I saw this project posted by evildeadgirl - who showed a pic of her mother's crafty goodness with bowling balls. I was so inspired, I had to do it myself!



I hit the right day at Saver's thrift store, and got the bowling ball for $2.50 and the stand for $1.  I used some pearlized paint I had laying around to pre-paint the ball, then used E6000 glue to stick hundreds of blue (and some clear) marbles to the ball.  That was the tough part - because they wanted to slide away before the glue was dry. I had to work in patches.

What I'd do differently next time: I didn't realize that evildeadgirl's mom had put the marbles really tight next to each other. I spaced mine out - which looks okay, but isn't as cool as having them really tight.

I remember seeing piles of Mardi Gras beads at Saver's too... so I'm thinking the next gazing ball I do might be covered in those beads.

I found a great bag of older greeting cards at the thrift store yesterday.  I get them home, open the bag and WOOF! Cigarette smoke stench.

Any ideas how to get this out? If I put them outside to "air" will it dissipate? (Don't really want to do this... there are a LOT of cards).  Will putting dryer sheets into the bag help?

Advice, please!?

Tiki

I just received a lot of mixed scrapbooking stuff I won off of ebay. Some of the items have me a bit stumped.

I got several packages of small metal plates - they look like this, though I have various shapes.

http://www.joann.com/catalog.jhtml?CATID=82050&PRODID=112723

I have no idea how to write on these things, so I'm seeking other crafters' ideas.

Has anybody used them before?  How do you get your message on them?  They're probably thin enough to just use a pencil to "engrave" the top of them... but then I have my less-than-adorable handwriting on them.

Ideas?

Thanks!

_Tiki

Hi crafters. I wanted to share a few of the pages I've made for my art journal.

A year ago, this book started out as one of those 8x12 lined spiral bound books with a plain black cover, like you get at bookstores. It was classy looking at first, but pretty boring after awhile, and I only wrote in it when I had something "important" to say.

A month ago I was loving the art journals I was seeing online, and glanced over at my dusty old plain journal. Slowly, over the next few weeks, I evolved this journal into an art journal.

I started off tentatively with rubber stamps and stickers around the edges of my writing, and finally _finally_ got to the point where whole pages had embellishments, texture and interesting things happening.

I've found that making pages in advance is better than trying to write and embellish at the same time, so most of these pictures are of pages that haven't been journaled on yet.

Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed making them. They were a lot of fun!

_Tiki

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/uploads/32454/travel_with_card_small.jpg

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/uploads/32454/yes_tag_small.jpg

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/32454pink_poodles_small.jpg

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/32454columbian_coffee_small.jpg

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/32454guinness_small.jpg

This is my homage to the greatest 80s glam band ever - Twisted Sister.



This started life as a lowly makeup compact (I thought it fitting, since lead singer Dee Snyder wore more makeup in one night on stage that most women wore in a month.)



Inside, I removed the makeup section from the bottom, but left the mirror inside the lid. I cut a circular hole in the top picture, so you can use the mirror to compare your eye makeup to Dee's.

Here's a closeup:


On the bottom portion, I added another picture of Dee, in a classic stage pose. I slapped his mouth shut with a parental warning sticker, however. If you remember, Dee Snyder was one of the chief mouthpieces in the fight against the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) headed by Tipper Gore, to ban or label explicit lyrics in rock music.

Here's a closeup:


Finally, on the back, I added the SMF (Sick Mother F***er) slogan that Dee and the gang used throughout the Eighties. I wonder how many parents overheard the song lyrics "You're an S-M-F" and understood what it meant?
Here's the back — again, with an explicit lyrics sticker:


I hope you all like this one, it was quite a lot of fun! It brought back a lot of memories, and I had to go dig out my old cassettes of Twisted Sister (do you remember those... they were supposed to be an improvement from eight tracks!)

- Tiki Friki

Hi guys. I found this art show called the M.A.R.S. Project - and made this card for the exhibit.

     

According to their site, the MARS Project is: "The Mobile Arts Road Show Project -  Dedicated to sharing modern, primarily noncommercial art with the average citizen walking the streets, relaxing in parks, and cruising the beach by bringing the work to THEM..."

http://themarsproject.blogspot.com/

I thought that was pretty interesting, MARS made me think of Aliens, and since I live in Nevada, the home of AREA 51, I had to go with that theme. I'm a big fan of Art Bell and other wacko radio personalities, so I went with the "Black Helicopter" theme, something that conspiracy theorists frequently talk about.

The card is 8.5" x 11".

I hope the exhibit viewers enjoy it!

- Tiki

     
I'm starting my foray into mail art, and found a site called Postcard X that gives you the name, address and interests of a random person. You make them a postcard and send it out.

This girl liked books, reading, fun and interesting quotes and fairies. Oh, and the band Coldplay. I couldn't figure out how to work them in, though!

I found a coloring book drawing I liked, loosely traced it in pencil, then watercolored in the areas. After it was dry I went back over it with a brown marker - pretty much drawing it my own style, and only loosely following the original sketch. I then prepped the quote on the computer, held my breath and printed right on top of the painting.

It was fun, and I hope she likes it! I added a few lines on the back, and I'll send it off tomrrow.

It will be interesting to see if she mails me back (though I understand with mail art that you're not supposed to *expect* anything, it would be nice to hear if she likes it) I hope it makes her smile. 

- Tiki

Hi everybody!

I've been drooling over fabulous decoupage projects for several days now, and I'm dying to start my own.

I bought some small (4" x 6") plastic trays (like the waiter brings your bill on) at the thrift store the other day. I thought that with a little decoupage magic they would make great drink serving trays. I've never decoupaged before, but I think I understand the layering of images, swabbing on the mod podge, sealing afterwards, etc.

The only thing I've never seen on here is how to get a crisp edge to the project. The trays are nice and black on the back, and I only want to decoupage the front. Can I use masking tape to make a hard edge? Should I just *go for it* then cut the stray decoupage bits off with a razor blade?  I'd love some advice! 

Thanks!
Tiki