Comic coasters

I just realised I haven't shared all the presents I made for people recently.

Whilst sorting through some stash earlier in the year I came across some MDF blank coasters that I totally forgot I had!!

In order to keep costs down and de-stash I decided to make some for presents.

The four on the left are Judge Dredd ones (2000AD comic) for my brothers birthday (it was on Valentines day).  The two female ones top right were Christmas presents for my mate Julie and the bottom right two superhero ones were for my brother in law and my nephew (dad and son coasters).

I painted the back and edges of the coasters in a couple of coats of black paint and once the images had been stuck down and dried the laborious task of sealing them begins.

Now I am not going to lie, its a chore.  I apply a coat of yacht varnish and leave it 24 hrs to dry.  Then apply another coat and leave it another 24 hours (yes the house smells like a chemical factory whilst this goes on) and give it a light  sanding. 

Then I apply a coat on the base and this time leave it 48 hours to fully cure.  Finally I add one more coat to the top and leave it another 48hrs.

Now, this may seem over the top however I have a coaster at work that I have used almost every day for well over 10 years.  It has been abused, sloshed over, left to hold hot drinks that then go cold whilst I forget them and still it looks as good as the day I made it.  So, I know its a faff but it really does make them bomb proof!

Has anyone else used a different sort of varnish/sealer to good effect? I would be interested to know as the smell of this one really is quite strong!!

Happy crafting

Kyla

First part of my Christmas make round up

Hello peeps, as many of you will know I have had to be a bit cagey over the past couple of months about what I show on my desk in case I uncovered something I was making for Christmas!

Finally I can share with you some of those makes.  First for each brother (hubby has 2 and I have 1) I made a homemade hamper.  They each contained a bottle of elderflower cordial, some spicy rhubarb chutney, spiced sugar (which contains flavours such as clove, orange, cinnamon and bay leaf, yep, bay leaf...it really does work) and some sloe gin.  All handmade and I finished off the hampers with some candy canes and some christmas tree decorations with their names on (not handmade but they did look so cute)!

 Back in the summer I did a glass fusing course and made necklaces, keyrings and coasters.  Now, I did make a few but I kept a lot of them myself so I need to do another course (luckily my brother in law and his lovely wife bought me a glass blowing course voucher so that's another craft to try!).

 I also made several book covers.  I made a few quilted ones (but these are a PAIN and took me hours to make just one!)

 So I decided to try using solid fabric instead and this worked just as well but took a lot less and didn't cause my RA to flare after.

Then there is the proverbial problem of what to make for men!  Well, my brother currently works for a Japanese company and I know that tradition states that they respect their business cards so I made him a leather business card holder with his initials stamped on the front.

So, that's a few of my latest makes.  I will finish uploading the rest of my photos soon and share them.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Hello everyone, happy Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

No desk today (or Man Bites Dog cards), sorry but I was on holiday all last week (hence the scheduled post last week) with no internet  which meant that I didn't really get round to many desks and this week are long shifts at work so only a quick post!

Part of the reason for being on holiday last week (SO lucky with the weather, the first time in 4 years we have had sunny weather all week on our UK holiday!!) was to attend the Devon Guild of Craftsmen Contemporary Craft fair.  3 days of the most beautiful craft and art.  Everything from gold and silver work, stone masonry, paintings, felt etc. Meeting the makers and buying direct is such a lovely way to purchase new art (some pieces were only £1.50....others were THOUSANDS!!).

After the WOYWW crop the other week, Donna kindly gave me a spare lino cutting handle (as mine has broken) and I promised to use it and experiment.

So, true to my word....I enrolled on a one off lino cutting session!

My first piece was a mark making experiment and I decided to cut ploughed fields with a fence.  My second piece was a seed head (I am a big Angie Lewin fan!). I must admit I am a bit hooked now!!

Also in the photo is a painting pad head from poundland!  At the crop Shaz' top tip was to use it as a stamp cleaner (a little like the considerably more expensive Stampin' Up one!) so I took myself off and bought one!  I have not tried it yet (too busy to craft since I got back off holiday) but I will let you know how I get on.

Right....off to finish unpacking from the holiday!!

