Sunday, December 4, 2011

Mercury Glass Holiday Inspirations

Okay, I know it has been a while but I've been horribly busy and have been trying things away from crafting.  BUT
....check these out!!!  Faux Mercury Glass inspirational bottles.

Here is the step by step.........

First collect your supplies - you need a clean empty wine bottle and Krylon Looking Glass spray paint.  It can be very difficult to find the spray paint.  I found my can at Hobby Lobby.  I've heard it is hit or miss finding it at Michael's or Joann's.  I have yet to find it at my local hardware store.  As tempting as it is, the metallic spray paints you can get most anywhere won't work for this project.  The best way to describe it is the metallic paint doesn't seem to 'flow' as well as the looking glass spray paint.  As a result you don't get the 'mirror' finish unless you use the right paint.

Make sure your wine bottle is clean and dry before you start, you will be spraying the paint INSIDE the bottle.  I soaked mine in hot soapy water and bleach then rinsed and drained well.





Step 2.  Shake the paint can WELL.  Aim the nozzle into the neck of the wine bottle and give a good spray.  The paint is VERY thin and WILL run down the sides of the bottle.


It is hard to see, but there is a pool of paint at the bottom of the bottle.  See the neck area where the paint has dried has begun to become shiny.  Swirl the bottle allowing the paint to coat the sides of the bottle and flow down.  It will create a sheeting action allowing the paint to stick a little more each time you swirl.  Let the bottle sit a minute or so between 'swirling'.  Above is after the first coat of paint is applied and drying.  Be careful that you don't drip the paint out the opening of the bottle.  If you spill or drip wipe it up with a damp cloth quickly before it dries.  If it begins to set you can use a little vinegar to help clean it up.


Step 3. Continue spraying and swirling until you get the amount of coverage on the inside of the bottle you desire.  The more paint you add the more opaque the bottle will become.  At this point I've also used my craft heater to speed the process along a little.  Just be aware that this paint REALLY STINKS so if you can spray outside!!!  The following is after about 3 different coats (spray then swirl) of the paint.
The 'dull' looking areas are still wet.  You will be able to watch as the paint dries.  It reminds me of watching embossing powder melt.  Really quite neat.

Finally, I tied a ribbon around the neck of the bottle and used acrylic paint to paint on the words.  This is only the beginning of what is possible with this paint.....More playtime coming soon!!!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Walk With Me

I spent the weekend at the 'Girls Just Wanna Crop' event at Boyne Highlands.  Had a BLAST with my sister and some good friends.  While there, I made this page for my scrapbook album but could not bring myself to tuck it away to be seen occasionally as the albums are looked at.  I decided to frame it, I absolutely LOVE this!!!

Monday, August 22, 2011

The final project - Imagine, Explore, Read e-reader cover

 Here is the finished e-reader cover.  Soon to surprise my good friend out in Wyoming.  Shhhh....it's a secret!  As I had posted before, the Chinese writing says Imagine, Explore, Read.  I am so excited for her to get the package!



My Lucky Hat


Late summer, the water is cooling.  Perfect time to head out fishing, but you had better not forget your lucky hat!  This is my entry for The Three Muses "Hats" challenge.

Summer Sun-flowers


Nothing celebrates the cool nights and warm days of late summer like the bright shining faces of sunflowers.  This was made for Inspiration Avenue's Sunflower challenge.  Enjoy the flowers, then go enjoy the rest of the summer!

Custom order

My sister-in-law has been looking for an arm band to wear as part of her belly dancing costume. She saw the picture of the bracelet I made from book pages and loved the look. After a little trial and error I made an arm band just for her complete with a


buckle and eyelets for her to tie on her own conch shells. Turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Imagine, explore, read


Sunday Postcard Art, and Friday Mash Up thanks for the inspiration!  This card entry for the 'oriental' challenge and the 'Butterfly and Bling' challenge will be incorporated into an e-reader cover.  The symbols are for the words imagine, explore and read.  All of the stamped images are from Close To My Heart, the background is a combination of book pages, shell paper, rice paper and tissue paper with stamped images, the chineese lettering is from an internet translation site.  Thanks for looking!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Enter The Phoenix

Here is my entry for Sunday Postcard Art's challenge "wings", and Take a Word Challenge "Song".  My kids were practicing a band piece called 'Enter the Phoenix', and what better to demonstrate what wings can do than a bird that can rise above even the hot, burning fire below.  All the images used in the collage are flowers and shells and birds I cut out of a magazine then I used paint and acrylic gels to help embellish the picture.  Thanks for looking!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

"Play Ball" Music Box



Here is my entry for 'Theme Thursday'  Masculine challenge.  It is a music box made from a book.  The musical movement plays "Take me out to the Ball Game" and all the odds and ends are baseball related items, and/or things mentioned in the song.  Enjoy!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Growing History



Here is my entry for Take A Word weekly challenge 'Sepia' .  Sepia to me takes on a historic idea.  I decided to use that to bridge the past (in color) with the present (in sepia).  Enjoy!

