Frames for Dremel

Here are my samples that I made up for Dremel on Monday. I brought them up with me when I went to see them in Racine, WI. I went up there to show the Dremel ladies how I did my frame so they would know what we needed to do while at CHA. I like these frames a lot more than my original samples. We did a mini workshop while I was there.

They are a lot more scrapbook-y than my usual stuff. I had to think of something that would make a good make 'n take. I wanted to use stuff that people might carry in their store. I also had to consider my audience. There are a lot of scrapbook type retailers at CHA. Of course, any mixed media artists that did the make 'n take could change it to what they wanted. That is the beauty of having a lot of embellishments.

The top frame is meant to be more male - no flowers. There are a lot of men who go to CHA and do the make 'n takes. I had quite a few men do the mah jong pendants at the last two CHA shows.

Basically, this make 'n take is Lumiere paint, drilling, using the new Dremel Driver (screws nails and screws into things), and embellishing with the Dremel glue gun. I have to tell you that the Dremel Driver is a lot of fun and very easy to use. You might have seen the battery powered screwdrivers. This is the same idea but I think easier to use. We had a Black and Decker one for a long time. It worked okay but it did not keep a charge very long. This Driver had a good charger. It's design makes it easy for me to hold in my hand. It is more like holding a gun rather than a long tube. It has a convenient button so you can go into reverse - which I do a lot. DH loves this one as well. Hey, Phil, mine!

Can you tell that I am so loving the Prima flowers? I usually don't like the paper flowers but I love these. They have the text, different pictures, and little collages on them. I don't use the pink ones that much. Beth, you can have all of those. They are amazingly durable. The words were made with the mixed mini grungeboard letters. You can buy that at skybluepink.com. I have a link in the right column.

BTW, the Dremel hot glue gun has a fine point tip for detailing and for smaller items. I used mostly found objects on these sample frames but there will be a lot of fun smaller things like Scrabble tiles, bingo tiles, little metal objects, etc...at CHA. I don't know what booth we will be at. Look for me. Come and say hi to me. You can even do the make 'n take. Hope to see you there!

Texture ATCs

These were done for the ABC alteredbookclub Texture ATC swap. Click on the pict for a larger view.

BTW, if you are interested, I have a great source for chipboard ATCs, inchies, and 1.5 inch squares. You can do a bulk buy for a really, really good price. 100 pack would be $6.30 plus $4.80 shipping (domestic, price can change at any time). Better deals for larger quantities, probably. You can always split it with someone and save mucho dineros. I like chipboard for ATCs - especially texture ones - less tendency to warp like with card stock. It is worth it because I don't get really straight cuts when I cut my own chipboard. The ones I get from my source are clean and straight. Well worth it for me. I also use chipboard ATCs for samples for other people. Email me (link at right) and I will reply with her email. I don't know her store link but will post it when I find out.

Okay, technique time. Chipboard ATC, masking tape, silver, copper, or any metallic color Lumiere paint, paintbrush, coarse sand paper, key, frayed burlap Distress ink and reinker (you can easily substitute the green or brown color, even the dark blue color is muy cool).

Tear off small strips of tape and put on ATC. Overlap. You can go over the edge but fold it over and press down so it won't come up later. When you have covered the ATC with masking tape, give it a good once over so the tape is on firmly. This is your texture part.

Take the paintbrush and give it a good, even coat of Lumiere. Let dry and give it a second coat. The ATC should be completely dry before going on to the next step.

Take an old key and run it over the masking tape to make some deep marks. Okay to go into chipboard. Dig into it but don't take a chunk of tape with it. Take excess tape off end of key as you go along.

Take a piece of coarse sand paper and run it over the ATC. I like to do the edges. Okay to expose chipboard. You want that. You want the Distress ink to stick to and color the exposed areas. Wipe with paper towel to get grit off.

Reink your Distress pad. Take the pad direct to ATC and rub it around in a circular motion all over the ATC. Make sure you get into the exposed areas where you sanded and put the key marks. Don't forget to edge with the Distress Ink pad. Reink if necessary, if you are doing multiple ATCs. If you are not getting enough ink into the exposed areas, use a foamie thing or cosmetic foamie thing to get the ink into the exposed areas. The areas with Lumiere should be a bit darker as well.

Let dry completely. The end result looks like my pict above. This is a variation of the faux metal technique that I have been doing lately. This is how I did the roof of my little house.

more 2x2 metal samples

These are new. I just finished the 10 mil copper sheet ones this morning. If you want a more detailed view, then just click on the pict.

For the 10 mil - which I got from basiccopper.com. I took a large piece and painted it with copper Lumiere. Two coats, dry in between layers. I gave it a blast with my heat gun to make sure it would stick to the metal. So far, it is holding up really well. Used coarse sand paper and a paper clip to get the roughness and little nicks. I cut the squares out using a 2" square template cut from matboard. I rounded the corners with scissors. I sanded so the edges would not be too sharp. I used a hot glue gun and some metal scraps for the focal images. I also had some other little doo hickies that I added on. Sometimes, the hot glue gun will not work and will slide off when dry. That happened with some of them. I just used some liquid glue and stuck it back on. I was going for grungy, so I used some fluid acrylics on top of the metal to complete the look.

Swap sign-ups in the Mixed Media Art Friends group still open. You can see where I punched the hole and put in an eyelet for the binding ring. You are welcome to do this technique for your 2x2s. I am sure that you will have a very different piece from mine. I love seeing other people's perspectives!

Comments welcome.