inked with gold brilliance pigment ink into the chip.  Let cool and remove the stamp.  You can take this a step further, I didn't, by again heating the chip with a heat tool and the colors with meld together.

 I liked this technique best and I think it worked for most of us.  Lay a memory frame on top of a stamp; I used a background image of swirls.  Slowly pour the melted black UTEE into the memory frame being careful to not overflow the boundaries of the frame.  Let cool and lift the memory frame off.  Then brush on perfect pearls and you can also add some glitter glue as I did in my piece.

 This did not turn out as the utube video showed.  Lay the memory frame on a craft sheet and pour melted UTEE into the frame.  The utube had melted clear and a small bit of white UTEE added.  We used clear with a bit of pearl UTEE.  Again be sure to not overflow the boundaries of the frame.  While the UTEE is soft press a stamp that has been inked with embossing or versa mark into the UTEE.  Let cool before removing the stamp.  Now sprinkle embossing powders onto the image and heat with a heat gun.  I think I heated too much and lost the definition/image created by the  stamp.  Oh well, this one will require practice.... if I decide to do it again.

Next we moved on to the ATC booklet.  This is the sample I made prior to the Art Camp.  I altered the instructions of the booklet that Maggi had found on line so that it would accommodate ATC's.  I cut pieces of mat board for everyone and had found small envelopes that were approximately ATC size so that all they would need to do was assemble.  This easy booklet takes less than a 12 x 12" piece of decorative cardstock to make... if you don't make the insert envelopes by hand.
When I created my sample I did make the inserts and created a template so that I can do this again.
Thanks for finding this project Maggi... I think everyone liked it.

We needed to take a break for lunch at this point. Some chowder that Maggi made for us and sandwiches.  We really got a lot done... and besides... it was Margaret's birthday today!!!!   We had lunch and then had Birthday Apple Pied baked in a paper bag from the Elegant Farmer.  Thanks Mary ...  for getting the pie.







 And now... the shadow box.  Maggi had received a shadow box from her sister.  Inside the box were various pieces of paper rolled and secured with thread and embellishments.  It looked like something we could do...why not??
I had picked up some 8 x10" black framed shadow boxes at Michael's.   We told everyone to bring decorative or handmade papers and embellishments and ribbons or threads for this project.

 Mary brought over lots of interesting papers and others brought papers that were added to the center of the table for everyone's use.
Maggi started us out by showing us how to roll the papers using a bamboo skewer and glue.
It got pretty quiet for a while as we all concentrated on our shadow boxes.
I haven't finished mine yet...I have all my papers rolled, but haven't added the fibers and embellishments.  At least I remembered to take pictures.

 I think they all turned out great!!!  Here are pictures of some of them.  Above, Bev shows off her art.  I'm not sure whose art is on the right!!!

 I got a picture of this one before we put the frame on.  Maggi had a great idea... since she already had the one her sister gave her she didn't need another.  So we all contributed rolled papers for this one on the left that Maggi worked on.  Margaret and Maggi worked on the finishing touches and we took it along on Wednesday and gave it to Jan since she couldn't be with us on Tuesday.

 Here is a picture of Jan's shadow box after it was completed.  We gave it to her the next day and she absolutely loved it!  This box is facing the wrong way in the picture... it is intended to be hung up in a landscape orientation.

 Here is a picture of Margaret's completed shadow box.  Again, it will be hung in a landscape orientation.

 And here is Mary's.  She did choose to do hers in a portrait orientation; however, I just realized I have this picture upside down!!!  Oh well, just stand on your head to view it correctly!

We're done!!!  Maggi has left for the day and the rest of us are having a drink!... Yes, in some cases an alcoholic drink... We deserve it!
I can't believe all that we accomplished!!!

WI Art Camp 2012 - Day 3

 Onward to Day 3.  Today was transfer day; there were several that we tried: TAP, transparency, and deli wrap.
Margaret had brought supplies for us to use and had printed some images on her printer at home using both TAP and transparencies.  We weren't sure if a special type of printer was necessary for those types of transfers.  

 It is a good thing Margaret printed some images for us.  I was able to print onto the TAP at first, but later on I couldn't get the specialty paper to feed through my printer.  I was extremely frustrated.  I think that I may have 'gummed up' my print rollers when I printed images onto the slightly waxed deli wrap because it seemed that after I did that is when I began to have issues with the TAP.

 Using the TAP was so easy.  Once the image was printed onto the TAP all you had to do was iron the image onto whatever you were transferring the image onto.
You don't have to use a printer to get the images onto TAP; you can draw on it also and then perform the transfer.  TAP is a Leslie Riley product and they carry it at the Artist and Display store in Milwaukee.  Several of the ladies bought some when we stopped there on Wednesday on our way to Jan's house.

 When doing the transparency and deli wrap transfer techniques you needed to use soft gel medium.  I think we all tried some of each type of transfer. 
Jan also brought some lutrador for us to try.  This product has the look and feel of interfacing.  After you transfer an image to it you can use a heat gun to get the edges to curl or to create burn holes on the edge or in the center of the piece... very cool!!!

.Margaret knew lots about transfers and so did Jan... so both of them really helped us out with this project.

 In between projects on day 2 and day 3 those who hadn't finished working on the aprons did so.  Here we are modeling our embellished aprons.  Everyone loved theirs and had a great time working on this project.  I'm not sure what will happen if any of us try to wash our aprons!!!

 

 Just in case our group picture didn't turn out we, or should I say Bob, took many.  I picked the best to show on the blog... some serious and some silly.

 I was in the front row so I didn't know what was going on behind me... now I know.

 Some of us have on our pins.... yes, Bev made us pins for our WI Art Camp... just like she had made last year.

 Jan also brought her gelli plate.  It is a rather new product that we played with.  This too was a hit with some people and when we stopped at Artist and Display there were several flying off the shelf. 
Jan demoed and most people tried it out to create backgrounds.  Basically, you apply layers of various acrylic paints to the thick gel plate and then can use stencils or texture pieces (like bubble wrap and punchinella) to create interest and depth

 I was watching the fun and still trying to get my printer to work with the TAP that Margaret brought for us to play with.  The more I tried, the more frustrated I got... I just don't know when to give up.

 Margaret is showing off one of her creations. She loved the plate.

We're getting toward the end of the afternoon and some of us are winding down.  Jan had to leave because it was Monday and she had to be home for her son.  I'm not sure what the rest of us are working on.
We were trying to fit 2 projects in each day, but we decided in the future that 1 project a day is probable enough.... besides, we need time to talk and enjoy each other without the stress of projects.