The Peculiar Palette

Mini Mosaics Project for the Art Glitter Institute

I am excited to announce that I have been chosen to be a Guest Designer for the Art Glitter Institute! Basically that means that I get to design 2 projects a month for 3 months (March, April, and May) and share them with other glitter loving craftspeople. They posted my bio on their blog (click here to see and scroll down a little) and will also be posting my projects there as well. Make sure you check them out at http://artglitterblog.blogspot.com/

Here is my first submission:

I am honored to have been asked to be a guest designer for the Art Glitter Institute! I love mixed media artwork and am looking forward to sharing some of my projects with you. I hope you enjoy them!

I am the kind of person who loves collecting different items and supplies that I feel like I can’t live without, but I hardly ever use them right away. They end up getting stashed in the closet and it takes several months or years for me to come across them again and realize that they would be perfect for the project I am currently working on. That is exactly how this project came to be. I came across my collection of beads and recycled jar lids and knew exactly what I was going to do.

 

First, spray paint the tops and sides of a few jar lids. I used three for this project but you can use as few or as many as you’d like. When they’re dry, flip them over and start gluing beads and/or small tiles in patterns inside the lid with Weldbond glue. Make sure you leave ¼- ½ inch of space in between each bead or tile so you have enough room for the grout. Once you are satisfied with your designs, let the glue dry overnight to make sure the beads don’t come loose when grouting.

Now you’re ready to grout. You can buy grout pre-mixed in the mosaic section in craft stores, or you can also buy dry grout at home improvement stores. I was lucky enough to find dry grout in a rainbow of colors at a local Phoenix store (www.mosaicguys.com) that specializes in art mosaics, and that is what I used here. Apply the grout and wipe off according to package directions and let dry completely.

Here comes the fun part….adding glitter! Mix about a teaspoon of Designers Dries Clear adhesive and a teaspoon of water into small bathroom cups (one for each color of glitter you want to use). Then add about ¼-1/8 teaspoon of glitter and mix well. I found that the microfine works the best. Use a small paintbrush to paint the glitter glue mixture onto the grout. Tah dah! Now it sparkles and shines!

I chose to mount mine onto a piece of wood that I sanded and stained with paint mixed with gel medium, then embellished it with some funky yarn and more glass beads. You may choose to attach a hanger to each mosaic to make ornaments out of. Once you’ve made the mosaics, the possibilities of what to do with them are endless!

 

Supplies used:
Jar lids (pickles, spaghetti sauce, etc.) washed and dried

Spray paint in the color(s) of your choice

Art Glitter Ultrafine Transparent Glitter in Amazon, White Gold, and Twig

Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear adhesive

Weldbond Glue

Various beads, tiles, found objects, etc.

Tile grout

Sponge

Bucket with water (for wiping off grout)

Small paint brush

 

Optional:

Wood for mounting

Hot Glue

Funky yarn

String for hangers

Lost in the Ceramics Lab

Although I have been taking ceramics class for 7 or 8 years now in the same place, I never really looked around the kiln area in the back of the studio. There is some weird stuff back there! Old rusty lockers, clotheslines, walls desperate for a new paint job....who knew? Some of this stuff makes really good subjects for pictures:

   

Historic Downtown Glendale, AZ in Photos

I am a big fan of charming and quaint downtown Glendale. Not only can you find artsy and crafty places like the Cottage Gardens (1 and 2), The Creative Quest (great craft classes and supplies) and the Bead Museum (yes, there is actually a museum for beads), but they also have lots of great little mom and pop restaurants, some of which have been featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives (Haus Murphy's and Piazza al Forno).

As I was strolling around there the other day, I noticed that there are quite a few vacant shops that were starting to look quite weathered and overgrown with weeds. It made me sad because there really aren't many areas like this in AZ, and it would be nice to see it thrive. I know nothing is thriving in this economic environment so I shouldn't have been surprised, but nonetheless I was still a little sad. Hopefully when things bounce back, new shops will move in and make the area a little more lively. In the mean time, check out some pics that I took and if you're in the area, make sure you stop by Glendale for some scrapbook supplies or a bite to eat!

   
 

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show = BEADS!

I heard about how great  the Tucson Gem and Mineral show was, but I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it myself! For about a month, the entire city of Tucson uses every public facility they can find (hotels, convention centers, parking lots...you name it!) to allow vendors from all over the world display and sell their gems, minerals, and most importantly, beads. I'm talking hollowed out floors in hotels that have been replaced with nothing but strands of beads. They even have secret tents that only special people with special passes can get into. It was crazy!

Manny and I went one day a few weeks ago and didn't have nearly enough time (or money, I should add) to see everything. So we decided to go down a second time and buy even more beads! I have more beads than I'll ever use in 3 lifetimes, but if I went there a third time, I'm sure I would find more that I just had to have. Luckily it's over now and won't be back for another 11 months or so. Gives me some time to save up.

One of the shows there was the African Art Village. I actually got out my camera for this one because everything there was so beautiful and colorful. I wanted to decorate my whole house with trade beads, wood carvings, and beaded chairs. But since I can't do that, I decided to take pictures to remember them by. Apparently the people didn't like this very much because one guy had a complete and utter meltdown when he saw me with my camera. Apparently I wasn't the first one to be taking pictures of his stuff, and he was offended that we were treating his booth like a museum. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything from him and I ran off with my camera in hand. Here are some of the pics I took before I got chased out. Aah, the things we have to go through to get a decent picture these days....lol

 

Long Lost Scrapbook Pages

While going through  my computer files, I ran across some pictures of scrapbook layouts I made for the 2008 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest. Thought I'd share them with you!

