Which way do we want to go?

Quite often we are asked about our favorite places in our travels. So, on a post here they are.

The signs are made from recycled fence pickets, stencils cut from contact paper using a Silhouette Cameo and painted with all-purpose craft paint.

A little Bohemian in the garden? Why not?

One of the doors leading from HR’s shop into my garden looked pretty blah, all white and industrial. Before leaving on our fall travel adventure, I decided to have a little fun with it.

Amazon offers 6”X6” pieces of various colors of Oracal 651 craft vinyl for around $8 for a package of 12 pieces. I ordered two packages. This was a really easy project since it was pretty much random placement. I cut the flowers with my Silhouette Portrait, using the Silhouette Nature Flower designs.

Love it! The Oracal 651 is weatherproof so I am sure I will find other ways to use it in the garden (probably will add more flowers, maybe some leaves and who knows what else to this door.) 

New Prayer Flags

This week I added new prayer flags to my garden.

This one is for my daughter-in-law for Mother's Day. It will replace the one I made when she became a widow three years ago. Her daughters are now teenagers. One has her driver's permit and the other one will be entering high school in the fall. I will send her a card with a photo of the flag along with my wishes for courage and wisdom as she prepares the girls to leave the nest. (Hope she doesn't have time to read my blog before Mother's Day!)

The text and photo were printed on muslin with my Epson WF-3520. I like the DurBrite ink for fabric because it is waterproof. The birds are fabric that was ironed to Pellon Wonder-Under and cut with the Silhouette Portrait. After they were cut, they were ironed to the flag.

This was made for a young lady as she was recently Confirmed. She was a delight in my 4 & 5 year old Sunday School class several years ago. The text is from her Faith Statement. I sent her a card with a photo of the flag and a personal note.

The photo is one I took years ago. It was printed on Muslin. The text was printed on Transfer Artist Paper; I had to do the text twice as I forgot to flip the image before printing!

This was made for a former Sunday School student for his recent Confirmation. He is an avid outdoors man. The text is from his Faith Statement. A card with the photo and a personal note was sent to let the young man know a prayer flag is hanging in my garden.

 

If you are interested, you can learn about the Prayer Flag Project by visiting the web site http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/ You can see more of the prayer flags hanging in my garden by clicking here.

Special Guest in the Underground

Our granddaughter, Camille, chose to spend her spring break hanging out with me in The Underground. It was a jam packed week!

She loved using the Silhouette! She made this really cute garden flag for her sister’s new strawberry patch. It was stenciled with outdoor craft paint on outdoor fabric.

Zentangled by Camille

Her mother celebrated a birthday  this past week, so a birthday card and gift was in order. Following a tutorial on the BeautifulMess blog, Camille chose to make all natural bath bombs and scented goat milk soap. The studio smelled wonderful!

With the help of grandfather, HR,

she made this chalkboard/magnetic board.

We did some cooking and worked in a make-up lesson with Erin Hendley at F.A.C.E. Make-up Artistry. I don’t think we could work in one more project in the five days she was with us. Needless to say we are both tired but happy to have created few “remember when’s.” 

She also helped paint shelves for the slatwall. Next week I plan to take you on a tour of the updated studio. HR worked very hard to have it completed before Camille’s vist. 

Back Gate Sign

I have wanted to put a sign on our back gate but kept forgetting to have HR cut a piece of wood for me.  Just as I was preparing to take a box of clutter to the curb for Free Friday, I spotted a plastic

frame and the light bulb went on. I could use it for a frame for a sign! I just happened to have a 6-inch tile from my days of decoupaging that fit, (well close enough) and I had Folkart Enamel paint. Using the Silhouette Portrait, I cut a stencil from contact paper.  I stenciled our name to the tile. The directions on the paint said it needed 21 days to cure or it could be baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Into the toaster oven it went for 30 minutes.  In the meantime I spray painted the frame to look like metal. I glued the baked tile, which kind of yellowed in the oven, to the frame with E-6000 glue and added a soda can butterfly.  Only time will tell how well the paint holds up in rain, snow and sun.

Have any of you used Folkart Enamel paint for outdoor projects? If you have, how well did it hold up? Do you typically bake the projects or do you let it air cure? Have you used the new multi-purpose craft paint for outdoor projects?  Thank you for leaving feedback in the comments below.

Soda Can Butterflies

My studio has emerged from the underground to our outdoor space during the summer. Last week I shared my plastic bag pillow, this week I am showing you my soda can butterflies. Don’t you just love it when you can recycle things that would end up in the landfill? Okay, as HR reminds me, they too will end up in the land fill at some point; but it is still fun to reuse and, if you don’t count the paint and other supplies, it saves money, right?

When I saw soda can butterflies on the internet, I thought “Perfect for the garden fence!”  When I saw how easy it is to cut the aluminum cans and how well they take paint and markers, I became addicted. Let me show you what I mean.

First find some empty soda cans (don’t drink that stuff; it is just chemicals with no nutritional value.) Rinse them (if they are not from your family, I would say wash them well.) Using tin snips to get started make a cut to take off the top. After you get it started, you can switch to a pair of old scissors (I wouldn’t use good scissors for this.) However it works best for you cut away the top and bottom and cut down the can so you will have a sheet of aluminum. See what I mean about it being easy to cut!

Trace around a butterfly image (I got mine from the internet) with a Sharpie; with scissors, cut out the image. To make the embossing work well, put the cut-out on something soft like foam, put image on top of the cut-out; use a blunt pointed instrument (mine was a knitting needle)  trace the lines of the butterfly which will emboss it in the metal. To get good marks, I flipped mine over and traced the embossing marks, flipped it again and retraced the marks on the top side.

Now the fun begins!

Wipe the side you plan to use with rubbing alcohol

On this one, I used the color side of the can, filled the outer edge with a black Sharpie, and called it finished.

On this one I used the blank side of the can, filled it in with a yellow Sharpie and a black Sharpie on
the edge. I love how the yellow looks translucent!

I really like the way the Sharpie looks, but am wondering about alcohol inks and Lumieres . I am on the lookout for tossed soda cans!  Maybe I will fill the fence with butterflies!

Herb Garden gets a new sign.

Due to a very harsh winter here in Western Kentucky, I lost a number of tender perineal herbs, including a 7 year old rosemary tree. It seemed like a good time to re-do my herb garden. I was gifted a pretty little bird bath a couple of years ago and had not found the right spot for it. After removing the dead rosemary tree, a perfect spot was created.

 

I found a darling wind chime at Tuesday Morning in the same color as the bird bath. To add another color, I chose a yellow million bells plant.

To tie it altogether, it needed a sign.

 

 

Using a technique I learned in a Kijsa Houseman workshop, I painted a board with teal paint. While it was drying, I used my SilhouettePortrait to cut a stencil from contact paper. I adhered the cut-out letters to the board, painted over it, again with teal. This step helps to keep the next color from bleeding. After it was completely dry, I painted the board yellow and left it to dry. When it was dry, I pulled off the letters, revealing the blue paint, attached a chain and hung on the fence.

Sorry there are no photos of the process. I have several more signs to paint; I will do a more detailed tutorial.

 

Special Visitors

Special visitors joined me in the Underground this week. Granddaughters Alison and Camille took advantage of my studio to make a memorial garden stone for their beloved canine, Laika, who passed away about a month ago.

 

 

The peace sign was incorporated in the design as a remembrance of her peaceful nature.

 

 

The finished stone will remain in the mold for a few more days, untill it is totally set.