Happy crafting

kyla

 

ooh new camera and some coasters

First of all, sorry its been so long between posts, I have not been very well but am slowly getting my craft mojo back (and downloading the photos). I am still looking for a free programme to resize, crop etc my photos ready for the web, so if anyone can recommend one then please post a comment.

So, what's been going on? Well, I have finally bought myself a new camera, a Panasonic Lumix and I am loving it, its so easy to use and takes wonderfully crisp pictures. It was getting a bit of a pain setting the SLR up for my art shots, so this should be so much easier and hopefully encourage me to upload lots more photos.

Whilst going through my photo's I came across quite a few craft ones that I don't think I have shared with the wider world...

These are the next lot of coasters I have made (hopefully for the present box I keep for Christmas and celebrations)

These 2 are plain MDF blanks that I distressed with distress inks, masking and stamping, adding various layers of colour and then adding depth by lifting some of the colour off with an alcohol free baby wipe.



I then made up my own spray bottle with some water and mica powder, spraying the coaster to add a little sparkle.

Then on one I added some vintage text from a book, distressing the edges with ink and over staming with a bumble bee (this is probably my favourite stamp at the moment). I then added a little stickles glitter in the corners just for a touch of bling!

I painted the undersides with 2 coats of black acrylic paint to make everything look nice and presentable then finished with 3 coats of yacht varnish to ensure that no hot mugs will stand any chance of damaging these little beauties (it takes an age for the varnish to dry, then lightly sand between layers, this part of the process can take 3 days, but its worth it as the coaster on my work desk has hot mugs standing on it all day every day for weeks now and there isn't one blemish on it).

Anyway, best crack on...

happy crafting

Li'l pidge x

Oooh 'shrooms, a skull and bit more besides

Look but don't touch! We found these 'shrooms whilst out walking last week. The 2nd one is fly agaric-definitely not an eater, not sure about the 1st one, so only took photo's and left them well alone, they look pretty though.

Well, back onto crafting. This is my latest ATC swap over on the CB Forum. The title was 'games'. These two were from Jintz (left) and Clara Cluck (right) and a RAK-thanks ladies they are wonderful and will be stuck up on my craftroom wall as inspiration.

This is my first altered MDF coaster. I applied a coat of white gesso, then a golden brown acrylic. I then stamped in stayzon black with a paperartsy fern stamp and used an antiqued Hot off the press flower plated, which I tore and distressed. I then coloured areas with Tim Holtz distressed pads in Mahogany and Tea dye, using a makeup sponge to blend.

I then tried my new decoart Wooden distress paint to try and crackle glaze-BIG MISTAKE. It reacted badly with the varnish and went all lumpy, instead of peeling it sort of went like a lumpy and spotty teenagers face, not nice so I have had to spend time stripping it back and sanding it down again. Oh well, its all a learning process, hopefully I can make it look like this again and NOT fiddle anymore!!

These are 3 more cards I have made, the butterfly with mica powders brushed over an image from a roller stamp coated with a clear ink, matted on silver and purple with a small metal hanging butterfly brad.
The bodice is with black velvet and red flock, and the secret garden card has an altered domino on it! I bought a pack of travel domino's from a pound shop and on the back (so that the spots don't show) applied alcohol inks and stamped the dandelion image in stayzon and edged with a gold marker. I must admit I really like the effect, and so cheap an item to alter.

On a totally different theme, the Mexican day of the dead festival is approaching, so I decided to make a shrink plastic skull to hang from a necklace or bag charm.

And finally, with my brother-in-laws wedding around the corner I realised I had no earrings suitable for the day, so I made some from friendly plastic and some glass beads I reclaimed from a charity shop bracelet. Hurrah, the colour is almost an exact match to my dress-happy days...

Off now to do yet another hot salt mouth rinse as my tooth is STILL giving my pain, the destist did a 360 deg. scan yesterday as the x-ray didn't show anything up, I am hoping it will all be ok, I am sure time will tell, its just that after nearly 6 weeks of this I am getting tired of the aching and worry....thank goodness I have crafting (and red wine!).

Happy crafting

Li'l Pidge