Showing posts with label buttons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buttons. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

"Troisième Presenting" a Canvas Diptych - Peacock & Ballet Inspired

Good morning everyone!  Today I am very excited to show you a painting project.

My daughter is my biggest fan to say the least. She makes me smile, giggle, feel loved and I adore her like any mother would. I have been wanting to do an art piece for quite some time for her room that she could keep forever. We are military so painting her walls is something she can't keep with her.

"Troisième Presenting"

An Acrylic Painting with Pastels on Canvas

Troisième Presenting 2' x 4' (Click on image to see larger)
This painting was inspired by my daughter, her face, her body, her eyes and her passions. She loves to dance and for almost two years now she has loved peacocks and everything that has to do with peacocks. It started with a Peacock Princess Costume for Halloween in 2012. Then her love for the bird and colors moved into making Peacock Ornaments for her little Christmas tree she gets to keep in her room. I started to see a trend in her clothing choices from pink to peacock colors as well. In 2014 her birthday party was an international theme with the focus on India and the colors of a peacock. Now we have moved to a new home, in a new state and one thing we did for the kids was let them redecorate their rooms to help them get excited about our family's transition. Can you guess what she chose? She calls it...

 "Vintage Peacock" 

Troisième Presenting Diptych Piece #1
Troisième Presenting Diptych Piece #2

This painting was created to go in her room, solely inspired by her. It is called "Troisième Presenting" because her arms are in the third position for ballet (bringing in her love for dance) and the representation of a peacock plumage in all it's glory with the hair, peacock feather stencils from The Crafters Workshop, the colors chosen and the peacock feather in her hair.

Close Up of "Troisième Presenting"
My daughter had input through almost every step of the process this piece went though. She even made the suggestion to lightly color in the eyes to match hers, a beautiful light blue.
"Troisième Presenting" close up of half of face
The peacock thing has gotten out of control here, but out of control is how we have fun in our family. I too went as a peacock for Halloween the following year using her tail we extended with longer feathers. I have made a Peacock Tutu Halloween Costume with coordinating hair piece. I have made an adult sized peacock tail for a local art gallery owner. Her peacock costume inspired an entire altered dress, pair of wings and a peacock crown that was created for +Elena Lai Etcheverry at +Charity Wings for the Live Stream from CHAW (The Winter Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show). The Peacock Couture Outfit was again used during the CHA Gift Lounge at the 64th Emmy Awards. It is currently entered into a craft awards called "The Craftys". You can go vote for it there though the 26th of May.

http://thecraftys.com/peacock-couture-wings-tail-crown-altered-dress/

I created this piece while taking two online Bloom Girl classes from Jamie Dougherty. They were her Bloom Girl Workshop 2 class and her Bloom Girl Elements class. I highly recommend +Jamie Dougherty 's classes. She gives thorough instructions and support. She teaches how to use acrylic paints, PanPastels, India Ink and other products properly within her project.


http://www.jamiedoughertydesigns.com/#!bloom-girl-elements/c22xvhttp://www.jamiedoughertydesigns.com/#!blank/c1isx

Thank you all for your time. If you desire to learn how to make such a project then please check out these classes. I would love to know your thoughts about this project as well, please be so kind to leave me a comment below and follow me here on my blog or on Facebook on my artist page L. Grace Lauer Artist.
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Mixed Media Artist and Paper Crafter
Coordinator for Party Time Tuesdays Challenge Blog

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Buttons, Glue and it fixes up like new

Hello everyone,

Today I am going to share with you a quick project you can do in about 20 min with your trusty Helmar Premium Craft Glue (very fast drying), Buttons Galore & More buttons and a head band.
Buttons are so adorable and they are decoratively adorning projects everywhere these days from home decor to paper scrapbook pages, from Christmas Ornaments to Jewelry. Buttons are fun easy and a great way to add some color and texture to a project or item.
Today I had a cute metallic leather headband that my dog got a hold of and scratched the top of it. At first I thought RUINED! As I headed for the trash I realized I didn't need to toss this great hair accessory. So I pulled out my hand and trusty Helmar Premium Craft Glue and my tin of coordinating buttons from Buttons Galore & More and went to town!

Buttons galore head band supplies
Now this headband once doomed for the landfill is fixed, and even cuter than before!

