Category Archives: Mixed Media

Dec 19 2017

Crystalline Light

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In honor of the Winter Solstice this week, I thought I’d show case that ~Winter Aesthetic~ today with some really lovely crystal light fixtures designed by Melbourne Australia artist: Christopher Boots.

All his work is made by hand and with real metals and naturally formed crystals. Much like a traditional jeweler, he will spend hours scouring crystals to find the ones with just the right hardness/crystalline structure/fracture/transparency. A lot of his work plays with the organic yet geometric form of his medium and the results are just wonderful to behold.

You can find more of his work on his instagram page, as well as see glimpses of his upcoming projects/inspirations. Worth the follow if you have the app and are an art lover. ^_^

Oct 17 2017

The Cheap Dye That is Surprisingly Decent

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Dying things can be a long and expensive process sometimes. Not to mention all the steps you have to go through to prepare it so that it’ll stay. Thankfully, the internet has come to our rescue once more! Today I’ll be sharing the secrets of using the cheap drink brand Kool-aid as your all purpose dye.

I first started looking into this when I can across a post were a leather user talked about how they decided to try this just for laughs while making a drink:

I was making a drink while cutting the snaps off some new straps for my pauldrons and I got curious, so I tried it, thinking, “ok even if this works, it will just wash out.”

Nope.

It took the “dye” (undiluted) in about 3 seconds. After drying for about an hour and a half, it would not wash off in the hottest tap-water. It would not wash out after soaking for 30 minutes.

They then go on to talk about how it took boiling the dyed leather to even slightly remove the dye. O.O That’s some pretty powerful stuff there. So, what can we learn from this and apply for ourselves? Well, after some experimenting and reading on my part, I’ve found that Kool-aid as a dye works pretty well for a variety of natural fiber mediums such as leather, wool, cotton, hair, flax, jute, silk and so on. You’ll also need to make sure that you’re not just making Kool-aid proper and then adding your items to it. It needs to be the flavor only packet/liquid as the pre mixed once have sugar. The sugar will make your end product sticky and unusable down the line. That’s no good for anyone

Also, you’ll want to heat the dye water up, just like you would with commercial dyes. This helps stimulate the molecules and ‘activate’ the dye to help the color permeate. Once it’s set for 20-30mins, let it dry and then rise in cold water to remove the excess. 😀 Several people have even made charts to help others achieve desired colors! A quick google search gave me this one, but there are loads more, including yarn results which very much so appeal to me, lol.

So there you have it. Never think that dying something it out of your budget as long as you have access to Kool-aid. ^_^

Aug 29 2017

Jumanji Board Replica

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With the new reboot/remake of Jumanji coming soon, this felt like a timely addition to the site. I’m nervous how this new one will turn out giving how much I enjoyed the original. It was probably one of my favorite movies as a kid.

Youtuber Steve Richter has done what many of us in the 90s only wished we could; build his own replica of the game completely from scratch. Sadly he seems to have skipped the steps that enchated  it into a magical world altering game, but hey, it’s certainly better then the crappy standard boardgame they released after the movie came out. I’ve included the 15min time lapse version of it for you all the pine over with me. 😉

 

May 2 2017

Amazing Sign Replicas

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I love me a good sign. And I also love accurate detail, so it will come as no shock that I am in love with Quest Design Canada. They make incredibly accurate recreation signs for the proud nerd in your life to display and use at home. My personal fav are all the Disney park ones (as seen above) which my husband doesn’t know we will one day be getting, lol.

Most of their signs are cast in resin and then bronze coated to keep costs down while still maintaining the desired look, though a few like the Hollywood Tower Hotel (Tower of Terror) are made from cut metal.

Besides signs, they also make some prop holders for displaying your geeky based weapons (lightsabers and laser guns for example) but if you’ve been looking for something truly unique for you SO/Family/Friend that will likely cause their jaw to drop, then I definitely recommend giving this shop a look through. 🙂

Feb 6 2017

DIY Zelda Shekiah Slate

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With less then a month until the release I just cannot contain my excitement for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 😀 So, in case any of you out there feel the same (or just wanna make a really great cosplay prop), today I’d like to share a great step by step DIY video for how to make your own Shekiah Slate.

You will need several supplies to make this excellent looking prop, including:

-EVA Foam
– Hot Glue Gun + Hot Glue Sticks
-Acrylic Paint (Orange, Black, Blue)
-Spray Paint (Gold, Brown)
-Scissors
-Xacto Style Knife
-Clear Plastic Tube
-Sand Paper
-Wood Filling Paste
-Tiny LED Lights
-Wire Cutters
-Electrical Tape
-Plastic Sheet

There are a few more tools you could get to help you make it easier, but as you can see by the materials list, this project is gonna take some time to make. Worth it though for the awesome prop piece you’ll have by the end. ^_^

Jan 31 2017

Woodentek’s Woodworking

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While standard analog clocks seem to be slowly disappearing in favor of their digital counterparts, I for one still love having analog clocks in my house. There’s just a visual appeal to them that digital designs don’t do for it yet, and Woodentek has certainly got their visual appeal down.

