General Crafts

Mulberry Paper Collage for Wood Working

Leave a Comment / General Crafts, Painting and Color Work, Woodcarving / By

Collage is the art of using small scraps or pieces of paper, fiber, and printed material to create an image.  Its a favorite for scrap booking, altered art, and fine arts.  It can also be used for your wood and gourd crafts.

Supplies:  mulberry paper, rice paper, hand-crafted art paper, an acrylic based glue, a home computer printer, and a digital pattern.

ArtDesignsStudio.com and LSIrish.com are affiliates of Amazon.com.  Your purchases through these links helps me to keep LSIrish.com blog free for your fun.  Thank you for your support!

Mulberry and rice papers have little to no grain.  Instead they have a random fibrous base that allows the papers to bend, and adjust to the surface upon which they are applied. They are often semi-transparent which allows the media to show through the paper fibers – you don’t lose your wonderful wood grain of your basswood slab when you lay printed mulberry paper over top the surface.

Plus! They can be used with your home printer.  It is so much easier to print a complicated mandala pattern on art paper and then glue that paper to your board, then to try and trace each and every line of the design.

Acrylic-based glues and pastes keep the printed paper from becoming water saturated, which will cause the paper to buckle.  Try Yes! Glue, or PVA bookbinding acid-free glue instead of Elmore’s.

I have two new pattern packages on my pattern website, at ArtDesignsStudio.com, that are perfect for collage work.

I have also posted a new E-Project for creating a Mulberry Paper covered collage wood box, with step-by-step instructions.  Currently, July 13th, 2022, there is a Try It Before You Buy It free mandala pattern for the clock shown below posted on ArtDesignsStudio.com’s homepage.

This is a 1/2″ thick, end slab of basswood.  Sand the slab with 220-grit sandpaper and remove any dust.  Measure for the center point to create the 3/8″ hole needed for the clockworks.  Print your free pattern on Mulberry paper.  Use YES! glue with a palette knife on the back of the paper.  Center the mulberry printed pattern over the clock hole and with your fingers gently rub from the center out on the paper to remove any air bubbles.  Let the basswood collage slab dry overnight, then color your mandala with your favorite coloring agent – colored pencils, gel pens, watercolor crayons, soft pastels, and even watercolors.  Seal the finished clock with acrylic spray sealer … That’s it, quick, simple, and fun.

 

My new E-Project focuses on creating a collage covered wood craft box with a mandala design that flows over the top and sides of the box.You will learn:

how-to print the pattern to your art on mulberry paper,  rice paper, or hand-crafted art paper
how-to remove the pre-made box hardware
how-to measure the paper to fit the inside and outside of the box
how-to apply the acrylic-based YES! glue
how-to roll the paper over the sides of the box
how-to cut the lid free from the bottom
how-to create a secret inside lid trap door.

 

Of course, the E-Project covers basic instructions on using colored pencils to highlight your design.

Plus, there is a large, bonus, peony design, shown printed on medium-beige mulberry paper, ready for framing.

The new E-Project, Art Paper Mandala Collage E-Project, includes both mandala pattern packs – Mandala 1 Collage Patterns, and Mandala 2 Collage Patterns.  $14.95 for all.

Mulberry Paper Collage for Wood Working Read More »

Burning & Carving Fish

Leave a Comment / Adult Coloring, Altered Art, General Crafts, Pyrography, Relief Carving Projects, Woodcarving / By

Let’s think outside the box today!

Your wood carving steps can be just the first steps in a larger project.  In this sample, Mandala Fish, the basic fish shape has been relief wood carved on a 3/4″ basswood slab.  This is a simple rounded over carving that was sanded smooth after the cutting strokes were done.  Next I traced my mandala pattern and used my wood burner to outline the pattern details.  Colored pencils finish this project bring a bright rainbow of hues to my design.

Is it a carving?  Is it a wood burning?  Is it mandala work? Is it colored pencil art?

YES!

Many of our carving and pyrography ideas come directly from other fine art styles and media of works.  This Lantern fish is a permanent marking pen drawing on Bristol board, brightly accented with colored pencils.  It was the inspiration for the wood carving fish above.

Want a free pattern to try your own mixed media fish design.  Here’s one!  And I have two free pattern packs, ready to download, on my pattern website at ArtDesignsStudio.com.