These images are all my own, my daughter picking flowers from our garden.  The peonies are a family hand-me-down.  They are from my mother-in-law's  Great Aunt Kate.  My mother in law is named  after her great aunt, and Katie is named after her grandmother.  The bush has been handed down from Great Aunt Kate, to my husband's grandmother, to my mother-in-law and now to me.  I hope to hand it down to my daughter as well.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Dreaming of Einstein


Here is my entry for Three Muses Zetti challenge.  I've never even heard of Zetti before, I just thought it was a hairy mountain monster!  After some looking I discovered what Zetti is - challenging!  Here I used the same image of Albert Einstein that I used for the steampunk challenge and make a background.  From there everything else kind of came together.  Thanks for pushing me to try something new WAY outside of my comfort zone!

Friday, July 22, 2011

"Soar" Music box finished








Here it is, the finished (okay, some of the glue isn't COMPLETELY dry yet...) music box.  The book is an old vet. met. book on farm animals, feet are made from some beads stacked together, the movement plays 'Music Box Dancer'.  The front cover is made from pages cut from the book and inked/rolled/embellished and glued, the stamped images are from Close To My Heart.  I can't remember where the other embellishments all came from - I just collect the things I like and use them where they seem to 'fit'.

I wrote the poem because I could not find one I liked on the web.  The poem is at the bottom of the post.  I really enjoyed making this music box, I hope you all enjoy it as well.

Again, entries in the challenges from http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/  and  http://takeaword.blogspot.com/



                                 The Young Bird Sings    by Nicole Gillette

The young bird sings
Perched in her nest
A song she learned
From her mother’s breast.
She sings high,
She sings true,
She sings of things
She wishes she knew.

She sings the song
Her mother learned
When she’d soar high
And then return.
Her mother sings
From up above
She sings a song about
Courage and love.
On the edge
Of the nest she stands
She spreads her wings
And understands.
This one move
Must be her own
To take her first flight
To prove she has grown.
The wind blows gently
And lifts her wings
She finally knows
What her mother’s song means.

The young bird sings
A song she learned
When she soared high
And then returned.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

"Soar" music box - work in progress



Here is my entry in the "wings" challenge from http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/ and the 'flight' challenge from  http://takeaword.blogspot.com/.  It is still a work in progress but I have all of the element put together.  It will be another music box, but I need to find the right feet for the box and finish mounting the musical movement.  I am not going to be doing too much art for this week.  A dear friend of mine lost her second child in a tragic accident.  Pray for Loren Hazen's friend and family as they try to come to terms with this loss.  No mother should have to burry 2 of her children.

Saturday, July 16, 2011



Yeah team!  I was one of the selected winners of the Vintage Flowers Friday Mash-up!  So much fun, thanks ladies for inspiring us all to do more!  The Friday Mashup!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Ticket to Ride

Here is my entry for The Three Muses challenge "I've been Steampunked".  In the pictures is a young Albert Einstein and Einstein blowing off some 'steam' on a bike.  Also included (tying in to the 'steam' idea) is an image of a train ticked and boarding instructions to go along with the story of Einstein loosing his boarding ticket on a train ride to Princeton.  Various bicycle images add to the background of the collage.  My first attempt at Steampunk, I love the look but am not confident in my ability to pull it off.  Enjoy!!!

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/2011/07/three-muses-challenge-ive-been.html?showComment=1310535129034

New technique!

So, long story short, I found myself here after I tore apart an old book and started playing with the different things that can be done with them rather than being thrown out. 

Yestrday I started playing with the pages, lamenating them with layers of book pages and gel matte medium.  After the pages were dried I started decorating the top with various paints, pearlescent powder, inks and dyes.  Here is the final result:  A cuff bracelet made from book pages!  The final product has almost the feel of a stiff, thin leather.  I am excited to play around more with this technique to see what else I can create!  So much fun.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

About Being a Woman


Here is my entry for the Inspiration Avenue Art Challenge - Picasso inspired collage.
http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/2011/07/art-challenge-picasso.html

Floral Music Box

Here is my entry for The Friday Mashup - Vintage Flowers!  A Musicbox made from a book.  The sheet music is for 'Beautiful Dreamer' - the same as the musical movement included inside the book.  The flowers and background are all made from pages cut out of the inside of the book and cardstock that has been distressed and there is a place for a picture of that beautiful dreamer who will be the lucky owner of this music box.
http://www.fridaymashup.com/2011/07/were-feeling-vintage-for-friday-mashup.html

Monday, July 11, 2011

Girls Night Out


Okay, here it is!!!  My first entry in a postcard art challenge.  This week's challenge "Glitz and Glam"  and what is glitzier or has more glamor than a group of girlfriends getting ready for a night on the town?
http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

My first time

Okay guys, here is my FIRST blog post.  Got the idea from Beth Bynum (http://www.bethbynumartist.blogspot.com/) to start entering some of the art challenges on the internet, so here I go..........