a new turquoise and red project for my birthday

Happy birthday to me today!

When were were first signing up for BBA Challenges in October, I quickly picked March and chose the turquoise/red theme.  I'm sure that most of you know how much I like this color combination, and I was curious to see what others would do with it.  I originally intended to make some turquoise/red birthday cards in honor of my own birthday for my entry but got interested in some other ideas instead.  When I picked up my canvases and other new supplies a few weeks ago, I got some tiles to make coasters and on a whim, settled on this as my turquoise/red project.

My Own Two Cents on Tile Coasters

There are a number of tile coaster tutorials floating around online.  If you spend any time on Pinterest, you've probably seen at least one or two.  I did not invent this idea.  However, I did a couple unique things for my set so I'll provide a brief step by step here, sans photos.

Supply List

• Four 4x4 ceramic tiles (available at hardware stores)
• Patterns and/or plain card stock and scrapbook papers of your choosing
• Paper cutter for cutting the initial card stock backing and other paper details
• Scrapbook glue (I use a 3M kind that I get at Michael's)
• Any paper punches, embellishments, etc. that you'd like to use.
• All purpose matte or glossy Mod Podge (I used matte)
• Matte or glossy spray acrylic (I used Krylon brand with a matte finish)
• Cork or felt feet (16 total...I used cupboard protectors, but there a number of options for this)
• Tacky glue for attaching the feet
• One small foam brush

Steps

1. Wipe down your tiles with a wet cloth to remove any dust.  Let them dry.
2. Cut the card stock backings for your coasters.  I chose to cut them just under 4"x4" so there would be a little room on each side.  This is entirely up to you.
3. Cut, assemble, and glue the words, shapes, embellishments, etc. for your coasters.  Complete all of this gluing with scrapbook glue, NOT Mod Podge, to reduce warping.  I also glue in layers to reduce warping.  For example, I glued the dots and stamped leaves on the edges of the words after the words layer had dried.  Let the paper dry before proceeding.  The 3M scrapbook glue dries within 10 minutes.
4. With your foam brush, apply an even, thin layer of Mod Podge on the back of each piece of card stock.  Press each one firmly and evenly on the ceramic tiles.  Work out air bubbles and touch up with more glue as needed.  Let dry.
5. The trick I learned for my particular process was to apply a layer of spray acrylic before applying Mod Podge on the top to prevent the words from smearing.  If you use any kind of laser/ink jet printed text or photos, I highly recommend doing this.  Follow the instructions on the spray acrylic and apply this layer.  Let dry.
6. With your foam brush, apply an even layer of Mod Podge over the entire top of each coaster.  It's up to you how thick you want to apply the glue.  I applied two layers.  If you choose to use multiple layers, allow the glue to dry between each one and afterward.
7. When the glue has dried, apply at least one coat of spray acrylic.  I applied two layers.  Again, allow for drying time in between layers and afterward.
8. Use the tacky glue to apply your cork or felt feet to each coaster.  Let dry.

My Finished Coasters

I chose to use a different design and quote for each coaster.  I know that I'll get questions about the quotes so I'm providing a little explanation for each one.
"I know that there is nothing perfect..." is from an Everclear song called Learning How to Smile that Jake and I decided was our song sometime back in 2002 or 2003.  It's about staying together and learning how to make things work through the good times and the bad times.
"It wasn't boring..." is from the movie High Fidelity, when Rob is talking about his relationship with Laura.  I think that this quote is an amazing description of a great relationship.  High Fidelity is also one of my favorite movies.

"If we make it through this..." is from another Everclear song with a similar message to Learning How to Smile.  It's from an album that our best man got autographed for us and gave to us for our wedding.

"Plant palm trees..." is on a total different topic but is still one of my favorite lines.  This quote is from a Fall Out Boy song that was released when we were still living in Iowa.  One of the things that I missed in Iowa was living near Lake Michigan.

I'm sure it's not a surprise that this design is very "me" and that I loved playing around with the different designs for each coaster.  The consistent color scheme still tied everything together nicely.