Buttons galore head band
What do you think? Buttons Galore & More has some great buttons in so many colors. They are a perfect match and so easy to apply with some Helmar Premium Craft Glue!
Leave a comment below and let me know.
Have a Happy Helmar Day!
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Organize your Buttons/Metals, Eyelets, brads, etc. Challenge #11 Scraproom and Craft room

Challenge #11 Week #3 - Buttons/Metals, Eyelets, brads, etc.

I know some of you are done with this (woo hoo a night off for you). Today we are going after all our little pieces, Itty bitty embellishments.

Lets go over really quick all those types of little pieces.

Buttons: Some of us are at a loss of what to do with them so here is an article excerpt from Ezine @rticles it is written by Christine Perry

    Buttons are not just for clothing. It's unclear when scrapbooking with buttons began as a trend. Even in early scrapbook albums, it wasn't unusual to see a button placed on a scrapbooking page. Quite often it was a keepsake button, like from a vintage piece of clothing or a baby girl's first dress. As scrapbooking pages started to become more 3-D and scrappers looked for unique embellishments for their pages, buttons became more popular. Manufacturers started offering buttons to coordinate with their paper lines, and buttons with themes like Christmas and sports became available. Monthly scrapbooking kits and page kits often include complementary buttons as part of their packages. Consider these tips for using buttons on your pages.

    1. Buttons lined up together can make a border for your scrapbooking page layouts.

    2. Place buttons in your titles by using them to dot your "i"s. You can also use them as the center of letters like "o" and "p."

    3. Buttons can be secured to a page using embroidery floss by sewing it onto the page.

    4. Glue dots work very well to adhere larger-sized buttons to a page, as well as buttons that are not flat on the bottom.

    5. A few buttons make nice accents to anchor a ribbon border to a page. Again, glue dots will securely attach the buttons to the ribbon.

    6. Try placing a button on the flap of an envelope to decorate a simple page element.

    7. Flowers are still very popular on scrapbooking pages. Silk or paper flowers come in all sizes and colors now. A button makes a perfect center for a flower. An added benefit is that the button can hide the adhesive that typically shows through a paper flower.

    8. Take 4 small buttons and attach them to the 4 corners of a photograph. The buttons will look like they are holding the photo to the page.

    9. Create a bullet list for journaling. Use buttons as the bullets.

    10. Scrapbooking tags can be used for page elements, photo mats, and journaling blocks on a scrapbooking page. You can use a button to decorate the hole at the top of a tag.

    11. Try placing a button on a page and then hanging the string from a scrapbooking tag from it as an anchor.

    12. An antique, vintage or unusual button can be used individually on a page as a page element all its own. Try double matting the button to highlight it on your layout.

    13. Attach a button to a page with the holes empty, or thread some floss through the holes and tie it in a knot or bow for an added accent.

    14. Don't limit yourself to one size of buttons on your page layout. Mix sizes and styles of buttons. You could stay with the same color, but have a variety of different buttons in that same color on a single page.

    15. Buttons can be memorabilia. Save buttons from shirts, handbags, hats and other clothing that have sentimental value, but that you no longer can use. The buttons can be added to a scrapbooking page to remember the times when you wore those items. Baby buttons look cute on a baby page layout as well.


Metals: These will be your clips, hinges, keys, name plates, tabs, wire, frames, staples, tags etc. Anything that is metal (accept brads and eyelets). Some of you may not have any of these... I love adding metal to my pages but I always forget I have them. They are stuffed in the back of a drawer. Lets take some time to organize them.

Eyelets: These are great for lacing ribbon techniques or just adding color and texture to you page. They are the metal and have a hole in the middle. These items that take a cropadile or two tools to set them into your paper. They come in all shapes and several sizes. I have seen a few that don't have the hole in the middle but that is rare.

Brads: Are the ones with the two prongs on the back of the metal shape. They have no holes usually but I have seen them mimic eyelets every now and then. The prongs are pointy and can pierce the paper then be folded back behind the sheet to secure the item onto your page or card. They are colorful and can add a little extra pop to your work.

Beads: There are various beads being used in the scrapbooking world too. These are also used on flowers, strung with wire or even the micro beads that are adhered like glitter with adhesive to your project. Beads come in glass and plastic and can add a 3-D sparkle by catching the light with their commonly shinny surfaces.