   

Please vote on my Rubber Stamp poll!

Many of you know that I am in the process of designing my own rubber stamp line which will be available for purchase by the summer of 2010. Rubber stamps don't just come mounted to wood blocks anymore, so I wanted to get a feel for what kind of stamps people are buying most these days. There are 4 choices on the poll...I have explained them in more detail below in case you're not familiar with some of them.

Mounted to wood blocks - tradional rubber stamps made with pink rubber, mounted to a wood block with the image printed on the top.

Backed with cling foam for use with acrylic blocks - a newer type of stamp that still uses the pink rubber, but they are backed with cling foam that you can stick on a clear acrylic block when you want to use it, and remove it from the block when you're done. Many people keep these kinds of stamps in an album for easy organization.

Clear stamps - these are also used with acrylic blocks, but instead of being pink rubber they are clear. I'm not exactly sure wha kind of rubber  they are made of, but they are more squishy than the regular pink rubber. Some people like these because they are clear, and if you stick them to a clear acrylic block, you can see exactly where your stamp is going to land on your paper.

Unmounted - these are my favorite because I can save money by mounting them myself. They are just the pink rubber part of the stamp and they are sold for much less because there is no wood or foam involved. You can purchase these then adhere them to either double sided sticky foam and a wood block, or cling foam for use with an acrylic block.

Challenge Deadline Extended: Faces in Everyday Things!

Life seems to be particuliarly busy for many people these days...myself included! I have had a few requests to extend the deadline for the Faces in Everyday Things photo contest, so I am going to extend it until the end of February. So go out and take those pictures! They are easier to spot than you think!

New deadline is February 28th. Email your pictures to thepeculiarpalette@cox.net.

View the original post about the contest here:

http://www.thepeculiarpalette.com/the-peculiar-palette/2010/01/challenge-i-can-see-faces-in-everyday-thingscan-you.html

Good Luck!

Fun-and frighteningly accurate-color quiz

The instructor of my photography class introduced us to this color quiz. It doesn't seem like much, and you'll wonder why you have to do the same thing twice, but the results were really accurate in my case! It's probably no more reliable than your daily horoscope, but you should give it a try. Make sure you leave a comment and say whether your results were accurate or not.

Laura took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Intense, vital, and animated, taking a delight in ..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

CHA Craft Supershow...What a Blast!

My sister and I took a road trip to Anaheim CA to go to the CHA Craft Supershow this weekend. We had a such a great time! There was so much fabulous craftiness there that my head started to hurt! Once I finally got past the feeling of being overwhelmed after walking in and seeing so many booths and people, I actually was able to see the whole thing and be somewhat productive. First, I went to the Crafty Chica's book reading, and since I brought her an ATC with glitter on it I received a free autographed copy of her new book "Waking Up in the Land of Glitter". I have always wanted to meet her so that was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. After that I spent too much money on items like cricut cartridges (Paisley and Pagoda, or something like that), Zentangle books, and multi-colored crystal lacquer. Then, I made a card with my name in Hebrew on it. That was pretty cool considering all my friends in High School were Jewish and they taught me the Hebrew alphabet a long time ago. Its not often I get to throw that knowledge around, but this was the perfect opportunity. Then, I got to meet Jo Pearson from Michaels live and in person! She was one of the judges of the Michael's Handmade Holiday contest that my Gorgeous Glove Gals were in, so she kinda knew me. Or at least knew my project. I felt a little like a celebrity! She is the friendliest, bubbliest lady I have ever met. It was so much fun talking to her! Lastly, we signed up for the 'World's Largest Scrapbook Crop Attempt' so we got a little scrapbooking done. They didn't break the record for largest crop but it was fun anyway. Quite a few famous scrapbookers were there giving prizes away so it was great getting to meet them.

Outside of the show we got to have a great dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, and even took a trip to Huntington beach the next day for brunch and a walk on the pier. Here are some pictures from our adventure!

These are flags flapping in the breeze on the pier at Huntington Beach

This is a tower on the pier. I liked how the windows reflected what was going on down below.

This guy was the highlight of our trip to the beach. It was like he was trying to pose for us. I wish all photo subjects were as cooperative as he was!

This was a funky sculpture we found in Quartzsite which is a small town in AZ on the CA border. There were billboards advertising the best jerky and olives in the world so we just had to stop and check it out.

 
This was the bathroom at Joe's Crab Shack. I want my bathroom to look like this!

Challenge: I can see faces in everyday things...Can you?

Have you seen that commercial for American Express that flashes pictures of smiley and frownie faces that were spotted in everyday items? Examples include a hanger hanging from a door with two little doorknobs for eyes, and two life preservers and a rope. This is my new favorite commercial! It's one of the few commercials I actually don't fast forward through.  If you haven't seen it, check it out here.

I have started looking around for other inanimate objects that look like faces and was able to find a few. I am challenging you to do the same! Take a picture of what you find and email it to me at thepeculiarpalette@cox.net. I will send a smiley face themed Artist Trading Card made by yours truly to five people who send me a picture that fits the challenge. Names will be chosen out of a hat (or something with similar holding capacity).

When you email me the picture, please include your name and let me know whether or not you grant me permission to post your picture on my blog when I announce the winners. Deadline is February 15th and winners will be announced shortly thereafter. Grab your camera and start shooting!

Good Luck!