If you're looking for a relatively simple, inexpensive gift idea, these are a great option.  There are a lot of materials required, but I know that many of you who craft regularly have a lot of these materials on hand.  The more expensive materials on the list such as the spray acrylic will last for many many projects.

Check out the other turquoise/red BBA challenge creations right here.

Do you enjoy this color combination?  If so, have you created anything with it recently?

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I included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 3/30/2012 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 4/2/2012.

new collage wall art project: the photo version

As evidenced by my Scavenger Hunt photos this past week, I've been working on a handful of brand new projects the past couple weeks.  The first one is a photo collage.  I thought that with the plethora of Mod Podge tutorials out there, I would find a great tutorial for what I wanted to do, but I didn't.  I found a couple similar tutorials and put together my own plan of action.  I'm pretty pleased with the result so I'm sharing it with you today.

Before I get into the tutorial, I'm going to give you a little back story about why I developed this collage.

This is what the frame looked like originally, except that it had photos from Jake's med school graduation and my little sister-in-law's high school graduation.  I know that I'll get questions about this so I'll say it: The photos in this frame are from one of my cousin's bachelorette party and wedding a couple years ago.  We haven't hung this up yet and now I'm afraid to because of what happened.

A month ago or so, the graduation frame fell off the wall in the middle of the night.  It was scary and then was upsetting when I saw what had happened to the frame.

The good news is that the rest of the frame was fine.  All of the glass, matte backings, and photos were fine.  Any ideas for what I can do with these mattes and glass?

I had spent $20 on the collage frame not 6 months ago and wasn't really interested in shelling that out again.  I was determined to find a cheaper way to make a collage that was just as aesthetically pleasing.  This is what I did.

Supply List

• One 16x20 canvas (I used Artist's Loft)
• One can of black (or the color of your choosing) acrylic paint (I bought a 16 oz. can of Apple Barrel paint.  You won't need nearly that much.  Spray paint will probably work just fine, too.)
• One small foam paintbrush
• Matte finish Mod Podge
• Matte acrylic spray (I used Krylon)
• Nine 4x6 photos
• Hanging materials of your choosing (I used two sawtooths)

I bet that many of you who work with Mod Podge frequently have a lot of these materials on hand already.  If you do need to buy supplies, you can find everything at Michael's except for the hanging materials.  You may find them there, but I got mine at Target so I can't vouch for that.  Glossy finishes for Mod Podge and acrylic spray will work, too.  That's completely your preference.

The first thing that I did was arrange my photos to make sure that they would fit okay on this sized canvas.  I took a picture in case my memory escaped me later.

Paint your canvas black.  Make sure that you paint the sides.  I did two coats over everything and then had to touch up a few areas.  It was not uniform, and I obsessed about this for a while, but once you get the photos on there, you won't notice.

Use your foam brush to paint the back of each photo with a thin, even coat of Mod Podge.  Glue the photos on your canvas.  Make sure to smooth them down evenly so there are no bubbles.  Touch up any corners that need extra glue.  Leave the Mod Podge to dry for at least an hour.

Cover the entire top and sides of the canvas with Mod Podge.  I layered this pretty thin.  It's up to you how thick you want it.  Either way, make sure that you're applying it evenly with long strokes.  I decided to use two layers.  Allow at least one hour of drying time between layers and an hour afterward.

I do not have a picture of this, but I finished the collage with a couple layers of spray acrylic.  Follow the instructions on the acrylic.

When everything had dried, I attached the sawtooths on the back and hung it up.  Here it is finished.

I know that I'll get questions about this if I don't show it.  I had trouble finding a good angle for this shot, but this is where we're hanging the collage in our dining room.  I know that it looks tiny.  I promise that it isn't.

If you make this project yourself, please leave me a link to a blog post or send me pictures (randomcreative28@gmail.com).  If you do write a blog post, please link back to my post in it somewhere.  Thanks!

What new projects have you been working on lately?

I included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 3/23/12.