STORAGE SOLUTIONS: The majority of these are tiny and micro sized so we are going to be looking at much smaller options for storage today. You will need to decide if you want to sort them by color or by style, MFG, shape or size.

     
    Here is mine they have not changed from last year:


What I truly love about most of these is you can think outside the Box store and create a trash to treasure by using something you would find at a thrift store, garage sale, Craig list or for free from your kitchen. Even the metal storage tins on the metallic board. Try using a cookie sheet and some wedding treat tins, adding magnets on the back. Have fun!
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Monday, May 11, 2009

not forgotten...

Good Monday everyone! I was just going to post this for you all to see. I have created another sketch for Liz over at The Scrappiest Blog. This was our 12th sketch so far. 

I can not believe that we have been doing this for almost three months! This weeks sketch was pretty simple and I love that about her sketches. It leave room for creative interpretation. You should all go check out the wonderful layouts created by her design team. I love to see how we all came up with such different layouts. 


My layout is about remembering those soldiers who are POWs and MIAs. This was a picture of the table most military events have set up in honor and remembrance of them. The journaling card reads:

"AS YOU ENTERED THE BANQUET HALL THIS EVENING, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED A SMALL TABLE HERE, IN A PLACE OF HONOR, NEAR OUR HEAD TABLE. IT IS SET FOR ONE (OR FOUR). PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN. THE MILITARY CASTE IS FILLED WITH SYMBOLISM. THIS TABLE IS OUR WAY OF SYMBOLIZING THE FACT THAT MEMBERS OF OUR PROFESSION OF ARMS ARE MISSING FROM OUR MIDST. THEY ARE COMMONLY CALLED POW/MIA. WE CALL THEM "BROTHERS." THEY ARE UNABLE TO BE WITH US THIS EVENING AND SO WE REMEMBER THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR INCARCERATION."

"THIS TABLE SET FOR ONE (OR FOUR) IS SMALL -- SYMBOLIZING THE FRAILTY OF ONE PRISONER ALONE AGAINST HIS OPPRESSORS."

"THE TABLECLOTH IS WHITE -- SYMBOLIZING THE PURITY OF THEIR INTENTIONS TO RESPOND TO THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL TO ARMS. REMEMBER."

"THE SINGLE YELLOW ROSE -- SYMBOLIZING REMEMBRANCE -- DISPLAYED IN A VASE, REMINDS US OF THE FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES OF OUR COMRADES-IN-ARMS WHO KEEP FAITH AWAITING HIS RETURN, LEST WE FORGET. REMEMBER."

"THE RED RIBBON TIED SO PROMINENTLY ON THE VASE IS REMINISCENT OF THE RED RIBBON WORN UPON THE LAPEL AND BREASTS OF THOUSANDS WHO BEAR WITNESS TO THEIR UNYIELDING DETERMINATION TO DEMAND PROPER ACCOUNTING OF OUR MISSING. REMEMBER."

"A SLICE OF LEMON IS ON THE BREAD PLATE TO REMIND US OF THEIR BITTER FATE. REMEMBER."

"THERE IS SALT UPON THE BREAD PLATE -- SYMBOLIC OF THE FAMILIES TEARS AS THEY WAIT. REMEMBER."

"THE GLASS IS INVERTED, THEY CANNOT TOAST WITH US THIS NIGHT. REMEMBER."

"THE CHAIR -- THE CHAIR IS EMPTY -- THEY ARE NOT HERE. REMEMBER."

"REMEMBER, ALL OF YOU WHO SERVED WITH THEM AND CALLED THEM COMRADES. WHO DEPENDED UPON THEIR MIGHT AND AID AND RELIED UPON THEM, FOR SURELY, THEY HAVE NOT FORSAKEN YOU. (Quietly) REMEMBER."


I also wanted to share with you the purse I created to put my Mother's Gift into for Mother's Day. I finished this on Sat and she loved every inch of the mini album. I hope you all had a good Mother's Day and a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for shearing with me my creative journey.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Enjoy the Little things - Mother's Day Gift

Happy Hump Day Everyone! I have an exciting project to share with you all today. I have been working on this all week. I hope you enjoy the little things with in this mini album. I created this for my Mother for Mother's Day ... good thing she never reads this blog... lol. It pays sometimes to have a mother who hates technology. I can only get her to learn one new thing online every few months or so. Anyhow, this was the perfect project for her. I just love how it turned out.
I created this mostly out of one of the beautiful April kits from Coordinates Collections. This is the Petals kit for April and OH ME OH MY I loved every inch of this paper and the embellishments in the kit were so fun and adorable. I don't have time to go into all the details of an entire album but if you see something and want to know how it was done please feel free to post a comment an ask. I am happy to answer.