Made from expertly cut and design wooden layers, Woodentek has some of the most beautiful wooden clock designs I’ve ever seen. Located in Spain, this company has a commitment to designing not just fandom clocks for the easy money, but a wide range of designs spanning historic recreations to astronomy signs. Their wood is from well managed forests, meaning they don’t just buy cheap lumber to make a buck. Their wood comes from land that grows and replants trees to crate a sustainable resource and is certified by the FSC and PEFC.

If you’re in the market for a reasonably priced change in your decor, or just want an art piece that can also tell the time, you should definitely give Woodentek your consideration.

Jan 3 2017

Naturally Found

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Found art has always been an intriguing medium to me. The ability to take normal or broken everyday things and turn them into something else entirely definitely requires an eye that I do not have. British artist Dean Patman, however, obviously has it in spades.

Living in Bristol, he maintains a small studio space in his garden (aka backyard for us Americans) where he stores his found objects and does all his sculpture work. His passion began with his fascination of the natural world as a child, but didn’t start until much later in his life.

My passion for the natural world was equaled by my love of art.  It was a natural progression for me to study scientific illustration however feeling the need for a more creatively challenging course, I moved to Central St Martin’s. It was during my time there that I started working with found materials forming the sculptural method that characterizes my work today.  In found items I see the forms of the natural world; silverware, shoe-trees and teapots are married together to describe an animal’s appearance and character, making creatures both life-like and humorous .

His sculptures are decently sized as well, most of them starting right around 1-2′ in height or length. If you are fascinated by this medium as well I highly recommend giving his gallery a look through. Perhaps it could even inspire you. 🙂

Sep 13 2016

Glass Water Sculptures

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I have a thing for glass and water. Something about the medium just captures the feel and emotion of water so well, especially when done by an artist with lots of practice. Ben Young of New Zealand is one of those artists.

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All of his work revolves around water in some form, and he uses the glass in combination with concrete and cast bronze to create just beautiful sculptures of nature, as well as moments in time.

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When designing his work, he even takes lighting into effect while he’s working on his final design. Thinking about how he wants the piece displayed or formed to catch just the right image once translated form his 2D sketch into a 3D piece. If you’re a fan of water pieces I highly recommend giving his gallery a look through. While he has no pieces for sale right now that doesn’t stop his work from looking absolutely beautiful. And who knows, maybe it will inspire one last summer piece for you to tackle. 😉

Sep 7 2016

Back to School Crafting

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Hi everyone and Happy Wednesday!

I’m a guest blogger on CraftHackers today!  My name is Lindsay and I own a small business called Stamps & Stitches.  I’m a general crafter as in I do a little bit of everything – card making, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, and knitting.  You can see what I’m up to on my Facebook page!

Today we’re going to talk about crafting for back to school.  It’s a great time of year for everyone to learn something new, not just the kids!  Learning different crafts is in my opinion the best kind of learning!  It’s also never to early to inspire your kids with a bit of extra creativity and get started on those teacher’s gifts that you might give out at different times of the year.

Let’s start out with the teachers’ gifts.  How adorable is this apple clay jar?  All you need is a clay pot, some paint and either some clay or a marble for the top.  And don’t forget the leaf!  It’s the finishing touch!  Here are the instructions and don’t forget to fill it with the teacher’s favourite goodies!

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Next up, I am sure your teenager would love to decorate their lockers to make it their own and unique.  How about some hand-made bottle cap magnets?  You and your teen can decorate them to fit their specific style and interests!  These instructions include graphics to turn your bottle caps into super cool clocks but get out your paintbrush and any design will do!

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Finally, how are you going to keep your kid’s space or even your crafting space organized?  Take some old cans (especially those that don’t have sharp edges), decorate them with some pretty designer paper and glue them together into a cool shape!  For this particular craft, all you would need is some empty cans or containers (try to gets ones that are all the same size), some decorative paper, paper adhesive, hot glue to glue your cans into whatever shape you like and your imagination!  Having each container hold a different type of item is the perfect way to keep your kids organized and have them WANT to put away their pens and markers!  I know I’ll be using this one in my craft room, nevermind the kids!!

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I hope you’re all enjoying the silence with the children off to school and are getting some crafting done!

Craft on and make sure to share with us what you’re working on!

– Lindsay

Aug 30 2016

Stained Glass Planters

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While not a huge fan of taking care of plants indoors (I tend to forget about them and kill them, my bad) I do love the sight of having them around. Even better is when it’s done in a beautiful or creative way. Such as with the lovely glass planters made by SNLCreations.

Based in Minto, Canada, artisan Susan Napper-LeDuc creats these beautiful planters out of stained glass and soldered metal. They come in quite the range of sizes, but most tend to stay under 6″ meaning they can be placed in almost any home. If plants aren’t your thing, she also has a lovely collection of stained glass decor pieces and really her whole store is worth a look through as it’s just lovely.