And … one more idea that fits better in the fish tank then in the standard hobby box.  You can use any pattern as the bases for your next practice board.  Just because you want a chance to check your tip temperature, establish your strokes and textures, or set your tonal value before you work on your main project doesn’t mean that practice board needs to be a boring, useless grid design.

Have fun!     ~Lora

Burning & Carving Fish Read More »

Redwork Embroidery Christmas Angel

Leave a Comment / Quilting / By

Redwork Embroidery Christmas Angel
Christmas Calicos Pattern Pack

Supplies:
14″ square of unbleached muslin
large embroidery hoop
embroidery needles
your favorite shade of red embroidery floss
Christmas Calicos angel pattern
scrap booking gel pens
white acrylic craft paint
embroidered rose accent

Our great-grandmothers didn’t have acrylic paints and gel pens in their embroidery craft kit but we do!

So after you have finished your embroidery stitching get them out onto your craft table and have fun adding bits and accents of bright colors to the inside areas of your design.  You can use layers of gel pen colors to create intense color tones, add darker or lighter shades of gel pen over an area to make highlights and shadows … and even use different colors to make your own calico fabric patterns.

Some pale gel pens do require multiple colors.  For my white I chose to use acrylic craft paint.

If you get a little out of the line with the gels or if you have small openings in your stitch word, use a matching red gel pen to go over the embroidery floss.  Use embroidery patches, accent flowers, small bows and ribbons, and even tiny buttons to dress her up.

Once everything is completed and your redwork angel has dried over night, give it a nice ironing to permanent set the colors.  She is ready for her permanent hoop frame and to be placed on your mantel !!!!

 

Have fun ~ Lora

Redwork Embroidery Christmas Angel Read More »

Redwork Embroidery Patterns

Leave a Comment / Quilting / By

Redwork Embroidery Patterns and Redwork Embroidery Quilts

Let’s take a 1740 discovery, an 1920’s embroidery style, a 1950’s Retro Owl pattern, and today’s trends of adding establishments to our needle arts and see what we come up with.

Around 1850 in the United States the Redwork  embroidery style began because of an amazing process that created a colorfast red dyed for cotton fibers.  Colorfast means that the dye in the thread would not fade, wash out, or cause the dye to bleed onto the background fabric.

Today, Redwork is seeing a serge in popularity and has
begun branching out from traditional, vintage, and antique patterns.
My owl is worked, centered, on a 16″ square of muslin, which fits
a 12″ frame and allows extra fabric to turn over the frame’s
backboard.  The owl pattern measures 9″ high x 8″ wide.

Retro Owls Pattern Package
ArtDesignsStudio.com

Read more here ….

Redwork Embroidery Patterns Read More »

Coloring Book Quilt – Free Patterns

Leave a Comment / Quilting / By

That perfect quilt square is easily in reach if you have
just a yard or so of muslin, permanent marking pens,
crayons, fabric paints, or even silk ribbon …
and ArtDesignStudio.com pattern packs.

Sample worked from CP140 Henna Tattoo 2 Pattern Package
Also see CP139 Henna Tattoo 1 Pattern Package
Also see CP090 Wood Quilt Squares Pattern Package

Can’t find that exact fabric pattern that you are craving?
Can’t find it in the exact colors that you need for your latest quilting project?
No problem … color your own!

Coloring Book Quilt Ideas

I chose Henna Tattoos for my table runner Coloring Book Quilt.  But any idea goes – wildlife, Celtic, dragons, steam punk.  ArtDesignsStudio.com has over 140 pattern packs full of ideas, ready for you to download today.

 

1. Piece your quilt squares using muslin where you want your coloring Book design.

2.  Press well so that you are tracing on a flat surface.

3. Print one copy of your chosen pattern using your computer printer.

 

Coloring Book Quilt Ideas

4.  Place your pattern on your light box.  Trace over the outlines with a fine point permanent marking pen of black, gray, or dark brown.

5.  Iron well to set the outline color.

 

Coloring Book Quilt IdeasClick for a full sized, printable image.

6.  Set up your coloring kit next to your favorite chair in the living room.  Turn on your current ‘binge-watching’ TV program.  Relax, have fun, and color away.

You can use fabric pens, permanent marking pens, crayons, acrylic paint, and of course, fabric dye.  Also consider beads, silk ribbon embroidery, lace, and buttons.

Allow the large-area base coats to dry before you add the detail lines to avoid bleeding.  Set the colors with a hot iron after you are done.

Coloring Book Quilt – Free Patterns Read More »

Scroll to Top