Monday, May 4, 2009

In Loving Memory of Nita

Nita was my Hubby's Grandmother, grand indeed. She was loving, caring and selfless. She lived her life according to God's word and seemed to always know what to say and how to handle things. Every time I saw her she always had a beautiful smile and peaceful heart. I only had the pleasure of knowing her for about five years and I sadly did not have a lot of opportunities to spend with her. The time I did spend with her she always was a good example of how I would want to live my life. She will always be remembered for many things and will always live in the hearts of her family.
Nita passed away a couple of years ago this past March. Last Christmas I created this as a shadow box for my Mother-in-law. The picture is of Nita in front of her house holding my daughter Trinity when she was 5 months old. It is one of the most beautiful pictures I have of Nita and I love the reminder, within the content of this photo, that life goes on.
Though this was created in December of last year I have not blogged about it yet. It still is one of my favorite pages. It just recently was published in Scrapbook News and Review. This is the Layout that led to me becoming a staff member for that wonderful E-zine. Now for the Details... if I can remember them...lol.

Details:
Upper Left: I this shot you can see the many layers that I used to create this shadowbox. Every thing is pop dotted the piece is about 1" thick. The background is simply a sage tone on tone paper that I cut large 1" scallops around. I lightly distressed the edges with versa mark and chalk. Within each scallop I too and punched out of scraps little flowers and glued them down. The next layer is the light purple. On this layer I printed Nita's favorite Hymn. You can see this better in the over all pic.
The hardware I used in this layout is an antique brass. This door plate was filled with a cream cardstock with a stamped image that has been heat embossed with an antique gold embossing powder. This same technique is found in the hand drawn and cut flourishes you can see here and throughout this page. The fabric flowers are all prima and the paper ones were all hand made. I used a lot of pearls to accent this layout and the flower clusters are no acception for this. On top of the purple paper is the photo backed with a cream card sock slightly distressed. The photo has an overlay on it creating that scalloped edge around the photo. The buttons here are just glued on however I love details and every button on this page had gold thread laced though them to make them appear that they have been sewn on. The last thing in this upper left detail shot would be the woven ribbon that I have used. It is a simple cotton crocheted ribbon that has a brown grosgrain ribbon woven though it every couple of inches.
Bottom Left: There is not much new here accept that one of the flowers I used in this large flower stack is a distressed chipboard flower.
Bottom Right: Here is the title of the layout. I used these wonderful letters from Joann's in an antique brass. The letters are stuck on with tacky tape. All of this title is popped up about 1/2" from the backing. It is sported with several layers of card stock. The only new element here is the ear ring. This is a vintage clip on earring that I broke off the clip part. I love how this is a suspended element on this page. The ribbons are the same type that go up the left side of the layout, however they are not woven together.
Not shown in the detail pics: There is a circular elements. The lighter patterned paper has Nita's favorite scripture. The edges have been distressed on this piece and little flowers were added around the edge. The darker brown circle was cut with fiskars decorative scissors. Inked with a cream pigment ink and doodled on. Then pearls were added.

Thanks for taking the time to look through the details with me. I hope that you too can find ways to honor those in your life that mean the most to you. Treasure all the moments you have with each and every one of your loved ones and let them know how much you care. If the events of these past two years have thought me anything it is that we need to be careful of how we live our lives and how our lives touch others.
An Inspirational Poem
Live…laugh…and Love
By John McLeod

Live well dear friends
In all you do,
Tho' paths be old
Or paths be new,
But to yourself
Be ever true,

Live well!

Laugh often friends
Tho' passing years
Bring, sometimes, smiles
And, sometimes, tears,
For mirth forever
Warms and cheers

Laugh often!

Love much dear friends
For love will bring
The healing joy
And hope of Spring,
Where pain and fear may never dwell
Nor anguish touch….

And so Live well,
Laugh often too,
And more, dear friends,

Love much!