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

'Marvel' at the freebies

Just a quick update-look what I found!

In a department store (if you are in the UK - Wilko's) I found this wallpaper with large, almost comic sized, Marvel comic cover prints.  You are able to rip some off to take home to test.....

Now, I was a Girl Guide when I was younger so I am "always prepared" and this means I 'may' have had a penknife and scissors to hand to cut off a few pieces to take home to 'test'!!!!

What can I say....it was too good to ignore. The wallpaper is lovely and thick and cut down should make some great cards and backgrounds too.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Ghibli daps

 Now, I know I am not the only one to fall into this trap.  

You see something on Pinterest and think "ooh, I could make that"

A few weeks go by and several hundred pins later you get round to making a start!

You finish and sit back to admire your work....its rubbish and looks NOTHING like the pin!

Well, on this occasion I was really pleased with the result!

I am a massive Studio Ghibli fan (Japanese Anime) and have seen lots of hand painted trainers on Pinterest recently so thought I would combine the two.

I bought some white daps (Bristol speak for plimsol!) from Lidl for £5 (bargain and surprising comfortable)

Then started sketching out the design in pencil to ensure I had the dimensions right.

  Then I filled the design in using a variety of paints I already had, a mixture of fabric paints and screen printing paints.

I outlined the designs in black and then allowed to dry overnight before setting them with a hot iron (not easy, it involved lots of padding with newspaper and quite a bit of swearing!).

I also gave them a couple of coats of protective spray (the sort for walking boots) and voila, one of a kind Ghibli daps!!

I love these and wish that I had bought more than one pair of shoes now!  If I see them on sale again I may be tempted to buy a black pair and see if I can decorate them too.

I love wearing these and my plan is to try to paint an umbrella next (if anyone has any tips on this then PLEASE get in touch as at the moment it's just a crazy idea!!).

Happy crafting

Kyla